All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

Han Chunming was immediately tempted when he saw the treasure, but he never expected that this deal would be a trap.

The blind old man was deaf and blind, making communication impossible. However, he had a son, a bachelor in his forties who was still unmarried.

In the past, Han Chunming's experience had shown that dealing with such old bachelors could be done by spending a little money. However, this guy was a complete scoundrel who was lazy and greedy. Han Chunming had already asked for a thousand yuan, but the other party was still hesitating, which made Han Chunming suspicious.

A thousand yuan is an astronomical price in this day and age. Anyone who knows about antiques knows that these five complete sets of blue and white porcelain vases are genuine rare treasures. But if they were sold to antique shops, given the nature of those experts, they would probably only buy them for thirty or fifty yuan each!

Of course, this thing will definitely go to a museum after it is acquired. This complete set of blue and white porcelain vases is extremely rare in the world, and it is estimated that it will be very difficult to find something similar.

But in those days, Han Chunming asking for a thousand yuan was already an astronomical price!

However, this old rogue was asking Han Chunming for a thousand yuan and was still hesitating. Han Chunming naturally found it suspicious. Putting aside the fact that it was such a remote village, even if there were other antique dealers in the industry, they would not offer such a high price to buy it.

Moreover, judging from the old rogue's appearance, Han Chunming noticed that he didn't seem particularly familiar with these blue and white porcelain vases. He knew very little about them and had only a superficial understanding of antiques.

This is an interesting case of a country bumpkin who knows nothing about antiques, yet he is very clear that the five antiques he possesses are very valuable.

Finally, Han Chunming tentatively asked how much the other party was willing to sell it for.

The old rogue chuckled and finally shouted out a price of 1,880, and not a penny less!

Han Chunming carefully observed the old rogue's facial micro-expressions, and finally smiled and said to him.

"Alright, that's the price. You name a time, and once I have the money ready, we'll make the deal!"

The old rogue was overjoyed when he saw that Han Chunming had agreed, and hurriedly said that the transaction would take place in three days.

Han Chunming nodded, then grabbed the ragged Hou and left the village.

On the way back, Han Chunming remained silent. The ragpicker thought Han Chunming was worried about money, so he spoke up.

“Chunming, 1,880 is indeed too expensive, but this five-piece set of blue and white porcelain vases is a rare treasure. If it were during the Republic of China era, you wouldn’t be able to get one for less than 10,000 silver dollars. I have 1,200 on me. See how much you can scrape together and we can buy it together.”

Han Chunming did not answer the ragpicker's question. Instead, he stopped after a while and then spoke to the ragpicker.

"Brother Hou, haven't you noticed that something's not quite right here?"

The ragpicker didn't quite understand Han Chunming's words and asked with some confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Han Chunming turned around and continued walking, speaking slowly as he spoke.

"Brother Hou, you must have been to this village before, right?"

"Broken-Robbery Marquis" nodded and said.

I don't come here often, maybe once or twice a year!

Han Chunming nodded and then asked.

"Have you encountered this old scoundrel before when you came here?"

Marquis of Broken Relics pondered for a moment, as if recalling something, and after a long while, he nodded and said.

"Now that you mention it, I do remember. I came here once earlier this year and ran into this old scoundrel. He tried to exchange his pot for a couple of drinks, but I ignored him!"

Hearing this, Han Chunming became even more certain of his own thoughts, and then continued speaking.

"Brother Hou, do you think an old scoundrel who would even try to sell his own cooking pot for money to buy drinks would wait until we come to buy it if he had such a treasure at home?"

Han Chunming's words were like a thunderclap, suddenly waking the bewildered Rag Marquis. He stood there stunned for a while before he came to his senses. He looked at Han Chunming, and the meaning in his eyes was already very clear. Then he murmured.

"Is someone trying to set a trap using fake antiques?"

Han Chunming nodded, then shook his head and said.

"That treasure is a real treasure, but its owner is definitely not that old scoundrel, nor that old blind man!"

The ragpicker was confused again, so he simply asked Han Chunming.

"Chunming, tell me, what exactly is the purpose of this scheme? Is it to use that old scoundrel to sell something for a high price? That doesn't make sense either."

Han Chunming raised his head, looked at the distant cliffs, and then a cold look appeared in his eyes as he slowly spoke.

"I'm their target, Brother Hou. You shouldn't get involved in this. Don't show your face for a while. I'm not entirely sure myself, but I'm 100% certain this is a setup. Five complete sets of blue and white porcelain vases, that's quite a feat. They've really gone all out this time!"

The ragpicker nodded. Han Chunming had been pondering who he had offended. The person who set this up and was going to deal with him certainly wasn't the ragpicker. What could an old geezer like him possibly do?

Moreover, if the other party really wanted to deal with the ragpicker, they would have taken action several days ago and kept trying to lower the price, even having Han Chunming step in.

Han Chunming racked his brains for a long time but still couldn't figure out who he had offended.

Could it be an enemy of Master Huang?

That doesn't make sense either. After retiring, Master Huang now acts in a more low-key manner than an ordinary old man. He stays in his hometown most of the year and only returns to Yanjing to celebrate the New Year with Qi Siqiao occasionally. Moreover, he refuses to contact his godsons, including the eldest Huang.

Besides, this style of doing things doesn't seem like what those people do.

Moreover, the person who orchestrated this whole thing seems to be a cunning and manipulative individual!

Wait a minute! Using cunning tactics?

A figure suddenly appeared in Han Chunming's mind.

Could it really be Cheng Jianjun?

When Han Chunming thought of Cheng Jianjun, he had a brief moment of doubt. After all, based on his understanding of Cheng Jianjun, the other party was still quite naive. When did he evolve to this level?

But whether it's him or not is simple; just investigate. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!

Then I'll be the eagle that catches the sparrow!

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Show Officially Begins

Cheng Jianjun pushed his bicycle and walked along a street. He looked around at the streets on both sides and finally stopped in front of a grocery store.

He stepped forward, smiled, and called out to the elderly woman inside the window. Then he picked up the public phone and began dialing a number.

The call was quickly connected, and an old man answered. Cheng Jianjun called out to him, and after a while, a male voice finally came through the phone.

Cheng Jianjun quickly called out in a low voice.

"Chenchen, how did things go?"

The male voice on the other end of the phone then spoke.

"It's all done, it'll be in three days, Jianjun. There shouldn't be any danger involved, right?"

Upon hearing that the matter had been settled, Cheng Jianjun couldn't suppress his joy, but he quickly regained his composure and spoke into the phone.

"What danger could there be? Don't worry, after this is over, I'll definitely buy you a new bicycle. Chenchen, you keep an eye on things for me. Three days from now, after they complete the transaction, call me right away at the usual place. I'll be waiting here!"

Upon hearing about a new bicycle, a joyful voice came from the other end of the line, and they quickly agreed. The two then hung up the phone shortly afterward.

Cheng Jianjun hung up the phone, quickly smiled, took out a few cents, handed them in through the window, then pushed his bicycle and turned to leave.

The person he just spoke to on the phone was his aunt's son, who is also his cousin. The place where the other party was talking to him was his aunt's commune. His aunt's husband was the commune accountant, which was naturally very convenient.

A smug smile crept onto Cheng Jianjun's lips. He then turned and rode off in another direction, riding for more than half an hour before finally stopping at the entrance of an alley.

Cheng Jianjun kept pacing around the entrance of the alley until he saw a little girl carrying a vegetable basket walk out of the alley. Only then did Cheng Jianjun park his car.

He walked three steps to the left and two steps back, turning his head every few steps, and headed into the alley. After walking a dozen or so steps, he stopped in front of a house with its door tightly closed.

He looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention, took out a letter from his pocket and slipped it through the crack in the door.

His heart was pounding. The plan had reached its final stage. If it succeeded, Han Chunming would be completely finished!

After delivering the letter, Cheng Jianjun quickly lowered his head, walked to the alley entrance, got on his bicycle, and drove away.

Until Cheng Jianjun's figure completely disappeared, a figure emerged from the depths of the alley.

This man was Han Chunming. He walked to the door where Cheng Jianjun had handed him the letter, looked at the house, and seemed to be deep in thought.

The house is quite large, but judging from its style, it looks like a detached house.

In this day and age, a family that lives in such a large, detached house, especially since that young girl was probably a nanny, is certainly not an ordinary family.

Han Chunming looked around, then slowly walked to the wall of the house, which was more than three meters high. He used the wall for leverage, jumped over it, and landed steadily on the wall.

Han Chunming looked into the courtyard and, seeing no one at home, slipped down the wall.

Han Chunming remained completely calm, slowly walking from the courtyard into the house. He easily opened the locked door with a simple poke using a wire.

Reaching the main entrance of the house, Han Chunming picked up the letter that Cheng Jianjun had slipped inside, opened it, and read its contents. A playful smile immediately appeared on Han Chunming's lips.

"I didn't expect it really was Cheng Jianjun who was behind this. How interesting!"

Han Chunming put away the letter, turned around and returned the way he came, leaving almost no trace.

The letter contained only a few lines, but Han Chunming could already guess the general outline of the story from the words.

Cheng Jianjun obtained those five blue and white porcelain vases from this family, and the method he used was not very legitimate; it might even have been theft.

After acquiring the five pieces of blue and white porcelain, he somehow bribed the old scoundrel and got the five pieces of blue and white porcelain to the old scoundrel.

Finally, he devised a plan to have the ragpicker accidentally visit that small mountain village and discover the five blue and white porcelain vases.

Because the price was so fixed, Han Chunming had to step in. Once the two parties reached a deal, Cheng Jianjun would be informed.

He sent an anonymous letter to the family, informing them to come and arrest him in three days.

In order not to expose himself, he only mentioned the personal characteristics of Han Chunming and Polanhou in the letter, and said that the other party might appear in a certain place in three days, without mentioning any specific information about the two.

Han Chunming never expected that Cheng Jianjun would resort to the trick of using someone else to do his dirty work. Although this scheme was still a bit naive, it was indeed executed brilliantly.

If Cheng Jianjun had designed Han Chunming like that in the original novel, he'd probably be stuck in jail for life!

This time, Cheng Jianjun has truly crossed Han Chunming's bottom line, and he is no longer prepared to give him another chance.

But since we're going to play this game, let's keep playing it!

Han Chunming smiled, then turned and left.

The third day arrived quickly, and Han Chunming went out early in the morning pushing his bicycle.

After Han Chunming left, Cheng Jianjun slowly walked out of the gate, watching Han Chunming's figure disappear at the entrance of the compound.

His expression was somewhat complicated, but soon the hatred in his eyes was rekindled, and he turned and went back into the house.

In order to turn the tide once and for all and completely cripple Han Chunming, Cheng Jianjun planned this for several months.

He did indeed steal those five blue-and-white porcelain vases. To ensure that nothing went wrong, Cheng Jianjun staked out the area near the victim's house for a month before making the move.

Moreover, the other party has a very powerful background, enough to make Han Chunming have no chance of recovery.