477: Chapter 477 Old Friend

Liu Tingting answered without a second thought, "It's here, of course it is, but it's not at the shop."

Han Jingyang breathed a sigh of relief, "As long as it's not lost."

Liu Tingting gave a sweet smile, "You entrusted it to me so solemnly back then, so I definitely couldn't lose it. It's been three years, right? It's been kept at my home the whole time, and apart from my parents, no one else knows of that plaque's existence."

"You've gone to trouble."

"Hmph, as long as you know it. Three years, you blocked me for three whole years. You added my contact info one second and blocked me the next. I even thought something had happened to you."

"My fault."

"Just admitting your fault isn't enough. You have to treat me to a big meal to compensate for the mental anguish I've suffered over these three years."

"That's a must!"

"Let's go, let's leave now. I want to eat my fill."

"Aren't you watching the shop?"

"Do you know what a freelancer is? The greatest meaning of being a freelancer is being able to drop work anytime, anywhere to do what you want. If you can't do that, what's the difference between this and a regular job?"

Han Jingyang gave a thumbs up, "Second-generation shop owners really are willful."

Liu Tingting huffed, "What about you? What work are you doing now? Didn't you say you wanted to open a shop back then? How's that going?"

"I opened it, it went bust, and I changed careers."

"I knew it, antique shops aren't that easy to run," Liu Tingting let out a loud, merciless laugh, "What are you doing now?"

"I switched to Feng Shui."

"What?"

"Feng Shui, Dragon-Seeking and Point-Hitting, changing fortunes and destinies, things like that."

"A charlatan?"

"Yes."

"You, you, you, you..." Liu Tingting sighed with disappointment, "You really have fallen."

Han Jingyang smiled without a word.

They headed out.

Liu Tingting stopped talking about work and enthusiastically introduced all the good food and fun places in Xian, fully displaying her talkative nature.

So, she quickly hit it off with Liu Jing.

And then she left Han Jingyang to the side.

Han Jingyang followed slowly behind the two young women, but he couldn't help but recall the process of meeting Liu Tingting three years ago.

Actually, there was nothing legendary about it.

It was just three years ago in the summer, during summer break, when he came to Xian with a professor to participate in an archaeological project. He happened to run into Liu Tingting, who was tagging along with her grandfather to watch the excitement at the archaeological site, and that's how they met.

One was into archaeology, and the other came from a family that ran an antique shop and had been trained in antique appreciation since childhood.

They were similar in age.

And had similar interests.

So they quickly became good friends.

Before leaving Xian, he went shopping with Liu Tingting and bought a purple-gold copper Eight-Trigrams plaque from a street stall for 1,300. At the time, he didn't know why, but he just felt that the copper plaque was very unusual.

However, because of the nature of his internship at the time, there was a bit of suspicion of impropriety, so to avoid trouble, he asked Liu Tingting to keep it for him, thinking he would retrieve the plaque during winter break or at another time.

Then, he started dating.

Most of the female numbers in his contact list were blocked and deleted, which ended his relationship with Liu Tingting. Plus, he never went back to Xian, so the matter had been shelved until now.

Of course, if that plaque were just an ordinary antique, with his current net worth, he wouldn't be obsessing over it.

But that plaque was truly peculiar. He felt it was unusual back then, and looking back now, it must have been a dharma instrument.

And a dharma instrument of quite good quality, at that.

The kind that likely produces top-tier items.

This was something he couldn't miss.

No matter what, he couldn't miss it.

It was his item to begin with, so it was perfectly natural for him to take it back.

That was also why he came here the second day after arriving in Xian, and why he asked about it directly upon entering.

He was just impatient to get his item back.

If it turned out to have top-tier attributes, it would be equivalent to having picked up a huge bargain three years ago.

Even if the attributes were average, it could still fulfill a wish, so he wouldn't have to keep thinking about it.

Chatting along the way, they soon arrived at Liu Tingting's home.

Liu Tingting's family also had a villa, and a high-end one at that. After all, they had been in the antique business for three generations and running a shop for two, accumulating quite a bit of wealth. He wouldn't dare say more, but a hundred million was a safe bet.

They entered and sat down, and the nanny served tea.

Liu Tingting ran straight upstairs to the second floor.

After Han Jingyang finished a cup of tea and saw that Liu Tingting still hadn't come down, he immediately felt a bad premonition and hurriedly got up to go upstairs.

He saw Liu Tingting rummaging through boxes and cabinets. When she saw him, tears streamed down her face, "Brother Han, you... I, I'll keep looking. I was playing with it the day before yesterday, and I've never taken it out. It's impossible for it to be lost; it must be in the room, it must be findable."

Must be findable?

He frowned inwardly.

If it were really that easy to find, she wouldn't be so anxious that she was crying.

But he could only comfort her, "Don't rush, take your time looking. How about you ask your family? Maybe they've seen it."

"Right, my parents," Liu Tingting wiped her tears and hurriedly made a call, "Mom, have you seen that plaque of mine? The purple-gold copper Eight-Trigrams plaque."

"What? You, how could you do this?"

"No, you are not allowed to sell it! It's not mine, it belongs to someone else. Now that they've come to collect it, how am I supposed to answer for it if you take it and sell it!"

"It's not a question of money! Anyway, you are not allowed to sell it!"

"Get it back! I want it right now!"

"There's no room for negotiation!"

"If you dare to sell it, I'll run away from home!"

"..."

Liu Tingting was extremely emotional, becoming more anxious as she spoke, and by the end, she was even screaming into the phone with a sobbing voice.

But clearly, her mother didn't take it seriously, to the point that even though Liu Tingting said things like cutting ties, it was still useless.

The call ended, and Liu Tingting had a breakdown, squatting on the ground, covering her face, and wailing loudly.

Han Jingyang was even more speechless.

What kind of situation is this?

He didn't even know where to start with comforting her.

He was the victim here!

But no matter what, that purple-gold copper Eight-Trigrams plaque had to be retrieved.

Even if the attributes it yielded were garbage, he still had to get it back.

It had nothing to do with its value anymore.

It was purely a matter of principle.

His own belongings, even if they were to be thrown away, destroyed, or given away, had to be his own autonomous decision.

Dealing with them without his permission was, to him, an act of robbery.

He would never allow such a thing to happen.

Not to mention that the item being dealt with without permission might be a top-tier item.

Besides, it wasn't hard to tell from the conversation between Liu Tingting and her mother that the buyer had offered a high price.

Liu Tingting's parents were not some poor people who hadn't seen the world; they were billionaires with assets surpassing 99% of people.

A transaction that could make an antique dealer with over a hundred million in assets risk cutting ties with their only daughter had to have extraordinary returns.

Thinking of this, he patted Liu Tingting on the shoulder, "Don't cry. The only way now is to get that plaque back before they complete the transaction."

Liu Tingting raised her head, eyes teary, and apologized with deep guilt, sobbing as she spoke, "Brother Han, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I, I didn't help you keep it safe..."

"No need to say these things; you didn't do it on purpose."

"How about I pay you for it? You, you name a figure..."

"It's not a question of money. If it only had economic value, I wouldn't mind giving it to you."

"Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' yet. Ask them where they are. If we rush over now, there might still be a chance to stop them from completing the transaction."

Liu Tingting wiped her tears and made another call.

The call connected, but Han Jingyang took the phone directly and said in a calm tone, "Uncle, Auntie, I am Tingting's friend. The Wanli-era purple-gold copper Eight-Trigrams plaque you are about to sell is mine. I entrusted it to Tingting for safekeeping, and you have no right to sell it without authorization."

Having said that, he raised his voice and added, "Friend on the other side, I am Han Jingyang. The purple-gold copper Eight-Trigrams plaque you are about to buy is mine. Do me a favor and call off this transaction; I won't let you suffer a loss—"

However, before he could finish his sentence, the other side hung up directly.