Zhuo Yu Feng Yang Chapter 8
byCHAPTER 8: WAREHOUSE AMBUSH, THE FAKES EXPOSED
The abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city was so far away it felt like a corner forgotten by civilization.
Dead vines crawled over the broken walls and ruins. When the wind blew, it made a mournful, wailing sound, as if someone was sobbing in the darkness. The warehouse door was ajar, and dim yellow light leaked through the gap, mixed with a few rough bursts of laughter and curses.
Jiang Zhuo and Lu Chen arrived just as evening fell.
They didn’t rush in. Instead, they crouched on the dirt slope opposite the warehouse, concealing themselves in the sparse shadows of the trees. Lu Chen pulled a pair of night-vision binoculars from his pocket and handed them over. Jiang Zhuo took them and raised them to his eyes—inside the warehouse, several high-wattage incandescent bulbs were blazing, making the interior as bright as day.
Old Hei sat beside a broken wooden table in the center. He was shirtless, revealing a thick, muscular torso, and a heavy gold chain around his neck flashed blindingly. Seven or eight subordinates surrounded him, all looking menacing, clutching either steel pipes or knives.
A row of “antiques” was displayed on the table: porcelain vases, calligraphy and paintings, and several bronze artifacts. It was quite a dazzling array.
“These are all fakes,” Jiang Zhuo said, lowering the binoculars and keeping his voice extremely low. “That blue-and-white porcelain vase with the scrolling lotus design is a Republic-era imitation of a Kangxi piece. And that painting, Pine and Crane Longevity, the ink floats on the surface; it was printed recently and then artificially aged.”
Lu Chen didn’t speak, merely rubbing the agarwood prayer beads on his wrist, his eyes as cold as ice. He had already confirmed that Old Hei was planning to sell this batch of goods to a coal boss from out of town, asking five million yuan—a pure fleecing of a rich fool.
“They’re arriving soon,” Lu Chen suddenly said.
Jiang Zhuo followed his gaze and indeed saw a black SUV swaying as it drove toward the warehouse, its headlights piercing the twilight, exceptionally glaring.
As soon as the car stopped, Old Hei abruptly stood up, the fat on his face bunching together into a fawning smile: “Boss Li, we’ve been waiting for you!”
The car door opened, and a man with a beer belly stepped out. He was wearing a designer suit, carrying a briefcase, and followed by two bodyguards. He squinted as he scanned the items on the table, his tone carrying a hint of arrogance: “Old Hei, do you have everything ready? I’m warning you, if there are any fakes, don’t blame me for turning hostile.”
“Don’t worry, Boss Li!” Old Hei thumped his chest in assurance. “When I do business, I prioritize integrity! These are treasures I painstakingly acquired, every single one is genuine, guaranteed!”
As he spoke, he picked up the blue-and-white porcelain vase with the scrolling lotus design, boasting excitedly: “Look at this glaze, this body texture—a typical Kangxi imperial kiln piece! It’s worth at least a million on the market, but I’ll let you have it for eight hundred thousand. That’s fair, isn’t it?”
Boss Li’s eyes lit up, and he reached out to touch it.
Just then, Jiang Zhuo gave Lu Chen a look.
Lu Chen nodded slightly.
The next second, both men stood up simultaneously and walked toward the warehouse door.
“Bang!”
Jiang Zhuo kicked open the ajar door. The jarring noise instantly silenced the laughter and curses inside the warehouse.
Everyone’s eyes snapped toward them.
When Old Hei saw Jiang Zhuo, his smile instantly froze, replaced by a vicious snarl: “Kid, are you tired of living? How dare you ruin my business!”
His subordinates also stood up, swinging their steel pipes, surrounding Jiang Zhuo and Lu Chen.
Boss Li was startled by the commotion and took two steps back, watching the situation warily: “Old Hei, what is going on?”
“Don’t panic, Boss Li!” Old Hei glared at Jiang Zhuo, spitting as he spoke. “This is just a punk who had a grudge against me on Antique Street. He came here deliberately to cause trouble!”
“Causing trouble?” Jiang Zhuo sneered, his gaze fixed on the blue-and-white vase. “I’d like to ask you: this ‘Kangxi imperial kiln’ piece—the mark on the base was carved by a computer, and the glaze color was mixed with chemical dyes. How dare you try to fool people with this?”
At these words, Boss Li’s expression instantly changed. Although he wasn’t an expert, he wasn’t an idiot either, and he quickly retracted the hand he had extended.
Old Hei’s face turned the color of liver. He roared, “You’re spouting nonsense! Kid, you’re looking for death!”
With a wave of his hand, the subordinates charged forward, raising their steel pipes.
Lu Chen stood still, merely uttering two words calmly: “Move out.”
The moment he finished speaking, a dozen burly men in black rushed in from outside the warehouse. Their movements were swift and precise, like well-trained bodyguards, and they instantly engaged in a brawl with Old Hei’s subordinates.
The sharp clang of steel pipes colliding, muffled groans, and curses instantly echoed throughout the warehouse.
Old Hei was dumbfounded. He never imagined that Jiang Zhuo would have such formidable help accompanying him.
Jiang Zhuo ignored the chaotic scene and walked straight to the table, picking up the blue-and-white vase. He lightly rubbed the mark on the base with his fingertip, then looked up at Boss Li: “Boss Li, you can see for yourself. The mark on a genuine Kangxi imperial kiln piece has square, powerful characters. This one has stiff strokes and burrs around the edges—a typical characteristic of modern counterfeits.”
He then picked up the painting Pine and Crane Longevity and held it up to the light. “And this painting, the ink hasn’t penetrated the paper fibers; the back is completely clean. It’s clearly a print. If it were genuine, the ink would bleed through the paper, and you would see faint traces on the reverse side.”
Boss Li leaned in for a closer look, his face growing darker. The more he looked, the more wrong it seemed. Recalling Old Hei’s earlier solemn assurances, he trembled with rage.
“Old Hei!” Boss Li roared. “How dare you try to cheat me!”
Seeing that the tide had turned completely, Old Hei hardened his resolve, pulled a dagger from behind his waist, and lunged at Jiang Zhuo: “Kid, I’ll fight you to the death!”
His movement was fast and vicious, fueled by a desperate, cornered madness.
Jiang Zhuo was prepared. He sidestepped the attack, simultaneously raising his foot and delivering a fierce kick to Old Hei’s stomach.
“Agh!”
Old Hei screamed, flew backward, and crashed heavily onto the floor. The dagger slipped from his grasp and clattered onto the ground.
Lu Chen’s men quickly subdued all the subordinates. They were all tied up, kneeling on the ground, unable to move.
Old Hei lay on the ground, clutching his stomach, grimacing in pain. His eyes were filled with malice as he looked at Jiang Zhuo: “Jiang Zhuo, you wait! My big brother won’t let you get away with this!”
“Your big brother?” Lu Chen walked over, looking down at him, his tone icy. “Are you referring to Brother Hu from East City?”
Old Hei’s face instantly went pale.
Brother Hu was a notorious figure in the underworld, one whom even Old Hei had to grovel before. Yet, the man standing before him called Brother Hu by name, his tone laced with undisguised contempt.
He suddenly realized that the person he had provoked was likely not just an ordinary antique shop owner.
Boss Li looked at the mess on the floor and the fakes on the table, trembling with fury. He walked up to Old Hei and delivered a hard kick: “You dared to try and cheat me out of five million? I won’t forgive you!”
After speaking, he pulled out his phone, ready to call the police.
“Wait,” Jiang Zhuo suddenly interjected.
Boss Li paused. “What is it?”
Jiang Zhuo pointed at the items on the table: “These fakes, along with the evidence of Old Hei trafficking cultural relics, will be more useful if handed over to the Cultural Relics Bureau than to the police.”
Lu Chen nodded. “I have already contacted the people from the Cultural Relics Bureau. They will be here shortly.”
Boss Li thought about it and agreed it made sense. He put away his phone, though the look he gave Old Hei was still full of rage.
Before long, police sirens and the sound of the Cultural Relics Bureau’s vehicles could be heard outside the warehouse.
Old Hei and his subordinates were handcuffed by the police and escorted into the patrol cars. The fakes were also collected by the Cultural Relics Bureau personnel.
Boss Li walked over and cupped his hands toward Jiang Zhuo and Lu Chen: “Thank you both. Otherwise, I would have been completely swindled today.”
Jiang Zhuo nodded lightly. “It was nothing.”
Lu Chen handed him a business card: “If you want to buy antiques in the future, go to Debao Xuan in West City or Xianyun Zhai on Antique Street. Don’t trust these street stall goods again.”
Boss Li quickly accepted the card, thanked them profusely, and then left with his bodyguards.
The warehouse was completely empty, leaving only Jiang Zhuo and Lu Chen.
The evening breeze blew in through the broken windows, carrying a hint of chill.
Lu Chen looked at Jiang Zhuo and suddenly smiled: “You have more guts than I expected.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Jiang Zhuo replied, meeting his gaze. “Mr. Lu’s connections are also beyond my expectation.”
“Regarding Zhou Jingshan’s case,” Lu Chen suddenly brought up, “although Old Hei was an intermediary, there must be someone behind him. If you need help, you can always contact me.”
Jiang Zhuo’s eyes flickered. He hadn’t expected Lu Chen to know about Zhou Jingshan.
“Thank you,” Jiang Zhuo accepted without hesitation. “I’ll treat Mr. Lu to tea another day.”
“Sounds good.” Lu Chen nodded, turning to walk out of the warehouse. “I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave first.”
Watching Lu Chen’s figure disappear into the twilight, Jiang Zhuo’s gaze fell upon the empty warehouse.
Old Hei’s arrest solved one problem. But Jiang Zhuo knew this was only the beginning.
Brother Hu, who backed Old Hei, the mastermind behind Zhou Jingshan’s old case, and the unseen undercurrents within the antique world.
The waters were getting deeper and deeper.
Jiang Zhuo pulled out his phone and sent a message to Wang Youde: Old Hei has been arrested.
Wang Youde’s reply came quickly: Excellent work! Come over tonight, let’s have a couple of drinks to celebrate!
Jiang Zhuo put away his phone and turned to walk out of the warehouse.
The afterglow of the setting sun was slowly fading, painting the horizon a golden red.
He looked up at the sky, a faint smile playing on his lips.
The road ahead is long; he would proceed and observe.