Chapter 45: One Million!

Under the keen gaze of Quan Ling and Qian Shuangyu, Elder De glanced at the two, then finally smiled. He turned to Qian Lin and said, “This piece you brought should be a celadon underglaze blue porcelain from Liling in Hunan, right? The age is decent, likely a Ming era object. As for its value, what do you think?”

Qian Lin’s face shifted rapidly.

Qian Shuangyu and the others were all taken aback. Elder De’s question—what did it mean?

“Hah! Old Qian, looks like this time you’re bleeding out!” Elder Lin slapped his thigh and laughed heartily.

Elder Tang laughed as well, tapping his teacup lid with a crisp clang, as if calculating something, and said with a mocking tone, “A Ming era celadon underglaze blue porcelain from Liling, Hunan… I recall one sold in Chengdu seven years ago for two million.”

“Seven years have passed, prices have gone up… It should be at least three million now!”

“Three million—quite a sum! But Old Qian, you’ve got deep pockets, so it’s nothing to you!”

Tang and Lin, these two old foxes, seemed to share a mischievous bond, their slyness filling the room and prompting laughter from Yu Quan and the others.

Of course, since the money wasn’t coming out of their own pockets, they were free to laugh.

Where there are those who laugh, there are those who don’t. Qian Lin’s face was as ugly as could be, and Boss Quan next door was also in low spirits, for he was on good terms with Qian Lin and had come with the intention of mutual support. With Su Yi’s earlier gesture, he was naturally displeased.

Qian Shuangyu was stunned. How could it be? Her father was the one who made the most mistakes! Then, who was the one who got the most right?

It was Su Yi!

Impossible!

“Impossible!” Qian Shuangyu’s sharp voice rang out, and even Tang Hanyan glanced at her indifferently.

Cold, dismissive.

As if looking at a weed!

Fortunately, Qian Lin, unwilling to lose more face, stopped the furious Qian Shuangyu before she could say anything that would embarrass everyone present.

Most importantly, they could not afford to offend Elder De!

Elder De was gracious and took no offense, only smiling as he said, “You all informed me of the authenticity of your pieces beforehand, so the answer is naturally as such… one genuine, six fake. Su Yi, your answers were very good. Though not necessarily professional, you were careful, intelligent, sensitive, and able to draw inferences—very impressive.”

Two words of praise—Elder De clearly held Su Yi in high regard!

Of course she wasn’t professional—Su Yi had never been involved in this field!

Elder Tang rolled his eyes inwardly, but outwardly beamed, saying, “Su Yi usually studies, so she doesn’t have much time to learn, but whenever I teach her, she’s always very earnest… Today she’s proven her worth, and I’m truly delighted…”

His beard was practically standing on end—how could he not be pleased?

Yet the others couldn’t stand his smugness. Elder Lin snorted and asked Su Yi, “I don’t believe this old man. Su Yi, be honest, where did you learn all this? Never mind the rest, your knowledge of blue and white porcelain isn’t something you could have picked up before!”

He paused. “I remember just over a year ago, I caught you moving this old man’s fine Di kiln celadon to the table to arrange flowers… and you chose chrysanthemums!”

Just that one accidental sight left a deep impression of the girl.

Later, he even wondered why Elder Tang had brought this girl into his shop. Was he planning to spend money every day to ward off misfortune?

Di kiln celadon? Flower arranging? Chrysanthemums?

Several present burst out laughing!

Tang Hanyan turned to her daughter and asked, “Your classmate?”

“Yes…” Yan Qingwu hadn't thought she could hide this from her mother.

“Quite interesting…”

Yan Qingwu smiled, too. She hadn't expected Su Yi, usually composed and mature, to have such an adorably silly side.

“Su Yi, tell us, what were you thinking back then?” Elder Lin pressed his advantage, seeing Elder Tang’s gloomy face.

Though she knew they would laugh at her, Su Yi didn’t find it particularly funny. So she decided to explain, speaking earnestly, “There was a vase and there were flowers, so naturally—I arranged them.”

She had even intended to fetch water, but not finding any, let it go.

…

Seeing Su Yi’s cool, indifferent expression, the laughter faded, but their delight grew. This girl truly was adorably naive!

Su Yi was the winner, but she represented Elder De, not Elder Tang. So, did that mean Su Yi would be entrusted with the task?

It was almost comical!

Boss Quan and the others looked to Elder De.

Elder De seemed prepared, picking up the third paper. “On this one, only one mistake, and that was Elder Han’s. Any objections?”

That settled it! There was nothing more to be done.

Su Yi and Zhou Ran were momentarily dazed.

It turned out that when these people spoke ambiguously about which pieces they thought were fake, they’d actually marked most as fake—like Elder Tang, who everyone thought only doubted the clay pot, but in reality, he had marked most as fakes!

Also, judging from their reactions earlier, many of their answers were correct. At least Elder Tang and Elder Lin, sly veterans of the trade, had gotten at least four right!

Su Yi was quite sure of this.

Old foxes, all of them!

With no objections, the matter was settled. Elder Han was deemed fit for the task—it seemed the dust had settled…

“Hey, and what about the money?” Elder Tang called out, and everyone looked to Qian Lin.

Qian Shuangyu’s eyes widened.

Three million—the agreement was to give half, or else hand the celadon underglaze blue porcelain to Su Yi.

It was obvious which option would be chosen.

But… one and a half million! Zhou Ran’s breathing became heavy, and she gazed at Su Yi with a dazed look, yet Su Yi’s face remained calm.

Her brows didn’t even twitch.

One and a half million!

A A had already moved behind Elder Lin, whispering, “Is it really going to be given?”

He had seen many treasures with Elder Lin, but those had always belonged to others. One and a half million was a fortune to him.

Yet for that girl, it seemed effortlessly within reach!

Elder Lin chuckled, “What do you think?”

－－－－－－－－

The agreement had been made in front of so many witnesses, so Qian Lin had no way to renege, though one and a half million was still too much…

He had assets, but money didn’t blow in from nowhere. Su Yi wasn’t one of their group—just an outsider girl, and giving her one and a half million felt like cutting his flesh and drinking his blood!

He was unwilling, so unwilling!

His eyes flashed coldly as he looked at Su Yi.

In the end, Elder De seemed to see through everything and made the decision, “Given the seven-year appreciation, three million isn’t much, but considering Boss Qian’s recent cash flow isn’t so smooth, let’s make it two million. Half of that is one million. How about it?”

Elder Tang knew not to push too hard, lest desperation drive Qian Lin to outright refusal.

So he smiled and said, “That works, too!”

Elder Han liked Su Yi and agreed, Elder Lin even more so, applauding her directly.

As for the others… Yu Quan swept his gaze, ignoring Qian Lin’s look, and said to Su Yi with a smirk, “I think it’s very reasonable.”

Boss Wang, being close to Yu Quan, naturally echoed him.

Boss Quan shook his head and sighed—Old Qian, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but rules and the situation prevail. Didn’t you see Elder De has already decided? He even gave you a way out, reducing the amount by half a million. The message is clear… you still have to pay a million!

With six votes in favor, Qian Lin’s face turned green. He had no choice but to write a check on the spot. When handing it to Su Yi, his tone was chilly, “Young lady, you have a bright future. I hope you remain so lucky in the future…”

The implication: better not let me run into you again!

Su Yi took the check, glanced at it, smiled inwardly, and let a faint smile appear on her face, “I think there probably won’t be such an opportunity again.”

After all, you likely won’t participate anymore!