Xu Qingqing was pushed to the front. She had become numb to Father Lu calling her daughter-in-law.
Seeing that the winner was Xu Qingqing, Fang Zhengsong immediately asked the staff to give her the prize.
Behind the roulette was a mahogany box one meter long and half a meter wide.
Two staff members carried the wooden box in front of Xu Qingqing and slowly pulled out the lid.
An antique bronze wall clock coated with bright varnish appeared, shining in the sunlight.
The patterns on the wall clock were extremely beautiful and artistic. There were blue, red, and green gemstones inlaid around the clock, glistening in the sunlight and reflecting rainbow-colored lights.
Everyone present was shocked by the beauty of the wall clock.
It's so beautiful!
"This wall clock came from the West during the Qing Dynasty. Its style is still fashionable even today. You can still use it after setting the time," Fang Zhengsong said with pride in his tone. He waved his hand, and the staff closed the lid of the wooden box again.
Fang Zhengsong picked up the box and solemnly handed it to Xu Qingqing. There was a hint of reluctance in his tone. "Since you've won it, it's yours!"
"No one has won this wall clock for three consecutive years. I thought I wouldn't be able to give it away."
"Thank you, Lord Fang. I'll definitely preserve this wall clock well. Could you please keep it for me first? I'll come to pick it up after the competition."
Xu Qingqing's eyes were full of admiration as she returned the mahogany box to Fang Zhengsong.
It was too big for Xu Qingqing to carry around.
"Then I'll put it in my office first. You can come and get it later." Fang Zhengsong asked the staff to carry the wooden box in.
Xu Qingqing and Father Lu continued walking inside. The antiques on the stalls on both sides of the road were dazzling and overwhelming.
Old Li forcefully pulled Li Ying'er away from Xu Qingqing and the others.
As Xu Qingqing walked, she scanned the stall owners, trying to judge from their expressions whether they were seasoned antique collectors.
There were basically three types of people who came to set up stalls here. One type were seasoned collectors. Another type had only a smattering of knowledge about antiques and could barely explain a thing or two.
The last type knew nothing at all and relied on boasting and making up lies to deceive customers.
What Xu Qingqing was looking for were the second and third types. The first type of stall owners had good eyesight and would definitely not bring out rare treasures for sale.
The second type of stall owners had a 50% chance of bringing out treasures for sale because they were shortsighted and didn't understand the origin of the items they were selling.
For the third type of stall owners, as long as one ignored their boasting and searched carefully, the chance of finding treasures was even higher.
After walking for a few dozen meters, the stalls were full of colorful vases, heaps of jade bracelets, blackened silverware, and various oxidized jewelry.
There were many contestants. The bustling crowd and the shouts of the stall owners mixed together, giving one the feeling of being in a vegetable market.
"Beauty, I have a top-quality night pearl here! Sir, buy a night pearl for your daughter!"
A stall owner saw Xu Qingqing and Father Lu walking towards his stall and waved enthusiastically to greet them.
In his palm was a milky-white ball the size of an egg.
"This is a real night pearl, the one used by Empress Dowager Cixi! It would make a great ornament in the girl's room!"
When dealing with girls, as long as one said that wearing something would make them the most beautiful and recommended jewelry, bracelets, or ornaments, there was more than a half chance of selling the items.
This stall owner had mastered the sales pitch very well. He didn't waste any words and directly talked about the uses.
Father Lu thought the peddler's words were reasonable. He smiled and stepped forward, wanting to take a closer look at the night pearl in his hand.
"Will this night pearl glow in the dark?"
"Of course it will. If it doesn't glow, how can it be called a night pearl? Its light is a soft white, just like moonlight. It would look great in a room," the peddler boasted.
"Really?" Father Lu held the night pearl in his hand and looked at it from all angles, but he couldn't tell anything.
But he also thought that Xu Qingqing had come out to help him buy something this time, so he should at least buy something for her.
"Okay, I'll buy it. Qingqing, you can put it in your room later..."
"Uncle Lu, don't buy it."
Xu Qingqing just took one look, then took the night pearl from Father Lu's hand and put it back on the stall table.
With just one glance, Xu Qingqing exposed all the peddler's lies. "Uncle Lu, this night pearl is fake. It's just ordinary glass dyed with color and mixed with fluorescent powder."
"Fake?" Father Lu's face immediately showed disgust. He had actually regarded this bead as a treasure.
"How can you deceive people like this! A glass bead and you can even claim it was used by Cixi."
"If I didn't say so, you wouldn't buy it, sir. Think about it carefully. How could the night pearl used by Cixi be here?"
The peddler wasn't angry when his lies were exposed. Instead, he continued to promote his products shamelessly.
"But it really looks beautiful when placed in a room at night, and it's very affordable. I'll give you a pair for 20 yuan."
"No way!" Father Lu refused coldly.
Even if it was just one yuan each, he wouldn't buy a bunch of junk home.
"Don't go! I also have bracelets and hairpins used by Empress Dowager Cixi... Take a look!"
Father Lu walked away without looking back, together with Xu Qingqing.
After walking out, Father Lu looked at Xu Qingqing gratefully. "Qingqing, thanks to you just now. Otherwise, I would have been deceived."
"It's nothing. All the words from these peddlers are lies. It's common to be deceived," Xu Qingqing said understandingly.
Father Lu sighed deeply. "There are so many liars. It's not easy to find genuine products. Qingqing, otherwise, let's buy a few vases. Even if they're fake, they can still be used to hold flowers."
"Uncle Lu, I don't recommend you choose porcelain items. There are too many imitation vases. It's hard to tell the real from the fake, and it's very difficult to pick a good one."
Xu Qingqing scanned the vases on the surrounding stalls. There were too many similar patterns.
"Then do you have any suggestions?"
Xu Qingqing's eyes couldn't help but fall on a stall full of wooden products. She had a hunch.
Most of the treasures on it were things like wood carvings. It added a touch of simplicity among all the porcelain and jade, but few people stopped in front of the stall.
Xu Qingqing's lips curled into a smile. "I recommend choosing wooden products more."
No matter how much it cost to make wooden products, good wood was still good wood, which was completely different from porcelain.
Porcelain was sold for its patterns and shapes, while wood was sold for the wood itself!
If you bought precious wood, even if the shape wasn't good-looking, you could still modify it and carve it again. But it was different for porcelain. No matter how you broke a fake one, it couldn't become real.
Xu Qingqing led Father Lu to the stall with wooden products. As soon as the stall owner saw them coming, he immediately recommended the dark black Buddhist bead bracelets in front of him.
"Girl, come and take a look. There are Buddhist beads and bracelets made of rosewood and high-quality mahogany. Wearing them can calm your mind and bring good luck, and they've all been blessed!"
"Boss, we don't want bracelets. Can you take out the walnuts in the box by your feet and let us take a look?"