I Transmigrated Into a Villain and All the Heroines in This Novel Have Systems?

Chapter 9:

“Since both parties have no objections, let the competition begin.”

Fang Shijing did not say anything more and directly announced the start of the competition.

“Good luck.”

Qi Xuan flashed a contemptuous smile before eagerly setting off to search for antiques.

Lin Chuan, however, was in no hurry. He leisurely strolled through the market, casually browsing the various stalls.

To the onlookers, his behavior looked like he had already given up.

Qi Xuan, a recognized genius in the antique world, was carefully selecting items.

Yet Lin Chuan, a complete amateur, was acting so relaxed?

Where did he get that kind of confidence?

In truth, Lin Chuan was not pretending. He was searching for the stall where Qin Chao found his valuable antiques in the original novel.

According to the novel’s description, the stall was in a corner, and the vendor was a man in his fifties wearing a gray sweater.

But after searching everywhere, he couldn’t find anyone fitting that description.

Did he arrive too early, so the vendor hadn’t set up yet?

Or perhaps the vendor wasn’t wearing that sweater today?

If he couldn’t find that stall, then he wouldn’t be able to snatch those three undervalued treasures.

It seemed those antiques had been prepared specifically for the protagonist Qin Chao. As a villain trying to steal the protagonist’s fortune, he was simply dreaming.

Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly saw a man in a gray sweater walking out of a public restroom and jogging toward a stall.

“Thank you, Auntie Wang, for watching my stall. Ugh, I must’ve eaten something bad last night—I’ve been running to the restroom all morning…”

“It’s nothing, just lending a hand,” the elderly woman who had been watching the stall stood up and moved aside.

Lin Chuan couldn’t help but chuckle.

No wonder he hadn’t found the vendor earlier. The guy had been in the restroom.

He had almost missed this golden opportunity.

Suppressing his excitement, he slowly walked over and crouched down in front of the stall.

“Handsome young man, looking to buy something? Everything here is top quality, I assure you,” the vendor immediately greeted him warmly, having spotted a potential big spender.

“Just browsing.”

Lin Chuan quickly scanned the stall while his mind raced through all the knowledge on antiques he had absorbed.

“Hm? Boss, do you have any other good stuff that you haven’t put out yet?”

He finished checking but didn’t find the three antiques mentioned in the novel, so he looked at the vendor in confusion.

“No, everything’s here.” The vendor gave him a puzzled look.

“Are you sure? Think carefully. Do you have anything else?” Lin Chuan pressed further.

The vendor scratched his head. “Now that you mention it… I did buy a batch of goods yesterday, but I haven’t sorted them yet.”

Lin Chuan’s eyes lit up instantly. “Can I take a look?”

“Uh…” The vendor hesitated.

“Boss, don’t worry. If there’s something I like, money won’t be a problem.”

Lin Chuan instinctively rolled up his sleeve, intending to show off his twenty-thousand-dollar Rolex to reinforce his point—only to suddenly remember he had given it away earlier to flex on another vendor.

Feeling awkward, he quietly rolled his sleeve back down.

But his meaning had already been understood.

The vendor could tell that this young man had money to burn.

“Alright, it’s in that truck. I’ll take you there.” The vendor stood up and turned to the old lady again. “Auntie Wang, could you watch my stall a little longer?”

Then, he led Lin Chuan toward a parked tricycle nearby.

As Lin Chuan left with the vendor, the people in the antique market snickered among themselves.

“Wow, he really knows where to go, huh? He went straight to Donkey Zhang’s stall.”

“Donkey Zhang is famous for selling counterfeits. Does he really think he’ll find something valuable there?”

“Hahahaha, I can’t believe this! Out of all the stalls here, he chose the worst one? He’s practically throwing himself into a trap!”

“I can’t wait to see his reaction when he realizes he’s been scammed…”

Lin Chuan followed the vendor to the tricycle.

Its cargo area was covered with cloth, making it impossible to see what was inside.

The vendor walked over and lifted the cloth, revealing a pile of antiques and paintings.

“Take your time, handsome young man. See if anything catches your eye.” The vendor stepped on the tricycle’s wheel and looked at Lin Chuan expectantly.

But Lin Chuan was no longer listening.

His gaze was locked onto the pile of antiques, his mind racing.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed with excitement.

He found them!

It took some effort, but he had finally located the three hidden treasures.

“Boss, can I get up there for a closer look?” he asked calmly.

“Sure, just be careful not to step on anything.”

“No problem.”

Lin Chuan climbed onto the tricycle and pretended to browse casually, picking up a few random antiques before setting them back down.

After deliberately hesitating for a moment, he picked up a rolled-up scroll and slowly unrolled it.

It was an ink wash painting of lotus flowers, titled “Red Lotus Reflecting the Sun.”

The artist’s signature read “Li Kuchan.”

Li Kuchan!

He was a famous master of Chinese painting.

Lin Chuan barely glanced at the painting before looking back at the vendor. “Boss, how much for this?”

The vendor’s eyes flickered. “That’s a genuine piece by Master Li Kuchan. You know Li Kuchan, right? One of his works, ‘Lotus and Kingfisher,’ sold for over six million at auction…”

Lin Chuan raised a hand to cut him off, his expression cold and impatient.

“Boss, do you take me for a fool?”

“This painting is obviously a forgery. Look at the rough brushstrokes. The paper and ink clearly belong to a beginner.”

The vendor coughed awkwardly, trying to cover his embarrassment.

He had bought this entire batch for dirt cheap.

Even he wasn’t sure if this painting was real. The brushwork did seem a little off, making it highly likely to be a counterfeit.

He had assumed Lin Chuan was just another clueless rich fool and had tried to rip him off.

But judging from Lin Chuan’s precise evaluation, this guy actually knew antiques.

“Well, even if it’s not authentic, it’s still a high-quality replica. If you like it, I’ll let you have it for fifty thousand.”

“Boss, come on. You just admitted it’s a fake, and now you want fifty grand?” Lin Chuan immediately started bargaining.

After a long negotiation, the vendor reluctantly lowered the price to twenty thousand and refused to go any lower.

Lin Chuan, seeing that pushing further would be pointless, reluctantly agreed.

“Fine, twenty thousand it is. If not for pleasing my old man, I wouldn’t even take this trash for free.”

Hearing this, the vendor immediately understood.

Ah, so he’s just a spoiled rich kid!

Clearly, he was buying antiques to please his father while trying not to spend too much.

Otherwise, why would he come to a shady dealer like me?

“Do you want anything else? I’ve got great porcelain and jade pieces too—your father would definitely like them.”

The vendor eagerly started pushing other items.

And that was exactly what Lin Chuan wanted.

He continued acting, carefully browsing for his next treasure.