After Wang Jie, Zhao Zicheng, and the other two slunk away in embarrassment, the onlookers gradually dispersed as well.
When everyone had scattered, the man in black, wrapped tightly from head to toe, still had not left. He continued browsing between the shelves for a while.
Seeing that his desire to shop seemed to have been stirred and that he looked as if he still wanted to buy something, Cen Sui followed beside him and introduced the other items in the shop.
The man listened attentively. After she finished, he spoke with a faint hint of amusement in his voice. “For someone your age to explain these things so clearly is truly remarkable. And it doesn’t seem memorized. It sounds like you genuinely understand them.”
Some things can be recognized the moment someone opens their mouth. Whether what she said was something she had hastily memorized for the sake of selling, or whether the knowledge had truly become part of her.
Knowledge that has fused into one’s blood and flesh is experience accumulated through time. It cannot be faked.
Cen Sui smiled. “Since I’m running the shop and selling things, of course I need to understand a bit.”
The man shook his head again. “What you know is far more than a bit. Your knowledge and discernment are not something an ordinary person would possess.”
From the way she spoke earlier when everyone was watching the commotion, and from the details she pointed out while appraising the incense burner, she practically carried the air of an erudite expert.
If one ignored her face and overlooked the youthful crispness in her voice, it would be easy to imagine her as a venerable authority in antique appraisal.
These appraisal skills were not something Cen Sui had earned through her own efforts, and she felt embarrassed to act arrogant, so she replied, “You flatter me.”
The man could see she did not wish to continue the conversation, so he tactfully stopped pursuing the topic.
He was indeed very curious about her, but since she rejected any probing, it would be inappropriate for him to keep asking.
It was better to make friends first. After spending more time together in the future, once they became familiar with one another, some things would naturally be understood.
The man looked through the shelves and the counter once more, then selected two additional items.
One was a complete set of Five-Emperor Coins, strung together with red cord. They could ward off evil, attract wealth, dispel misfortune, and protect against petty people.
The other was an ornament from the Qing dynasty, a gold-inlaid tourmaline and jade ruyi symbolizing auspiciousness.
After completing these two transactions with Cen Sui, the man did not stay in the shop any longer.
Cen Sui actually wanted to invite him to have a cup of tea before leaving, but he did not seem willing to remove his glasses and mask, so he politely declined.
Since he did not wish to linger, Cen Sui could only wrap up the items for him and see him out the door.
After sending the man off, she returned to the shop and sat down, feeling both body and mind thoroughly refreshed.
Today must have been her lucky day. Four fools had come to deliver two million to her, she had become acquainted with a wealthy collector, and along the way she had even helped Rong Mo sell two valuable antiques.
She went back to the room inside and made herself a pot of tea, quietly savoring the joy of getting rich without making a sound.
As she drank the tea, it tasted much richer than usual, filling her mouth with fragrance.
After a few cups, Cen Sui set down her teacup and belatedly realized something. The man who had just bought those items seemed somewhat… familiar to the eye? familiar to the ear? or familiar in some other way?
But if he were someone she knew, even wrapped up like that, she would not have failed to recognize him.
After thinking for a while without reaching a conclusion, Cen Sui picked up her phone and tapped on the man’s profile picture.
She entered his Moments, only to find that he had set it to the last three days visible. There was nothing she could see at all.
How mysterious.
He went out wrapped up like a zongzi, and he wouldn’t even allow his Moments to be viewed.
Cen Sui’s curiosity was piqued. She stood up, walked out, and sat by the writing desk to read, yet she kept thinking from time to time about one question. Where exactly did he seem familiar?
By the time she got off work, she still had not figured out what felt familiar, so she simply stopped thinking about it and assumed she had imagined it.
The sun slanted toward the west, leaving a strip of light and shadow on the stone ledge.
Cen Sui locked the door and headed to the parking lot to drive home.
She turned on the radio casually in the car; it happened to be a food program.
After listening for not even ten minutes, she couldn’t take it anymore and kept wanting to swallow her saliva.
Who could possibly resist drooling while listening to dishes like West Lake Vinegar Fish and Beggar’s Chicken during rush hour?
Unable to endure the torture, she switched stations while waiting at a red light, tuning in to a request-and-sing program.
She then listened to pop songs as she passed through the intersection. After driving about one hundred meters, she glanced casually at the roadside and suddenly saw a large advertisement poster pasted on the bus stop.
It was a clothing advertisement, and the spokesperson on the poster was the currently popular, highly acclaimed Best Actor Han Yi.
The moment her gaze swept past the poster, a spark went off in Cen Sui’s mind, and she suddenly realized why that man from the afternoon had seemed familiar.
Because of this shocking realization, Cen Sui’s heart could not help but pound rapidly.
However, she did not stop the car right away. She continued driving all the way home, parked in the garage, and only then picked up her phone.
She unlocked her phone and opened WeChat. Just as she was about to send a message, she hesitated.
She had never seen Han Yi in person, only on television. The man that afternoon merely resembled him, and she could not be certain whether it was really him or not.
But after hesitating for a moment, she still forced down her racing heartbeat and sent the message.
She asked: 【Are you Han Yi?】
After sending the message, Cen Sui pressed a hand to her pounding chest as she waited for a reply.
After waiting for about two or three minutes, she finally received a reply. The message read: 【So you still managed to figure it out.】
The instant she saw the message, Cen Sui tightened her grip on her phone and let out a sharp scream.
After screaming, she smoothed her hair and tried to keep herself from looking like someone who had never seen the world. Holding back a smile at the corners of her mouth, she typed: 【I really didn’t recognize you. I only thought you looked a bit familiar. I didn’t expect it to really be you.】
Han Yi replied: 【There’s nothing special about it. I’m just an ordinary person.】
Cen Sui almost couldn’t hold it in. She raised a hand to cover her mouth and stared at the screen, laughing for quite a while.
Unable to suppress it any longer, she simply stopped trying. Dropping her hand, she smiled and replied: 【Very happy to meet you.】
Han Yi: 【I’m also very happy to meet you. I like collecting things, so let’s exchange thoughts more in the future.】
Cen Sui: 【Alright, I’ll definitely answer any questions you have.】
Cen Sui: 【And if I come across anything good, I’ll show you first.】
Han Yi: 【Then thank you in advance.】
Cen Sui: 【I won’t bother you anymore. You go ahead and take care of your work.】
Han Yi: 【Alright, talk later.】
Cen Sui practically wanted to hug her phone and roll around on the floor.
She resisted the urge to roll around, then opened the Plastic Sisters WeChat group and immediately sent a long string of: 【Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa】
Tao Miner replied first with a sticker: 【Speechless wiping sweat.gif】
Chen Danuan: 【Little bald head sitting and shaking legs.gif】
Zhou Erbao: 【What happened?】
Cen Sui took a deep breath, pressed the voice message button, and spoke with barely contained excitement. “I’m working part-time at the antique shop, right? Today a customer came in and bought three items from me.”
She immediately recorded a second voice message. “Do you know who he was?”
A third message followed right after. “It was Han Yi, the big celebrity, the Best Actor, Han Yi!”
The group went silent for a moment.
Tao Miner: 【Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa】
Tao Miner: 【Is that real?】
Cen Sui didn’t waste words and directly sent the screenshots of her chat with Han Yi into the group.
The chat instantly exploded.
Chen Danuan: 【Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa】
Zhou Erbao: 【Aaaaaaaa】
Tao Miner: 【What kind of luck is this!】
Cen Sui hugged her phone: 【The luck of a fairy!】
Zhou Erbao: 【Fairy, please give me some good luck.】
Chen Danuan: 【Fairy, take me with you.】
Cen Sui smiled at her phone, sitting in the car and chatting with Tao Miner and the others for a while longer, sharing her excitement.
Even though celebrities were just ordinary people, she had truly never imagined that she would one day add such a famous actor on WeChat.
And before adding him, they had already chatted for quite a while.
Thinking about it felt almost like a dream.
Only after she had finished gleefully sharing everything did Cen Sui get out of the car and head home.
For the entire evening, a bright and joyful smile lingered on her lips.
Father Cen and Mother Cen could tell she was happy and asked what good news she had, but she refused to say.
Tong Jingjing thought silently to herself. It must be because of a man.
*
Everything that happened that day was enough for Cen Sui to brag about for an entire year.
But she maintained her principle of staying low-key and composed, so she didn’t boast to anyone. She slept soundly that night and woke up the next day to attend her classes diligently.
Once she tightened her own clockwork, hard work naturally became the norm.
Cen Sui arrived at school earlier than usual today. When she entered the lecture hall and sat down, there were still only a few students inside.
But Chen Yu, who had been absent for nearly two weeks, was surprisingly sitting there in the classroom.
Cen Sui saw him but acted as though she hadn’t, heading straight to a seat in the back row.
After sitting down, she took out her English study materials, spread them open, and bent her head to silently memorize vocabulary words and phrases.
While she was absorbed in memorizing, the students from the department who had classes arrived one after another.
Cen Sui did not look up, and while she was fully focused on memorizing vocabulary, a backpack suddenly slammed down beside her arm with a heavy thud.
She remained calm and turned her head slightly. The one who had thrown the backpack was Zhao Zicheng.
Two people stood behind him, naturally Wang Jie and Zhou Yimiao.
Wen Ting wasn’t in their department, so she wouldn’t come here during class hours.
Seeing Zhao Zicheng approaching her aggressively, arms crossed as he blocked the edge of her desk, Cen Sui kept her expression cold and didn’t bother responding.
Zhao Zicheng spoke first. “No matter what method you used, return that incense burner.”
Cen Sui was speechless. She directly withdrew her gaze back to her study materials, not even wanting to look at him anymore. He was truly nauseating.
Zhao Zicheng was clearly holding back his temper as he added, “Cen Sui, don’t test my patience. I must get that incense burner back.”
Cen Sui was speechless. She withdrew her gaze back to her review materials, not even bothering to look at him anymore. He was truly disgusting.
Zhao Zicheng was clearly restraining his temper as he added, “Cen Sui, don’t test my patience. I must get that incense burner back.”
Hearing noise from the back of the classroom, the other students all turned their heads to look over.
No one knew what was happening, so naturally no one said anything. They simply watched out of curiosity.
Cen Sui let her gaze rest on the English vocabulary for a moment, then suddenly lifted her eyes toward Zhao Zicheng.
Her gaze was sharp like ice, stabbing straight into his face, and her voice was equally cold. “I advise you to save yourself some dignity. You’re a second-generation heir, aren’t you? It’s only two million. Can’t afford to lose?”
Zhao Zicheng immediately snapped back, “Is this about the damn two million?”
It was because that incense burner was one of a kind. Someone else had taken it, and if the owner didn’t want to sell again, even if he had another two million, he would never be able to buy it!
Cen Sui let out a cold laugh. “Did someone hold a knife to your neck and force you to sell it? You were the one too stupid to recognize what it was worth and rushed over trying to sell it to me just to watch me make a fool of myself. Being stupid and spiteful is one thing, but to have no shame at all and still dare to ask for something back? And you call yourself a man?”
Zhao Zicheng’s face turned green at her words. He wanted to snap back, yet nothing powerful came to mind.
He held himself back for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Cen Sui’s wrist.
His fingers clamped down tightly, and he said impatiently, “Come on. We’re talking outside.”
Cen Sui instinctively frowned. Her gaze turned cold with disgust as she stared at him. “You’d better let go.”
Zhao Zicheng sneered, his tone laced with threat. “What? You think you can hit me?”
Cen Sui steadied her gaze and was just about to speak.
Before a word left her lips, a cold voice suddenly sounded from behind Zhao Zicheng. “Let go.”
Everyone followed the voice and looked over, only to see that the one standing behind Zhao Zicheng and speaking was Chen Yu.
Seeing it was their own buddy, Wang Jie spoke up. “Brother Yu, don’t get involved.”
Chen Yu did not look at Wang Jie at all. He only stared at Zhao Zicheng, his gaze icy and sharp. “I told you to let go.”
Zhao Zicheng did not release his grip. He turned to look at Chen Yu and, after holding his breath for a moment, asked, “Chen Yu, what is that supposed to mean?”
Chen Yu seemed to have run out of patience. He stepped forward, grabbed Zhao Zicheng’s wrist, yanked it away fiercely, and shoved him to the side. Zhao Zicheng crashed into a nearby desk with a loud bang, almost toppling over.
Wang Jie and Zhou Yimiao reacted quickly and steadied him. They looked at Chen Yu and said, “Brother Yu, what are you doing?”
Chen Yu continued staring coldly at Zhao Zicheng. “Try touching her again.”
His lower back aching from the impact, Zhao Zicheng clenched his teeth, wanting to lash out. But facing Chen Yu, he didn’t dare. After a long moment, he finally gritted out, “Chen Yu, that woman dumped you, and you still protect her? You’re even willing to throw away your brothers, is that it?”
Chen Yu tossed his books onto the desk beside Cen Sui, bent down to sit, and said lazily, “Whatever.”
Zhao Zicheng clenched his fists tight, then suddenly turned around and kicked the chair behind him with full force, breaking it. After kicking it, he stormed off, one hand pressed against his aching waist, leaving through the back door without looking back.
Wang Jie and Zhou Yimiao glanced at each other, then decided to turn and chase after Zhao Zicheng.
They caught up to him outside the teaching building, near a small flowerbed.
Still furious, Zhao Zicheng kicked the flowerbed a few more times, then took several deep breaths. “Chen Yu has to be sick in the head!”
Wang Jie looked at him and patted his shoulder. “You should calm down first.”
Zhao Zicheng paced angrily in place before finally stopping, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.
A moment later, he opened his eyes and looked at Wang Jie and Zhou Yimiao. “Calm down my ass. I can’t swallow this humiliation!”
Zhou Yimiao took a deep breath. “And what can you do if you can’t? Chen Yu has already spoken. Do you dare offend him?”
Zhao Zicheng bit down on his lip so hard that all the color drained from it. Then he suddenly turned and kicked the flowerbed again, venting his anger. “Damn it!”
*
With two minutes left before class, Cen Sui twirled the pen in her hand and turned her head to glance at Chen Yu.
She withdrew her gaze immediately after that single glance, having no desire to speak to him.
Chen Yu turned toward her and asked first, “What did you do?”
Cen Sui lowered her head, letting her gaze fall on her book, and answered simply, “You should ask them instead.”
Chen Yu’s tone was calm. “How am I supposed to ask them now?”
Cen Sui did not speak. She turned her head and looked at him once more.
After a brief glance, she withdrew her gaze and looked toward the blackboard at the front of the classroom. Her voice was quiet and cool. “There’s no need for you to do this for me. I won’t be grateful to you, and I won’t be moved. I won’t repay you in any way.”
Chen Yu was silent for a moment, then took a breath and asked, “Do you hate me that much now?”
Cen Sui stared at the blackboard, also quiet for a while, then answered, “Yes.”