In the quiet of dawn, a taxi came to a screeching halt at the entrance of a pawn shop called Daxing Pawnshop. Just as the car steadied, a young boy, who looked rather plain yet possessed a remarkably sunny and handsome face, stepped out of the car.
As he walked, a look of relief washed over him. "Just in time," he thought, "I managed to arrive nearly a minute before work; there won’t be any more tardiness this time."
The young boy's name was Xue Chen, a recent graduate from Haicheng University's School of Archaeology, now an apprentice at this pawnshop.
The night before, he had stayed up late studying antique identification which resulted in him waking up late. To avoid being late to work, he had reluctantly opted for a taxi ride over.
After all, a taxi ride might have cost him twenty dollars, but if he were late, he would lose out on the two hundred dollars’ worth of perfect attendance award.
And for Xue Chen, a recent graduate who could not even afford the next month’s rent, two hundred dollars was a substantial amount of money.
Having managed to save this precious amount of money, Xue Chen's heart, which he had been holding in suspense throughout the taxi ride, finally relaxed. He strode briskly towards the pawnshop.
However, just as he was about to enter the shop, he heard a commotion and the sound of frantic footsteps from down the street.
Without thinking, he turned his head in the direction of the noise and saw five or six burly men in suits hot on the heels of a young man dressed in athletic attire.
The pursued man was sprinting at an incredible speed, running straight towards him. Xue Chen feared the man would crash straight into him.
Caught off guard by the situation, Xue Chen’s first instinct was to dodge into the shop.
But the running man was too fast. Before Xue Chen could take action, he was met with a head-on collision.
The impact was so strong that Xue Chen staggered two or three steps backward before managing to steady himself.
“Geez, watch where you’re going!” Xue Chen yelled, rubbing his sore shoulder and watching the man quickly disappear around a street corner.
But as those words had barely left his mouth, his face flushed with an anxious look, "Oh no, I'm going to be late!"
With these thoughts in mind, he no longer cared about anything else, and hurriedly walked into the shop, rushed to the time clock, and pressed his finger on it.
However, his face instantly turned sour when he saw the time on the machine. Four seconds late, all because of the bump at the shop’s door. He shouldn't have been late, but he was, by four seconds!
"Such rotten luck!"
He stood rigidly before the time clock, his mind filled with countless vexations.
"Young people should sleep early and rise early, and then come to work early. You see, you're always late by such a little bit, it's not worth it."
Just as he was filled with anger and didn't know how to vent, a voice suddenly came from the direction of the counter.
Following the sound, he saw the appraiser of the shop, Huang Pinqing, looking at him with a leisurely expression. The schadenfreude in his eyes was evident at a glance.
"I'm not sure about the need for young people to go to bed and get up early. However, I do know that people who are older tend to sleep early and rise early, leading a rigid, lifeless life."
Seeing Huang Pinqing, this old chap, laughing at his misfortune, an incensed Xue Chen retorted and didn't give Huang Pinqing a chance to scold him. He directly went to the storeroom to change his clothes and start his day's work.
"You...!"
Seeing Xue Chen daring to argue back, Huang Pinqing, who was in his fifties, suddenly flushed with anger, but before he could respond, Xue Chen had already closed the storeroom door on him, leaving him no chance to say anything.
"That old geezer, picking on me is one thing, but to provoke me at this time, does he think I have no temper?"
In the storeroom, Xue Chen muttered under his breath while changing his clothes.
Huang Pinqing had always eyed him with disdain and caused him trouble just because he had taken the job that was supposed to be given to Huang's nephew.
Given Xue Chen's temperament, if not for considering that Huang Pin Qing was his immediate superior, the earlier interaction would have been more than a mere rebuttal.
"Hmm? What's this?"
As Xue Chen was changing his clothes and silently cursing Huang Pin Qing in his mind, he suddenly noticed an extra piece of black, palm-sized ancient jade on his body, which he had no idea when it appeared.
The jade was carved with numerous incomprehensible ancient scripts. On a closer look, it could give people a dizzy and mesmerizing feeling.
He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but after Xue Chen stared at it for a while, he felt as if it was radiating a kind of dark, black light.
"Could this be something that guy deliberately tossed on me?"
A strange look flashed in his eyes as Xue Chen pondered inwardly. Other than this explanation, he couldn't come up with a more suitable one.
While he was slightly curious about the ancient jade, Xue Chen didn't waste much time on it. After casually tucking it into his pocket, he picked up a set of cleaning tools and walked out of the storage room.
He had just contradicted Huang Pin Qing. If he didn't work briskly now, he would certainly get into trouble.
Seeing Xue Chen come out of the room, Huang Pin Qing cast a gloomy look at him and let out a cold snort.
Given Huang Pin Qing's attitude, Xue Chen had long gotten used to it. After casually glancing in his direction, he prepared to work. However, his eyes just barely swept over the purple clay pot in Huang Pin Qing's hand when a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.
He suddenly felt that the clay pot in front of him looked a bit different from when he saw it yesterday.
In addition to providing him with some vivid visual information, it also gave him a very comfortable sensation. Although this feeling was faint, it genuinely existed.
"Could I have been hit so hard that I'm dizzy now?"
Somewhat puzzled, he shook his head, cast his gaze away, and began his daily task of wiping antiques.
What he first picked up was a piece of celadon paperweight. Although the label beside the paperweight stated that it was an official kiln porcelain from the Ming Dynasty, having worked at the pawnshop for about half a year, he clearly knew that this object which looked quite old, in fact, was a reproduction made less than three years ago.
Even knowing it's a forgery, Xue Chen meticulously cleaned it. Doing every job seriously was his life's principle.
It was while he was carefully studying the pattern on the paperweight, that something strange happened again.
Xue Chen felt a streak of alternating blue and purple light sweep quickly across the paperweight in his hand from top to bottom. Within this light, many symbols he didn't recognize appeared.
The light was fleeting, to the point that Xue Chen even thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. However, at that moment, a piece of information also suddenly emerged in his mind.
"Imitation of the official Ming Dynasty celadon paperweight, the glaze color, texture, hand-feel and firing process are far from the real item, especially the stamp at the bottom does not conform to the pattern of official kiln firing. Appraisal result: a low-grade counterfeit made within the past three years."
"What...what's going on?"
Xue Chen was stunned, he really couldn't understand what was happening to him.
"Could it be...the ancient jade!"
In confusion, Xue Chen suddenly thought of the ancient jade he had just acquired this morning, which looked very mysterious.
Thinking this, he quickly took out the piece of jade from his pocket. His eyes fell on it and saw a streak of blue-purple light also flashed across it.
"So it really is like that!"
At the sight of the light, Xue Chen shouted in his mind, then hurriedly picked up an antique fan he knew was genuine, and watched it attentively.
"Yangzhou paper fan from the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, made from superior materials and finely crafted. The painting on the fan was done by a master calligrapher and painter of that time, but the fan itself has some damage, which adversely affects its value."
Just as Xue Chen put all his attention on the antique fan, with the flash of blue-purple light containing data, another piece of appraisal information appeared clearly in his mind.
Apart from this, he also distinctly felt a comfortable aura emanating from the fan.
The consecutive anomalies convinced Xue Chen that the ancient jade, which he had gotten by sheer chance, had the ability to appraise antiques.
Moreover, when it encountered genuine antiques, it would resonate with them, giving him a very comfortable sensation.
"I must never let anyone know that I have this piece of ancient jade."
Xue Chen glanced at Huang Pinqing in front of the counter. Seeing that the latter wasn't paying attention, he quickly placed the jade back into his pocket.
At the same time, a strong wave of excitement welled up within him, spread rapidly throughout his body.
As an antique dealer, he knew full well what kind of changes this jade would bring into his life.
He was certain that he would never again feel heartache over a mere full-attendance reward of two hundred bucks, nor would he have to cater to the whims of a third-rate appraiser like Huang Pinqing.
"After work, I'll go to the antique street in Sea City. With this jade, I should be able to get a couple of genuine items at a low price and then resell them to insiders. No more worries about money." As his thoughts progressed, a smile unconsciously tugged at the corner of Xue Chen's lips.
"Excuse me, sir, are you here to buy or sell something?"
Just as Xue Chen was deep in his thoughts, Huang Pinqing's voice echoed again.
A middle-aged man, wearing slacks and a shirt, with gold-framed glasses, giving off an air of educated gentility, walked into the shop.
"This is a snuff bottle handed down from my ancestors. It's at least two hundred years old. Have a look and tell me how much it's worth?"
The middle-aged man, while speaking, took a wooden box from his briefcase and placed it on the counter.
Seeing that a deal was coming, Huang Pinqing immediately perked up. After carefully opening the box, he took the snuff bottle from the box with his right hand, and with the magnifying glass around his neck in his left hand, he began his meticulous examination.
Approximately two minutes later, he raised his head staring at the middle-aged man and said, "Your snuff bottle is indeed an antique, but it was only used by the rich merchants during the late Qing Dynasty, not for official use, and the patterns on it are slightly common.
Luckily, you've managed to keep it well preserved. There isn't any noticeable cracks or damage on both inside and outside of the bottle. According to the current market price, I can buy it for 50,000 yuan. What do you think?"
"The master," the middle-aged man replied, "My snuff bottle might not be made for official use, but it's not as mundane as you described.
Even modern snuff bottles, if they are well-crafted, can sell for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands yuan. This is a relic from the Qing Dynasty after all, it should worth more than 50,000 yuan." A dissatisfied expression appeared on the man's face.
"Well, you've said it yourself: those which are able to fetch tens or even hundreds of thousands are precisely crafted, but this one of yours, I'm afraid it's a bit too common.
How about this, I'll add another 10,000 yuan, further than that, I won't negotiate. If you think it's fair, we would have a deal." Huang Pingqing rotated his pair of small eyes, giving an impression as if it pains him to raise the price.
The middle-aged man hesitated. However, a cunning glint quickly passed through his eyes, almost unnoticeable within his heightened blinking.
Just as he was about to speak, a voice abruptly intervened, "Mr. Huang, maybe you should take another look at this snuff bottle."
The one who spoke was no other than Xue Chen, who by this moment, had approached the counter.
"Take another look? What do you mean by that? Are you questioning my judgement?" Upon hearing Xue Chen's words, Huang Pingqing's expression darkened.
"I just think that the snuff bottle is not worth 60,000 yuan." Xue Chen replied in a grave tone.
