Siheyuan: Start with a Truck Driver

Chapter 1133: Banggen Sells Antiques

Bang Geng came to the black market with swagger. Although the black market was located in a relatively hidden corner, it was crowded and bustling at the moment.

There were all kinds of people here, but most of them were ticket scalpers. They were all very sharp-eyed, and as soon as they saw a new face, they would immediately surround him like a fat sheep.

As soon as Bang Geng showed up, he was spotted by several people. The ticket scalpers came up to him and started asking questions.

"Hey, young man, are you new here? Do you need food coupons? Food coupons are in short supply now. With them, it will be much more convenient to buy food." A middle-aged man wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket and with a shrewd face spoke first. As he spoke, he took out a few food coupons from his pocket and shook them in front of Banggeng's eyes, as if to say, look how good my food coupons are, buy them quickly.

Soon after, another tall and thin young man squeezed over and said with a smile on his face: "Brother, food coupons alone are not enough. Do you want cloth coupons? I want to buy some good cloth to make new clothes, but I can't do without cloth coupons. The cloth coupons I have are all genuine, and the price is negotiable." As he spoke, he patted Banggeng's shoulder, looking very familiar.

Not to be outdone, an old lady pushed through the crowd and shouted at the top of her voice, "Young man, don't listen to them. Their tickets are not as good as my oil tickets. Who doesn't use oil to cook now? My oil tickets are all high-quality. If you want them, I'll give you a discount."

Bang Geng was surrounded by this group of people, and his ears were filled with various inquiries. He couldn't help but feel a little irritated. He waved his hands impatiently and said loudly: "Stop arguing, I'm not here to buy your tickets, please get out of my way!"

When the ticket scalpers heard this, they were stunned at first, then looked at each other, and wondered in their hearts why this young man came to the black market if he didn't want to buy tickets?

Could he be selling something good? So, although they temporarily stepped back, they still kept their eyes on Bang Geng, wanting to see what he was going to do.

Bang Geng held the antiques tightly in his arms, his mind was filled with doubts, and he looked at the people around him with vigilance. He could clearly feel that none of them had good intentions, and their eyes were like those of hungry wolves staring at their prey, hoping to get something good from him.

"Get away from me! Stop surrounding me. It's annoying me!" Bang Geng frowned, raised his voice and shouted loudly, waving his arms as he spoke, trying to drive these people away.

But these people were not so easily driven away. They had been in the black market for a long time and had become very shameless. Although they responded by taking a few steps back, their eyes were still fixed on the stick, waiting for the right opportunity to move forward.

Just when Bang Geng was getting anxious and thinking about how to get rid of these annoying guys, he suddenly remembered that he knew a few antique dealers in this black market. He thought to himself that after getting rid of these people who were blocking him, he would quickly go to those familiar antique dealers to sell the antiques in his hands, so that he could make a quick buck and leave.

However, at this moment, an old man with a goatee appeared out of nowhere, looked at Bang Geng with a sly look, and finally his eyes fell on the part where he held the thing, and a sly smile suddenly appeared on his face.

The old man slowly came forward and asked in a low voice, but still loud enough for Banggeng to hear clearly: "Young man, you look like you want to sell antiques?"

Banggeng's heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously took a step back, looking at the old man with a goatee warily. He wondered how the old man could tell at a glance that he was going to sell antiques. Was he too obvious? But he still said firmly, "Humph, why do you care about what I do? Stop asking around and get out of my way!"

But the old man with the goatee refused to give in. He still stood there with a smile on his face, and said slowly, "Young man, don't be so angry. I have been in this black market for many years and have seen everything. If you really have antiques to sell, just find me. The price I give is absolutely fair, and it is much more reliable than those half-baked antique dealers."

Bang Geng hesitated for a moment after hearing this. After all, he really wanted to sell the antique for a good price. If the old man could really offer a good price, he would consider it. But he was also worried that the old man might have some tricks up his sleeve. If he got cheated, it would be a waste of money.

He frowned and looked at the old man with a goatee carefully, thinking that he had to test the old man's background first. So he said, "Well, you said that the price you offered is fair, then how much can you offer? My antiques are not ordinary things, they are all good things."

When the old man with the goatee heard this, his eyes lit up immediately. He knew that the boy was a little tempted, so he began to think about how to lower the price to get the antique, but he still said nicely: "Hey, young man, I have to see what your antique looks like first, but don't worry, as long as the item is good, I will definitely not treat you unfairly, just take it out and let me have a look."

Bang Geng became alert again. He would not show the antique to others easily. If the old man snatched it and ran away, he would lose a lot. So he said, "Huh, you want to see it? That's not easy. Tell me a rough price first. If it's suitable, I'll consider letting you see it."

When Goatbeard heard Banggeng let him name the price first, he secretly rejoiced in his heart, thinking that this boy was a greenhorn who had never been in the black market and didn't know anything. He rolled his eyes, smiled immediately, stretched out a finger and shook it, and said: "Young man, I see that you are also a real person, so I won't beat around the bush with you. I'll give you a high price, fifteen dollars, how about it? This price is not low, you can't find anyone who offers higher than me in this black market."

When Banggeng heard this, his eyes widened and he said with disdain, "Fifteen dollars? Are you kidding me? My antique is very valuable, it should be worth at least thirty dollars. Your price is too low, you're just paying a beggar!"

The man with the goatee secretly laughed at the greedy boy, but he still had that seemingly sincere smile on his face and said, "Hey, young man, you said it's worth thirty dollars, but you have to let me see it first, what if it's not as good as you said. Take it out and let me have a look. If it's really as valuable as you said, we can discuss the price."

Although Bang Geng was still a little hesitant, he thought that the old man couldn't get away anyway. If he dared to cheat, there were so many people in the black market and he was not afraid of him. So he carefully took out the antique from his arms. The goatee had a somewhat careless look at first, but when he saw the antique porcelain bottle that Bang Geng took out, his eyes widened and his face showed an extremely surprised look. He was secretly surprised. This porcelain bottle was not simple. With his eyesight after so many years in the black market, he could tell at a glance that this antique had a history of at least a thousand years. It was a very precious thing.

It turned out that Zhong Yuemin secretly took this antique out of his home in order to send Wang Weidong to prison. As a child of a large courtyard, his family collected a lot of good things, and this porcelain vase was one of them.

The man with the goatee stared at the porcelain vase, unable to move his eyes away, and quickly calculated in his mind that if he could get it and sell it, he would make a fortune. However, he pretended to be calm on the surface, coughed, and said, "Well, this porcelain vase is indeed a bit old, but it is not as valuable as you said. Twenty yuan, the maximum I will offer is twenty yuan. If you are willing to sell it, we can make a deal now. If not, then you can ask someone else."

Banggeng refused to do it again. He hugged the porcelain vase tightly in his arms and said, "No, 20 yuan is too little. It must be at least 30 yuan, not a penny less! If you can't afford this price, don't waste my time here."

Seeing that Bang Geng refused to give in, Goat Beard wanted to lower the price to get the precious porcelain vase, so he started to have some evil ideas and kept finding flaws in the porcelain vase.

He first squinted his eyes and pretended to look at the porcelain vase carefully, then frowned and pointed to a very small spot on the porcelain vase and said, "Hey, young man, look here, this porcelain vase has a flaw. Look at this spot, the color is a little uneven, which will definitely affect its value. Just based on this flaw, it is not worth the price you asked for."

Bang Geng was a little suspicious, but he still said firmly, "Humph, such a small flaw can't be considered a flaw. Don't talk nonsense here. The value of this porcelain vase is obvious. Don't use this to lower my price!"

Seeing that this trick didn't work, the man with the goatee rolled his eyes and changed his words. He crossed his arms, a look of suspicion on his face, and said slowly: "Also, young man, the origin of your porcelain bottle is unknown. You said it is precious, but you can't produce any evidence to prove its origin. What if you stole it from somewhere? If I buy it back, I will have to take risks. So, the price must be lowered."

Banggeng was furious when he heard this. His face flushed red, his eyes widened like bells, and he shouted at the goatee: "Who did you say stole it? How can you slander me, old man! The origin of this porcelain bottle is clear, there is no need for you to worry about it!"

Bang Geng angrily picked up the porcelain bottle and was about to leave. He thought to himself, this old man is too unkind, he only wants to cheat me, humph, I won't sell it here, at worst I will find another antique dealer, I don't believe I can't sell it for a good price.

Seeing this, the goat beard was a little anxious. He didn't want to watch the duck in his mouth fly away. So he quickly changed his face and said with a smile: "Hey, young man, don't be angry. I just said it casually. Don't take it seriously. We can still discuss the price. Don't leave yet."

Bang Geng hugged the porcelain vase tightly, glared at the goatee angrily, and said firmly: "I don't care what you say, I will pay 30 yuan for this porcelain vase, not a cent less! Humph, don't think I'm easy to fool, I know in my heart that this thing is worth a lot of money."

Goatee knew it very well. With his years of experience in the black market, he could tell at a glance that the porcelain vase was worth more than thirty yuan, at least two hundred yuan. Although thirty yuan was still a far cry from its true value, he could still make a lot of money by reselling it.

Thinking of this, the goatee's face was immediately filled with smiles again, and he nodded and said, "Okay, okay, young man, since you insist so much, then I will agree with you, thirty yuan is thirty yuan. Let's make a deal now, you give me the porcelain vase, and I will give you the money right away."

As he said this, Goatbeard turned around and fumbled around, preparing to take out money to pay Banggeng. As he took out the money, he was secretly proud of himself, thinking that he had really picked up a great bargain this time. Once he got the porcelain bottle, he could make a lot of money with a little bit of operation.

Bang Geng saw that Goatbeard agreed, and his anger subsided a little. He stood there, waiting for Goatbeard to take out the money, thinking in his heart that once he got the thirty yuan, he would leave this black market quickly and never deal with these people again, because they were all people who wanted to cheat people.

After a while, Goatbeard collected thirty yuan and handed it to Banggeng. Banggeng carefully counted the money and after confirming that it was correct, he handed the porcelain bottle to Goatbeard.

Goatbeard took the porcelain bottle and held it in his hands as if it were a treasure, his eyes shining. He kept muttering, "Oh, what a good thing, what a good thing..."

After Banggeng got the money, he left the black market without looking back, thinking that his work was not in vain and he made some money after all. As for what happened to Yan Jiecheng and Zhong Yuemin, well, who cares, let them do whatever they want.

He didn't even notice that the sinister gaze of the man with the goatee behind him was fixed on his back.

The man with the goatee looked at Banggeng's receding figure, his mouth corners slightly raised, revealing a sly smile. He waved towards the dark corner next to him, and two scoundrels immediately came out from the side, and they looked like they were not good people.

The goatee man pointed at Banggeng's back and said in a low voice with a hint of ruthlessness, "Did you see that boy? He just got thirty dollars. Humph, there is no guarantee for transactions in this black market. Most people know to change clothes and disguise themselves before leaving after selling things, but this silly boy just walked away in such a swagger. He is simply a fat sheep that has been delivered to your door. Do you two know what to do?"

When the two hooligans heard this, their eyes lit up immediately, and their faces were full of excitement. One of the tall and thin hooligans rubbed his hands and grinned, "Hey, Mr. Hu, don't worry, we two brothers will take care of this. When we get the thirty dollars, we will come back and split it with you 50-50. I guarantee that you will get your share."