New York, USA. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Chinatown, located in Lower Manhattan's southern end, seems to have become an enclave in this modern metropolis. The low-rise building looks out of place with the surrounding skyscrapers.

Walking on the noisy street, looking at the Chinese character signboard on the shop window, and listening to the familiar words in the people's conversation, Li Yan felt as if he had returned to the land of China on the other side of the ocean, and the estrangement in a foreign land couldn't help but relax a lot.

As an exchange student majoring in finance between Jingcheng University and Columbia University, although the school provides very generous accommodation conditions, I don't have to worry about food and accommodation. But the very different living customs still made Li Yan unable to fully integrate here.

But fortunately, most of the one-year exchange career has been survived, and there are still more than three months to go, and Li Yan can leave the United States and fly back to his homeland in China.

Taking a deep breath of the air with the aftertaste of Sichuan cuisine, Li Yan lifted his spirits and walked into the depths of Chinatown.

Lin's Antiques Workshop, the largest antique shop in New York's Chinatown. In addition to the traditional trading of cultural relics, the store also sells high-quality imitation souvenirs.

In recent years, with the increasing number of Chinese people traveling to the United States, the sales of souvenirs, which were originally out of the door, have also become popular rapidly. Everyone who visits Chinatown will drop by to pick up a few souvenirs for their family and friends.

The boom in business also allowed Lin's antique workshop to embark on the pace of expansion. The size of the store has expanded rapidly, and the number of employees has also increased.

Li Yan was recruited in an expansion half a year ago and became an accountant in the store. Due to the golden sign of Columbia University exchange students, coupled with his excellent ability, half a year later, Li Yan became the treasurer of Lin's antique workshop.

The treasurer, although the name sounds very formal, in fact, there are only five cashiers and two accountants under Li Yan's hands, just seven people.

"Jingle Bells"

Push the door in, and the crisp wind chimes ring. After walking into the store and chatting with the colleagues who had already arrived first, Li Yan walked into his office.

After checking the accounts of the past few days, Li Yan found several minor problems. Turning on the computer, Li Yan began to carefully check and correct it.

After more than an hour, these few minor problems were finally solved. After calling one of his accountants and asking him to re-register the accounts, Li Yan stretched his waist and walked out of the office.

In the second half of the exchange year, the school no longer has many tasks, so Li Yancai can find time to busy himself with his own affairs. After making a cup of tea, Li Yan began to slowly spin around the cultural relics exhibition area.

Thousands of years of glorious history, coupled with the invasion of China by modern powers, have caused an astonishing number of Chinese cultural relics lost overseas.

The rise and fall of cultural relics are constantly moving along the migration of capital power. As the number one financial capital of the capital world, New York has naturally become an important distribution center for overseas Chinese cultural relics.

Looking at the exquisite porcelain, the ethereal calligraphy and paintings, and the simple and atmospheric bronzes behind the glass counter, Li Yan seemed to see the humiliating years that could not be looked back on, and his heart was bored, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"What! You call my book a fake! Li Yan, who was sighing bitterly, was woken up by a shout. Frowning slightly, Li Yan looked around for a while, and then walked over.

"Sir, don't get me wrong, I didn't say that your book is a fake, it's just that it's not enough for the level of cultural relics, and it can't be sold at the price you said!"

"Do you think I'm stupid and can't hear it! Don't you mean that I'm using fake things to lie to you! Hum! If you don't explain it to me today, I'll smash your store! ”

After approaching, Li Yan first frowned and looked around, then pulled a colleague who was watching and asked, "Eh, what's going on?" ”

"Just now, these three guys took dozens of broken books and came to sell them, saying that they were unique ancient books from hundreds of years ago. But after Guo Lao's identification, those are just low-cost handicrafts imitated by modern times, and they have no value. ”

"And what about later? How did it come to be the scene it is now? ”

"It's not that these three unreasonable guys are making trouble! After Guo Lao's appraisal, he politely rejected the transaction of the three of them, but they insisted that Guo Lao was wrong in his appraisal, and threatened to smash our store! ”

After listening to his colleague's explanation, Li Yan nodded suddenly, these three people clearly came to deliberately find fault and wanted to take the opportunity to extort a sum of money. However, Li Yan is not optimistic about the fate of the three of them.

Where there are people, there is struggle, and where there is business, this is even more so. can occupy such an important position in the bustling place of Chinatown, how can there be no support behind the Lin Antique Workshop?

In the past six months, Li Yan has also seen several groups of people who make trouble like today. However, in the end, it all ended with the troublemakers being carried out.

As time passed, the mood of the troublemakers also became more and more agitated. The unexpectedly calm of the employees in the store made the three of them feel stunned and faintly uneasy.

The uneasiness in his heart prompted the movements of the three of them to become more intense. One of them pulled out a wooden baseball bat from his body and slammed it on the glass counter.

"Wow"

The counter shattered in response, and the flying glass ballast made Guo Lao, an appraiser who was still hiding inside, look startled, and hurriedly hid his face to dodge.

Seeing that the situation was developing out of control, and the person who went to inform the store manager did not come back for a long time, Li Yan frowned and strode towards the middle of the crowd.

"Hey, is your kid the one in charge here?" Seeing Li Yan walking towards him, the person holding the baseball bat at the head pointed at Li Yan and asked sharply.

Looking up at the man, Li Yan shook his head noncommittally, but said nothing. After walking into the broken counter, he helped Guo Lao, the appraiser who was hiding inside, to his feet.

"Old Guo, are you okay?"

"Don't worry, Xiao Li, my old bones can still withstand the toss, it's okay!"

Guo Lao is an old man who has been dealing with cultural relics and antiques for most of his life, and is the appraiser with the highest prestige in the store. Moreover, after Li Yan entered the store, he has always been taken care of by Guo Lao, explaining to him a lot of professional knowledge of antique trading.

The reason why Li Yan came out was not because of how much sense of belonging he had to this store, but because of Guo Lao. slapped off the glass ballast on Guo Lao's body, and Li Yan escorted him and walked towards the crowd.

It's a pity that the three troublemakers won't let them go so easily. The leader of the group, with an angry face, clenched his fists and smashed it towards Li Yan's chest.

"Bang"

Li Yan dodged, and the deviating fist smashed on his shoulder. The unexpected surprise attack made Li Yan's body crooked and he fell to the ground on his back.

"Hiss"

The glass slag all over the ground made nature react, and Li Yan, who was holding the ground with both hands, grinned at the corners of his mouth and gasped. When I raised my bleeding palm, I saw that there were already four or five small wounds.

Seeing that Li Yan's palm was bleeding, the face of the person who made the shot was also panicked. However, things have developed so far that he has no way out, so he can only continue to hold on.

"Humph! Boy, that's what looks down on us! With a tense face, the man shouted inwardly. If you know each other, you will quickly apologize to us and collect these ancient books again! Otherwise, I'll smash your shop! ”

Li Yan stared at the bleeding palm, and after being stunned, he stood up, pulled a book from the counter, pointed at it and asked, "You want to sell it to us?" ”

"What? Isn't it possible? ”

"Okay! Absolutely! Our Lin Antique Workshop is open to welcome customers, and what we do is this business, how can it not be? Li Yan looked into the distance, crossed the crowd, and saw the helper who came up from the back door, the corners of his mouth raised, and continued: "However, this price has to be purchased according to the market of waste paper!" Do you think it's okay? ”

"Waste paper! You ......" The three people who originally thought that Li Yan was soft and smug were all angry when they heard the end. The leader even raised the baseball bat in his hand and made a gesture to step forward to beat Li Yan.

"Poof"

However, the baseball bat held high in the air never fell, and was firmly grasped by a large hand reaching from behind.

The muscles flare, and no matter how hard the man tried his arm, he couldn't pull the baseball bat back. Annoyed in his heart, the man suddenly turned around and opened his mouth to scold, "TMD! What bastard dares to meddle with Lao Tzu's affairs......"

However, the scene behind him made the man's body tremble, and the faint uneasiness in his heart finally broke out.

I saw more than a dozen big men dressed in black, and I don't know when they had surrounded them. A black man like an iron tower, with arms as thick as a human calf, stretched out and grabbed his baseball bat firmly.

The momentum like a mountain rushed to his face, and the troublemaker, who had never seen such a battle, trembled, hurriedly released his palm, and took a few steps back.

The crowd staggered, and a silver-haired old man in a Tang costume walked over from behind. He frowned and glanced at the messy scene, and when he saw Li Yan's bleeding palm, the chill in his eyes became even colder.

"Brothers, things are not what you think, listen to my explanation......" The three people who saw that the opportunity was not right, hurriedly explained.

However, the old man in Tang costume obviously didn't intend to listen to their explanation, and after raising his neck at the tower-like black man, he walked over to Li Yan.

The people who had been ordered rushed up and pressed the three people who were already completely frightened to the ground. Then, in groups of four, they were carried directly into the alley at the back door.

"Ahh It's us who is wrong! ”

"It's because we don't know Taishan and offend the masters, so you can bypass us!"

"Ahh We don't dare anymore! ”

…………

A terrible cry for mercy then resounded in the alley. However, the staff in the store seemed to be accustomed to it and did not care. After a few whispered discussions, they all returned to their respective posts.

Soon, in addition to the broken glass and scattered books on the scene, only the injured Li Yan remained.

The old man in Tang costume walked forward, picked up Li Yan's palm and looked at it, then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, the injury is not serious, otherwise you kid will be good-looking!" ”

"Eh, Lin Lao, I'm here to help others! If you don't praise me, why do you criticize me? ”

"Not only criticize you! I'm going to beat you again! The old man in Tang costume stretched out his finger and flicked it Li Yan's head. You don't know that they are here to find fault on purpose? Still don't know we'll be dealing with it soon? I went up alone, what, do you want to be a hero? ”

"No, didn't I see Guo Lao inside! I was afraid that something would happen to him, so I came to help! Rubbing his head, Li Yantian smiled with a smile.

Although the old man in Tang costume was reprimanding Li Yan, he could hear from his words that he cared deeply about Li Yan. He is the owner of this Lin family's antique workshop, Lin Renhua.

Since Li Yan entered the store, Lin Renhua has been very optimistic about his potential, and has taken care of him a lot and supported him. In just half a year, Li Yan was put in charge of the store's financial plans.

Bringing the first-aid medical kit from the store, Lin Renhua carefully pinched out the glass slag on Li Yan's wound one by one, cleaned the wound with disinfectant again, and then wrapped the wound with gauze.

"That's it! Don't come to work in the store these days, take a few days off and take care of your injuries. Lin Renhua patted Li Yan on the shoulder and said to him.

"Lin Lao, I'm fine, don't ......"

"Listen to me and heal your wounds!" Speaking to stop Li Yan's explanation, Lin Renhua continued: "Just your bag of pig's trotters-like hands, it will cause me trouble when you come, it is better to keep it at home!" ”

"Humph! Say I'm a pig's trotter! It's not your bag yet! Looking at the bulging gauze in his hands, Li Yan pursed his lips and muttered in a low voice.

"Huh? What did you say? ”

"No, nothing! I said I'll take care of my injuries! Strive for a speedy recovery and get back to work! ”

Looking at Li Yan, who was playing treasure, Lin Renhua nodded his head gently. "You kid, when did you learn to orchestrate me behind my back?"

"Nope! Absolutely nothing! I don't dare to borrow my guts! ”

After chatting with Li Yan for a few more words, Lin Renhua stood up and said, "Okay, I still have something to do later, so I'll leave first." You take good care of your injuries, when your injuries are healed, when you come back to work, don't force yourself! ”

"Hehe, don't worry, I'll do it!"

After instructing the staff to clean up the scene, Lin Renhua said goodbye to Li Yan and left the store.

Li Yan, who was injured, couldn't continue to go to work. After explaining the work to his accountant, he also went home early from work.

Soon, the site was cleaned by the cleaning staff. The damaged counter was carried out and replaced with a brand new one from the counter. Broken glass was swept into the trash, and dozens of ancient books brought by the trio were also thrown out.

In the dark corner, one of the ancient books suddenly flashed with a faint blue light. A few drops of blood stained on the pages were also strangely sucked in.

This ancient book is the one that Li Yan grabbed with his injured palm!

"Po"

The blue light grew brighter and brighter, and with a faint whisper, the ancient book disappeared into the darkness as if it had never appeared......