Chapter 24

It turned out that this was Wang Fatzi, the owner of the antique shop with the most complete collection of antiques. What a coincidence. Qifeng thought that if he had known earlier, he might not even have to compensate for the bowl; he could have used a large order of copper coins to offset the cost of the imitation vase. "Oh, I heard from the jade shop owner at the entrance that your shop has the most antiques, so he told me to come find you."

Wang Fatzi laughed heartily, "So you're a customer who came to the door, truly a case of no acquaintance without a meeting. Yes, if you talk about antiques, my little shop would be second to none in Panjiayuan! Young man, what do you want to buy?"

Qifeng didn't beat around the bush, "I want to buy copper coins, Kaiyuan Tongbao."

"Kaiyuan Tongbao?" Aren't they everywhere? Wang Fatzi thought for a moment. If it were just ordinary goods, he wouldn't have come to him. "I wonder which type of Kaiyuan Tongbao you want?"

Which type? This time it was Qifeng, a novice in antiques, who was taken aback, "There are many types of Kaiyuan Tongbao?"

Wang Fatzi was speechless. Seeing Qifeng casually pull out something that startled him, he thought Qifeng must be someone special, an expert, and the copper coins he wanted must be extraordinary. Who knew he was just a beginner!

Wang Fatzi said irritably, "You don't even know how many types of Kaiyuan Tongbao there are. Why don't you just pick some from a street stall?"

Wang Fatzi was a well-known figure in Panjiayuan and did big business elsewhere. He rarely came to this storefront. If he did such small trades, others would laugh at him!

Seeing Wang Fatzi's disdainful look, Qifeng raised his index finger and smiled calmly, "I want... ten thousand."

Wang Fatzi, who had been impatient a moment ago, was choked by Qifeng's "ten thousand" and coughed several times. He looked at Qifeng with disbelief, "Ten... ten thousand? What do you need so many Kaiyuan Tongbao for?"

What for? Qifeng really wanted to tell him he needed them to buy things, including the Gu from Miaojiang and the resurrection potion from Suzhou, and so on. But he held back, fearing he would be taken for a lunatic.

Wang Fatzi, seeing Qifeng's hesitant expression, his mind raced, and suddenly he realized, "Brother, are you from the mystic arts? Are you setting up a feng shui array?"

He was well-informed and had heard many stories. Copper coins are round on the outside and square on the inside, representing heaven and earth. The inscriptions on the coins include the era name, so a small copper coin embodies the three elements of heaven, earth, and humanity. The Kaiyuan Tongbao, cast at the founding of the Tang Dynasty, carries the most prosperous qi of the three elements. Qifeng's request for ten thousand coins didn't seem like a mere collection but rather a mystical practice.

Qifeng found it amusing, "I don't know anything about feng shui arrays, and I'm not a monk or a Taoist. Can I use the copper coins to decorate walls and floors?"

Decorate walls and floors? Wang Fatzi didn't believe it! "If you want to decorate walls and floors, you don't need to buy copper coins from us! You can order them directly from a factory. The cheapest Kaiyuan Tongbao on the market costs three yuan each, ten times the price!"

Qifeng shook his head and sighed. He knew those copper coins were cheap and that the value of ancient copper coins mainly came from the metal itself, not the monetary value. But his special ability shop was a hassle! Wei Xiaobao could refuse gold, and the blacksmith in Suzhou could refuse silver. Who knew if they would only accept copper coins and not copper? If he got blacklisted for using fake coins, where would he cry?

Qifeng said to Wang Fatzi, "Boss, don't worry about what I'm going to use them for. I just want the cheapest Kaiyuan Tongbao. Oh, and they must be genuine! If they're not, I'll come back to you."

Wang Fatzi's face jiggled, "What kind of joke is this, ten thousand? And they must be genuine? Even if I showed you each one, my eyes would go blind. Besides, even if you turned over the entire Panjiayuan, you wouldn't find ten thousand genuine ones. There are more fakes than real ones! You should know that while Kaiyuan Tongbao are not valuable, they are not like today's coins! Last time, a construction site unearthed over ten thousand Kaiyuan Tongbao, and it made the news!"

Ah? This news was a real dampener for Qifeng. Ten thousand copper coins made the news? That's only enough to buy one Golden Silkworm King! When would he ever complete his dream of ninety-nine Golden Silkworm Kings? After much thought, he had no choice but to bow and leave the antique shop, feeling somewhat disappointed. All that effort, and nothing accomplished!

In the afternoon, back in the dorm, Qifeng sat in front of his computer and opened an online shopping platform. He searched for craft copper coins, and there were quite a few stores selling them! Qifeng found a reputable store and ordered a thousand to try, and the price was indeed as Wang Fatzi said, ten times cheaper than real copper coins, just twenty-five cents each! A thousand coins cost him only 250 yuan.

After a while, his roommates returned one by one and asked about his trip to Panjiayuan. Qifeng thought for a moment and ultimately didn't tell Haozi about the real situation at the gemstone shop. It's better to leave some mystery and beauty. He only boasted about his heroic deed of catching a thief, of course, omitting the part about breaking the vase.

A few days later, the copper coins arrived. A thousand coins filled a small box, quite heavy, about ten pounds. Qifeng opened the package and took one in his hand. He couldn't tell if it was genuine, but the craftsmanship was passable.

Since large-scale transactions with real copper coins were impractical, Qifeng could only try his luck with the fake ones. He carried the small box to the Immortal Sword Commercial Street, feeling somewhat nervous. He had never done such a thing before. If he encountered fake money, he would either tear it up or hand it over to the bank, never thinking of passing it off to a vegetable vendor.

China has always been strict about this! In the Han Dynasty, anyone caught would be executed in the market. In the Tang Dynasty, the lightest punishment was exile for three thousand miles. The Song Dynasty, known for its tolerance, still imposed the death penalty. In the Yuan Dynasty, using fake money meant exile. The Ming and Qing Dynasties imposed either beheading or hanging.

Qifeng remembered that there was still a government in the Immortal Sword world. Would he have to fight the army and flee, then be wanted nationwide? Shaking his head, Qifeng could only take the risk, treating a dead horse as if it were alive!

He chose the same Suzhou blacksmith shop. First, it was in a big city, so if it passed here, it should be fine elsewhere. Second, the weapons and armor in this shop weren't anything special, so if the owner found out and blacklisted him, it wouldn't matter much. He had been kicked out before anyway.

Pushing the door open, the shop looked the same as the last time. The two burly men were still busy at the anvil. The owner saw a customer and came to greet him.

Qifeng didn't know if the owner recognized him and didn't mention the last time he tried to buy something with silver. He directly showed the order and picked a cheap item to try first. "Um... let's start with a vine armor!"

"Sure." The owner replied, "Please wait a moment." He went to the back, probably to the warehouse, and returned with a brown half-armor with shoulder guards.

Qifeng took it. It was light, being a vine armor. Upon closer inspection, the craftsmanship was intricate. The vines were of varying thickness, woven together tightly without a single gap. Qifeng pressed it with his strength, and the elasticity was astonishing. His arm, weighing over a hundred pounds, was easily bounced back. No wonder it was from the game store; the defensive attributes were impressive. Qifeng felt that a regular person could slash at it ten times without hurting the wearer.

"Pretty good!" Qifeng said, placing the money box on the counter, "Here are a thousand coins, take out four hundred."

Counting coins wasn't his strong suit.

The owner took the small box, opened it, and took out the coins. Qifeng pretended to be casual but kept an eye on the owner's reaction.

"Hmm?" Sure enough, the owner noticed something was off with the coin in his hand. He examined it from both sides, weighed it, and said to Qifeng, "Sir, your money seems to be off."

"What... what's off?" Qifeng couldn't help but stammer, "What could be wrong with the money?"

The owner seemed pleased, as if to say, "Little guy, you think you can fool me with fake money?" "Sir, the material is wrong. The Kaiyuan Tongbao is made of white copper, but your coins are yellow copper, likely privately minted. The characters and molds are also far off."

No wonder he was a businessman, handling countless coins every day. He could probably tell if the money was genuine just by touch or smell. Qifeng cursed the online seller for being unprofessional, getting even the material wrong. He didn't realize that the craft coins he ordered were made with whatever material was easy to process and cheap.

"Well..." Qifeng was sweating, hesitating for a moment before continuing, "Then I won't buy it." He reached for the money box. Even if the coins were useless, he had paid for them and couldn't just throw them away.

"Wait, wait, wait." The blacksmith shop owner blocked him, preventing Qifeng from taking the box.

Qifeng thought, is he going to report me? If the police came, it wouldn't be good. Since it was just a small amount of money, he might as well let it go. He withdrew his hand and turned to leave.

The owner was flustered, "Sir, why are you leaving? Your money is still here!"

Qifeng turned back, "Didn't you say this is fake and can't be used?"

The owner chuckled, "It is fake, but I think the coins are still good. How about this, I'll accept them at a two-to-one rate?"

"What? Really?!!"