The woman's words silenced everyone present.

Turning to look at Shen Qiang, the woman smiled slightly and said, "Hello, boss, I am Xu Nan, the general manager of Wanxin Hesheng Auction House's Provincial City branch. If what I just said was not wrong, could we have someone take a look at these treasures of yours?"

Shen Qiang looked at Xu Nan in mild surprise, then nodded.

After all, the Wanxin Hesheng Auction House was very large and famous, with the most luxurious establishment right across from the antique market. Moreover, with so many people around, Shen Qiang wasn't afraid she would tamper with anything.

Having obtained Shen Qiang's permission,

the tall and thin man with glasses who followed her and another man, probably in his forties, began to examine Shen Qiang's pink blood coral.

It didn't take long before the middle-aged man, removing his white gloves and putting down the magnifying glass, said in a deep voice, "The coral is the Akas type, from the RB Sea, quality A+ grade, no traces of artificial polishing, no broken branches, uniform color, weighing 375 grams, estimated value between three to four million."

Upon hearing this, the crowd exploded instantaneously.

"Three to four million? How could it be that high!"

"Shoot, they really think we don't understand. Even if it's really good, a max of one and a half million is the limit."

Upon hearing the crowd's doubts about the middle-aged man's valuation, the beautiful Xu Nan smiled slightly and said, "The blood coral on the market is generally sold in fragments, which after being polished, are set into jewelry."

"The market price for A+ grade Akas blood coral is generally about three thousand yuan per gram. It is quite reasonable for the price of the rare pure pink Akas blood coral to double. Moreover, this is not a fragment, but a whole piece, so it's only fair for the price to double again."

"Therefore, for the total weight of 375 grams of pink blood coral, an estimate of four million is actually quite conservative."

At these words, the people present took a deep breath, and their gazes towards Shen Qiang became complicated.

Shen Qiang breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "I knew it, how could such a rare item not be valuable."

At the same moment Shen Qiang had that thought, the beautiful Xu Nan smiled and said, "Boss, Wanxin Hesheng has thirteen branches nationwide, covering all first and second-tier cities, so we can help you find the best buyer in the shortest time."

Shen Qiang chuckled and said, "I guess you guys aren't exactly playing the role of Lei Feng."

Xu Nan chuckled and said, "You have a sense of humor, boss. Yes, while we help you find the most suitable buyer, we would also charge a fee, usually between five to seven percent of the sales amount."

"If you agree to let us handle this blood coral, I can personally decide to only charge you a fee of four point five percent."

Shen Qiang frowned, "Four point five percent of a million is forty-five thousand, and for four million, you guys would make a profit of one hundred and eighty thousand."

Xu Nan smiled, "The services we provide are worth much more than you think. Such valuable blood coral isn't something just anyone can afford. Even those who can afford it may not necessarily like it, so selecting the right buyer is a technical job."

Shen Qiang fell silent for a moment and then asked, "How soon could I get the money."

Xu Nan smiled and said, "There's an auction next Friday. If all goes well, the transaction could be completed on the spot. If it is not sold, we will definitely be able to liquidate it within three months at the latest."

Shen Qiang laughed, "If nobody bids in three months, do you plan to buy it yourselves?"

Xu Nan smiled and said, "Exactly."

Shen Qiang nodded and said, "Good, I like the way you do business. I have a few more items here that I'd like that expert to take a look at."

Xu Nan smiled and said, "No problem."

As she spoke, the middle-aged man moved next to Shen Qiang and took the jadeite ring, but as soon as he glanced at it, he let out an astonished gasp.

Instantly, all the surrounding people's eyes widened.

"What's with that ring? Master Tong from Wanxin Hesheng has seen a lot of big scenes. If he's surprised, that ring must be a fake, right?"

"It doesn't quite look like it. If it were a fake, Master Tong would have discreetly finished examining it and simply stated it wasn't suitable for their auction house to represent, without any sign of surprise,"

Realizing that something was off as well, Xu Nan slightly furrowed her brows before leaning in towards the middle-aged man who was inspecting the ring and asked, "What's happened?"

Master Tong silently swept a glance at the people around him, then placed the ring in front of Xu Nan and whispered, "Look here."

Following Master Tong's pointing, Xu Nan's eyes immediately widened, and she exclaimed in shock, "Oh my god, how is this possible!" Realizing she might have misspoken, she promptly covered her mouth.

But it was too late. The portly middle-aged man standing nearby stepped forward eagerly and urged, "Old Tong, let me have a look, quick."

The stall owner, who had been sitting behind the stall, also dashed over in a rush, saying, "Qing Dynasty rings, that's my expertise, Old Tong, you can't hide it from me."

This situation left Shen Qiang a bit bewildered; it was just a jadeite ring, wasn't it?

In the antique market, a white jade ring from the Qing Dynasty, cheap ones are a few dozen yuan each, better ones range from several hundred to thousands. Even if this one was made of jadeite, it was just a matter of tens of thousands, maybe several hundreds of thousands; was it worth such a fuss?

Shen Qiang was full of questions.

Almost simultaneously, the stall owner, after a glance at the ring, cursed, "Damn it!" Then he fiercely slapped himself hard across the face.

The crisp slap startled everyone present.

At almost the same time, the portly middle-aged man started laughing hehehehe, then pointing at the stall owner, he laughed wildly,"Deserved! That's karma for you, cheating people. You might never encounter such an opportunity in your whole life, yet you sold it for just three hundred yuan."

Everyone present was shocked.

To know, pink blood coral might be expensive, but in the eyes of these antique dealers and serious collectors, at worst it was just a missed bargain to be picked up.

So what if you spend some money to buy it back?

But an opportunity represents something that comes once in a lifetime, impossible to seek out intentionally; once missed, there's no second chance to acquire it.

Thus, the scene inexplicably grew quiet.

Everyone held their breath.

Their gazes were glued to the few people still examining the ring.

"It should be genuine, if it were a forgery, they would only engrave the name of the well-known lord from later generations,"

"It's authentic, the characteristics of the carved handwriting are distinct, it must be the handwriting of that lord,"

"I compared it with the photos on my phone, no mistake, every stroke is precisely the same, we can confirm it now,"

Listening to their hushed conversations, the impatient crowd couldn't take it anymore, one person hurriedly said, "What's the deal with that ring, can you just tell us!"

Seeing this, Xu Nan calmed her excited heart, and after getting a nod from Master Tong, carefully cradled the ring in her hands, smiled at Shen Qiang, and with a trembling voice said, "The original owner of this ring was a poet, who inscribed one of his poems on it."

The crowd was stunned, their brows creased in surprise.

After all, throughout China's history, there have been countless poets.

And it was just at that moment, Xu Nan, with her eyes fixed on the ring, softly recited, "If life were only as it first appears, why would the autumn wind sadden the painting of fans? Lightly change is the heart of an acquaintance, yet they say that an old friend's heart is easy to change…"

Shen Qiang, who was drinking water, heard this and immediately sprayed it out.

"The 'Mulan Flower Cue', could it be that the owner of this ring is actually Nalan Xingde, the greatest lyricist of the Qing Dynasty?"

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