Lily Brooks grabbed the document bag and, without hesitation, threw it out. The heavy envelope flew through the air and landed squarely on the face of David Bolton, who was walking into the shop carrying two flowerpots.

Smack!

It hit him right on the bridge of the nose. David Bolton let out a miserable scream, and the two flowerpots he had just bought clattered to the ground, shattering into pieces.

The document bag then fell to the floor, scattering photos everywhere—it turned out to be a photo album inside.

The young girl saw David Bolton and cried out in surprise, “Why is it you?”

Only then did David Bolton recognize that the girl in the antique shop was actually Grace Howard. He was stunned for a moment, then collapsed onto the floor, limbs splayed out, though his body was clearly a beat behind his mind.

Lily Brooks hadn’t expected the kid to come back at this moment, nor that she would coincidentally hit him in the face with the document bag. Seeing the broken flowerpots on the ground, she figured the chubby kid must have bought them to make amends.

But what’s with him falling to the ground? Is he trying to fake an injury? Damn it, does he have the guts to try to scam me?

Lily Brooks saw the scattered photos and remembered that she had thrown the document bag out in anger. With the photo album inside, it was as heavy as a brick, and it had landed right on his face. The kid must have taken quite a hit.

But Lily Brooks underestimated the thickness of David Bolton’s skin. The toughest part of his body was that very face, boasting an astonishing defense value of over 10,000.

David Bolton’s scream was purely instinctive. As for falling to the ground, he was taking the opportunity to fake an injury! That’s right, this immortal is here to scam today.

The real reason for buying the flowerpots was to win Lily Brooks’s favor and buy her incense burner. But with Lily Brooks’s strength and eccentric personality, the chances of closing the deal were basically zero. Besides, he didn’t have much money anyway. Luckily, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came up: you hit me in the face, now I want compensation.

Lily Brooks tried to help the more than 200-pound body up from the ground, but before she could touch him, she heard David Bolton let out a pig-like scream: “My face… I… I might be disfigured…”

Lily Brooks’s eyes widened, almost cursing out loud. With your chubby face and big ears, how much worse could it get? But since she was in the wrong, she swallowed her anger and said, “Should I take you to the hospital for a checkup?”

David Bolton shook his head. “I feel dizzy, maybe I have a concussion, maybe even a brain hemorrhage. Do you think it’ll affect my intelligence? I’m about to take the college entrance exam. What if I can’t get into university? If I can’t get into university, I can’t get a job. If I can’t get a job, I can’t make money. If I can’t make money, I can’t buy a house. If I can’t buy a house, I can’t get married. If I can’t get married, I can’t have kids…”

Lily Brooks was about to explode with anger. This guy was being way too dramatic. What’s next, do you want me to take care of you for life?

She forced herself to stay calm. This kid was not easy to deal with. Remembering how it all started, she quickly took out the temporarily confiscated Fire Source Stone and handed it to David Bolton, saying, “Here, kid, I’m giving it back to you.”

Better to settle things peacefully. This guy was clearly a shameless troublemaker—best to get rid of him quickly.

David Bolton took the Fire Source Stone and gripped it tightly in his hand before sitting up, his eyes fixed on the incense burner.

Lily Brooks followed his gaze and heard him say, “Nice incense burner!”

Lily Brooks immediately understood what he meant. The kid was pushing his luck and really trying to extort her. She wasn’t exactly patient herself, and gritted her teeth, saying, “Kid, let it go while you can. Don’t go too far.”

David Bolton immediately lay back down, clutching his head. “Headache, headache… The world is spinning. Where am I… Who am I? I think I’ve lost my memory…”

Lily Brooks had never seen a young person with such a thick skin. She’d been in business long enough to know it’s better to avoid trouble, especially since she was the one who caused the injury. That broken incense burner wasn’t worth much anyway. Thinking it better to lose some money than invite disaster, she fetched the incense burner and handed it to David Bolton, saying, “Are you satisfied now?”

David Bolton took the incense burner and said, “That’s strange, my head doesn’t hurt so much anymore.”

Lily Brooks glared at him, squeezing out a single word from deep in her lungs.

“Get out!”

Chapter Thirteen: Scam vs. Scam

Grace Howard took the opportunity to leave while Lily Brooks’s attention was all on David Bolton. She was worried her aunt would catch up and return the item to her, so she jogged away, glancing back as she ran. Only when she saw her aunt wasn’t following did she relax.

But in her panic, she didn’t notice someone coming toward her and bumped right into them. The vase in the other person’s hand crashed to the ground and shattered, and Grace Howard also lost her balance and fell.

Looking closely, Grace Howard saw that the other person was a skinny old man. The vase in his hand had shattered, and he had also fallen to the ground, clutching his chest and crying out, “Oh no… you’ve killed me… my vase… my one-of-a-kind official kiln from the Ming Dynasty… blue and white porcelain…”

Grace Howard frowned, her pretty face turning pale with fright. She was inexperienced and had never encountered such a situation before. Enduring the pain, she got up to help the old man, but halfway there, the old man grabbed her wrist.