“Did you write a receipt?” David Carter was stunned for a moment, then immediately turned around and glared at Nancy Stewart. This kid usually seemed sharp and clever—how could he get confused at such a critical moment? In their line of work, how could you give someone a receipt, and even specify the year? Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?

“Big brother, you must be mistaken. When did I ever give you a receipt for the Western Zhou?” Nancy Stewart gave a wry smile and gestured with his mouth toward the receipt in the middle-aged man’s hand, signaling David Carter to take a look.

“Xi? This... this is si, four? Four Zhou?” David Carter didn’t reach out to take the receipt, but instead made a visor with his hand over his forehead to block the midday sun and glanced at the receipt. At that, David Carter couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He knew it—there was no way Nancy Stewart would leave such evidence behind. Turns out, he’d actually set a trap for the other party on the receipt.

Chapter 2: Kid, you set me up?

“What? Four Zhou!” Hearing David Carter’s words, the middle-aged man looked at the receipt in his hand in disbelief, but it clearly said “craftwork, era: four Zhou.”

“Kid, you... you set me up!” The middle-aged man’s face turned ugly. Looking closely at the receipt, he could see a faint horizontal mark above the “four,” and the two middle strokes of the character “四” stuck out a bit. If you weren’t paying attention, it really did look like the character for “Xi.”

“Brother, you’re the one in the wrong here.”

Now that he had the upper hand, David Carter didn’t bother to be polite, and his voice grew louder. “In our business, it’s all about having a sharp eye. You didn’t notice at the time, and now you want to come back and complain? That’s breaking the rules. If you keep making a fuss, you won’t get anything out of it.”

“Brother Gang, Xiaofan, what’s going on?”

Nancy Stewart’s stall was surrounded by four or five burly men, which had already drawn the attention of nearby stall owners. As soon as David Carter raised his voice, a few more people came over. In the antique market, it was common for people who’d bought fakes to come back and cause trouble, so everyone would band together to help out. In the blink of an eye, those four or five men were surrounded in the middle.

“Fine, I admit defeat.” The middle-aged man looked around and said, “I misjudged, can’t blame anyone else. I was in the wrong today—just pretend I was never here.”

With that, the middle-aged man raised his hand and squeezed out with his companions. Seeing the matter resolved, the crowd didn’t make things difficult for them, and in no time, they disappeared into the bustling crowd of the antique street.

“Thank you, brothers.” Seeing those men leave, Nancy Stewart breathed a sigh of relief and quickly cupped his hands to those around him.

“Hey, it’s nothing. He made a mistake and still had the nerve to come back and complain.”

“That’s right, Xiaofan. If you ever need anything, just give us a shout and we’ll be right over.”

The crowd joked and laughed for a bit, then gradually dispersed—after all, everyone had their own stalls to watch. The goods might not be expensive, but it’d still be a headache if someone walked off with them.

“Xiaofan, you really did break the rules this time.” After the crowd left, David Carter pulled Nancy Stewart aside and said in a low voice, “Selling a bronze for a thousand or so is one thing, but selling it for eight thousand—that’s a bit much. No wonder those guys came back to complain.”

Business in the antique market, especially at the stalls, was usually just selling little trinkets. Making three to five hundred a day was already considered good. Nancy Stewart sold a fake for eight thousand—sometimes that was as much as another stall might make in a month. In the trade, they’d say he was really fleecing the sheep.

What’s more, David Carter had seen clearly just now that Nancy Stewart had been clever when writing the receipt. Although the horizontal mark above the “four” was faint, if you looked closely you could still tell. That’s why David Carter said Nancy Stewart had broken the rules.

“Brother Gang, actually, that piece was pretty complicated to make. Charging him eight thousand wasn’t too much.” Nancy Stewart gave a wry smile and said, “The bronze I made was a replica of a daisheng—it’s a composite piece, rarely seen on the market. I thought he was an expert and would know how hard it is to make. Who would’ve thought he’d really take it for a genuine article?”

“Daisheng? What’s that?” Hearing this, David Carter was taken aback. He didn’t know much about bronzes and had never heard such an obscure name.

“That’s an ancient hair ornament for women. I only saw it in my grandfather’s bronze rubbings.” Nancy Stewart began to explain to David Carter.

A so-called daisheng actually consists of three parts: two clips and a connecting rod, somewhat resembling a modern barbell. The Classic of Mountains and Seas, “Classic of the Regions Within the Seas: The Northern Region,” records: “The Queen Mother of the West ascends the steps and holds a daisheng staff.” In the Han dynasty stone carvings at the Wu Family Shrine in Jiaxiang, Shandong, you can see images labeled “jade sheng,” with two symmetrical sheng connected by a “staff,” a round hole in the center, so it could be threaded through the hair. The Queen Mother of the West in the stone carvings is depicted wearing such a “sheng.”