Chapter 66

Chapter 66

All eyes around them turned, some surprised, some probing. The man who was about to pay pulled his hand out of his pocket and looked at Zhong Yizhu with a bewildered look.

The person beside him squeezed his shoulder. Ignoring the stares of others, Zhong Yizhu stepped forward and pointed at the incense in the old man's hand.

"Incense from old trees does show the tree's grain, but those patterns can be forged, while the scent cannot. Your piece here has a scattered and chaotic aroma—it’s nowhere near the mellow richness of old-tree incense. I’m not lying, and you know it too."

"You're talking nonsense!" The old man immediately realized the young man knew his stuff, but he couldn’t just admit it. Glancing at the rich fool who had almost fallen for it, he quickly defended himself, "Sir, don't listen to some young man's rambling. Since your father loves incense so much, buying this top-grade piece will surely make him happy. This kid must have been sent by a competitor trying to ruin my business. Don’t be fooled by him."

None of the surrounding vendors spoke up. This old man had been cheating gullible out-of-towners day after day. As businessmen, they wouldn’t actively cut off someone’s livelihood, but they were happy to watch the show.

Passersby formed a circle, and one troublemaker chimed in, "Young man, you sound so sure. What if you’re wrong?"

This was clearly someone stirring the pot for entertainment, and a few others voiced their agreement, even asking about Zhong Yizhu’s background and trade.

Compared to this young, handsome man, the passersby seemed more inclined to believe the seemingly benevolent old man.

"Whether I’m right or wrong has nothing to do with you—and you’re not buying it anyway." Zhong Yizhu felt no need to justify himself to these people. He simply told the wealthy young man, "If you insist on buying it, take it to a reputable incense shop and have a master appraise it. Spending so much on a fake won’t make your father happy."

With that, he shot a glance at the old man, who was still glaring at him. "Of course, whether he dares to let you do that is another matter."

Out of consideration for the old man’s age, Zhong Yizhu didn’t say anything more provocative. He was about to leave with Pei Mu. The troublemaker had wanted to scold him for his blunt words, but one look at Pei Mu’s cold face made him swallow his words.

Once they were out of the crowd, Zhong Yizhu looked at Pei Mu, who was already looking back at him. They exchanged a look, and Zhong Yizhu’s lips curved into a smile. Pei Mu took his hand and led him back to the main street, ready to discuss wholesale deals with the incense merchants.

Neither of them mentioned the little incident. Zhong Yizhu had casually intervened, and Pei Mu had simply backed him up. He only cared about how Zhong Yizhu felt, not about his explanations.

Pei Mu began telling Zhong Yizhu about the merchants he had selected, and they were discussing the pros and cons when a breathless voice came from behind: "Hey, wait… young man, wait…"

At first, neither paid attention. Only when the voice grew closer did Zhong Yizhu divert some of his focus from Pei Mu. That person… He turned around, and saw the rich young master running toward them with his servant, his eyes lighting up as they met Zhong Yizhu’s. "Young man, please hold on!"

Zhong Yizhu and Pei Mu both stopped and waited for him to come over. They exchanged a glance, wondering what he wanted.

The street was crowded with people, so Zhong Yizhu and Pei Mu moved to a corner by the roadside to avoid blocking others. As soon as the rich young man reached them, he bowed to Zhong Yizhu. "Thank you, young man, for speaking up and helping me see through that scam!"

"There's no need for that." Zhong Yizhu sidestepped a little, curious. "How do you know it was a fraud and not me talking nonsense? You seemed pretty convinced before."

The young man scratched his head. His servant, however, spoke up indignantly.

"After you left, our young master said he wanted to take the piece for authentication. If it turned out genuine, he would come back and offer a little extra for the extra trouble. But that old man first insisted that competitors were jealous and would slander him, saying that even if he took it somewhere else, they wouldn't acknowledge its authenticity because he didn't buy it from their shop. Then he offered to lower the price a little, claiming it was to build a connection. When that didn't work, he changed his tune and accused us of being competitors trying to trick him into handing over his incense."

At that point, how could they not realize they had been duped? If not for Zhong Yizhu’s intervention, they would have spent a fortune on a worthless fake.

The young master had immediately come chasing after them. First, to express his gratitude; second, to ask if Zhong Yizhu would help him choose a piece of incense.

"Me?" Zhong Yizhu asked in surprise. "Why me?"

They were total strangers, and the incense the man wanted to buy was expensive. Trusting a stranger he just met—wasn’t he afraid of being scammed again?

The young master looked at Zhong Yizhu with utter sincerity. "I can see at a glance that you're a real expert. I trust you."

Zhong Yizhu looked back at him silently. Pei Mu looked away, not even bothering to feel jealous. To be this gullible and still have money to burn was truly rare.

In such matters, Pei Mu always respected Zhong Yizhu’s wishes. So Zhong Yizhu agreed to meet the young man the next day to help him pick out incense. Overjoyed, the young man immediately invited them to a restaurant for a meal, but Zhong Yizhu said they were busy, so he reluctantly left after saying goodbye.

The two of them continued deeper into the incense market.

"Was I being too nosy?" Even Zhong Yizhu started to doubt himself after that weird experience.

Pei Mu said sincerely, "No, you were doing a good deed."

Even though they had done a preliminary screening, it still took a considerable amount of time to finalize the supply orders—checking which merchants had good quality at fair prices, and which owners were willing to negotiate.

With one hundred and eighty taels of silver, they weren’t major clients, but neither were they small fry. They could fill at least four carts of goods.

These mid-range deals were always the hardest to negotiate. By the time they had finalized the orders and signed the contracts, the sun had already sunk far in the west.

They arranged with the merchants not to take delivery immediately, and while it was still before noon, they headed straight to the south-city escort agency.

Dong Sifang had arranged the connection for them. Knowing they needed to transport goods back to Songyun County, he contacted some acquaintances in Quzhou Prefecture and helped them find a return caravan.

Pei Mu had originally planned to find a caravan locally, but with help from an acquaintance, things were much easier. Given Dong Sifang’s character, the people he recommended could be trusted.

The two parties met and finalized the details. Pei Mu needed four oxcarts for the goods, which the escort agency could provide. Since they would be traveling with another caravan, the price was quite reasonable.

Luckily, the timing was perfect—the caravan was set to leave in four days, giving them enough time without having to linger too long in Quzhou Prefecture.

After signing the contract and paying the deposit, both Zhong Yizhu and Pei Mu felt a weight lift off their shoulders—especially Pei Mu.

They walked hand in hand in the sunset, and as the temperature dropped, Pei Mu draped the cloak back over Zhong Yizhu.

Their first day in Quzhou Prefecture had gone so smoothly—a good start to the year.

The sky was ablaze with fiery red clouds—a rare sight even in Rongyang Prefecture, casting a brilliant light in their eyes.

A good omen.