Chapter 1

Luochuan City, also known as Luo Yi, has a civilization history of over 5,000 years and a city history of over 4,000 years. It is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization and the eastern starting point of the Silk Road. Thirteen dynasties have established their capitals in Luochuan throughout history, leaving behind five major imperial city ruins. Surrounding Luochuan are countless tombs, including the largest tomb cluster in China, the Mangshan Ancient Tombs, which are located in Luochuan.

Such a rich historical and cultural heritage has created a unique historical and cultural atmosphere in Luochuan. The city is known for its saying, "Dig three feet into the ground, and you'll find treasures." It has always been a gathering place for antique dealers, which has also fueled the prosperity of the Luochuan antique market. Just as people in the capital talk about politics, those who come to Luochuan can't help but talk about antiques.

"Brother Gang, watch my stall for a moment, I need to go to the bathroom." In the Luochuan Antique Market, behind a stall filled with various bronze artifacts, Su Xiaofan, who had just turned twenty, was a bit restless.

Su Xiaofan wasn't actually in a hurry to use the bathroom; rather, his right eyelid had been twitching nonstop. The last time this happened was when he was eleven and in fifth grade. To complete a homework assignment to do a good deed, Su Xiaofan had forcibly carried an eighty-year-old grandmother back across the street after she had already crossed, causing her to fall and be chased for three streets by her grandson. If not for his familiarity with the area, he would have definitely been beaten up.

"You young guy, are you already suffering from kidney deficiency? You've been to the bathroom three times already." Brother Gang, who ran the stall next to him, laughed and scolded, waving his hand to signal Su Xiaofan to hurry back.

Brother Gang's full name is Zheng Dagang, a man in his early thirties. His family is a long-time resident near the antique market. When the market was demolished and expanded, it took over their old house, and they were compensated with twelve apartments, making Brother Gang a second-generation property owner. His family lived in two of the apartments, and the other ten were rented out. Zheng Dagang, who had been interested in antiques since childhood, quit his job and started running a stall in the antique market.

The antique market has fixed stalls and shops, but Zheng Dagang preferred running a stall and chatting with people. Over time, he became familiar with Su Xiaofan, who also ran a free stall. They spent six out of seven days together, with Su Xiaofan only taking Sundays off to take care of his younger sister.

The bathroom was inside the antique market. After passing through the fixed stalls, Su Xiaofan went to the bathroom, urinated, lit a cigarette, and chatted with a stall owner before slowly making his way back. He was still muttering to himself, "I haven't done a good deed since I was eleven. This eyelid twitching is a bit strange. I need to close the stall and go home early."

"Huh? Who are those people?" As he came out of the antique market, Su Xiaofan saw four or five people standing at his stall. Recognizing one of them, Su Xiaofan was taken aback, his head shrinking as he tried to turn back, but it was too late.

"Xiaofan, did you go to the Pacific Ocean to urinate? Why did it take you so long to come back?" The sharp-eyed Brother Gang saw Su Xiaofan and immediately called out, "Hurry up, we have business. Are you still doing business or not?"

"Brother Gang, I... I had a stomachache." Seeing the people at his stall turn around, Su Xiaofan inwardly groaned. It was too late to run, so he had to tough it out and walk over.

"Oh, it's you, Brother. I thought I heard a magpie chirping when I left home today, and it turns out a distinguished guest has arrived." Su Xiaofan quickened his steps, a bright smile on his face as he greeted one of the men.

To be honest, Su Xiaofan, who had just shed his youthful innocence, had an exceptionally good appearance. Standing at 1.82 meters tall, he had a face with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a boyish blush when he smiled. His looks were unique in the antique market, and the young girls who accompanied their elders to the market loved to gather around his stall.

"Magpie? Are you sure you didn't hear a crow?" The man Su Xiaofan called Brother was in his early forties, not very tall, but lean and fit, with a short haircut and bright eyes. He wore a half-smile as he stared at Su Xiaofan.

"How could that be? Brother, you coming here must mean a magpie chirped." Su Xiaofan walked to his stall, took out a pack of cigarettes, and skillfully flicked out a few, offering them to the men in front of him. "Brother, are you here to do business again?"

"Exactly, pack up your stall, and let's talk in the back." The middle-aged man nodded and said, "The sun is too hot. Let's find a teahouse to sit down."

"No, Brother, I just set up my stall. I haven't made a single sale today." Su Xiaofan looked at the expressionless middle-aged man and felt a chill. He could smell the earthy scent on the men, and from their previous transaction, he had a good idea of their identity.

"Xiaofan, what's going on with these guys?" Zheng Dagang, who had noticed something was off, thought they were interested in the items on Su Xiaofan's stall. However, after hearing their conversation, he realized they had come with ill intentions.

Su Xiaofan had been running a stall in the antique market for almost two years, and Zheng Dagang had always treated him like a younger brother. Seeing him in trouble, Zheng Dagang stepped in front of Su Xiaofan and said, "Brothers, let's talk this out. Xiaofan is young. If he offended you, I'll apologize on his behalf."

"It's nothing serious. We just have another deal to discuss." The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "I bought an item from him last time, which he claimed was from the Western Zhou Dynasty. I paid 8,000 yuan, but it turned out to be a fake. Shouldn't he give me an explanation?"

"Oh, so that's what it is."

Hearing the middle-aged man's words, Zheng Dagang sighed with relief. "Brother, you seem like an expert. Bronzes are prohibited from being traded. If he dared to sell them at his stall, he'd be arrested within ten minutes. How could he possibly have a genuine Western Zhou artifact? That's a national treasure. I say, one party is willing to sell, and the other is willing to buy. You can't blame Xiaofan."

As he spoke, Zheng Dagang couldn't help but laugh. The antique market was a place full of lies. Any stall owner could claim that a broken spittoon was used by Emperor Qianlong. It was normal for Su Xiaofan to describe the items on his stall this way.

Especially for temporary stalls like Su Xiaofan's, once the items were sold, there was no responsibility. There were no invoices or guarantees. Since the items were not expensive, buyers were mostly there for fun and knew they were fake. Zheng Dagang had run a stall for over ten years and had never seen anyone come back to complain. The shops in the antique market occasionally had disputes.

Moreover, even if there were disputes, Zheng Dagang wasn't afraid. Although the men in front of him looked intimidating, Zheng Dagang was a long-time resident of the market. He had been there since he was a child. If they tried to get rough, Zheng Dagang could call out and get most of the stall owners to come to his aid. These four or five men wouldn't stand a chance.

"My item wasn't bought from the stall." The middle-aged man waved his hand at Zheng Dagang and said, "Brother, he knows what happened. I just want to talk to him. Don't worry, this is your turf. I won't cause trouble here."

"Huh? What happened?" Zheng Dagang turned to Su Xiaofan, "Did you sell a modern imitation as an antique? That's against the rules."

Zheng Dagang had known Su Xiaofan for a few years and was familiar with his background. He knew that Su Xiaofan came from a famous bronze village in Luochuan City. The most important rule in the village was not to sell their bronze artifacts as genuine and to inform customers that they were imitations.

Anyone who broke this rule would be expelled from the village or even sent to jail. Over the years, no one had dared to break this rule. The founder of the bronze village was strict, and the heaviest sentence was fifteen years in prison. After that, no one dared to break the rule again.

In the antique market, you could exaggerate when selling items at a stall, but no one would sell real bronzes. Both buyers and sellers knew the items were fake. However, if Su Xiaofan had sold items privately, Zheng Dagang couldn't be sure if he had broken the rule. In Luochuan City, smuggling antiques was common, and with Su Xiaofan's skills, it was hard for ordinary people to tell the difference.

"I didn't break the rule." Hearing Zheng Dagang's words, Su Xiaofan became anxious and quickly said, "Brother, didn't I tell you that I wasn't sure about the item and that it might be an imitation? You insisted on buying it. How can you come back now?"

"But you gave me a receipt that said 'Western Zhou'." The middle-aged man glared and pulled out a receipt from his pocket. He was frustrated because he had been in the business for over twenty years and had never been tricked by a young guy.

"Receipt?" Zheng Dagang was taken aback and immediately turned to glare at Su Xiaofan. This kid usually seemed smart, but how could he make such a mistake? They couldn't give receipts, especially with the year noted. That would invite trouble.

"Brother, did you read it wrong? I never gave you a receipt for 'Western Zhou'." Su Xiaofan smiled bitterly and nodded toward the receipt in the middle-aged man's hand, signaling Zheng Dagang to look.

"Western? This... this is 'four,' 'four weeks'?" Zheng Dagang didn't take the receipt but shielded his eyes from the sun and glanced at it. He couldn't help but laugh. He knew Su Xiaofan wouldn't leave such a loophole. It turned out Su Xiaofan had set a trap in the receipt.