It had been said that one day in Heaven was as long as ten years on Earth. If so, modern people would certainly like to work in Heaven and live on Earth. When there was a time disparity between different planes, Rolin was only capable enough to reduce two-thirds of it, which was pretty satisfactory to Huang Xuan.
Zhang Xinyi got up early every morning. After breakfast, she asked the butler to wake up Huang Xuan and left for work. No matter how successful she was in business, she would not have imagined her son had been to another plane. She possibly didn’t even know the word “plane” possessed the meaning in this context.
The dedicated butler woke up Huang Xuan who had just slept for a couple of hours and was supposed to sleep for another ten-plus hours because of the jet lag, but no one in the house knew he had just come back home using a time machine.
“Morning, Uncle Zhou.” Huang Xuan got up sluggishly with a moan while the computer in front of the bed was still on and making noises. The butler said as he opened the window, “Xuan, you shouldn’t have played computer games so late in the night. As you are in the school holidays, you have plenty of time to play during the day.”
As Butler Zhou was from the south, he spoke with a strong nasal twang. Huang Xuan agreed. He had been obsessed with the game World of Warcraft and stayed up very often to play in instance zones, about which his family had talked to him a lot. He guessed there would be little chance he could do that again, for he would rather spend the time traveling to another plane. The business Huang Xuan had done was lucrative, but to him, it was not about the money. The huge profit was like narcotics, making you addicted and think of nothing else.
Noticing Huang Xuan was absent-minded, Butler Zhou said a few more words, to which Huang Xuan didn’t pay attention.
After breakfast, the cook went home since Huang Xuan’s parents barely went home for lunch anyway. When school began, Huang Xuan would eat at the school cafeteria, so the cook only made breakfast and dinner every day. Hence, during holidays, Huang Xuan had to fix his lunch by himself.
After saying goodbye to the butler, Huang Xuan went out, the casket filled with books in his arms and a popsicle in his mouth. Unwilling to go through the name cards, he said toward the air, “Rolin, do you remember the auctioneer I went to before, the one Lou Ping introduced?”
“Yes.”
“What’s his phone number? I need to call him.”
Rolin sounded muffled. “The scan needs energy. There is little energy left.”
“Are you complaining?” Huang Xuan acted surprised.
“The information has been input to your phone.” Rolin ignored Huang Xuan’s question.
Huang Xuan giggled and took out his phone. As soon as it was turned on, a call-in was received. “Hello, is it Mr. Huang Xuan?”
Judged from the caller ID, it was a call from Shanghai. Huang Xuan frowned and said, “Yes, it is. You are?”
“I’m Gan Lizheng, the CTO of Shanghai Xinye Company. Are you the writer of Code I and Code II?”
“Ah, yes,” Huang Xuan said hesitantly. He remembered those programs had been sold.
Next, Huang Xuan heard some noise from the phone, then Gan Lizheng continued, “Our company is interested in your programs and would like to invite you to come to Shanghai and talk with us about it.”
“But they have been sold.”
Gan Lizheng smiled and said, “I heard so, but you keep the rights of adaptation and other editions, don’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“We are considering buying those rights, including the internal core technology.”
“I’m not selling them,” Huang Xuan declined directly. Although he didn’t know why they were interested, it didn’t matter. Compared to the huge fortune he was about to make, a business like this wouldn’t intrigue him anymore.
The other side of the phone remained silent for a few seconds, then said, “If there is any trouble, we can send somebody to meet with you in Nanjing.”
“That’s unnecessary because I am not interested in the issue concerning other editions right now,” Huang Xuan lied and, without waiting for the response from the other side, he said, “It’s a pleasure to receive your call. I have to go.”
Huang Xuan exhaled and shook his head. He found Liu Ziqing’s number Rolin had input from the address book on his phone and pressed the button.
“Hello.”
“Is that Mr. Liu Ziqing?”
“Yes.” Liu Ziqing sounded inspiring and energetic on the phone, just like his parents, which Huang Xuan liked.
Huang Xuan said while walking, “This is Huang Xuan. We met last time through Lou Ping.”
“Oh, how are you?” Actually, it was needless for Huang Xuan to have mentioned Lou Ping. The whole set of “Red National Mountains and Rivers” was enough to let the collection circle remember the name.
Liu Ziqing didn’t ask Huang Xuan why he had called. Most of the calls he received were related to auctions. Liu Ziqing smiled and waited patiently for Huang Xuan to speak.
Huang Xuan asked excitedly, “Mr. Liu, are you familiar with ancient books and best editions?”
“A little.”
“That will do.” Huang Xuan had been impressed by the two experts’ professional skills. He worded his expressions in his mind and said, “I have some best editions and am hoping Mr. Liu could come and have a look.”
“No problem. When?”
“Right away.” Huang Xuan looked around and added, “How about a place near the Scientific and Technological Museum? I will go find a place where we can talk. Please bring a connoisseur.”
“OK. What about Mr. Wang Bingde? We always ask for his opinions whenever we are not sure about something in businesses.”
“Good,” Huang Xuan agreed readily.
“We’ll be there in forty minutes,” Liu Ziqing said quickly, ready to embrace the tens of thousands of commission.
Huang Xuan had just asked for a box in a cafe when Liu Ziqing called. Having told him the location, he started to enjoy his coffee with his legs crossed.
In a matter of half an hour, Liu Ziqing and Shen Bingde were already in the box.
“Thank you, gentlemen.” Huang Xuan stood up and saluted by folding his hands in front, just as the merchant from the Republic of China had done two days before.
Seeing this, the two gentlemen were amused. Shen Bingde sat down first, and Liu Ziqing sat beside him, opposite Huang Xuan. They ordered two glasses of water, and after the waitress had left, Liu Ziqing looked at the casket on the table and asked, “Mr. Huang, what treasures have you got?”
Huang Xuan laughed, pushed the casket forward slightly, sipped some coffee and said, “Aren’t you two worried that I might be disposing of stolen goods?”
“We know a little about which collector holds which items. If Mr. Huang has found such an article as had been hidden so well, I have to resign myself to it.”
While saying those words, Liu Ziqing stretched out his hands and took the casket. He discovered the yellow satin on it and put it between Shen Bingde and him.
Shen Bingde was moved a little. He said with his white beard curling up, “I will have a look at these. You two gentlemen go ahead and have a chat.” Then he took out the kit and his glasses and started to examine them carefully.
Huang Xuan and Liu Ziqing were chatting casually while their minds were all on the small casket on the table. Unlike Liu Ziqing, who was pretending to be steady, Huang Xuan was calm and patient. Last time when he had had the stamps authenticated, he had been trying to prove that Rolin was a real existence. This time the authentication was just a familiarity, and with the help of Rolin who possessed the ten thousand years more advanced technology, it would be impossible for him to lose in the evaluation of prices, even if to a well-known art connoisseur.