Xu Qingqing's gaze fell on a grayish-yellowish seal tucked among a pile of jade ornaments. She picked it up and said, "We've spent so much money. You might as well give this to us too."
The shopkeeper only glanced at the seal casually. A flash of revulsion crossed his eyes, but he still said, "If you want to take this seal, you'll have to pay another 100 yuan."
Hearing this, Lu Qi was dissatisfied. He had just been scammed once. There was no way he would be scammed a second time.
As he said this, he pulled Xu Qingqing and was about to leave. "Qingqing, we don't want this. It looks like a fake at a glance."
"I'll buy it if you don't." Contrary to Lu Qi's expectations, Xu Qingqing took out her phone to pay instead.
Lu Qi blinked his eyes and said with a smile as he held Xu Qingqing's hand, "I'll buy it."
From Xu Qingqing's attitude, this was very likely a rare treasure.
After Lu Qi paid, Xu Qingqing picked up the seal and showed it to Tang Li. "Tang Li, can you tell the quality of this jade, as well as its age?"
Tang Li held the jade in his hand, looked at it under the sky, then returned it to Xu Qingqing. He said affirmatively, "This jade is high quality Hetian jade. The carving on it should be phoenixes coiling around peonies, but the details will only be known after the jade is cleaned."
Tang Li's appraising skills were much higher than Xu Qingqing's. He could tell things that Xu Qingqing could not tell. He also affirmed the value of this seal.
Xu Qingqing opened the system to appraise it. This time, the system took much longer than usual to appraise the item. The string of circles on the page turned several times.
The appraisal result was shown: Ming Dynasty white jade phoenix seal.
Looking at the 3D stereoscopic seal, there was a large line of words beneath it. Xu Qingqing showed a shocked expression. She originally thought that this was just a piece of good jade. She did not expect that this seal had a big background. It was a Ming Dynasty treasure.
Moreover, it was made with top quality Hetian jade.
There were phoenixes coiling around peonies carved on it. There were traditional carving methods such as yin lines and yang lines. The phoenix design was magnificent. The carving was complicated. It was almost the same as what Tang Li had said.
Lu Qi took the seal from Xu Qingqing's hands. He looked left and right but did not see anything special.
Xu Qingqing said calmly, "Be careful not to drop it. This is very likely a Ming Dynasty seal."
"It's just a Ming Dynasty seal. What's so amazing about it..." After realizing what he said, Lu Qi's tongue flashed instantly. He looked at Xu Qingqing in disbelief.
"You! You! You said what! Ming Dynasty seal!"
Lu Qi's voice became softer and softer. His originally casual attitude towards the seal changed to hugging it in his arms.
He looked at the people walking around him and lowered his voice. He asked Xu Qingqing in disbelief, "You're not joking with me, right?"
The statue of Guan Gong that he had seriously chosen was fake, while a randomly bought item was actually a Ming Dynasty treasure.
Xu Qingqing nodded and said with some regret, "I should have bought it myself if I knew earlier."
"Aiya, don't say that. Mine is yours after all." Lu Qi, who was overjoyed, got closer to Xu Qingqing. However, he was secretly happy in his heart. Fortunately, he had bought it.
He had made a fortune this time! He had made a fortune!
Lu Qi's mood from being forced to buy by the shopkeeper earlier was swept away. He felt extremely comfortable.
If he was not in an exhibition with people coming and going, he really wanted to laugh out loud and mock that stupid shopkeeper.
I'm afraid that the shopkeeper would never think that the seal placed in the corner covered in dust was actually a big treasure!
Tang Li separated them and said coldly, "Just talk. Don't get so close."
"Qingqing isn't from your family. What's wrong with me getting closer to her?" Although Lu Qi said this, he still moved further away from Xu Qingqing and happily admired the seal.
"Qingqing, thanks to you. If it wasn't for you, I really don't know how to hand in the work."
"It's okay. After all, I came here this time to accompany you to buy things."
After that, the group walked around the exhibition again. Lu Qi managed to obtain two more porcelain items. He returned with a full load.
Lu Qi rushed to bring the treasures he had obtained to the shareholders to hand in the work, while Xu Qingqing looked at the watch on her wrist. She still had three hours before she had to pick up the two little treasures from school.
Today, she had promised the children that she would pick them up, but at this moment, she received a call from Wang Lide.
"Qingqing, are you free now? If you are, come to the special operations group. The group has received another batch of damaged antiques that need to be repaired immediately!"
Xu Qingqing nodded immediately. "Teacher Wang, I'll go there right away!"
After Xu Qingqing hung up the phone, she looked at Tang Li, who was raising his eyebrows at her. She said apologetically, "I can't pick up the two children from school. Can you help me pick them up and help me apologize to them?"
Since Wang Lide would call her, it definitely meant that the matter was no small matter.
Tang Li smiled gently. He helped Xu Qingqing tuck the hair at the side of her ear behind her ear. This caused Xu Qingqing to get goosebumps all over her body. "Sure, I understand. Hurry up and go."
Xu Qingqing drove to the special operations group. There was a pile of big boxes placed in the courtyard of the villa. The damaged antiques were placed in the boxes.
When Xu Qingqing entered, the other three people in the special operations group were looking at the broken antiques in the boxes with looks of pity.
Chen Jiashu, who respected antiques, even cursed. "These damned criminals should be shot!"
"Correct!" Gu Yuan angrily agreed at the side.
"What happened?"
Xu Qingqing walked forward. Her gaze landed in the boxes. Every single box was filled with broken porcelain items, as well as dirty ancient paintings.
Xu Qingqing's brows immediately furrowed. She asked angrily, "Who did this?"
These porcelain items were so good, yet they were damaged like this!
"Qingqing, you're here." Wang Lide felt her anger. He sighed.
"A museum was targeted by thieves. They wanted to steal the antiques and sell them. As a result, they touched the alarm and alerted the police."
"During the negotiation, the thieves did not hesitate to damage the porcelain items and ancient paintings."
"They're too detestable. If they can't get them, they'll destroy them!" Just hearing Wang Lide's description made Xu Qingqing angry.
"Alright, it's not the time to be angry now. We need to repair these porcelain items immediately." Wang Lide called out.
"If you find any missing pieces, you must report it immediately. Tell the police officers to search for them."
"The faster our speed, the more we can save the integrity of these antiques."
"Yes!"
The three of them answered in unison. A heavy burden fell on each of their shoulders. They were now racing against time.
"Qingqing, your skills are better than theirs. As for me, I'm old and my eyesight is blurry. It's easy for me to not see clearly at night. You can repair this most difficult one."
Wang Lide recognized Xu Qingqing's repair skills, so he gave the most damaged antique to her to repair.
Xu Qingqing saw hope in Wang Lide's gaze. She could not let this old man who was already half a century old down.