"Stop, stop, stop. You're exaggerating too much."
The family friend couldn't help but say, "This Miss Su is in her early twenties at most, and she was born abroad. You make it sound like she is an absolute master of everything from ancient bronzes and stone inscriptions to the Four Books and Five Classics... How is that even possible?"
"Unless she started learning in the womb and had renowned masters in every field teaching her hand-in-hand, only then would there be a sliver of a chance."
"Even if she is a one-in-a-million genius, would there even be such masters abroad?"
Master Guan choked slightly but forced himself to stay calm: "Why do you care how she did it? The fact remains that Miss Su possesses this talent. The real cannot be faked, and the fake cannot become real. You'll know once you speak with her yourself."
"Alright then, I'll be waiting for your introduction."
The family friend said quickly.
Master Guan immediately realized he had walked right into a trap. Fuming, he picked up his teacup to see the guest out, but after the family friend shamelessly pestered him, he reluctantly agreed.
Suddenly, the door to the reception room was pushed open.
Second Uncle Guan hurried in and shouted joyfully to Master Guan:
"A letter came from Xiunian! Miss Su feels our family is well-connected and has a deep foundation, so she's entrusted us to purchase some antiques, calligraphy, and paintings... This is wonderful news!"
He laughed so hard that the roof beams seemed to shake.
"She actually left all the antiques, calligraphy, and paintings to you?"
The family friend asked in a rush. The estate Su Ning was building covered an area that included the Guan family's property and an entire alley outside. With all the courtyards, rooms, and pavilions, the number of antiques and artworks required would be an astronomical figure.
Just by acting as the middleman, the Guan family could probably earn another fifty thousand!
"Well, she didn't just leave it to us."
Second Uncle Guan looked a bit sheepish and spoke evasively, but the family friend still understood: Su Ning was buying most of the antiques and paintings from merchants and dealers. She just gave a share to the Guan family because she was worried the goods wouldn't be of high enough quality.
She had thought it through carefully.
The best and most valuable antiques were not in the hands of merchants, but rather in the mansions of high officials and nobles, especially those from the previous dynasty.
It was perfect to let the Guan family handle it.
"That's still pretty good," the family friend said, sucking his teeth in envy and jealousy. Suddenly, he asked curiously:
"Hey, Xiunian gave this lucrative antique-buying job to you. Doesn't the Jin family have a problem with that?"
Wasn't this a clear case of biting the hand that feeds you?
"What problem could the Jin family have?" Second Uncle Guan sat down heavily. "They have a much closer relationship with Miss Su. If our family got to drink some soup, the Jin family is eating the meat!"
The family friend understood.
He started making his own little calculations.
He could no longer sit still in his chair. With a project as massive as Miss Su's estate, he wanted a slice of the pie too.
So, he cautiously probed for information.
"It's no use asking me. What kind of status does our family have in front of Miss Su? We don't have that much face."
Second Uncle Guan shook his head. He didn't brush him off, but analyzed it seriously:
"Once the news gets out today, there will be no shortage of people eyeing this fat piece of meat. Miss Su will distribute shares to families she has ties and business dealings with, and then the people in power will take their cut. Only the leftovers will be up for grabs by anyone else."
"Leftovers are fine too. You can still make money."
The family friend wasn't entirely unappointed, but he could understand. Of course, the good stuff had to be shared with one's own people first—
Damn it, he wanted to be one of Miss Su's people too!
...
Miss Su was nursing a headache right now.
For no other reason than there were simply too many people of all sorts coming to ask for favors and trying to network. "I hope the owner of the Grand Hotel Peking doesn't hate me."
Su Ning stood by the carved window, glancing down casually. Everywhere she looked, there were people. The crowds squeezing at the entrance were dressed in silks and satins, looking bright and glamorous.
Yet they had no connections and no right to enter. They could only wander around outside like headless flies, clinging to a sliver of hope and refusing to leave.
It was as noisy and bustling as a vegetable market.
It wasn't much better inside. Although a batch of people had been filtered out, quite a few had still made it in. The previously soft-spoken and elegant guests had all changed.
They were slipping money to the waiters.
All they asked was to get a calling card or a note into Su Ning's hands.
There were also those pacing back and forth, trying to sneak up to the top floor when no one was looking to meet Su Ning and persuade her.
"In my opinion, he wouldn't hate you, Miss. He should be thanking you instead."
"How so?"
Su Ning drew the curtains and turned around, asking leisurely. She sat down at the table, saw the mountain-high pile of various calling cards, and pushed them aside, out of sight, out of mind.
"The people who were allowed in, even if just for the sake of face, have booked rooms here and have to eat and drink. These expenses amount to a considerable sum, not to mention—"
Lin Sen smiled and precisely pulled out a card from the pile Su Ning had discarded like old shoes, waving it in the air:
"The owner here wants to do business with you too."
"Put it aside for now."
Just as he expected, the lady who had just seemed to feel guilty toward the owner of the Peking Hotel was now too stingy to even look up. Lin Sen cast a casual glance at the card.
The calling card was precious and crafted with great care.
Sprinkled with gold powder and embossed with patterns, one could even catch the faint scent of an elegant perfume. This card alone was worth at least three silver dollars.
What a pity—
The whole pile of cards was just like this. There were even more precious ones adorned with pearls, crushed diamonds, and tiny gemstones.
Click, he casually tossed it back into the pile of cards.
Lin Sen thought to himself that for a lady who was born with too many good things, arrogance and indifference might be necessary qualities. Otherwise, if she had to pay attention to everyone... it would just be too exhausting.
