Chapter Two: Three Million for an Old Mirror

Chenzhou should have refused. Gu had already sent a man to his home. But he needed money, standing, and an answer to why the Gu family wanted old objects. The preview occupied an aerial club on the ninety-eighth floor. Chenzhou wore a borrowed suit; Han wore his battered jacket without apology. Master Xu of the authentication committee glanced at the mirror and laughed. “Modern acid aging and computer-milled patterns. If you came to extort us, you chose poorly.” Gu's agent, Zhao Qiwen, sat in a corner smiling, his fingers clamped around a glass. Chenzhou touched the display table and saw Xu swap test samples before dawn. He touched the testing clipboard and caught the man's joy upon receiving Zhao's payment. They did not want to buy the mirror.