The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

At dinner, Chen Zhi ate at the table, while Liu Ma sat on a small stool with her own bowl. Chen Zhi called her to join her at the table, but she refused.

"I used to be a servant in the Ye family. Later, the Ye family fell into ruin and there was no one left, so I got married. Oh, by the way, the Ye family is the eldest young master's maternal family. Miss was Master Xi's first wife, and the current wife is Master Xi's second wife after Miss passed away. Don't let the eldest young master's young age fool you; Master Xi is already sixty this year."

"The master was injured in battle, making it difficult for him to have children. Unlike other families, he didn't have seven or eight children, which made the house lively."

"Don't be afraid if you hit them today. The master won't help the eldest son, nor will he help the second son. The eldest son is pitiful. He lost his mother when he was just one year old, and less than half a year later, his stepmother came into the family heavily pregnant. The family couldn't tolerate the eldest son, so his great-uncle came and took him away. He's been gone for more than ten years. This time he finally came back, but he was so badly injured."

Aunt Liu sighed.

Chen Zhi paused, realizing that she hadn't hit Xi Lang's biological mother, brother, or uncle today.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Next time they come, Madam, please hit them as you please," said Liu Ma, as if it were a way to vent the anger of the young lady and the eldest young master.

Chen Zhi hummed in agreement. "What's the relationship between Uncle Sun and Xi Lang?"

Aunt Liu: "Uncle Sun's family used to be servants of the Ye family. Later, his father took him to join the army. His father died on the battlefield, and he was rescued by his maternal great-uncle. Now he has an official position, but he still takes great care of the eldest son."

Chen Zhi: "What about Song Zhaoyuan?"

"This man is quite remarkable," Aunt Liu said in a low voice. "His position is only slightly lower than our master's. It's said that he wields even more real power than our master."

Chen Zhi didn't understand. If Aunt Liu said it was impressive, then it must be impressive. It seems she should be more polite to Song Zhaoyuan in the future.

Chen Zhi didn't mention to Aunt Liu that she was going out that night. After dark, she changed into a navy blue dress, jumped down from the second floor, and landed lightly like a nimble cat.

Chen Zhi didn't have a watch, so she didn't know what time it was. She planned to go to the meeting point and wait; from now until eight o'clock, she shouldn't have to wait too long.

When she arrived, Yang Hong was already there.

Yang Hong pulled his cotton-padded coat tighter around himself, looking somewhat awkward. "There's no clock at home, so I came over after dinner."

Chen Zhi nodded, "Me neither. Shall we set off now?"

Yang Hong nodded, "That place is a bit far from here; it will take some time to walk there."

The temperature was low at night, and the autumn wind was howling so hard that it was hard to keep one's eyes open.

There weren't many people on the street; the few I encountered were all in a hurry.

Yang Hong: "If we encounter patrols, we'll hide."

Chen Zhi didn't know why she had to hide, but she did as Yang Hong told her to.

Sure enough, they encountered several patrols on the road. Before the flashlights could even shine, Yang Hong had already hidden with Chen Zhi. Judging from his practiced movements, he had probably done this many times before.

After walking for more than half an hour, the two finally arrived at a dimly lit open park.

"There are no streetlights inside, and the vegetation is lush, making it convenient for people to hide," Yang Hong explained.

Chen Zhi glanced at it and realized it was indeed a good place.

But Yang Hong added, "However, we don't always conduct transactions here; sometimes we change locations."

Chen Zhi was dumbfounded. "A cunning rabbit has three burrows?"

"I heard that the regulations in this area will be relaxed later, and then we can do business during the day." Yang Hong often wanders around the streets and alleys, knows a lot of people, and knows a lot of inside information.

The two continued walking in and soon saw scattered lights.

That was the light from a flashlight.

Chen Zhi looked up and was stunned again; there was black energy.

"Speak less, observe more, and only make a move when you've found something you like," Yang Hong said.

Chen Zhi hummed in agreement.

Yang Hong was still a little worried and reminded him again, "You have to negotiate the price. Don't just pay whatever price they ask for."

After all, not everyone is as honest as him.

"The people here are incredibly unscrupulous; they always inflate prices, by several times, or even ten times, the original price."

"That was indeed black."

As the distance between them closed, Yang Hong and Chen Zhi both shut their mouths.

The two of them didn't bring flashlights, so they followed behind others to watch.

Chen Zhi noticed that the place was almost entirely populated by men, whether they were setting up stalls or browsing; there were only a handful of women. The entire night market was very quiet, and even conversations were deliberately kept to a minimum, making them almost inaudible unless you got very close.

Of course, this is relative to others. If Chen Zhi wanted to hear it, no sound here could escape her ears.

Chen Zhi wasn't in a hurry to buy. She planned to take a look and listen first to see how others offered prices and what the final prices were, so she could have a better understanding of the situation.

She noticed that Yang Hong was right beside her, not urging her on.

"This is new stuff!" an old man roared. "Don't you think you're going to die? How dare you bring this out like this?"

"Look at what you're saying. Which of these things didn't have a deceased first owner? They're all things of the dead. Who's more noble than whom?" The stall owner remained calm and unperturbed.

Another old man disagreed, "That's not how it works. Things that are freshly dug out of the ground are definitely different. It's bad luck, and they might be carrying some dirty things. Nobody would dare bring something like that home."

The stall owner was now furious. "Fortune favors the bold. You might not dare, but plenty of others will. Go away, go away. If you're not going to buy, don't interfere with my business."

The two elderly people shook their heads and left.

Chen Zhi glanced at the items on the stall. Apart from a few jade pieces, there were also some pottery jars, all of which were emitting black smoke.

It's clear that there's something wrong with these things.

The two continued browsing, and Chen Zhi stopped in front of a stall full of jade.

Yang Hong tugged at Chen Zhi's sleeve, "We can't guarantee the authenticity of this."

Chen Zhi raised an eyebrow. There were counterfeit goods.

"Oh dear, little one, you can't just say things like that." The stall owner held up a jade fan, deliberately putting on a stern face. "Everything here is genuine, the real deal."

"Jiang You, even a child knows your goods aren't genuine, so stop trying to deny it," someone laughed.

The stall owner, Jiang You, rolled his eyes. "Who started this rumor? If I find out, I'll curse their ancestors for eighteen generations."

Chen Zhi blinked. Was it genuine or fake?

"What's on your mind, little one? As my first customer tonight, I'll give you a 50% discount," Jiang You said to Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi buried most of her face in her collar, revealing only her pure eyes. She asked, "Do you have any large pieces of jade?"

Jiang You, hearing this request for the first time, asked curiously, "How big is 'big piece'?"

Chen Zhi: "Of course, the bigger the better."

Jiang You's lips twitched. "Then why don't you go find some raw jadeite?"

Chen Zhi: "Where can I buy raw jadeite?"

Jiang You: "..."

"Don't you have a piece of jadeite of the bean variety? Give that to her," someone nearby said.

Jiang You does indeed have a piece of jadeite of the bean variety, weighing twenty jin (approximately 10 kg). Because of its poor quality, the master craftsman is now hesitant to take on the job, and Jiang You is unwilling to spend a lot of money to hire someone, so the stone has remained untouched.

For Jiang You, it was a double-edged sword—tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away.

He said, "I didn't bring it."

Chen Zhi: "Then I'll come again tomorrow."

Jiang You: "With so many items on my stall, didn't you find anything you liked?"

"I've got my eye on that one, how much is it?" Chen Zhi asked, pointing to a Qilin.

"Wow, you have a really good eye! Look at the texture, it's a translucent, icy jadeite. And look at the carving—it takes at least twenty years of experience to carve such a lifelike Qilin. Look at it from this angle, isn't this Qilin—"

"Price." Chen Zhi was a little impatient. She was only interested in the size of the jadeite; she wasn't interested in anything else.

Jiang You: "Two thousand."

Chen Zhi turned and left; she was going to buy those two-yuan items.

After browsing around, Chen Zhi didn't buy anything. The jade and jadeite here were of high quality, but correspondingly, the prices were also high.

Chen Zhi planned to walk around again and pick out some cheaper items.

"How much is that pen holder?" Chen Zhi asked.

The pen holder has a simple, cylindrical shape with a few bamboo leaves carved on it. The carving is rough, and it doesn't feel smooth to the touch. The jade is also of poor quality; it's cloudy and opaque.

The stall owner lazily raised his eyelids. "Five yuan."

Chen Zhi: "One piece."

"Four pieces."

"50 cents."

"you--"

The stall owner glared, wanting to curse, but he held back and forced a smile, "Fine, just one piece, take it if you want."

Chen Zhi took out a dollar and put the pen holder into her pocket.

Yang Hong was dumbfounded; it seemed she could bargain too.

Just as Chen Zhi was about to head to the next stall, someone shouted, "Run! Those guys are coming again!"

Yang Hong's expression changed. "Someone's on patrol."

The vendors rolled up their goods on the ground and fled in all directions.

Chen Zhi heard a crisp sound, as if something had fallen to the ground. She turned her head and saw it was a jade ring. Chen Zhi walked over and picked up the ring, but when she looked up, Yang Hong was no longer there.

She remained calm and chose a direction to follow.

There were quite a few people here this time, including those who came in to arrest people and those who were lying in wait outside. Flashlight beams were shining everywhere, it seemed like there were people everywhere.

Suddenly, someone cried out and fell down.

"I twisted my leg, can someone help me?" Jiang You grimaced in pain.

Everyone was focused on escaping, and no one paid any attention to him.

As Chen Zhi walked past him, he grabbed her trouser leg and said, "Give me a hand, I'll give you that piece of jadeite."

"Add that Qilin too," Chen Zhi said.

Jiang You retorted angrily, "You're taking advantage of my misfortune!"

Chen Zhi: "No, if it were a robbery, I would have run away with all your stuff, since you couldn't catch me anyway."

As the flashlight beam drew closer, Jiang You gritted his teeth and said, "Deal."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Zhi immediately squatted down, picked him up on her back, and didn't forget to bring Jiang You's goods with her.

The wind whistled past his ears, making it hard for Jiang You to open his eyes. When he came to his senses, he found himself out of the park and in a nearby alley.

"Where do you live?" Chen Zhi asked.

Jiang You blinked. "We escaped?"

Chen Zhi: "Otherwise what?"

Jiang You had mixed feelings; he hadn't expected this girl to be so capable.

Chen Zhi: "Hurry up and give directions, or those people will catch up."