Reborn As Super Heiress

Capítulo 1598: Chapter 1582: Tortoiseshell Folding Fan

However, the scene just now was too frightening. The other thug was already scared out of his wits. Seeing the situation, he scrambled back to the BYD car with rolling and crawling.

At that moment, the door of the courtyard beside the old camphor tree suddenly opened, and a white-haired man who looked about fifty came out, his gaze falling on the thug who was crying out in pain not far away. He glanced briefly, then frowned.

The thug who had run back to the BYD car saw the white-haired man coming out and rushed over as if seeing a savior, exclaiming, “Mr. Zhong.”

The white-haired man did not waste words and simply asked the thug, “Where are Mr. Gao’s things?”

The thug handed over a box, and the white-haired man grabbed the box and was about to leave without even glancing at the cars nearby, heading straight back to the courtyard.

Seeing that he was about to leave, the middle-aged man with the surname Guo, who had been sitting in the car, urgently called out, “Excuse me, are you Mr. Zhong?”

Hearing this, the white-haired man stopped in his tracks.

The man named Guo quickly got out of the car, opened the rear seat, and invited Liang Pengzhi out.

Liang Pengzhi approached the white-haired man, who scrutinized Liang Pengzhi and said, “Sir, we don’t seem to know each other, do we?”

Liang Pengzhi smiled and said, “Mr. Zhong does not know me, but I think you should know this?”

Saying that, Liang Pengzhi took out something from behind him: a Tortoiseshell Folding Fan. The tortoiseshell material was crystalline and transparent, with a landscape painting on the fan surface. The inscription on the fan read: Met Brother Jie Zhi in the early summer of the Guisi Year. At the end of the inscription, there was a red seal with four characters: Zhong Gu Daoren.

As soon as he saw the fan, the white-haired man’s expression changed, and he sharply asked Liang Pengzhi, “How did this fan end up in your hands?”

Liang Pengzhi smiled and said, “My surname is Liang, I’m a friend of Brother Yan. I bought this fan from Old Lady Yan.”

The white-haired man stared intently at Liang Pengzhi, a faint gleam appearing in his eyes. After a while, he said indifferently, “Come with me.”

Seeing the white-haired man agree to let this stranger inside, the thug was taken aback and hastily said, “Mr. Zhong, this is not according to protocol. If Mr. Gao finds out, we…”

Before the thug could finish, the white-haired man turned sharply, glaring at the thug with sharp eyes:

“How you report is your business. Does Mr. Gao want to restrict even our personal freedom? I agreed to take this person inside. You’re welcome to tell him openly. If he’s unhappy, let him come find me!”

The thug seemed to want to say something more, but the white-haired man cast a cold glance at the thug on the ground: “I advise you to get your companion to the hospital quickly, or his hand might be useless with any further delay!”

With that, the white-haired man walked straight into the courtyard. Liang Pengzhi quickly followed, and the thug who was left wanted to stop them but didn’t dare, standing foolishly on the side.

Huo Sining had been hiding in the car prior to this, and when she saw Liang Pengzhi pull out the fan, she became stiff, feeling entirely out of sorts.

That fan was the very one Madam Yan had gone to great lengths to redeem at a high cost. Back then, the fan had been sold to Jubao Pavilion by Madam Yan’s grandson, along with an octagonal box and a brush pot. Later, Madam Yan used several items as collateral to get the fan back.

The fan appeared unremarkable, but Madam Yan said it was her husband’s most treasured possession, something she had to bring back.

Furthermore, when Huo Sining and Zhou Shitao visited the Yan family again later, Madam Yan told Huo Sining that the Tortoiseshell Folding Fan was handcrafted by her own brother, and Zhong Gu Daoren was her brother’s styled name.

A fan that the Old Granny valued more than her life, holding memories of the two most important men in her life, was such a significant piece that how could she sell it? If she had intended to sell it, she wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to redeem it from Jubao Pavilion back then.

Huo Sining frowned and immediately recollected Liang Pengzhi’s previous attempt to purchase the box containing the Classic of Mountains and Seas and strange beads from her at Jubao Pavilion. She had an uneasy feeling about this, quickly picking up her phone to search her contacts for Madam Yan’s home landline.

The call went through, but no one answered.

This made Huo Sining’s heart sink further. After some thought, she decided to call Li Quan.

The call connected, and Huo Sining, without much explanation, instructed Li Quan directly, “Li Quan, do you remember where the Former Residence of Xicheng District Military Governor Yan Tielin is?”

Li Quan was confused by the sudden call, unsure of what Huo Sining meant: “You mean the home of that Madam Yan who once consigned a strange Classic of Mountains and Seas at our shop, right? I went with you once, but I think I still know, or I could ask someone if necessary. Why?”

Huo Sining said, “Madam Yan might be in trouble, and I can’t explain in detail now. Please go to the Yan family immediately to check on the situation. I just called and no one answered; I’m worried the elderly lady might be in trouble with no one to help.”

Upon hearing this, Li Quan promptly nodded and agreed, “Alright, I’ll go check it out.”

After hanging up, Huo Sining’s gaze involuntarily shifted outside. The white-haired man had already led Liang Pengzhi into the courtyard, and the thug who had been beaten was now being helped back into the BYD car by another companion, seemingly preparing to return to the town.

Under the vast old camphor tree, only the cars of Huo Sining and Lu Huairu remained.

Huo Sining was puzzled about why Lu Huairu would come to such a remote place. Old Mr. Zhong was known for his skill in making fakes; could Lu Huairu have come to seek counterfeit goods from him? But that didn’t make sense either.

Just then, the mechanic who had been fixing the car finally got it running again, returning to the driver’s seat, and successfully restarted the engine.

The mechanic chuckled, lifted his head, and called to Huo Sining in the back seat, “Miss Huo, the car is fixed. We can go now!”

Huo Sining nodded, instructing the mechanic to leave for now, but her eyes remained locked on Lu Huairu’s BMW.

Perhaps hearing the driver’s call of “Miss Huo,” Lu Huairu suddenly lifted his head, his gaze fixed on the old second-hand SUV where Huo Sining was, vaguely seeing the outline of the person inside through the window.