Chapter 75: The Restorer

Chapter 75: The Blue Military Stamp

The rhythm of Su Xiaofan's morning workout had been disrupted, so naturally, he had to cancel his afternoon nap.

After lifting weights for two hours and feeling sore all over, Su Xiaofan immediately went to the swimming pool and enjoyed a refreshing hour of swimming.

Dinner naturally consisted of beef and roast chicken. Su Xiaofan had completely stopped eating staple foods. Only meat could replenish the energy his body was consuming.

After eating, he stepped onto the scale and discovered that he had only gained two kilograms. His weight was now 112 kilograms. He had no idea where the twenty or thirty kilograms of beef he had just eaten had gone.

With scientific training, Su Xiaofan's cultivation was progressing very quickly.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Su Xiaofan felt that his cultivation speed had increased considerably that night.

He had already opened more than two-thirds of the meridians of the Great Heavenly Circuit.

Su Xiaofan had a feeling that he would be able to completely open the Great Heavenly Circuit within five days at most.

Su Xiaofan didn't call his Master again.

He couldn't keep stimulating the old man like that. Doing so too often would be rather disrespectful to his Master.

The next day, Su Xiaofan still went out because he had made plans with Zhao Zhengshan the previous day to visit the antique market together.

As a former capital of thirteen dynasties, Luochuan naturally had more than one antique market.

Su Xiaofan and Zhao Zhengshan had arranged to meet at an underground antique market.

Compared with the place where Su Xiaofan used to set up his stall, there were fewer tourists here. Instead, the collectors of Luochuan liked to come here and browse around.

Some of the stalls were even set up by collectors themselves. Naturally, there were more good items here, and the chances of finding undervalued treasures were also higher.

“How about it, Little Su? Want to compete again?”

They met at the underground entrance.

Zhao Zhengshan looked extremely pleased with himself.

“This is my territory.”

“Uncle Zhao, forget it. There's no referee today.”

Su Xiaofan shook his head.

He had come out today for two reasons.

First, he wanted to look around this market that he didn't usually visit.

Second, he wanted to find an opportunity to repay the favor he owed Zhao Zhengshan.

“Cough, cough. We're not gambling money anyway. If we're not betting, then forget it.”

Thinking about the previous time when Uncle Jing had acted as their referee, Zhao Zhengshan immediately lost interest in competing with Su Xiaofan.

Someone who could casually pick out two items and sell them for more than ten million yuan was not someone Zhao Zhengshan could compete with.

Trying to compete with Su Xiaofan would just be asking to get beaten.

“Uncle Zhao, what does this market mainly sell?”

As they entered the underground market together, Su Xiaofan remembered that he had only been here once.

He knew there were quite a few antique shops, but there weren't many stalls.

“There are more stamp dealers here. Besides that, there are quite a few people selling calligraphy, paintings, and jade.”

Zhao Zhengshan spoke with great experience.

“Since this place is underground, you don't have to worry about wind or rain, so there are more people selling paintings and calligraphy.”

“Little Su, let me tell you something. Someone once found a painting by Tang Yin here, so this market is quite famous.”

“Come on. Who knows who made up that story again?”

Su Xiaofan smiled without saying anything.

There were simply too many stories circulating in antique markets.

As for finding a painting by Tang Yin in a place like this, that might have been believable thirty years ago.

“Huh? Uncle Zhao, collecting old currency is also a major part of this market.”

After entering the underground market, Su Xiaofan noticed many glass display counters filled with old editions of RMB.

“That's right. These things can't be exposed to wind and rain either, so they've all ended up here.”

Zhao Zhengshan nodded.

He greeted several stall owners familiarly, clearly indicating that he came here often.

“I'd rather look at the stamps.”

Su Xiaofan didn't know much about old currency.

However, when he was in middle school, he had collected stamps for a while, so he knew a little about them.

“You collect stamps too, Little Su?”

Zhao Zhengshan looked at Su Xiaofan.

“I have a complete sheet of the Monkey Stamp. I'll bring it over for you to see sometime.”

“Heh, and that 'Whole Country Is Red' stamp from nine years ago? I was the one who bought that at auction too.”

“Oh? Uncle Zhao, you're a major player in stamp collecting?”

“The Monkey Stamp doesn't matter. But that 'Whole Country Is Red' stamp—you're definitely going to have to let me admire it sometime.”

Su Xiaofan was somewhat surprised when he heard Zhao Zhengshan say that.

The 1980 Monkey Stamp could already sell for more than 10,000 yuan per individual stamp, while a complete sheet was worth more than a million yuan.

The “Whole Country Is Red” stamp was even more valuable.

It had been a misprinted stamp issued back then. Immediately after being released, it was recalled and destroyed. Only a very small number managed to enter the market.

Su Xiaofan had heard about the auction Zhao Zhengshan mentioned from several years earlier.

It had been a spring auction held by China Guardian. A large red “Whole Country Is Red” stamp had ultimately sold for the astronomical price of 7.5 million yuan.

Su Xiaofan hadn't expected that stamp to have fallen into Zhao Zhengshan's hands.

It was the ultimate dream of every stamp collector.

“Brother Zhao, you're here! Come take a look at my stamps. I recently acquired quite a few.”

“Old Zhao, come over. I've got a Mei Lanfang miniature sheet here. See if you're interested.”

As soon as they entered the stamp-collecting section, Su Xiaofan immediately sensed Zhao Zhengshan's popularity here.

Everyone who saw him greeted him.

Zhao Zhengshan didn't act like the son of a billionaire at all. He had no airs whatsoever.

He greeted people as he walked along and even accepted cigarettes from people, tucking them behind his ear.

“This isn't the Drunken Concubine stamp issued in 1962. It's a commemorative stamp issued later. It's not worth much.”

Zhao Zhengshan took a stamp handed to him by someone, glanced at it, and returned it.

The man wasn't offended. Instead, he laughed.

“Old Zhao, you're making it sound so rare. If I actually had a Drunken Concubine, I'd have taken it to an auction long ago. Would I still be displaying it here?”

“Got anything newly acquired? Let me have a look.”

Zhao Zhengshan took two small stools from in front of the man's stall and handed one to Su Xiaofan.

“This is Old Zhang. He's been collecting stamps for more than thirty years. Quite a few of mine were bought from him.”

“Hello, Uncle Zhang. My name is Su Xiaofan. I'm just following Uncle Zhao around to broaden my horizons.”

Su Xiaofan quickly greeted him.

He was quite familiar with the people at the antique market where he usually operated, but here he was completely new.

“Heh, there aren't many young people collecting stamps anymore.”

Old Zhang smiled at Su Xiaofan before taking a stack of stamp albums from a box beside him.

There were roughly seven or eight albums, which he placed in front of Zhao Zhengshan.

“They're getting harder and harder to collect.”

“These albums came from the west side of the city.”

“The elderly person in that family used to collect stamps. They passed away a few days ago, and their children and grandchildren found these albums. I bought them all.”

Old Zhang sighed as he talked about how difficult business had become.

And it was indeed true.

Stamp collecting was largely a memory belonging to the generation born before the 1980s.

People born after the 1980s mostly grew up with telephones and mobile phones as their primary means of communication.

Many of them had only heard about stamps and had never even seen one.

Su Xiaofan had become interested in stamps because his father had collected them when he was young. There were several stamp albums at home, which had sparked Su Xiaofan's interest when he was in school.

Later, however, he had gradually abandoned the hobby.

“Once our generation gets old, there really won't be many people left collecting stamps.”

Zhao Zhengshan was also somewhat emotional as he picked up several albums and began flipping through them.

Su Xiaofan had nothing else to do, so he picked up a few albums as well.

Most of the stamps inside had already been used. Only a small number of commemorative stamps were brand new.

Although they had been preserved quite well, Su Xiaofan could tell that the stamps weren't particularly valuable.

Moreover, the person who had originally collected them clearly hadn't been particularly well-off.

“Old Zhang, these albums are pretty ordinary. There aren't any particularly good stamps.”

Anything Su Xiaofan could see, Zhao Zhengshan could naturally see as well.

He shook his head as he flipped through the albums.

“It was just an ordinary family collecting stamps. What good stamps could they have?”

“See if there's anything you want. I'll give you a cheaper price.”

Old Zhang naturally knew what stamps were inside these albums.

But nowadays, many people who collected stamps were no longer solely pursuing high-value stamps.

After all, truly valuable stamps were extremely rare.

Many collectors simply wanted to fill gaps in their collections by obtaining stamps they didn't already have.

As long as the price wasn't too high, they could exchange pieces with one another and still enjoy the fun of collecting.

“I already have most of what's in these.”

Zhao Zhengshan shook his head and exchanged albums with Su Xiaofan.

【Repair Value: 46 points!】

【Blue Military Stamp: Damaged. Can be repaired! Requires 1 Repair Value!】

Just as Su Xiaofan was looking through one of the stamp albums, information from the Repair System suddenly appeared in his mind.

“Huh? A Blue Military Stamp? How is that possible?”

Su Xiaofan looked at the album in his hands and began searching through it page by page.

Having collected stamps before and later paid attention to them while working in the antique market, Su Xiaofan naturally knew the value of the Blue Military Stamp.

The Blue Military Stamp was a military stamp issued in the 1950s.

At the time, there were not only Blue Military Stamps, but also Yellow Military Stamps and Purple Military Stamps.

For various reasons, these military stamps were recalled and destroyed immediately after being distributed to the military.

Because the Blue Military Stamp was printed the latest, it was withdrawn before it even had the chance to be distributed.

As a result, only an extremely tiny number made their way into civilian hands.

Therefore, the Blue Military Stamp was also the most expensive of the three.

One had been auctioned in the 1990s, and even then it was worth 800,000 yuan.

A few years ago, another Blue Military Stamp appeared at auction and sold for the astronomical price of 3.2 million yuan, second only to the “Whole Country Is Red” stamp.

“It's not here?”

After searching through the entire album, Su Xiaofan couldn't find the Blue Military Stamp and was stunned.

“Could there be a hidden layer?”

Looking at the old-style stamp album, an idea suddenly occurred to Su Xiaofan.

“Uncle Zhao, there are quite a few stamps in this album that I'm missing. Could you help me negotiate the price?”

Su Xiaofan nudged Zhao Zhengshan.

Seeing that the owner was talking to someone else and wasn't paying attention to them, he lowered his voice.

“I'm not familiar with this place, and you have much more face here.”

Zhao Zhengshan took the album Su Xiaofan handed him and tapped it against his palm.

“Old Zhang, how much do you want for this album? There are several stamps in it that I'm missing. If the price is right, I'll take it.”

“Let me see.”

Old Zhang took the album and flipped through it.

“Three thousand!”

Old Zhang said, “There are seven stamps worth two or three hundred each, and another dozen or so that add up to more than six hundred.”

“You can consider the rest a gift. How's that?”

“That's actually pretty fair.”

Zhao Zhengshan glanced at Su Xiaofan.

“Three thousand it is. I'll take it. I'll scan the payment to you.”

Old Zhang's price wasn't high, and Zhao Zhengshan felt there wasn't much room left for bargaining.

So he simply bought it.

If Su Xiaofan didn't want it, he could keep it for himself.

“I'm heading off, Old Zhang. I'll look around up ahead. Give me a call if you get any good stamps later.”

After scanning the payment and taking the album, Zhao Zhengshan said goodbye to Old Zhang.

They walked past several more stalls before Zhao Zhengshan finally handed the album to Su Xiaofan.

“Here, Little Su. The price wasn't high.”

【Blue Military Stamp: Damaged. Can be repaired!】

【Requires 1 Repair Value. Repair it?】

“Repair!”

After taking the album, Su Xiaofan issued the repair command.

【Repair complete. Remaining Repair Value: 45 points!】

“Uncle Zhao, there's something strange about this album.”

Su Xiaofan carefully examined the album, looking at every page in great detail.

When he reached the third page, a faint smile appeared on his face.

“What do you mean, strange?”

Zhao Zhengshan didn't think much of it.

“Old-style stamp albums are all like this. This one's just a little worn.”

“If you don't like it, you can buy a new one and replace it later.”

“Uncle Zhao, come on. Let's talk in the car.”

Su Xiaofan pulled Zhao Zhengshan back toward the exit.

“Hey, we just started looking around!”

Zhao Zhengshan shook off Su Xiaofan's hand.

Then he suddenly froze.

“Little Su, this… you found another hidden treasure?”

“Yeah. I still don't know what it is.”

Su Xiaofan nodded slightly and lowered his voice.

“But since it's hidden inside a layer, it must be something good.”

“A hidden layer?”

Zhao Zhengshan was stunned.

He no longer needed Su Xiaofan to pull him.

He hurried toward the elevator leading back to the surface, almost running.

“This really is a hidden layer.”

“It was made very delicately. Most people wouldn't notice it at all.”

A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting in Su Xiaofan's car.

Zhao Zhengshan had somehow found a flashlight and was shining it onto the third page of the album.

“Do you have a blade?”

Zhao Zhengshan looked up and asked.

“No. I'm not a pickpocket. Why would I carry one of those?”

Su Xiaofan shook his head.

“Let's go to my house!”

At this moment, Zhao Zhengshan was practically bursting with excitement.

Regardless of whose item it was, they had found a treasure today.

Zhao Zhengshan lived in a villa located in a quiet area in the middle of the city.

There was no need to ask how he could afford it.

It was simply one of the perks of being a rich second-generation heir.

Only a live-in housekeeper was at the villa.

Zhao Zhengshan took Su Xiaofan straight to the second floor, where he had his own workshop.

Although his appraisal skills weren't particularly impressive, someone accustomed to performing surgery would definitely have no problem handling delicate work.

Zhao Zhengshan filled a bowl with clean water.

First, he dampened the frayed edge of the page, then used a blade to carefully separate it.

“Uncle Zhao, you're pretty good!”

Zhao Zhengshan's movements were smooth and practiced, and Su Xiaofan found watching him quite pleasing.

If it had been Su Xiaofan, he probably would have simply ripped it apart.

“Shh. Don't talk.”

Zhao Zhengshan was extremely nervous now.

He even held his breath as he carefully removed a piece of plastic from the gap.

In the middle of the plastic sheet was a blue stamp.

“This… this is the Blue Military Stamp!!!”

The moment he clearly saw the stamp, Zhao Zhengshan's voice suddenly rose with excitement.

“Mr. Zhao, is something wrong?”

The housekeeper's voice came from downstairs.

“Nothing, nothing. Sister Sun, just carry on with what you're doing.”

Zhao Zhengshan took several deep breaths before finally calming down.

He held the stamp, still inside the plastic sheet, up to the window and gazed at it with an infatuated expression.

“Little Su, this condition is incredible!”

“I've never seen a stamp this old that could still be preserved in such perfect condition!”

“What did you expect? I used a little Repair Value on it.”

Su Xiaofan muttered inwardly.

He also leaned over to examine it.

This was an unused Blue Military Stamp.

There was no longer any sign of the damage it had suffered before.

What appeared before the two men was a complete, flawless Blue Military Stamp.

Apart from the faint yellowing along the white edges caused by the passage of time, the overall condition of the stamp was exceptionally good.

“Little Su, I really have to admit that your eyesight is incredible!”

Zhao Zhengshan gently placed the Blue Military Stamp on the desk.

Although he was talking to Su Xiaofan, his eyes kept drifting back toward the stamp.

“Uncle Zhao, it's just luck. I just happened to get lucky.”

Su Xiaofan chuckled.

“Besides, I didn't even know it was a Blue Military Stamp inside.”

“If you hadn't stepped in, Uncle Zhao, we wouldn't have been able to get the album in the first place, right?”

“We're on the same wavelength, so there's no need for all that nonsense.”

Zhao Zhengshan waved his hand.

He genuinely loved this stamp.

“Six million.”

“Transfer this Blue Military Stamp to me.”

Zhao Zhengshan paused before continuing.

“A few years ago, one was auctioned. Its condition was nowhere near as good as this one, and it sold for nearly four million yuan.”

“If this one were put up for auction now, six million would be the minimum. It could easily go for more.”

“Uncle Zhao, you're mistaken.”

Su Xiaofan looked at Zhao Zhengshan in surprise.

“You were the one who paid for this stamp album. Naturally, everything inside belongs to you. What does it have to do with me?”

It wasn't that Su Xiaofan didn't love money.

But his purpose in coming out today had been to repay Zhao Zhengshan for the favor he had done by helping him buy the villa the previous day.

There had to be give and take in a relationship.

If one person was always taking advantage without ever giving anything back, sooner or later that relationship would gradually fall apart.

Su Xiaofan wasn't very old, but he understood these things quite clearly.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“What's yours is yours. Would your Uncle Zhao take advantage of you?”

Zhao Zhengshan repeatedly shook his head.

“I know you're a clever little devil and you're trying to repay me for yesterday's favor.”

“Honestly, as long as you're willing to sell this Blue Military Stamp to me, consider that favor repaid. And I'll still owe you one in my heart.”

“Uncle Zhao, that's not how you should put it.”

Su Xiaofan said, “I asked you to help me negotiate the price, which means you were already involved in this transaction.”

“You won't be taking advantage of me by keeping it.”

“No. If you don't take the money, then I don't want the Blue Military Stamp either.”

Zhao Zhengshan waved his hand and closed his eyes painfully.

“All right, Uncle Zhao. Just keep it.”

Su Xiaofan suddenly laughed.

“Your eyes are already narrowed into slits. Can you even see properly?”

“You'd better open your eyes and use a magnifying glass to look at it.”

Su Xiaofan could already tell that Zhao Zhengshan genuinely loved this Blue Military Stamp.

His mouth was saying he didn't want it, but his body was telling the truth.

His eyes hadn't left the stamp for even a moment.

“All right, you've seen through me.”

Zhao Zhengshan sat up straight.

“How about this? We'll consider the stamp something the two of us bought together.”

“I'll give you another three million yuan"

(End of Chapter)

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