Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 419: Chapter 415: Set Up by Someone

There really is more!

Huo Sining’s eyebrows rose as she picked up the paperweight and scrutinized it from top to bottom. Without changing her expression, she placed it beside the porcelain plate she had looked at earlier.

Seeing Huo Sining’s action, the street vendor was momentarily stunned, his eyes widening with increasing surprise as he gazed at the three toad paperweights.

Su Qingqing had naturally noticed Huo Sining’s movements. She hadn’t paid much attention when Huo Sining touched the Lotus Porcelain Plate before.

But now, seeing Huo Sining touch the paperweight, Su Qingqing instinctively raised her head to look at the old vendor. Witnessing his shocked and astonished expression, she immediately understood that the paperweight Huo Sining had selected was undoubtedly genuine.

Su Qingqing herself was also taken aback. She had known Huo Sining for over half a year, and this was the first time she realized that Huo Sining, besides her skill in stone gambling, was also knowledgeable in antiquities appraisal.

She remembered clearly that when she first met Huo Sining, the girl didn’t even know the difference between ambergris and Ebony wood. Could it be possible for her to appraise antiques in just half a year?

Previously, Huo Sining’s luck had been poor, having examined over thirty items before finding two genuine ones. But now, her fortune seemed to have turned; she reached out with her right hand and touched three items in succession, all of which were real.

Although these antiques varied in age and consequently in the level of excitement they brought to Azure Pearl, Huo Sining was certain they were selected deliberately. After some thought, she decided to pick out all three items for closer examination.

Seeing the Tangka, purple clay teapot, and root carving also chosen by Huo Sining, the old vendor’s eyes bulged like a cow’s, and his mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg. He looked at the girl crouching before him, his expression beyond words.

At that moment, only Zhou Shitao himself knew the shock he felt inside.

Others might not know, but Zhou Shitao was acutely aware that the contents of this box had taken him over a decade to amass. Most items were obtained by his skillful eye, many so convincingly crafted that even he found them difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake. Deceiving a few experts in the marketplace would have been no issue at all.

To increase the challenge, there were not many genuinely valuable items in the box, and most of them were inconspicuous. Coupled with his meticulous arrangement, picking out the real items from this box was extremely difficult.

Of course, if he were the one doing the choosing, he could effortlessly identify the true artifacts.

However, Huo Sining was unaware of these details, and she had no idea which items were real and which were counterfeit.

Yet, with just a casual touch and glance, she instantly identified five genuine pieces. Her appraisal skill was simply too incredulous.

Originally, Zhou Shitao was worried whether this test was too challenging for a girl in her late teens, but Ji Kun insisted, and Zhou Shitao had no choice but to comply with Ji Kun’s wishes.

Zhou Shitao didn’t believe in Ji Kun’s claims about the Yin and Yang Hands. He had heard of Ji Kun’s story, but to Zhou Shitao, the so-called Yin and Yang Hands were nothing more than fabricated legends.

It’s possible there were highly skilled appraisers, but the stories circulating among the public had been embellished over time, turning figures into mythical beings—just like Zhuge Liang in ”Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” who was known to command the winds and possess boundless knowledge, a character concocted by the masses.

Zhou Shitao felt that, no matter how talented or skilled a young girl might be, her practical experience and opportunities were ultimately limited. Appraisal was an art built on years of accumulation and reflection. Even with innate talent, this girl was just in her teens. Could she be more skilled than his students?

Zhou Shitao had been skeptical of Ji Kun’s vehement recommendation, but the results of the test were beyond his expectations.

Without using a magnifying glass or a flashlight, the young girl effortlessly selected five genuine items from the box. One or two items might be plausible, but to pick out every single one? That could only be described as supernatural.

That’s right! I’ve truly seen a ghost!

The more Zhou Shitao read on, the more shocked he became.

Without the help of any tools and in just under half an hour, Huo Sining had picked out ten genuine items from the entire box, which were also the only genuine items in there.

Those genuine items were haphazardly assembled by Zhou Shitao and Ji Kun themselves. Without any obvious patina and without formal handling, ordinary people would find it very difficult to associate them with antiques.

After being stunned for a moment, Zhou Shitao took a deep breath. The results of the test had come out, and the answer had been self-evident the moment Huo Sining picked out the ten items.

Like Ji Kun, Zhou Shitao’s pride ran deep in his bones, which was why he had such stringent conditions for choosing an apprentice.

Better to have none than to have something shoddy—that was his principle for taking on apprentices.

How much ability could a girl in her teens possibly have?

So when he heard Ji Kun mention Huo Sining, Ji Kun’s cryptic tone made Zhou Shitao scoff. Right then, he decided to conduct a test with the Baiyang Box.

As a result of this test, he found that he couldn’t dare look down on Huo Sining in the slightest anymore.

There are many things in this world that can’t be explained. Some people are born with a natural interest in astronomy and geography, while others have a particularly keen talent for languages.

Zhou Shitao felt that Huo Sining might have a similar keen talent for antiques. This kind of talent is innate, something that can be intuitively understood but not described; other people might not even be able to learn it.

This was absolutely a promising youngster. At such a young age, she had the ability to make such precise and sharp judgments. Her future might just be so bright that even he could only look up to her with great admiration.

”I’m convinced!”

Zhou Shitao admitted wholeheartedly, sighing with a face full of emotion.

”Huh?” Huo Sining had picked out the items and was ready to let Su Qingqing and Huang Xiaoyi choose a few they liked from the ten genuine items, when suddenly she heard the peddler abruptly say this, leaving her completely baffled.

While she was still puzzled, the peddler suddenly shouted towards the alley behind him, ”Xiao Ji, come on out. You were right. This kind of talent is something ordinary people couldn’t even be jealous of if they tried.”

Let alone jealousy, this girl wasn’t even human, she was practically a monster.

With such heaven-defying abilities, he had spent most of his lifetime and taught dozens of students, yet probably none of them could compare to this one.

The person hiding in the alley, hearing the peddler’s voice, silently walked out of the alley with a smile and looked at Huo Sining with bright, alert eyes.

Seeing Ji Kun suddenly pop out of the alley, Huo Sining was startled for a moment but quickly realized what was happening.

She had been set up!