Li Yun reviewed the information on Shudi with Bu Tao, but after looking over the files, they both agreed there was likely government corruption involved. Unfortunately, their reach with Angao City was limited. If anything, the only person who could do anything was Governor Ning who had oversight over the area.

“This guy is a real piece of work,” said Bu Tao. “I have heard a bit of rumor on him, but his lawyer had always gotten him released.”

“Is Angao in such bad a condition, why isn’t there any help?”

“There had always been money flowing into the city, but the money goes nowhere. On paper, it seems like the city is recovering, but if you really visit the city, it is pretty chaotic. Most residents have moved out while the streets are overrun by gang members.”

Li Yun looked through all the posts about the condition of Angao City, and it was mostly minor complaints. Information were likely scrubbed. He needed to find a way to stop Shudi from expanding into Qinbei. It wasn’t just to help Qi Sho, but after taking over Qinbei, Yide was likely the next stop. Unfortunately, dealing with an underground boss with political connections wasn’t something Li Yun was going to rush into until he knew who was actually supporting Shudi.

“Who’s their lawyer?” asked Li Yun.

“Some hotshot named Wing Bo. A defense attorney who graduated from abroad.”

“Did he know Shudi before?”

Bu Tao shook his head, “There’s no clear connection between them or any politicians. Wing Bo used to work for a M&A law firm, but after three years, he stopped suddenly and started his own firm.”

“Could an organization headhunt him before college?” asked Li Yun.

It was typical tactics for the underground, to find people with a clean plate and start grooming them early. Once they were needed, they would set their plans in motion. These types of tactics required a lot of experience, planning, and money. Finding the real boss behind Shudi wasn’t going to be easy. There were likely several layers in the hierarchy before reaching the top of an organization.

“Any attempt to infiltrate them? Or is it going to be difficult?” asked Li Yun.

“Considering the state of Angao, we can say that most of the cops there are rotten. As for Qinbei, I was only there for a few weeks, but I am concerned about the lax nature of their office. I don’t know if they will be able to handle an organized crime of this scale.”

“Anyone in the provincial office investigating this?”

“Well, I'm not sure. I'm not popular with the provincial folks.”

For political reasons, Bu Tao guessed that there were many more officers who didn’t like him because of his high percentage of closing cases. If there was anyone that deserved to be promoted to the provincial office, it was Bu Tao. It also meant that a lot of people from the provincial office wanted to see Bu Tao fail.

“I guess not,” Li Yun had to figure out something. “Anything you can do?”

“This is going to take some time to find information,” said Bu Tao. “But I know someone who is familiar with the underworld in Angao and Qinbei. I’ll have him dig into it.”

“Thanks,” Li Yun also thought it was best to wait and decided to head out.

“Speaking of dig. I heard you’re treasure hunting?” Bu Tao asked.

“Just shopping around for items to resell. I’m heading out right now.”

“How do you find the time to research? Don’t you ever sleep?”

“I do,” Li Yun slept 2-3 hours a day.

****

In the flea market, there were a lot of interesting trinkets at first glance. There were rows and rows of small and large items everywhere, but knowing that most were tourist traps or fakes, Li Yun focused on the items he could immediately spot, which was mainly anything with calligraphy and paintings. He wasn’t too familiar with paintings, but a lot of calligraphers also dabbled in paintings and vice versa.

Li Yun wished his powers could allow him to see treasures immediately, but then it would also make treasure hunting a bit less fun. Every time he stopped by the stall, the vendor sized him up and attempted to sell him one of their junks.

Li Yun had studied a lot of videos on fakes and replicas, and only focused on items that looked the most authentic. Forgers were getting better at replicating, luckily, Li Yun could use Qivi to check their authenticity.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

There were a lot of fakes, and Li Yun would often walk the entire block without seeing a single antique. There were a few that he had gathered, but they were mostly provincial pieces. Provincial pieces were made from highly skilled craftsmen for general use, but not ordered by the imperial family, which were usually of a higher quality and standard.

After acquiring more antiques, Li Yun would get them authenticated at Buried Treasures. By the third visit to the store, Li Yun became a bit more familiar with Dun Mao.

Dun Mao was impressed at the rate that Li Yun was finding antiques and asked about how he was acquiring so many treasures. He had seen a lot of veteran treasure hunters coming in and out, but for most treasure hunters, it would be profitable just finding one item a day. To his surprise, Li Yun was quite knowledgeable about calligraphy. He knew the different eras, the different styles that would be used, and how to identify the age.

“It’s quite impressive, did you have a teacher?” Asked Dun Mao.

Li Yun nodded, a slight pleasant smiled appeared on his face as he subconsciously touched his scar.

“Now that I think of it, all of the items you have given me had some sort of writing on them,” said Dun Mao. “You have a very solid background, no wonder you can spot antiques.”

“I have also watched a lot of live shows from senior Lao Gu Long and professor Fu Yaoshu.”

“What a coincidence! Professor Fu Yaoshu is in charge of this branch,” said Dun Mao. “Unfortunately, he’s traveling all the time and rarely stops by here.

Li Yun nodded. It wasn’t a coincidence, he chose the Buried Treasure specifically because he knew Professor Fu was in charge of supervising all of the high-end antiques.

“Do you know of any reputable lot auction in the area?” asked Li Yun. He was not in the trade, so it was difficult to find a reliable source, even on the internet. When there was valuable information, many people chose to keep the secret to themselves.

“Chen Group normally hosts auctions selling estate items,” Dun Mao replied. “It’s not publicity listed, but you can sign up on their website to attend the auctions. However, it is quite competitive. If you want, wait for the national holiday. The city will allow regular people to sell items on the street without a license. It’s usually just regular people trying to get rid of their items, so it’s not as expensive as some of the items that the vendors are selling in the flea market.”

After chatting with Dun Mao, Li Yun left.

Within a few days, Li Yun returned to recover a batch of antiques. Li Yun passed over the items to Wu Ling to sell on TeeBee Shop. There were a dozen items with authenticated certificates with prices ranging from 1,000 yuan to 25,000 yuan.

“So you're a treasure hunter now?” asked Wu Ling.

"What’s wrong with branching out?" asked Li Yun. He was still seeing patients on the weekends. He hunted treasures during the day and continued working on the Yunli-01 formula during the night.

"You're not trying to impress Meilin?"

"Do I look like I need to impress my own girlfriend?"

Wu Ling twitched her nose. She hated to talk about Rouxi with Li Yun, and vice versa. She wondered if they ever get into a fight since they seem to know each other pretty well.

"How is the farm?" Wu Ling thought it was best to focus on the money-making scheme.

"Okay," Li Yun didn't sound too thrilled.

The seedlings were growing steadily, but not at the pace Li Yun was hoping. So far, the speed growth was average compared to the ones in the greenhouse.

"How's the cookbook?" Li Yun was curious about it since the only thing he provided was pages of ingredients. How it actually came together was dependant on both Rouxi and Wu Ling.

"You will not believe it, but there is a publisher who wants the distribution rights to it!" Wu Ling was surprised that after selling a few copies, big-name publishers wanted to print out more copies for distribution. "So, do you think we should sign it?"

"It's up to you," Li Yun provided the basic information, but it wasn't like he had put together the recipes himself.

"Oh, hey, I heard a rumor that all your coworkers are afraid of you."

"Where did you hear that from?" Li Yun thought all the employees like him.

"Not at the factory, but at the hospital, apparently you're like some sort of monster."

Li Yun's eyebrow raised. "Don't tell me you're friends with that brat Fan Geng?"

"I really don't know him, but I follow his page. It's very interesting, he posts about random games and medical advice. Very funny guy."

"Yeah, funny, but don't take him seriously."

"Why not? He's pretty accurate about you! You're mean and scary! Once a thug, always a thug."

“You’re the thug!” Li Yun flicked her forehead, and walked over to the sofa to sit down next to Wu Bin.

Wu Ling sneered at him, but then rolled the cart out of antiques out of the apartment.

“Why are you still here?” Wu Bin. “Go back to your clinic or your parents.”

“Rouxi is hanging out with my parents, and I don’t need to be there when they go over my baby pictures.” Li Yun cringed at the thought of looking over his childhood albums.

Li Yun laid on the couch, with his legs resting on the coffee table. Wu Bin sat down on his recliner.

“Why aren't you telling them about your company?”

He didn’t mention anything to his parents about starting a pharmaceutical business, at least not until he made some profit. They didn’t understand it and it would cause less stress on them if they knew he was only simply running a clinic and researching for Ju De.

“Nah, it’s already stressful for me, I don’t need them to worry. If the drug doesn’t succeed, I’m going to be selling my organs next.”

“So unlike you to start something that isn’t guaranteed. You’re not the type of person who takes risks.”

Wu Bin had watched Li Yun ever since he was a baby, so he knew of his over-cautious personality. Li Yun was very deliberate in everything that he did, but if there were too many risks involved, he would back out. It was the one thing that was holding him back.

“Is it related to your mission?”

They hadn’t talked about Li Yun’s mission in a long time. Wu Bin wondered if it was really just a psychological motivation.

“When I was in Imperial City, I met Song Taiji,” Li Yun revealed.

“Song Taiji, you mean the former committee member?? No way, like the Song Taiji? Why would you meet with him?”

“Guess.”

Wu Bin thought for a moment. Out of all Li Yun’s connections, only Song Meilin had the same last name. Wu Bin grasped, “He’s related to Song Meilin?”

Li Yun nodded.