Chapter 149: A Narrow Escape

Lin Xiangnan had been studying some fighting skills from Gu Zhenhua, and her confidence had swelled slightly.

She hadn’t stayed home for two days before she invited Aunt Hua to go downtown.

“Come on, if we run into trouble this time, I can handle it myself, you don’t even need to lift a finger.”

“Oh, you’re quite cocky,” Aunt Hua said, sitting on the back of Lin Xiangnan’s bicycle. “You better hope we don’t run into any trouble this time. Otherwise, we’ll get nagged at when we get home.”

Aunt Hua said with a hint of fear: “I’m okay. Only one person nags me. You’re different, you have two.”

Aunt Hua’s family status was undeniable. Chen Xiulan wouldn’t dare to scold her mother-in-law, only her son, Political Commissar Xu, would nag her.

“It’s all from the other day. My son was still talking about it today, it’s so annoying.”

Lin Xiangnan proudly said: “I’m not like you. No one dares to nag me at home. If Gu Zhenhua dares to say anything, I’ll punch him. And my mom, she doesn’t care about me anymore.”

Aunt Hua chuckled, “You say whatever you want, I don’t believe you. Anyway, when you’re out and about, your family status is what you make it. You can say whatever you want.”

Aunt Hua abruptly ended the conversation, not giving Lin Xiangnan a chance to brag.

They had just been to the museum the other day, and today they went to an antique shop.

“Look around, if you see something you like, just ask for a receipt and pay.” The antique shop clerk was indifferent to them.

Lin Xiangnan and Aunt Hua didn’t mind, they looked at things on their own, occasionally getting together to whisper about an item.

In the end, they didn’t buy anything.

They were both very restrained when spending money at the antique shop. Every month, they wouldn’t spend more than their combined salary, to avoid any trouble if they were scrutinized.

Leaving the shop, they wandered around the street, observing those who came to sell things at the antique shop.

Seeing an old man with a worried expression and hurried steps leaving the antique shop, Aunt Hua winked at Lin Xiangnan.

Lin Xiangnan quickly walked over and gently bumped into him.

“Oh, sir, are you alright?” Lin Xiangnan asked softly. “Did you just sell something? Did you sell it?”

The old man understood what she meant. He looked at Lin Xiangnan and said, “I didn’t sell it. I have to go home and discuss it with my family.”

“Can I have a look at what it is?”

“Let’s go to the alleyway and talk.” The old man took the lead.

In the alleyway, no one could see what they were doing, but if they shouted, people would immediately come to help, so it was relatively safe.

When they were alone, the old man took out a delicate snuff bottle from his bag. “It’s an heirloom. If my family wasn’t in dire need of money, I wouldn’t have brought it out to sell.”

Lin Xiangnan reached out to take it, and the old man nervously watched her, afraid she would drop it or run off with it.

“It’s from the Qianlong era. The antique shop would only pay 30 yuan for it,” Lin Xiangnan said. “I can give you forty.”

She was being honest, not playing games. She didn’t need to be sly with something worth only a few dozen yuan.

After saying that, Lin Xiangnan returned the item to the old man and waited for his reply.

The old man looked at Lin Xiangnan’s expression and said, “I’ll sell it to you for 50 yuan. This is an heirloom passed down from my family. If my youngest son wasn’t sick…”

“Then forget it.” Lin Xiangnan slowly turned around and walked away.

Although there weren’t many antiques on the market now, after the reform and opening up, good things would emerge like mushrooms after a spring rain. Although it was the “Four Olds” to be broken, who would be willing to break their own good things?

The antiques of the 21st century wouldn’t appear out of thin air. It’s just that people are hiding them now.

Buying antiques now was indeed a good deal, but Lin Xiangnan wasn’t prepared to be a sucker.

One step, two steps, Lin Xiangnan hadn’t even taken her third step when the old man couldn’t help but call her back. “Alright, forty is forty. Cash for goods.”

This price was at least better than selling it to the antique shop. Whether she would be able to meet Lin Xiangnan again to sell it next time was uncertain.

“You’re a smart man.” Lin Xiangnan turned back and readily paid for the item.

As soon as the old man left, Aunt Hua emerged from the shadows and examined the new acquisition with Lin Xiangnan in the alleyway.

“The quality is good, it’s well preserved,” Aunt Hua said disapprovingly. “These days, good things are hard to find. Before liberation, my family still had a Ming Dynasty empress’s crown. Now, there’s no place to buy it.”

“What about the crown?” Lin Xiangnan asked eagerly.

“I donated it,” Aunt Hua said proudly. “I was so selfless back then.”

But there was no way around it. She couldn’t dare to keep anything that was aboveboard.

If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have been able to live so peacefully these past few years. It was like paying for peace of mind.

Now there was no crown, only small trinkets like snuff bottles to buy.

After buying the item, they didn’t plan to go back to the main street, they wanted to go through the alleyway and take a detour to eat.

They walked a hundred meters and just turned a corner when they saw someone even more sneaky than them.

Lin Xiangnan squinted at the person and then exclaimed in surprise, “The bicycle thief?”

Only three of the bicycle thieves were caught, three others escaped. Who would have thought they would meet again.

“What a coincidence.” Aunt Hua didn’t even hesitate, she immediately chased after them.

Lin Xiangnan was a step behind, she quickly caught up, mentally complaining: As expected of someone who participated in the revolution, even at such an old age, she’s still so enthusiastic.

The bicycle thief saw them and cursed, running away.

As he ran, he took eggs from his cloth bag and threw them at them.

With a “smack,” an egg shattered at Lin Xiangnan’s feet, and she unconsciously slowed down.

She really didn’t want to be hit with an egg on the head, the thought of it was embarrassing.

But seeing Aunt Hua still chasing, Lin Xiangnan could only follow.

However, this bicycle thief was probably used to running away. He turned a few corners in the alleyway and disappeared.

Aunt Hua bent over and gasped for breath, grumbling, “This little thief is such a waste. Good eggs are used to throw at people.”

“He can’t carry rotten eggs with him.”

Lin Xiangnan took out her handkerchief and wiped the egg yolk off Aunt Hua’s arm. “I don’t think he was deliberately trying to ambush us, it was probably a coincidence.”

“I know. Who ambushes people with eggs instead of sticks?” After Aunt Hua caught her breath, she said, “Let’s go to the police station and ask. I don’t know what they’re doing. Such a big fish is still out there.”