One divination a day, a trainee celestial master

9:30 a.m.

Jiang Shou parked his tricycle at the entrance of the alley outside the antique street in the south of the city, and with his backpack on, walked slowly to the front of Guyazhai.

He arrived half an hour earlier than the agreed 10 o'clock. But to his surprise, a wooden sign that read "Temporarily Closed" was already hanging on the glass door of Guyazhai.

Jiang Shou pushed open the door with some doubt, and the wind chimes on the door made a crisp sound.

A blast of air conditioning hit them in the face. Beside the long, narrow rosewood tea table, the portly owner, Old Wei, and the appraiser, Old Yang, were drinking tea with an elderly stranger. Hearing the door open, all three turned to look, their eyes lighting up.

Jiang Shou's gaze lingered on the stranger for two more seconds.

He was an elderly man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies. His hair was gray but neatly combed, and he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He was dressed in an elegant light gray Tang suit, and his complexion was ruddy and well-maintained, exuding the refined air of someone who had long held a high position.

In the shadows behind the old man stood a muscular, crew-cut man in a black short-sleeved shirt, standing upright with his hands folded in front of him. Judging from his posture, it was unclear whether he was a driver or a bodyguard.

The buyer arrived even earlier than him.

"Young Master Jiang, you've arrived quite early." Old Wei smiled, stood up, took two steps forward, and pointed to the old man, introducing him, "Come, let me introduce you. This is Old Chen, who came all the way from the provincial capital. Old Chen, this is the owner of that item, Young Master Jiang."

Old Wei was very restrained in his introduction, and did not mention much about Old Chen's specific identity and background.

"Hello, Mr. Chen." Jiang Shou nodded politely.

"Young Master Jiang is quite promising at such a young age." Old Chen nodded slightly, his voice gentle, but his gaze had already eagerly fallen on the backpack Jiang Shou was carrying.

Without wasting words, Jiang Shou walked to the long altar, unzipped his backpack, took out the drawing board containing the moisture-proof bag, and gently placed it on the table.

Old Chen's eyes instantly turned fervent.

He took out a pair of pure white cotton gloves from a delicate leather bag he had brought with him, put them on, and then took out a high-powered magnifying glass with a small light.

After taking the drawing board from Lao Wei, who had opened the moisture-proof bag, Mr. Chen carefully opened it.

As the half-page of the antique calligraphy was exposed to the air again, Old Chen's gaze was glued to the paper, unable to look away for even a moment.

The hall fell silent.

Holding a magnifying glass, Mr. Chen leaned forward slightly. From the lines on the paper's edge, the yellowing marks of time, to the dryness and wetness of the ink; from the structure and rules of each small regular script character, to the subtle trends of the connecting strokes, he looked all the way to the "Zhengming" signature in the lower left corner, and the vermilion "Hengshan" seal.

He looked at it very slowly and meticulously. Jiang Shou could even see that when the old man's magnifying glass swept over those few exquisitely elegant small characters, his fingertips, clad in white gloves, were trembling slightly.

I watched it for a full twenty minutes.

Old Chen finally straightened up slowly, turned off the small light on the magnifying glass, took off his glasses, rubbed the corners of his eyes, and let out a long breath.

"The paper is old mulberry bark paper from the Ming Dynasty, and the ink is top-grade pine soot ink. The brushwork is rigorous yet exudes the casualness of the Jin and Tang dynasties, with a natural charm. It is undoubtedly an authentic small regular script work from Wen Zhengming's later years."

Old Chen's eyes were filled with undisguised delight and satisfaction. He turned to Jiang Shou, his tone crisp and decisive: "Young man, I'll take this fragment. One million eight hundred thousand, a fixed price, how about it?"

One million eight hundred thousand!

This figure is 300,000 higher than Lao Wei's estimate of 1.5 million yesterday!

Jiang Shou's hand, which was in his pocket, clenched tightly, his palms sweating. But he forced himself to control his facial muscles and simply nodded calmly: "Old Chen is straightforward, deal."

Old Chen smiled slightly and turned to look at the bodyguard behind him.

The bodyguard stepped forward, asked for Jiang Shou's bank card number and name, and immediately took out his phone to start operating.

Less than three minutes.

Jiang Shou's phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw a bank notification that a money had been deposited into his account. Looking at the long string of dazzling "0"s in the message, Jiang Shou felt his breath catch in his throat for a moment.

After confirming receipt of payment, Mr. Chen took out a prepared rosewood box, carefully put the calligraphy copybook and acid-free drawing board into it, and locked it with a copper lock.

"Thank you all today. I've been searching for Wen Hengshan's calligraphy copybook for a long time, and now that I've finally found it, I won't linger any longer. I have to rush back to the provincial capital."

Old Chen stood up, nodded to Jiang Shou and Old Wei, and then, with his bodyguards, decisively pushed open the door and left.

The shop door closed again.

Jiang Shou took a deep breath, turned around, and used his mobile phone to transfer 90,000 yuan to Lao Wei's account.

"Brother Wei, here's the 5% commission, 90,000 yuan. Please check it."

Old Wei's phone beeped in his pocket. He took it out and glanced at the payment notification, his chubby face instantly breaking into a wide smile.

Although he didn't get the lion's share of the deal, he didn't have to bear any risk of tying up his capital. He simply acted as a middleman, and in the time it took to drink two cups of tea, 90,000 yuan was easily deposited into his account. More importantly, he also gained a small favor from Old Chen in the provincial capital, making things much easier for him in the industry in the future. It was a win-win situation for everyone.

"Young Master Jiang, you're a man of principle!" Old Wei patted Jiang Shou's shoulder warmly, his smile becoming much more genuine. "If you ever have any old things or belongings to sell, be sure to come back to me, your brother Wei!"

"Definitely, definitely. I'll definitely need your help in the future."

Jiang Shou exchanged a few polite words, slung his light backpack over his shoulder, and pushed open the door to walk out of Guyazhai.

The midday sun shone brightly on the bluestone slabs of the antique street.

As soon as he stepped out of the store and out of the cold air, Jiang Shou could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart; he felt a little unreal.

One million eight hundred thousand!!!

He used to deliver food in Shanghai, and the thought of being fined 200 yuan for being late kept him up all night. But just three minutes ago, he became a millionaire with seven-figure savings!

Walking on the stone-paved street of the antique market, Jiang Shou felt as if his legs were stepping on thick cotton, soft and yielding. With each step, he felt light and airy, as if he were about to take flight.

Jiang Shou swayed and drifted all the way to his tricycle.

He straddled his blue three-wheeled motorcycle, gripping the black rubber handlebars with both hands, head down, panting heavily.

My heart was pounding like a broken drum in my chest.

Jiang Shou sat in the car for a full ten minutes to calm down.

The sun beat down on his back, and he broke out in a light sweat. He picked up the water bottle hanging on the handlebars, unscrewed the cap, and gulped down half of it. The icy water flowed down his esophagus into his stomach, and the unreal feeling of being on cloud nine finally began to fade.

Reason has regained the upper hand.

"I'm rich now." Jiang Shou looked up, turned the key to the tricycle, and started the engine.

"Put-put-put-put"

With the roar of the engine, the three-wheeled vehicle emitted a wisp of smoke as Jiang Shou made a turn and headed towards the Qiyun Inclusive Finance Center in the development zone.

"Old man, the mess you left behind, I'll clean it up completely today!"