Xu Shisan was being overly enthusiastic, commenting so much on her social media post, one sentence after another. His behavior seemed nothing like that of an 18 or 19-year-old but more like a lonely older man pretending to be young online.

It wasn’t that Gu Xingzhao had never been called “sister” before—there was a neighbor, Lin Ting, who had been calling her that since they were kids. But Lin Ting never acted like this.

Curious, she clicked on Xu Shisan’s profile to check if it was really him, or if she had mistakenly saved someone else’s name. As it turned out, his profile was full of selfies and the occasional game screenshot, confirming that this was indeed Xu Shisan.

He didn’t seem to match the image of a traditional antique shop owner at all.

She didn’t respond to his comments but instead remembered the treasures she had collected from Yu Heng. She immediately picked two items from the storage room, hoping to sell them today to repay the 88,000 yuan loan she owed the system. The system had been unhappy about it, advising her to take her time and use installments instead, claiming the pressure wouldn’t be too much.

What a joke! The fact that the system had that reaction meant there was something in it for them. Without hesitation, Gu Xingzhao had repaid the loan in full, fearing that the system might set up some trap for her.

Other protagonists in novels had helpful systems that guided them away from trouble. Her system, on the other hand, seemed to constantly be scheming against her, always trying to squeeze more benefits out of her. It was a real headache.

Before heading out that afternoon, Gu Xingzhao researched online and settled on a highly-rated antique shop located at the end of the street. Word had it that the owner was a handsome, straightforward guy who offered fair prices.

If this had been before today, she would have definitely chosen to go back to the first antique shop she had visited since she had already dealt with them once and considered them somewhat familiar. But after seeing Xu Shisan’s comments, she no longer trusted him. He seemed irresponsible and carried the air of a lonely older man.

This time, she was determined to get a good price! She was thinking about buying a car, which would make it easier to get into the city and avoid dealing with strange drivers. She also wanted to expand her supermarket and hire two employees, freeing up her time.

However, with only around 100,000 yuan left in her bank account, she needed to make some quick cash. She didn’t want to run into a situation where she was short on money and had to take out another loan.

Gu Xingzhao got out of the car and followed the GPS to the shop at the end of the street. The shop’s decor was simple, but it was filled with various items. The shopkeeper, seeing her enter, immediately stood up to greet her.

She discreetly sized him up. He appeared to be in his 30s, with dark skin and an honest look. He didn’t seem all that handsome, so why were there so many comments in the forum praising his looks?

Had her taste in men diverged from the mainstream?

She placed two items on the table—a pair of jade-carved paperweights and a servant’s sword from Yu Heng’s collection.

“Take a look at these and see if you want to buy them.”

After her previous experience, she had learned her lesson. Last time, she had been too polite and had given away too much information, losing control of the pricing.

The shopkeeper put on a pair of gloves and carefully examined the jade paperweights, using a magnifying glass from his drawer. After several minutes, he moved on to the sword, inspecting it for nearly ten minutes.

Gu Xingzhao was quite pleased. This was how a professional should act, showing respect for the items and thoroughly assessing them. Unlike last time with Xu Shisan, who had only glanced at the items for a couple of minutes before giving her an estimate—his approach seemed careless in comparison.

Just as she was feeling satisfied, the shopkeeper removed his gloves and smiled at her. “Please wait a moment; I need to call the boss.”

Gu Xingzhao was puzzled. “The boss?”

“These items seem to be of significant value. Whether we can accept them depends on our boss.”

Nodding, Gu Xingzhao replied, “Alright, call your boss over.”

So, after all that, this guy wasn’t even the one in charge. It seemed she had been too hasty.

The shopkeeper quickly made a phone call and then sat down to make tea. “Our boss is nearby. Please have a seat and wait for a bit.”

Feeling thirsty, Gu Xingzhao downed the cup of tea. The familiar taste surprised her—did everyone on this street drink the same type of tea? She remembered that the tea at Xu Shisan’s shop had tasted exactly the same.

Just then, she heard footsteps approaching from outside. Guessing that the real boss had arrived, she quickly took another sip of tea to quench her thirst.

When the footsteps entered the shop, the shopkeeper stood up to greet the newcomer. Gu Xingzhao glanced up and was immediately met with a familiar face and voice. She nearly spat out her tea but instead ended up choking and coughing uncontrollably.

“Cough—cough!”

The boss turned to look at her, squinting slightly. “Ah, a returning customer.”

After coughing for nearly half a minute, Gu Xingzhao’s face flushed red. Who else could it be but Xu Shisan?

She was mortified. At that moment, she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

Xu Shisan took over from the other shopkeeper and sat down, prepared to continue the transaction. But all Gu Xingzhao wanted to do was take her items and leave.

Noticing her intent to flee, Xu Shisan smiled and said, “Sister, to be honest, about 80% of the shops on this street are owned by my family. As for the remaining 20%, if you go there, you’ll be walking right into the lion’s den. Why not sit down, and we can have a nice chat?”

Gu Xingzhao was speechless.

Could someone explain to her how all these people with the surname Xu were so rich?

Xu Shisan added, “Money isn’t a big deal. After all, my family values things based on fate, not just price.”

He recalled liking her social media post earlier and had hoped it would help them build a rapport. Being close by had its advantages, after all!

But she hadn’t even acknowledged his comment.

He had been thinking about sending her a private message to ask why, but then he got the call and found her standing right in his shop. Talk about fate!

Realizing she couldn’t just leave, given that this was the only antique district in the city, Gu Xingzhao reluctantly sat back down. Running off to a different city just to sell these things seemed impractical.

Seeing her settle in, Xu Shisan put on gloves and inspected the jade paperweights and the sword.

Just like last time, he only glanced at them for a moment. “This sword is quite ordinary—not made from any special material, with visible rust and a plain appearance. It doesn’t have much collectible value. I can offer you this amount.”

He punched a number into the calculator.

Gu Xingzhao glanced at it—30,000 yuan. Not bad, she had only been hoping for around 20,000.

Before Xu Shisan could give an estimate for the jade paperweights, Gu Xingzhao spoke up first. “For this pair of paperweights, I won’t sell for less than 600,000.”

Xu Shisan paused for a moment, then smiled, revealing two small tiger-like teeth. “Sister, you’re so cute. I’d love to meet your daughter—she must be just as adorable.”

Gu Xingzhao: “…”

She felt like she was being flirted with by someone younger than her. At this moment, she really wanted to summon lightning on the spot.