Chapter 1980 — An Apology

"Broke the medicine cauldron? You mean the one from just now? You think I could break it just by picking it up to look at it?" Han Jingyi knew these two had most likely been planted by the stall owner to make things hard for her. A flicker of panic crossed her eyes, but at the thought that Wei Zhao was right there beside her, she felt steadier.

"Whether it's broken or not, come back and see for yourself!" The other burly man made a gesture. "After you, both of you. Don't make this difficult for us."

"Then let's go back and have a look." Wei Zhao did not regard these two as worth a moment's concern; he had reasons of his own for going back. That stall selling medicine cauldrons had a rather complete assortment, and but for Han Jingyi wanting to leave, Wei Zhao would have been inclined to take one home himself, to study it and practice his hand a little.

The antique market was impressively large, but Wei Zhao had no mood to browse any further. Besides, he had already seen through it — what real treasures could there be in a place like this? Look at the customers coming and going; plenty of them were expert types, and any good thing had long since been carried off by them.

Nor did Wei Zhao expect to find anything he needed here.

Hearing Wei Zhao agree, Han Jingyi naturally raised no objection. She turned with him and, under the "escort" of the two burly men, returned to the stall from before.

"Little miss, when you put that cauldron down just now, you used too much force and chipped a corner. Walking off just like that — don't you think that's a bit inappropriate?" The stall owner could hardly extort them openly. He was, after all, a settled local here and dared not go too far; if these two students proved difficult and reported him to the police or went to the market office afterward, he would be in trouble.

"Chipped it?" Han Jingyi frowned.

"Right here, take a look!" The stall owner lifted the cauldron and pointed to one of the handles along its rim. Sure enough, there was a break on the handle.

"I did this?" Han Jingyi stared at the chip on the cauldron in some astonishment.

"This is an antique; naturally it must be handled gently. You plunked it down on the table with a thud just now, so it's only natural a corner broke off," the stall owner explained.

"Huh? Brother Wei Zhao, am I really that strong? I actually shattered a medicine cauldron?" Han Jingyi looked at her own hands and spoke to Wei Zhao in amazement.

"Oh. And how do you propose to settle this?" Wei Zhao ignored Han Jingyi and regarded the stall owner blandly as he asked.

"This cauldron belonged to a Ming dynasty Celestial Master of the State..." the stall owner began to hold forth again, torrents of words pouring out...

"I was right that you're a fool. I asked how you propose to settle this, and you answer something else entirely?" Wei Zhao cut him off with some impatience, his voice cold.

"Ah, Brother Wei Zhao, you saw it too — the stall owner's a fool? See, didn't I tell you!" Han Jingyi was delighted that Wei Zhao agreed with her assessment.

"Hmph!" The stall owner gave a cold snort, though he had no mind to argue the point now. His main purpose was extortion, not a quarrel, so he said bluntly, "This cauldron is worth fifty thousand. Pay up. You've broken it, so it can only be sold to you now!"

"Oh." Wei Zhao picked up the cauldron, a trace of mocking laughter flickering at the corner of his mouth. "This cauldron is from the Ming dynasty? And it sells for only fifty thousand? That really is cheap. Tell me, boss — is there something wrong with your head?"

"You..." Fifty thousand, as the stall owner had quoted, was already an astronomical price for a replica; the thing's normal selling price was a few hundred yuan at most. He had thought fifty thousand plenty, and never expected the other party to find it too little.

"The boss misspoke just now — it's five hundred thousand!" the burly man behind Wei Zhao suddenly spoke up. "Five hundred thousand, not a cent less. Hurry up and pay, so you don't make things hard for us."

Hearing the burly man's words, the stall owner's heart leapt with joy. He knew that even if he got the five hundred thousand, he would probably have to split half with these two, but twenty-five thousand — no, two hundred fifty thousand in his own pocket was still far more than the fifty thousand from before. So he said at once, "Yes, that's right, five hundred thousand. I misspoke earlier."

"Five hundred thousand, eh? Heh. You mean that if I give you five hundred thousand, this cauldron is mine?" Wei Zhao hefted the cauldron in his hand and asked.

"Naturally!" The stall owner nodded.

"Oh. Well, since it's mine, then I can dispose of it however I like." As he spoke, Wei Zhao squeezed with his hand — and the cast-iron cauldron, sturdy beyond compare, proved in his grip not even the equal of mud. It was crushed into a lump of iron, which he tossed onto the table with a thud. "Your cauldron is of such poor quality, and you claim we broke it? It dents at a single squeeze, and you dare ask five hundred thousand?"

"Ah!" Seeing Wei Zhao suddenly crush the cauldron into a lump of iron, the stall owner was struck dumb, unable to utter a word.

The two burly men behind Wei Zhao, however, changed color. They were local thugs of a nearby gang, it was true, but that gang had a formidable fighter of the early Yellow Rank presiding over it. Crushing the cauldron to pieces — that man could do it too, but he was the strongest existence in the whole gang, one whom even the gang leader treated with a measure of respect.

Yet this young man before them possessed such strength as well — how could the two thugs not be shocked? They were no fools. What Wei Zhao had just displayed was plainly deliberate; if the two of them failed to read the room now, they would likely be beaten.

A ruthless man whom even the gang leader held in esteem — how would they dare offend him?

"We failed to recognize your eminence. You two must be scions of some great family. We gave offense just now — our apologies!" One of the burly men hastily cupped his hands toward Wei Zhao, then tugged the other man away.

The other burly man shot the stall owner a look and lowered his voice. "Old Wang, did you get it wrong? How could these two young gentlefolk deliberately damage your worthless cauldron? It's a fifty-yuan piece of junk — breaking it was doing you a favor..."

With that, the two hurried off. They had given the stall owner their hint; if he was not sharp enough to take it, and managed to offend someone, that was beyond the power of two petty thugs to fix.

In truth, the moment Wei Zhao crushed the cauldron, the stall owner knew he had kicked an iron plate. Then, seeing the reaction of the two thugs, he grew frightened indeed. So these two were ruthless characters — had he known, he would never have tried any extortion!

"Haha, that was only a joke just now. This cauldron is fifty yuan, a trifle, not worth mentioning..." In the blink of an eye, the five-hundred-thousand-yuan cauldron had become fifty yuan, yet the stall owner's expression was perfectly natural, as though he had never mentioned five hundred thousand at all. "The reason I called you two back was actually to apologize. These cauldrons are all replicas; my claiming they were Ming dynasty was nonsense. To show my regret, please, take a few cauldrons, whichever you like!"