Chapter 96

Mou Ying's grandfather was, after all, quite old, and everything he did was slow. However, Zhang Tianyuan was no longer in a hurry. In such matters, being anxious is of no use and can sometimes even make things worse.

After leaving Mou Ying's house, Zhang Tianyuan and Xu Gang finally remembered to go and check on their own shop. No matter how much they planned to expand in the future, the current shop was the foundation. It had been a long time since they had managed it, and they didn't know how it was doing.

Who would have thought that just as they were about to start the car, the phone rang.

Zhang Tianyuan got into the car and answered the call.

"Oh, it's Snake Team. You've arrived? Where are you now? What? You'll be at Shangpu Railway Station in half an hour? Alright, alright, we'll come to the station to pick you up right away!"

After hanging up, Zhang Tianyuan said to Xu Gang, "Gangzi, let's go to the railway station. Snake Team has arrived."

Xu Gang also seemed very excited. With Snake Team finally here, the three of them, who had shared hardships, were finally together. They could now start a grand venture.

Snake Team had spent about a week dealing with his own affairs. He not only visited several of his comrades' homes and gave them some money, but also went home to stay with his elderly mother for a day.

It could be said that he had been busy these few days, without even a moment's rest. After arriving in Nandu, he directly took the train to Shangpu. He thought that since Zhang Tianyuan and Xu Gang trusted him so much, he should be even more proactive and not lag behind.

Mou Ying's house was about a half-hour drive from the railway station, but that was by bus. If Xu Gang drove, it would take less than twenty minutes without traffic.

The two of them parked the car at the station and then went to the exit to wait.

Soon, Snake Team came out of the exit, wearing a military green camouflage outfit that made him look very spirited. Perhaps he was used to wearing such clothes, as Snake Team liked to buy similar outfits. However, the one he was wearing was not bought but issued by the military, looking much more presentable than those sold in stores.

Snake Team was carrying a large military green backpack, and no one knew what was inside, but it looked quite heavy.

"Snake Team, what did you bring? You can buy everything here," Xu Gang said with a smile.

"No, I brought some local specialties. You might not be able to buy them in Shangpu, and even if you could, they wouldn't be as good as what I have," Snake Team said with a grin.

"Alright, let's go back. You can stay with us for now. We have a three-bedroom apartment, so you'll have to stay in the smaller room for now. Is that okay?" Zhang Tianyuan said with a smile as they walked to the parking lot.

"What's there to mind? I've even lived under a bridge before when I was down on my luck," Snake Team said, shaking his head.

They got into the car and headed to Shangpu city. Xu Gang said, "Tianyuan, we're rich now. Can't we each buy a house?"

"Buying a house for each of us isn't realistic. The housing prices in Shangpu are sky-high. The down payment for one house is about 5 to 6 million, so three houses would be nearly 20 million. I don't have that much money. Besides, this money is for business, not for enjoyment. We'll talk about houses later. We can buy one for now, but definitely not three," Zhang Tianyuan said, shaking his head.

"Ah, I thought we were rich. But it turns out we're nothing," Xu Gang said, shaking his head and sighing.

"Don't worry, we'll have houses and women in the future," Zhang Tianyuan said with a squint, already having a rough outline of his dreams. As for how to achieve them, that would take time.

Rome wasn't built in a day. After all, they were still young, and there was no problem with taking it step by step.

After putting their things in the residence, Zhang Tianyuan looked at the time and said, "Snake Team, if you're tired, you can rest for a bit. Gangzi and I are going to check on the shop. We'll go out for a late-night snack when we come back."

"No need. I took a sleeper, so I slept well on the train. I'm not sleepy at all," Snake Team said, shaking his head. "I want to get to work right away. Who knows, something might come up today."

"Snake Team, don't jinx it. In the antique business, the last thing we want is trouble," Xu Gang said hurriedly.

"Sorry, I got too excited and spoke without thinking," Snake Team said, slapping his face.

"Since you're so eager, let's go together. You can familiarize yourself with the area, and we'll need to visit the shop often," Zhang Tianyuan said with a smile, and the three of them went downstairs and drove to the shop.

There was a parking lot not far from the shop. Xu Gang went to park the car, while Zhang Tianyuan and Snake Team went to the shop first.

It had been nearly a month since they last visited, and Zhang Tianyuan noticed that the shop was much busier than before. Many people were looking at the jade, as living standards had improved, especially in Shangpu, where even a few million yuan was considered middle-class. Buying a jade bracelet or pendant was quite common.

Jade was different from antiques; some items were not expensive, and could be bought for tens of thousands or even thousands of yuan. This made the business better, but the revenue was uncertain. In the antique business, selling one valuable item could mean not needing to do business for a year.

Just as they arrived at the shop, Zhang Tianyuan saw an assistant pushing someone out.

"Isn't that Boss Liu? What brings you here?" Zhang Tianyuan had a good memory, which had helped him excel in the liberal arts in school. He was not good at science, but in the liberal arts, no one could match him.

The Boss Liu he was addressing was the leader of the group that had tried to scam him at the Xifeng antique market. He had once bought a very valuable small book from this man at a low price.

The man turned around and, upon seeing Zhang Tianyuan, grabbed his collar and shouted, "You little brat, compensate me for my treasure! You bought it for a few thousand yuan, and now you owe me!"

Seeing the man's hands, Snake Team stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, causing the man to cry out in pain and quickly let go.

Zhang Tianyuan said coldly, "Boss Liu, you know the rules of the trade. I didn't know if it was valuable at the time. If I had lost money, would you have compensated me?"

"Snake Team, let him go. I don't believe there's no place to reason in broad daylight," Zhang Tianyuan said to Snake Team.

Snake Team let go, and the man sat on the ground and started crying.

"I know, I just... I'm just frustrated," the man said, sobbing. "I heard that you sold that small book for a high price in Shangpu, and I got excited. I wanted to get another one. I knew the seller had more, so I went to buy them, but he refused. We then had evil intentions and stole them at night. We did manage to steal six books, but after expert appraisal, each one could only sell for about 2,000 yuan, totaling 12,000 yuan, which wasn't enough to cover the risk. What's worse, we were caught by the police and spent over ten days in jail. The other guys took my money as a farewell gift and ran away, leaving me to fend for myself. I finally managed to gather some money from acquaintances to come to Shangpu to find you."