Time Smuggling Starting from the Year 2000 Chapter 4

That night Huang Xuan slept very well, hugging the stamp-alb.u.m in his arms, of course.

When the first beam of sunlight came through the window the next morning, and the birds in banyan trees started chirping, the fully dressed butler knocked at Huang Xuan's door lightly. Huang Xuan hummed in a daze. His arms were sore as he tried to move them, but it made him wake up right away.

"You got up early," said his mom, who was already sitting in the dining room.

Huang Xuan sat beside his mom affectionately and answered with a smile: "Because I want to have breakfast with my dear mom."

"Aww that's lovely," his mom said, smiling. "So what do you want? Going out is non-negotiable."

"How about going to the company with you? I haven't been there for a long time."

Of course, it had been a long time. Last time two hours after he had been there, the office already looked as if it had been flooded.

Zhang Xinyi smiled, waving her hand. "We have all agreed on your punishment. Do you want your dad to make fun of me?"

"Surely not," Huang Xuan put on a pitiable look and said. "But there is nothing to eat at home. What if I starve to death? What if I risk my life to break through Butler Zhou and climb over the wall just because I am too hungry?"

Zhang Xinyi couldn't help laughing and said: "Climb over the wall? Are you threatening me?"

"Mom..." Huang Xuan prolonged his voice and shook his mom's arm, which had been successful every time.

Zhang Xinyi became dizzy because of the shaking. As expected, she compromised, pointed on his head with her forefinger and said with a smile: "I will take you with me if you promise to stay within Butler Zhou's sight or mine."

"No problem." Huang Xuan nodded continuously, then asked, "Is Uncle Zhou coming too?"

"What's the point for him to stay at home if you are not here?" Having decided to skip breakfast, she stood up and said: "Let's go."

Huang Xuan jumped up and said: "One moment. I need to get something upstairs." He rushed upstairs to get the stamp-alb.u.m.

On the way, Huang Xuan tried to call Rolin. However, the base guardian seemed to have disappeared, just like his voice.

The office of World Group was located in Zhonglou District, which had a 48-floor main building and two new 8-floor affiliated buildings. It was in a mature commercial circle that contained half the best office buildings in the city. Although it had been less than 20 years since the rise of World Group—whose owners.h.i.+p of such fancy office buildings had undoubtedly benefited from the backgrounds of the Zhangs and the Huangs—Zhang Xinyi, the president of the board, had put a lot of effort into it.

The young and innocent Huang Xuan was thinking about nothing else but how to sell the stamps.

Half an hour later, Huang Xuan was already sitting in his mother's top-cla.s.s office. As the eldest daughter of the Zhangs, Zhang Xinyi was running her own business. Out of old habits, she built this 300-square-meter office, which was the biggest in Nanjing if the outside secretary room was included.

Huang Xuan was not interested in the valuable antiques and collections in the room. He had come for the secretaries.

Zhang Xinyi had four secretaries and two personal a.s.sistants. Usually, she only took one secretary and the a.s.sistants with her; the other three dealt with trivial matters such as correspondence and minutes. While his mother was having a meeting, Huang Xuan came to the secretary office, found secretary Lou and asked with the biggest smile: "Brother Lou, could you please do me a favor?"

Lou Ping was 30 years old or so, cleanly shaved, with short hair which suited his face perfectly. He already knew the son of the president of the board, so since he happened to have nothing to do, he gave Huang Xuan a gla.s.s of water and said: "What is it? Have a seat."

"Ok," Huang Xuan said. "I have a cla.s.smate who used to collect stamps, but now he is not interested anymore. He wants to sell the stamps but doesn't know how, so he came to me for help."

"I see," Lou Ping said. "If those are ordinary stamps, he can sell them at the stamp market of Fuzi Temple. If they are valuable, both auctions and private buyers are good options." As a secretary to Zhang Xinyi, Lou Ping often purchased decorations and took care of the personal collections for the president, so he was familiar with this kind of thing.

Hearing this, Huang Xuan asked in a hurry: "He told me they were valuable. Tell me how to sell them as soon as possible."

"Ok, I will ask for you." Unsure about of the value of the stamps, Lou Ping didn't answer directly.

"Thanks. I will wait inside."

After a while, Lou Ping knocked and came in. He said to Huang Xuan, who was playing computer games: "A friend of mine worked for an auction firm. He said there would be a special auction of stamps and coins in Beijing at the end of this month, but they will charge a 12% commission. Usually, if the stamps are valuable, there will be buyers."

"End of this month..." Huang Xuan put down the mouse and started thinking. Then he looked at Butler Zhou who was sitting on the sofa by the door and said: "It's just the beginning of the month now. That would be too late. Plus, Beijing is inconvenient. How about other firms?"

"No other stamp auctions within this month." Lou Ping shrugged. "How about this? You tell me the variety and amount of the stamps, then I ask him to contact some private collectors, but the price might be lower." Lou Ping wasn't at all interested in why Huang Xuan's friend was anxious to sell the stamps. It was none of his business, even if the stamps had been stolen goods.

A whole 50-piece set of Red National Mountains and Rivers stamps had only appeared once, which was at the National Stamp Expo in Guangzhou, on Oct 1, 1997. It was regarded as a national treasure and was evaluated at the price of over 10 million. The two-column or four-piece square versions of the stamp were worth 150-350 thousand each at other auctions. Huang Xuan recalled the materials he had looked into the night before and thought that anything more than 10 million would mean the same to him, so he asked: "Is your friend an auctioneer? Is he reliable?"

"Absolutely professional. He will sign a confidential agreement with you," Lou Ping answered confidently. For him, fulfilling requests from the son of the president equaled fulfilling requests from the president herself.

"Cool. Thank you, brother Lou. Please don't tell my mom about this unless she asks." This was why Huang Xuan hadn't gone to the Butler. Butler Zhou wouldn't have been so easy to deal with.

Lou Ping agreed then Huang Xuan asked: "What is the surname of your friend?"

"Liu. His full name is Liu Ziqing."

"How about this?" Huang Xuan hesitated a little and said: "It's inappropriate to show my friend's stamps in public. Can your friend come here instead? And bring an appraiser with him if it is OK. We can go with the market price. If he can find a private buyer for me, I will give him a 5% commission, but the confidential agreement is essential. What do you think?"

Huang Xuan's slow tone was so much like Zhang Xinyi 's when she was giving orders that Lou Ping was in a trance for a while, and then agreed at once.