Chapter 395: Antiques Deal
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"Choo! Choo!"
Accompanied by the rhythmic noise of the steam engine and the billowing white smoke, the train slowly arrived at the capital's station.
Once the train doors opened, an ocean of green and grey swarmed out the train carriages. Large amounts of passengers dragged their luggage and carried their bags as they squeezed towards the exit.
Outside the train station, it was bustling with activity. There were numerous stalls selling snacks and maps and the hawkers were enthusiastic touting away at each passenger. All sorts of dialects could be heard and the area was filled with life.
Fang Yuan carried a haversack and still appeared like a child. As he saw the boisterous scene in front of him, he felt slightly lost as he felt he could not fit in.
Soon enough, he saw a guy in a large military coat and red scarf raising a piece of cardboard and walked towards him.
"Are you schoolmate Fang Yuan?"
The guy warmly introduced himself, "I am Sun Jian, Professor He's student!"
"Hello!"
Fang Yuan shook his hand. Immediately, Sun Jian's face turned slightly surprised, "You came over by yourself? Where's your luggage?"
"This is sufficient, let's go!" Fang Yuan replied while patting his backpack.
"Oh, great! There's also another schoolmate, he arrived earlier!"
Sun Jian was very friendly. He then brought Fang Yuan to a green coloured jeep at the carpark.
"The capital is very big, there are many fun places to go! Once you all settle down, I will bring you all around!"
"Thank you!"
Fang Yuan sat at the back and saw another teenager seating beside him as expected.
The teenager's skin was abnormally pale, he was skinny and his face was ice cold, as though he did not want anyone to get close to him.
"Hello, I am Fang Yuan!"
Fang Yuan reached out his hand.
"Lin Xing!"
Lin Xing had his arms crossed and an "I don't want to talk" look on his face.
"Lin Xing has very good hands-on skills! The machines he upgraded even won the top prize in a national level award!" Sun Jian added cheerily.
"Well... geniuses are haughty I guess!" Fang Yuan thought to himself and rolled his eyes.
Fang Yuan then began looking at the buildings and scenery outside.
Although there were no modern skyscrapers, there was still a unique charm to the Chinese courtyard houses mixed with cement buildings.
One and a half hour later, the jeep drove into Xijing University, the number one institute in Chinese Country.
As it was the start of the new school year, many new students could be seen busily doing their stuff in the beautiful school campus.
"Here we are!"
The jeep parked below a dormitory. Once Fang Yuan and Lin Xing got out of the car, they were welcomed by He Tianming, "The dorm is already prepared and it is a double bedroom! As you all are still young, the school specially granted you all exemption from military training! I will be your class' form teacher."
"Greetings, Teacher He!"
Fang Yuan immediately greeted He Tianming after he got out of the car.
"It's great that both of you are here! There's no lesson these few days, you all can take this time to get used to the new environment!"
He Tianming handed them a stash of meal coupons and cash as he continued, "Both of you are independent since young, I hope you all will remain disciplined here! Don't let down the school's contribution to you all!"
"Yes!"
Fang Yuan solemnly promised, while Lin Xing nonchalantly agreed, which made He Tianming feel speechless. In Fang Yuan's eyes, Lin Xing was like a rebellious teenager.
"Also, technically, your Gifted Class will not be split into faculties during Year 1. You all will be taking culture classes together to build up your foundations! For Fang Yuan, I have already spoken to them and you will be allowed to listen in classes from the Biology Faculty and Medicine Faculty!"
"Thank you!"
If not for these conditions, Fang Yuan would not have come here.
From now, Fang Yuan would amass knowledge for two years and complete his own knowledge base before amazing others with his next move.
…...
First of all, they went to the canteen to have a meal together. As He Tianming had some urgent matter to attend to, he quickly left first.
Fang Yuan was taking big bites out his steamed buns and swallowed the whole bowl of pork vermicelli quickly. His massive appetite and kiddish appearance attracted the looks of many seniors.
Whereas Lin Xing had already hidden at a corner as though he felt ashamed to be associated with Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan ate his last steamed bun, rubbed his stomach contentedly and looked towards Lin Xing, "Do you want to tour around outside?"
"No need!"
With a cold expression on his face, Lin Xing left immediately.
"Sigh... kids should be cheerful and smile more..."
Fang Yuan sighed begrudgingly like an old man which made Sun Jian laugh, "Fang Yuan, aren't you only just 15 too?"
As Sun Jian spoke, a tinge of pity could be seen in his eyes, "... Also, you were not well fed last time? Don't worry, many university students who just entered were like that too, you will get used to it!"
"I wasn't mistreated or abused last time..." Fang Yuan thought to himself as he secretly rolled his eyes.
Fang Yuan then immediately steered the conversation towards sightseeing.
"Haha... Fang Yuan, you are so energetic, where do you want to go?" Sun Jian was a bit surprised and asked.
"I heard there are three antique markets here! Let's not talk about the Glaze Factory market and Pan Family Gardens market first, let's go take a look at Sambhogakaya Monastery first!"
Fang Yuan wiped his mouth.
"Oh, didn't think you would be interested in antiques! Are you interested in majoring archaeology too?" Sun Jian smiled.
"It's just that I heard it's bustling and since the jeep doesn't have to be returned so quickly, we can still utilise it... Sorry for the trouble, senior! I will treat you to mutton hotpot at night!"
"That's great!" Sun Jian merrily agreed.
Sambhogakaya Monastery was a renowned Zen Buddhist temple in the past. After Chinese Country was formed, the temple underwent restoration and was not only a famous cultural attraction now, there were also many stalls selling numerous stuff.
Although there were rare antiques, there were also many counterfeit goods. The environment was very good too.
As Fang Yuan arrived, he saw many grand trees providing shade and large groups of people walking along the corridors of the inner courtyards. There were also hundreds of small and large stalls that sold all sorts of rare or weird items. The accents from every part of the country could be heard too.
"We are just taking a look this time, right... eh? Fang Yuan, you are really interested in buying?"
Right after Sun Jian sighed, he saw Fang Yuan squatting at one of the stalls and was flipping through the stuff sold. Fang Yuan appeared very interested in the items.
"Eh... this looks interesting!"
Fang Yuan picked up a ceramic doll and a strange smile could be seen on his face.
The ceramic doll had a large head and round feet, which was similar to a roly-poly toy. It was painted with colourful oil paint and had a simple look. Sun Jian could easily tell it was definitely not some sort of antique, but a toy used to cheat children.
However, as he saw Fang Yuan was so intrigued by it, he was momentarily speechless.
"My friend, your taste is so good, my ancestors have lived in the Imperial Palace in the past dynasties before... this..."
The stall owner was a smooth talker and immediately started to persuade Fang Yuan after he saw him came to his stall. He tried to convince Fang Yuan further, "This is an item played by those ministers in the past, it's exactly the same! It would be so joyous if you buy back a pair!"
"I will sell it to you for ten dollars!"
"Forget it!" Sun Jian could not stand it anymore, "If you go to West Industrial Zone, you can buy back a whole cart of it with ten dollars!"
"Haha!"
As the stall owner was met with someone who knew the real deals, he laughed and retorted, "It's not the same! Not the same! My goods are specially made from machines! Look at the paint, its added with many of that... chemical compounds!"
"What!"
Sun Jian could not contain his laughter after hearing such but felt sad after a while.
The notion that such machine-made products were better than handmade products and the idea that added chemical compounds meant that it was good was truly ridiculously stupid and laughable but also made Sun Jian felt at a loss.
Fang Yuan could not help but laugh too, "Nevermind, give me three! I will give you three dollars, how about that?"
Fang Yuan eyes sparkled and he quickly picked three of them.
Although the dolls were rather simple and crude, a mysterious charm could be felt from the area between their eyebrows, which meant they were not possibly made from machine moulds but were definitely handmade.
"Three dollars is too low..."
The stall owner's expression changed slightly, "These are passed down from my ancestors..."
"Wait a minute, didn't you just say they were made from machines?"
Sun Jian pulled Fang Yuan and said, "Nevermind, let's go to other stalls!"
"Ah... wait!"
The stall owner immediately shouted, "Nevermind, I will take it as I'm blind today, three dollars will do!"
"Three dollars is still too pricey!"
Fang Yuan was still slightly undecided and he randomly picked up another ancient book from the stall, "I like to read, so if you add this on, I will buy for three dollars!"
"Deal!"
The stall owner quickly glanced at the book and saw the book was grey and drab and there were also many small holes on it. The book did not have an appealing appearance even compared to the other random miscellaneous items he was selling. Furthermore, even the cover of the book was stained with dirt and half of it could not be seen clearly already, thus the stall owner readily accepted the deal.
"Sigh... Fang Yuan, you are too wasteful."
As Fang Yuan spent his own money, Sun Jian could not say anything else and could only sigh.
"Money can't buy happiness! I will treat you to mutton, senior!'
Fang Yuan could not contain his smile as he looked at his ceramic dolls carefully.
WIth Fang Yuan's Fiery Golden Eyes, it was super easy for him to make a small fortune.
Although the dolls appeared normal on the surface, their insides contained many precious materials. He already saw a piece of agarwood and a few pieces of jewels inside the doll.
Fang Yuan should be able to fetch a decent price with the current market prices.
After all, Fang Yuan just started cultivating, he had to earn some extra income to supplement his consumption.
The ancient book in his pocket was an even more surprising gain.
"This ancient book has a secret layer in it... Furthermore, just from the words on the outside, hints of magic are hidden in it, it is not so simple... Just with that, I can confirm the majority of what's hidden inside must be something related to cultivating in the past. Looks like the stall owner did not lie, his ancestors must have mixed in the Imperial Palace before and got many good things out from it..."
Fang Yuan turned around and looked at the large building of Sambhogakaya Monastery and suddenly pondered, "Let's not talk about the rest... this place is a worthy investment! With my the power of my eyes, I will be really profitable next time! The resources I need for cultivation are settled..."