Beauty and the Bodyguard

What a weird scientist! Lin Yi couldn't help but chuckle. Not only was he not surprised, but he even thought more highly of this guy now.

After all, the profession of a forger was similar to alchemy. One had to study hard. The more one could calm down and think deeply, the more likely they were to achieve a breakthrough. The rag King's eccentric personality might not be suitable for dealing with people, but it was not a bad thing for a forger.

Lin Yi smiled and didn't bother with him anymore. He turned to a quiet corner and put the bag of spirit Jade, the Nine-Tailed cloud piercing leopard's front paw, and tail into the Jade space. He then walked into the inner street.

It was the break of dawn, and the guard took out the "Open Day" sign just as Lin Yi reached the entrance of the inner street, signaling for the people who had been waiting to enter.

With the first batch of people entering the inner street, Lin Yi went straight to the Hong Chamber of Commerce. He couldn't wait to know if the star inkstone he was thinking about was still there!

He walked into the Hong Chamber of Commerce's attic with familiar steps and quickly went up to the second floor, heading straight for the corner where he found the star inkstone last time. However, Lin Yi's heart immediately sank when he saw that the display cabinet was empty. The star inkstone was gone.

Rushing so quickly, but in the end, he still missed it?

Lin Yi smiled bitterly. He didn't want to give up, but there was nothing he could do. He decided to walk around a little more and go back. After all, he was prepared for this.

However, just as he was about to give up, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a staff member of the Hong Chamber of Commerce carrying an exquisite wooden box as he passed by. The mysterious aura emanating from the wooden box made his heart skip a beat. This situation was exactly the same as the time he had discovered the star inkstone!

Could it be that the star inkstone is in this wooden box?

Lin Yi's intuition told him that the box was in a private room.

Lin Yi asked around before he came last time, and he learned that this private room was used for trading valuables. After all, valuables shouldn't be exposed, and valuable items that were worth hundreds or even thousands of spiritual Jade should be traded in a secret place.

If it was placed in a crowded and noisy public place like the lobby on the first floor, it would easily attract the attention of some people with ulterior motives. The Hong Chamber of Commerce was rich and powerful, so there was nothing to be afraid of. However, customers who had spent a large amount of spiritual Jade might not have the confidence to do so.

If he was followed and ambushed after leaving the Hong Chamber of Commerce, not only would his precious treasure be snatched away, but he would also waste a large amount of spiritual Jade. In serious cases, he might even get himself killed. This was not a joke.

Therefore, out of consideration for the privacy of the customers, the Hong Chamber of Commerce had specially set up this private room for the trading of valuable items.

If a customer fancied any valuable treasure from outside, they could directly go in and discuss the deal with the manager. The staff of the Hong Chamber of Commerce would help them pack it up and not let outsiders see what was inside and have any evil thoughts.

The door of the private room was not tightly closed, but only half-closed. After all, businessmen always had to open their doors to welcome guests from all over the world. It was impossible to close their other businesses just to protect the privacy of their customers. That was unrealistic.

The Hong Chamber of Commerce was already very thoughtful to open a private room to avoid unnecessary trouble for the customers.

Through the half-closed door, Lin Yi saw a familiar back, and his heart jumped.

The back was the same inner sect disciple he'd seen last time-he'd changed his clothes, and wasn't wearing the signature uniform anymore, but Lin Yi could tell that this was the same person!

If he'd only guessed that the box might contain a star inkstone before, then he was absolutely sure now that he'd met this competitor!

Immediately after, Lin Yi heard the manager say to the man,""You can open it and check to see if it's what you want. If you're interested, then according to the previous price, it'll be 1000 spiritual jades. As there's a large number of spiritual jades, our Hong Chamber of Commerce can specially send someone to your residence to collect them."

A thousand spirit jades, it was indeed the star inkstone!

Lin Yi took a deep breath and entered the room before the man finished the deal with the manager.

"This customer, how may I help you?" The manager turned to Lin Yi with a smile.

He still had to take care of the deal with this person, but that didn't stop him from entertaining Lin Yi. After all, those who had the guts to come into the room were all tycoons with a lot of spiritual jades in their hands-they were the god of wealth that the business needed to entertain and rope in.

Lin Yi didn't even get a chance to reply, but the disciple was already looking at him warily. Lin Yi recognized him-he was the star inkstone competitor he met last time, Yu Zhe.

After one look at Lin Yi, Yu Zhe also quickly recognized Lin Yi's identity and was shocked.

He knew that Lin Yi's intention was probably the same as his, for the star inkstone. He quickly closed the lid before Lin Yi's eyes landed on the box, not wanting Lin Yi to see the star inkstone inside.

In his eyes, Lin Yi was just a poor freelancer-theoretically, he shouldn't have that much spirit Jade to buy star inkstones, but since Lin Yi dared to walk into this room, it meant that he had some confidence. It was better to hide it a little, just in case.

After all, if Lin Yi really found out about the star inkstone in the box, he'd have to bid for it on the spot. That'd be troublesome.

What he didn't know was that Lin Yi had already determined that the box contained the star inkstone-it was useless to try and hide it.

However, Lin Yi's face didn't change. He didn't even look in the manager's direction. He turned to the manager and said,"Shopkeeper, I saw a star inkstone here last time. Do you still have any in stock?"

The words made Yu Zhe's heart skip a beat-what he was afraid of really happened! The old fox, who'd been in the business world for years, obviously noticed the business opportunity in this!

Sure enough, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up when he heard this. After looking at the expressions of the two people, he immediately replied,""There is, but our store only has one star inkstone in total. If Sir really wants it, then you can only bid against this Sir. According to the rules of the market, the one with the highest price will get it." (To be continued.) "If you like this work, you're welcome to come to Qidian.com to give your recommendation and monthly vote. Your support is my greatest motivation. For mobile users, please read on M.Qidian.com.)