Chapter Eighteen: He Lao Tells a Carefree Story

  Li Yang was stunned for a moment, and under Zhang Ying's gaze, he hastily handed over the jade snuff bottle with both hands. Hei Lao is the Tai Shan Bei Dou of the antique world, could it be that this jade snuff bottle is actually an antique?

  "Let me see!" Old He smiled and took over the snuff bottle, while the middle-aged woman behind him hastily handed over a pair of glasses. After putting on the glasses, Old He's expression changed immediately.

  "Good stuff, it's really good stuff! This is a large open door jade snuff bottle. Young man, where did you get this from?" He Lao exclaimed loudly after examining it for three whole minutes.

  "This was probably passed down from our ancestors!" Li Yang smiled, but in front of this old man, he really felt a bit apprehensive and couldn't even lie smoothly.

  The old man nodded: "This thing should be left by the ancestors, it is a mid-Qing dynasty jade snuff bottle, at that time this was a rare good thing, it looks like it should be used by the royal family, such things generally have records, young man you wait, I'll make a phone call to check!"

  The old man finished speaking and stood up. He looked like he was in his seventies or eighties, but he walked with a lot of energy, and the cane seemed to be just for show.

  "Manager Zhang, what's going on?" The old man entered the house and Li Yang asked in a low voice.

  "You little brat, I'm really jealous of your good luck. If this thing can really be found out, the price can't be discussed just from the jade!" Zhang Ying excitedly pounded Li Yang's shoulder, and the envy and jealousy in his eyes were not hidden at all.

  "Manager Zhang, you mean this snuff bottle is an antique, and its value is even higher than jade?"

  "It's almost, but not what you said. The main thing is whether it can be verified or not. If it has a source, the value will be higher. If it's used by the royal family, the value will be even higher. Moreover, even if it's just an ordinary antique, its value is still higher than that of a pure jade ornament, let alone this thing is so exquisitely carved!" Zhang Ying smiled and nodded his head, and Li Yang finally understood a bit.

  Following the old man into the living room, Li Yang was instantly shocked by the ancient and elegant atmosphere in the living room. There were very few modern amenities in the living room, making Li Yang feel as if he had really traveled back to ancient times. This feeling was absolutely not something that could be brought about by some ancient costume tourist areas.

  He Lao walked out of the inner room with a spirited look on his face, which had been calm just moments before, after sitting in the living room for about twenty minutes.

  "Li Yang, I'll tell you a story!" He Lao sat down and smiled at Li Yang, without mentioning the origin of the jade snuff bottle, but instead wanting to tell him a story.

  Seeing Li Yang looking dazed, Zhang Ying hurriedly and secretly kicked him with her foot, replacing Li Yang to say to He Lao: "He Lao, you tell us, it's been a long time since we've heard you tell stories!"

  He Lao nodded slightly and smiled, his eyes narrowing into a slit as he began to speak slowly: "In the late Qing dynasty during the reign of Qianlong, there was an official named Sun Shiyue who had served as the governor of Yunnan and the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi. On one occasion when Sun Shiyue was on a diplomatic mission to Vietnam, he brought back with him a treasured item from the Vietnamese imperial family and reported it to Qianlong in a memorial. As a result, Qianlong ordered Sun Shiyue to bring the object back to the capital and present it to the emperor for inspection."

  Zhang Ying's eyes lit up and he looked at Li Yang, the envy in his eyes grew stronger. Li Yang was still dazed, but Zhang Ying had already understood very clearly.

  He Lao took a sip of water, shook his head and continued: "When Sun Shiyue brought the treasure to wait outside the palace, he happened to meet Heshen, the most famous minister at that time. Heshen asked him what was in his hand, Sun Shiyue said it was just a small snuff bottle. Heshen wanted to see it, but Sun Shiyue didn't want to give it to him. At that time, Heshen's power was overwhelming, and he couldn't refuse him!"

  Li Yang also felt it at this point, he stared blankly at He Lao, the story He Lao was telling wouldn't be about the snuff bottle in his hand, would it?

  He Lao smiled and continued: "After Heshen saw it, he said to Sun Shiyu, 'This thing is not bad. Can you give it to me?' Sun Shiyu had already informed the emperor in advance and didn't dare offend Heshen, so he told him the truth, letting Heshen know that this was something the emperor had asked for in advance. Heshen didn't mind at the time and left. A few days later, Sun Shiyu met Heshen again, and Heshen took out a snuff bottle and proudly said to Sun Shiyu, 'Take a look at my snuff bottle. How does it compare to yours?'"

  He stopped here and smiled at Li Yang and his two companions.

  "What about Sun Shiyu?" Li Yang asked absent-mindedly, having been completely absorbed in the conversation. After asking, he saw that everyone was looking at him and felt embarrassed, lowering his head.

  He Lao seemed to have not taken it seriously and smiled, saying: "As for what Sun Shi Yi said, I really don't know, but he recognized the snuff bottle in He Shen's hand as the one he had presented to the Emperor. After that, Sun Shi Yi made some inquiries and didn't hear about the Emperor giving the snuff bottle to anyone. Only then did Sun Shi Yi realize that He Shen could already take things from the palace without even asking!"

  "So that's how this snuff bottle ended up in He Xuan's hands?" Zhang Ying looked at Li Yang and asked He Lao with a smile.

  "That's right, later Heshen was confiscated, and this thing entered the palace again. In the end, no one knows how it flowed out, but I have 90% confidence that the snuff bottle brought by Little Li is the one that Sun Shiyi presented to the emperor and later fell into Heshen's hands!"

  He Lao chuckled and nodded, while Li Yang stared blankly at the small snuff bottle in front of him, he really hadn't expected that this little thing had such a story behind it, and was actually connected to the corrupt official Heshen.

  "Little Li, what did your ancestors do?" Mr. He suddenly asked Li Yang a question.

  "I heard from my dad that my grandfather's grandfather used to be an official in the Beiyang Army, but I'm not sure what position he held!"

  Li Yang was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied with a sentence. This was something he had only just learned about today, and it was true. His father wouldn't lie to him, would he?

  "No wonder! It seems that this thing was lost from the Qing palace and finally fell into your family's hands. It's also rare to be able to preserve it so well!"

  He Lao nodded and smiled, He Lao's mood was very good, he hadn't come into contact with such a good thing for a long time.

  "We just found out today, and I brought it to Manager Zhang just to see how much it's worth!" Li Yang rubbed his nose somewhat embarrassedly, feeling a bit uncomfortable lying in front of Old He.

  "Normally, it should be between 50 million and 60 million. If it's auctioned off, it might even sell for 80 million, but that's hard to say!"

  He Lao looked at the jade snuff bottle on the table and said slowly after a moment of thought.

  "This is too much!" Li Yang was stunned for a moment, turned his head to look at Li Cheng, and found that he was also staring blankly at himself. The two brothers were both shocked by the price.

  "What he means is that if there's someone who really likes it, they might bid a higher price. If not, the bidding might be lower. But in any case, 5-6 million is still worth it, that's its market value!"

  Zhang Ying quietly explained to Li Yang, actually Zhang Ying himself was an antique enthusiast. When Li Yang showed him the thing, he found that it was a great opportunity, so he brought them to find He Lao.

  "Then, Old He, do you know who likes this thing? To be honest, none of us in the family understand it. Keeping it on hand also makes me anxious, so I'd rather just sell it directly!"

  After thinking for a while, Li Yang carefully said to He Lao that today was the first time he had dealt with He Lao, and he didn't know what kind of personality or temperament He Lao had, nor did he know what He Lao thought about selling such good things.

  He Lao raised his head and stared straight at Li Yang: "You want to sell?"

  "Yes, if others knew that our family had something worth 50 or 60 million, we'd be haunted by thieves every day!" Li Yang hastily lowered his head.

  He Lao nodded: "That's right, having this thing is a crime. It may not be a good thing for you, selling it would be better. If you really want to sell it, I can take it off your hands. How about 6 million?"

  Li Yang suddenly felt a sense of relief in his heart, He Lao was willing to buy it himself, which was the best for Li Yang, and it was practical to exchange this thing for money as soon as possible.

  "He Lao, do you think this is okay? If it weren't for you telling us about these today, we wouldn't have known their actual value. If you want to, just 50 million will do; after all, 50 million is a lot higher than what we had expected!"

  The old man's eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light, and he looked at Li Yang in surprise, then glanced at Zhang Ying, before nodding slightly: "Alright, I'll take advantage of you today, old man. I want this thing, write down your bank account number for me, and I'll transfer the money to you right away!"

  "Great!" Li Yang hastily pulled out his bank card, copied down the number and handed it to He Lao with both hands: "He Lao, my brother and I still need to go home today to tell our parents this good news, so we won't bother you anymore today!"

  "Go, you're leaving now?" He Lao looked even more surprised, pointing at the snuff bottle: "Aren't you afraid that after you leave, I'll confiscate your things and not give you any money?"

  "Mr. He, from the moment I first laid eyes on you, I felt that you were a highly learned and talented individual, I believe in you!"

  Li Yang smiled and shook his head, while Zhang Ying smiled and nodded slightly beside him. He Lao's eyes flashed with praise.

  "Alright then, I won't keep you old folks any longer. Don't think that the old man is a nuisance, in the future when you have time, come visit often and I'll tell you stories!"

  He Lao got up and personally escorted Li Yang and his group to the door. He didn't close the door until their car had left.

  "Wow, Li Yang, I really didn't expect you to have such a high capacity, great, really great!" Zhang Ying lavished praise on Li Yang as soon as they got in the car.

  "What a big deal! It's almost dark, I just want to go home early for safety!"

  Li Yang smiled wryly and actually he didn't dare to continue staying in front of He Lao, always lying to such an old man made him very uncomfortable.

  "Haha, suit yourself, but I can tell you, Li Yang, what you did today was absolutely right. Don't worry, Old He has probably already transferred the money to your card, and having a good relationship with Old He will be very helpful to you in the future. You little brat, how do you always have such great luck wherever you go?"

  Zhang Ying sighed and said, Li Yang didn't know He Lao's true identity. Later when he found out, he realized that what Zhang Ying had said wasn't exaggerated at all, but rather understated.

  Thank you, (Scarecrow) friend, for the two 588 starting point coins reward. Thank you, Little Pocket Alliance Master, for the 588 starting point coins reward. Thank you, Ah Gan 041614 friend, for the 100 starting point coins reward. Xiao Yu sincerely thanks you all! Seeing so many rewards, writing is even more energetic than before!!!