Chapter 85

Yang Kang's smile gradually faded. The Taoyin Baojian appraisal — *The Splendor of Tokyo* was indeed the genuine article. His father's death was truly unjust, and he was unwilling, truly unwilling.

However, why had Master Guo's secretary never seen it? On what grounds did he determine that *The Splendor of Tokyo* was genuine?

Guo Fat immediately recounted the secretary's analysis in detail and then asked, "Young Prince, how did Uncle Yang treat you?"

"My father's treatment of me goes without saying," Yang Kang said. "He wished to give me all the good things in the world, and even then, he was afraid I would be wronged. When I was a child, I was fond of playing and became obsessed with comics, often skipping meals to read them. It was he who would bring me a bowl and feed me mouthful by mouthful. For this, my mother scolded him, saying he would spoil me."

"When Uncle Yang passed away, did he mention Uncle Lao Bai to you?" Guo Fat asked, "About his supply issues?"

Yang Kang shook his head. When his father passed, he said nothing, only looking at him... his eyes filled with a dull, lifeless gray.

To this day, whenever he thought of it, his heart ached.

"Uncle Yang's doting on you is beyond doubt," Guo Fat said. "But think about it, at that time, he wasn't in a desperate situation.

Selling the house and paying off the debts, with his abilities, finding a high-paying job wouldn't be difficult. I think places like Wang's Pawnshop or Langyuan would be willing to hire him.

For your sake, he would naturally be willing to set aside his pride, work to support you through university, and wait for Uncle Lao Bai to find him, allowing him to make a comeback, right?"

"I know there are many issues, and I've always wanted to find the person who sold him the painting," Yang Kang sighed lightly. "These past two years, Jiang Yan has insulted and cursed me, and I've endured it all. I've also probed him, but on this matter, he's very tight-lipped."

Guo Fat frowned, recalling what the secretary had said, and asked, "You're willing to live in their storage room just for this reason?"

"One reason is that, and another is that I owe Zhou Bomin 50,000 yuan. If I were to rent a place, my 3,000 yuan monthly salary would barely cover it, and how could I repay the debt? I can't let my father die owing others money," Yang Kang said. "So, no matter how he insults me, I endure it."

Guo Fat stood up and walked a few steps in the room before saying, "Jiang Yan definitely has issues. Both the seller, Tong Yao, and the buyer, Zhang Dashan, were introduced to Uncle Yang by him. Also, we need to confirm if the painting is genuine. If it is, this matter is..."

"If it's genuine, it's a conspiracy?" Yang Kang's lips curled into a cold smile. "To use a world-renowned masterpiece to harm someone and even bribe the famous appraiser Ou Dajia to fake it?"

"Yes, the buyer, seller, and appraiser all have issues," Guo Fat said. "Our secretary wants to meet you and see the painting. If the painting is genuine, these people went to great lengths, using a world-renowned masterpiece. They wouldn't just want to drive you and your father to death, right?"

"But I can't figure out what they're after," Yang Kang said. "Sometimes I'd rather believe that the great appraiser made a mistake."

"I don't know!" Guo Fat shook his head. "I'm just a fat guy. I'm good at physical labor, but thinking is the secretary's and the scholar's job."

"When can I meet your secretary?" Yang Kang asked.

"Within a few days," Guo Fat said. "If you have no objections, I'll arrange it for tomorrow. Also, Jiang Yan made a mistake tonight and is at a dead end. He'll come to you tomorrow."

"He made a mistake, so why would he come to me?" Yang Kang asked. "Does he think I'll lend him money? I'm not that stupid. Even if I were, I wouldn't lend him money."

Even if he were rich and foolish, he wouldn't lend him money.

Guo Fat actually understood this and laughed, slapping the floor. "The scholar will like you."

"I only love beautiful women. Tell your scholar not to like me," Yang Kang shook his head repeatedly.

"The situation is this — the idea was also the scholar's," Guo Fat said. "The scholar had Uncle Lao Bai make a high-quality replica of a bronze bird zun and tricked Jiang Yan into buying it. Of course, before that, he deliberately let Jiang Yan make over 100,000 yuan, giving him a taste of success.

Afterward, Jiang Yan naturally trusted Uncle Lao Bai completely.

For the bronze bird zun transaction, Uncle Lao Bai didn't let him find an appraiser, and he really didn't. In fact, I suspect he couldn't find a proper appraiser.

Qin Zhengjian isn't someone anyone can summon at will.

Then, the scholar calculated that he wouldn't be able to raise the money and would have to sell the Jade Treasure Shop. At that point, he would have to rent a house, so Monkey had already prepared a house to rent near the antique street, with surveillance installed inside."

Yang Kang listened, feeling that the scholar was truly a genius, using a high-quality replica to deceive Jiang Yan into losing everything.

"Your scholar is truly a master of strategy," Yang Kang shook his head. "How did you determine that I would definitely buy back the Jade Treasure Shop?"

"If you didn't buy it, the scholar would buy it himself or have someone else do it," Guo Fat said. "In any case, the scholar would find a way to force Jiang Yan to sell the house and rent the house Monkey had prepared with surveillance."

At this point, Yang Kang thoroughly believed that Guo Fat and his group were street performers, well-versed in all sorts of tricks.

"Since you have surveillance in the house, have you gained anything?" Yang Kang asked.

"The scholar thought that after losing money, Jiang Yan would urgently contact the mastermind. It's impossible that he wasn't involved back then," Guo Fat said. "Jiang Yan was a key figure in the events of that year. Without him, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly."

"Jiang Yan didn't contact the mastermind?" Yang Kang pondered for a moment and asked.

"No, he didn't contact anyone," Guo Fat said. "But something interesting happened."

"What interesting thing?" Yang Kang asked, puzzled.

"Is there a video? Do you want to see it?" Guo Fat asked.

"Yes!" Yang Kang nodded. "I'm very curious."

"Haha, you won't be disappointed!" Guo Fat said, turning around and leaving. Soon, he returned with a CD.