The next day, Chen Yang couldn't go to the flower and bird market to hunt for treasures first, because Master Baiyan was returning to Beijing that day, and as his student, Chen Yang naturally had to see him off at the airport.
Fang Hongda was busy with official duties, so he specially assigned a deputy secretary-general of the provincial party committee to see him off. With the staff's advance arrangements, Master Baiyan entered the VIP lounge through the VIP channel as soon as he arrived at the airport, and Chen Yang and the deputy secretary-general only accompanied him to the security checkpoint.
Before going through security, Master Baiyan specifically stopped to tell Chen Yang to come to Beijing whenever he had time. He would invite his friends in the Beijing calligraphy and painting circles, collectors, and his disciples to introduce Chen Yang to them. Faced with his teacher's kindness and support, Chen Yang naturally nodded respectfully in agreement.
After seeing his teacher off, Chen Yang took a provincial party committee car back to Rongcheng city. Rongcheng Airport was located in Yongle, a suburban county 60 kilometers away. The round trip took up almost the entire morning.
Chen Yang got off the bus at the Second Ring Road exit and eagerly hailed a taxi straight to the Rongcheng Flower and Bird Market.
The Flower and Bird Market isn't just about selling flowers and birds; it's a hub for trading flowers, pets, fish and insects, antiques, Shoushan stones, and more. As people's living standards improve, their spiritual needs also increase, naturally making the market even more popular. The current market was expanded in 2004, adding dedicated sections for Shoushan stones, antiques, and calligraphy/paintings.
There are stalls and shops, some as small as a two-foot square cloth on the ground displaying comic books, coins, badges, and other trinkets; others are hundreds of square meters, selling largely the same items, but with more upscale display cases, a more pleasant environment, and attractive female sales staff. Of course, the prices are also higher and more stable.
Chen Yang was looking for a small shop called "Qishiju" (奇石居). The flower and bird market wasn't large, and after browsing around, Chen Yang quickly found the shop in a secluded spot.
Looking up, the signboard with the three gilded characters "Qishiju" was old and worn, its surface mottled. Upon entering, Chen Yang saw two rows of shelves filled with Shoushan stones, while some rarer and finished pieces were locked in a glass case next to the counter. There were seals, inkstones, figures, flowers, birds, fish, and insects…
The lighting inside was poor. The shop owner sat behind the counter, wearing reading glasses and flipping through a copy of the *Rongcheng Metropolitan Daily*. Hearing someone enter, the owner put down the newspaper, slightly raising his eyes to peek through the gap above his black-rimmed glasses, a sly glint in his small eyes.
Chen Yang nodded slightly to the shop owner and began to stroll around the shop at his own pace.
"Young man, you've come to the right place! Don't let our small size fool you; in terms of the quantity of rare and precious items, you won't find another shop like this in the entire flower and bird market!" The shop owner approached, boasting enthusiastically.
Chen Yang smiled and nodded, slowly examining the items in the glass display case. His real target was the Shoushan stone rough stones on the back two shelves, but he couldn't just head straight for them. These shop owners were all shrewd and adept at reading people, so Chen Yang proceeded cautiously.
"This is Tianhuang stone, hand-carved by Master Liu Quanshu himself. It's absolutely a treasure among treasures..." The shop owner followed closely behind Chen Yang, enthusiastically introducing the item. The shop's location was a bit out of the way, and it didn't usually get many customers, mainly just regulars. Now that one had finally come, and he seemed like a young, inexperienced newcomer, the owner naturally wanted to capitalize on the opportunity and make a big profit.
Chen Yang chuckled inwardly. This roadside stall-level carving dared to claim it as Liu Quanshu's work? The shop owner truly thought he was a novice.
However, Chen Yang didn't call him out. Instead, he feigned ignorance, lingering before the "treasure," seemingly tempted.
"Young man, Master Liu Quanshu's works have appreciated the fastest in recent years! Did you know? Last year, a customer bought a seal by Master Liu Quanshu from me for 25,000 yuan, and it sold for 100,000 yuan at auction a few days ago!" Seeing Chen Yang's expression, the shop owner felt even more confident and became even more enthusiastic in his introduction.
Chen Yang simply smiled without saying a word, slowly and casually moving to the two rows of wooden shelves displaying raw Shoushan stones. He appeared to be strolling leisurely, but his eyes were actually scanning each stone rapidly. In his previous life, Chen Yang had only seen Master Bai Yan's finished carving and a photo of the raw stone once at his home. Fortunately, Chen Yang had an exceptional memory since childhood, and he still vividly remembered the appearance of this raw stone.
Although he walked slowly, the shop didn't have many raw stones, and Chen Yang quickly finished looking at them. His expression remained unchanged, but his heart was filled with turmoil.
The raw stone he had seen in his previous life wasn't in the shop!
Could his memory be wrong? Absolutely not!
Has history changed? Was this stone bought six months earlier? Chen Yang was completely baffled. Since his rebirth, apart from the absence of the Fang family's second young master in this world and some minor changes in matters related to him, everything else had been proceeding according to his understanding. Why was things going wrong here?
Chen Yang suddenly felt a pang of panic. The feeling of things being out of his control was awful. This had nothing to do with the value of the stone, but rather with the fact that Chen Yang's greatest advantage since his rebirth was his knowledge of the intricate power struggles and secrets between various families. Mastering this knowledge would allow him to navigate high society with ease. But if all of this became uncertain, his advantage would vanish.
Could it be that the flapping of his little butterfly's wings had already begun to change the world?
Chen Yang was in a state of utter confusion.
At this moment, the shopkeeper stopped following Chen Yang so closely. He realized that Chen Yang didn't seem to have any intention of buying anything; perhaps he was just browsing casually.
Just as Chen Yang was in a state of turmoil, a simply dressed young man, probably in his early twenties, entered carrying a wooden box. Upon seeing a customer, the shopkeeper immediately abandoned Chen Yang and went to greet him.
The box seemed a bit heavy. The young man placed it on the counter, slightly out of breath, and said to the shop owner:
"Boss, I have a piece of Shoushan stone here. Do you buy it?"
The shop owner smiled and said:
"Take a look first. If it's good, of course we'll take it!"
The young man nodded, opened the wooden box, and Chen Yang glanced at it casually. He almost felt his blood boil. The unremarkable, bluish-green raw stone lying quietly inside the box—wasn't that the very stone he had been searching for?
It was truly a case of "when you think you've reached the end of the road, a new path opens up!"
So that's how it is!
In his previous life, he knew that a lucky collector had bought this stone at Qishiju at the end of 2010. He'd heard it had been sitting there for a long time without anyone buying it, but that was all hearsay. The truth was that the shop owner had only acquired the stone a few months earlier.
What a coincidence! If he had arrived a day later, he would have easily bought the stone and made a small fortune; if he had arrived a day earlier, he would probably be racking his brains trying to figure out why!
At this moment, the shop owner glanced at the stone the young man had brought, and his face immediately showed extreme disappointment. He said,
"Young man, are you sure this is Shoushan stone?"
Sensing the shop owner's doubt, the young man became anxious and said quickly,
"Of course! This has been passed down in my family for generations! My great-grandfather collected it in Shoushan Village!"
The shop owner immediately sneered,
"Young man! You don't think that everything from Shoushan Village is Shoushan stone, do you? Let me tell you, there are many intricacies involved, and you wouldn't understand even if I explained! Let me put it this way, your stone is practically worthless. Even if what you say is true, with this quality, its value is limited." The young man was stunned by the shop owner's words, and after a long pause, he stammered, "How much are you offering? My dad said I absolutely can't sell it for less than ten thousand! This is our family heirloom! If it weren't for needing to treat my mother's illness, I would never have put this stone up for sale!"
Upon hearing the young man's offer, the shop owner burst out laughing. He said, "Ten thousand? Young man, if you can afford ten thousand per stone, I have as many stones as you want!"
"You…" The young man was momentarily speechless with anger. He wanted to pack up the wooden box and leave, but he had already been to many shops, and everyone shook their heads immediately upon hearing his offer; some even made sarcastic remarks. Thinking of his mother lying in a hospital bed waiting for money to save her life, the young man's confidence waned. He asked in a pleading tone, "How much can you offer?"
Seeing the young man soften, the shop owner also became more assertive, picking up the stone and examining it from all angles, occasionally tapping and striking it, acting as if he knew everything. Chen Yang watched coldly from the side, finding it amusing. If the shop owner could determine the true value of this Shoushan stone like that, he wouldn't need to run a shop; he could just gamble on stones.
This stone was completely unremarkable from the outside. In his previous life, the collector had only revealed its true nature by chance, accidentally damaging a corner during polishing.
From its appearance, it was a very poor-quality shrimp-back green stone, and its price was obvious. It didn't even require close examination to draw a conclusion; its market value was only around three or four thousand. The shop owner's behavior was clearly an attempt to lower the price.
Sure enough, the shop owner looked at it for two or three minutes before slowly looking up and saying,
"This is the most I can give you for this stone!"
He held up five fingers.
"Five thousand?" The young man was a little disappointed; this was double what he was willing to pay.
The shop owner sneered and said disdainfully,
"I said five hundred! Spending five thousand yuan on such a piece of junk? I'd have to be crazy! To tell you the truth, I'd probably throw five hundred yuan down the drain. This kind of stone has no aesthetic value; no customer would be interested!"
Chen Yang, who had been observing for a while, suddenly had a flash of inspiration when he saw the shop owner and the young man haggling. A plan formed in his mind.