Chapter 125: Chapter 121: The King of Fraud, Never Fails! (Please Subscribe)

The next day.

May 28th.

As the sun began to rise, a warm orange-red hue gradually spread across the sky. On the roadside, leaves and blades of grass were covered in glittering dewdrops, twinkling in the morning light.

A gentle, cool breeze brushed across Lin Chuan’s face, slowly eroding his drowsiness.

Lin Chuan and the Little Landlady had arranged to meet President Li at Yueming Tea House.

To demonstrate the importance they placed on this batch of antiques, they did not ride in a small electric vehicle, but instead called for a luxury car specifically for the trip.

The car: Mercedes-Benz GLC.

The driver: Wang Zikai.

“Old Lin, you… wow!” Wang Zikai, sitting in the driver’s seat, turned his head and saw Lin Chuan getting into the car with the Little Landlady. He couldn’t help but raise his thumb.

This guy!

He had been worried about him not being able to find a girlfriend before, but it turned out, one girl after another kept showing up around him.

The girl today was wearing a floral dress and was as pretty as a movie star. According to Old Lin, she was his landlady, as well as his Chief Financial Officer, Head of Human Resources, and the main investor in his company!

Since the Little Landlady was present, Wang Zikai could only give a hearty greeting to Lin Chuan, to save face for his brother.

But in his heart, he was quietly cursing Lin Chuan.

Old Lin must be the incarnation of the God of Marriage, binding himself with so many red strings—two policewomen and a little landlady who’s a rich investor?

I’m not like him; I only have one novelist rich investor.

“Driver, to Yueming Tea House,” Lin Chuan instructed from the back seat, with the Little Landlady beside him, giving orders to Old Wang.

Old Wang curled his lip, but since his brother was with a girl, he could only comply, saying, “Passengers in the back, please fasten your seatbelts. We are now headed to Yueming Tea House.”

Lin Chuan laughed, “Old Wang, you got up early in the morning to pick us up. Didn’t interrupt your sweet dream, did we?”

“Dear highly-subscribed author passenger, I am at your service anytime!” Old Wang replied again.

“Cut it out, be serious.”

Lin Chuan said, laughing.

“My anti-fraud novel ‘Inescapable’ has already concluded, so recently Qiqi suggested I go to bed earlier. Otherwise, it’s easy for my liver to overheat, affecting kidney function,” Old Wang explained.

“You better take care of yourself,” Lin Chuan teased.

“What are you doing heading to Yueming Tea House so early in the morning?” Old Wang asked curiously.

Patting the box in his hand, Lin Chuan smiled, “I’ve recently got my hands on a few antiques. I’m taking them for someone to appraise.”

“Antiques?”

Old Wang was surprised. “You’ve started getting involved in the antiques circle. You have a wide array of interests. How about the anti-fraud writing competition?”

“The competition for advancing to the next round will be settled on May 31st. There are three more days,” said Lin Chuan with a smile.

“That’s true. Old Lin, do you think I can win a prize?”

“Second prize, maybe.”

“And what about you?”

“First prize.”

“There’s only one first prize—it’s highly competitive, with film adaptation and rights development at stake!”

Old Wang spat dismissively.

The second round would be judged by professional jurors—anti-fraud experts, anti-fraud police, and fraud victims—whose standards would be distinct from the popular traction gained through mass marketing campaigns.

This judging panel would place more emphasis on exposing the evils of fraud to achieve the effect of anti-fraud awareness.

“Just wait for my adaptation, and I will take you to see the movie,” Lin Chuan said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

“I think my fraud plots were written very well. I have a better chance of adaptation!” Old Wang protested.

Lin Chuan chuckled, “Have you forgotten who taught you those fraud schemes?”

“Uh…”

Old Wang found himself at a loss for words.

The Mercedes-Benz GLC sped through the pale golden morning sun, its engine roaring down the street. Shortly after, they arrived at the Yueming Villa.

Old Wang waited in the car for Lin Chuan.

Holding the box, Lin Chuan walked into Yueming Tea House with the Little Landlady.

It was the same waitress as before, dressed in a qipao with a welcoming smile. They entered the same private room as last time, pushing open the door to find President Li already waiting for them.

“President Li, sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Lin Chuan put the box aside and shook hands with President Li amiably.

With a warm smile, President Li said, “Director Lin, Little Director Zhang, I’ve only just arrived myself. Shall we have Pu’er tea again?”

“Sure,” Lin Chuan and the Little Landlady nodded in agreement.

As President Li held the teacups with tongs, he said, “My wife really liked the hundred-year-old Southern Red Agate bracelet that Little Director Zhang brought yesterday. She specifically asked me to thank you.”

“It’s us who should be thanking President Li. You’re like a guide for us in the antiques circle,” Lin Chuan complimented President Li.

“Haha, Lin Chuan, we are just exchanging and exploring ideas together,” President Li chuckled.

Each exchanged pleasantries, but both harbored their own cunning plots.

“Did you two pick up quite a few nice things at East Street yesterday?” President Li asked with a smile, pouring a cup of tea for Lin Chuan and the Little Landlady.

“I’m just trying my hand at it. Whether they’re authentic or not, good or bad, I’ll have to rely on President Li to appraise them for us,” Lin Chuan replied with a smile.

Then, he opened the box, took out the antiques he had picked up the day before, and laid them out one by one for President Li to examine.

President Li took a sip of tea, picked up the ‘Xuande Furnace’ closest to him, and examined it carefully.

“President Li, feel free to speak your mind,” Lin Chuan prompted.

“Director Lin, how much did you pay for this furnace?” President Li gently brushed his hand over the ‘Xuande Furnace’, frowning slightly as he asked.

“Three thousand five hundred.”

Lin Chuan quoted the overpriced offer made casually by the seller.

President Li clicked his tongue and then sipped his tea, “Director Lin, I’m not going to lie to you, this furnace is most likely mass-produced.”

“President Li, could you talk about the specific methods of identification?” Lin Chuan asked earnestly, eager to learn.

“Director Lin, since you’ve just entered the field, let me teach you some basic methods. Look at the patina on this furnace. For copperware that’s truly ancient, the patina is very distinctive, like right here…”

President Li spoke with great patience.

In his eyes, he thought Lin Chuan and Zhang Xinxin, these two young people, decided to venture into the antiques circle, impetuously buying a bunch of items after selling a string of beads for 120,000 yuan the day before.

“President Li, take a look at this hairpin,” said Lin Chuan.

“This hairpin has quite nice craftsmanship.”

“And this folding fan here, the owner said it’s a piece by Zheng Banqiao.”

“Hmm… it should come in handy when the weather is hot.”

“President Li, take another look at this coin,” Lin Chuan said as he placed a coin in front of President Li to inspect.

President Li had been talking for quite a while and his mouth was dry, so he took a sip of tea.

He was already contemplating how to reply with high EQ, thinking something along the lines of “this ancient coin with a face value of one yuan should be worth one yuan.”

Putting down the teacup.

President Li, wearing a smile, picked up the coin before him, glanced at it, and was about to make his judgment when suddenly—

He furrowed his brows slightly, his eyes condensed, and a flash of surprise and doubt crossed his face, quickly disappearing.

President Li stared intently at the obverse of the coin, which read “Guimao Year Fengtian Province Made Guangxu Yuanbao Treasury Flat Silver One Tael,” with a coiled dragon pattern in the center on the reverse, and the minting place’s name in English along with the coin’s value around the edges.

Hiss!

President Li drew in a sharp breath, straightened his posture significantly, and focused deeply on the coin he was holding.

The coin had an ancient and solemn appearance, the silver slightly oxidized, presenting a unique silver-gray hue, darker around the edges and progressively brighter towards the center, with a natural, smooth transition that gleamed softly under the light.

The front featured vigorously powerful lettering surrounded by exquisite patterns, smooth lines, and on the reverse, the dragon’s scales were clearly visible, its eyes vivid and lifelike.

The patina on both sides of the coin was unequivocally formed naturally.

President Li’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper, his mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to express it.

Eventually.

He swallowed, calmed the rapid beating of his heart, and slowly set down the coin: “Director Lin, I need to use the restroom. Please excuse me for a moment.”

Without waiting to see what expressions Lin Chuan and the Little Landlady had, he had already walked out of the private room and went towards a secluded corner of the Yueming Tea House, making sure there was no surveillance and nobody around, before he took out his cellphone and made a call.

“Hello, Sister Liu!”

President Li began, breathing somewhat rapidly.

“Did you handle those two kids? Once you’ve taken care of them, take them to the antique market for some fun, and let them have a taste of success.” A woman’s voice came from the phone.

If Lin Chuan and the Little Landlady had been present, they would surely have recognized the voice.

It was none other than Old Zhang’s partner, Liu Qing.

“Liu Qing, there’s been a change!” President Li took a deep breath and said.

“What happened?” Liu Qing asked.

“That kid might have stumbled upon something good!” President Li gulped and said.

“He’s an antiques rookie. I looked at a few things he scavenged last night; not an ounce of talent for antiques. What good could he possibly have?” Liu Qing snorted.

“He showed me several items, truly the kind that only a rookie would pick up, but just now he showed me a coin,” President Li said seriously.

“What coin?”

“Fengtian One Tael!”

On the other end of the phone, Liu Qing was clearly taken aback, and then said, “You’ve been fooled too, there’s only one Fengtian One Tael coin, how could it be in his hands?”

“I couldn’t believe it myself, but that coin, it looks so much alike!” President Li said with some excitement.

“Calm down and describe that coin to me in detail,” Liu Qing instructed.

“Alright.”

President Li described in detail everything he saw, including the coin’s appearance, color, patina, smoothness, and its general size and weight, without missing a single detail.

“If it’s really as you described, it does seem quite similar,” Liu Qing said after listening, now a bit hesitant herself.

The Fengtian One Tael was the “King of Coins” among modern silver coins.

Liu Qing and President Li, as people mingling in the antiques circle, knew all too well the Fengtian One Tael that had once sold for an astronomical price of 46 million yuan.

President Li looked around carefully, then said, “If that coin really is the Fengtian One Tael, our performance…”

“See if you can trick him into giving you that coin, or at the very least take a video of it for me to authenticate!” Liu Qing’s heart was also stirring with eagerness.

She had meticulously crafted a scheme to entice Old Zhang into the trap, and the expected profit was merely in the tens of millions.

But then, a Fengtian One Tael suddenly surfaced in her ears!

Forty-six million yuan!

That number was irresistibly enticing to her.

In the private room.

After President Li left, the Little Landlady leaned in front of Lin Chuan and whispered, “Do you think they’ll fall for our setup?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve never failed,” Lin Chuan sipped his tea and smiled.

“Hm?”

The Little Landlady frowned and looked up at Lin Chuan, “Never failed, have you done this kind of thing before?”

Lin Chuan’s face darkened as he joked, “I’m a decent person, very honest.”

“You’re not honest about anything!” the Little Landlady pouted.

“I was just joking.”

Lin Chuan laughed.

In fact, he wasn’t joking at all.

As the king of con artists, he had staged hundreds of such setups and indeed, had never failed!