After finishing their coffee, Arlene asked Leo to accompany her to the antique street to see if they could find any hidden treasures to replenish the stock in her antique shop.
Leo had nothing else planned for the day, so he agreed.
The two of them left the cafe and strolled side by side through the antique market, occasionally stopping to pick up some interesting trinkets, examining them for a while before putting them back.
Finding hidden treasures required luck; it was essentially a game of wits between buyers and sellers. For antique buyers, it was about finding a bargain, while for sellers, it was about avoiding losses. No seller would willingly make such a mistake.
The antique market in Langstel had been around for decades, and the sellers were as shrewd as foxes. With just one glance, they could tell if a customer was an experienced buyer or an easy mark.
To many sellers, young people like Leo and Arlene were definitely easy marks.
Arlene wore a chiffon floral dress that made her stand out.
There was no helping it; a beautiful woman always attracted attention in places like the antique market.
The sellers along the street sensed the fresh presence of Leo and Arlene like sharks smelling blood and greeted them enthusiastically.
Leo occasionally used his spiritual sense to scan the items, distinguishing genuine pieces from fakes effortlessly.
After more than half an hour, they had browsed through most of the shops and stalls in the antique market but hadn’t found anything they liked.
After wandering for a while longer, Arlene suddenly stopped in front of a shop and picked up a walnut from a stall.
It appeared to be a wild walnut, small in size and dark red in color.
Leo didn’t even need his spiritual sense to know it was genuine, but such an item had little value and barely qualified as an antique.
While Arlene toyed with the walnut, Leo scanned the stall, which was filled with various miscellaneous items.
Soon, something caught Leo’s eye.
It was a bracelet that seemed to be made of rosewood.
What drew Leo’s attention was the occasional special aura emanating from the bracelet.
Leo took it in his hand for a closer look but couldn’t discern anything unusual about it. However, the special aura was undeniably present.
Even when he used his spiritual sense to probe it, he couldn’t detect any mysteries within the bracelet.
Despite this, the bracelet felt exceptionally good in his hand. Though made of wood, it had a warm, jade-like texture that made Leo reluctant to put it down.
The shop owner was a middle-aged woman who sat inside without coming out but kept her eyes on Arlene and Leo without saying a word.
“How much for this?” Arlene asked, waving the walnut in her hand.
The woman replied straightforwardly, “Fifteen hundred!”
Arlene countered just as bluntly, “One hundred fifty!”
Leo was shocked by this tenfold bargaining tactic; it was completely unconventional.
The woman stood up from her chair and came out, her face showing an expression that was hard to read-whether she was laughing or crying. “Miss, did I hear you right?”
“One hundred fifty!” Arlene insisted on her price.
“One thousand! Not a penny less!” The woman said firmly.
“Four hundred, including the bracelet he’s holding!” Arlene raised her offer slightly, adding Leo’s bracelet into the deal.
“Alright, let’s compromise. The walnut and the bracelet together for an even thousand. It’s a steal!” The woman said with a pained expression.
“Five hundred!”
“Nine hundred!”
“Six hundred!”
“Eight hundred!”
“Seven hundred!”
“Eight hundred!” The woman held firm at eight hundred.
“Alright, eight hundred it is!” Arlene smiled triumphantly at Leo and took out her wallet from her bag.
At this moment, the woman regretted not setting a higher initial price since she now realized that this sharp-bargaining beauty really wanted the walnut. If she had known earlier, she could have made more profit.
Given the current downturn in the antique market and the decreasing number of naive buyers, the profit from selling an antique nowadays was nothing compared to before.
Despite her reluctance, business was business. The agreed price couldn’t be reneged upon, so the woman took the money from Arlene’s hand.
Finally, she couldn’t resist adding, “These are all medieval antiques; you’re getting them cheap.”
Leo put the bracelet on his right wrist. Unexpectedly, a small amount of spiritual energy within him started circulating on its own and gathered into a stream that struck the bracelet hard.
The surface of the bracelet darkened as if purple ink was seeping out from within, resisting the impact of the spiritual energy.
Leo hurriedly took off the bracelet.
“What happened?” Arlene asked curiously when she saw him put it on and then take it off again. “Don’t you like it?”
“No, it’s just that I’m not used to it,” Leo replied, unable to figure out why the rosewood bracelet had reacted so strangely just now.
Oddly enough, when he held it in his hand instead of wearing it on his wrist, the bracelet returned to normal and didn’t trigger any spiritual energy circulation.
Afterward, Arlene and Leo bought an ancient green bronze censer.
The censer was only palm-sized and still contained some residual incense ash. From a distance, it emitted a sandalwood fragrance. It appeared to be an imitation piece from the early 18th century, so they bought it.
After finishing their shopping at the antique street, Leo accompanied Arlene back to her antique shop.