Chapter 1: Recycling System_3

"Fine, I'm leaving..." The middle-aged man was glared at by the old man again, swallowing the words he was about to say, and he turned around and left.

Before leaving, he glanced at Li Zhongnan, a little surprised.

It had been over an hour; this young man was able to stand there quietly, showing no signs of impatience. He was quite persistent. Little did he know, Li Zhongnan was a chess fanatic. The man assumed the lad was waiting to make a purchase, oblivious to the fact that he was thoroughly engrossed in his studies.

A big shot from Northrealm city?

Li Zhongnan was startled, not expecting the middle-aged man to have such a high reputation.

As he was taken aback, the old man brought over a cup of hot tea, grinning from ear to ear. "Sir, please have some tea. I won't lie to you, I have many fine treasures here. Take a look around, anything you fancy you can buy, and I'll give you a twenty percent discount!"

"Cough, cough, thank you..."

Li Zhongnan felt a bit flattered, but mostly astonished. The old man had just berated the middle-aged man quite harshly; he assumed he was some big shot. But in a blink of an eye, he turned into a cunning merchant.

After taking a symbolic sip of tea, Li Zhongnan took out the Jade Pendant, brimming with anticipation. "Elder, this is a family heirloom. How much do you think it's worth?"

"Ah...quite ordinary, a thousand yuan." Upon seeing the Jade Pendant, the old man's eyes flashed brightly, and he snatched it over, excitedly. But, he quickly composed himself, his tone became cold again. His expression changed so fast, it was hard to notice. Ordinary people might be fooled by him. An item that required thirty gold coins to repair couldn't possibly be worth just a thousand yuan?

Without giving it a second thought, Li Zhongnan said, "Not selling!"

The old man gritted his teeth, "One thousand two hundred, no more. I'll be honest with you, anywhere else you'd get at most seven or eight hundred. If you don't believe me, take it back!" As he spoke, he handed the Jade Pendant back to Li Zhongnan, nonchalantly sat down, and acted like he didn't care.

Such a rip-off.

Li Zhongnan couldn't be bothered to argue with him and picked up his belongings, ready to leave.

Seeing him about to leave, the old man jumped up and blocked his path. "Hey lad, wait. Let's negotiate the price. I can give you two thousand. Two thousand can let you live quite lavishly for quite some time. You better think this through!"

Li Zhongnan sneered, "One hundred thousand!"

"Ten thousand!"

"One hundred thousand!"

"Thirty thousand!"

"One hundred thousand!"

"Sixty thousand!"

"One hundred thousand!"

"Ninety-eight thousand, okay? That's only two thousand less!" The old man gritted his teeth, striving to bargain. The market price for the Jade Pendant was only around eighty to ninety thousand. But he wanted to buy it for his beloved granddaughter, who was getting engaged in a while.

Li Zhongnan shook his head, feeling confident as he double downed, "One hundred and twenty thousand! Not a penny less!"

"Fine, you're quite the hardball!"

The old man didn't dare to push his luck, afraid that Li Zhongnan would raise the price again if he did. He winced a little, quickly took the Jade Pendant and asked, "Cash or bank transfer?"

"Cash!"

Looking at the old man with disdain, Li Zhongnan quipped, "An old man like you, can you even surf the internet?' He was a little wary of the old man, afraid he might pull some tricks. It would be better to have the money in his hands.

The old man was so furious he was huffing and puffing. He took out one hundred twenty thousand in cash and threw it at Li Zhongnan, "Now get the hell out!"

Having gotten his money, Li Zhongnan wasn't in a hurry to leave. He deliberately stayed to annoy the greedy old man, "I'll look around more; you do have plenty of treasures here. It wouldn't hurt for me to broaden my horizon."

Hearing this, the old man's face darkened again. Treasures, my foot! Most were fake or imitations.

Li Zhongnan walked around for a while, noticing a damaged landscape painting covered in grease stains. It was priced at five hundred thousand yuan. He immediately ridiculed, "I tell you, old man, it's okay to be a little greedy, but this is too naive. Nobody would want this piece of crap, even if you gave it away for free. You've marked such a high price, I bet not even an idiot would fall for this!"

"What would you know! This is a painting by Zhang Daqian!" The old man replied impatiently.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhongnan took a closer look at the signature. Indeed, it was Zhang Daqian. A few years ago, a painting of Zhang Daqian's was sold for over a billion yuan. If this was an original, even though it's damaged, five hundred thousand wouldn't be too exaggerated.

Using the "Recycling System" for a quick scan, he found that to restore this painting required ten thousand gold coins.

Li Zhongnan was taken aback. It took only thirty gold coins to restore the Jade Pendant, but this painting required hundreds of times that. The cost was incredibly high. His surprise, however, was quickly replaced by fiery ambition. The painting's value, once restored, could be worth tens of millions!

He made a mental note of it as he left...</p