A comprehensive overview of tombs: starting with the Yellow Weasel's Tomb

Upon hearing this, Bai Jing explained, "Actually, it's called 'driving drought stakes.' In many places, people believe that the severe drought is caused by a drought demon. So they find a Taoist priest or a feng shui master, find a female corpse buried in the ground, dig it out, and then splash the corpse with children's urine or black dog blood. Finally, they burn the corpse to pray for rain. This custom exists in many places."

Hearing this, the fat man understood, and Hu Bayi also looked at Li Chunlai, signaling him to continue.

Li Chunlai then recounted a strange incident that had occurred in their area!

Chapter 185 Valuation

Then Li Chunlai began to explain in detail.

"At that time, the villagers wanted to fight the drought demon, so they hired people to dig in the east of our village for several days. In the end, they dug out a very, very big coffin. As soon as the coffin was dug out, it rained that day."

After that, the village chief instructed me to burn the coffin.

As a result, Ma Dadan secretly stayed behind. He didn't want me to burn the coffin, but he was also afraid that I would tell others about it. So he took a shoe out of the coffin and threw it to me, saying that it was hush money for me.

However, that very night, Ma Dadan, his coffin shop, and his dozen or so brothers were all struck dead by lightning.

When I found out, I felt that this was God punishing them, which is why they were all chopped black and turned into charcoal.

However, Fatty didn't believe Li Chunlai's words at all, but Bai Jing knew that, according to the original book, Ma Dadan was indeed struck by lightning and killed.

But now even Bai Jing isn't sure.

Bai Jing had read the novel and watched the TV series, but it seemed that he had entered neither the world of the novel nor the world of the TV series.

Therefore, Bai Jing was not sure whether Ma Dadan was really dead.

However, Bai Jing could tell that Li Chunlai was obviously hiding something from them.

But that's not important anymore; you'll find out when you get to Gulan County.

The group continued eating, and after finishing all the dishes on the table, the meal was almost over.

After finishing their meal, Hu Bayi said he would take Li Chun to find a professional to quote a price for his shoe.

Li Chunlai naturally did not refuse.

Bai Jing, who happened to have nothing to do today, went with them as well.

Big Gold Tooth's house is very close to Panjiayuan, and also very close to Hu Bayi and Fatty's houses.

Upon arriving at Big Gold Tooth's house, they found the front door unlocked and went straight inside.

The door wasn't locked, which means someone is home.

The situation of Da Jin Ya is somewhat different from that of Hu Bayi and Fatty.

Although Big Gold Tooth deals in antiques and collectibles, he mainly relies on introductions from acquaintances. He doesn't usually go to his shop when he has nothing to do.

To put it bluntly, his shop was actually just a warehouse.

So Big Gold Tooth spends most of his time at home, only occasionally going out to the countryside to collect antiques and curios.

Moreover, Big Gold Tooth mainly deals in mid-to-high-end businesses, or acts as a middleman.

People like Hu Bayi, who occasionally have access to high-end products but lack customers, naturally have to rely on Da Jinya to help them sell their goods. Da Jinya knows quite a few people like that.

If Hu Bayi and Fatty were to sell the things they brought back from Ganggangyingzi, firstly, they wouldn't get a good price, and secondly, they probably wouldn't even be able to find buyers.

Through Big Gold Tooth, in less than half a month, all the items worth over a million were sold.

This also shows how extensive Big Gold Tooth's network of connections is.

As soon as Hu Bayi entered the room, he shouted:

"Mr. Jin, is Mr. Jin home?"

Upon hearing Hu Bayi's shout, Big Gold Tooth came out, holding a fan in one hand and a teapot in the other.

Big Gold Tooth was somewhat surprised to see Bai Jing and his group, and said with a smile, "Oh, it's you gentlemen. What rare guests! We've kept you waiting."

Then, when Big Gold Tooth saw that four people had arrived, he simply went back and got another stool, then placed the stool between Hu Bayi and Fatty and sat down.

Big Gold Tooth is very accurate in judging people and things, and he is certain that Hu Bayi and Fatty are misjudging something today.

As for Bai Jing?

He doesn't look at low-end stuff, so it's very likely that Bai Jing is just here to join in the fun.

So these people came mainly to show things to this unfamiliar person.

However, after sitting down, Big Gold Tooth casually asked, "What brings you three gentlemen to see me today?"

Hu Bayi and Da Jinya were also friends who often ate and drank together. Over time, Hu Bayi learned what kind of person Da Jinya was.

Hu Bayi immediately didn't stand on ceremony. He first gestured to Li Chunlai, then said to Big Gold Tooth, "This guy has something to give away, but we're a bit unsure about it, so we thought we'd ask Master Jin to take a look."

Then he gestured to Li Chunlai to take out the things, and told Da Jinya to give them to him.

But Big Gold Tooth clearly had reservations and hesitated.

Upon seeing this, the fat man immediately said, "If you don't show it to us, how can we show it to you?"

After several people took turns persuading him, Li Chunlai finally took out the embroidered shoes and handed them to Da Jinya.

Big Gold Tooth's eyes lit up when he saw the shoes, and he then explained the age and materials of the shoes clearly, exactly as Bai Jing had described before.

Hearing words that sounded somewhat similar to Bai Jing's, Li Chunlai knew that what the two were saying was probably true.

After looking at it for a moment and hesitating, Big Gold Tooth estimated the price of the embroidered shoe at two hundred.

Upon hearing the price, Li Chunlai's eyes lit up.

You should know that he had wandered around Panjiayuan and asked so many people for their opinions, but no one had ever offered more than twenty yuan.

The price of two hundred is quite reasonable.

Upon hearing Da Jin Ya's words, Hu Bayi did not hesitate at all and looked directly at the fat man, saying, "Fatty, pay up."

Without saying a word, Fatty Wang pulled out a wad of ten-yuan notes from his pocket, which amounted to over a thousand yuan.

Nowadays, fat people usually carry this much money with them, just so they can grab anything good they come across.

The fat man counted out twenty bills and placed them on the table.

Hu Bayi picked up the money and handed it to Li Chunlai, saying, "Brother Chunlai, you see, we would never cheat you just because you're a farmer. Here's two hundred yuan. If you agree, leave us your shoes and take this money."

Li Chunlai watched as the fat man put the remaining money back into his pocket. After a moment's internal struggle, he stood up and said, "I'm not selling this."

Upon hearing this, the fat man immediately became anxious and said, "Brother, even if you search the entire capital, you absolutely won't find another place that can offer this price. I've seen you wandering around Panjiayuan for so many days, you should know that."

After much deliberation, Li Chunlai said, "Boss Hu, I have another box of even more valuable treasures. If you gentlemen could come with me to appraise these treasures, and the price is right, then the whole box of treasures is yours."

Chapter 186 More Treasures

After saying all that, Li Chunlai seemed to have thought of something wonderful, and then said with a smile, "In that case, my ideals—to marry a wife and have a baby—can all be realized."

Upon hearing this, Hu Bayi immediately asked in confusion, "Didn't you say you only wanted one embroidered shoe?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chunlai smiled and said, "I hadn't finished speaking yet. I only had one embroidered shoe, but after Ma Dadan's coffin shop was struck by lightning, it caught fire and burned the entire shop down."

But isn't it strange? One of the boxes was completely unharmed. So, when no one was looking, I took that box home. When I opened it, I found it was full of treasures.

"The reason I came here is to find someone who offers a reasonable price, someone honest and reliable, so they can come back to my hometown with me and buy all my stuff."

Upon hearing Li Chunlai's words, Fatty and Hu Bayi exchanged glances, and then Fatty and Big Gold Tooth looked at each other.

Finally, Hu Bayi and the other two stared at Bai Jing, their meaning clear: they wanted to know what Bai Jing meant.

What could Bai Jing possibly mean? Just pretend you didn't see it.

Seeing that Bai Jing ignored them, Hu Bayi, Fatty, and Big Gold Tooth thought for a moment and then made an agreement with Li Chunlai to leave them an address and contact information later. They would discuss it and then give him an answer.

Afterwards, the group got up and saw Li Chunlai out. Once they had seen Li Chunlai off from Da Jinya's house, the four of them sat back down in the pavilion and discussed whether or not to go to Gulan County.

Hu Bayi spoke first.

"Old Bai, Old Jin, Fatty, what do you three mean by this?"

The fat man immediately said, "What do I mean? Let's go. There are people in the shop anyway. Let's treat it as a learning trip, right? We've learned a lot from Lao Bai and those professors, but sometimes we still need to go to the countryside to see what's going on in the market, right?"

Big Gold Tooth immediately chimed in, "Anyway, I don't have anything else to do. The Qin Chuan region, spanning eight hundred miles, is teeming with countless treasures. Of course, I'll go take a look."

Finally, everyone's gaze turned to Bai Jing.

Bai Jing thought for a moment and said, "Fortunately, nothing major has happened recently, so let's make a trip. Fatty made a good point earlier. Although I can tell the age and style, I'm not sure about the price of these lower-end items. I'll have to ask Master Jin for advice later."

Big Gold Tooth repeatedly said he didn't deserve such praise.

They chatted for a bit, and Big Gold Tooth said that, to be honest, that embroidered shoe was a pretty good antique.

Although Bai Jing didn't think much of it, this kind of thing could normally be sold for five or six hundred. If he could make a pair, and if he found someone who liked it, it might even sell for two thousand.

Big Gold Tooth's quote to Li Chunlai actually left a lot of room for maneuver.

This was brought by Bai Jing and his group. If Li Chunlai had inquired on his own, he could only offer him a price of 50 at most.

This highlights the importance of personal connections.

The four then agreed to contact Li Chunlai later to discuss their trip to Gulan County together.

It was agreed beforehand that since the guests were brought over by Hu Bayi and Fatty, no matter how much stuff they received, Hu Bayi and Fatty would take 70%, Big Gold Tooth would take 20%, and Bai Jing, who originally didn't want it, was still forced to take 10%.

Hu Bayi knew that as long as Bai Jing was there, their operation would be safe.