Xu Qingqing pointed at an express delivery carton placed beside the vendor's feet. The express tape on it wasn't completely torn off yet, and it was filled with a bunch of well-polished walnuts.
Hearing that Xu Qingqing came to buy Wenwan walnuts, the vendor looked a bit disappointed and directly pushed the carton over.
"Pick whatever you like. Fifty yuan each. No bargaining."
"So expensive?"
Father Lu frowned. Just now, the glass beads were only twenty yuan a pair. These were just oiled walnuts, yet they cost fifty yuan each. It was too pricey!
But seeing Xu Qingqing crouching down seriously and carefully selecting, Father Lu thought she must have noticed something. So he squatted down and joined her.
The system, which had been silent since they entered the antique market, let out a beeping sound when it scanned the walnuts in the carton.
A precious cultural relic has been scanned.
Ancient city Wenwan walnuts, with a history of over 4,600 years...
Hearing this, Xu Qingqing frowned, quite puzzled.
According to historical records, walnuts were a new variety introduced by Zhang Qian when he visited the Western Regions. That was only about 2,000 years ago.
But these Wenwan walnuts were said to have a history of over 4,600 years. At that time, walnuts hadn't been introduced yet.
"Did the system miscalculate?" Xu Qingqing knitted her delicate brows and asked the system.
"There's no miscalculation. This cultural relic was unearthed from an ancient city ruins."
Hearing this, Xu Qingqing remembered. Two years ago, there was indeed a news report about an ancient city ruins, but she hadn't paid much attention to it since she was abroad.
The ancient city ruins were just like the bird - headed sphinx recently discovered. There was no trace of them in history.
Xu Qingqing held two small walnuts in her hand. They suddenly felt very heavy. She just thought these walnuts were unusual, but she never expected they had such a great origin.
It seemed that after improving her luck, her intuition had also improved.
After she had made up her mind about the walnuts she wanted, it was time to bargain. Xu Qingqing casually picked up two fake Wenwan walnuts and showed them to the vendor.
"Boss, these walnuts of yours are obviously oiled. Fifty yuan each is too expensive. Make it cheaper."
"Who said they were oiled? I polished them all by hand." The vendor even laughed at his own lie in order to sell his goods.
"The price is already very low. I'll be losing money if I sell them to you for fifty yuan."
Xu Qingqing stood up, deliberately showing an indifferent look. She nudged the carton with her foot, looking disdainful.
"Boss, don't try to fool me!"
"There are at least fifty walnuts in this carton. You only have two hands. Can you polish them all? My final offer, twenty - five yuan each!"
"I really can't sell them at that price." The vendor used the most common bargaining tactic of stalling.
"Boss, you should size up the situation before you speak. Your stall has been here for so long and no one has come except me. You don't want these walnuts to go unsold, do you?"
Xu Qingqing spoke slowly and calmly. Seeing that the vendor was still hesitating.
She pretended to turn around and leave. "Forget it. I'll just go home and oil some walnuts myself. They'll be shinier than yours. I'm not buying."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't go!" The vendor was afraid that he really couldn't sell his goods, so he quickly called Xu Qingqing back.
"I'll sell!"
"Then I'll take these two." Xu Qingqing suddenly turned around, clutching the Wenwan walnuts from the ancient city ruins in her hand, afraid that the vendor would regret it.
Father Lu cooperated and took out his wallet. He took out a fifty - yuan note and handed it to the vendor. After they walked a distance, Father Lu asked Xu Qingqing curiously.
"Qingqing, what do you want these two walnuts for? Didn't you say they were oiled?"
"Uncle Lu, you don't understand. I said that on purpose just to bargain."
When bargaining, one should show disinterest in the things they really want to buy.
Especially for antiques, the more one belittles them, the better.
These peddlers are very shrewd. If one just accepts what they say and insists on buying, the peddlers might suspect that it's a treasure and refuse to sell.
Xu Qingqing took out a tissue and carefully wiped the two Wenwan walnuts clean. Then she showed them to Father Lu and asked him to take a close look.
"Uncle Lu, compare the color of these two walnuts with the others. Aren't they completely different?"
Father Lu recalled the other walnuts in the carton. These two walnuts were different from the yellowish - brown ones. They had turned black, and the shiny parts had even become jade - like!
They looked like walnuts carved from jade!
Although Father Lu didn't understand the details, he could tell that these two Wenwan walnuts were definitely extraordinary!
"The boss didn't recognize the value and sold these treasures as fillers."
"Based on my judgment, these are Wenwan walnuts unearthed from the ancient city ruins." Xu Qingqing seriously explained their origin to Father Lu. "They have a history of over 4,000 years."
"Over 4,000 years!" Father Lu exclaimed in surprise. Then he quickly covered his mouth. Looking around and seeing no one paying attention, he lowered his voice and asked.
"Since they're Wenwan walnuts from the ancient city ruins, how did they end up here?"
"The ancient city ruins were a tomb group discovered by villagers. By the time the archaeologists arrived, most of the treasures inside had been looted by the villagers."
Xu Qingqing guessed. "Although a lot of them have been recovered later, many are still out there.
"These two Wenwan walnuts were probably picked up by the villagers at that time and sold to these peddlers who went to the countryside to buy antiques."
"I see... Then these are really amazing treasures!"
Father Lu's eyes widened with excitement. With just this pair of Wenwan walnuts, he would outshine his two old friends by a long shot.
"That's right." Xu Qingqing handed the two walnuts to Zhang Beichen behind her. "Could you please take them to the appraisal room for an appraisal?"
"Sure."
After the staff took them to the appraisal room, Xu Qingqing and Father Lu continued to stroll around. Father Lu looked at Xu Qingqing with admiration in his eyes. "Qingqing, you're so amazing!"
"I'm so glad I invited you. Otherwise, I would have missed such a great treasure!"
"I should thank Uncle Lu for giving me the ticket. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the chance to find it." Xu Qingqing was sweet - tongued, which made Father Lu very happy.
"Good! Just tell me what you like. Uncle Lu will buy them all for you!" Father Lu waved his hand boldly.
"Thank you, Uncle Lu."
Unlike the victorious atmosphere around Xu Qingqing and Father Lu, the atmosphere around Old Liu was much more depressing.
Old Liu was eager to regain his face, so he kept urging his granddaughter, Liu Tianjing, to quickly choose a cultural relic.
And Liu Tianjing was trying to figure out how to get rid of her grandfather and cheat.
"Granddaughter, quickly see which one is the genuine one. It doesn't matter if it's fake. We'll buy a few more. Quantity is the key!"
Old Liu pointed at the small stall in front of them and insisted that Liu Tianjing choose one.