Chapter 33: A Resounding Success for the Charity Appraisal Event

"This jade pendant..."

Cheng Ziqiu paused, effectively whetting the audience's appetite.

"The material of this pendant is Hetian jade. Although the carving is crude and the quality is poor, but..."

He paused again, making Li Xiumei's heart nearly leap out of her chest.

"But this pendant is quite old; it is at least an item from the Qing Dynasty. Furthermore..."

Cheng Ziqiu pointed to a blurry mark on the back of the jade.

"This mark, if I am not mistaken, should be the stamp of an imperial kiln!"

The live stream chat exploded instantly!

[Holy crap! Imperial property? This lady is about to strike it rich!]

[It looks so broken, yet it’s actually imperial?]

[Brother Qiu is amazing! To be able to spot that!]

Li Xiumei was stunned. She had originally thought the pendant was worth at most a few hundred yuan; she never expected it to be from an imperial kiln! Her lips trembled, and it took her a long while to find her voice.

"Host, then... is this jade pendant valuable?"

"Ma'am, if this pendant is properly maintained, its market price is at least around two hundred thousand."

Cheng Ziqiu provided an estimate far higher than its actual value.

"Two hundred thousand?!"

Li Xiumei covered her mouth, her eyes widening in disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes again, but this time, they were tears of joy.

"Really? Host, you aren't lying to me, are you?"

The comments in the live stream were in an uproar.

[My God! Two hundred thousand! This lady is going to be rich!]

[To the one above: this pendant was always a treasure, it was just covered in dust.]

[I would call this appraisal the best one yet!]

[I’ll chip in a buck, you chip in a buck, let’s pool our money to buy the pendant!]

Cheng Ziqiu smiled faintly.

"Ma'am, I am just giving you an estimate based on market trends; the final price depends on the buyer's willingness. However, two hundred thousand should be no problem."

In reality, the piece was worth at most a hundred thousand or so. Cheng Ziqiu intentionally inflated the price, partly for the sake of the show's entertainment value, and partly to give Li Xiumei a helping hand.

"Thank you! Thank you, Host! You are truly my great benefactor!"

Li Xiumei was so excited she was incoherent, bowing repeatedly toward the camera.

"Ma'am, you are most welcome, it was just a small effort." Cheng Ziqiu waved his hand.

Chen Churan chimed in at the right moment, displaying a professional and charming smile.

"Our platform can guarantee the security of the transaction, ensuring you won't be cheated."

She glanced at Cheng Ziqiu calmly, her eyes filled with a touch of admiration. This kid really knew how to handle things. With this stunt, the platform's traffic was sure to skyrocket again.

"Ma'am, if you trust me, send the pendant to our platform. We will have professional appraisers conduct a secondary assessment and then help you contact a buyer."

Cheng Ziqiu’s tone was sincere, making people want to believe him instinctively.

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll go ship it right now!" Li Xiumei agreed quickly, as if afraid Cheng Ziqiu might change his mind.

The viewers in the live stream also started showering the channel with gifts.

[Brother Qiu is a living Bodhisattva!]

[I give this performance a perfect score!]

[This is a real appraisal host, not like those who only know how to brag!]

[Brother Qiu, help me take a look at my family’s ancestral chamber pot next time!]

Cheng Ziqiu took a sip of water to clear his throat, preparing to welcome the next lucky viewer. The screen flashed, and the connection was successful.

The image revealed a stretch of yellow earth, where several people in archaeological team uniforms were busy at work.

"Uh... this friend, are you doing archaeology?"

Cheng Ziqiu was a bit confused. This scene was quite different from the "ancestral jade pendants" and "old curios" usually featured in his stream.

A middle-aged man wearing glasses, who looked refined and scholarly, waved excitedly at the camera.

"Master Cheng, hello! I am Professor Zhang from the Provincial Archaeological Team. We are currently excavating an ancient tomb and would like to ask for your expert eye."

Cheng Ziqiu was stunned for a moment, then quickly recovered, putting on a professional, polite smile.

"Professor Zhang, hello, nice to meet you. It is my honor to be of help."

Internally, however, he was grumbling: *Good grief! Even tomb raiders are taking civil service exams to get into archaeology departments now? Do archaeological teams do live-stream shopping now too? Is there any way left for a tomb-robbing scout to make a living?!*

However, the audience in the live stream was getting excited.

[Holy crap! A live archaeological site? This is too thrilling!]

[Brother Qiu is awesome! Even the archaeological team is coming to him!]

[This move is 666!]

[Brother Qiu, show them what you’ve got! Let these experts see what a true master of appraisal looks like!]

Looking at the screen full of "666," Cheng Ziqiu bit the bullet and carried on.

"Professor Zhang, you are too kind; just call me Ziqiu. What would you like me to look at?"

Professor Zhang pointed to a pit that had just been dug in front of the camera.

"Little brother Ziqiu, look at this soil quality and these patterns. Is there any significance to them?"

Having raided countless tombs in his previous life, Cheng Ziqiu was naturally very familiar with the structure of burial sites. He could tell at a glance that this was clearly backfilled soil. Moreover, it was very old; there had to be something underneath!

"Professor Zhang, this soil is loose and dark in color; it should be artificially backfilled. Furthermore, there seem to be some stone fragments and wood chips mixed in. I suspect there might be a fairly large tomb underneath."

The chat exploded instantly.

[Holy crap! Brother Qiu is truly divine! He can tell even that?]

[Brother Qiu, did you work in archaeology before?]

[Brother Qiu, you should just switch careers and become an archaeologist!]

Professor Zhang was also shocked.

"Brother Ziqiu, you are truly amazing! We only found this location based on some historical records; I didn't expect you to spot the clues at a single glance."

"Professor Zhang, you flatter me. I only know a little bit about the surface of things." Cheng Ziqiu smiled modestly, though he was overjoyed inside. This act of showing off was absolutely perfect!

"Brother Ziqiu, look at the orientation of this tomb—it's facing south with its back to the north. Does that mean anything?" Professor Zhang continued to ask for advice.

Cheng Ziqiu stroked his chin, feigning profound wisdom.

"Facing south with its back to the north is the standard orientation for imperial tombs in ancient times, signifying the ruler overlooking the world and controlling all directions. However, the scale of this tomb doesn't look like an imperial one. I suspect it might be the tomb of some prince, noble, or high-ranking general."

[Holy crap! A prince or general? There must be a lot of treasures in this tomb!]

[Brother Qiu, hurry down and take a look! You might find some priceless artifacts!]

[Brother Qiu, if you find any treasures, don't forget us loyal fans!]

Cheng Ziqiu looked at the comments, speechless. These guys were truly wishing for chaos!

Just as Cheng Ziqiu was about to answer Professor Zhang's question about the tomb's orientation, his peripheral vision caught a familiar figure in the corner of the live stream frame.

His pupils contracted.

Isn't that his "cheap" little sister, Cheng Ziyan?