Chapter 41

Ye Bufan ignored him and directly took down the two scrolls beside him.

"Kid, have you been reading too many fantasy novels? Do you think the wood of these scrolls would be something like sandalwood? Let me tell you, don't daydream. I've already checked; this is just ordinary wood. The two of them together aren't even worth a few dozen yuan."

Ye Bufan still ignored the incessant white rat. He picked up the scroll on the left and pulled the wooden shaft out from inside.

Seeing his action, even Yang Ziqian frowned. It was obvious that this young man wanted to find something inside the scroll, but it was just ordinary wood. What could there be?

But at that moment, something shocking happened.

Ye Bufan lightly tapped the wooden shaft with his hand, and the seemingly solid piece of wood split into two halves with a crack. The inside was hollow, revealing a neatly rolled scroll.

"Heavens, there really is something inside this scroll."

"The craftsmanship is too exquisite. It looks like a complete piece of wood, but who would have thought it was hollow inside."

"How did this young man figure it out? Does he have X-ray vision? How did he know there was something inside the scroll..."

"That's not important. The key is to see what's on the scroll. If it's just a fake, finding it won't be of any use..."

Amidst the various comments, everyone's attention was focused on the scroll in Ye Bufan's hand.

Yang Ziqian, his eyes gleaming, said, "Young man, open it and take a look."

He could already sense that something so well-hidden must be extraordinary.

Ye Bufan gently untied the ribbon on the scroll and slowly unrolled it.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the scroll, and they saw that it was still the famous quote from Zhuge Liang's "Admonitions to His Son": "Cultivate simplicity to clarify one's aspirations, and maintain tranquility to achieve far-reaching goals."

In the lower right corner, it was inscribed with "Qingchen Family Instructions," followed by Yan Zhenqing's seal.

From the content, this scroll was identical to the one that had just been torn up, but the calligraphy was completely different.

The characters on this scroll were structured with a square and tight composition, with light horizontal strokes and heavy vertical strokes, the brushwork was robust and powerful, broad and vigorous.

Yang Ziqian, who had been standing beside him, had initially been calm, but when he saw the calligraphy on the scroll, he immediately changed, stepping forward excitedly and saying, "It's genuine, this is actually a genuine work by Yan Zhenqing. It's truly rare."

The white rat was completely stunned, never expecting that the scroll would actually contain a genuine work by Yan Zhenqing.

Usually, when he got a scroll, he would carefully inspect it, checking for hidden layers and the wooden shaft, fearing that he might miss a treasure.

But he never expected that the wood of this scroll would be hollow.

At this moment, a bystander asked, "Master Yang, how much is this scroll worth?"

After staring at the calligraphy for a long time, Yang Ziqian reluctantly looked away and said, "At a recent auction in Hong Kong, a genuine work by Yan Zhenqing, which was smaller than this one, sold for 3 million yuan. Based on the quality of this scroll, I think it should be worth at least 5 million yuan."

"Heavens, a single scroll is worth so much?"

"The young man bought it for 5,000 yuan, and now it can be sold for 5 million. That's too profitable, isn't it?"

"What do you know? Calligraphy by famous artists is usually sold by the foot. A genuine work by Yan Zhenqing is definitely worth this much."

Amidst the comments, Yang Ziqian said to Ye Bufan, "Young man, to be honest, I personally love Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy. Can you sell it to me?

"The price is negotiable. I won't let you down. 6 million yuan, what do you think?"

Ye Bufan thought for a moment. This price was indeed fair. The most important thing was that he wanted a magical artifact and didn't care about antiques and calligraphy.

Thinking about this, he said, "Alright, I'll sell it to Mr. Yang."

"Brother, thank you. If you have any matters related to antiques in the future, just find me. I will do my best to help."

Yang Ziqian, with an excited look, took out a checkbook and wrote a 6 million yuan check, handing it to Ye Bufan, then carefully put away the genuine work by Yan Zhenqing.

The white rat was almost dumbfounded. A scroll worth 6 million yuan, which he had forced the young man to buy for 5,000 yuan, now made him feel like his heart was bleeding when he saw the check in Ye Bufan's hand.

"Mr. Bai, have you had enough? Shouldn't we settle the bet?"

Yang Ziqian said, "Mr. Bai, you lost this bet. Pay the young man the money quickly."

"I..."

Seeing a 6 million yuan scroll lost and now having to pay 200,000 yuan in gambling money, it felt like being cut from his flesh.

But with Yang Ziqian as the witness, he had no way to deny it, or he wouldn't be able to continue in the antique world.

Reluctantly, he took out his phone and transferred 200,000 yuan to Ye Bufan.

After the transfer was complete, Yang Ziqian said, "Young man, can you tell me how you figured out there was something inside the wooden shaft?"

This was something he had never understood. With his expertise in antiques, he hadn't noticed any flaws. He didn't know how Ye Bufan had discovered it.

Ye Bufan smiled and said, "Nothing special, just a lucky guess."

Yang Ziqian shook his head slightly. Apart from attributing it to luck, he couldn't find any other reason.

He then took out a business card and handed it to Ye Bufan, saying, "Young man, it's clear you have deep expertise in antiques. If you have any good items in the future, contact me directly."

"Alright."

Ye Bufan had a good impression of Yang Ziqian and put the business card in his pocket.

After that, he didn't stay in the antique shop any longer and continued to search for a magical artifact.

After everyone left, three tall and strong men entered from outside. The leader, a large black man, said to the white rat, "Brother, what should we do? We can't just let this kid take so much money from us?"

He was called Black Skin, and he was part of the same gang as the white rat. These people often dug graves, robbed, and committed fraud.

If Yang Ziqian hadn't been there, they wouldn't have let Ye Bufan leave so easily.

The white rat, gritting his teeth, said, "Of course not. No one has ever taken advantage of us!"

Black Skin said, "What should we do, Brother? Should we go and take care of that kid and get the money back?"

The white rat said, "I've told you many times, violence is a last resort. It could land us in jail."

Another man with a flat head said, "Brother, what should we do then?"

The white rat's eyes darted around and said, "We'll use our wits first. You go and find him, and try to get all the money out of him. If that doesn't work, we'll use force."