By the time it was one o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Yiyang was already on the high-speed train.
Only then did he remember he had agreed with Chang Yuning last night to handle the property transfer today.
So Chen Yiyang could only call Chang Yuning to explain the situation and repeatedly assure him that he had no intention of breaking the agreement.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Yiyang arrived on time in West Capital City.
In ancient times, West Capital was a famous big city, even being the first choice as the capital for ancient dynasties for a long period.
And even now, it is considered a populous, flourishing metropolis.
As soon as Chen Yiyang left the train station, he was immediately surrounded by the hustle and bustle before his eyes.
After turning down some illegal car drivers, Chen Yiyang was thinking about calling for a ride-hailing car to take him directly to the Antique Market.
Suddenly, an aunt approached him, "Young man, come over here, Aunt has something to tell you."
Experienced Chen Yiyang immediately knew what was going on.
So he quickly walked out of the train station, then stood by the roadside to book a car online.
If this were about a decade ago and he wasn't in a hurry, Chen Yiyang might have followed the aunt to see the world.
But in this era, the aunt is truly just an aunt, and following her would mean paying to do her bidding.
Chen Yiyang hoped he could smoothly find a hidden treasure today; if he's lucky, he might buy the last train ticket back to Jin City.
But things didn't go as planned.
The ride-hailing car he booked online took almost an hour to arrive. As Chen Yiyang opened the car door, ready to complain, the driver exclaimed, "Quick, get in the car, or there'll be trouble soon."
"Can't we park around here?" Chen Yiyang asked curiously as he got into the car.
"No, it's those illegal car drivers; they don't let us ride-hailing cars pick up customers here." The driver quickly explained the situation.
This opened Chen Yiyang's eyes.
It really had an air of the old days when the world felt more untamed.
After the car started, the driver visibly relaxed a lot, driving with one hand while using the other to twist open a water bottle lid to take a sip.
"It's really congested today, getting there might take one or two hours, young man, you're not in a hurry, right?"
"I'm not in a hurry." Chen Yiyang covered his forehead, thinking he probably couldn't head back tonight.
Because they hadn't driven long before he experienced the congestion of this city.
It was indeed packed.
This brother taking an hour to come pick him up was already quite remarkable.
"West Capital is like this; there's no way around it. This place is like taking out half of its body from the core.
There's Xianyang on one side, Han-site on another, height restrictions within the city, and the city wall. You'd be surprised if it wasn't congested."
The driver grumbles as he casually chats with Chen Yiyang, broadening his knowledge.
Once they arrived at the destination, the driver casually parked the car, found an empty spot to squeeze in, then signaled to Chen Yiyang that he could get out.
But one has to say, the scale of West Capital's Antique Market indeed couldn't be compared to Jin City's.
In Jin City, the Antique Street was simply a quiet street away from the bustling areas where everyone set up their stalls, calling it a market.
But here, a real market was built.
Various stalls along with storefronts were lined up one after another. The traffic was overwhelmingly large, and there were plenty of people standing in front of each stall.
Chen Yiyang followed the sequence to find stall number 269.
On the way, he encountered quite a few amusing things.
"How much is this?"
"I had someone look at it; it's Han, but it's not authenticated, so if you want it, it's three million."
"Why don't you just rob?"
"If it were robbery, there isn't that much cash in the banks now." The stall owner confidently replied.
"Then don't settle for three million, how about thirty million?"
"Alright, deal!"
The stall owner suddenly jumped up, "You dare to offer a price, I dare to sell. According to the rules, you offered a price, and I agreed, so this deal is settled. Pay up."
"I'll pay you a hammer's worth."
These two brothers were ready to fight on the slightest provocation. Luckily, the staff responsible for managing the market were quite diligent.
Experienced as they were, as soon as they noticed something amiss, they hurriedly gathered to mediate.
Worried about unforeseen complications, Chen Yiyang quickly walked towards stall 269.
When he arrived, he saw someone he knew.
"Miss, we need to be reasonable here. You wanted to see this porcelain yourself, and now it's chipped, I can't sell it, so there's no problem with selling it to you.
You know I'm not some con artist, nor did I ask for millions, just a small item worth a hundred and twenty thousand. If you pay up, this matter will be settled, right?"
"But, clearly, it's because you didn't hold it tightly that it fell."
"How could you spread lies on the spot, young lady? I've been selling things here for many years; surely, I can hold onto a small ceramic bottle?"
"What's going on here?" Chen Yiyang spoke as he squeezed over.
Grabbing the arm of the girl who was being held by the stall owner, he forcibly pulled her away from the stall owner's grip.
"Who are you?" The vendor looked at Chen Yiyang.
"I'm her brother." Chen Yiyang pointed at the girl and said.
This girl was no stranger; they had even booked a hotel together a few days ago.
"What are you doing here?" Xu Xiaosheng widened her eyes.
She hadn't expected to see Chen Yiyang in a place like this.
After buying an ancient book from Chen Yiyang, Xu Xiaosheng hadn't had a chance to study it.
She was called by a teacher from her school to help at an archaeological site in the West Capital.
Having just arrived in the West Capital not long ago, she had some free time today and thought about visiting the Antique Market.
Just as she had her eye on a small porcelain vase and asked the vendor to hand it over.
During the handover, she didn't know who hadn't held it steady, and the small vase fell, chipping a little piece off.
As a result, Xu Xiaosheng was held by the vendor, who wouldn't let her go.
"You silly girl." Chen Yiyang ruffled Xu Xiaosheng's hair and said, "I told you to wait for me; why did you run over by yourself?"
Realizing that Chen Yiyang was stepping up for her, Xu Xiaosheng lowered her head and hummed in agreement, not arguing with him.
"You're this girl's brother, right?" The vendor took advantage of the situation and grabbed Chen Yiyang.
But Chen Yiyang, looking at the vendor's hand, said, "This shirt of mine costs a hundred thousand; it'll be a thousand just to clean it after getting dirty."
"Who are you kidding?" The vendor instinctively retracted his hand while retorting, "I don't see how your shirt could be worth a hundred thousand."
"Well, I don't see how this porcelain is worth a hundred and twenty thousand, either." Chen Yiyang looked at the porcelain vase that caused the dispute.
A palm-sized plain white porcelain vase, even if it was really an antique, would barely be worth a few thousand at most.
"Look at the glaze, the color. It's identical to the porcelain described as coming from the official kilns of the Song Dynasty in the antique appraisals. I'm already asking for little with one hundred twenty thousand." The vendor was all bluster.
Chen Yiyang knew arguing about the price of this vase with him would get them nowhere.
The price of antiques is inherently a very subjective thing.
"In our trade, there's a rule," Chen Yiyang said slowly, "called 'No Hand-to-Hand Handling of Porcelain'. Because porcelain is fragile, it's always been that the seller places it on a table or the ground, and the buyer picks it up themselves.
Just now, you both said that my sister wanted to take a look, but you were the one who grabbed it to hand over. How have you been mixing here for so many years without knowing this rule?!"
"What 'No Hand-to-Hand Handling of Porcelain', I've never heard of it." The vendor, realizing Chen Yiyang knew the trade, prepared to play dumb.
"Hey, anyone got a loudspeaker? I'll pay a hundred to borrow it." Chen Yiyang directly borrowed a loudspeaker from a nearby vendor.
"What are you up to, boy?" The vendor looked at Chen Yiyang, eyes wide.
"Didn't you say you didn't know the rule against hand-to-hand handling of porcelain? I'm just going to stand here today and ask our peers in the West Capital antique circle if there's not a single person who knows the rules in such a big market!"
Chen Yiyang's voice was like a bell, not one bit concerned about blowing up the situation.
Seeing this, the vendor realized that if Chen Yiyang really started shouting with the loudspeaker, he'd get scolded by the surrounding peers.
Because the rule of antique trading is to prohibit hand-to-hand transfers!
Any item should first be talked about, then picked up. If a buyer wants to buy something, the seller has to first put it aside.
This indicates that the seller isn't playing tricks and the item won't fall apart once picked up.
The vendor, seeing this little girl Xu Xiaosheng ask for the price, immediately handed it over, clearly planning to scam a bit.
Unfortunately, he didn't expect Chen Yiyang to appear halfway through.
"So how do you plan to resolve this?" the vendor asked.
"We pick one little thing from your stand to buy, and we'll consider this matter resolved. How does that sound to you?"
"Fine." The vendor could only grit his teeth and agree.
A few years ago, could this kid have let the matter slide so easily?
But times have changed. Information spreads too quickly now, and if they made a big scene today, they might end up on national headlines tomorrow.
Then other major players in the industry might come to have a word with him, asking why he tarnished the reputation of his peers.
So this matter could only be left at that.
"Pick one, what do you like?" Chen Yiyang nudged Xu Xiaosheng.
"I—I don't even know anymore." Xu Xiaosheng was still in a daze.
So Chen Yiyang guided her slowly, "Let's not touch the antiques; the stuff here is prone to damage. Look at the modern, fun items."
"Modern?" Xu Xiaosheng began looking around the stall under Chen Yiyang's guidance.
"That watch case looks nice." Chen Yiyang whispered.
"Then, I'll choose this watch case." Xu Xiaosheng pointed to an apparently old-looking pocket watch case.
"As long as you like it." Chen Yiyang immediately pointed to the watch case and asked the vendor, "How much is this thing?"
"Twenty thousand." The vendor replied with a sour face.
He originally thought that to make peace, Chen Yiyang would at least pick something that looked like it was worth ten thousand.
So that they could all save face in the end.
But in the end, he chose something he himself forgot where he collected it from.
"Two thousand." Chen Yiyang extended two fingers.