CHAPTER 25: CHAPTER 25 "HAT TILT COLLECTION

A moment later, he noticed the small yellow book tucked inside a primary school Chinese textbook.

He knew Sui Yi’s character well; she was not someone who would speak recklessly unless it was something serious.

Thus, he took it seriously this time, even before he had looked at the small yellow book, he already had some guesses...

"This is..."

Leaning on the sofa with a clear gaze, Sui Yi briefly mentioned the origin of the small yellow book, finishing with, "Its provenance is clean, you can rest assured, and about it... I am very certain. To use the jargon of your profession, this item... is a genuine piece left by our ancestors."

Elder Tang knew Sui Yi well enough. Some antique dealers would ask for sky-high prices only to settle for less on the spot, whereas auction houses fought to depress the prices, never resting until they reduced your item to dirt and bricks.

Even though she was familiar with him, she still had to be cautious.

Elder Tang detected the implication in Sui Yi’s words, feeling somewhat disgruntled, but at the same time, he was somewhat skeptical.

This young girl, who indeed had talent, had never been involved in this industry; how could she know whether this item was genuine or fake, and be so certain of it!

Elder Tang, who intended to educate Sui Yi and bring her into the industry, stroked his beard and snorted, "Don’t be too sure of yourself. Let this old man have a look first, then we’ll know it’s real or fake..."

Out of professional habit, he still put on white gloves, delicately picked up the small yellow book, and cautiously flipped it open.

When he saw the three traditional characters faintly tinged with brown on the inner page, he couldn’t help but sharpen his gaze.

Though shocked, his expression grew more restrained. Sui Yi caught a glimpse and immediately felt that Elder Tang was now "invested."

Elder Tang continued to carefully turn the pages, each movement infused with a scholarly elegance. This was almost a common affliction in the collectors’ circle; there was no choice, even the most dilapidated artifacts were valuable, each character potentially worth a fortune, necessitating extreme care.

As Sui Yi felt like the time for two cups of tea had almost passed, Elder Tang finally put down the small yellow book, exhaled a breath of stale air, looked at Sui Yi repeatedly, took a sip of tea, calmed his mind for a moment, and then said, "Do you know what these characters are?"

He pointed to the three characters in the upper left corner of the inner page.

Although Sui Yi didn’t know much about antiques and artifacts, she was very good at Chinese literature and especially talented with traditional characters; she didn’t need to look before casually saying, "Hat Tilt Collection."

She had looked through it before.

"Hat Tilt Collection... It’s not surprising that you recognize it, but do you know who wrote the Hat Tilt Collection?"

Hmm? Sui Yi knew that Elder Tang was testing her now, but...

"Elder Tang should know well that I am not familiar with this area, so why waste time?"

Sui Yi’s words were somewhat provoking, and Elder Tang stroked his beard, "Hmph, you students have studied Chinese literature for over a decade, yet you know nothing about some of the cultural aspects of our ancestors... Forget it, I’ll mention a name, and you should recognize it... Do you know Nalan Xingde?"

Sui Yi remained silent.

Elder Tang: "...."

"Then you must know Nalan Rongruo!"

Huh? Nalan Rongruo, now Sui Yi reacted, "Is that the same person?"

"Nonsense... Aside from those various fabricated stories on TV, historically, Nalan Rongruo is actually Nalan Xingde, of the Yehnela clan, from the Manchu Zhenghuang Banner, known as Lengjia Mountain Man. His original name was Cheng De, but he changed it to Xingde to avoid the taboo of the Crown Prince’s name, Baocheng; his style name was Rongruo, and later generations referred to him as Nalan Rongruo..."

Elder Tang spoke confidently, causing Sui Yi to look at him sidelong.

However, she was also surprised that the owner of the first artifact she acquired was the widely recognized Nalan Rongruo. Being a person from the Qing Dynasty and a literary enthusiast, it followed that with the scholars’ temperament and taste for Jiangnan’s landscape, leaving some manuscripts in Nanxun Ancient Town in Jiangnan would make perfect sense.

"So this Hat Tilt Collection was written by him?" Sui Yi couldn’t help but look at the page again.

Elder Tang nodded.

Each cultural relic has a profound historical background. When talked about, it could fill a basket with old stories. Elder Tang chose to briefly explain, thereby educating Sui Yi.

"Nalan Rongruo was a famously talented young man during the Qing Dynasty, accomplished in both literary and martial arts, and deeply favored by the emperor. However, he had a natural indifference to fame and fortune and loved landscape poetry. At the age of 24, he compiled his poetry into a collection titled ’Hat Tilt Collection,’ which was later renamed ’Drinking Water Words.’ Eventually, someone expanded and corrected the two collections into ’Nalan yu.’"

"The inherited ’Nalan yu’ was highly esteemed in society at that time, much like Nalan Rongruo himself, who was elegant and greatly admired by scholars. However, these few manuscripts before us belong to the original handwritten drafts of the ’Hat Tilt Collection.’ Although they also have considerable significance, their preservation is poor, leaving only fragments, which indeed is not pleasing."

Elder Tang suddenly paused, noticing the slight smile on Sui Yi’s face, and realized that he had misspoken. He frowned in dissatisfaction and said, "You are almost one of our own, and I never intended to deceive you. These manuscripts are indeed authentic. The handwriting is quite aged, and the preservation is not very good, with several pages missing. What remains are just these six documents before us. If we were to estimate their value..."

He knew that Sui Yi had approached him directly not to learn about the heritage of cultural relics, but ultimately for money, to address an urgent need.

"You also know I am a businessman, and no businessman overlooks profit. Speaking of the value of these manuscripts, I can only offer you this amount,"

He held up one finger.

Sui Yi stared into his eyes, her expression calm and her gaze clear and distant, which made Elder Tang suddenly feel somewhat awkward. He curled his finger, just about to speak...

"Three hundred thousand, that must be the price you are willing to accept, Elder Tang. It’s getting late, and I have classes tomorrow. You are not young and should also take care of your health, so let’s not waste our time and energy. Three hundred thousand is the fixed price. You should have a contract in the store, right?"

Elder Tang’s expression darkened instantly as he watched Sui Yi, who seemed as composed as if she were the buyer.

After a long moment, he sighed, "I knew you were too sharp-witted. It seems you have grasped my habits and psychology thoroughly."

Upon hearing this, Sui Yi merely closed her eyes briefly and said, "Elder Tang, you flatter me. I believe you could sell these mere six pieces of paper for many times their price..."

"Ah, it’s a pity that the manuscript is incomplete," Elder Tang sighed with regret, shaking his head. His usual mercenary demeanor softened, but he quickly added; "Otherwise, the price could have increased four or five times!"

"That’s Elder Tang’s concern now..."

The moment the artifacts changed hands, Sui Yi also felt a slight sense of loss, even though she had absorbed the literary essence of the ’Hat Tilt Collection.’

—But her heart was small, only attached to what belonged to her.

Elder Tang shook his head and quickly finalized the transfer contract with Sui Yi that night, then transferred the money via online banking on his computer.

Although there were no bank staff working late at night, Sui Yi was not at all worried about Elder Tang having second thoughts.

The matter with the assassin alone was enough to make Elder Tang treat her more favorably, not to mention that three hundred thousand was trivial to him.

With the income of three hundred thousand, Sui Yi felt somewhat relieved. She went upstairs to the guest room, took a bath, and then went to sleep.

Unbeknownst to her, Elder Tang looked at the ’Hat Tilt Collection’ under the lamplight and pondered for a long time.

Not knowing much about the ’Hat Tilt Collection,’ he was so certain about the authenticity of the relic. It wasn’t without a deep understanding of its origins or a capability to discern such manuscripts.

It appeared that Sui Yi was even more talented than he had imagined.

Or perhaps... extremely fortunate!

In the realm of collecting, encountering treasures and having the discerning eyes to recognize them is incredibly difficult. Besides possessing those discerning eyes oneself, it also depends on karma and fortune—the latter being what is referred to as good luck.

Sui Yi had helped Old Lady Wang, and with a kind heart as the cause, she had effects, which became her fortunate destiny, bringing wealth.

"Seeing her demeanor tonight, it seems she has developed some interest in this field..." Elder Tang thought for a while and then smiled. He took the ’Hat Tilt Collection,’ placed it into a wooden box prepared in the store, and picked up his cell phone.

He casually made a call...