XDZC - 1

Yan Xiao stood in a brightly lit hall, holding an ancient seal in her hand.

The seal was made of bronze, square in shape, with a tortoise-shaped knob on top and a complex pattern carved around its body.

The pattern was a panchi (coiled dragon) motif, popular during the mid-Spring and Autumn period. Logically, the seal should have been at least two thousand years old, but the rust on its surface was green yet not glossy, superficial and not lustrous, even jarring to the eye.

She rubbed her fingers until they were warm, touched the seal a few times, and brought it to her nose to sniff. Sure enough, there was a coppery smell.

Bronze that had accumulated for over a thousand years would never have this smell.

Placing the seal back, she wiped her fingers with a towel and came to a conclusion: “It’s new.”

In the antiques world, people don’t directly say “real” or “fake”; they say “new” for fake and “old” for real.

Someone next to her whispered, “The other experts all said it was old. Miss Yan, would you like to take a closer look?”

“No need. It’s new; I can’t be wrong.”

A ripple of whispers spread through the room.

She looked up. In the dazzling, hedonistic light, a scene of merriment unfolded. In front of her stood countless socialites and appraisal experts, all staring at her as if she were a monster.

...

Yan Xiao opened her eyes and realized she had been dreaming.

The dream was about the appraisal event she had attended last month.

The room was dark with thick curtains drawn. She reached for a cigarette on the bedside table and sat up.

As she moved, the bedsheet slid down from her pale chest, revealing her naked body. She lit the cigarette, propped her hand on her forehead, and thought for a moment, but couldn’t remember what day of the week it was.

When a person doesn’t work, they can’t even remember the days of the week.

The phone rang. She held the cigarette in her mouth and pulled her phone from under the pillow. The name on the screen read: Pei Mingsheng.

“Where are you?” he asked on the other end.

“In bed.”

“...It’s six in the evening. Did you just wake up or have you been asleep all day?”

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t have to work, so I can sleep as long as I want.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Then why did you have to tell the truth at the appraisal event? If you had just gone along with them and said the items were real, you wouldn’t have offended anyone or lost your job.”

Yan Xiao toyed with the long, slender cigarette. “I couldn’t help it; I’m an honest person.”

“Give me a break. Have you thought about that thing yet?”

“What thing?”

“Going to the archaeology team to be an artifact appraiser.”

Yan Xiao scoffed, “Nonsense.”

“Don’t be like that. I’m hoping you’ll leave Shanghai to lie low for a while. There are rumors about you everywhere now.”

“Mmm, thank you, Young Master Pei, for your concern.”

“Are you trying to annoy me on purpose?”

“No, a sincere thanks for my leader’s care and concern.”

Pei Mingsheng tried to say more, but Yan Xiao hung up.

Leaning against the headboard, she slowly finished the entire cigarette. She then pulled back the bedsheet and got up, walking naked into her walk-in closet.

The mirror reflected Yan Xiao’s body.

She had a tall frame but a small build. Her neck was long and slender, her collarbones were delicately prominent, and her shoulders were rounded, with soft lines flowing down to her shapely breasts, slim waist, and firm buttocks. Her legs were long and straight.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t been sleeping well recently, so there were dark circles under her eyes, and a pimple had appeared on her chin.

Yan Xiao put on her underwear in front of the mirror, then a black, form-fitting dress. She meticulously blow-dried her hair and applied makeup until she was satisfied with her appearance. She then grabbed her bag and keys and went downstairs.

As night fell, her car drove through the bustling streets of Shanghai and stopped. She looked out at the street.

There stood a quaint republican-era building, brightly lit. The vermilion main gate was flanked by two stone lions, and above it hung a plaque with a famous artist’s calligraphy: Huayan Antique Auction House. Even at this late hour, people were constantly entering and exiting the vermilion gate.

Yan Xiao remembered; it was Friday, and there was an auction.

Two clients came out of the gate and walked toward her car, chatting as they went. “Didn’t they say Huayan has a famous young female appraiser? Why didn’t I see her today?”

“You mean that Miss Yan? She was suspended. How could you not have heard about such a big story?”

“Suspended? What happened?”

“At an appraisal event before, many experts were there. They brought out some items, and all the other experts said they were authentic, but she was the only one who said they were fake. Now, people in the industry are saying she doesn’t know anything about antiques, and there’s no way Huayan would still employ someone like that.”

“Is that so? I was planning to hire her to do an appraisal for me.”

“Don’t even think about it. She’s completely ruined now. Maybe her reputation was all built on sleeping her way to the top. I’ve heard for a while that the young master of Huayan has an unusual relationship with her.” The last sentence was said with obvious disdain and a smirk.

Ruined. What a great word, Yan Xiao thought.

Yan Xiao, a renowned appraiser in Shanghai, had her career destroyed overnight simply for telling the truth at an appraisal event. She had indeed been completely ruined.

She rolled up the car window and stepped on the gas.

The two men were chatting excitedly when a car suddenly sped past them. One man quickly grabbed the other and pulled him back onto the sidewalk, cursing at the car’s tail lights, “What the hell? Are you in a hurry to get reincarnated?”

At nine in the evening, Yan Xiao walked into a bar on the Bund, a place she knew well.

As soon as she sat on a sofa, a man approached her. “You’re just as punctual today as you were yesterday.”

Yan Xiao glanced at him. “Are you watching me?”

“I’ve been following you for a while. I’ve seen you a lot lately. Are you not busy with work?”

“I’m unemployed.”

“Haha, you’re so funny.”

Yan Xiao smiled and tipped her head back to finish the drink in her hand.

Funny my ass.

After watching her drink, the man leaned close to her ear and said, “It seems like something is bothering you. Want to talk about it?”

“Nothing to talk about.”

“Why not?”

Yan Xiao poured another drink and didn’t answer.

Her body was elegantly outlined by the lights, her seductive posture contrasting with a static, unsmiling expression that gave off a ‘keep away’ vibe. But in this setting, the man assumed she was just playing hard to get.

“Come on, tell me, why...” The man talked a lot, trying to pique their mutual interest. His breath smelled of alcohol, and he leaned closer to her.

Yan Xiao held her glass, ignoring him. The man’s persistent flirting felt like a meaningless distraction. He babbled on about many things, but she wasn’t really listening.

If she wanted to hear about all her troubles, why would she even be here?

As the night wore on, the man became more aggressive, practically clinging to her.

Yan Xiao shifted and stood up to leave. The man grabbed her waist, pulling her back, and asked breathlessly, “Your place or mine?”

“I never take men home.”

“Then my place?”

Yan Xiao turned her head. In the dim light, the curve from her neck to her chest was a pale expanse. She raised the glass in her hand over his head and tilted it, pouring the drink over him. “Too bad. I’m not interested in men who talk too much.”

The man jumped to his feet. A person walked over quickly, pulled Yan Xiao up, and said, “Come out with me.”

Yan Xiao struggled for a moment, then saw who it was and stood up to follow him out.

The man didn’t give chase, and muttered in frustration, “Damn it, I knew something was up. Turns out she’s already taken.”

Outside the bar, a black sedan was parked. Yan Xiao was pulled toward it. Pei Mingsheng let go of her arm. “Get in.”

Yan Xiao got in.

Pei Mingsheng sat in the driver’s seat, rolled up the window, and pushed his glasses up his nose. “What was that about?”

“A little disagreement.”

“What kind of disagreement?”

“He wanted to sleep with me; I didn’t want to sleep with him.”

Pei Mingsheng laughed, as if out of frustration. He coughed a few times, his face turning red, and finally leaned back against the seat. “Are you going to keep this up? Do you know what everyone is saying about you?”

“I do. They say I don’t know how to appraise things and that my reputation came from sleeping with you.”

Pei Mingsheng’s laugh caught in his throat. He coughed again, his face turning red before he finally leaned against the seat. “Then I’m the one who loses out. My reputation is being ruined by you.”

Yan Xiao tilted her head, her fingertips rubbing her alcohol-stimulated temple. “Mmm, I’m truly sorry.”

There was a certain lazy quality about her. She used to be a sharp and competent professional, a side of her rarely seen. Now, without a job, this side was on full display, her slightly tipsy face illuminated by the car’s interior lights, showing a hint of blush.

Pei Mingsheng stared at her for a while, and his tone unconsciously softened. “The whole industry is ostracizing you now. They’re saying all sorts of things. You can’t stay in Shanghai anymore.”

“So you’re trying to kick me out to this archaeology team?”

“What are you saying? Don’t forget our relationship. Besides being your boss, I’m also your senior. Would I ever be willing to kick you out?”

Yan Xiao said nothing.

Pei Mingsheng had been her schoolmate in the same department, two classes ahead of her, both studying artifact appraisal. It was because of this connection that she had been working at Huayan to this day.

From this perspective, their relationship was indeed unusual.

Pei Mingsheng put an arm around her shoulder, his tone gentle. “That archaeology team is one I’m funding. I’m giving you a new job. Go and stay there for a while, and once the heat dies down, you can come back and be the most promising appraiser in Shanghai again.”

Yan Xiao shifted her shoulder, moving away from his hand. “What if I don’t go?”

Pei Mingsheng rubbed his brow, pushed his glasses up his nose again, and his expression turned grim. “Yan Xiao, you didn’t just offend a nobody. You offended Fifth Lord. You should have known this day would come when you decided to tell the truth at that appraisal event.”

You should have known this day would come when you decided to tell the truth at that appraisal event.

He was right; she was well aware of who she had offended.

Yan Xiao grabbed the door handle and pushed the car door open.

Pei Mingsheng stopped her. “Where are you going?”

Yan Xiao almost kicked the door open. “To smoke a cigarette.”

“...”

Shanghai in May was already hot, but the wind blowing off the Bund at night was cool and refreshing.

Yan Xiao stood on the roadside and lit a cigarette, gazing into the distance at the Huangpu River, illuminated by lights.

She had heard of this figure, “Fifth Lord,” before. He had no first or last name, only a title, like a revered figure in a martial arts world, high above others, a legend.

No one had ever seen his real face, and no one knew who he truly was. They only knew that he ran many shadowy businesses and had enough power to control the entire antique industry.

He had hosted an appraisal event and demanded that all the appraisers bend to his will and call a stag a horse. But Yan Xiao refused, and one truthful statement had cost her her career.

Pei Mingsheng poked his head out of the car. “Huayan’s stock has been falling. Yan Xiao, you have to choose: either leave Shanghai or leave the antique world.”

She couldn’t recall him ever speaking so seriously before.

All his previous words had been a facade, just to arrive at this blunt conclusion.

Yan Xiao narrowed her eyes, clutching the cigarette in her hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her mind was in turmoil. She wanted to curse and fly into a rage, but in the end, she just gave him a cold look, lowered her head, and deeply inhaled and exhaled the smoke.

After finishing the cigarette, she got back into the car and closed the door. “Fine, I’ll go.”

Pei Mingsheng turned and saw half of her face. The other half was shrouded in the darkness outside the window, with only her dark brows and crimson lips clearly visible. The line from her earlobe to her chin was etched with a sharp, determined light.

He knew she wasn’t willing, but he had to pretend he didn’t. “I’m doing this for your own good. Even if you resent me for it, I accept it.”

Yan Xiao’s face was cold. “Where is this archaeology team?”

“The Northwest.” Pei Mingsheng took a thick paper bag and placed it on her lap, patting it as if to soothe her. “Everything is prepared for you. You can leave whenever you want.”