Curved eyes, red lips, a voluptuous figure—every gesture exuded a mature charm, making her extremely attractive. If I remember correctly, the woman’s surname is Walker, and she’s the manager of the sales department, technically my mom’s superior. She wore a smile on her face, and in the short distance of ten meters, she warmly greeted quite a few sales staff, very approachable. “Old Thompson, isn’t your wife in the hospital? Get off work early and go home. Little Scott, Little Harris, it’s getting windy outside, might rain soon. If you didn’t bring an umbrella, go grab one from my office. Thank you all for your hard work today.”

“Thank you, Manager Walker.”

Manager Walker was dressed in a coffee-colored office suit, her shapely legs tightly wrapped in nude stockings—very alluring. I noticed many young male employees were secretly staring at her. But the middle-aged women sales staff nearby just kept pursing their lips.

“So fake!”

“Vixen!”

As I stepped onto the elevator, Manager Walker’s high heels clicked onto the step not far behind me.

Ring ring ring—her phone rang in her bag. I heard her giggling throughout the call; it sounded like someone she knew well.

“…Mr. Scott, you’re joking. I’m still counting on you to introduce a few more clients to your little sister… Haha, of course, that’s no problem at all. Wherever you want to go, we’ll go… Sure, sure, we won’t stop until we’re drunk… Please do take care of your little sister… Really? You mean it?”

It was clear she was a shrewd and smooth woman.

I couldn’t help but think to myself: when I make big money, I must find a wife as beautiful as Manager Walker or Grace Cooper.

When I got down to the first floor and walked out of the mall, the sound of Manager Walker’s high heels still followed closely behind me—seemed we were headed the same way.

As the saying goes, everyone loves beauty. As I walked into the revolving door, I couldn’t help but steal a glance at her charming face from the corner of my eye.

To my surprise, Manager Walker actually called out to me: “…Please wait.”

I looked at her eagerly, stopped, and pointed at my own nose. “You mean me?”

Manager Walker walked up to me with a smile, looking me up and down. “I thought you looked familiar. You’re the one who made a splash at the antique market yesterday, right? I was in the corridor at the time and saw it clearly. Truly, heroes come from the young! Haha, my name is Emily Walker, nice to meet you.”

I let out an “uh,” reached out to shake her hand. “You flatter me. My name is James Brooks.” There were too many people yesterday, I hadn’t even noticed her.

“So, are you here to buy tea or teaware?”

“No, my mom works here. I came to bring her an umbrella.”

“Oh? And your mother is?”

“My mom is Julia Green.”

Emily Walker thought for a moment, then smiled in realization. “Got it, you’re the child of Sister Green from the finance department. Haha, then we’re not really strangers. I see you know a lot about antiques. Here’s the thing: I want to pick out a gift for an old client. If you have time, could you help me take a look?”

You want me to help you? I’m an amateur myself!

She’s my mom’s colleague and outranks her. Even though she’s only a few years older than me, I still politely addressed her as Aunt Walker. “Aunt Walker, to be honest, I don’t really know much either.”

“So modest, aren’t you?” Emily Walker curled her lips and glanced at me. “I remember Sister Green’s family lives near Qianmen, right? How about we go to Liulichang for a stroll? It’s on the way anyway.”

She called Sister Green so affectionately, I found it even harder to refuse. After hesitating, I reluctantly nodded. “Alright, I was planning to go to Liulichang to sell something anyway. But let me be clear: my eye for antiques is really limited. I can’t tell real from fake most of the time.”

“It doesn’t have to be genuine. If it’s too expensive, I can’t afford to give it as a gift anyway.” Seeing me agree, Emily Walker hailed an Elantra taxi on the street. After getting in, she sat next to me in the back seat and said, “Last time I heard him say he really likes Tang Sancai. Yesterday I went to the antique market just to buy a replica Tang Sancai piece, but unfortunately didn’t find a suitable one.”

Tang Sancai?

I was startled and quickly waved my hands. “Don’t give that, don’t give that.”

Emily Walker asked in surprise, “Why not? I thought those little figurines were quite pretty?”

“It’s not about whether they’re pretty or not. Setting aside personal taste, Tang Sancai is not something you can just give as a gift.” I thought to myself, good thing you asked me, otherwise you might have really offended someone. “In the old TV series ‘Dream of the Red Chamber,’ there’s a Tang Sancai piece in Granny Jia’s room. Actually, that’s a mistake—a bug—because in the Qianlong era, no one would have put Tang Sancai in their home. It’s a burial object, meant to be buried with the dead, very inauspicious. It’s like how you can’t give clocks as birthday gifts.”

Nowhere in China are people more particular about these things than in Beijing.

For example, in a siheyuan courtyard, you’d never plant mulberry or locust trees. The word for mulberry, “sang,” sounds like “funeral”—not good. As for locust trees, they attract a kind of bug nicknamed “hanged ghost,” and people are afraid passersby will say, “Why does this family have so many hanged ghosts?”—also inappropriate.

“Burial objects?” Emily Walker exclaimed, “You really do know a lot! See, that’s why I say I’m an amateur. Good thing I didn’t buy it.”

Chapter 5: [First Pot of Gold]