Artifact Reading Inspector

This was why having friends was important. Eunhae could find a way to participate in that strange meeting without even having an invitation.

Haejin arrived at his museum after three hours of driving. However, there was someone unexpected waiting for him there.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Haejin asked.

“It takes a few hours of flight to get here from China. Why would I bother to do that?”

The woman who was waiting in front of Eunhae’s office was Director Wang Mingwan of China Gwangmyeong Electricity Industry.

She was sitting on a small chair with only one attendant. Unlike before, she was wearing something modest, so no one would think she was a trillionaire.

“Anyway, we cannot talk here… would you like a cup of coffee?”

“You’re right, this isn’t the right place to talk. Why don’t we go to the hotel I’m staying at? We cannot be seen.”

Haejin was a bit puzzled by this, but Wang Mingwan looked serious. Therefore, he nodded, “You could have called me then.”

“But I wanted to come here, I was curious about your museum. Now that my curiosity has been satisfied, I should leave.”

“Okay, I will take my car.”

“Come to Baekje Hotel and call me,” she then left with her attendant.

Next, Eunhae came to Haejin and said, “She has been waiting for some time.”

“You should have called me.”

Eunhae then explained, “I heard about it only a minute ago. So, I came out, but she was already talking with you. I guess our staff didn’t think she was so important. They found out only when her attendant spoke. Of course, they still don’t know who Wang Mingwan is…”

“She told me to go to Baekje Hotel. There is something going on in that hotel. Have you asked that friend of yours? About what is about to happen there?” Haejin asked.

Eunhae crossed her arms and gravely shook her head, “I don’t know the details. It is a private auction, but its host is Hyoyeon.”

“Ha… your crazy cousin?”

Eunhae confirmed, “Yes. She has enough power to drag people in with just invitations and hints. Well, all the chaebols in this country will be there. They wouldn’t miss the chance to inherit the biggest corporation group in Korea.”

“The chance to inherit Hwajin?”

“Hyoyeon is her father’s only child. Even though she has dated many men until now, she is just over 20, so most of them were just some light flirting. This is a great opportunity to win her over,” Eunhae explained.

“Oh… I see. Then all the chaebols will be determined to get her,” Haejin commented.

“I will use that and find us a way to get in that meeting.”

“Okay…”

When Haejin arrived at Baekje Hotel, Wang Mingwan called him to the second most expensive room. Eunhae had told him that it cost 7 million won per night.

Haejin did wonder how that expensive room would look like. However, when he went in, he couldn’t focus on the room itself.

There were about half a dozen people going around in a hurry.

“Welcome.” Only Wang Mingwan and a man were sitting on the sofa. They greeted Haejin calmly.

“What is going on?” Haejin asked.

“It’s a little bustling, right? But why didn’t you call me? I thought you would as I didn’t send you the rest of your fee.”

“It’s not like you will not pay me… I just thought I would get it eventually,” Haejin replied.

Actually, Haejin didn’t know about that. However, even if he had known that, he wouldn’t have called Wang Mingwan and demanded to be paid.

She was Wang Huiyang’s cousin, after all. For the relationship between the two countries, Haejin couldn’t protest to her because of a payment.

Most of all, it wasn’t like his museum was in need of money.

“Really? Thank you, then. I’m not making excuses, but as we are returning the thing to where it should be, we couldn’t just give you the money right away. It had to be washed first. You will get the rest of your fee in three days,” Wang Mingwan said.

“Thank you.”

“And this is Liang Tien. He works for my cousin Wang Huiyang.”

The man was very thin. He adjusted his glasses and smiled, “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s my honor to finally meet you.”

“Um, thank you. But what is this about?” Haejin asked.

Wang Mingwan had her attendant bring Haejin a cup of tea then said, “You already know why I am here.”

“Yes, it’s because of the white porcelain pillow, but I didn’t think it was important enough for you to come here yourself,” Haejin commented.

Wang Mingwan put a cigarette in her mouth, lit it with a fashionable gesture, and started to explain.

“Hu… you are the only Korean who knows what I am going to tell, you know. You heard that Korea’s SH Global bought fake antiques from China and tricked people with illegal multilevel marketing, right?”

“Why? Is that not the truth?” Haejin asked.

“We thought it was until recently. That’s what the Korean prosecutors think, too. That is why we didn’t care about it much. Hu… you should explain from now.” Wang Mingwan then nodded to Lian Tien.

He took it from there, “A while ago, when the real Terracotta Soldier came back to China through Cheongdo Port, we accused the officials who handled the management of the artifacts. It wasn’t like someone tipped us off about them, but we thought such a huge artifact like the Terracotta Soldier couldn’t have been sent abroad without the help of the customs workers.”

“And?”

Lian Tien then continued, “We thought we would find a few more things, of course. We didn’t want to find out everything, either. Customs workers couldn’t have done that on their own. Their superiors must have turned a blind eye on them, and my boss is a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He couldn’t accuse them so openly.”

“I see.”

“So, they were about to let them go, but then we found out that more than a hundred fake antiques had been smuggled out. They were antiques bought by SH Global, but it was so unusual as they were all fake. Usually, fakes in such a large number are not smuggled out. They are sent in the open instead. The customs don’t stop it as they know they are fakes. So, we thought something was wrong. We asked the appraisers of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and foreign appraisers. It turned out that most of those artifacts were real,” Lian Tien said.

“Ha… how is that even possible?”

“We were also shocked. We examined every one of them, and there were more than a dozen artifacts worth more than 10 million yuan. A few of them are worth more than 100 million yuan.”

So, SH Global had bought multiple artifacts worth a lot of money, but if the merchants had sold them as fakes, they must have lost huge sums of money.

“That is so strange. How could the sellers do such thing, unless they were mad?” Haejin asked.

“We don’t know what to think of it, either. Anyway, the antique market in China was shocked, and everyone in the Cultural Bureau’s Artifact Management Team was put into this. After a week, we reached a conclusion.”

Lian Tien took a sip of the tea and then continued, “The innocent investors in Korea were not the only ones fooled by SH Global. They also recruited other investors in Korea and tricked them, and in China, they lured in antique merchants from Beijing and Xian by openly saying they wanted to buy fakes. Then, they made them sell real artifacts, although we don’t know how.”

“Maybe…” Haejin thought of a possibility. If someone had used magic, like he had, to enchant those antique merchants…

“What? Do you know anything about it?” Liang Tien asked.

Haejin, however, quickly shook his head, “No, it’s nothing. Then the pillow can’t be the only reason why you are here, as you brought so many…”

The people were still going around in the room and working on something.

They appeared to be policemen sent to retrieve those lost artifacts.

“Yes,” Liang Tien nodded gravely.

Wang Mingwan then added, “No Korean knows how serious this matter is yet, except for you… we cannot trust anyone. That is why we didn’t tell the Korean government everything. They must have found out that it is serious by now, but they don’t know everything. Hu… we need your help.”

“Why do you trust me when you can’t trust the Korean investigative authority?” Haejin asked.

Wang Mingwan smiled, “We have worked together before, and you don’t have much connection with Korean chaebols. Your director was kicked out of Hwajin… and more than that, we cannot find an expert better than you, so we should trust you. What other choice do we have?”

“Okay then, let’s say we find those artifacts. How are you going to get them back?”

Wang Mingwan shrugged her shoulders, “We should buy them.”

“What? Buy them?” Haejin was shocked.

However, she had just said there was more than one artifact worth 100 million yuan…

“Yes, they must have done all that to sell them. We cannot get them back through the legal process. It is too risky. The Communist Party might look incompetent. Yes, it will cost us some money, but we have to buy them. What matters is whether we get a chance to buy them,” Wang Mingwan explained.

“But you don’t really need me then,” Haejin commented.

“No, we do. We need you more than anyone. Who else can buy them while being sure they are real? Money doesn’t matter. What matters is whether the artifacts, which will cross the ocean with us, are real or not.”

Wang Mingwan hit the marble table with her fist. She was really determined.

Haejin then asked, “Hmm… have you heard that the pillow will show up here tomorrow?”

“Yes. That is why I’m staying here,” she had her way of getting information fast.

“Then you will participate in the meeting tomorrow.”

However, she shook her head, “No, I can’t because I’m a Chinese. You should. We were going to find you a way, but it looks like your girlfriend already has found one.”

“Haha… okay.”

Wang Mingwan gave Haejin a pair of glasses while saying, “This has a small camera. I don’t have to explain what it is for, right? Then please, do well tomorrow. Oh, and if you help us to buy them without any problem, we will pay you 5% of the total purchase amount as your fee. How is that?”

Chinese didn’t hesitate to spend money. The fee alone could be worth tens of billions of won…

Haejin was satisfied and said, “Good. Where is the contract?”

“Bring us the contract!”

The contract had already been waiting for them. It was then brought immediately when Wang Mingwan snapped her finger.

Haejin excitedly signed it, but then Wang Mingwan asked, “But is the director really your girlfriend? Are you going to marry her? If not…”

“Khmm…”

“Okay, okay… you have a temper, right?”

The president suite room, the most expensive room of Baekje Hotel. Its price was 9 million per night. Presidents and sports stars had stayed there.

Now, there were about two dozen people with champagne glasses in their hands in the room. They were talking among themselves.

The mood was like that of a party, so Haejin was confused, “Is this normal? This is how they buy antiques?” He whispered to Eunhae who was wearing a white dress.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this. Oh… it is too cramped. She could have selected a larger space if she was going to invite so many people,” Eunhae complained as she had to pay attention to the end of her dress lest it might get stepped on.

Then she continued, “I told you all the men from Chaebol families were going to be here… see, every one of the families with a bachelor man younger than 40 is here.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Haejin agreed and was about to look around, but then the bedroom door opened and Hyoyeon walked out, smiling brightly. She was wearing a red dress that resembled a rose.

Haejin didn’t care about how she looked. He just looked at the porcelain her attendant was carrying.

He wasn’t the only one who couldn’t take his eyes off it. He could hear Wang Mingwan’s nervous voice from the earbud in his ear.