Chapter 208: A New Source of Energy

“Why don’t I go too?”

Hong Xiaodan didn’t seem to think it was abrupt at all and immediately said, “Actually, I’ve always wanted to travel around and see the beautiful scenery of our country. It’s just that I haven’t had a good opportunity or a good companion before. This is really a coincidence. Count me in.”

Chen Feng and the two women, Sun and Wu, all looked at her as if she were a fool.

Hong Xiaodan didn’t mind and asked with a smile, “What, you’re not willing? With one more person, it will be more lively for you, and we can also look after each other. Isn’t that great?”

“No,” Chen Feng shook his head directly. “We’re not really familiar with you. If you force yourself in, it will make us feel strange. So, you’d better not join in the fun.”

Hearing this, Hong Xiaodan stared at Chen Feng for a while and finally had to admit defeat. She sighed and said, “Alright then. Let’s forget it this time. After we get to know each other better in the future, I believe you will accept me. Let’s continue eating.”

After saying that, Hong Xiaodan continued to eat her food as if she were not affected at all by Chen Feng’s rejection and the hostility of the two women.

This was a woman with a big heart.

The three of them, Chen Feng, Sun Xiaorui, and Wu Mengting, had to admire her for this.

Hong Xiaodan ate very quickly. She finished her rice in three or four minutes, but her chopsticks continued to pick up food. After eating for another five or six minutes, she finally put down her chopsticks, stood up, and said, “I’m done eating. Thank you for your hospitality. I’ll treat you next time. Alright, I’m leaving now. I also wish you a smooth journey and a happy time.”

After saying that, Hong Xiaodan walked towards the door very gracefully.

“Wait,” Chen Feng called out to her.

Hong Xiaodan immediately turned to look at him, her face full of hope.

“You have to take your own bowl to the kitchen and tidy up the table a little. You can’t possibly not know this, right?”

Chen Feng educated her rudely.

Hong Xiaodan couldn’t hide her disappointment, but she still said “oh” and obediently came over to clean up the table where she had eaten, taking her bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen.

Her movements were quite nimble.

“It’s done. I’m leaving.”

Hong Xiaodan left in a hurry, and not long after, the villa door closed with a bang.

“Brother, you should have less contact with this woman in the future. She’s too thick-skinned and not embarrassed at all.”

As soon as Hong Xiaodan left, Wu Mengting immediately complained.

Sun Xiaorui also said, “She’s a bit impolite. I don’t like people like her.”

“Alright. Let’s continue eating.”

During lunch, Chen Feng’s appetite was somewhat affected by the war of words between the three women. Although he didn’t have a very good impression of Hong Xiaodan, she was a guest. She was thick-skinned, but you couldn’t say she was impolite.

However, in his heart, Chen Feng also didn’t want to have too much contact with Hong Xiaodan.

The three of them finally finished their meal in peace, and the two women went to the kitchen to clean up together.

Chen Feng went upstairs to check his luggage and see if there was anything else he needed to bring.

Half an hour later, the three of them took a taxi to the airport and started their trip around the country again.

This time, without the female streamer Wu Mengting live-streaming the whole time, the three of them were obviously much more relaxed and invested.

The first stop was a city in the Central Plains, with distinct historical traces, and also many artists and photographers.

While traveling, Chen Feng took the opportunity to visit some of the more famous local calligraphers, painters, and photographers, and also took the time to attend art exhibitions.

Because they were not in a hurry, the three of them stayed in this city for a week. Chen Feng was not short of money, so they ate well and lived well.

For this, he even specially hired a tour guide at a high price through the manager of a five-star hotel to learn about the local attractions, food, and culture. And so, the three of them played in this city for a week, and even wanted to continue playing.

But after Chen Feng had collected five qualified paintings and calligraphy with energy in the first few days and had no other progress, he felt it was boring and wanted to rush to another city.

So, after staying here for a week, the three of them finally started the second stop of their trip.

This was a prefecture-level city, City A, a famous tourist city, mainly known for its historical sites, and it was also the capital of the former Qin Dynasty.

This place also had a lot of local specialty foods.

As usual, the three of them found a five-star hotel to stay in, and then hired a tour guide at a high price through the hotel manager, starting at two thousand a day, with a bonus if they were satisfied.

In addition, with the guarantee of the five-star hotel manager, the choice of tour guide was impeccable. It was actually an old section member of a local government unit, a middle-aged man in his forties, a local.

This old section member was very knowledgeable and could talk about the local culture and history with ease. He was also well-spoken and had a scholarly air about him, which made Chen Feng and the two women, Sun and Wu, quite satisfied.

And as an old local, he was of course very familiar with the various local delicacies. He led them through the streets and alleys, letting the three of them have a feast.

It could only be said that the two thousand yuan a day was well spent.

This was secondary to Chen Feng. More importantly, this Old Chen, who had the same surname as him, was also a member of the local calligraphy and painting association, and could be considered a true man of culture. And the unit he worked for now was the Animal Husbandry Bureau, and he was in the archives office, which explained it.

In short, his main job was very idle, and he was basically the kind of person who was not managed by anyone. Not to mention taking a few days off, even if he didn’t take leave and came out to work part-time, probably not many people would care.

After getting to know Old Chen, Chen Feng found that they got along very well. He learned a lot about the local people and things from him, which were not things that could be learned from the internet or newspapers.

And through him, Chen Feng began to seek out suitable calligraphy and paintings for himself the next day.

And he had to admit, he had made great gains in a few days. With the introduction of this insider, Old Chen, Chen Feng had indeed bought several works.

And they were quite cheap. The most expensive painting was only 150,000.

For Chen Feng’s current net worth, it was really just a drop in the bucket.

Chen Feng stayed here for a full ten days. On the tenth day, Chen Feng received another qualified calligraphy and painting, which only cost twenty thousand.

Then, at the urging of the two women, Chen Feng decided to go to the next stop the next day.

Although City A was not bad, after ten days, the two of them had played in all the places they wanted to play. For the last two days, they basically stayed in the hotel, just waiting for Chen Feng to go out and buy calligraphy, paintings, and photographic works.

That afternoon, Chen Feng packed up all the twelve calligraphy and paintings he had bought here, and had them shipped to Xiuzhou by air with insurance, asking Qin Zhen to pick them up.

After finishing, just as Chen Feng returned to the hotel, he received a call from Old Chen, asking him if he was interested in antiques and cultural relics.

Chen Feng directly said he was not interested. He didn’t know anything about antiques and cultural relics, and he had seen the cultural relics in several museums in Xiuzhou before, but it turned out that they did not contain the special energy he needed.

However, Old Chen still said to him very sincerely that he had an elder from his hometown who had a remarkable cultural relic in his collection, which had been passed down for thousands of years and was very rare. If he missed it, it would be a real pity.

Hearing this, Chen Feng couldn’t help but be a little curious. He was quite clear about Old Chen’s personality after spending more than ten days with him.

To sum it up, Old Chen was an honest person. At least in the ten days they had known each other, Old Chen had not bragged or lied to him. Since he had said that it had been passed down for thousands of years and was very rare, then it should be true.

“What exactly is this thing your elder has?” Chen Feng asked directly.

Old Chen said, “If you’re interested in this thing, you’ll know when you come and see it for yourself. If you’re really not interested, then it’s best not to ask too many details.”

Chen Feng couldn’t help but laugh, “You won’t even say what it is. How do I know if I’m interested?”

Old Chen insisted, “In short, it’s a very valuable treasure. If it weren’t for the fact that my elder needs to raise money to buy a house and get a wife for his grandson, he would definitely not be willing to sell it. I can only tell you that if you can buy it, you will only make a profit, not a loss. You can treat it as a family heirloom.”

Hearing him say this, Chen Feng became even more curious.

City A was a major city for cultural relics. It was often said that farmers here could often dig up cultural relics when they were farming. So, when Chen Feng heard Old Chen say that this cultural relic could be a family heirloom, he was not too skeptical.

“If this can be a family heirloom, why doesn’t he send it to a regular shop or an auction house to sell or auction?” Chen Feng raised his question.

“I just said, he’s in a hurry to raise money for his grandson to buy a house and get a wife. He’s in a hurry, so of course he wants to sell it as soon as possible. In addition, although this cultural relic is a family heirloom, it is very precious. If it goes through formal channels, the procedures will be troublesome, and it might even have to be handed over to the state. You should understand.”

“Oh, alright then. You can bring your elder to the hotel where I’m staying to meet in my room.”

“Alright, boss. This cultural relic will definitely satisfy you. I’ll bring him over to see you right away.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for you.”

After hanging up the phone, Chen Feng went to the two women’s room and told them about it.

The two women were also very curious about this and said they would go and see what kind of cultural relic it was.

Chen Feng had only waited for a little over ten minutes before Old Chen came over with his elder, a small old man in his sixties. After a brief introduction, it turned out that he was his real uncle.

No wonder such an important matter was entrusted to Old Chen.

In addition, it could only be said that Chen Feng was lucky to have met Old Chen, who had a rich master like him.

For more than ten days, Chen Feng had been tirelessly seeking out calligraphy and paintings every day. As long as he saw something suitable, he would buy it. He had spent over a million just like that. This was all witnessed and participated in by Old Chen. Of course, he had taken note of it.

It just so happened that his own uncle was short of money and was in a hurry to sell the family’s cultural relics, so Old Chen naturally recommended this generous big buyer, Chen Feng, to him.

“Let’s not be polite. What kind of cultural relic does your uncle have? Take it out for us to see. If it’s suitable, I’ll consider buying it.”

“Alright then. Third Uncle, you can take it out.” Old Chen looked at his uncle.

Hearing this, the small old man glanced at the three of them, Chen Feng, Sun Xiaorui, and Wu Mengting. He didn’t take out the thing immediately, but said in Mandarin with a thick local accent, “I got this thing by chance when I was young, and I’ve always treasured it. It would be best if you like it and buy it. If you don’t, please keep it a secret for me. Our whole family will be very grateful.”

Chen Feng glanced at Old Chen. Seeing that he was a little embarrassed, he didn’t make things difficult for him and nodded solemnly, “Don’t worry, we’re not gossips. And we’re just tourists from out of town. We’re leaving tomorrow. If we don’t like your thing, we’ll definitely keep it a secret for you.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

After thanking them, the small old man took out a rectangular wooden box from the briefcase hanging on his shoulder, placed it on the coffee table, and then carefully opened the wooden box. Inside, there was shock-proof flannel, and the thing was wrapped in silk.

The small old man carefully opened the silk cloth again, and they finally saw the true face of the cultural relic they were talking about.

It was actually a tortoise shell and a piece of white bone, but there were incomprehensible characters carved on the oracle bones.

“Oracle bone script!”

Wu Mengting exclaimed.

Chen Feng and Sun Xiaorui also couldn’t help but widen their eyes.

As Chinese people, as long as they had been to school, they all knew about oracle bone script. This thing was truly a cultural relic among cultural relics. And generally, such things were basically no longer seen on the market. There were not many in the world.

“This… is this really oracle bone script? Is it real?”

Wu Mengting asked with some excitement. She was a literary enthusiast, and she also wrote web novels, so she naturally had a literary cultivation.

For literary enthusiasts like them, the attraction of oracle bone script was quite large, no less than that of cultural relic collectors.

The small old man glared slightly, “Of course it’s real. Do you think I would use a fake to deceive you? If you don’t believe me, you can ask an expert to come and appraise it.”

“Brother, what do you say?” Wu Mengting looked at Chen Feng. If this oracle bone script was real, she really hoped in her heart that Chen Feng would buy it.

Because this thing was really priceless, and it was the kind that was priceless but had no market. It could completely be a family heirloom.

And at this moment, Chen Feng was truly shocked and stunned, because he felt a very rich energy from these two oracle bones, many times richer than the calligraphy, paintings, and photographic works he had been collecting. He hadn’t completely determined how many times richer it was.

In short, these two oracle bones had a strong attraction for him, and he wanted to get them.

“This should be real.”

Chen Feng suppressed his impulse to immediately absorb the energy of these oracle bones and gave his answer with a relatively calm expression.

Hearing this, both Old Chen and his uncle had smiles on their faces.

Old Chen complimented, “Boss, you have a good eye. You can see that these two oracle bones are genuine at a glance. As a literary enthusiast and collector, you should also know that these oracle bones are almost never sold in China now. If they were taken out, they would definitely cause a sensation. My uncle is also afraid of causing unnecessary trouble, so he is selling them privately to a suitable person. You see, if you are interested, you can make an offer. If it’s suitable, my uncle will sell it to you.”

Chen Feng immediately shook his head, “You should make an offer first. If the price is too high, I won’t take it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Mengting quickly pulled him and asked him in Lushi dialect, “Are you sure this oracle bone script is real?”

Chen Feng nodded and replied in his hometown dialect, “It’s real.”

Although Wu Mengting was still skeptical, she didn’t say anything more.

After Old Chen and his uncle whispered to each other in their local dialect for a few moments, Old Chen spoke up for him, “My uncle’s lowest price is eight million.”

Chen Feng shook his head, “My highest offer is 2 million. If that’s not possible, then there’s nothing I can do. To be honest, I’m not very interested in these two oracle bones.”

Although Chen Feng was rich and made money easily, he didn’t want to be taken for a sucker.

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