"Why do you think I'd cover for you instead of telling your uncle?"
"Intuition."
Ma Yuan raised his eyebrows and said mysteriously, "If the boss tells my uncle, he'll definitely protect these ancient bronze coins. Then neither of us will get any benefits!"
"If you can keep it a secret, I'll make money, and you'll be the first collector of this set of ancient bronze coins. You'll earn even more when their value rises!"
Ma Yuan had his own well - thought - out plan.
He was sure that since Wang Shengtai had built such a big business, he couldn't have been completely honest in everything. There must be some shady parts.
Wang Shengtai would surely consider his own interests!
Hearing this, Wang Shengtai's expression softened. He was obviously swayed by Ma Yuan's words. He fondled the ancient bronze coins lovingly and pondered carefully in his heart.
Wang Shengtai had donated to the Cultural Relic Protection Association many times in hopes of obtaining precious cultural relics from them.
However, the president was so stubborn. Even though Wang Shengtai had dropped many hints, the president had never offered him any gifts.
Wang Shengtai was regretting having invested so much money in the Cultural Relic Protection Association, as he had gotten nothing in return.
But if these ancient bronze coins were as precious as Ma Yuan claimed, and if he collected them now, their value would surely rise after Yang Tianfu made them public.
Wang Shengtai was in a dilemma. In the end, greed overcame his reason, and he put the three ancient bronze coins into a cabinet.
"After I'm done with my business, I'll find an appraiser to examine them. If they're genuine, I'll buy however many you have."
Ma Yuan wasn't worried at all about the appraisal.
Even Xu Qingqing, a top - level appraiser, had certified them as genuine. What did he have to fear?
"Sure. If you find them to be fake, I'll give them to you for free." Having found a suitable buyer, Ma Yuan lazily straightened up and stretched.
"I won't bother you anymore. Let's talk about the price after the appraisal results come out."
After Ma Yuan left, Wang Shengtai immediately called his private appraiser.
The appraiser, having heard that Wang Shengtai had obtained some extremely rare ancient bronze coins, rushed to his house as fast as he could.
"Boss, where are those rare ancient bronze coins you mentioned?"
The appraiser, still out of breath, ran up to Wang Shengtai without even taking off his backpack.
Wang Shengtai placed the bronze coins, which had been polished shiny by his touch, in front of the appraiser.
"These three. I just got them today."
Seeing the shiny coins, the appraiser immediately picked them up and took out his professional equipment to conduct a careful appraisal.
After several hours of examination, the appraiser only managed to identify that the inscriptions on the coins were in Greek. He had no other clues.
During this process, Wang Shengtai had been standing beside the appraiser, full of anticipation, hoping to get the result he wanted.
The appraiser was afraid that if he said he couldn't identify the coins, Wang Shengtai would doubt his professional ability. So he lied and said,
"Boss, you've been scammed!"
"Scammed? Why?" Wang Shengtai's heart skipped a beat, and the smile on his face quickly faded.
"These are counterfeit ancient coins."
The appraiser said with disdain and slapped the coins on the table.
"Moreover, the counterfeiting was extremely careless. There are even Greek inscriptions on them!"
"Boss, think about it. In ancient times, when things were so backward, how could the ancients have known Greek?"
Wang Shengtai took the appraiser's words to heart and thought he made sense.
He had already suspected Ma Yuan's character, and now it turned out that Ma Yuan had really been trying to deceive him.
"Good for you, Ma Yuan! How dare you deceive me!"
Wang Shengtai was completely enraged. He threw all the ancient bronze coins into the trash can and told the butler never to let Ma Yuan in again.
In his anger, Wang Shengtai forgot about his agreement with Ma Yuan not to tell the president. He immediately called the president to complain.
The president, who was handling business outside, answered the call politely, "Boss Wang Shengtai, what can I do for you?"
Wang Shengtai said angrily, "It's all your nephew's fault. Who else could he have scammed but me!"
Hearing this, the president's heart immediately skipped a beat. He nervously asked, "What on earth did my good - for - nothing nephew do?"
"Today he came to me and said he had a batch of ancient bronze coins to sell..." Wang Shengtai angrily told the president the whole story.
Finally, Wang Shengtai said disdainfully, "President, your nephew is so stupid! If he wanted to sell counterfeit ancient coins to deceive people, he should have at least printed the characters of our own country. Instead, he put Greek on them!
"He's really embarrassing!"
The president felt that Ma Yuan had completely disgraced him. He quickly apologized to Wang Shengtai and promised to discipline Ma Yuan properly.
"This rascal! He's always doing stupid things and making me look bad!"
The president hung up the phone cursing and entrusted the remaining work to his assistant. He immediately rushed home to scold Ma Yuan.
After all, Wang Shengtai was a big - shot. If he offended him, who would invest in them?
After leaving Wang Shengtai's house, Ma Yuan immediately rushed to a bar and happily ordered the most expensive wine.
Thinking that he was about to get rich, Ma Yuan spent all his savings.
Drunk as a lord, with a beauty in his arms, Ma Yuan happily waited for Wang Shengtai to transfer the money.
The president took a flight in a fit of rage and arrived at Wang Shengtai's house early in the morning. He rang the doorbell.
Still angry about being deceived and also about the president's lack of social skills in the past, Wang Shengtai deliberately told the butler not to open the door, leaving the president standing in the cold wind for more than half an hour.
Wang Shengtai happily nestled in his quilt. Only after his anger had subsided did he lazily tell the butler to open the door.
Even though he was shivering from the cold outside the door, the president still forced a smile when he saw the expressionless butler.
The president was worried about offending Wang Shengtai, as he was afraid that Wang Shengtai would stop sponsoring them in the future.
"President, you're here so early. Why didn't you ring the doorbell? I could have opened the door for you." The butler deliberately taunted the president.
The president could easily understand the butler's implication, but he still kept smiling even though he was angry, "It's okay. I can wait. May I ask if the boss is up?"
"Yes." The butler led the president into the villa.
Wang Shengtai was sitting at the table in his dressing gown, sipping coffee. When he saw the president, he pointed to the three ancient bronze coins on the table.
"These are the things your nephew used to deceive me."
The president felt ashamed. He picked up one of the ancient bronze coins and examined it carefully. He noticed something strange.
The delicate luster and the vivid engravings indicated that they were genuine.
How could they be fake...