pdf-ebookys Chapter 350 Isn’t an antique just a pile of scrap metal?
Chapter 350 Isn’t an antique just a pile of scrap metal?
After hearing what Qi Tongwei said, the other party gritted his teeth and seemed to have made a great decision: "Sir, then tell me the amount. As long as it is reasonable, I will raise the money for you today."
Qi Tongwei still firmly rejected the other party.
He knew very well that in this game with the smuggling gang, if he acted too eagerly and obviously, the other party would easily notice the trick.
He must grasp the rhythm and lure these people into the trap he set step by step.
Qi Tongwei's previous publicity in the antique garden was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, which indeed caused quite a stir and attracted the attention of many people.
The contact information he left seemed to have become a hotline and was almost blown away by calls.
Among the many callers was Longshi’s phone number.
According to the plan agreed upon with Qi Tongwei in advance, Long Shi pretended to be a buyer who was very interested in the antiques in Qi Tongwei's hands.
The two pretended to be strangers on the phone and talked seriously about the price.
Long Shi pretended to be very anxious on the phone: "Sir, I am really interested in your ancient Buddha statue. Can you lower the price for me?"
Qi Tongwei replied arrogantly: "This is already the lowest price. This thing of mine is a rare treasure. If you think it's expensive, there are many people who want it."
That night, Qi Tongwei decided to strike while the iron was hot. He invited several people who had expressed strong acquisition intentions on the phone to dinner together.
It was a luxuriously decorated restaurant with elegantly decorated private rooms and tables filled with all kinds of delicacies from land and sea.
After everyone took their seats, Qi Tongwei sat in the main seat, his eyes revealing a kind of deliberate arrogance and mystery.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Qi Tongwei deliberately took advantage of the alcohol to start talking nonsense.
He cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, "Everyone, I invited you all here today because I want you to know that I am not an ordinary person. My identity is very special."
He paused deliberately, looking at the curious eyes of the crowd, feeling secretly proud, and then continued: "My family is in the engineering business, and the projects we do are very large. We have projects all over the country."
"However, a few years ago, when I was doing a project in a remote mountainous area, I happened to come across an ancient tomb."
Having said that, he deliberately lowered his voice and glanced at the crowd. Seeing that everyone was attracted by his words, he continued, "That ancient tomb is really hidden deep. We discovered it by accident. Guess what?"
"It's filled with all kinds of antiques, like a treasure trove. The antiques I have are just a drop in the bucket compared to what's in the ancient tomb."
After hearing Qi Tongwei's words, the people present had different reactions.
A few people believed it firmly, with envy and greed flashing in their eyes.
One of them said eagerly, "Mr. Qi, could you take us to see the ancient tomb? Or show us some other antiques you brought out from there?"
Others frowned slightly, suspecting that Qi Tongwei was up to no good.
They thought this matter was too strange. How could they just happen to come across an ancient tomb and take out the antiques inside and sell them casually?
But they did not expose Qi Tongwei on the spot. After all, they also wanted to see what tricks Qi Tongwei was playing.
Longshi was also among them. He cooperated with Qi Tongwei's performance, pretending to be equally curious and said, "Mr. Qi, you are so lucky. But isn't there any problem with you selling the things from the ancient tomb like this?"
Qi Tongwei glanced at Long Shi, as if blaming him for being too talkative, but continued, "What could be the problem? The ancient tomb has been almost completely destroyed, and no one cares about the things inside. I'm just trying to make these antiques realize their value. I can't just leave them buried underground forever."
In this way, with the cooperation between Qi Tongwei and Long Shi, Qi Tongwei's fame and so-called family background were fabricated perfectly, making everyone present fall into the plot they set.
Long Shi knew in his heart that at this time he had to further dispel everyone's doubts through clever questions, while at the same time not letting Qi Tongwei's plan be exposed.
So, he pretended to be skeptical and asked, "Since you said it was an ancient tomb you came across years ago, this is no small matter. How come we have been in the antique industry for so long and have never heard any news? This news is so strictly blocked."
As Long Shi spoke, he stared at Qi Tongwei, observing his expression.
Then, Longshi frowned again and raised his voice, saying, "Besides, you chose to sell these antiques at this very moment, rather than earlier. It's hard not to suspect you have ulterior motives. The antique market is full of mixed bag these days, so who knows if there's anything wrong with these things?"
Long Shi's words indeed expressed the common doubts in the minds of everyone present.
Everyone nodded, and many of them looked at Qi Tongwei, their eyes full of expectation, waiting for Qi Tongwei to give a reasonable explanation.
After hearing what Long Shi said, Qi Tongwei indeed showed some displeasure on his face.
He frowned, a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes, and he seemed a little dissatisfied with Long Shi's attitude.
He snorted coldly, and then began to explain:
"Humph, do you think everything will be announced to the public? You guys only know a tiny fraction of what's going on."
"My old man used to like tinkering with these things. He collected the antiques he got out of the ancient tombs as if they were treasures."
"But what about me? I'm not interested in these things at all. To me, these so-called antiques are just a pile of junk."
As Qi Tongwei spoke, he waved his hand disdainfully, as if those antiques were really worthless garbage.
"Think about it, these are hundreds of years old. Who knows who used them before? Maybe they were used by poor people. What's so rare about them?"
"Don't talk to me about culture. I don't understand those complicated things. I just know that in modern society, only money is real, and only money can circulate in this world."
Qi Tongwei spoke loudly and in an arrogant tone. He deliberately disguised himself as a nouveau riche who only cared about money and had no cultural connotations.
After hearing Qi Tongwei's words, many people were secretly delighted.
They felt that Qi Tongwei was an easy target to exploit, a nouveau riche who only cared about money and had no brains.
Chapter 351 Successfully Attracting the Attention of the Criminal Gang
In their eyes, such people are like fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
A look of contempt gradually emerged in their eyes, and their original wariness towards Qi Tongwei was unconsciously dispelled a lot.
Long Shi watched the reactions of the crowd from the side, secretly admiring Qi Tongwei's acting skills.
He knew that Qi Tongwei's performance had successfully brought them one step closer to their plan.
In the second half of the meal, the cooperation between Longshi and Qi Tongwei became more and more tacit.
In order to perfectly maintain Qi Tongwei's arrogant, domineering and profit-seeking nouveau riche personality, Long Shi has taken great pains.
He tried to talk to Qi Tongwei several times in his disguised identity, but Qi Tongwei always retorted with disdain like a spoiled rich kid.
The dragon and lion were also disguised very realistically, with just the right amount of humility and helplessness on their faces.
There was a hint of flattery in his eyes, but he was a little overwhelmed by Qi Tongwei's cold words. His body was slightly hunched, as if he was really afraid of offending Qi Tongwei, the "big money bag".
After three rounds of drinking, Qi Tongwei's mind was still very clear, but he disguised himself as a complete drunkard.
His eyes were slightly red, as if they were stained by alcohol.
His body was shaky and he walked unsteadily, looking like he might fall at any time.
Qi Tongwei began to show everyone his collection while drunk.
He carefully took out antiques one by one from the bulging bag. Although his movements were a little clumsy due to being "drunken", they were filled with cherishment for the collection.
He held the antiques in his hands, dangling them in front of everyone, and introduced them vaguely: "Look, this...this is a good thing, I...I have a lot of them at home."
As he demonstrated, he became friends with everyone.
He put his arm around someone's shoulder and said with a thick tongue, "Brother...Brother, it's fate that we can sit together today. Wait...wait until I sober up, and I'll find a suitable buyer to ship the goods. If you...if you're interested, I'll definitely think of you first."
When everyone saw Qi Tongwei's appearance, they all started to make plans in their minds.
They felt that this was a rare opportunity. If they could get closer to Qi Tongwei, they might be able to make a fortune when he shipped the goods.
As a result, many people took the opportunity to please Qi Tongwei and wanted to get closer to him.
Someone said with a big smile on his face, "Brother Qi, you are so generous. Any item in your collection is worth a fortune."
"Don't worry, if you need anything from now on, just tell me and I will go through fire and water for you."
Another person also hurried forward, poured a glass of wine for Qi Tongwei, and said attentively: "Brother Qi, this is true generosity. I admire people like you who don't care about trivial matters."
"Look at your collection. I'm stunned. If you don't mind, we can be good brothers from now on."
Qi Tongwei looked at everyone's reactions and felt secretly proud.
He knew that his plan was going smoothly. By being drunk, he successfully made these people want to get closer to him, which undoubtedly created a great opportunity for him to infiltrate the smuggling group.
He continued to pretend to be drunk, moving among the crowd, enjoying the feeling of being sought after by everyone, just like a real nouveau riche immersed in his own world of vanity.
In this seemingly chaotic but actually mysterious atmosphere of the dinner, Longshi also began to humbly find opportunities to display his collections.
He carefully took out a few antiques from his bag, his eyes filled with anticipation and nervousness.
However, everyone's attention was focused on Qi Tongwei at the moment. In order to please this seemingly wealthy but simple-minded "big money man", they were very disdainful of the dragon and lion.
Those people just took a quick glance at the collection in Longshi's hand, then turned their gaze back to Qi Tongwei, still speaking words of flattery to Qi Tongwei.
But in this situation where almost everyone ignored him, someone left Longshi's contact information.
This person looks very shrewd, and there is always a calculating gleam in his eyes.
When he left his contact information, he took the opportunity to lower the price.
While playing with Longshi's collection, he said nonchalantly, "Look, your collection is pretty good, but it's far inferior to Mr. Qi's."
"Now that you have his collection for comparison, you should know more clearly that your collection is priceless. If you keep it in your hands, perhaps no one will buy it in the future."
His voice was neither high nor low, but every word pierced the heart, and every word seemed to be belittling the collection in Longshi's hands.
After hearing what he said, Longshi looked very embarrassed.
He frowned and his lips trembled slightly, as if he was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle.
He held his collection tightly in his hands, as if it was his last treasure and he was reluctant to sell it at such a low price.
When the other party saw the dragon and lion's reaction, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, and he seemed very satisfied with the dragon and lion's reaction.
He patted Longshi's shoulder again, seemingly offering comfort but actually adding pressure, saying, "Think about it carefully. I'm only giving you this opportunity because your collection still has some value. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be so kind."
In fact, Long Shi and Qi Tongwei both knew that this was a great opportunity.
Through such interactions, they each found someone who could become a powerful informant.
On Qi Tongwei's side, among those who are eager to please him, there must be members of the smuggling group or people who have close ties with the smuggling group. As long as he continues to play his role well, he can successfully infiltrate the smuggling group.
On the Longshi side, this seemingly shrewd and somewhat greedy man is very likely to be a breakthrough point for them to penetrate the smuggling group.
Although Longshi appeared to be in a difficult situation on the surface, he was secretly glad in his heart because he knew that his plan had taken an important step forward.
During the dinner, Long Shi and Qi Tongwei calmly carried out their pre-planned arrangements, laying the groundwork for eventually infiltrating the smuggling ring.
After the dinner, Qi Tongwei was enthusiastically sent to the hotel by an antique dealer.
The antique dealer kept saying flattering words along the way, while Qi Tongwei continued to pretend to be drunk and responded vaguely.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel entrance, members of the Dragon Team disguised as hotel staff came to greet them quickly and naturally.
They skillfully took Qi Tongwei and carefully brought him to the hotel as if he were an ordinary guest.