Divine Eye Appraisal: Starting with a Lucky Pickup of a Beautiful CEO's Family Heirloom

This was the first time he had used his Divine Eye to find a bargain at the antique market.

That feeling is completely different from gambling on jade.

Gambling on rough stones is gambling; one cut can send you from heaven to hell. Finding a bargain is like digging for treasure; you know the treasure is there, it's just a matter of whether you can get it at the lowest possible price.

This feeling of absolute certainty was so exhilarating it made his teeth ache.

He carried the jade pendant and walked straight across the street to Ruibaozhai.

Ruibaozhai is a long-established shop in the antique market. The owner's surname is Wu, and people in the industry call him Lao Wu.

When Wen Zhaoye pushed open the door, Old Wu was sitting behind the counter drinking tea.

There was someone sitting by the counter—

Sun Bo'an.

The two of them were taken aback when they saw Wen Zhaoye enter.

Sun Bo'an laughed first: "Heh, what are you doing here?"

Wen Zhaoye was quite surprised to run into him here: "Old Sun, you're here too."

Old Wu looked him up and down: "And who is this?"

Sun Bo'an pointed at Wen Zhaoye: "I told you about that young man who found a bargain at the jade market a few days ago."

Then he turned to Wen Zhaoye and said, "Old Wu is my old buddy, come over and have some tea."

Wen Zhaoye nodded and took out the jade pendant from his pocket: "Perfect, Boss Wu, take a look at this for me."

He placed the jade pendant on the counter.

Old Wu picked up the jade pendant, glanced at its appearance, and frowned: "This is dirty, where did you pick it up?"

"At a stall on East Third Street."

Old Wu didn't say anything. He took out a bottle of medical alcohol from the drawer, soaked the jade pendant in it for a while, and then wiped it with a soft cloth.

The grease peeled away layer by layer, revealing the jade underneath—white, oily, and translucent.

Old Wu paused for a moment.

He took the jade pendant to the window, examined it against the light for a long time, and then turned it over to look at the carving.

His brows furrowed deeper and deeper, until finally he looked up at Wen Zhaoye and asked, "How much did you pay?"

Two thousand five hundred.

Old Wu was silent for two seconds, then laughed: "You little rascal."

He placed the jade pendant on the table. "It's a Hetian white jade pebble from the mid-Qing Dynasty. The carving is clearly Suzhou style. The patina is natural and there's nothing wrong with it."

He held up one finger: "This thing is worth at least 70,000 on the market."

Wen Zhaoye had a good idea of ​​what was going on, but he didn't say anything.

Old Wu glanced at it a few more times: "Are you selling it or not? I'll buy it for 80,000."

Eighty thousand. That's ten thousand more than the market price; Old Wu is trying to snag a bargain while it's still hot.

Wen Zhaoye thought for a moment and was about to speak when Sun Bo'an spoke.

Sun Bo'an picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said slowly, "Old Wu, that's a bit unfair of you. This jade piece is in perfect condition; you could easily sell it for 120,000 after paying 80,000."

Old Wu wasn't annoyed when he was exposed. He just chuckled and said, "Old Sun, that's not fair. In business, I have to make a profit."

Sun Bo'an put down his teacup: "Sell it to me."

Wen Zhaoye was taken aback: "You want some too?"

"I'm not doing business with you." Sun Bo'an stood up, walked to the counter, took the jade pendant, and examined it. "This jade pendant is of good quality. Old Wu, can you help me determine the price? The fair price."

Old Wu gave him a helpless look: "Alright, alright, I won't rip you young people off. This thing is worth 78,000 yuan, I won't try to lower the price, you decide."

Wen Zhaoye poured himself a cup of tea, glanced down at it, and saw tiny golden hairs floating in the clear, slightly yellow tea liquor.

This tea isn't cheap. It takes a long time for the tea leaves to "wake up" before they open. When you tear the leaves, you can see fine threads. "Boss Wen, I won't lie to you, I've been studying your eyes for almost twenty years. I can smell all kinds of things like color alteration, aging, acid washing, laser treatment, waxing, and resin with my eyes closed."

But that... intuition you have—standing in a pile of fakes and being able to pinpoint the only genuine item—that's not skill, that's talent. Talent is something money can't buy.

Wen Zhaoye laughed: "Old Sun, stop praising me. You'll get carried away if you keep doing that."

Sun Bo'an laughed, and after laughing, he said, "How about this, your shop is about to open, right? I'll come on opening day and support you."

Wen Zhaoye paused for a moment while holding the teacup.

He knew all too well what influence Sun Bo'an held in Jiangcheng's jade industry.

If he's willing to come and support us, that's more effective than me hiring ten tables of people myself.

"Mr. Sun, I can't accept this—"

"Don't be so polite with me." Sun Bo'an waved his hand. "I've worked in the jade market for most of my life, and I can't sit still when I see a capable young man rise to prominence."

Wen Zhaoye didn't refuse again, and picked up his teacup: "Then thank you in advance, Elder Sun."

The two of them agreed to stay together.

After he sold the jade pendant, Sun Bo'an said he would wait for him at the shop and they could talk about opening the shop together.

He nodded, put his things in his pocket, and left.

When they arrived at Ruibaozhai, Lao Wu had already found a knowledgeable collector who was waiting for them in the shop.

The collector examined the jade piece for over ten minutes, turning it over and over in his hands, before finally saying, "A fine piece."

Then he transferred 78,000 yuan to Wen Zhaoye's account in person.

Wen Zhaoye looked at the balance displayed in the bank's text message and took a deep breath.

Seventy-eight thousand.

It's been less than two hours since I entered the antique market.

He recalled that when he used to work as a porter in the jade market, he earned 3,500 yuan a month. Even if he worked himself to the bone for a year, he couldn't save 78,000 yuan.

Now, a shopping trip can cost 2,500 to 78,000.

The difference was so great that his heart couldn't handle it.

When he walked out of Ruibaozhai, Sun Bo'an followed him out.

Sun Bo'an patted him on the shoulder: "How was it? How did it feel to snag a bargain for the first time?"

"Exciting," Wen Zhaoye said honestly.

"It'll get even more exciting in the future." Sun Bo'an took out a cigarette and lit it. "When I was young, the biggest bargain I ever found in Panjiayuan was a pair of Kangxi imperial kiln bowls. The stall owner sold them as fakes for 30,000 yuan, and I resold them for 3.6 million yuan."

Wen Zhaoye swallowed hard.

"But that kind of thing might only happen once in a lifetime." Sun Bo'an exhaled a puff of smoke. "The fact that you were able to find a jade pendant from the mid-Qing Dynasty at this stall today shows that your eyes are indeed extraordinary."

He turned to look at Wen Zhaoye: "Your eyes can see more than just stones."

Wen Zhaoye did not respond.

Of course he knew.

The black jade at the jade gambling convention, the jade pendants in the antique market, the rust marks on Bao Dequan's ring, the printed items in Qin Fei's notebook—what his eyes saw was never just whether something was valuable or not.

There is also the truth hidden beneath the surface.

He took out his phone and glanced at the message Qin Fei had sent him that morning.

He hasn't replied to that message yet.

Qin Fei asked, "Regarding Bao Dequan's matter, are you at the shop or at the hospital? I'd like to talk to you a bit more."

He didn't reply, not because he didn't want to, but because he hadn't figured out how to reply.

Bao Dequan has been released on bail. The rust on the gold ring on his hand is related to unearthed cultural relics. If this matter is investigated further, it is certain that Bao Dequan is not the only one involved.

Going back further, there's Qian Bohong, and the Lin family.

If Qin Fei is brought in, can she, a mere police officer, handle it?

He stood in the sunlight of the antique market, clutching the bank card with 78,000 yuan in his hand, Qin Fei's messages on his phone, and Bao Dequan's rust marks and Qian Bohong's name swirling in his mind.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked down at it:

Qin Fei: "Are you there?"

He stared at those two words for a few seconds, his lips twitched, then he put his phone back in his pocket without replying.

It's not that I don't want to go back, it's just that the time isn't right yet.

When he left the antique market, the sun was already setting in the west.

The streets gradually filled up with people, some leaving get off work and others leaving school.

Standing under the streetlight, he realized for the first time that the path these eyes could take him on was farther than he had imagined.

My phone vibrated again.

He took it out and saw it was still Qin Fei: "If you don't reply to me, I'm going to the hospital to find you."

Wen Zhaoye laughed.

He replied with two words: "Just found a bargain at the antique market. I'll treat you to dinner tonight, let's chat."

After sending the message, he put his phone back in his pocket and walked towards the hospital.

The sunlight was perfect, casting a long shadow behind him.

He suddenly realized that today was a good day.