Chapter 171: The Same Old Trick? I’ll Crash All Your Servers

Gu Shengsheng smiled. "Don’t worry. I’ve spoken with Mr. Zhao Dehai from the Cultural Relics Bureau. He’ll negotiate the matter and send someone to authenticate the artifacts."

"Even though time is tight and the task is demanding, we must ensure everything is flawless."

"Right now, the best solution is for us to have these appraised and use them to temporarily replace that Sima Xiangru painting."

"Alright. I’ll do as you say!" Shang Jinhao nodded and immediately busied himself with the task.

He was a nervous wreck, pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pan.

Gu Shengsheng took the bargain artifacts she’d acquired and prepared to head back to the Imperial Palace Museum in Beijing City to get everything ready for the "Twenty-four Musicians" swap.

Unexpectedly, her path was blocked by a group of people.

It was the group of antique dealers from the auction.

Every one of them stared at her with a grim expression.

One said, "Miss Gu, our artifacts were swapped."

"They were originally genuine, but now they’re all fakes. We want to check if your artifacts are real."

Gu Shengsheng said, "As for my artifacts, of course I bought them because I believed they were real. Why else would I waste my time?"

"You bid on those antiques yourselves, and you inspected the goods yourselves. Don’t tell me I twisted your arms and forced you to buy them? Don’t be ridiculous," Gu Shengsheng said.

She was calm and composed. "There were no issues during the auction’s verification process. Now you’re coming to me saying yours were swapped. Doesn’t that mean you knew in advance which artifacts were real and which were fake?"

"Now that you’ve been backstabbed, you shouldn’t be looking for me, but for the person who scammed you."

Someone in the crowd shouted indignantly, "We haven’t been able to reach them for a while! Even the company was deregistered overnight."

As soon as he finished, the others shot him a look of utter contempt. ’What a useless fool, spilling the beans in just a few words. No wonder he lost money!’

Now there was no way to pick a fight with Gu Shengsheng!

Gu Shengsheng pointed at a security camera. "It’s recording. You can’t take back what you’ve said."

"You gentlemen are all men of high moral standing. If netizens, or perhaps your own buyers, found out you resort to such methods at an appraisal fair, what would they think?"

The old man in the lead, dressed in a tuxedo, gritted his teeth. There was no way to pursue this matter any further.

This Gu Shengsheng was a streamer, which meant she had a fan base. If this blew up online, the consequences would be unimaginable.

They also wanted to expand their antique businesses into the mainland, so they didn’t want to make too many enemies right now.

He could only say, "Miss Gu, please don’t misunderstand."

"We were presumptuous about this matter. We hope there will be opportunities to cooperate in the future."

The dozen or so artifacts Gu Shengsheng had won at the auction, if all were genuine, could probably sell for a combined total of around 150 million...

After they left, Shang Jinhao stepped out with a wide grin. "Miss Gu, you’re truly skilled."

Gu Shengsheng looked at this man, feeling like she couldn’t quite see through him.

She had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but still said, "It was you who leaked the information, wasn’t it, Mr. Shang? And the shell company they were dealing with—you were the one operating it from behind the scenes."

"Otherwise..." Gu Shengsheng smiled. "They wouldn’t have been so trusting."

Shang Jinhao nodded. "I didn’t get to where I am today by being a reckless brute. This was a test for them, and for you too, Miss Gu. After all, this is our first time working together. I had to test the waters."

"But Miss Gu, I must also remind you," he said. "By getting involved in my affairs, I can help you make money and reap the rewards you deserve. But there are also risks."

Gu Shengsheng nodded. "Don’t worry, Boss Shang. Since I’ve given you my word, I’ll see this through to the end. The more money there is to be made, the greater the risk. I understand that principle."

’If she was always weighing the pros and cons, always hesitating, she never would have made it this far...’

His eyes were full of respect. "You are an exceptional woman, Miss Gu. It’s an honor to work with you."

"I hope that this time, with your help, we can turn this crisis into an opportunity."

"Okay." Gu Shengsheng nodded.

After speaking, Shang Jinhao and Gu Shengsheng’s group hurried to Beijing City.

That night, the Cultural Relics Bureau pulled an all-nighter to prepare for the artifact swap at the Imperial Palace Museum. Meanwhile, the Hang City Museum and the Hanwu Museum discussed the "Twenty-four Musicians" all night long, debating whether or not they should trust Gu Shengsheng’s appraisal results...

Everything was a major issue; nothing could be handled carelessly.

As for Gu Shengsheng, in the time it took her to take a several-hour flight that evening, public opinion exploded online. The bargain artifacts she had acquired from the Anxi City Museum were revealed to be all genuine.

Furthermore, a so-called "insider" broke the news that Gu Shengsheng was manipulating the black market and using these antiques for money laundering.

Since her archeological work, Gu Shengsheng had rarely streamed in Anxi, and everyone had been eagerly awaiting her return.

Now that this news had suddenly appeared, the entire internet blew up!

#GuShengshengMoneyLaundering#

#CancelTheStreamer#

#GuShengshengIsHiding#

#InfluencerScandalIsItAMoralDecayOr...#

All the trending topics were about Gu Shengsheng, demanding she apologize, quit the internet, and return the antiques.

Only by donating all the artifacts could she be forgiven!

Everyone online was attacking her, and based on an "insider leak" from a single marketing account, they began to cyberbully Gu Shengsheng.

On Lu Shijing’s side, a conference room was filled with twelve lawyers and twelve hackers. The entire public relations department, along with a powerful legal team, was suing the online attackers and frantically collecting evidence.

As soon as a negative post appeared, they would get it taken down. But the other party was clearly experienced; all the accounts were foreign, with servers located abroad.

Lu Shijing ordered, "For the foreign accounts, just crash their servers."

Everyone in the conference room was sweating profusely. Lu Shijing said as little as possible, but his expression looked like he was about to eat someone alive.

The legal team was also shocked. They were Huaxia’s top legal team, and their usual work was all related to the LG Company. Now, they were working on a case involving an antique appraisal streamer!

Lin Kai was also by his side, extremely anxious. "Who on earth did Miss Gu offend! I asked the Young Miss and Yang Jiao, but neither of them knows."

Lu Shijing clutched his phone. He couldn’t get through to her either...

"Go to Anxi City."

"Boss, but we can finish off the Lu Group tonight! You were prepared to go tomorrow, so going then won’t be too late. It should be fine," Lin Kai said anxiously.

Lu Shijing chuckled lightly. "The Lu Group’s time of lingering on its last breath is over. I can handle the final wrap-up just the same."

With that, he threw on his overcoat and sped all the way to the airport.

His face was tense. While waiting for his flight, he kept calling Gu Shengsheng’s number, filled with regret. ’If I had known, I would have gone with her to Anxi. Then none of this would have happened.’