Chapter 3

Reaching out with both hands, he gently rubbed his ears, which were still trembling slightly. He swallowed saliva repeatedly and it took a while for him to recover.

Unbuckling his seatbelt and adjusting his seat, he gently massaged his temples. A pretty flight attendant came over and handed him a warm towel with both hands.

"Thank you," Gao Yang said with a smile, pressing the towel to his forehead. The flight attendant, with her signature smile, bowed slightly and left. A moment later, she returned with a pair of warm slippers. "Sir, would you like to change into slippers?" The flight attendant, dressed in a professional uniform, was impeccable in every aspect.

The flight attendant went to fetch coffee, and Gao Yang placed the towel on the tray, feeling much better from the hangover. He had flown before, but this was his first time in first class. He had also flown with Air China, but the flight attendants in the economy class were nothing like those in the first class of international flights.

Gao Yang only carried a backpack with a few changes of clothes. The good things brought by 1924 were stored in a storage space.

In the morning, he went to an international travel agency with a bank deposit certificate to apply for a visa for a solo trip to Germany and Switzerland. After a smooth conversation in fluent French and German, and without haggling over the payment, he boarded the flight to Frankfurt the next afternoon.

Before departure, he called his parents to inform them that he was going on a business trip out of town and would return home for the holidays.

As for Gao Yang's fluent German, it was a short-term service provided by the Origin Point, costing 10 points per hour for speaking, reading, and writing, while listening was free.

After a good sleep, the plane arrived in Frankfurt 10 hours later. With a smile, he noted down the flight attendant's phone number, put on his backpack, and found a high-end hotel in the city to rest.

The next morning, on the way to Zurich, he contacted Sotheby's through the Origin Point to set a meeting time and place. In the afternoon, in Sotheby's reception room in Zurich, Gao Yang presented the items he had brought from 1924.

These were items he had obtained from a eunuch for several thousand silver dollars, part of a group of eunuchs who specialized in stealing items from the palace. As long as they were paid, they would steal anything. The items included a jade finger guard that the eunuch claimed was used by Emperor Qianlong, an emerald snuff bottle allegedly used by a prince (it was unclear how the eunuch obtained it), and a set of Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain tea ware with dragon and cloud patterns, which Gao Yang valued the most.

When Gao Yang took out the porcelain, the Sotheby's appraiser, who had been sitting and watching, suddenly stood up and stared. He quickly regained his composure, adjusted his glasses, and sat down again, but his eyes betrayed a greedy look.

Gao Yang smiled lightly and said nothing. The items had already been authenticated by the Origin Point as genuine. When he bought them, Gao Yang knew that the porcelain was truly valuable, as porcelain was not as highly valued in 1924 as it is now.

The bald middle-aged man sitting opposite Gao Yang glanced at the appraiser, adjusted his glasses, and said to Gao Yang, who was reclining on the sofa, "Sir, may I ask how I should address you?"

"You can call me Mr. Smith," Gao Yang replied with a relaxed expression.

"Alright, Mr. Smith, nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself, my name is Karl Jung, and I am the reception manager of Sotheby's auction house." Jung paused, picked up his coffee cup, and took a sip.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Jung," Gao Yang said with a smile, looking relaxed.

"Mr. Smith, would you like Sotheby's to auction these artworks for you? Do you have any specific requirements? Please let me know," Jung got straight to the point.

"First, none of my personal information can be disclosed," Gao Yang said, lifting his coffee cup. "I am entrusting these items to your auction house for commercial auction, and the commission can be charged according to your standards." Gao Yang took a sip of coffee, put down the cup, and continued, "I have an idea. Your house can appraise the items and give an estimate. I would like to use the estimate to secure a loan from your house. Of course, the interest can be charged at the bank loan rate." Gao Yang stared at Jung as he spoke.

"Mr. Smith, there is no problem with securing a loan with the items. Our house can provide this service. The interest will be charged at the Swiss bank loan rate. If there are no issues, we can start the appraisal now," Jung leaned back on the sofa, and the appraiser next to him took out his tools and began working.

Jung stood up and invited Gao Yang to tour Sotheby's collection, subtly probing Gao Yang with questions. Gao Yang, while responding, thought to himself, "Don't talk in German, 10 points per hour, even if it's less than an hour, it still costs 10 points. Can you afford it?"

After half an hour, the appraisal was complete. Jung led Gao Yang to an office, took out the contract, and explained, "Mr. Smith, the estimated values of your three artworks are as follows: the imperial jade finger guard is estimated at 72,000 euros, the noble's emerald snuff bottle at 150,000 euros."

Jung paused and looked at Gao Yang before continuing, "The Song Dynasty dragon-patterned porcelain tea set is estimated at 3,900,000 euros. The total estimated value is 4,122,000 euros. Our house will auction these three items at the next art auction and charge a 15% commission on the auction price."

Putting down the contract, he took a black credit card from a staff member and handed it to Gao Yang, saying, "Mr. Smith, according to your request, these three items will be stored by our house until the auction. This is an anonymous savings card from the Swiss bank, containing 4,122,000 euros. After the auction, our house will deduct this amount from the auction proceeds and also deduct 7% interest on the loan. Do you have any questions about these matters?"

"No, thank you," Gao Yang said, signing the contract with a pen, taking the credit card, shaking hands with Jung, and leaving Sotheby's with his backpack.

Boarding the high-speed train to Berlin, Gao Yang looked at the black card in his hand and smiled, "I'm a rich man now, hey, am I a high, rich, and handsome guy?" Gao Yang indulged in his fantasies.

"Contact has been made, this is the transaction time and location sent by the other party," the Origin Point's voice pulled Gao Yang out of his fantasies.

"Oh, okay, thank you for your trouble," Gao Yang said, returning to his calm state.

Before departure, he had the Origin Point place an order and deposit with a European illegal organization through the internet.

The next day, Gao Yang, with his backpack and camera, wandered around the Brandenburg Gate, highly excited as he had never been abroad before. Since he didn't have 800 energy points, he didn't mind spending 10 points per hour on German translation. "Spend what needs to be spent," Gao Yang told the Origin Point.

"You cannot obtain energy points in this timeline," the Origin Point replied.

"Disappointing," Gao Yang said, looking speechless.

Wandering around all day, Gao Yang seemed completely unfazed by the fatigue. After dinner, he took a large box of euros from the bank to the agreed location.

An abandoned underground parking lot, a few white men in sunglasses led Gao Yang to a small room.

A small, dimly lit room, a man in a suit and sunglasses. "It's like a movie," Gao Yang thought to himself, but he wasn't afraid at all.

The bald man sitting at the table picked up two black boxes, placed them on the table, opened them, and pushed them to Gao Yang. Gao Yang took out a stack of 50-pound notes with a fresh ink smell and gently flicked through them.

Gao Yang had contacted a counterfeit currency group through the Origin Point, specifically ordering 1919 edition pounds. Gao Yang couldn't read them, but he was just making a show of having the Origin Point check them.

"Good, the 1924 detection technology can't identify them, and the quantity is correct, a total of 2 million pounds," the Origin Point concluded.

Gao Yang handed the box he brought to the bald man and waited for the inspection.

After the inspection was complete, they parted ways without a word.

The next morning, in a café, Gao Yang received a custom-made 1922 edition German Army Officer School graduation certificate. Looking at his black-and-white photo on the certificate, Gao Yang smiled silently. He handed 40,000 euros in a leather strap to the other party.

That evening, he boarded the flight back to Beijing, and coincidentally, it was the same flight attendant in first class. Gao Yang was in a good mood and chatted with the flight attendant for over an hour before resting. When he woke up, he was already over Beijing.

In a business building in the central business district of Beijing, a handsome man smoking a cigarette leaned against the glass, looking down at the busy traffic below.

The door knocked, and a secretary with an envelope walked in. Opening the envelope and flipping through the documents and photos, he exhaled a smoke ring and murmured, "Going to Europe."

He canceled his rented apartment and booked a top-tier suite at the Hilton Hotel, hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign. He had the Origin Point scan the room, and there were no issues.

Changing into American clothing, he activated the time travel back to the room at the Beijing hotel, canceled the room, and rented a private courtyard in the city for 25 silver dollars per month, a very quiet place.

After completing all this, Gao Yang went to Citibank and deposited 2 million pounds. This was a huge sum of money, especially in 1924.

Citibank took several hours just to verify the currency. After completing the deposit, Gao Yang took the check to the Beiyang Government's State Council and found his good friend, Commander Cao.

Commander Cao smiled when he saw Gao Yang. A good friend who had spent 10 kilograms of gold to buy a security regiment certainly deserved a good meal together.

Over drinks, a 100,000-pound check was placed in Commander Cao's pocket. Commander Cao readily agreed to Gao Yang's request.

The next noon, several military officers in uniform came to the courtyard where Gao Yang was staying.

They greeted each other, served tea, and sat down, introducing themselves.

"I am Captain Gao Youcai of the 13th Division of the Beiyang Army, a graduate of the 1918 class of the Baoding Military Academy, from Bengbu, Anhui."

"I am Captain Li Guangbiao of the 13th Division of the Beiyang Army, a graduate of the 1918 class of the Baoding Military Academy, from Fuyang, Anhui."

"I am Lieutenant Yang Dong of the 13th Division of the Beiyang Army, a graduate of the 1919 class of the Baoding Military Academy, from Bengbu, Anhui."

"I am Lieutenant Li Zhengcheng of the 9th Division of the Beiyang Army, a graduate of the 1919 class of the Baoding Military Academy, from Tongling, Anhui."

"I am Lieutenant Wang Dafu of the 9th Division of the Beiyang Army, a graduate of the 1919 class of the Baoding Military Academy, from Anqing, Anhui."

"From now on, I am your superior. Remember my name, I am Gao Yang." Gao Yang was elated inside.