Chapter 15: Being Followed

After staking out Lin Moran for several days, Gu Aihua grew bored.

Lin Moran was very patient.  Besides wiping down the items in her shop, she didn’t do anything else.

When there were no customers, she closed the shop and went home to take care of her child.

Her schedule was very flexible.

People in textile factories, food factories, and all other factories were bound by rules and working hours, but she wasn’t.

Seeing Lin Moran’s flexible work hours and monthly salary, Gu Aihua grew envious.

If she could get that job, it would be wonderful.

She could take care of family matters.

She would have money.

She could occasionally find bargains and make a fortune.

“Hey, Lin Moran, is your boss hiring?”

Gu Aihua humbled herself to ask.

Lin Moran smiled slyly, “You have to ask my boss.”

“If I could find your boss, why would I ask you?”

“You have so many advisors behind you, and you can’t find my boss, how can I?” Lin Moran retorted, her gaze direct, “And even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. What if you report our boss to the police for trafficking cultural relics?”

Gu Aihua was annoyed, “Lin Moran, am I that kind of person?”

She just wanted a job like hers!

“You’re not that kind of person. You just want to report me and get a reward from the police.”

Lin Moran replied.

“You, I…” Gu Aihua stammered, feeling guilty.

Lin Moran had known her intentions from the start.

How could someone be so clever?

“I’m going back! When your boss comes, ask him if he’s still hiring.”

Gu Aihua slightly changed her mind.

She would give Lin Moran another chance.

If Lin Moran helped her find a job, she would let it go.

If she didn’t, she would continue to watch her.

After Gu Aihua left, Lin Moran tidied up and immediately went out, cycling towards the north of Liuli Street.

After a 90-minute ride, she arrived at Ningjiayuan. The sun had already set, and the streetlights flickered.

Ningjiayuan market was starting to fill up.

This was a famous ghost market, a nighttime market.  Poor people came with flint and steel, rich people with lanterns.

Years ago, a farmer dug a cellar and unearthed thousands of years old bronze and porcelain jars, and a large number of copper coins.

Most of the items were handed over to the state.

But some villagers kept some for themselves.  Antique collectors from all over the country came, gradually forming a market.

Selling antiques was still illegal, and there were always people from the Cultural Relics Bureau coming to arrest people.

Ningjiayuan market was located on a hillside.  From a distance, people could see the Cultural Relics Bureau coming and quickly pack up and run.

It was relatively safe.

This area was in the suburbs, and after the market formed, people from Hebei, Shandong, and Tianjin also came to sell goods.

Many people weren’t well-off, and some Beijingers, unwilling to part with their belongings, would also come here secretly.

Of course, there were often looted cultural relics from China’s history of humiliation.

In short, there was everything here, as long as you wanted to find it.

Due to the diverse sources of goods, an unwritten rule had formed: buyers don’t ask about the source, sellers don’t ask about the buyer’s intentions.

Once in this market, Lin Moran bought with her eyes closed; the goods were usually genuine.

Except for those sellers like Gu Aihua, who thought any blue-and-white porcelain with patina was valuable, she didn’t worry about fakes. In this era, genuine antiques weren’t openly sold.  Who would bother making fakes?  Making fakes required time and money.

Of course, there were still some sellers who passed off Republican-era items as Qing Dynasty items, Qing Dynasty items as Yuan Dynasty items, or repaired items as genuine articles.

So one still had to be careful, otherwise, one would be easily fooled.

But these were not a problem for Lin Moran.

Having finally gotten rid of Gu Aihua, she wanted to find some good items tonight.

Soon, sellers filled the hillside, displaying various items.

Some had piles of copper coins, others had colorful porcelain, paintings, jade…

You could even find first-class national relics, bronze ware.

The seller clearly didn’t know that the bronze cauldron was a first-class national relic, casually placing it aside, even grumbling, “Bronze is so worthless now?”

“It’s too heavy, no one’s interested.”

Lin Moran thought, who would dare to be interested in bronze ware?

First-class national relics are prohibited from trading and export, and anyone caught would be arrested.

“Comrade, are you looking at goods?”

The bronze seller called to Lin Moran. Lin Moran stopped and asked, “May I ask about the origin of your goods?”

“Comrade, you’re asking too many questions.”

Lin Moran was slightly surprised. She thought this was a newcomer, but he was a veteran.

“Then I won’t look.”

“Hey, don’t go. This is a good thing, it’s just that not many people know it. I have no choice but to sell it here.”

“I see you’ve been staring at this item. If you want it, just pay and take it?”

The seller said with some pain and helplessness, “My family can’t make ends meet, my wife and children are starving. If it weren’t for my desperate situation, I wouldn’t have brought this thing here to sell.”

Lin Moran narrowed her eyes. The antique market valued observation. Sellers worried about low prices wouldn’t solicit buyers; buyers wouldn’t speak first, as asking more questions might increase the price.

This seller clearly knew the rules but deliberately solicited her.

“I’m not interested in your goods.”

Lin Moran said politely.

“This much? Do you want it?”

The seller held up a finger, “I don’t have any other requirements, just a little more than the scrap price.”

Lin Moran immediately moved away. Those who willingly lowered their prices wanted you to buy.

Then she noticed someone following her.

Pretending to tie her shoelaces, Lin Moran saw a familiar figure through her pant legs.

The woman was wearing a similar khaki-colored outfit, a hat, a scarf, and carrying a lantern, hiding behind a tree.

It was Xu Jingya.

Before, whenever she came to Ningjiayuan or other antique markets, she felt like someone was following her.

It must be her.

Gu Jingyao was back, but she wasn’t with him. What was her purpose in secretly following her?

Was she, like Gu Aihua, trying to report her?

Lin Moran looked back and saw Xu Jingya standing in front of a seller, examining a blue-glazed gold-flower porcelain vase she had just looked at.  She used her hat to hide her face.

Surprisingly, her mannerisms were like a professional.

She had been in Beijing for over four years and had never heard that Xu Jingya was in the antique business.

Could it be?

Lin Moran boldly guessed that her expertise was an act.

Money makes the world go round.

Many people wanted to make money from antiques, not just Gu Aihua. Xu Jingya was probably one of them.

She would test her intentions.

She stopped in front of a young seller with messy hair, tattered clothes, deep-set eyes, a hawk-like nose, and a cold expression, as if he wouldn’t care even if she offered a sky-high price.

The young man glanced at her lazily and looked at the stars.

Lin Moran ignored his attitude, scanning his table, her brows slightly furrowed.

“What do you mean?  None of these items catch your eye?”

Wang Yunfeng straightened up, his eyes slightly angry.

Lin Moran glanced at him indifferently.

“I haven’t said anything, why are you so angry? Since you’re an insider, you should understand ‘a deal is a deal’.”

Two years ago, she had met him at another night market and successfully found a five-color dragon and phoenix bowl among his worthless junk. 

Wang Yunfeng had been happy, thinking she was a fool. 

Later, he discovered the bowl was valuable and had been sold by Lin Moran for a high price.

When he saw Lin Moran again, his eyes were cold and hateful.

“Or should I give you a fool’s bargain?”

Lin Moran said indifferently, glancing at Xu Jingya behind her.

Wang Yunfeng was young but shrewd.

The moment their eyes met, Wang Yunfeng understood Lin Moran’s meaning.

“Boss, how much is this vase?”

Lin Moran asked.

Wang Yunfeng slightly raised his eyelids, “Five hundred.”

Lin Moran was surprised, “Five hundred? If you’re serious about selling, give me a fair price.”

“Comrade, your eyesight is sharp.  You’ve picked the best one.  Do you know how much a similar vase sold for overseas? Ten thousand!”

“Let me just say a few words: Shanxi, Yuan Dynasty, enamel. If you want it, take it. If it’s too expensive, look at others. This Qing Dynasty imperial palace Xiangyun Cai Feng bowl is fifty yuan.”

Lin Moran’s eyes didn’t leave the enamel vase, “I just want a vase, I like the color, but it’s so expensive, I can’t eat it.”

Wang Yunfeng coldly curled his lips and ignored Lin Moran.

Lin Moran left and returned shortly after.

She went back and forth several times.

“I really like this vase, boss, will you sell it for three hundred?”

“Four hundred, not a penny less. If I could find a foreign buyer, I wouldn’t sell it at this price!”

Lin Moran hesitated, gritting her teeth, “I don’t have that much cash on me, wait for me, I’ll borrow some money from a friend nearby, and you keep the vase.”

“Hurry up.”

Lin Moran quickly left.

As soon as she left, Xu Jingya went to Wang Yunfeng, imitating Lin Moran, first looking at other items, then focusing on the enamel vase.