“Uncle, if it weren’t for you all these years, I…” Hearing this, Brian Carter felt another wave of suppressed emotion. Yes, back when William Brooks was still out and about, there were plenty of people who used to visit him often. But now, those people probably can’t avoid him fast enough.

However, no matter how others see it, no matter what kind of powerful figure William Brooks may have offended, or how terrifying the consequences of being associated with him might be now, none of that can affect Brian Carter’s respect and admiration for William Brooks.

Nor will it ever change his stance!

He only knows that when he had just left his inland hometown and stepped into this vast society, he was swindled out of everything upon arriving in Xinchuan. Embarrassed to tell his parents, he ended up homeless, unable to eat or keep warm, and nearly fainted from hunger on a street corner. It was William Brooks who appeared at that time and helped him.

And over these three years, under William Brooks’s care, Brian Carter not only learned a lot, but also managed to accumulate a modest fortune. Not only could he live comfortably in a coastal city like Xinchuan, but he could also regularly bring things home to honor his parents.

He was just a laborer from the countryside, basically penniless and with nothing to his name. The support and help William Brooks gave him was truly extraordinary.

Although there was no blood relation between him and William Brooks, deep down, Brian Carter truly regarded him as a real uncle. Aside from his own parents, William Brooks was the most important person in the world to him.

Now, watching helplessly as William Brooks fell into such dire straits, yet being powerless to help and only able to worry on the sidelines, really made Brian Carter want to cry from the pain.

And the origin of all this was a single piece of porcelain.

Although William Brooks was refined and courteous, and acted with integrity and the bearing of a gentleman, his true identity was that of a bona fide businessman, and more specifically, a middleman in the world of collectibles.

Simply put, he searched everywhere for various treasures, buying low and selling high.

Gold in troubled times, collectibles in prosperous times.

This saying contains a certain truth, and history has proven it countless times. In times of chaos and war, gold and silver are the most valuable, but in times of peace and prosperity, a wave of collecting fever sweeps through. In today’s China, it could be considered the dawn of a prosperous era, with countless people diving into the world of collectibles. Even ordinary families might have one or two members who love collecting. But William Brooks took the professional route, with a certain depth of knowledge and experience. Before acquiring that piece of porcelain, he already had a modest fortune in a big city like Xinchuan, running a jade shop in a bustling area that was enough to support his family. More often, he would travel around with Brian Carter.

That piece of porcelain was discovered during one of their treasure hunts.

But unexpectedly, even William Brooks misjudged it. When he picked up this bargain, he thought it was just a Qing dynasty imitation of Song porcelain. Who would have thought that later, another expert would confirm there was a seventy percent chance it was genuine.

That really stirred things up. Even if it was just an imitation, because it was a convincing Qing dynasty copy—

Regardless of the various opinions and controversies about the Qing dynasty, purely from an artistic perspective, it was a golden age for ceramics in history. So even if this porcelain was a Yongzheng-era imitation from the Qing dynasty, it would be enough for William Brooks to open another branch in Xinchuan. But if it turned out to be genuine, its value would be truly incalculable.

Such value could even be dangerous to handle.

In just a few days, wave after wave of people came to view it, and quite a few even offered to buy it.

There were simply too many of these people, and many of them William Brooks had never even met before. Faced with the same questions over and over, and with no definitive answer as to whether the porcelain was real or fake, he naturally wouldn’t sell it lightly.

As a result, those who were true collectors or had some moral bottom line were fine—even if rejected, it was no big deal. But some people would stop at nothing.

William Brooks was suddenly arrested for intentional injury and sentenced to five years in prison, and that piece of porcelain quickly disappeared without a trace.

Previously, although William Brooks had a modest fortune in Xinchuan, it was only modest—at most, he was middle class. His expertise in the world of antiques and collectibles was only above average, and only within Xinchuan city.

So even now, neither William Brooks nor Brian Carter knows who was really behind it all.

It was obviously a setup. The person whom the court ruled William Brooks had intentionally injured was someone whose name neither William Brooks nor anyone else had ever heard before his arrest, nor had they ever met this person…

But now, both William Brooks and Brian Carter have etched that person’s face and voice deep into their memories.

And ever since William Brooks was arrested, the real culprit behind the frame-up never showed their face, but some people must have caught wind of what was happening. Those friends and brothers who used to be close to William Brooks have now all vanished as if into thin air.

After William Brooks was arrested, his wife and Brian Carter tried every possible way to save him, even selling the shop, but in the end, it was all in vain.

All they managed to do was shorten William Brooks’s prison sentence a little.