He's Actually A Sexy Girl? I Erected!

Chapter 364: 【364】Spending a hundred thousand yuan on a broken smoking pipe? Are you crazy?_1

Tang Feng squatted in front of the stall and reached out to pick up the smoking pipe.

The pipe was pitch-black all over, covered with a thick layer of patina, with both the mouthpiece and the bowl made of brass.

On the bowl, there seemed to be a tiny character engraved, but it was so worn that it wasn’t clear what character it was.

However, with the system’s assistance, Tang Feng knew that it was the character “Ji.”

And the owner of this smoking pipe was none other than Ji Yun, who served as the Minister of Rites and an Assistant Grand Master during the Qianlong period.

This Grand Master Ji, also had a more familiar style name to many — Xiaolan.

Yes, the owner of this smoking pipe was the very famous Ji Xiaolan.

This name is widely known, largely due to the portrayal in some movies and dramas that fabricated him as a figure valiantly fighting against corruption, representing the clean stream of the court.

But it’s said that the real Grand Master Ji had three major hobbies in life: smoking, eating meat, and enjoying the company of women.

The first two are not worth mentioning, but the last is worth discussing.

It’s said that Ji wasn’t just fond of women; he even reached a point where if he didn’t spend time with a woman for a day, his skin would feel like it was cracking.

Historical records even state, “Ji Wendagong [Ji Yun] would spend time with several women every day, at dawn as if attending court, once upon returning to his lodge, once at noon, once at dusk, and once before bed. These were times he could not miss.”

This was far beyond mere lustfulness; he could easily be called a womanizer.

Anyway, Tang Feng couldn’t dare to imagine what it was like to feel one’s skin would crack if they didn’t spend time with a woman for a day. @@novelbin@@

Even more admirable was that despite his indulgences, Grand Master Ji lived to the ripe old age of eighty-two.

This made Tang Feng highly suspect that Ji might have practiced some secret technique of absorbing yin to supplement his yang. Unfortunately, the technique seemed lost with his death.

With this thought, he instinctively glanced at Xu Xinling next to him.

“What are you looking at me for?”

For some reason, when Xu Xinling met his gaze, she always felt it hid some unspeakable thing.

“Ahem, nothing,” Tang Feng, feeling guilty like a thief, shifted his gaze back to the smoking pipe, and then lifted his head to look at the stall owner, “Boss, how much for this old smoking pipe?”

“What do you mean by old smoking pipe? Can’t you speak properly? This is a national treasure used by Yuan Shikai,” the owner, a man in his forties with a full beard, retorted.

As soon as he spoke, Tang Feng knew he was spouting nonsense.

He probably couldn’t figure out the origin of the smoking pipe himself and only saw that it was an old item, so he rashly connected it to a historical figure.

Little did he know, Ji Xiaolan’s smoking pipe was worth much more than Yuan Shikai’s.

Tang Feng chuckled inwardly and continued to address the stall owner, “Okay, no more nonsense. Give me a fair price, and if it’s right, I’ll take it. If not, you can keep it for the destined person.”

Seeing he wasn’t easy to fool, the owner coughed and said, “If you really like it, 100,000 yuan, and the price is firm.”

Before Tang Feng could even open his mouth, Xu Xinling next to him already exploded, “What? 100,000 for an old smoking pipe? Are you trying to rob us?”

Several onlookers joined in agreement.

“Exactly, this boss is way too much, asking for 100,000 just like that, thinking we’re stupid or what?”

“I can’t see how this old smoking pipe is worth 100,000. I think it’s worth at most 10 yuan.”

“Isn’t this just treating people like fools? That’s really not right.”

“Even a fool wouldn’t fall for that…”

The owner, getting a tongue-lashing from the crowd, became angry and embarrassed, “What do you all know? This smoking pipe is an old artifact, at the very least it’s from the late Qing Dynasty. Is 100,000 too much?”

As he was quite bulky and intimidating, once he burst out like that, everyone fell silent, yet their faces clearly showed mockery, obviously disbelieving his words.

However, after a moment of contemplation, Tang Feng slapped his thigh, “Alright then, 100,000 it is.”

His statement astounded the people present.

They had just said, “even a fool wouldn’t be fooled,” and now this guy turned out to be even more foolish than a fool.

“100,000 yuan for an old smoking pipe? Has he lost his mind?”

“I guess this guy has more money than brains, right? Who would want such trashed items? They couldn’t even give them away.”

“More money than brains? I think he’s a plant, deliberately trying to deceive us.”

“Yeah, it seems like it…”

Not just the bystanders, even the stall owner was baffled.

He had just thrown out an exorbitant asking price, waiting for the other party to bargain.

Who knew Tang Feng wouldn’t play by the rules, agreeing outright.

“Will you pay by transfer or cash?” the stall owner, fearing Tang Feng might change his mind, hastily asked.

“Transfer,” Tang Feng took out his cell phone, got the owner’s account information, and transferred 100,000 yuan over.

“You know the rules of the antiques business, right? Deal done, money and goods cleared, no recourse for authenticity,” the owner, worried Tang Feng might come back with complaints, quickly blocked that possibility.

“Don’t worry, I know the rules.” Tang Feng then asked the owner for a wooden box, carefully placed the smoking pipe inside, and was already rejoicing in his heart.

The system had just appraised the smoking pipe, valuing it at a minimum of 20 million yuan, directly turning a profit by two hundred fold.

It was so valuable because, firstly, the pipe had been bestowed by Qianlong himself to Ji Xiaolan and was crafted by top artisans. Secondly, Ji Xiaolan’s fame added extra value to the pipe.

Having both artistic and historical merit, commanding an astronomical price seemed fair and reasonable.

After scanning the stall for a while longer and finding no more treasures at this level, he left with Xu Xinling.

They had already walked quite a distance when they could still hear ridicule coming from behind.

They were mostly saying things along the lines of having more money than sense, and unaware of their own foolishness.

Tang Feng merely sneered to himself, as the truly foolish always love to call others foolish.

If they knew that an artifact worth 20 million had just slipped through their fingers, what would they think?

“Tang Feng, you’re not joking with me, are you? You really see me as a reverse beacon?”

Xu Xinling was completely flustered by now, as this guy had indeed started using her as a reverse indicator.

The things she liked, this guy didn’t even glance at.

The things she didn’t like, this guy actually spent 100,000 yuan on.

She really didn’t understand his game.

“Don’t doubt it, your potential has yet to be fully tapped, just wait and see,” Tang Feng said with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, taking the lead to walk ahead.

Though Xu Xinling was thoroughly perplexed, she still followed him.