At ten o’clock, Shen Hongbin sent a Mercedes-Benz to fetch me. The rich woman already knew about it, so I took the bag with the stuff I had prepared and got into the car.

The car drove to the Hilton Hotel. Two bodyguards escorted me as we used the elevator to reach the conference room at the highest floor. The waiters and waitresses were walking back and forth, preparing food trays on several rows of long tables. It seemed like it would be a big feast.

Actually, I had never attended an event like this before. I felt a little awkward, since I was wearing a few-hundred-renminbi jacket and a pair of jeans.

“Master Zhang, you’re here!” Shen Hongbin warmly welcomed me and ushered me to a room.

I felt somewhat disoriented as soon as I entered the room. Did I just time-travel?

The room was decorated as if it were a study room of an ancient scholar. There was a long table made of pear wood in the room, complete with a set of paper, brushes, ink, and an ink slab. There were also several thread-bound books on the shelves. An ancient-looking...