Chapter 23 - Chapter 23: Lost A Lot of Money!

Sean only felt something icy cold seeping out from the jadeite, slowly entering his Sky Eye, nourishing it.

The Sky Eye was almost greedily absorbing this energy like it was starved!

Only then did Sean understand that he had been exploiting the energy of the Sky Eye all this time. If he didn't replenish it, his Sky Eye would be wasted!

The Sky Eye also needed nourishment!

As his thoughts raced, Sean felt the icy energy at his Sky Eye gradually diminish and then disappear.

It seemed that the energy of the Sky Eye had only been replenished to three-fifths - it had already been reduced to less than one-eighth!

Sean suddenly felt incredibly lucky!

If it weren't for obtaining and grinding this jadeite at this moment to nourish the Sky Eye, his Sky Eye would be wasted in just a day or two!

That was too close!

Putting down the raw jade, Sean could feel his Sky Eye recovering and sighed in relief.

The jade in his hand had turned into an ordinary stone.

The once lustrous green hue was gone, revealing a grey and white stone riddled with cracks.

This was considered waste material now.

Tossing the stone into the trash can, Sean thought to himself that making money with this Golden Finger wasn't all that easy either!

Just this one absorption had drained several tens of thousands of dollars or even over 100 thousand dollars!

All the money he had made in a week!

It seemed he still needed to find the black jade pendant and the Sky Eye cultivation method. Otherwise, no matter how much money he made, it wouldn't be enough to spend.

Seeing the pen holder and the bronze brush scattered among the items in the room, Sean grabbed them.

The pen holder was made of boxwood. He picked it up, emptied it of pens, wiped off the dust, and found a carving of an ancient beauty on the side.

Quite artistic.

There was a signature next to the carving of the beauty:

"Samson...?"

Who was Samson?

Sean didn't know, but he had a mobile phone, so he quickly searched the internet.

After searching for a while, he got a shock.

If this was genuine, it was likely carved during the Ming Dynasty by one of his own family members named Joseph Walker.

Joseph Walker's pen holders were well-received in the Qing's Palace - mostly carved from ivory, sandalwood, or yellow rosewood. There were also bamboo carvings.

Boxwood carvings were rare.

There were also prices online.

Since the Qing Palace had many of these in their collection, if one had a palace storage mark or seal from an emperor, this pen holder could be worth at least 3 to 4 million!

However, as it was impossible to prove if this had been in the palace or not, it would only be worth about 200 or 300 thousand.

Still, Sean was satisfied with that!

That was 30 or 40 thousand dollars!

How much money had he spent?

Less than 100 dollars, so he had made a profit of several hundred times – wasn't that satisfying enough?

Being greedy would invite wrath from the heavens!

He carefully put down the penholder and picked up the bronze brush pen.

Maybe this was a treasure too!

Measuring about 15 centimeters in length, it was considered small among brush pens.

Sean carefully read the inscription on the pen: "As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a noble person should constantly strive for self-improvement." - a direct quote from the Book of Changes.

The brush pen weighed around 100 to 200 grams, which was quite significant, but it felt comfortable in Sean's hand.

The brush tip was sharp and looked quite sharp as well.

He couldn't help but spin the pen in his hand.

The familiar feeling came back!

During high school, Sean spent a summer mastering pen spinning to attract the attention of the girl who sat beside him. However, the girl transferred to another school just when he was about to perform the trick for his classmates...

A sad memory!

But the skill was still there, and soon the pen was spinning swiftly and dazzlingly in Sean's hand.

A knock on the door interrupted, and Sean called out for the person to enter.

Aunt Susan gave Sean Knight a pie.

When she saw the pen spinning in Sean's hand, she was amazed and covered her mouth:

"Oh my God! Are you a magician? That's so cool!"

Sean put away the pen and stood up, smiling:

"No, no, I'm just having fun."

Susan shook her head and put the pie on the table:

"I don't know why you Chinese people are always so humble. If it were a local guy here with such skill, he would show off in front of the girls, just like that, making them scream!"

Sean smiled bitterly, he once hoped so too, but his time never came.

"Give it a try, I just baked this pie, it's apple-filled - by the way, you don't have any dietary restrictions, do you?"

"No, thank you!" Sean said sincerely.

The rent he paid didn't include meals, he understood Susan's intentions by bringing him a pie.

Seeing how neatly Sean had tidied up his room, Susan sighed:

"You Chinese boys are much better at this than many local young people! Even better at cleaning the house than some girls! If my daughter were as diligent as you, I'd be content!"

Aunt Susan has a daughter?

Sean was curious, but didn't ask further.

Disappointed that Sean didn't ask, Susan chatted a bit more and left.

Sean wiped his hands, picked up a piece of pie and tasted it. Sweet with a slight sourness, it was delicious.

After finishing the pie on the plate, Sean brought the plate out to the water room, washed it and returned it to Aunt Susan.

He then drove to the Seven Axes Pub.

As Sean entered, the pub grew quiet.

Old John was the first to speak:

"Yo! This isn't our Sean coming back, is it? I heard you met two beautiful girls again? Why don't you bring them over to show everyone?"

The old pub goers burst into laughter.

Sean shook his head while spinning the pen in his hand:

"They're not my friends. I took a picture of their suitcases at the airport and let them pick them up!"

Approaching the bar, Sean said to John:

"Give me a beer!"

"How come, you've started drinking too?" John poured him a glass and asked, "I heard your auction container today didn't go well?"

Sean nodded, and then shook his head:

"Luck can't always be on my side. I didn't make much, but I didn't lose anything either."

John nodded:

"It's good that you have this attitude! Don't worry about not losing anything, even if you did, it's no big deal. You're still young, learn more, and it's much more useful than earning more now!"

Sean lowered his head, accepting the advice. He didn't plan on mentioning the jadeite and pen holder.

Even if John was trustworthy, some things needed to be kept secret.

While Sean was drinking and spinning the copper pen, an intoxicated middle-aged man approached and asked about the pen:

"Sean, is this Chinese Kung Fu?"

"No," Sean shook his head and said:

"This is just a fun technique. I used to play with it all the time when I was in school."

"I heard you single-handedly knocked down Tod and his four guys. Can you do Kung Fu? Can I experience it?"

Sean was dumbfounded. For the first time in his life, he heard someone asking for a beating!

"Joseph, you're drunk!" John said loudly, "Leiner, take Joseph away!"

A middle-aged pub goer in his forties came over and helped the man leave.

Joseph was unwilling and wanted to see for himself.

John laughed and explained:

"Joseph's first love was taken away by a Chinese man who knew Kung Fu, so he's always been resentful..."

Sean nodded with understanding.

He was just a disappointed lover, seeking existence in Sean!

At that moment, Sean's mobile phone rang.

Upon seeing the caller ID, Sean's face changed!

Robert!

Could there be news about the jade pendant?