Time Travel: The Best Doctor in Ancient Times

Chapter 1238: Chapter 904: The Tragedy of Experts

Listening to the constant bidding around her, without anyone asking if she intended to buy, Gu Changsheng’s mouth twitched and twitched again, speechless!

Damn it!

How can they be so spontaneous? Did anyone ask for her opinion as the owner?

Did anyone consider the feelings of the poor vendor?

Didn’t they see that vendor who sold the painting for two hundred taels of silver, already anxious to tears?

They spent two hundred taels to buy it, and in a blink, the price multiplied by forty or fifty times. Who wouldn’t feel overwhelmed!

”Two hundred and fifty thousand taels!”

”Two hundred and sixty thousand taels!”

”...”

A few old men were in a heated argument, their faces flushed and necks thick, Gu Changsheng recognized them. These people all had stalls in this Dark Market, looking inconspicuous, yet unexpectedly, they’re all some hidden masters, as they casually threw out tens of thousands of taels!

If this was in modern times, they’d all be downright millionaires!

”Sir, I admit defeat, all day long I catch the eagle, and today the eagle pecked my eyes!” Vendor Li, with sniffles and tears, struggled to stand up from his stall and made a bow to Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu.

”Uh...” Hearing this, Gu Changsheng couldn’t help but edge closer to her evildoer.

Alright, making a quick fortune right in front of someone, she really felt a bit unkind!

”Sir, I admit I’m the fool, but now I have an insolent request. I beg you, considering the rules of our trade, to be lenient!” As he spoke, Vendor Li clasped his fists toward Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu and said, ”I am from the Li Family, tomb raiders in Lingxi. If you intend to sell this painting, please sell it to me! Otherwise, my reputation will be ruined!”

”Uh...” Gu Changsheng, hearing this, blinked her Phoenix Eyes and looked Vendor Li up and down!

Tomb raider, ah!

She knew this term!

In her previous life, those tomb-raiding novels were quite popular online, even she couldn’t resist reading some!

Stuff like ”Grave Robbers’ Chronicles”, stuff like ”Ghost Blows Out the Light!” The word ”tomb raider” appeared quite a lot!

Surprisingly, after meeting a living broken sleeve, she actually encountered a living tomb raider! In layman’s terms, it’s a grave-robbing tomb-digger!

”Evildoer, this painting...” This painting, they actually had no use for it, just that her Foster Father, Mr. Ban Shan, had some interest in calligraphy and painting, but the old man clearly preferred books to paintings!

”Keep it, if the old man doesn’t like it, we can still sell it later!” Zhou Mu thought for a moment, and then spoke.

Gu Changsheng nodded, immediately telling the fervent crowd around that she wasn’t selling the painting.

Then the two quickly grabbed the painting and slipped out of the encirclement!

”Godfather! Scared me to death! This two hundred taels turned over several tens of times instantly, had I known making money was this easy, I would have abandoned medicine earlier and just switched to tomb-robbing!” Throwing the brocade handkerchief with the Basan Night Rain Painting to her evildoer’s hand, Gu Changsheng couldn’t help but pout.

This money came way too easily!

”This Dark Market gathers all the underground stolen goods and black-market items from the area, and indeed there are many treasures, since there’s still a while before the auction starts, why not take a stroll?” Zhou Mu pocketed the brocade handkerchief picture, then reached out to hold Gu Changsheng’s hand.

”Well, alright!” Hearing this, Gu Changsheng nodded.

Thus, the two of them wandered hand in hand through the flickering shadows of the Dark Market.

However, as the saying goes, good news never goes beyond the door, while bad news travels a thousand miles. Even though Gu Changsheng had no real conflict with that vendor, the incident spread through the entire night market like it had wings!

”Hey, have you heard? That kid from the Li Family with a stall at the head of the Dark Market was shocked blind today! The Basan Night Rain Painting, the final work of the Southern Dynasty’s Master Mo, was sold by that kid for two hundred taels to a couple!”

”Not only that, he called the couple foolish with more money than sense, and then the couple, who hadn’t gone far, turned back and slapped him hard with the authentic painting hidden in the scroll! That slapping sound was really loud!”

”Exactly! That kid from the Li Family, his ancestors for eight generations were tomb raiders, supposedly he has a keen eye, yet this time he’s blind, messed up! His bad reputation won’t wash away for two years!”

”No kidding? And that couple really are hidden masters, they’re treasure connoisseurs for sure, when they do make a move, they snag a genuine treasure!”

”Right right! That couple must be seasoned experts like us!”

”Hurry and tell everyone, whatever that couple lays eyes on, you all better take it seriously!”

Indeed, as everyone whispered to each other, a flash of understanding appeared on their faces!

This is a unique way of reminding among those who make a living by setting up stalls in the Dark Market!

Since someone who knows their stuff came along, how can they just watch potential real treasures be picked out? They’ve got to be a bit shrewd!

Anyone doing business here, especially in a place like the Dark Market doing shady business, who doesn’t have a mind with seven apertures and is smooth all around?

Thus, unbeknownst to Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu, the scattered vendors in the Dark Market, after some hushed mutterings, suddenly had a subtle change in their behavior!

”Vendor, this...”

Standing in front of a small stall, Gu Changsheng eyed an old carved wooden scratcher, thinking it would make a nice gift for her old man. It looked well-made, with the polished wood being smooth and shiny, almost gleaming with oil!

”Hey! Isn’t this my dad’s scratcher? Who threw it in with the stall goods?” The vendor didn’t wait for Gu Changsheng to finish her sentence before interrupting. Not only that, but with astonishing precision, he picked up the scratcher Gu Changsheng had been eyeing and put it back into his bundle beside him, clearly indicating, not for sale!

Gu Changsheng was left a bit dumbfounded by this action.

Damn, the only reason she noticed that scratcher was because the previous customer picked it up to look at, and the vendor was bargaining with that person...

How did it suddenly become a family heirloom that can’t be sold?

But, if they refuse to sell, she can’t force them, can she?

Gu Changsheng exchanged a resigned glance with Zhou Mu, shook her head, and continued to aimlessly wander around.

Not long after they walked away, they overheard the scratcher vendor talking with the person next to him from behind.

”Selling old wood, your dad went down to have tea with Lord Yama eight years ago, when did he come back to use the scratcher at your stall?”

”Isn’t my father-in-law allowed to? What’s it to you?”

”Fine, fine, I won’t interfere! But that scratcher the young couple liked, why don’t you show it to us? You who can’t recognize Mount Tai wouldn’t have missed a treasure, would you?”

”Yeah, show us!”

”...”

The scratcher vendor was immediately surrounded by a crowd.

As a vendor, you have to be able to tell what customers are interested in just from their expressions and eyes before they even get close; this is the most basic skill of a vendor!

So, before Gu Changsheng even spoke, the vendor selling old wood knew Gu Changsheng had her eye on that scratcher!

It’s like how today, when buying something, it’s best not to stare intently at the item you want, because your desire to buy is evident to the seller. At that moment, asking nonchalantly about other items and then casually inquiring about the one you’re really interested in often yields better results!

After all, merchants are masters of holding out for a higher price!

With Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu’s skills, overhearing the conversation behind them was effortless!

Because it was so easy, Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu were left helpless!

Because this market trip was destined to be a wasted effort!

”Vendor, that...”

”Oh dear, that’s reserved by Old Wang from next door! Sorry, would you like to see something else?”

”Vendor, this...”

”Oh dear, that’s an ancient vase reserved by Old Li from two stalls away, would you like to see something else?”

”...”

Time and again, Gu Changsheng was really on the verge of tears!

Because none of the vendors were willing to sell anything to them!

They weren’t even given the chance to ask about the price before being directly refused!

The truth is this cruel!

In Gu Changsheng’s heart, countless grass-mud horses galloped past in tears!

Come on, is it so hard just to go shopping? Can’t she have a good time just once?

”Vendor, this doll...” After being repeatedly refused, Gu Changsheng, who didn’t want to return empty-handed, quickly picked up a doll from the stall before the vendor could react.

”Hey! Customer! That doll belongs to our daughter, it’s not for sale!” The vendor immediately spoke.

Upon hearing this, Gu Changsheng’s mouth twitched, unable to bear it any longer, she pointed at the doll in her hand and angrily said, ”Damn it, the threads are still new, and at most the glazed beads on the doll’s head are worth something. You must have bought this from some thief who stole it from a lady’s boudoir, how is it your daughter’s?”

”Customer, you can’t say that, what if this doll was used by a Noble Consort from the previous dynasty? Then the price would be different! Give it back to me!” The vendor replied immediately, reaching out to grab the doll from Gu Changsheng’s hands...

The two of them, one holding the doll’s head and the other gripping its feet, refused to give in.

”The deal hasn’t been made, the money hasn’t changed hands, customer, let go!”