Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 98 Excess (Hydrology)
In the blink of an eye, a month has passed.

It has to be said that Big Gold Tooth has some skill to have survived in Panjiayuan for so long. After all, it's not easy to find reliable buyers for so many good items, and the fact that he was able to sell most of them in such a short time is quite impressive.

During this time, with the help of Da Jin Ya and Hu Ming's college classmate, the three Hu brothers also opened a security company and a clothing factory.

Because the reform and opening up had only been going on for a short time, the government provided strong support to enterprises.

As a result, with the help of many parties, Hu Ming and his two companions' business stabilized in just one month.

However, this past month has been exhausting for Hu Ming and Da Jin Ya, because Fatty and Hu Bayi are not very good at business and can only rely on Hu Ming and Da Jin Ya for help.

Of course, Yang Xueli had helped a lot before she left half a month ago. She even invested in the clothing factory, and the name of the clothing factory was changed to "Xueli Clothing Factory" at Hu Bayi's insistence, which almost made the fat man furious.

Therefore, the fat man directly changed the name of the security company to "Triumphant Security Company".

Hu Ming and Big Gold Tooth didn't care about the name, especially since they had almost worked themselves to death in the past month.

Fortunately, the government helped during this period; otherwise, just registering a company would have taken a lot of time.

After settling all the affairs at the company and factory, Hu Ming and his colleagues were running low on money.

Moreover, Hu Ming also heard news of his ex-girlfriend's disappearance during this period.

However, Hu Ming didn't pay much attention to it, as the security company's people had already started taking on business.

Initially, the security company had over seventy employees who were all veterans. Although they were all quite skilled, there are differences between security guards and soldiers.

Therefore, Hu Ming asked Da Jin Ya to find a way to hire some professionals to help train them.

However, these veterans were highly skilled and were almost ready to graduate in just one week.

With both the company and the garment factory on the right track, Hu Ming and Da Jin Ya's lives became much easier.

That morning...

Fatty and Hu Bayi were idling around when they set up a stall on the street.

Suddenly, a foreigner walked over from a distance, accompanied by a Chinese-speaking guide. The foreigner looked at the items on the stall, and was particularly attracted by a string of jewelry. He then turned to the guide and said a few words.

Immediately afterward, the guide asked, "Sir, how much are these Buddhist relics beads?"

"You mean this? Brother, you have excellent taste! This is the best thing we have on our stall. To be honest, it's our prized possession. I definitely wouldn't sell it on a normal day, but since it's our first day of business, and you seem genuinely interested, how about I give you a fair price of five thousand US dollars..."

The fat man glanced at the foreigner at the stall, his eyes immediately darting around, a wicked thought forming in his mind. That cheap jewelry was just something he'd casually grabbed from the gold-toothed shop; if a Chinese person wanted to buy it, the fat man naturally wouldn't rip them off. But since this foreigner wanted it, he wasn't about to let such a good opportunity slip by, and immediately began to promote it.

"What? Five thousand US dollars? Boss, you're not kidding me, are you? If you really had such good stuff, would you need to set up a stall here? The rent for shops in Panjiayuan isn't that much!" the guide said, clearly not quite believing it.

After all, five thousand US dollars is no small amount; in this day and age, it could even buy several houses.

Besides, with such good stuff, why would anyone bother setting up a stall on the street?
"Brother, you don't understand. As the saying goes, good wine needs no bush. Our stall is full of good stuff, so we're never short of customers. Besides, those shops may look big, but their stuff isn't necessarily as good as mine. And how do you know I don't have a shop?"

"Moreover, what you've set your sights on isn't just any ordinary thing..."

"This is the prized possession of our stall. Do you know who used this string of relics in their lifetime?" Fatty Wang said, still looking mysterious.

"Who used it?" the guide asked curiously.

"Do you know about the Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty?" Fatty Wang continued.

"Of course I know, I've even read that book." The guide thought for a moment, then nodded and said.

"Since you've read the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, you must know the Venerable Xuanzang. To be honest, this string of Buddhist relics was what the Venerable Xuanzang carried with him when he traveled west. Do you think items from the Tang Dynasty would be very expensive? Besides, this string of Buddhist relics is quite valuable; it's the only one of its kind in the world. Do you think it's expensive to sell something so good for five thousand US dollars?" It has to be said that Fatty Wang is quite capable; he managed to completely fool the guide.

After a long pause, he finally came to his senses and asked, "Really? Boss, is this really something that the Venerable Xuanzang used?"

"Would I lie to you? Absolutely! Don't worry, hurry up and translate for him." Before the guide could react, Fatty Wang urged him to translate quickly.

The guide had no choice but to translate everything verbatim.

Upon hearing that this item was used by the monk Xuanzang and originated from the Tang Dynasty, the foreigner's face instantly lit up with joy. He then whispered a few words to the guide, who turned to Fatty Wang and said, "Boss, we'll take this, but five thousand US dollars is a bit too expensive. How about four thousand US dollars?"

"...I'm afraid it might not work! Old Hu, what do you think?" Fatty Wang said, still pretending to be troubled as he looked at Hu Bayi beside him, and gave him a look, which the latter immediately understood.

He then stood up and said, "Fatty, today is our first day setting up a stall, so let's consider it a lucky draw. Four thousand US dollars it is. Let's be friends, and if you ever want to buy anything in the future, you can come back and patronize our business."

"Definitely, definitely!" The guide was overjoyed when he saw Hu Bayi agree. He turned to say a few words to the foreigner, then promptly paid and took the Buddhist relic.

Watching the foreigner walk away, Fatty Wang finally smiled and said, "Hahaha, now I finally understand why Big Gold Tooth specializes in doing business with foreigners."

But Mingzi is really something, not letting us sell fake things in the shop. But do we even have fake antiques? Look at our shop like this..."

Hu Bayi smiled helplessly when he heard the fat man's complaints. There was nothing he could do. Hu Ming named the shop "Zhenpin Pavilion" because he hoped that everything in the shop would be a rare treasure. So he had kicked the fat man out early and made him set up a street stall with Hu Bayi.

(End of this chapter)