Chapter 35 - Old Man's Antique Shop
The buildings flanking the street were quite different from before—these were obviously quite a bit shorter and the street was rather empty. The only things on the streets were black street lamps that looked like candleholders, each with two protruding brackets beside the bulbs.
Cassius followed the checkered brick sidewalk, passing by the pale yellow buildings, and turned right at the intersection. He walked further down and spotted a dense forest hiding behind the black mountain face at the end of the secluded road.
No one would have guessed that a small antique shop had opened its doors in this area. A rectangular metal sign hung above the shop: Old Man's Antique Shop.
Well, that's an odd name, Cassius thought.
Most people who named their shop like this would still slap a name onto it like "Old Man Charlie's Antique Shop," but the owner of this shop seemed quite capricious.
Cassius had actually visited the day before. The shop was owned by a thin old man with round glasses and who had a very strange temper. Despite this, Cassius quite liked the shop. The lack of patrons was strangely appealing.
He pressed a hand over his bulging left chest. He had a good feeling about his antique shopping adventures this time. Hopefully, he would be able to find some antiques with lingering attachments, or maybe even legendary antiques. Otherwise, all the gold and silver in the world wouldn't be enough to buy what he needed.
After a brief pause, he pushed open the door and entered.
"Welcome to Old Man's Antique Shop," an aged voice sounded from behind the red counter at the entrance. An old man in a white shirt and yellow vest raised his head slightly.
"Hey, old man." Cassius waved.
He wasn't someone who made friends easily; in fact, he was quite indifferent. But for some reason, Cassius felt a close affinity with this old man. Maybe their personalities just naturally clicked? Either way, this antique shop gave him a sense of comfort.
The last time he was here in the shop, he stayed so late it was dusk by the time he left. The old man had treated him to a soybean sandwich, which was a rather odd choice of food, but admittedly quite tasty.
"Li Wei, have you had lunch?" The old man slowly put down what he was holding. He shuffled around the counter and picked up a plate.
"Not yet, I was going to eat on Nington Street." Cassius had no time to eat earlier because he was busy sorting herbs and making ointments.
"This soybean sandwich will hold you over for now." The old man handed over the plate where there was, indeed, a sandwich.
Cassius didn't stand on ceremony and quickly grabbed it. "Thanks, old man."
"Haha." The old man chortled happily, his white eyebrows twitching. There was a kind twinkle in his small eyes as he squinted at him.
"Are you giving customers those weird soybean sandwiches again, old man?" a mischievous voice came from the door. A little girl wearing a children's T-shirt was clutching a large ice cream cone. Her eyes shifted from the old man then to Cassius.
"What's weird about it? Soybean sandwiches are clearly the best sandwiches in the world!" the old man retorted, looking annoyed. "On that note, did you skip school, Little Yu?"
"Old man, you're confused again. Today is the Holy Bath Festival so there aren't any classes," the little girl shouted, seemingly afraid that the old man couldn't hear her. She walked all the way upstairs without turning back.
"Aiya, how dare you lecture this old man?" The old man brandished the empty plate in his hand.
"By the way, when will Uncle Yun be back?" The little girl peeked out from atop the stairs, the cowlick on top of her head quivering.
"At least another month. He's on a ship, coming back from the United States of Yana," the old man said, setting down the plate. "And don't change the subject. You still haven't answered my question, you little rascal."
Cassius couldn't help smiling as he watched the scene before him. The little girl and the old man were quite cute together. In terms of personality, of course.
He had known since his last visit that the old man and Little Yu were not from the Hongli Federation, but from the Blue Star Empire. Their Uncle Yun's overseas business seemed to be related to antiques as every now and then, a small shipment of them would be sent to the old man in Baichuan City. But none of these antiques were of particular value, except of the peculiar kind.
Watching the old man storm up the stairs, Cassius shook his head helplessly. Maybe they were actually similar when it came to throwing tempers. What was the saying? "The older a person gets, the more their temper resembles a child's"? Maybe they also became purer at heart?
Cassius turned his attention to the shelves in the antique shop.
From the outside, the Old Man's Antique Shop looked tiny, but the space inside was quite large. More than a dozen light yellow shelves were clustered in the shop's center. One could tell, just from a first glance, that these were probably handmade as the edges showed wood grain and the points of rivet nails. The shelves held a myriad of odd little trinkets like music boxes, old pocket watches, thick books, parchment paper.
Beside the shelves, there were low counters covered in yellow cloth that had larger antiques on display, like bust sculptures, broken iron swords, old oil paintings, and ceramic pots that could either be teapots or chamber pots.
In short, peculiar. And definitely not professionally categorized as one might see in larger antique shops. However, the variety was absolutely staggering.
Cassius did his usual thing. He started inspecting from left to right, then from the front rows to the back of the shop.
Although his "golden tongue" had the ability to detect bitterness, it wasn't always accurate. The first time Cassius approached the senior brother with the Wind Elephant Tusk Pendant, he didn't taste any bitterness.
Touching the antiques directly was still the most accurate way to find them. If they contained any lingering attachment, his arm would tingle and a bitter taste would spread in his mouth.
But if some antiques with lingering attachment were hidden too deeply and could only be detected if his arm was wounded, Cassius would have no choice but to give up. After all, it wasn't like he could go around pressing a bloody thumb on everything. Getting kicked out of every store aside, he also wasn't too keen on the rust and contracting a bacteria infection.
He walked along the shelves, touching the antiques from one side to the other but found nothing out of the ordinary.
Putting down the goblet in his hand, he picked up a nearby bronze coin. Its surface was rough and old, and though it felt like metal, it was heavily oxidized and wasn't sturdy. Cassius rubbed it lightly with his thumb, and his eyebrow instantly shot up.
There's a very familiar bitter taste… Is today my lucky day? His mouth curved up involuntarily.
Hallelujah! The coin in his hand was an antique with lingering attachment!
After checking his surroundings, Cassius started rubbing it more forcefully. The bitterness grew stronger but it seemed like there was something obstructing the absorption of lingering attachment on the coin's surface, like it required closer contact.
He bit his fingertip decisively and pressed against it lightly. A stream of icy air stabbed into his skin. The number in the top right corner of his vision jumped twice.
[Lingering Attachment: 1.9 → 2.0 → 2.1]
It was a bit low, but Cassius didn't mind. He was plently satisfied with having just the lingering attachment.
One quick glance at the shelf and he immediately found around eight similar coins. On one side of the coin was a crown with a crooked cross on top, the other side was inscribed with a large number "fifty."
Cassius picked up the coins one by one and repeated his trick. Surprisingly, he actually found another one containing lingering attachment!
[Lingering Attachment: 2.1 → 2.3]
Squeezing the coin in his palm, he shouted toward the counter, "Old man, how much for these coins?"
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