Henry Foster heard the crowd’s discussion and sneered to himself. Even at this point, the tour guide was still clinging to a sliver of hope. If he went to the police now, maybe those three people hadn’t gotten far yet—there was a chance to catch them and recover the thirty thousand yuan. But if they kept waiting, those people would probably have long since disappeared.

“Young man, let me take a look at that jade.” An elderly man among the tourists stepped forward, took a pair of reading glasses from his jacket pocket, and put them on. He seemed to know something about jade, so Henry Foster quickly handed the bracelet to him.

“This young man is right, this bracelet is fake, not real jade.” The old man held the bracelet to his ear and tapped it a few times, then examined it in the sunlight for a while before coming to his conclusion.

“Sir, are you sure you’re not mistaken? How could this jade possibly be fake!” The young tour guide’s expression turned ugly, but at least his tone wasn’t as harsh as when he spoke to Henry Foster.

“How about this, I’ll do a little test and you’ll know whether this jade is real or fake.”

The old man’s words made Henry Foster’s eyes light up. Although he thought the jade was probably fake, he had no evidence to prove it.

The old man placed the bracelet on the surface of the packaging box, took out a bottle of mineral water, and slowly dripped a drop of water onto the bracelet. As soon as the droplet touched the jade, it quickly disappeared.

“In fact, there’s a very simple way to tell real jade from fake, called the water droplet method. If you drop water on real jade, the droplet will bead up and stay for a long time, but on fake jade, it disappears quickly. This bracelet of yours is fake.”

“It really is fake. This tour guide is just unlucky, fell for a scam.”

“That’s right, I heard from a friend in the jade business that this water droplet method really can distinguish real from fake jade.”

The tourists’ discussion made the young tour guide’s face turn pale. Thirty thousand yuan was no small sum for him, and it wasn’t even his money—it was company funds, which he’d have to return later.

“Call the police, while those scammers haven’t gotten far. Maybe they can still be caught.” The old man put the blood jade bracelet back in the box and handed it to the young tour guide.

“Call the police… Right, I need to call the police, those damned scammers.” The young tour guide hurriedly took out his phone and dialed 110.

Standing to the side, Henry Foster shook his head. He doubted calling the police would do much good. The young tour guide’s fate was to lose money—there was no getting that thirty thousand yuan back.

……

……

As the capital of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang’s long-distance bus station was packed with people, crowds coming and going. Henry Foster got off the coach, slung a light travel bag over his shoulder, and hailed a motorcycle taxi to head to Nanchang University.

The young tour guide hadn’t returned with the coach. After calling the police, he went to the station to give a statement. As for whether the scammers would be caught, Henry Foster no longer cared. His interest in the matter was mainly to test the accuracy of the physiognomy techniques recorded in the Zhuge Medical Classic. Now that the results had proven the method useful, he was satisfied.

The motorcycle weaved through the streets, taking shortcuts here and there, and soon passed by a construction site. It was a commercial complex under construction, not far from Nanchang University. Henry Foster knew that in three years, this place would become the new commercial center of the area.

Glancing sideways, he saw that the basic structure of the commercial complex was already complete, with only a landmark building still under construction. Henry Foster studied the building, faintly sensing that something was off.

But the motorcycle quickly sped away, and the building disappeared from Henry Foster’s view, leaving only a vague outline in his memory.

Back at the dormitory, the whole building felt deserted. All the residents were seniors, and most had already left for internships at various companies, while others were packing up to leave.

Of the four people in Henry Foster’s dorm, only two remained. The other was staying because he was preparing for graduate school exams. As for Henry Foster, he still hadn’t decided where to go.

To be honest, it wasn’t easy to find a job related to a major in Chinese history, unless you went into research institutions or archaeology. But those were all government or public sector jobs, and in today’s society, even the most obscure government office was fiercely contested, with people relying on connections and networks. Henry Foster came from an ordinary working-class family and had no connections to compete with others.

“Knock! Knock!”

Henry Foster was lying on his bed, planning to take a nap and recharge, when a knock sounded at the door. The familiar voice of the dorm manager called from outside:

“Henry Foster, someone’s looking for you downstairs!”

“Oh, got it, I’ll be right down!”

He quickly replied, got dressed, opened the door, and headed downstairs.

“I just got back, who could be looking for me? And with such perfect timing.”

Henry Foster thought it over but couldn’t figure out who it might be. Most of his acquaintances at school had already left. His roommate, who was preparing for grad school, spent all day in the library and only came back for meals. Besides, if his roommate wanted to find him, he could just come up—no need for the dorm manager to notify him.

As he walked out of the dorm building, a Land Rover appeared before Henry Foster’s eyes. The imposing body, sharp lines, and rugged tires drew the attention of many students.

A man in his thirties was leaning against the car door. When he saw Henry Foster appear at the entrance of the dorm building, his eyes lit up and he strode over.