DEFYING FATE

Chapter 87: A box of books

"Hello? Xiao Bing? Why are you still not back yet?"

"Oh... Aunt Xuan. I am still busy with work. I will be backlate today."

"Ok. Then I will not wait for you for dinner. Don't comeback too late and watch out for your own safety."

"Ok. I will take care of myself."

After hanging up the phone, Dong Xuebing kept his iPhone4 inhis pocket. He finished the last bite of his dinner. There were still peoplewalking around the demolition site, and he had to wait. He continued to writethe draft proposal for Xu Yan which was due tomorrow. When he completed theproposal, it was almost 8 pm. It was dark, and there were no one around.

It's time!

Dong Xuebing steadied himself and walked out of the small restaurant.

The dimmed street lights illuminated that messy demolitionsite. This was only the initial phase of the demolition, and there was no heavymachinery. Thus, there were no security guards around. Other than two straygrey cats and a stray dog, there was no one else. It was night, and this placewas messy and dirty. No one will come here. Dong Xuebing looked at the stonefloor tile. He returned to the spot where he stood for hours in the afternoon.The stone tile was still in the same position before he left.

Time to start digging!

Dong Xuebing rolled up his sleeves and squat down. He usedhis fingers to hook onto the cold and heavy tile. He braced himself and startto pry the tile open. This tile was too heavy. In the afternoon, he saw a fewworkers working together to remove one stone tile.

A bit more! More strength! Just a little bit more!

The stone tile moved. It was slowly rising as Dong Xuebinguses all his strength.

10 cm... 20 cm... Bang! The stone tiled was flipped over.

Dong Xuebing quickly look around to see if anyone notice theloud sound. He was relieved and patted the dust off his hands. He leans forwardexcitedly to look at what was buried underneath the tile. It was a box. The boxwas covered in dirt and was worn out. Dong Xuebing swiped the dirt away andpried opened the wooden box. There was a rusty metal box wrapped in a thickplastic sheet in the box. From the condition of the box, it should not beburied too long ago.

What was in this box?

It will be a waste of BACK if this box contains somethingworthless!

Dong Xuebing grumbled for a while and unwrap the metal boxfrom the thick plastic sheet. He held the box in his hand, and his heartskipped a beat. Damn! This box was too light. It only weighs about two to threeteacups. He shook the box, and there was no sound. That means the box does notcontain any gold, silver, or porcelain items. Dong Xuebing was disappointed. Heplaced the box on the floor.

The weight of this box feels like it was filled with papers.

Damn. Don't tell me that some kid had buried his diary ornewspaper under the floor tile! That will be a joke!

Dong Xuebing rubbed his cold fingers and put them near hismouth to warm them. Then he starts to open the metal box. Click! He removed therusty lid of the box. From the dim lighting, Dong Xuebing saw what was inside.Fuck! Dong Xuebing slapped his forehead.

There were more than a dozen small books in the box andnothing else!

It was too dim, and Dong Xuebing could not see the booksclearly. But unless the book pages were made from gold, how much can he sellthese old books for? 1 RMB? 2 RMB? This should be what those garbage collectorswill pay for books. Damn! Wasted the whole afternoon and today's BACK. DongXuebing shook his head and walked over to the lamppost with the metal box. Hehad spent so much time and effort to get this box, he wants to see what waswritten in the books.

The street lights shone on the box.

Dong Xuebing did not think much about the books. He took outone book from the box.

When he took a closer look at the book, he was stunned for afew seconds!

Wait! Wait a minute!

The title of the book was... <Song Dynasty history>?The famous Song dynasty block-printed <Song Dynasty History>?

Dong Xuebing quickly took out the other small books from thebox. Jiaqing block-printed <Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden>? QingDynasty Kangxi block-printed <Three Ceremony>? Lu You's <Jian Nan ShiGao>? Li Zhongshi's <Tian Xiang Luo Collection>? The last book was ascripture from the Tang Dynasty... <Dunhuang Scriptures>?!

Damn!

These were not worthless books. These were all classicbooks!!!

Dong Xuebing had worked part-time in an antique shop thatspecialized in old books and antique four treasures for two months. He knew thevalue of these books. He was speechless. This was terrific! He immediately tookout all the books and kept them carefully in his bag. He checked the time andwent back to return the stone tile back to its original position. After that,he flagged a cab and rushed to Panjiayuan.

The antique market at Panjiayuan closes early. Dong Xuebingwas going to an antique shop just across the street from Panjiayuan.

Last summer holidays,Dong Xuebing had sold antique books at this shop.

The taxi stopped, and Dong Xuebing alighted. The lights inthe shop were mostly off except for a small light. He quickly walked to thewooden door and knocked on it. "Boss Jia, Boss Jia... Don't close so early. I amXiao Dong."

Creak... A middle-aged man with a mustache opens the door."Xiao Dong? Why are you here?"

Dong Xuebing smiled and asked. "Can I speak to you inside?It is not convenient here."

Boss Jia laughed. "Sure. But my business is not good thisyear, and I have no intentions of hiring."

"It is not about hiring." Dong Xuebing stepped into theshop, and there was a strong scent of books.

Boss Jia switched on the lights again. "If you are minuteslater, I would have locked the door and went to bed. What's the matter? Why areyou so secretive?"

Dong Xuebing was close to Boss Jia and did not stand onceremony. He sat on a Qing Dynasty replica official chair and wiped the waterstains on the table before taking out all the antique books from his bag. "I amhere to sell you these. Errr... I am short of cash recently, and these are allmy family's collection. Name me a price."

Boss Jia stroked his mustache. "Antique books?"

"Yes." Dong Xuebing picked a few books and placed it on thetable.

"Hohoho... You kept all the good stuff for yourself. Youshould have shown me this good stuff in the past. Com, show me what you havethere." Boss Jia wore his spectacles and sat beside Dong Xuebing. He picked upone of the books on the table and start to examine it. "Wow... <ThreeCeremonies>? These are 4 are Qing Dynasty blocked printed books? These aregood stuff."

"How much is it worth?" Antique books were different fromother antiques. Because of the high production cost, there were very few fakesaround. This was why Dong Xuebing asked for the value straight.

Boss Jia stroked his mustache again. "Hmmm.... it is still ingood condition. It should be worth about 4,000 RMB. Eh? Why is the book damp?"

"Ah... It must be I had kept it in a box at home for too longand did not bring it out to air it."

"Ok. What else do you have? Let me see."

Dong Xuebing took every out and placed it on the table."Give me a good price for all these. If your offer is too low, I will not sellit. Hahaha."

Boss Jia laughed. "You brat. Since you are the one sellingthese books, I will surely give you a good price."

Dong Xuebing did not believe him. Which businessman is notinterested in making more profits? But he knew Boss Jia for quite some time,and he knew Boss Jia will not lowball him.

Boss Jia starts to examine the books. "Oh... This <TianXiang Luo Collection> have some missing chapters and pages. The condition isalso not very good. Look at this corner. It is damaged by insects. This book isnot worth a lot. 800 RMB? At most, it's worth about 1,000 RMB... Wow... This is aSong Dynasty block-printed book? <Song Dynasty history>? This is good.Although there is only one chapter, the Song Dynasty block printed books arerare. This should fetch about 6,000 RMB.... <Manual of the Mustard SeedGarden>? I will offer 5,000 RMB for this..."

Dong Xuebing was calculating the total in his heart.

At last, Boss Jia looked at the last book. When he opened itup, he took in a deep breath. "Tang Dynasty scripture... <DunhuangScriptures>?" He looked at Dong Xuebing in shocked. "You have kept this bookin mint condition. This is great. Where did you get this from? Your family'sheirloom?"

Dong Xuebing smiles. "I am also not sure."

Boss Jia sees that Dong Xuebing was not willing to tell him,and he did not continue to ask him. He sighed. "This Tang Scripture... I willoffer you 80,000 RMB."

Dong Xuebing also knew a bit about antique books. He knows<Dunhuang Scriptures> should worth more than this. "100,000 RMB."

Boss Jia shook his head. "I cannot offer 100,000 RMB. That'sthe auction price."

Dong Xuebing starts to bargain. "80,000 RMB is too low. Howabout this? I will not bargain for the rest of the books and follow whateverprices you set. But you have to give me a bit more for this Tang Scripture."

Boss Jia thought for a while and said. "90,000 RMB is thehighest."

"... Ok! Deal!"

"Cash?"

"Sure."

"Wait a while. I will go and get the cash."

These few books were sold for more than 110,000 RMB!

With Dong Xuebing's savings of about 100,000 RMB, his totalassets had reached 220,000 RMB!

This was an amount Dong Xuebing did not even dare to dream about.