Chapter 3: The Hero Rescues the Beauty (Please Collect)

  Golden sunlight slowly rose from the sea surface, deep blue seawater was dyed with a layer of gold, and three people lying on the reef finally woke up from their sleep.

  "Where are we going now?" William looked at Kayler.

  Kailer was busy taking out the books from the box one by one and laying them out on the stone to air, some of the book covers had stuck together, Kailer used a lot of force to separate them intact. Zhang Lei took a rough glance and found that most of these books were various versions of the "Bible", what surprised him was that there was actually a copy of "Elements" among them.

  In 1582, the Italian Matteo Ricci came to China as a missionary and brought with him the 15-volume "Elements". In 1600, during the Ming Dynasty, the mathematician Xu Guangqi became acquainted with Ricci and they began to collaborate. In 1607, they translated the first six volumes of the book on plane geometry into Chinese and renamed it "Jihe Yuanben" (几何原本).

  What Zhang Lei is looking at now is "The Original of Geometry", which is a combination of Chinese and Western elements.

  After a while, Zhang Lei picked up the book filled with geometric shapes and said to Kayler: "What do you want this for?"

  "Twenty-four years ago, the great Lord's loyal guardian, Limaudai, translated it into Chinese. I vowed before the Lord to inherit the Lord's will and complete this sacred task to the end." Kailer grasped a cross on his chest tightly, looking solemnly towards the west.

  "Damn it!" Zhang Lei cursed in his heart, how is this guy more nagging than Tang Monk? He put down the book in his hand and said, "Have ideals."

  After a long time, the sky was already bright. From last night's dusk, three people who had not eaten a single grain of rice were now starving. Zhang Lei found a secluded spot to examine the things he had taken from the ship: a book and a fan. After studying them for a while, he finally realized that he had boarded a pirate ship and encountered a black-hearted person. "Alas, when you go out into the world, you always have to pay the price," he sighed.

  William and Kayla were both extremely hungry, Zhang Lei touched his folding fan and said: "Let's go find a place to eat something, buy some clothes to change into, just being soaked in seawater is unbearably uncomfortable."

  The proposal received enthusiastic responses from two other people, but William said: "Do you have money?"

  Zhang Lei snapped his fingers and said: "You don't have to worry about this, as long as you follow me from now on, I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury."

  More than 300 years of advanced ideas should be able to mix out some fame.

  "Let's go."

  Gather up those precious books, and the three of them head towards a distant place where people's voices are clamoring.

  The place where they landed was a small coastal town under the jurisdiction of Huizhou Prefecture, called Pinghai Town. The residents were mostly fishermen and businessmen. As they walked closer, Zhang Lei and his companions could hear the hawkers' cries from the stalls. Those people looked at Zhang Lei and his two companions without any surprise on their faces, but simply moved aside to let them pass. After walking for a short while, they entered the small town, where people were coming and going, and business was booming. Next to a baozi shop, freshly steamed meat buns emitted an enticing aroma, which made Zhang Lei and his two companions even hungrier after taking a deep breath.

  "I want to eat baozi." William involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva, making a "gulp" sound.

  "You wait for me." Zhang Lei instructed a few words, then turned and slipped into the nearby pawnshop.

  As you enter from the main gate, a large cabinet as tall as a person stands like a wall, and an old man who seems to have entered his twilight years sits high up in a taishi chair, dozing off due to the lack of business for a long time. Behind him, there is a display window with some strange and unusual items inside.

  "Hey, hey, let's get down to business." Zhang Lei wasn't short, standing by the counter he could just hang his arm over it.

  At Zhang Lei's shout, the old man seemed to have been startled. He shuddered all over, opened his eyes, and hastily reached out to grab a folding fan, opening it to fan himself, saying: "Guest officer."

  Zhang Lei pulled out a beautifully carved wooden fan from his bosom, with hollowed-out ribs, a white jade pendant, and a painting of a lady on the fan surface. Instantly, the old man, who was in a state of drowsiness, became invigorated, beaming with joy as he looked at Zhang Lei and said: "Young brother, are you going to use this fan?"

  "That's right."

  Seeing Zhang Lei nodding, the old man immediately straightened his back and the smile on his face also disappeared. He said, "Let me take a look."

  The sunlight was just right, shining in from the gate outside. The old man opened his fan and the sunlight filtering through the carved patterns left mottled marks on his face. He examined the fan carefully, then looked at the white jade pendant hanging from it, and was about to study it closely when a hand reached out and closed the fan.

  "Don't just watch, don't forget what you need to do." Zhang Lei suddenly grabbed a fan and leaned against the cabinet with his right elbow, his whole body relaxed, looking very comfortable.

  The old man straightened his back, with a serious expression, but his eyes were fixed tightly on the folding fan in Zhang Lei's hand. "Young man, are you going to redeem it or pawn it?"

  "It's settled." Zhang Lei said without hesitation.

  The old man was delighted and hurriedly coughed lightly to cover it up, saying: "You'd better think carefully about this. If you want to redeem it later..."

  Zhang Lei directly slapped the fan on the cabinet and said: "This thing is useless to me, when I'm hungry it can't be eaten, when I'm cold it can't be worn, it's better to exchange it for money."

  The old man took a look at his tattered outfit and suddenly had an idea: "Young fellow, this fan is quite to my liking. I'll give you a high price for it - 500 taels of silver, cash on the spot. What do you say?"

  "Five hundred taels?" Zhang Lei suddenly stood up straight, reopened his fan and said: "Are you cheating me because I'm young and don't know the value of goods? Take a closer look, this is the genuine work of Tang Bohu, the leader of the Four Great Talents of Jiangnan. You're offering me five hundred taels for it? This piece of white jade alone is worth more than that. Forget it, I'll go somewhere else."

  "Eh, eh, eh, don't be like that, the price is negotiable, it's negotiable, or else, 1,200?" Seeing Zhang Lei about to walk away, the old man became anxious and hastily called out to him.

  Zhang Lei stopped in his tracks, still unmoved, and said: "Business is about sincerity, if you're like this, it's hard for us to cooperate."

  In his previous life, his job was to sell company products, and he had a lot of experience in haggling.

  "Five thousand taels!"

  The old man finally shouted out a number that satisfied Zhang Lei, he smiled and turned around, putting the fan on the cabinet, saying: "Well, one point is all it takes, indeed a seasoned businessman, this thing belongs to you now."

  "Worm-eaten and rat-bitten, a broken fan worth five thousand taels of silver." The old man turned his head and shouted, then tightly hugged the fan, as if afraid it would fly away.

  Zhang Lei held the 5,000-yuan silver ticket, but his heart ached. If he were to take it to Sotheby's spring or autumn auction, it would be worth tens of millions without any pressure. Alas...

  "Hey, you're here." Keller hurriedly walked up to Zhang Lei as soon as he saw him coming over, and then his brown eyes kept glancing sideways at the baozi shop.

  Zhang Lei took out a piece of silver from his bosom and said: "Look, we have this, why eat buns? Come on, I'll take you to a restaurant."

  Three people found a high-end restaurant nearby, ordered a private room, and prepared to have a hearty meal. What everyone didn't notice was that since Zhang Lei came out of the pawnshop, a thin middle-aged man who looked like a skull had been following him.

  "Liu Ge, they also entered the Taibai Building." This middle-aged man followed Zhang Lei and others to the door of the private room, and then slipped into the large private room next door.

  That man called Liu Ge was about forty years old, probably because he had lived a life of ease and comfort, his belly stuck out, when he spoke, the fat on his face jiggled, when he drank wine, his face was bathed in sweat, shining with oil.

  Liu Ge stopped the chopsticks in his hand, waved his hand to signal, and the beautiful girl opposite him who was playing and singing alone immediately shut up and sat quietly.

  "It's just as I expected, serves me right for being Old Liu the lucky one, haha." Liu Xiang couldn't help but smile smugly after hearing his subordinate's report.

  "Liu Ge, so now we are... " As he spoke, this skinny guy made a motion of wiping his neck and taking money.

  "Don't worry, don't worry, these are all the fat meat that has fallen into the bowl. Skinny, you tell the two brothers to keep a close eye on them, they won't be able to leave for a while."

  "Brother Liu is wise." The thin man flattered him and then immediately retreated, Liu Xiang waved his hand, and the pretty girl started singing again.

  Zhang Lei and the other three sat together, Kayler and William were very puzzled as to why he suddenly had so much money, but because they weren't familiar with each other, they didn't ask, Zhang Lei wouldn't be foolish enough to explain himself, secretly praising him for being obedient. He took the menu from the waiter and ordered randomly, finally saying: "Bring two jugs of the best wine."

  Cantonese people are accustomed to having tea and dim sum in the morning, but it's rare for someone like Zhang Lei who wants a big fish and meat feast. However, after just a short while, several large dishes were already served.

  "The three guests, please take your time." The shopkeeper said as he was about to leave, but Zhang Lei stopped him and pulled out a small-denomination silver note from his pocket, saying: "Go and buy two sets of clothes for each of us, the best satin ones. Keep the rest for yourself. Oh, and have someone bring up some hot water too."

  Looking at the silver ticket in his hand, the shopkeeper immediately became enthusiastic and repeatedly responded: "Alright alright, give it to me, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

  Zhang Lei touched the silver ticket in his pocket and sighed, thinking that money can make a ghost push a mill, this is really true.

  "Ah..."

  Just after eating a few mouthfuls, a sudden short and sharp cry came over, scaring Zhang Lei almost to the point of spilling wine on his chest. He stopped his chopsticks and heard a woman say: "Don't, Xiaolian sells art not body, please guest officer... ah... save life..."

  William immediately stood up and walked outside, saying: "I'm going to save that girl!"

  "......" Zhang Lei was stunned for a moment, and wanted to call him back, but unfortunately William had already left the compartment. Hearing the sound of kicking the door next to him, he quickly said to Kayler: "Let's go take a look."