Xu Qingqing pouted and looked at Lu Chuanbai. "Were you going easy on me?"
"Of course not."
There was a teasing glint in Lu Chuanbai's narrow phoenix eyes as he seriously denied it. "Your skills are just too good. I can't match you."
Xu Qingqing pursed her lips and put away the chessboard, looking thoroughly unconvinced.
She didn't believe for a second that Lu Chuanbai could lose to her. He must have let her win!
But seeing Lu Chuanbai crush Mr. Smith while being gentle and giving way to her, Xu Qingqing felt a sweet warmth in her heart.
Playing chess had killed quite a bit of time. Xu Qingqing put on an eye mask, leaned her head on Lu Chuanbai's shoulder, and took a short nap. Then the plane landed in Dongchuan Province.
This time, the mountains in Dongchuan Province were not covered in snow. Instead, the red leaves all over the mountains were incredibly spectacular and eye - catching.
After getting off the plane, Mr. Smith couldn't wait any longer and was eager to see Yangtian Mansion.
To accommodate him, Xu Qingqing took a taxi and headed towards the Eastern Mountain Range.
When they reached the entrance of the Eastern Mountain Range, Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an's stomachs were growling.
To have enough energy for the climb, Xu Qingqing took them to the village head's house in the village where they had had a free meal a few days ago.
The village head was extremely happy to see Xu Qingqing return and warmly entertained them.
Since there were more people this time, the old lady carried out a large table for them to dine.
As the old lady was bringing dishes to the table, the table wobbled because of the uneven ground.
She steadied the table and called out to the village head to find something to prop up the table legs.
The old man casually responded and rummaged under the kitchen stove. He found a few round, black - looking objects and put them under the table legs.
Xu Qingqing's curious eyes fell on those black objects. She carefully pulled one out and examined it closely.
It was round, a copper coin wrapped in black mud, something like an old silver dollar.
"Looks like an ancient coin," Xu Qingqing murmured.
The village head was about to take a few more round coins to prop up the table when Xu Qingqing quickly stopped him.
"Uncle, can I take a look at these coins?"
"Sure." The old man readily placed a handful of black coins in Xu Qingqing's hands.
Xu Qingqing found a small brush and carefully brushed off the dirt on the black coins. The true appearance of the coins was revealed.
On the front was a coiling dragon pattern. On the back, there was a circle of complex characters with a leaping horse in the middle.
Xu Qingqing checked the second coin. This time, instead of a horse, there was a giant tortoise with its head held high on the back.
Xu Qingqing was overjoyed and checked a few more.
She found a third type of coin. Among the complex characters was a giant dragon soaring through the clouds, looking majestic and lifelike.
Xu Qingqing carefully searched through her stored knowledge but couldn't recall seeing any records of such coins in any book.
She took out her system to scan the coins and discovered the related legend.
It was said that these were a batch of coins specially minted by Emperor Wen for Yangtian Mansion in the fourth year of Yuanshou.
This batch of coins was divided into three types: dragon coins, horse coins, and tortoise coins.
The characters on the outer circle of the coins were not ancient Chinese but Greek.
So far, no one had ever seen this batch of coins.
Apart from the oblivious villagers, Xu Qingqing was probably the first person to recognize their value.
A look of excitement flashed across Xu Qingqing's face. She rushed over to tell the village head, who was cooking.
"Village head, these aren't just things for propping up the table. They're cultural relics! Extremely precious cultural relics!"
"What?"
The village head, who was adding firewood under the pot, was stunned. He kicked a small pile of coins beside the stove in disbelief.
"How could these be cultural relics?"
"Hey, Uncle!"
Xu Qingqing quickly stopped the village head from kicking the coins.
"These were coins bestowed by an emperor to the Taoists in Yangtian Mansion. They're only found here in the whole country and are extremely rare."
Seeing the skeptical look on the village head's face, Xu Qingqing wanted to protect these coins.
"Village head, are there many such coins in your village?"
The village head nodded. "One year, there was a flood in the mountains, and they washed down. Every household has quite a few!"
"We didn't know their value. We thought they were worthless things."
"These have great research value." Xu Qingqing smiled and earnestly asked the old man to store the coins properly.
After she showed Mr. Smith around Yangtian Mansion, she would report this matter to Wang Lide, and they would purchase these coins in a unified manner.
Hearing that the coins were antiques and could be sold for money, the old man's wrinkled face showed a simple and honest smile.
"I'll go tell the villagers right away and ask them to rummage through their homes."
Xu Qingqing sincerely thanked the old man and excitedly showed the coins to Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith curiously held the round coins and looked at the vividly carved animal patterns. His eyes were filled with uncontrollable surprise and admiration.
Mr. Smith exclaimed in amazement. "I've always heard that your country is full of treasures, and it's really true as the rumors say."
"Even the things used to prop up the table are ancient cultural relics. This is truly amazing!"
Xu Qingqing was charmed by Mr. Smith's wide - eyed surprise. A sense of pride welled up in her heart.
"Of course. My country is vast and rich in resources, full of treasures everywhere."
"Mr. Smith, you're getting surprised too early. Wait until you see Yangtian Mansion, which is like a mythical palace, and then be surprised."
Hearing this, the two photographers who had been following them to shoot the program had excited glints in their eyes.
"Xu Qingqing, can we go in and shoot?"
If they could get the first - hand video material of Yangtian Mansion, their program would definitely become a huge hit on the internet!
"No!"
Xu Qingqing's expression changed. She seriously waved her finger.
"The protection work of Yangtian Mansion is not yet complete. Wait until it's open for visitors before you continue shooting."
"Then why can Mr. Smith go in?" one of the staff members asked discontentedly.
"Mr. Smith is allowed in as a special privilege from Teacher Wang Lide."
Because of Mr. Smith's influence in the international arena, he could play an absolute role in promoting Yangtian Mansion abroad, so an exception was made for him.
But if a domestic variety show filmed it and uploaded it to the internet, it would surely attract a large number of tourists and even people with ill intentions.
They couldn't take that risk!
Hearing this, the two photographers looked disappointed and regretful, with a hint of unwillingness.
They glanced at each other, nodded in agreement on the surface, but had other plans in mind.
After a full meal, Xu Qingqing paid the bill and asked the photographers to stay in the village and wait for them to return.
Then the group started a new journey up the mountain.
Along the way, Mr. Smith was like a curious child. Whenever he saw the various cleared - out mechanisms, he kept asking about the principles behind them.
Xu Qingqing was like a patient dictionary, answering every question in detail for Mr. Smith.