Old Harden, can you handle having your vision-shifting abilities on all the time?

Zhao Jinhua's smile froze instantly, then quickly turned red.

"Xu Xing! What do you mean?! I meant well..."

"Are you being kind?"

Xu Xing sneered, "Was it your idea to give your grandson the surname Gao? I've never seen such a shameless thing as you! Zhao Jinhua, let me tell you, from today onwards, whether your daughter and son-in-law live or die has nothing to do with me. And look at your pig-like appearance, don't you even look at yourself? Heh~~tui~~~"

After spitting out a mouthful of saliva, he turned and left.

Zhao Jinhua, trembling with rage, roared, "Xu Xing, you coward! You don't know what's good for you! You deserve your wife to die young! You deserve your son to disown you! You deserve to live a lonely life..."

The foul language was unbearable to hear.

Xu Xing walked straight out of the restaurant without stopping, striding towards the light.

I opened the car door, got in, started the car, and instead of heading towards Jingyang, I drove directly to Beilin District. I deposited the 88,000 yuan in cash first, and then went to the antique street to take a look.

……

Huajue Lane Antique Street is the most famous place to hunt for treasures in Chang'an City.

Shops line both sides of the bluestone-paved road, and stalls stretch for hundreds of meters. Weekends are the busiest time, with tourists, collectors, brokers, and locals thronging the streets.

Xu Xing parked his car in a nearby parking lot and walked into the alley with a black backpack on his back.

This wasn't his first time here.

Although working as a cultural relic restorer at the county museum is only a marginal position, I've been exposed to it all along, and my eyesight has improved quite a bit from dealing with small items over the years. In the past, I always came with the intention of finding a bargain and making a little money to supplement my family's income. I looked a lot but bought little and was cautious when making purchases.

But today is different; my mood is different, and so are my abilities.

Xu walked slowly through the crowd, looking at each stall one by one.

Porcelain, jade, copper coins, old books, antiques...

A dazzling array of goods, a mix of genuine and fake.

Xu Xing observed carefully but did not readily use his X-ray vision ability because he was unsure how long this ability could be used or if there were any limitations, so he had to be cautious.

I walked slowly and stopped in front of a used bookstore in the middle of the road.

The stall owner was a thin old man wearing reading glasses, who was engrossed in reading a copy of "Three Words and Two Slaps".

The stalls mainly displayed old books and magazines from the 1970s and 80s, as well as some thread-bound books and books from the Republican era.

Xu Xing's gaze fell on a hardcover book with a dark red cover in the corner.

He crouched down and picked up the book.

First edition in 1946, the eighteenth volume of the Complete Works of Lu Xun, bound in red cloth with silver foil stamping.

The condition is acceptable, but the hard cover has wear and slight delamination at the corners. It has been repaired with old glue, and the repair work is rough with obvious glue marks. It looks like it was done decades ago.

Xu Xing opened the cover; the title page was yellowed, but the inner pages were intact with no missing or damaged pages.

"Boss, how much is this one?"

Xu Xing asked.

The old man glanced at it and said, "The Republic of China-era book is in decent condition. If you're really serious, I'll ask for 3,800."

Xu Xing knew that a single volume of the Republic of China-era deluxe edition of "The Complete Works of Lu Xun" would generally cost between four and five thousand yuan, while those in poorer condition would cost just over three thousand yuan.

This book has been restored, so its condition is somewhat compromised. The price of 3,800 is not a bargain, but it's fair.

If I repair it myself and resell it, I won't make more than a few hundred yuan, and I'll have to spend time finding a buyer.

He might have let it go in the past, but Xu Xing's state of mind is different now.

He admires Lu Xun.

I read quite a lot when I was young, but later I was busy making a living and no longer had the leisure to indulge in such pursuits.

Now that he has chosen to shed his so-called responsibilities, he has developed a desire to live for himself.

Xu Xing countered, "How about three thousand five hundred?"

The old man shook his head: "It's not cheap to buy this book; the minimum price is three thousand six."

"Alright."

Xu Xing readily paid.

After paying, Xu walked to the roadside and leaned against a tree. He opened the book again, but at this moment he felt that the center of gravity of the book cover was a little off.

There's a subtle sense of shift in the center of gravity.

It was very subtle; if his body hadn't been modified by the Azure Fish Stone to enhance his senses, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.

Xu Xing frowned and flipped through the book twice more, carefully examining it. He was quite certain that the feeling was not an illusion; the center of gravity of the book cover was indeed a bit abnormal.

He immediately focused his attention on the cover of the book.

My eyes feel slightly warm.

The next second, the hard cover became translucent in his eyes, and he saw the cardboard and adhesive inside the cover, as well as a carefully hollowed-out interlayer on the inside of the second cover near the edge.

A silver coin was embedded in the interlayer.

Xu Xing's breathing faltered.

He closed the book without making a sound, and only opened it again when he reached a quiet corner of the alley, carefully observing the location in the sunlight.

From the outside, it looks flawless; the glue marks from the repair perfectly conceal the hollowing-out marks, demonstrating a remarkably skillful technique.

Xu Xing pressed his fingers lightly on that spot and didn't feel anything special, which further proved his skill.

He looked around, took a small pair of tweezers from the keychain, and carefully pried open the edge of the cover to reveal the inner layer.

A silver dollar lay quietly inside. Xu Xing used tweezers to pick it out and placed it in his palm.

The obverse of the silver dollar features a profile portrait of Li Yuanhong with a bald head and a military cap, with the words "Republic of China" engraved above and "Founding Commemorative Coin" below.

The reverse side features the word "One Yuan" vertically in the center, flanked by ears of grain on both sides, with "Republic of China" above and "Founding Commemorative Coin" below, and a plum blossom star on each side.

The natural patina and sharp edges, along with the restrained silver sheen, indicate it is undoubtedly a genuine piece.

Xu Xing's heart pounded wildly.

The Li Yuanhong Founding Commemorative Coin was minted by the Wuchang Mint in the first year of the Republic of China (1912). It comes in two versions: one with a hat and the other with a bald head.

The version with the military cap is relatively rare, and those in good condition generally fetch between 100,000 and 200,000 yuan on the market.

The coin in his hand is in excellent condition with only slight signs of circulation, and the lettering is clear and the design is complete. It is conservatively estimated that it could sell for more than 150,000 yuan.

Three thousand six hundred thousand for one hundred and fifty thousand, and the book itself can be repaired, which is equivalent to making over a hundred thousand for free.

What surprised him even more was that when he held the silver coin, a unique warm current flowed down his fingertips and into his body, and he could even clearly feel the direction of its flow.

Finally, after circulating through the body, a small portion of this warm current converged at the dantian, creating a small space.

Strangely enough, Xu Xing could sense its presence and knew that its storage limit was 0.15 kilograms.

He tentatively issued the command to collect the silver coin in his mind, and the silver coin in his hand disappeared instantly. He could clearly feel that there was something new in his dantian space.

Xu Xing put his hand in his pocket, silently recited the command to take it out, and the silver coin reappeared in his palm the next instant.

He pursed his lips, and that familiar feeling of surprise welled up inside him again.

He then stored the silver dollar in his dantian space, and then looked at the complete works of Lu Xun in his hand and suddenly smiled.

It wasn't because I could earn at least 150,000 yuan at once, but because of this sudden and surprising new beginning.

I put the complete works of Lu Xun into my backpack and continued walking slowly along the bluestone path.

Stalls came one after another, but he wasn't in a hurry to look at them. His eyes swept over the real and fake items.

The afternoon in Chang'an in June was already quite hot. After walking around for more than an hour, Xu Xing felt thirsty and went over to a small shop at the entrance of an alley.