970 A Small Bet is Fun
"What? Ten times better than my woodcarving? Idiot! Do you think that any other crappy piece of wood can be compared to mine?"
Umekawa Shichijiro shouted at the top of his lungs, "My rare Phoenix Eye Agarwood! No one had even heard of it! You're just another Chinese kid! How could you possibly have something ten times better? Do you think that I'm just a three-year-old kid?"
The group of antiquarians followed his lead.
"That's right! Phoenix Eye Agarwood is second to none! It's an extremely rare item!"
"A Phoenix Eye Agarwood this old is even more uncommon!"
"More than a thousand-year-old Phoenix Eye Agarwood! It would take Mr. Amasa a whole lot to get it much less a kid like you!"
"I take it back. This kid is not arrogant or trying to act tough, he is insane! He makes such illogical and outrageous statements! Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe him!"
The crowd grew even more contemptuous toward Chen Xiaobei. They looked at Chen Xiaobei as if he was retarded.
"Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe it?" Chen Xiaobei smirked. "That means none of you, including Mr. Amasa doesn't believe me, right?"
"Oh, cut the crap! Even a fool wouldn't believe you!"
Umekawa Shichijiro was the first to interject.
Amasa Hiko nodded in consent.
"Alright! Since none of you believe me, let's make a bet. In one hour, my men will send my Phoenix Eye Agarwood sculpture here! Not only is it ten times better than Umekawa Shichijiro's, it is also very much older!"
Chen Xiaobei squinted and said, "All of you will have to pay me one Spiritual Stone each! If it were not, I will not leave Japan like what Umekawa Shichijiro had said! You can do whatever you want to me! You can hit me or even kill me!"
Asama Yuki started to fret, "Mr. Chen! Please don't make this bet! If you lose, Umekawa Shichijiro will not spare you!"
Even though this girl did not like Chen Xiaobei anymore, she was still soft-hearted.
She doubted that Chen Xiaobei would be able to proffer something superior. If he loses, Umekawa would not spare Chen Xiaobei and finish him off!
"Yuki! This is between us men! Stay out of this! A man is only as good as his words!"
Umekawa Shichijiro did not give Chen Xiaobei the chance to back out.
"I accept the bet! I'll call my men to bring the Spiritual Stones and knives here! If you win. I will present the stones to you with both hands! But if you lose, you must perform Seppuku! Hehe…"
Umekawa Shichijiro laughed.
"Grandfather! Don't let them bet on such a big sum! After all, Chen Xiaobei had saved me once!" Asama Yuki pleaded.
Amasa Hiko nodded and said, "Mr. Chen, I will give you one more chance to take back what you said! I will pretend that you didn't say that. I will still issue the cheque to you and I will guarantee that your stay in Japan will be peaceful!"
"No! I won't!" Chen Xiaobei was resolute. "Ladies and gentlemen, if anyone wants to take a stab or two with me, you are welcome to join the bet! After all, none of you believe that I would win. You don't miss out on this golden opportunity to torture me!"
"What a fool! I will also make a bet with you!"
Amasa Hiko was an influential individual in Japan. He was generous enough to give Chen Xiaobei a chance to back out. But Chen Xiaobei refused it. Naturally, he wanted to teach Chen Xiaobei a lesson.
"I'm in too! I want to place a bet…"
Right after, Amasa Hiko spoke up—the other antiquarians followed his lead, eager to punish Chen Xiaobei!
Upon seeing that, Asama Yuki sighed.
"Mr. Chen, since you insist, I can't help you anymore!"
Chen Xiaobei was delighted. "Since everyone wants to place a bet, send your Spiritual Stones over! Of course, you can let Mr. Amasa pay upfront on your behalf. There are only ten of you—that's nothing to him!"
Amasa Hiko said frostily, "If you can show us the woodcarving, I will be more than willing to give you the Spiritual Stones. If you can't don't blame me for being unsympathetic!"
"Prepare the stones! The woodcarving will arrive within one hour!"
Chen Xiaobei chuckled and immediately made a phone call to Cang Jingu asking him to send a delivery truck over.
The truck was Li Xiang's last-minute idea. The truck was empty and there was no woodcarving.
About half an hour later, Cang Jingu had arrived in front of the Amasa Mansion's gate with an empty truck.
Chen Xiaobei, Amasa Hiko and the rest were already waiting there. When the truck pulled up, Chen Xiaobei quickly ran up to it.
"Bro Bei, why did you ask me to bring an empty truck?"
Cang Jingu looked quizzically at Chen Xiaobei.
"Shh!"
Chen Xiaobei shot Cang Jingu a look. It was inconvenient to tell him over the phone but it was even more inconvenient now.
Chen Xiaobei went straight to the back of the truck and waited for Cang Jingu to open the door.
"Now, it's not empty anymore!"
Chen Xiaobei waved a hand and a 2m tall, 1.5m wide giant woodcarving appeared in the truck. Clearly, he just took it out from his Infinite Space Ring.
"Wha…"
Cang Jingu stared in disbelief. Apparently, Chen Xiaobei was playing a small trick here; he was just borrowing the empty truck to cover the existence of his Infinite Space Ring.
"Everybody! Open your eyes and see!" Chen Xiaobei smiled and said.
"Humph! This kid is in deep denial!"
The antiquarians, led by Amasa Hiko, walked over.
"Th… Tha… That…"
Their initial disapproving look quickly turned into shock. Soon after that, their jaws fell and their eyes widened.
"My god! Isn't that beautiful? Look at the little birds of all colors and sizes all around the phoenix. That's the Hundred Birds Worship Phoenix wood sculpture in urban legends!"
Asama Yuki was the first to exclaim, "I have never seen such an exquisite piece of art in my entire life!"
The antiquarians around her stood staring in amazement.
"Phoenix Eye Agarwood! This is the real deal! Look at that color! Look at the shape! Judging from all that, I think the age of this Phoenix Eye Agarwood is older than Master Umekawa's!"
"Master Umekawa's woodcarving was only 20cm tall and 10cm wide. It's not even one tenth of this woodcarving!"
"Yeah, and Master Umekawa's woodcarving only has one phoenix! This woodcarving has hundreds of birds flying towars the phoenix! It's so detailed! The time and energy spent was more than 100 times!"
"My god… it is such an honor to be able to see such a marvelous work of art!"
The antiquarians exclaimed, looking at Chen Xiaobei's woodcarving like a group of senior bachelors gaping at a beautiful woman, drooling.
Umekawa Shichijiro was stumped.
Someone was bound to get hurt when there was a confrontation.
Compared to Chen Xiaobei's Hundred Birds Worship Phoenix, Umekawa Shichijiro's woodcarving might as well have been a piece of scrap. They were incomparable!
"Oh…" Amasa Hiko suddenly let out a long sigh and said to himself, "No matter how good you think you are, there is always someone out there that is better! We really didn't know anything!"