Chapter 2

"What? Four weeks!" Upon hearing Zheng Dagang's words, the middle-aged man looked at the receipt in his hand with disbelief. Indeed, it clearly stated, "Craft, age four weeks."

"Kid, you... you tricked me!" The middle-aged man's face turned extremely unpleasant as he carefully examined the receipt. He noticed a faint horizontal mark above the "four," and the two middle strokes of the "four" were slightly extended. If one wasn't paying attention, it would clearly look like the character for "west."

"Brother, you're the one who's wrong here," Zheng Dagang said, his tone no longer as friendly, and his voice grew louder. "In our line of work, it's all about the eye for detail. You didn't notice it at the time, and now you're coming back to settle accounts. That's breaking the rules. If you keep causing trouble, you won't get any benefits."

"Brother Gang, Xiao Fan, what's going on?"

Su Xiaofan's stall was surrounded by four or five burly men, which had already attracted the attention of the nearby stall owners. When Zheng Dagang raised his voice, a few people immediately came over. In the antique market, it was common for buyers to come back with complaints after realizing they had bought fakes. This required everyone to support each other. In a moment, the four or five men were surrounded.

"Alright, I admit defeat." The middle-aged man looked around and said, "I made a mistake, and it's not anyone else's fault. I was wrong today, consider me as if I never came."

With that, the middle-aged man raised his hand and led the few men with him out of the crowd. The people who had gathered saw that the matter was resolved and didn't make things difficult for them. In a short while, the group disappeared into the bustling crowd of the antique street.

"Thanks, everyone." Seeing the men leave, Su Xiaofan let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed to the crowd.

"Hey, what's the big deal? If you make a mistake, you should take responsibility."

"Exactly, Xiao Fan, if you need help, just shout. We'll be there in a flash."

The crowd chattered for a bit and then dispersed, as everyone had their own stalls to watch. Even though the items weren't expensive, it would be annoying if they were stolen.

"Xiao Fan, you really broke the rules this time." After the crowd dispersed, Zheng Dagang pulled Su Xiaofan aside and said in a low voice, "Selling a bronze artifact for a thousand or so is understandable, but selling it for eight thousand is a bit too much. It's no wonder those people came back to settle accounts."

In the antique market, especially for street vendors, selling small trinkets for a few hundred a day was considered good business. Su Xiaofan selling a fake for eight thousand could sometimes match another stall's monthly earnings. In the trade, this was considered a bit too greedy.

Moreover, Zheng Dagang had seen clearly that Su Xiaofan had been clever when writing the receipt. Although the horizontal mark above the "four" was faint, it was still discernible upon close inspection. That's why Zheng Dagang said Su Xiaofan had broken the rules.

"Brother Gang, that thing was actually quite complex to make. Eight thousand isn't too much," Su Xiaofan said with a bitter smile. "The bronze artifact I made was a replica of a daisen, a composite object that is rarely seen on the market. I thought he was knowledgeable and would know it was hard to make, but he actually believed it was genuine."

"Daisen? What's that?" Zheng Dagang was taken aback. He wasn't very familiar with bronze artifacts and had never heard of this obscure term.

"It's an ancient woman's hair accessory. I saw it in my grandfather's bronze artifact rubbings." Su Xiaofan explained to Zheng Dagang.

The daisen, in fact, consists of three parts: two clamps and a connecting rod, somewhat resembling a modern dumbbell. According to the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," the Queen Mother of the West wore a daisen. In the Han dynasty carvings at the Wu Family Shrine in Jiaxiang, Shandong, we can see the "yusheng" pattern, where two symmetrical daisen are connected by a rod, with a central hole to fit on the hair. The Queen Mother of the West in the carvings wore such a daisen.

During the Western Han period, the Queen Mother of the West was revered by the ruling class, and the daisen she wore became popular among the ancients. People began to wear different styles of daisen. As the daisen became more popular, various materials were used, such as bronze, amber, and jade. Besides the reverence for the Queen Mother of the West, the daisen's popularity was also due to its practicality.

However, as dynasties changed, people's requirements for accessories became higher. When more convenient hairpins appeared, the cumbersome daisen gradually faded from history. Since it is composed of several parts, it is often incomplete when unearthed, so even many archaeologists and experts do not recognize the daisen.

"It took me a whole month to make this thing. Brother Gang, do you think eight thousand is too much?" Su Xiaofan was a bit frustrated. He had taken some shortcuts to make it look old, but isn't that what bronze artifacts are all about? If they don't look old, who would buy them?

"From what you say, eight thousand isn't too much."

Zheng Dagang, who had been in the antique market for many years, nodded and glanced in the direction the men had left. "But Xiao Fan, those guys don't seem like good people. Don't pack up your stall today. I'll find a place to store it for you. Be careful on your way home, and don't let them follow you."

The antique market was a mix of good and bad people. Zheng Dagang knew that some of the people doing business in Luochuan were ruthless, especially those who dug tombs and dealt in stolen goods. Many of them had blood on their hands. Su Xiaofan could smell the danger from those men, and Zheng Dagang could see it too. These men were likely tomb raiders.

"I understand, Brother Gang. I'll be careful." Su Xiaofan smiled bitterly. He had been running a stall in the antique market for two years, selling mostly intricate bronze artifacts. The only time he had a problem was with this one old-looking item. It seemed his grandfather's warning about not seeking quick wealth was valid.

However, Su Xiaofan had no choice. His mother passed away when he was seven, and his father, who didn't want to inherit the family's bronze artifact-making skills, had a falling out with his grandfather and became a sailor.

Over the past decade, Su Xiaofan and his sister saw their father only a few times. Although his grandfather passed away when Su Xiaofan was in high school, his father, who had become a captain of a long-distance ship, still provided for them. However, the expenses for the two siblings were not negligible.

Su Xiaofan had a bit of bad luck. In his senior year of high school, he was in a car accident while jaywalking, resulting in multiple fractures. He spent half a year recovering, which delayed his college entrance exam.

With his grades, Su Xiaofan could have retaken the exam and gotten into college, but his father didn't return that year. After spending all the savings his father had given him on the accident, and with his sister starting high school, Su Xiaofan decided not to retake the exam. He rented a house near his sister's school and started a stall in the antique market, using the bronze artifact-making skills he had learned from his grandfather.

With his good looks and smooth talk, and his proficiency in English, Su Xiaofan's business was always good. Just by selling to tourists, he could earn several thousand a month. When his father returned last year and suggested he retake the exam, Su Xiaofan refused. Having grown up with his sister and grandfather, he had a strong sense of independence and was determined to stick to his own path.

If he had continued like this, in a few years, Su Xiaofan could have rented a stall in the antique market. He wouldn't become rich, but he wouldn't go hungry. However, life always has its twists. His sister, Su Xiaoxiao, who was now in her senior year, told him that a national-level research institute in Yanjing was recruiting students from her school, and she had been accepted.

According to Su Xiaoxiao, being accepted into this institute meant starting as a master's student, working with national-level experts on research projects, and potentially staying at the institute after graduation. However, the tuition was extremely high, costing 100,000 yuan per year.

At first, Su Xiaofan thought it was a scam. Research institutes are employers, not schools, and they recruit from universities, not high schools. Moreover, tuition in China is not that expensive. Even the best universities in China, like Huada, only charge about 10,000 yuan per year. This institute's tuition was ten times that.

Having been in the antique market for several years and seen many scams, Su Xiaofan was naturally skeptical. He went to the school to inquire and found out that the recruitment was real. The institute was affiliated with Yanjing University and was a special recruitment program, bypassing the college entrance exam. Students would report to Yanjing University during the summer.

To be thorough, Su Xiaofan called the admissions office of Yanjing University. After a detailed inquiry, he learned that the institute was a new program, and its research topics were not specified. Although it was affiliated with Yanjing University, it was under the National Natural Science Foundation, which set the tuition. However, the recruitment was indeed real, and many people had been calling to inquire.

With this confirmation, Su Xiaofan was overjoyed. Although his sister's grades were good, they were not good enough for top universities like Huada. Now, with this opportunity, he was determined to support her, no matter what. He counted his savings and was taken aback.

Over the past two years, Su Xiaofan had earned some money, but after deducting rent, living expenses, and his sister's allowance, he only had about 20,000 yuan saved. Adding the 50,000 yuan his father had given him last Spring Festival, he still had less than 80,000 yuan, falling short of the 100,000 yuan needed by 20,000 yuan.

With his sister due to report to Yanjing in a month and unable to contact his father, who was somewhere at sea, Su Xiaofan was desperate. That's why, when the middle-aged man hinted at his stall that he was looking for old items, Su Xiaofan sold him the old-looking bronze daisen.