I am not returning to Beijing. Coming to Hong Kong was specifically to help him. I met his gaze, completely unafraid.
Just then, Old Ghost's phone rang. Seeing "Son" on the screen, Old Ghost pressed the answer button, putting it on speakerphone.
"Godfather!"
"What is it?"
"Are you eating New Year's Eve dinner alone at home again this year?"
"Yes!"
"Grandpa said to come home for dinner."
"Thank you, Elder Gao, I won't be coming."
"Godfather~" Gao Ziming's voice on the other end expressed dissatisfaction.
"That's all for now. I'm fine alone, with wine and meat. Don't worry about me. I'm hanging up!"
"Okay, then I wish you a Happy New Year, Godfather. Wait, Godfather, Grandpa wants to speak with you."
...
"Xiao Shi, is the speakerphone on?"
"Yes!"
"In that case, Tang Nan can hear too, right?"
"He can hear."
"Our Gao family tradition dictates that we must have New Year's Eve dinner together. Let's meet tomorrow afternoon to celebrate 2008 together!"
"Then you'll have to ask Tang Nan's opinion."
Gao Ji chuckled on the phone and said, "Tang Nan, would you do me the honor?"
I looked at Old Ghost, who nodded at me. I smiled and said, "If you're inviting me to dinner, how can I refuse?"
"Then it's settled."
"Alright, thank you for your trouble."
"Xiao Shi, I'll see you tomorrow then. Oh, Xiaojuan has been gone for so many years, why haven't you forgiven me yet?"
Old Ghost said solemnly, "Don't use the word 'forgive.' It's not at that level. Xiao Juan and I had no affection for each other, and she didn't like me. I've stayed with the Gao family all these years because of my connection with Ziming."
"Fine, I won't force you. But, Xiao Shi, I still say the same thing every year: in my heart, you are the son-in-law of the Gao family. I'm hanging up now!"
Cao Shi hung up the phone, his expression solemn.
...
I looked at Cao Shi and said with a smile, "Old Ghost, before I meet Elder Gao, can you analyze the current situation for me?"
"No need. After dinner tomorrow, I'll send you to the airport."
I gave a bitter smile, "It's hard to get plane tickets now. Many people want to go to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony during the New Year."
"You don't need a ticket if you charter a plane."
"Ah~ That's too extravagant. Let's just wait until I can get a ticket."
Old Ghost gave me a displeased look. I said sheepishly, "Since I've come all the way to Hong Kong, you have to take me to eat all the delicious food, or I won't have a reason to go back to Beijing."
"Is eating your style?"
"I'm your disciple! You eat so much; if I weren't greedy, would that make sense?"
"You are not my disciple." It seemed Old Ghost had made up his mind.
However, I was determined to stay and help Old Tie this time. "In Beijing, when you handed me the words 'The Schemer,' I considered myself your half-disciple. You can't refute this. Only when I receive acknowledgment from you and Li Jiu can I truly be called the fifty-sixth generation Schemer."
Old Ghost remained silent because he truly couldn't refute this.
"Putting Elder Gao aside, let's eat. After we finish, I'll leave. Don't say I didn't ask about it; I want to try the silk stocking milk tea and egg tarts."
...
After watching the Spring Festival Gala, I slept for a while. When I woke up in the morning, Old Ghost had already prepared vegetarian dumplings. Seeing I was awake, he cooked them for me. I had eaten and drunk so late last night that my stomach was full.
Watching Old Ghost pop dumplings into his mouth one after another, I couldn't help but ask, "Is your stomach fake? Is there a bottomless pit inside?"
"You guessed it?"
"It's the New Year; let's not tell ghost stories. I can't eat anymore, so you eat it yourself." I put down my chopsticks and said.
"With you like this, you still want to be my disciple? After dinner this afternoon, I'll send you back to Beijing."
"I admit I can't compete with you in eating. I won't eat the egg tarts and milk tea, but since it's my first time in Hong Kong, you have to let me go to Disneyland for two days."
Old Ghost sighed, "Eat, then sleep. You'll have energy when you meet Elder Gao this afternoon."
...
In the afternoon, we ate at a restaurant with a nice ambiance. Hong Kong cuisine is indeed exquisite, like works of art, served in dishes I couldn't even name. Elder Gao wore a Tang suit, his white hair neatly styled.
"Tang Nan, I took a liking to you in Ruili and have always wanted to bring you into the Gao family."
Thinking of Old Ghost's worries, I politely declined, "Elder Gao, I'm accustomed to a lazy life and I'm not short of money. I don't want to work."
Elder Gao chuckled lightly, "You probably don't understand the meaning of money. If you have hundreds of millions, ordinary people might call you rich. But in our circles, you'd only have pocket money. From the beginning of humanity, every war has been related to money. If we want to seize another country's land, we must consider its economic value."
I smiled awkwardly, "I understand what you mean, but I can't think from your perspective. I'm easily satisfied."
"Satisfaction is a desire-chain placed upon you by leaders. Humans are never satisfied."
"Then tell me, I'm all ears."
"When you join me, money transforms into economics. Under your control, you'll understand what economics is, and what the future holds. When the digital age arrives, wars will also be intrinsically linked to economics. Only when you can use money to control the world will you grasp the meaning of economics."
Old Ghost interrupted at this point, smiling and saying to Elder Gao, "Why are you telling the child all this? Someone born into poverty with a few hundred million would be ecstatic. If you burden him with 'economics,' he'll be crushed."
Elder Gao chuckled, "It was indeed my impoliteness. Let's eat. After dinner, we'll go to the auction together."
...
I followed Elder Gao to an auction house named Kowloon Auctions. The true tycoons of the world would attend this auction. The antique decor resembled a tea tasting hall, with an elegant lady presiding at the front, holding the item for auction.
"Twenty million, Mr. Zhu, thank you for your bid? Twenty-six million, excellent, Mr. Zhang, I heard you. Thirty-six million, Mr. Li, you are truly generous. Thirty-six million once. Very well, thirty-eight million, are you only increasing by two million? Fifty million, Mr. Li bids fifty million, it seems you are determined to acquire this piece."
Holding my teacup, I stared intently at the exquisite auctioneer. She was an acquaintance of mine, Qin Sisi. I never expected to meet her in Hong Kong after parting ways in Beijing, and find her working as an auctioneer at Kowloon Auctions.
The auction proceeded at a rapid pace. Bidders sat at the auction seats, each with a telephone in front of them. Besides the regular auction seats, there were VIP seats. We were seated in the VIP section, with only a few people present. Some were yawning, some were eating sunflower seeds. After Elder Gao brought me in, they greeted him, and their gazes eventually fell upon me with interest.
Once seated, graceful beauties brought us fruits and tea. Then, we sat there, watching the auction as if it were a play. The item just sold for fifty million looked no different from the five-yuan blue and white porcelain bowl my mother bought at the supermarket, yet someone had paid fifty million for it.
After this bowl was sold, the next item was a Qing Dynasty noble's hairpin, its significance unclear. Qin Sisi, on the auction stage, spoke eloquently, and the price soared.
"Is this a setup?"
Because Qin Sisi was present, I couldn't help but recall the "celebrity setup" in Ruili and couldn't resist asking Old Tie.
"Kowloon Auctions has a history of nearly 200 years. They have top-tier appraisers and have never sold fake goods since their inception."
I looked at Elder Gao, who smiled.
"Antiques are a microcosm of the economy and the most valuable investment commodity. From 1980 to 2005, over 25 years, the returns exceeded stocks, funds, and real estate, with antiques being the top performer."
"That profound?"
"Antiques are not valuable simply because they are old. Centuries-old limestone is worthless. However, imperial artifacts from the Qing Dynasty hold considerable value. Human economic valuation is inescapable within circles. In our circles, the social and cultural values from ancient times to the present represent extraordinary status. After the economic crisis, the plummeting prices of antiques indicate that many people's net worth is shrinking. The recovery of antique prices proves that the economy is also recovering."
I smiled awkwardly, "I understand. People with tens of millions wouldn't feel the pinch spending ten thousand on a trinket."
"That's a good analogy."
Receiving Elder Gao's praise, I glanced at Old Ghost, who had a blank expression and was eating fruit.
"This Qin Sisi is a good girl. I was impressed with her in Ruili. After she was released from prison, I specifically asked Xiao Shi to find her and recommended her to be the chief auctioneer here."
"You know the owner of this auction house."
Old Ghost chimed in with a smile, "Kowloon Auctions is managed and operated by Elder Gao's eldest son, Gao Xiaozhi. The bowl just sold, if I recall correctly, Elder Gao bought it for 800 yuan at the ghost market."
I was dumbfounded. If the vendors at the ghost market knew their 800-yuan antique bowl was sold for fifty million, they would probably jump off a building in excitement.
Elder Gao looked at my reaction and smiled, "Antiques themselves have no intrinsic value. An item takes on different economic disparities when placed within different social value systems. People are the same. As a Schemer, only by following me can you become one of those who control the world's trends."