New Times, New Hell

Chapter 92 - God Level Overtime Pay

Yu Zhengdu’s words caused everyone present to fall into a daze.

The guests, who normally felt that they were very important and experienced, now all had expressions that clearly read: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

Qu Lanzhi’s famous painting, the fifty precious types of ancient coinage, rabbit fur black glaze cups……Why did these famed antiques, ones that could cause a stir in the entire collector circle when they appeared, seem like lettuce in this unimportant boss’s hands? He could just casually pull out a whole bunch?

Could they even be described as “rare and precious” or “once every thousand years” anymore?

The rabbit fur black glaze cup is an antique that numerous collectors flock after. Yet, you just offhandedly gave one to an employee? And a whole set at that?

Momentarily, all the professional collectors and wealthy businessmen couldn’t help feeling a sense of bleakness……In the face of Shang Que’s collection, they – the supposed high-end collectors – now suddenly seemed a bit ridiculous.

Fortunately, there were still some people who retained their logical reasoning. Because Zhan Wei had already conversed with Shang Que earlier and had witnessed him casually handing《Trip to Songfeng Pavilion》to his employee in an attempt to seem more impressive, he had already formed his own opinion of the other in his heart.

Gifting a set of rabbit fur black glaze cups his ass. This was probably another act this pretentious little Internet celebrity CEO was putting on.

Zhan Wei sneered. “Mr. Shang is truly so generous to his employees. Everybody knows how rare rabbit fur black glaze cups are. It’s already extremely fortunate for someone to come across one. But Mr. Shang easily gave a whole set away. I wonder what your employee has done for the company to deserve such commendation?”

As soon as Zhan Wei said this, the others in the room instantly came back to their senses too.

In all honesty, given the way that Shang Que had so casually pulled out《Trip to Songfeng Pavilion》and a pile of ancient coins previously, if he said that he owned a set of rabbit fur black glaze tea cups, everyone would believe this. However, he was saying that he had given this set of black glazed cups to his employee……Sorry, but who among the attendees didn’t own a few companies? They were all bosses. How could they not understand what kind of people bosses were?

With this guess in their heart, everyone’s gazes on Yu Zhengdu became very meaningful.

This youth was either helping his boss bluff or had been completely fooled by his boss.

Zhan Wei believed that he had been tricked by Shang Que earlier. He hadn’t gotten over this yet; thus, he intended to make sure that Shang Que would embarrass himself. He purposefully provoked Yu Zhengdu by asking, “Little buddy, why did your boss give you such an expensive gift?”

Obviously because……he had randomly wanted to.

This was the explanation closest to the truth, but upon noticing the suspicious gazes all around him, Yu Zhengdu realized what was going on as well.

In all honesty, he had truly only gotten over excited due to the continuous exciting plot twists just now. He wasn’t a collector, nor was he planning on buying antiques. He wasn’t determined to prove the items he owned were authentic. At this moment, there was also no way to prove this fact.

“This……” Yu Zhengdu glanced at Shang Que. Upon seeing that the other was rather apathetic too, he casually responded, “Oh, that was overtime pay my boss gave me.”

However, he was also teasing Shang Que about the shoddy excuse he had just given to get Yu Zhengdu to accept the painting.

How competitive was Shang Que? No matter what, he needed to admit things he had previously said. He instantly confidently lifted his head and puffed out his chest. “Un, it was overtime pay.”

The two of them were using this as an opportunity to make fun of each other. Neither were willing to admit defeat. In the ears of everyone else, though, this sounded like something else. The others all heaved out sighs of relief and revealed expressions that read just as I suspected.

A ray of light suddenly brightened up Gou Shiwang’s dark world. Of course. Even if Shang Que really owned so many collectibles, it was impossible for him to casually give an extremely expensive rabbit fur black glaze tea cup to someone for no reason.

Overtime pay? Why not find a better excuse when bluffing?

Zhan Wei was the most pleased person in the room. He had been a rich man for so long – it was always he who showed off his wealth. There hadn’t been a lot of people who had dared to try and act badass in front of him. He instantly burst into laughter. “Mr. Shang’s company has such great benefits. Working overtime can result in a free set of rabbit fur black glaze cups. Makes me want to go work for you too.”

“You won’t do,” Shang Que coldly said after scanning the top of the other’s head. “Our company doesn’t hire people who don’t have a lot of hair.”

Before Zhan Wei even managed to finish mocking the other, he almost ended up spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Zhan Wei, who had never been insulted in such a manner, was furious. Thus, he decided to humiliate Shang Que. Suddenly, the collector who had just exchanged business cards with Yu Zhengdu seemed to have discovered something. He asked, “Wait a moment. Little buddy, is your surname Yu?”

Yu Zhengdu nodded. “Yes.”

That person continued to ask, “Could it be that you’re from the Yu clan in Jintan Village of Shu City?”

Yu Zhengdu was slightly surprised. Jintan Village was only an unimportant little village: the kind that people outside of Shu City didn’t know about. He hadn’t expected that this collector would know of Jintan Village too. He had even accurately named the Yu clan. Yu Zhengdu was confused, but still answered, “I am. What’s wrong?”

Only to see that collector exclaim, “Then your family really owns three rabbit fur black glaze cups!”

This collector was somewhat famous among the collectors. He had prowess and techniques. He knew about everything that happened in this circle. As soon as he said this, someone instantly asked, “What does that mean? What do you mean his family really owns three rabbit fur black glaze cups?”

That person’s expression was full of disbelief. However, he still explained to everyone else, “So this is what happened. At the beginning of the year, I received news that three rabbit fur black glaze tea cups appeared in a place called Jintan Village in Shu City.”

Rabbit fur black glaze tea cups were very rare ceramic pieces. At the time, quite a lot of people had found out that the Yu family owned these antiques. Even though Yu Zhengdu’s parents tried to remain lowkey, this news still got out. To the average person, this wasn’t too important. For example, the occupants of Jintan Village. They only treated this as gossip and talked about it for a short while. Later on, people slowly stopped bringing it up.

To those seriously invested in collecting antiques, though, this was truly breaking news. It was fortunate that Jintan Village was honestly too inaccessible. This news didn’t end up spreading too far. However, the distance that it did spread was more than enough for this collector who had lots of connections to find out.

Others all knew that this person’s information was always reliable. Even so, upon hearing this, they still couldn’t help asking in disbelief, “Really?”

“Naturally,” the collector answered.

At first, the wealthiest man in the Yu clan, Yu Manjiang, had broken one of the rabbit fur black glaze tea cups in the set. Thus, he had needed to compensate Yu Zhengdu’s family for it. To be fair, Yu Zhengdu and them had sent the rabbit fur black glaze tea cups to a formal appraisal unit for authentication. This collector often communicated with many of these appraisal units in Huaxia. This was how he had learned of this news.

It was a slight pity that eventually, Yu Zhengdu’s parents had directly given that set of rabbit fur black glaze tea cups to a trusted service for safekeeping because they didn’t want to worry too much. Additionally, they politely rejected any guests who were there to see the rabbit fur black glaze tea cups. In the end, this collector failed to see those three legendary black glazed cups.

However, he had gotten a clear understanding of this story from Jintan Village.

Not only did he know that the Yu family really owned three rabbit fur black glaze cups, he also knew that those three rabbit fur black glaze cups had truly been gifted to the Yu family by their son’s boss.

After hearing the collector’s thorough explanation, everyone present honestly couldn’t say anything anymore.

Especially Zhan Wei, who had originally thought that Shang Que was merely bluffing. Right now, his face became deathly pale. He felt like the worldview he had held for the first half of his life had gotten shattered.

Compared to Shang Que, the Gou family’s halo no longer existed. The collectibles that Gou Shiwang had brought instantly became much less valuable.

The VIP guests present no longer cared about the event organizers. They instantly walked up to Shang Que to exchange business cards with him.

Shang Que had initially been quite impatient, but just now, Yu Zhengdu had found an opportunity to send him a signal: these guests were all wealthy businessmen here in the capital. In the future, they might be able to become their company’s clients. Shang Que finally managed to reluctantly gather the energy for social interaction after realizing this could relate to their company’s sales.

Someone tentatively asked, “Mr. Shang, are you interested in selling the two Jianguo Tongbaos you own? I’m open to any price.”

Shang Que immediately rejected, “No.”

“How about the little Jingkang Tongbao coins?”

“Not for sale.”

Shang Que accepted any and all business cards. Yet, if anyone mentioned the Song Dynasty artifacts he owned, he rejected them very quickly.

Thus, someone inquired, confused, “I heard that Mr. Shang’s company is still in the developmental phase. I assume you must need a lot of funds. You own so many collectibles anyways. Wouldn’t it be pretty convenient to choose a random one or two to sell off?”

Everyone else had the same question. Given the fact that Shang Que was capable of offhandedly giving his employee a set of black glazed cups and given his casual attitude regarding his collectibles, they honestly didn’t feel like he treasured them very much. Why was he refusing to just sell one or two?

“Why would I sell them?” Shang Que was very confused too. “Only prodigal sons sell off their family possessions.”

At this time, everyone was looking at him. Gou Shiwang was too. As soon as Shang Que said this, everyone immediately revealed meaningful expressions.

Gou Shiwang had originally already felt quite embarrassed. Now, he felt like his face was heating up even more. He almost wanted to slam the door on the spot and leave.

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help going “pft——” to himself either. Given his understanding of Shang Que, Boss definitely didn’t care about Gou Shiwang at all. He had merely been telling the truth. Only, he hadn’t realized that he would be coincidentally stabbing Gou Shiwang with his words.

But to Liu Ao, Shang Que’s unrelenting rejections were a good thing. After Shang Que took out so many authentic Song Dynasty antiques, the Gou family’s collection had already completely lost this competition. If Shang Que agreed to sell anything, this would be catastrophic for both the Gou family and Meng Hua.

Liu Ao sighed in relief to himself. He hurriedly ordered everyone to disperse, quickly ending this private antique appreciation session.

By now, everyone already knew that they had definitely completely failed in accomplishing today’s original goal. Antiques were all about rareness. After Shang Que’s collection became revealed, the items in the Gou family’s possession definitely needed to be revalued. Nobody would dare to carelessly act again today.

Even though everyone else had left, Yu Zhengdu still remembered their initial purpose in entering the rest area. He looked over at Wang Gezhi and said with a smile, “Old mister, let’s go back and continue our conversation?”

Wang Gezhi nodded. With Shen Wenrong’s help, he, Yu Zhengdu, and Shang Que left the VIP rest lounge together.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they exited the rest lounge, a reporter and cameraman suddenly darted out from nearby. Yu Zhengdu saw him and realized – wasn’t this the gossip reporter who had been staring at him and Shang Que earlier? He reacted impossibly quickly. Yu Zhengdu immediately grabbed Shang Que and charged into the break room next door. Then, he closed the door.

The reporter who hadn’t had time to do anything at all: “……” Fuck. How could there be anyone who runs faster than gossip reporters?

He refused to give up. Fortunately, another group of people had exited from that room as well. Among them was Zhan Wei. The reporter instantly scooted up close to interview Zhan Wei. “Mr. Zhan, can I trouble you to relay the details of Mr. Shang giving his employee the painting one more time?”

Zhan Wei’s expression darkened. Right now, he didn’t want to say anything at all!

Earlier, he had thought that Shang Que was faking it, which was why he had purposefully laid a trap for the other in front of the reporter. Who fucking knew that Shang Que was capable of really giving antiques to his employee?!

However, even though he wasn’t saying anything, someone had already butted in from the side. “Mr. Shang is honestly so generous to his employee. Gifting an antique just like that!”

Upon hearing this, the reporter realized this story was true. He became even more excited. “Do you know why Mr. Shang gave his employee such a valuable item?”

The surrounding individuals fell silent. Finally, someone spoke up. “Apparently……it was overtime pay.”

Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que waited in the break room for a little bit before Old Mr. Wang and Shen Wenrong entered as well. Just as they were about to start conversing, an uninvited guest walked in too.

Wang Gezhi’s expression darkened. “What are you doing here?”

Liu Ao ignored him. He handed Shang Que a business card without being asked to. With an ingratiating smile on his face, he said, “Mr. Shang is truly someone of exemplary character and sharp integrity. I’m very impressed. However, I suspect that you might not know how much the objects in your possession are worth. Given the chance, why not come to our Meng Hua Auction House for a chat? I trust that our Meng Hua will definitely be able to give you a tempting enough proposal.”

Wang Gezhi almost started a fight on the spot. “What, it’s not enough that you already dragged Gou Shiwang under? Now you want to drag Mr. Shang under too?”

Liu Ao said, “Shishu, if you yourself want to be aloof, nobody’s going to stop you. But don’t prevent Mr. Shang from making a fortune.”

Wang Gezhi: “There’s nothing wrong with making a fortune. But you need to do so morally!”

He turned to look at Shang Que and pleaded, “Mr. Shang, I know the items belong to you and I’m in no position to tell you what to do. However, I honestly cannot just stand by and watch as these people corrupt the values that uphold this field. If you want to sell your collectibles, I can introduce you to reliable buyers. No matter what, please don’t collaborate with Meng Hua.”

Yu Zhengdu felt perplexed listening to this. He had initially felt that the old man’s response to Gou Shiwang selling the Gou family’s collectibles had been a bit overly intense. He had only assumed that the other was in great pain over the fact that his shixiong’s possessions were getting auctioned off. As of now, though, it seemed like things weren’t so simple.

He glanced at Shang Que. Shen Wenrong, who was nearby, noticed this out of his peripheral vision. Without waiting for Yu Zhengdu to ask Shang Que and Shang Que to ask him, he hurriedly scooted over himself to start explaining to Yu Zhengdu.

Shang Que felt furious in his heart: Who allowed him to skip over me and directly explain to Zhengdu?!!!

After listening to Shen Wenrong’s explanation, Yu Zhengdu finally gained a clear understanding of the entire story. It turned out that the reason Old Mr. Wang was so furious – aside from the fact that Gou Shiwang was auctioning off the Gou family’s collectibles – was mainly because Meng Hua’s true plan was to use the Gou family’s antique collection and influence to establish Meng Hua’s position in the antique collection world. Ultimately, they wanted to collaborate with high-status collectors to control the market.

Gou Shiwang wasn’t working with Liu Ao only for the profits that could be earned from auctioning collectibles either. Instead, he wanted to become the true authority figure in this field.

And, if Meng Hua succeeded, there would be more consequences than market pricing chaos. These people didn’t respect cultural relics at all. Who knew what other immoral acts they would be capable of committing?

Wang Gezhi was complaining about Liu Ao’s wrongful behavior, but Liu Ao didn’t care at all. He even explained to Shang Que, pleased, “Mr. Shang, my Shishu is telling the truth. Our goal is to become the dictators of the market. Think about it. With the items in your possession, as long as you collaborate with us, you’ll definitely be able to summon the wind and rain in the collectors’ circle. By then, all you would need to do is say the word and you could get anything you want.”

It had to be said that Liu Ao’s offer was truly very tempting. Otherwise, someone like Gou Shiwang, who was the heir to a generational family, wouldn’t have let himself get dragged in.

But Shang Que’s level of indifference was far greater than Liu Ao had thought. He coldly gazed at Liu Ao. “I’ve long since been able to summon the wind and rain.”

Liu Ao: “……” Zhan Wei hadn’t been lying. This person really knows how to bluff!

Yu Zhengdu’s brows were tightly knit together as he listened to Shen Wenrong’s explanation. He thought about it, then tugged Shang Que and asked, “Boss, can you listen to me just this one time?”

Shang Que looked at him. “I can listen to you as many times as you want.”

He hadn’t even asked Yu Zhengdu what he was going to say.

Yu Zhengdu felt a warmth in his heart. He patted the back of Shang Que’s hand and walked forward, then told Liu Ao, “Mr. Liu, the items in my Boss’s possession may possibly be sold in the future……”

A delighted expression appeared on Liu Ao’s face. Wang Gezhi and Shen Wenrong were astounded. Just as they were about to butt in, they heard Yu Zhengdu continue, “But not to Meng Hua.”

“In the future, as long as you guys auction off items belonging to the Gou family, we’ll give the same items to your opponents. For example, if you auction off a pair of little Jingkang Tongbao coins, we’ll give two pairs to your competitors.”

Following Yu Zhengdu’s words, Liu Ao’s expression became more and more foul.

Everybody else finally understood too.

Yu Zhengdu’s actions were completely preventing Meng Hua from acting on their backup plan.

Meng Hua wanted to monopolize the market. To do so, they absolutely needed to be able to place some completely unique goods on the market. As long as Shang Que refused to sell, the Gou family would still own the largest collection of Song artifacts. The Gou family’s collection was more than enough for Meng Hua to beat out all the other auction houses.

However, if Shang Que collaborated with Meng Hua’s opponents, Meng Hua’s trump card – the Gou family – would be completely ruined. No matter what they brought out to sell, their opponent would definitely have something more impressive than them.

This was truly taking the firewood out from under the cauldron.

Liu Ao had never expected that Yu Zhengdu would make such a decision. He instantly became outraged. Finally, he completely ripped off his mask of fake kindness and reached out to push Yu Zhengdu. “You dare to?!”

Before his hands could even make contact, Shang Que gently waved from off to the side.

The next second, Liu Ao had already gotten flung into the distance.

Shang Que lowered his gaze. “He dares.”

Liu Ao couldn’t figure out how he had flown out at all. He only thought that Shang Que seemed to be impossibly strong. This caused him to feel both shocked and angry. However, he ultimately didn’t dare to act out again. He only resentfully stated, “If you dare to become Meng Hua’s enemies, wait and see.”

He had originally been planning to make a grand exit, but that fall that had resulted in him landing on his butt had been too hard. He could only resort to limping away.

From the back, this image was rather pitiful.

By now, Wang Gezhi had understood Yu Zhengdu’s intentions as well. On the spot, he deeply bowed to him. “Mr. Yu, Mr. Shang, thank you guys very much. Truly.”

Shen Wenrong hurriedly bowed as well.

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t be compared to Boss, who was a thousand-year-old ancient ghost. He didn’t dare to accept such a deep bow from an elder; he hurriedly helped the other up.

The reason Old Mr. Wang had wanted to have a private conversation with Shang Que was because of this topic. He wanted to warn him so that he wouldn’t be used by Meng Hua. Yet, he hadn’t expected for Shang Que to be surprisingly indifferent. Also, Yu Zhengdu was very keen. This saved him from having to try and make an argument.

Wang Gezhi lamented, “If Gou Shiwang could have half of your guys’ awareness, I wouldn’t have to be so worried.”

Yu Zhengdu chuckled. “Old mister, feel free to rest at ease. It seems to me that your shizhi probably won’t be selling the Gou family’s artifacts anymore.”

The main reason Gou Shiwang had brought out the Gou family’s collectibles hadn’t been for money. Instead, it had been to work with Meng Hua to control the entire market. As of now, Shang Que had suddenly stuck his foot into their plan. This rendered their entire plan a failure. Not only so, but because the objects in Shang Que’s possession had been shown to the world, the Gou family’s collection would definitely be worth much less than it had been before.

Auctioning off collectibles was already completely meaningless to Gou Shiwang.

Wang Gezhi pondered for a bit before realizing this too. He instantly smiled. This smile was filled with slight disappointment. “That would be best. At least Shixiong’s life’s work has been saved.”

They spoke for a while longer. Wang Gezhi actually wasn’t as old-fashioned as Liu Ao and them had said. Collectibles among the general public were always switching owners. As long as these transactions weren’t illegal, he didn’t actually mind people selling artifacts. He even took the initiative to introduce some buyers to Shang Que.

What surprised him was, Shang Que truly didn’t have any intentions to sell at all. His attitude about this was very simple too: only prodigal sons needed to sell their family possessions……unless it was a certain employee who wanted to sell them.

A certain employee didn’t have any intentions to do so either. Even during their company’s most difficult times, he hadn’t thought of selling antiques as a solution. Also, the objects in Shang Que’s possession seemed to be rather remarkable cultural relics. If they got dispersed, who knew where they would end up? It was better to let Shang Que himself hold onto them.

Yu Zhengdu expressed his opinion to Wang Gezhi. The old mister felt even more like lamenting. In the end, he left them his contact information. If Shang Que wanted to sell in the future, he could contact him. Wang Gezhi would help him get in contact with people with governmental backgrounds to ensure the reliability of the transaction.

Yu Zhengdu very professionally acted like an assistant and socialized with Old Mr. Wang. Finally, they reached a happy agreement. Old Mr. Wang was very reluctant to leave. He still wanted to invite Yu Zhengdu and them to visit his house.

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t make a decision without asking. Thus, he looked toward Shang Que.

Only now did he realize that at some unknown time, Shang Que had already pulled out his phone and started gaming.

Yu Zhengdu could only pat him. “Boss, the old mister is inviting you to his house?”

“Not going,” Shang Que rejected. Then, he pressed on his phone screen in agitation. “This money-spending bastard! He actually spent twenty thousand! Of course he would win without having to do anything!”

Shen Wenrong often surfed the web. He knew about the act of spending money on games. Upon hearing this, he chuckled. “Why not spend some money too, Mr. Shang?”

Shang Que glared at him, furious.

Shen Wenrong: ?? Had he said something wrong?

Only to see that there was slight embarrassment visible in Shang Que’s eyes. “I don’t have that much spare money.”

Shen Wenrong: You really know how to fake it!

The author has something to say:

Xiaokui: I am Xiaokui. What do you want?

Our Xiaokui only spoke the truth. What a pity that nobody believes him _(:3∠)_