William looked at the trinkets in front of him and said to Edward Taylor, “Buy everything at this stall and send it to my house. Count how many items there are!”
“These things?” Edward Taylor frowned. “They’re just crafts.”
The vendor’s eyes widened in alarm. “Hey! Old man, are you here to ruin my business? What do you mean, ‘just crafts’? I’ve got some good stuff here! Talking like that will ruin my reputation.”
William said, “I don’t need antiques. Modern crafts are nice; I’ll decorate my house with them.”
The vendor felt ignored and yelled at William, “Young man, didn’t you hear me? I’ve got quite a few antiques here. If you buy everything, it’ll cost at least two hundred thousand. Not a penny less, or I won’t sell!”
“Two thousand in total, deal?” William stared at the vendor.
Holy crap! Again?
The vendor had never seen eyes like these before. Such a young man, yet that single stare made him feel as if he had been completely seen through.
Two thousand yuan, all sold, he’d make a small profit of eight hundred today.
But damn, this is an antique stall!
Do you know what an antique stall is? 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝐞𝐥.
It’s the kind where you can eat for a year even if you don’t open shop for a year!
If he sold now, wouldn’t it be shameful?
“Sold!” The vendor gritted his teeth. It seemed he could never set up shop here again; he’d have to find a new spot.
Edward Taylor couldn’t help but smile. “Two thousand is a good price.” He paid by scanning a QR code with his phone. There were nine little objects on the stall, so two thousand for learning nine characters seemed worthwhile!
“Young man, where do you live? I’ll have them delivered,” Edward Taylor said, his heart filled with some anticipation. If William really knew those characters, what harm would there be in becoming his disciple?
“East 62nd Street, the house with the sycamore tree. Just leave the items in the yard,” William replied, glancing at Edward Taylor. “Nine characters, no more. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll teach you, but in the future, it’ll depend on my mood.”
Edward Taylor gave an awkward smile. What an arrogant young man!
Want to learn writing, but it depends on his mood?
“Edward, let’s go! Why put up with this?” The elder beside Edward Taylor couldn’t bear it any longer. William’s words, his tone, his attitude, were all unbearable.
Edward Taylor waved his hand, took out a pen and notebook, and quickly wrote down a character.
“Young man, what does this character mean?”
William glanced at it. “This character represents Zeus, the king of gods.”
“A single character represents Zeus, king of the gods?” Edward Taylor furrowed his brows. It seemed a bit like Ancient Greek, a single word.
“And this character?”
“Boring.”
“Ahem! What’s boring about it?”
“I mean this character means ‘boring.’ Are you stupid?”
William looked at Edward Taylor with a face full of disdain, but Edward Taylor didn’t get angry. He smiled awkwardly and quickly wrote down another character.
“Death!”
This time, Edward Taylor didn’t ask any more questions but wrote down the remaining characters, and William’s translations underneath them.
The characters he had written were all scrambled, but when William translated all nine, the connected meaning was: “After growing up, Zeus, the king of the gods, and his brothers killed Cronus. The grown-up Zeus was not as lovely as before; their family matters were somewhat boring, marking the beginning of the twilight of the gods.”
The twilight of the gods?
Edward Taylor reflected. The previous translations at the museum by William also matched up subtly in terms of words and meanings.
These mysterious characters looked simple, yet were extraordinary. If William had been talking nonsense before, he definitely wouldn’t have translated them so accurately on the spot.
He really understands the text on the stone tablet!
Edward Taylor stared at William, his pupils suddenly contracting, and excitedly said, “Young man, what else do you want? Anything you desire, I’ll buy it for you.”
William frowned and said, “I told you, I’m only giving you this opportunity because I’m in a good mood today. Annoy me again, and get lost.”
Lila and the others were dumbfounded. This was terrifying.
Did someone just tell Edward Taylor to get lost?
The staff behind Edward Taylor couldn’t help but say, “It’s just a few characters, right? Is there any need to be so arrogant? Mr. Taylor, let’s go.”
“I don’t know where this brat came from, but I really want to go up and beat him up!”
Edward Taylor was trembling all over. His bodyguards thought he was angry, and someone stepped forward to support him, saying, “Mr. Taylor, don’t be upset. This arrogant kid, let me teach him a lesson.”
“You dare!” Edward Taylor’s face turned red with excitement. He grabbed the bodyguard behind him and carefully handed William a business card, “William, right? When you’re in a good mood, could you teach me some more characters?”
William didn’t even take his card, saying, “I’ll think about it when I’m in a good mood. Take your people and leave; you’re making this shopping trip very uncomfortable.”
Wasn’t the reason he taught him that he found him a bit annoying?
Nine characters were enough.
Edward Taylor awkwardly took back the card, telling his people, “Don’t stand around here, disperse! Send the items to Mr. William’s house.”
William walked away, and Lila could only follow closely. She had never seen anyone as arrogant as William. Even those worth billions wouldn’t dare talk to Edward Taylor like that.
Edward Taylor might not have much money, but his students were spread across all industries, and who knows how many powerful figures owed him.
Crossing Edward Taylor was like courting death!
Yet Edward Taylor, despite being reprimanded, was so humble to William. It was unheard of!
“William, can’t you be a little more polite to people?” Lila had seen a glimpse of William’s ability, but his tone was just too arrogant.
William looked at Lila and blinked, “I’m pretty polite to you, aren’t I?”
Lila was speechless. Was William polite to her?
Please, he obviously treated her like a maid!
Was that considered polite?
“We’ve shopped enough; I should go to work now.” William had lost interest.
It couldn’t be denied that this street surely had real antiques, and if William wanted to find hidden gems, he surely could. But he had no interest in these so-called antiques.
Antiques?
If he wanted antiques, he could dig up as many as he wanted from the ancient tombs of the world.
These antiques didn’t count for much in William’s eyes. To him, modern crafts were more interesting.
Especially everyday items; they seemed much more comfortable to use nowadays.