55: Chapter 55: Why even try to haggle? Are you just bored?

The shopkeeper placed the jade tablet steadily back onto the dark velvet cloth spread out next to the counter, took off his reading glasses, wiped the lenses with the hem of his jacket, and put them back on his nose. Only then did he look up and squarely at the two of them, his gaze so sharp it felt like it could pierce through their hearts, as if he were evaluating a fat lamb ready for slaughter.

"What have you two taken a fancy to?"

Hu Tian didn't bother with pleasantries, nor did he circle around to scout prices first. He simply lifted his gaze toward the landscape painting on the wall, feigning a casual air, and asked the shopkeeper offhandedly: "How much for that painting? It catches my eye."

The shopkeeper glanced back in the direction of his gaze, then turned his eyes back to land on Hu Tian's face, pausing for two or three seconds. The look in his eyes clearly read: "This foolish kid has finally taken the bait."

This pause seemed to be him gauging whether Hu Tian was genuinely interested in buying or just asking to pass the time, and it also seemed like he was calculating how to maximize the profit from this transaction.

Hu Tian's expression remained calm, without a hint of eagerness, though he was secretly laughing to himself: "Pretend, keep pretending. Let's see who can out-act whom."

The shopkeeper then stood up from his chair. His figure was slightly stout, and as he rose, he braced himself against the edge of the counter, which let out a creak. He walked beneath the painting, reached up to take it off the hook, held the frame on both sides with his hands, and presented it horizontally in front of Hu Tian, stating a number in a tone neither light nor heavy.

"Five thousand."

Zhou Waner raised an eyebrow, swept a glance at the painting, and leaned in close to Hu Tian's ear, whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Didn't you say it wasn't worth much just a moment ago? Is this shopkeeper taking you for a sucker?"

Hu Tian didn't respond to her, only giving her a look that said "keep calm," a mysterious smile in his eyes as if saying: "Watch my performance."

He let his gaze fall on the painting and paused for a moment, his tone flat and indifferent, tinged with a hint of disdain: "A bit high. The workmanship looks average; it looks like it came off an assembly line."

The shopkeeper held the painting up again, glanced down at the image, and said unhurriedly: "It's from the Guangxu era, over a hundred years old. It's rare to see one in such good condition. Five thousand isn't high. This is an 'old item'; it only gets more valuable with time."

Hu Tian gave a grunt, neither saying it was expensive nor agreeing, just furrowing his brows with a conflicted look that said, "I really want to buy it, but I don't have enough money."

He just stared at the painting, his face wearing a very earnest, conflicted expression, as if he were afraid of missing out on a treasure but also reluctant to pay that price. His acting could practically win him a "Best Actor" award.

"Boss, I really want this painting, but five thousand is truly a bit over my budget."

Hu Tian scratched his head, his body language looking a bit awkward, like a fresh college graduate: "I'm just an ordinary office worker who likes collecting little trinkets. Could you... make it a bit cheaper? How about a 'friendly price'?"

The shopkeeper watched him, a meaningful look flashing in his eyes as he thought to himself: "Another greenhorn who pretends to know what he's doing."

He hung the painting back on the wall, turned around, and placed his hands crossed on the counter with an "I'm an honest man" look.

"Young man, running an antique shop isn't like running a vegetable market. This price is already very fair. Any lower and I'd be drinking the northwest wind."

"Then... three thousand?"

Hu Tian gritted his teeth as if summoning great courage and held up three fingers: "Three thousand, and I'll buy it right now. Cash payment, no dragging it out."

"No."

The shopkeeper refused decisively, faster than lightning: "Three thousand isn't even enough to cover my cost. You're not haggling; you're cutting my life short."

Hu Tian put on a very troubled look, pacing back and forth in the shop, occasionally looking up at the painting and then down at the floor, looking conflicted as if he really wanted it but was short on cash, as if he were engaged in an intense internal struggle.

Zhou Waner watched from the side, stunned. Since she had known Hu Tian, she had never seen him like this, and she thought to herself: "This Brother Hu Tian is acting quite convincingly. It's a real pity he didn't become an actor."

"Boss, how about this: thirty-five hundred, and I'll take it today. What do you think?"

Hu Tian stopped pacing, his expression very sincere, as if that thirty-five hundred was a month's worth of savings.

The shopkeeper didn't say anything, just looked at him, his gaze as if saying: "Add a little more. I know you have more money."

"Boss, I genuinely like this painting. You see... it would definitely look very prestigious hanging in my living room."

Hu Tian continued to up the ante, his voice even carrying a hint of pleading, as if he were begging the shopkeeper to fulfill his "artistic dream."

The shopkeeper was silent for a good while, and finally waved his hand as if impatient, his expression as if he'd taken a huge loss: "Alright, alright, thirty-five hundred, take it. I'm really afraid of you. Let's just call it making a friend. Bring more business next time."

"Hey! Thank you, Boss! You're generous, Boss!"

Hu Tian's face immediately broke into a look of pleasant surprise, as if he'd won the lottery, and he pulled out his phone from his pocket: "Boss, do you use WeChat or Alipay? I'll transfer it to you right now."

The transaction complete, Hu Tian carefully cradled the painting in his hands, a satisfied smile of someone who had gotten a bargain on his face. After thanking him repeatedly, he walked out of the Antique Street shop with Zhou Waner, his retreating figure looking like a fool holding a golden doll.

The shop door closed behind them, and the sunlight outside shone on them again, as if they had returned to the human world from a "battlefield."

Zhou Waner followed beside Hu Tian, looking at him, then at the painting in his hands. She opened her mouth to say something, but swallowed it back, her expression as conflicted as a toad that had just swallowed a fly.

The two walked along the street, people coming and going around them, the shouts of various vendors mixing together like a noisy symphony.

She looked at Hu Tian again. Hu Tian was still holding the painting, his expression calm, showing no signs of anything unusual, as if that "haggling auntie" from just a moment ago hadn't been him.

Zhou Waner finally couldn't hold it in, but when the words reached her lips, she didn't know how to ask.

She wanted to ask what was going on with this painting, wanted to ask if Hu Tian's appearance just now was an act or real, wanted to ask if buying such an unremarkable-looking painting for thirty-five hundred was even worth it...

But all the questions were stuck in her throat, and in the end, they only turned into one word: "You..."

The words had just started when they stopped.

Hu Tian turned his head to look at her, a calmness in his eyes that seemed to see through everything, as if he had known all along what she wanted to ask: "What do you want to ask? Don't hold it in and make yourself sick."

Zhou Waner held it in for a long time, and finally managed to blurt out: "That appearance of yours just now... were you serious? Do you really like that painting that much?"

She was still in a daze, her mind full of question marks, but she didn't know which question to start with, as if she were looking at an alien.

Hu Tian chuckled, holding the painting and continuing to walk forward, his laughter carrying a hint of indulgence: "It seems this is indeed the first time you've seen me haggle like this. Do you think I'm particularly 'down-to-earth'?"

Zhou Waner quickly caught up, her mind still flashing with those scenes from just now—Hu Tian's conflicted expression in the shop, that body language of wanting to speak but holding back, and the difficulty and earnestness that seeped through his voice...

"You just now, you were like an old man in a vegetable market fighting an auntie over fifty cents. You were too intense!"

Zhou Waner finally found the adjective and couldn't help but say, "I even thought you were really... really so poor you couldn't afford a meal."

"Really what?"

Hu Tian turned his head to look at her, deliberately teasing her.

"Really very poor, really wanted that painting, really..."

Zhou Waner stopped there because she suddenly realized that if Hu Tian had been faking it just now, it meant he didn't care about the fifteen-hundred-yuan difference at all.

And if he didn't care about the difference, why did he have to fake it?

The question marks in her mind were growing, almost turning into "one hundred thousand whys."

Seeing that she had stopped talking, Hu Tian took the initiative: "Are you wondering now, since I'm not short on money, why I still haggled? Are you just bored?"

Zhou Waner nodded, her eyes full of curiosity, like an elementary school student with a strong thirst for knowledge.

"Because not haggling would instead arouse suspicion."

Hu Tian said calmly, his tone carrying a hint of worldliness: "An ordinary young person sees a painting, and the shopkeeper asks for five thousand. Do you think he would just pay it directly? The shopkeeper would definitely think this person is a 'fat fish'—not slaughtering him would be a waste."

Zhou Waner thought about it and shook her head, as if trying to understand some profound philosophy.

"So you must haggle, and you have to haggle convincingly."

Hu Tian continued, as if passing on some "Jianghu secret": "If you're too straightforward, they'll think there must be something wrong with the painting. Either I know my stuff, or he misjudged it, and he might even go back on his word later."

Hu Tian looked at Zhou Waner's dazed appearance, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile, that smile carrying a hint of craftiness: "Also, everything about you is written on your face."

Zhou Waner was taken aback and subconsciously touched her face: "I... what's written on my face?"

"It says 'shock' in big letters."

Zhou Waner was stunned, then immediately realized, a hint of embarrassment that was hard to hide appearing on her face, the flush spreading like the evening glow.

"I..."

She wanted to defend herself, but Hu Tian's remark that "everything about you is written on your face" was too accurate. She had even less confidence to speak up and could only lower her head like a child who had done something wrong.

Hu Tian looked at her, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, his tone unhurried: "You've certainly never had an experience like this, have you?"

This wasn't a question; it was more like stating a fait accompli, carrying a hint of teasing.

Zhou Waner was silent for a moment, and in the end, she couldn't help it and gave a soft "mm" to acknowledge it, her voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz.

"Before, when Old Zhou took you to stroll through Antique Street,"

Hu Tian continued, his gaze already shifted from her face, looking toward the busy street ahead: "How did he haggle? Did he also 'argue based on reason' like this?"

Hearing this question, Zhou Waner's expression changed slightly, as if remembering something, her eyes carrying a hint of nostalgia.

She was silent for two or three seconds before slowly speaking: "Grandpa... he never haggled."