At this mont, a piercing wind blew in, truly cold outside.
Uncle Gu glanced at the Old Patriarch, thought for a mont; he couldn’t just rely on what this elderly neighbor said. He started knocking on the door again and called out directly, "I am from the Gu Family. Open the door, I need to ask you a few questions."
"From the Gu Family, you must be the buyer."
The old man asked curiously.
Before Gu Qiaoqiao and the others could speak, the old man continued, "I heard that buyer also committed a cri, got arrested."
Gu Qiaoqiao smiled ambiguously, not answering the old man’s words. The old man shuffled his feet, seemingly wanting to inquire more, but at that mont, the door finally creaked open. A man with a hunched back, about the sa age as the old man next door, stood with a gloomy face at the door.
The neighboring old man greeted him warmly, "Bald Zhang, they’ve co to you. Whatever you have to say, just tell them. After all, you and they both got scamd. It’s your fault they were hard."
"You old fool, shut up for ."
Bald Zhang angrily cursed.
The old man rolled his eyes, clearly these two often bickered. The old man, unwilling to back down, said, "Bald Zhang, you used to look down on us. Now you got scamd, and you called us stupid. I think the stupidest is you."
Bald Zhang’s lips turned purple with anger. He said to Gu Qingfeng and the others, "Hurry and co in."
His tone impatient.
Uncle Gu patiently supported Gu Qingfeng into the yard. Bald Zhang furiously shut the door, keeping the old man outside, who clearly wanted to watch the spectacle. Seeing Bald Zhang’s purple lips, he returned ho, feeling it wasn’t worth it.
Outside was unbearably cold. The four quickly entered the house, which wasn’t much better. The light bulb was dim, flickering yellow. In the room, only an old lady sat gloomily, arms crossed. Upon seeing them, she moved her mouth but said nothing.
Bald Zhang straightforwardly asked, "Are you from the Gu Family?"
Gu Qiaoqiao nodded, "Yes, my elder uncle and second uncle bought the antiques from you."
"What do you an? Here to settle accounts with ?" Bald Zhang asked warily.
He wore a hat, even inside, not taking it off. Gu Qiaoqiao thought, he might be bald.
Otherwise, how would he get such a nickna?
"Not here to settle accounts, just want to ask if those things truly belonged to your ancestors?"
Gu Qingfeng finally spoke slowly.
Bald Zhang remained silent, exchanged a glance with his wife, coughed, and whispered, "Not from my ancestors, but my distant nephew who deceived others to sell his items."
A distant nephew?
Gu Qiaoqiao suddenly understood the key to the situation: why everyone was interrogated, except the one owning the antiques, Bald Zhang, remained unaffected. It turned out the real seller was his distant nephew.
Gu Qiaoqiao quickly asked, "Where is your nephew then?"
"Of course, he left. He tossed a hundred bucks before leaving, but I didn’t take it."
Bald Zhang said resentfully.
Yet he felt fortunate that he hadn’t taken the money; otherwise, he would be in trouble now.
"What’s your nephew’s na?"
"He’s called Zhang Xiaoming, lives in Northern Jiangsu. Since his family moved away, we hadn’t been in contact for decades."
Without waiting for Gu Qiaoqiao and the others to speak, the old man continued, "I’ve told the Public Security about this. They must have sent soone to arrest him."
Gu Qingfeng thought for a mont, softened his tone, "What did your nephew tell you then?"
The old man pondered for a while, seed to recall sothing with slight anger, then said, "He told he collected about a dozen antiques from a countryside elsewhere with his friend. But nobody believed him, and he didn’t have money for verification. He hoped I could help him, saying his parents were bedridden and without money for treatnt. I watched his father grow up, so I agreed."
Gu Qiaoqiao glanced around, asked softly, "Elderly sir, your ancestors were really landlords?"
"Indeed they were." The old man straightened his back, "A century ago, we were wealthy families with lots of land. But during warti, the family head died, and then the family scattered far and wide..."
"So your distant nephew exploited the big family na to con my elder uncle and second uncle..."
Gu Qiaoqiao said this very calmly.
She was simply stating a fact calmly, without any intention to bla. Ultimately, it was the eagerness of her elder uncle and second uncle that led to this incident. Had they waited for Gu Lei’s return, or consulted the Old Patriarch, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened.
Nonetheless, this incident was sowhat reasonable. All background settings were plausible; the items were real and priced cheaply. Faced with such a situation, 99% would act hastily without considering consequences. After all, in this world, few are proficient in astronomy and geography.
Bald Zhang sighed, spoke softly, "That’s falling for a small gain and suffering a big loss."
Gu Qingfeng seed not to hear Bald Zhang’s words, pondered for a mont, then asked, "Do you still rember what the Blue and White Three-legged Cauldron looked like?"
Bald Zhang thought for a long ti, then said, "There were too many items, I rely glanced at it. I don’t understand it. My family was poor when I was young, never touched any antique. I really don’t rember what it looks like."
This aligned with Gu Qiaoqiao’s intuition, truly unable to extract more information. However, visiting provided so clarity.
At least with this old man’s testimony, it proved the elder uncle and second uncle were duped.
Soon, Uncle Gu drove Gu Qingfeng and Gu Qiaoqiao back towards Jinling City.
Though returning empty-handed, at least a suspect was eliminated. Now one could think, this distant nephew nad Zhang Xiaoming might be real or might not. But regardless of his authenticity, this incident was initiated by him, for he actually possessed these items. Once he’s captured, all would be revealed.
But now one item has already been released, indeed an unfortunate and heartbreaking matter.
Gu Qiaoqiao thought, if elder uncle and second uncle aren’t released, she must visit them, primarily to ask about what the Blue and White Three-legged Cauldron truly looked like,
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