The Beautiful Boss's Personal Bodyguard
Chapter 497 - 496

Chapter 497: 496

If it were up to Ye Tian, he wouldn’t care how precious something is or whether it’s a cultural relic. If he really got annoyed, I bet even the one-of-a-kind "Brahmayan" would end up being used as toilet paper in his bathroom.

On the fifth floor, Ye Tian finally slowed down his hurried steps. The Eastern Gallery indeed exuded the slow-paced aura of Huaxia, with decorations similar to those of the Imperial in the Imperial Capital. Clearly, these decorations were intended for Huaxia visitors. Sure enough, looking around, most of the tourists were Asians with yellow skin. The Caucasians seen on the levels below were a rare sight here.

Ye Tian walked in, moving slowly through the crowd. Compared to paintings, most of the artifacts here were smaller and more disconnected items. Take the hairpins, for instance, which were small but in ancient times were managed by specialists. Especially for maids in large estates, if they carelessly lost a hairpin weighing less than two taels, a harsh beating was inevitable, without any chance to fight back. This was a political feature of Huaxia.

Most of the crowd was gathered around a painting, and Ye Tian, standing in the middle, just went along with the crowd. With so many people around, no one would notice if one or two were robbed - it would be like saving my life, Ye Tian almost blurted out "save me."

The gallery was as spacious as ever, even larger than the four floors he had passed on the way up. Moreover, it was quite sophisticated. The floor wasn’t tiled but laid with limestone slabs, cool in summer and warm in winter. Not only were they used in bedrooms, but they also served as an attractive gimmick for museums like this one.

This was a triangular bronze tripod. Ye Tian stopped to take a closer look, approaching the glass case closely.

"Hey, sir, we meet again."

Ye Tian turned to see it was the same person he had encountered in the lobby. The man was holding a Nikon facing him. Subconsciously, Ye Tian covered his face with his hand and stepped aside, "What are you doing?"

The man seemed perplexed by the question and just shrugged, his face innocent, "Sir, I didn’t mean to do anything to you. I just wanted to say hello."

Ye Tian glanced around; people were still commenting on their favorite pieces, occasionally bantering with each other. Relieved, Ye Tian looked back at the man, "Do you need something from me?"

"Oh, sir, I just wanted to ask if you’re Huaxia?"

"What do you care where I’m from?"

"I have some items here that need an experienced Huaxia person to decipher, so I’m looking for someone from Huaxia to help me out. Are you from Huaxia?"

Ye Tian nodded, "Of course."

Hearing this affirmative response, the man’s mood visibly improved. While he was in good spirits, Ye Tian decided to ask everything he needed to know.

"Sir, are you familiar with the methods of appraising ceramics?" the man asked earnestly, bowing slightly.

Ye Tian waved his hand, "Sir, I’m really sorry, I just casually look at these things for fun and don’t have any professional knowledge. I’m afraid I can’t help you."

The man looked Ye Tian up and down, seemingly incredulous, then politely nodded and walked away.

The interaction had soured Ye Tian’s mood somewhat. He didn’t have much time left. He looked at his watch; there should be two hours.

"Hey, sir, where are you from?"

A shifty-eyed man approached and greeted Ye Tian. Seeing that Ye Tian wasn’t too interested, the man who had approached brushed past him, cursing under his breath, "Who are you sulking for, I don’t owe you anything!"

Ah, a Huaxia man!

This kind of cursing just doesn’t have the same flavor in English.

"Hey, wait up!" Ye Tian called out a bit too loudly, causing everyone around to look in his direction. Ye Tian, seeing someone gesturing for him to keep it down, apologetically nodded and quickly caught up to the cursing man, wrapping an arm around his neck, "Buddy, from back home?"

The man, who had just been cursing, suddenly beamed, nodding his head like a bobblehead, wearing a wide smile, "Yes, yes, from back home. I thought you were ignoring me, thought maybe you were from Japan. Hehehehe."

His looks were off-putting enough, and with that laugh, it just got worse.

Ye Tian chuckled as well and pulled the man to a bench by the corridor, where there were no exhibits and most of the people were chatting.

"Big brother, do you need any help? You know, we should look out for each other when we’re away from home."

Ye Tian couldn’t help but chuckle at this, "You sure have a way with words. What do you do for a living? Hey, don’t give me the runaround. With your looks, if you tell me a proper job, I won’t believe it."

"Hehehehe, how could I?" He looked around; nobody was paying attention to them, "Big brother, I’m in business. Business has been tough lately, so I came out here looking for investment opportunities."

Ye Tian’s expression turned stern, "Speak plainly!"

For some reason, under Ye Tian’s intense gaze, the man felt as if he wasn’t in control of his own body anymore, as if every secret of his heart was laid bare. He forgot all the excuses he had prepared and spilled everything like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube, "Big brother, I deal with antiques. If there’s something you fancy, I can get it for you, guaranteed to be authentic and definitely safe!"

"You’re in the business?"

"Which business?"

"Theft?"

The man shook his head, "There are no holes to drill here, that job isn’t easy to do."

Ye Tian let out a sigh of relief, feeling more relaxed, which gave the man a moment to recover. Reflecting on it, he regretted his frankness - he had never encountered such an imposing figure before.

"So you tell me, what do you do, and how can you get me genuine items?" Ye Tian asked. To his surprise, the man on the opposite side pulled a long face and went silent.

"Big brother, tell me honestly, are you a cop?"

"Why would you think I’m a cop?" Ye Tian replied.

At those words, the man almost burst into tears, "So that means, yes!?"