Chapter 169: The Richest Man: I’m So Poor, All I Have Left Is Money (Sorrowful Face)

"This is a loss our Huaxia Antique Appraisal World simply won’t accept in silence."

At this, Qiu Xiaojun beamed with pride. "That’s the spirit. We need the drive of you young people."

He’d always wanted to pull off something like this in his youth. Now, hearing Gu Shengsheng suggest it, he felt his own blood pumping, even at his age.

"Don’t you worry, Shengsheng. Go for it. In the worst-case scenario, you’ll still have us old-timers to fall back on."

Zhang Rulan was also very pleased. "I had the same fire in my belly when I was your age, I just never dared to act on it."

"I still regret it a bit now."

Shang Jinhao grew excited. "This sounds incredible just hearing about it. But Shengsheng, where am I supposed to find something even more breathtaking than a Sima Xiangru painting for the Forbidden City exhibition?"

"I don’t think I have the ability to do that. I’m so poor, all I have is money." He sounded quite distressed.

Gu Shengsheng was speechless.

’Is he serious with this humblebragging?’

Then Shang Jinhao grabbed Gu Shengsheng’s arm. "Shengsheng, can you help me with this?"

Gu Shengsheng replied helplessly, "Mr. Shang, it’s not that I don’t want to help. The timeline is just too tight, and I’m not a miracle worker. Where would I even find such a masterpiece on such short notice?"

"What if I give you a fifty-million commission?" said Shang Jinhao.

Gu Shengsheng still looked troubled. "Mr. Shang..."

"One hundred fifty million. How about that?" Mr. Shang upped the offer.

Gu Shengsheng said, "Deal."

’What can I say? He offered too much.’

Gu Shengsheng never broke her principles, unless someone offered an obscene amount of money...

Then she said, "Alright, are there any artifact auctions nearby? I could go check them out."

The words were barely out of her mouth when Shang Jinhao declared, "I’ll arrange one tonight. I’ll put out the call for anyone with real goods to come. I’ll personally host it and cover all the expenses. It’ll be up to you, Shengsheng, to separate the wheat from the chaff."

"Tomorrow morning. Whoever wants to come, can come. I’ll make it more than worth their while." He wasn’t exactly a man of culture, so his immediate solution was to throw money at the problem.

After all these years, the saying "money makes the world go ’round" couldn’t be wrong. And if it was, it just meant you weren’t using enough money.

Then Qiu Xiaojun added, "Many antique dealers from Xiangjiang have also come to Anxi while I’ve been here. I think there might be some high-quality items among them."

Gu Shengsheng nodded.

It was true. Antiques from Xiangjiang rarely flowed into the mainland. The market there was a mixed bag of treasures and trash. To make a name for himself there, Qiu Xiaojun must have put in a great deal of effort back in the day.

He said, "Shengsheng, perhaps this old man can be of some help when the time comes."

"Okay. Thank you, Mr. Qiu."

Qiu Xiaojun smiled at her with paternal affection.

Just then, Shang Jinhao announced, "It’s done. I’ve sent out the instructions. It starts tomorrow at 2:30 PM. Dealers from all over can come to Anxi City, and their representatives can come to bid."

"Shengsheng, you’ll do the bidding. As for the money for the bids, should I cover it or will you?"

"I’ll pay for it myself," Gu Shengsheng said.

She would definitely be responsible for her own bids. After all, Gu Shengsheng wasn’t planning on bidding on just one item.

It was another opportunity to snag a few hidden gems.

Zhang Zhengyi, thinking Gu Shengsheng must be nervous, tried to comfort her. "Don’t stress. This is a huge undertaking. It’ll be incredibly difficult to find something with even more buzz than the last piece."

"Shengsheng, if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. Appraising antiques is all about fate."

"This is a long shot to begin with. Shang Jinhao won’t blame you if it fails."

"..." Shang Jinhao, who hadn’t said anything of the sort, was speechless. ’Even if I wanted to blame her, I wouldn’t dare now!’

These titans of the Antique Appraisal World were so protective, as if they were afraid a crude merchant like him would "devour" their precious Appraiser, Gu Shengsheng.

Shang Jinhao was at a loss for words. "It’s more than enough that Miss Gu is willing to help," he said.

"Miss Gu, please don’t feel too pressured. I’ll take care of everything." ’I’m the one spending a fortune, so why do I have to be so subservient?’

The main reason was that all these appraisers were staring daggers at him, as if he were some irredeemable villain.

Gu Shengsheng nodded. "Alright, then I’ll head back and get some rest."

She wasn’t worried in the slightest. The auction had been organized at the last minute and the schedule was tight.

This meant there was no preliminary appraisal; the artifacts would be viewed on-site during the event itself.

Gu Shengsheng was no stranger to this kind of setup.

She took her seat in the guest section at 2:30 PM sharp. No one paid her any mind. Gu Shengsheng noticed that almost everyone who came was, indeed, from Xiangjiang.

There were very few dealers from the mainland, most likely because they couldn’t get here in time...

The dealers from Xiangjiang all looked supremely confident, and... Gu Shengsheng sensed they were all connected with one another.

’This is getting interesting.’

Time was short, so the auction began promptly. After a little over ten minutes of standard pleasantries from the host, everyone was raring to go.

To save time, instead of letting everyone examine the items individually, Shang Jinhao had all the potential bidders line up and gave each person three minutes per artifact.

Gu Shengsheng, however, was quick. Thanks to her "panel attributes," she could identify more than half of the artifacts instantly.

She quickly noted their numbers and then moved on, feigning a casual stroll.

A merchant in his thirties, who was behind her in line, watched her with what looked like pity. "Such a great opportunity, young lady! You can’t just glance at things casually!"

"You need to seize this chance to learn! Other people are dying to take pictures and get a closer look, but you just touch it, glance at it, and walk away. What a waste of a spot!"

"Boss Shang is footing the bill this time. We’re guaranteed to make a profit!"

Gu Shengsheng smiled. "It’s alright. I’m just here to learn."

"Well, that’s true. You young people have plenty of opportunities. Here, let me teach you. When you look at a porcelain vase, you have to look at the patterns... And what about Jingtai Blue, you know about that? Ah, you’re too young, you probably don’t understand."

"Just remember this: don’t bid on anything that no one else is bidding on. Just follow the crowd. If a lot of people are bidding, it must be good!"

He went on with more advice, and to everything, Gu Shengsheng patiently replied, "Okay."

Seeing her agreeable attitude, the man behind her continued his lecture.

After the preliminary viewing was over, the two of them returned to their seats.

Gu Shengsheng then asked, "Sir, I knew there would be a lot of people from Xiangjiang, but why are there so many here today?"

"Oh," he said, "I’m from Xiangjiang, too. Word spread like wildfire through the Antique Appraisal World back home that this was a sure-fire way to make money. That’s why we all rushed over, no matter the difficulty."

"Many people even brought the most precious artifacts they’ve ever owned. And all of us buyers came with plenty of cash."

As he said this, his face was flushed with excitement. "I have a feeling I’m going to make a huge profit this time, too."

Gu Shengsheng didn’t say anything. When it came to appraising treasures, you couldn’t rely on such things.

You never know when good luck will strike.

But with the event being hyped up this much, it couldn’t be that simple. ’There must be some inside story.’

’Whatever the inside story is, I, Gu Sheng, am just here to find some hidden gems. None of the other messy business has anything to do with me.’