Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 985: Chapter 981: Antique Detector

Huo Sining was unclear about what was on Huang Zhenlong’s mind, and after refusing the old gentleman’s request, although she did not regret it, she still felt a bit uneasy in her heart.

Beside her, Ji Kun seemed to have noticed Huo Sining’s dilemma and spoke up to help her out: ”Junior sister, this precious sword is obviously not an ordinary item. Where did you find it? It’s probably cost you quite a lot, right?”

Huo Sining snapped back to reality, and an odd smile appeared on her face. She reached out her hand and gestured a sign.

Ji Kun immediately laughed: ”Five million? What kind of idiot who doesn’t recognize value sold such a good sword to you for five million?”

Huo Sining shook her head and curled her lips at Ji Kun with an enigmatic smile: ”Not five million, five thousand. To be exact, it was one hundred thousand in Dongyang Currency, but when converted to RMB, it’s only worth a bit over five thousand.”

Upon hearing this from Huo Sining, even Zhou Shitao was astonished, and Huang Zhenlong was already bewildered. He grabbed that sword and yelled urgently at Huo Sining:

”How much? Five thousand?! Little girl, are you sure you didn’t get it wrong? Such a good sword for only five thousand, that Dongyang person must be blind! Damn it, who knew the Dongyang people were so easy to trick! I should also go to that little Island Country to try my luck!”

Huo Sining couldn’t help but chuckle at these words. Huang Zhenlong’s temperament was really similar to Su Qingqing’s. Both were not the kind to hide their thoughts, always speaking their minds out loud, but those thoughts were a bit too idealistic.

Zhou Shitao had witnessed Huo Sining’s skill in spotting treasures and knew that this girl wouldn’t make groundless claims. This sword clearly looked like a valuable item at first glance. Even if the Dongyang people were foolish, the sword’s appearance was undeniable; there’s no way they wouldn’t understand its value. Surely there was a missing link they didn’t know about.

So Zhou Shitao didn’t speak up immediately. Instead, he meticulously examined the precious sword and, as if something dawned on him, his furrowed brows relaxed. Looking at Huo Sining, he asked, ”The sword wasn’t like this when you bought it back, was it? Wasn’t there a thick layer of rust on the exterior?”

Huo Sining’s eyes suddenly flashed with astonishment: ”How did you know?”

Seeing Huo Sining’s reaction, Zhou Shitao became even more confident in his speculation. He smiled and said, ”This isn’t something unusual. There has long been talk of ’coated rust’ in ancient bronze artifacts. During times of war in ancient times, to protect some precious metal objects, they used a special method to coat a layer of rust on the surface, to conceal the object’s true appearance, making these precious items less noticeable.”

”It’s similar to the Cizhou Kiln Porcelain Pillow you gave me earlier. Their essence is the same: the Hidden Mist technique. However, the ancient method of coating rust has long been lost, only mentioned in fragments in some obscure historical texts, making it quite difficult to recreate the genuine ancient method nowadays.”

Huo Sining nodded: ”Yes, when I first bought this precious sword, it was covered with rust. The entire sword was tightly shielded by copper rust. I thought it was because the ancient sword had been passed down for so long and was oxidized in the air, leading to such rust, but it turns out it was intentionally applied. No wonder, when the sword fell into a vinegar vat, the rust peeled off piece by piece after being taken out.”

”Vinegar vat? What vinegar vat?” Zhou Shitao looked puzzled.

Huo Sining felt embarrassed and explained, albeit somewhat bashfully, the incident she encountered on the street. Upon learning that the precious sword revealed its true appearance because it had accidentally fallen into a vinegar vat, Zhou Shitao was at a loss for how to describe his current feelings.

”You, girl, are really... your accidental successes always hit the mark perfectly. If this situation weren’t so plausible, I’d seriously suspect whether you’re secretly carrying an antique detector, seeing how you always have such good luck?”

Huang Zhenlong had seen many treasure-finding experts, but someone like Huo Sining, who seemed to continuously receive favors from the heavens, was truly unprecedented. He looked at the precious sword, then at Huo Sining, and couldn’t help but show a look of envy, jealousy, and frustration in his eyes.

Indeed, even though he was already at such an age, Huang Zhenlong couldn’t restrain the intense feeling of envy that surged within him, known as being green with envy.

Unintentionally, Huang Zhenlong’s words, when spoken to someone else, might have been taken with a laugh and then let go, but saying them to Huo Sining, to her ears, was like a wake-up call. Especially upon hearing the term ”antique detector,” Huo Sining’s heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly lifted her head, her gaze closely fixed on Huang Zhenlong.

No one knew that the Heavenly Eye on Huo Sining’s forehead and the Azure Pearl, these two things, were gifts from heaven truly acting as an antique detector for her. Huang Zhenlong didn’t know; his seemingly casual remark unintentionally revealed the true secret that Huo Sining held onto.

In the room, the focus of the three was entirely on that precious sword. No one noticed the anomaly in Huo Sining’s expression.

This feeling, which Huang Zhenlong experienced, was something Zhou Shitao, as the master, had long deeply understood. His gaze fell on the two gold-inlaid inscriptions on the precious sword, filled with emotions, yet he couldn’t help but shake his head:

”Let’s face it, Elder Huang, society is moving forward. It’s no longer our era. We can’t deny we’re getting old. As for this girl, her ability is a gift from heaven. She’s naturally fated to be connected with treasures, something we can’t envy.”

Finding an unparalleled ancient sword for five thousand, such luck is indeed beyond what ordinary people can aspire to. Even Zhou Shitao conceded, so what more could Huang Zhenlong say? He couldn’t help but chuckle, his eyes lingering on the radiant Longquan Sword as he sighed: ”Yes, we can’t deny it. The world will eventually be theirs, the young people’s!”

Considering that such a good young girl ended up under Zhou Shitao’s mentorship, Huang Zhenlong couldn’t help but feel envious and said with clenched teeth: ”You old guy, you surely know how to pick the good ones. This girl’s talent is innate, making you proud. You’ve already got so many outstanding disciples, why didn’t it occur to you to share one with me? Why didn’t you inform me when you found this girl?”

Zhou Shitao couldn’t help but show a smug and relieved expression: ”What, envious? All you can do is envy. If I’d told you back then, wouldn’t you, this old chap, have fought tooth and nail with me for her? Do you think I don’t know what kind of person you are?”

There was one thing Zhou Shitao didn’t say. This year, he increasingly felt a strong conviction. Perhaps, the most correct thing he’d done in his life was when he insisted that this girl acknowledge him as her master at that kinship recognition banquet at the Huang Family of Chun Jing Garden.