Chapter 17: I will not take you as my disciple.

The antique market was located near the museum. Upon leaving the museum, William and his group were ready to take a stroll through it.

Following behind them were not only David but also Edward Taylor and his group.

“Mr. Taylor, you don’t actually believe that this young boy can translate the words on the stone tablet, do you?” Edward Taylor’s colleagues thought he was being ridiculous.

Experience and knowledge usually come with age. William looked so young, perhaps even still a student. Could he understand something that even their seasoned scholars couldn’t?

Edward Taylor pondered for a moment and frowned, “I don’t believe! But… I want to believe!”

Such complex feelings. He held a tiny sliver of hope for this young man. If he really could understand the writing on the stone tablet, and everything he said was true, then the history of the world might be rewritten.

William didn’t even glance at Edward Taylor, he just kept moving forward.

The bustle of the metropolis was very different from the past. The crowd was bustling around, and William looked around curiously, finding everything fresh.

Lila glanced back and whispered, “William, Mr. Taylor is still following us. Your attitude isn’t very good. After all, you’re a student at Hudson University and he was the chancellor.”

William responded casually, “He’s not the chancellor now.”

Lila was rendered speechless. She felt as if she was on the verge of losing her patience with William. She couldn’t sense any respect for elders from him. He seemed entirely unbothered.

David, who was still not willing to leave, couldn’t help but comment upon hearing William’s words, “How did someone like you even get into Hudson University?”

William looked back at David and said, “Anthony Carter let me into the school.”

David stood there in shock, looking at William and then at Lila.

Anthony Carter had let William into the school? And William was calling him by his name in front of Lila, addressing her grandfather by his first name.

It was as if they were equals.

More accurately, William didn’t seem to regard Anthony Carter highly at all.

Such arrogance!

David couldn’t believe that Lila could get along with such a person.

Lila stared deeply at William, finally gritting her teeth and saying, “William, could you show a little respect when mentioning my grandfather?”

William glanced at Lila and remained silent, smiling faintly.

Lila finally sighed, “Fine, do whatever you want.” She couldn’t understand why her grandfather valued William so much. She planned to ask him that evening.

William looked over some items at the roadside stalls and commented, “These items are quite well made.” .

“They are pretty good, but at least 70% of the items on this antique street are fake, and even the real ones might be swapped during the transaction,” Lila cautioned, “Don’t think you can get a bargain without losing. Many people here are good at disguising themselves. They appear simple and honest, but they actually have lots of tricks up their sleeves.”

William laughed, “You seem to know quite a lot.”

Lila shot him an annoyed look, forced a smile and said, “Yes, I’m just telling you. You’re not going to buy anything anyway!”

The smile quickly disappeared. Lila was quite unhappy with William’s arrogant demeanor.

William, however, didn’t argue with her. Instead, he squatted down in front of a stall. This stall was filled with a variety of bronze and jade artifacts, alluring and dazzling to the eye.

Lila could only stop and watch, curious to see what tricks William could pull off. She recognized at a glance that the items on this stall were modern crafts.

Most importantly, William was penniless.

“How much for this jade bowl?” William asked, eyeing a translucent jade bowl.

The vendor glanced at William and then at Lila and others standing behind him, and a smile appeared on his face. “This is a jade bowl from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty in China. Look at its color and condition, the poems carved on it…”

“Thirty, deal?” William abruptly interrupted the vendor.

“Are you… are you here to cause trouble?” The smile on the vendor’s face instantly froze. Before he could quote a price, William had countered with thirty. How was he supposed to deal with this?

William stared at him, saying nothing. His gaze held a hint of amusement.

Feeling William’s intense stare, the vendor felt somewhat uneasy, as if all his little secrets were seen through by this young man.

“Fine, it’s yours.” The vendor exhaled deeply. It was just a glass artifact, costing him no more than three. His intention was to scam naive customers.

The price of thirty would still give him a small profit, at least he would have some money for today’s stall.

As William turned around, Lila twisted her face away. Was this guy going to shamelessly ask to borrow money from her again?

“You should keep the card if you need money,” Lila said.

He wouldn’t accept the card she offered, but borrowed money to buy things. What was he up to?

Ignoring Lila, William stretched out his hand, pointing to Edward Taylor who was following behind him, then made a beckoning gesture.

Edward Taylor stared at William, then pointed at himself, completely confused.

How many years had it been since someone beckoned him so arrogantly?

William nodded at Edward Taylor, indicating that he was indeed summoning him.

“This… Mr. Taylor, this kid is too arrogant!”

“I really want to go up and beat this kid up!”

“I’ve never seen such an unreasonable kid!”

The group behind Edward Taylor was seething, never having encountered a young person like William before.

“Come with me.” Edward Taylor extended his hand to calm them, then slowly walked over to William.

Standing up, William said, “Help me buy something, and I’ll teach you a character, okay? I won’t accept you as a disciple.”

“I won’t accept you as a disciple?”

Edward Taylor took a while to respond. It sounded as if he was desperate to become William’s student.

“Do you really understand the characters on the stele?” Edward Taylor couldn’t give up. What if, just what if William really did understand the characters on the stele?

William shrugged and walked away. It was just a bowl, and he thought it was quite nice looking. He didn’t care if he got it or not.

“Fine! As long as you can teach me the characters on the stele, you can buy anything you want.” Edward Taylor also wanted to know if William truly understood the characters on the stele. He had memorized how to write the mysterious characters on the stele and planned to write them out one by one for William to identify later.