Chapter 17 Bargaining: "A real antique! You got a steal!"...

Chapter 17 Bargaining: "A real antique! You got a steal!"...

Seize the young?

Jin Shiyue said she was going to take the young master?!

For a moment, the audience was stunned, and even forgot to send comments.

Jin Shiyue has only been studying agarwood for less than half a year and cannot be considered an expert, but she has seen quite a lot of agarwood in the store. The faint scent of frankincense and floral fragrance in the base notes is the unique scent of Qinan.

"Judging from the color, this is yellow Qinan, right?" Jin Shiyue handed the bracelet to Ye Hantao. "Judging from the quality, it looks like high-end Qinan worth around 50,000 yuan per gram."

The audience: "???"

ah? ? ? ? ? ? ?

"Luckily, Jin Shiyue didn't mention that it costs 150,000 per gram..." Ye Weizheng breathed a sigh of relief at an inopportune moment.

Zhou Ti was almost frantic, "Is there any difference between 1 gram of 5w and 1 gram of 15w for Tao Tao?!"

She immediately called the expert appraiser who had been sent to the site and told them to make thorough preparations.

No matter what excuse you use, you must never let Tao Tao know the true value of the bracelet.

Ye Weizheng's gaze lingered on Tao Tao's face through the screen, as if afraid that Tao Tao might feel even slightly uncomfortable.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ti slapped her forehead in regret.

When Tao Tao suggested wearing a wooden bracelet on the show, she should have been more forceful in her opposition!

The area around the stall fell silent, and the eyes of the stall owners and customers from other stalls were all fixed on the string of wooden beads.

At first glance, they seemed unremarkable, but upon hearing that it might be Huang Qinan, their eyes lit up.

Fortunately, the cameramen on the show were tall and strong, and with the help of several bodyguards, they firmly protected Ye Hantao and the others in the middle.

Otherwise, they would definitely gather around and examine it carefully.

Ye Hantao blankly opened her hands and took the beads that Jin Shiyue had helped her retrieve, while Liao Jiayue even suspected that she was hallucinating.

The audience realized it too late:

[What did Jin Shiyue just say? Around 50,000 won per pill?]

【Huh? I heard one gram? These several sets of wooden beads must weigh over 20 grams, right?】

That's 1 million?!

[Heavens above! I was just guessing that Ye Hantao was trying to lie and extort 1,000, 10,000...]

Ye Hantao did lie; she lied about how low the price was.

The statement that one gram costs 50,000 won came from international supermodel Kim Si-wol. In the comments section, more astonishment and envy than doubt emerged.

However, dissenting opinions soon emerged.

[Are there really any idiots who would believe that? Jin Shiyue is clearly lying for Ye Hantao to save face.]

Are you haters crazy?! Our Sister Jin wouldn't stoop to such a thing!

[It's true that one gram of this stuff costs 50,000; Jin Shiyue must have been out of his mind to say that in public.]

[Uh, you guys don't think those fierce-looking bodyguards are from the production crew, do you? They're Kim's own bodyguards, armed with rifles, who work overseas.]

[Yes, hahaha, Kim Si-wol is most famous internationally not for being a "muscle Barbie" or being late, but for valuing her life above all else.]

Ye Hantao was the most composed person in the entire room.

It's not like you can find something cheap at an antique market. You can buy 1 gram of agarwood for 50,000 yuan at a two-dollar store.

Hahaha, she never dreamed of such a grand scheme. Sister Shiyue probably wanted to use this method to fool the staff member pretending to be a stall owner, making it easier to negotiate a lower price!

Seeing Ye Hantao holding the wooden beads so casually, Jin Shiyue felt even more heartbroken. "You can't—"

Before he could finish speaking, Yuan Kai and Ji Changtu squeezed in.

They had already looked at two stalls and came over according to the stall layout map, only to find Ye Hantao and her group surrounded by a crowd.

Yuan Kai's gaze swept over Ye Hantao's face, and a gentle smile appeared on his long, thin face. "Is there some excitement to watch here?"

"Teacher Yuan, Boss Ji, you've arrived."

Liao Jiayue's expression had returned to normal. After greeting everyone, she twirled a strand of hair in front of her with her finger and said apologetically, "It's my fault. I didn't notice and broke Tao Tao's agarwood bracelet."

When she mentioned the words "Qinan agarwood," Liao Jiayue raised her voice slightly. Sure enough, Ji Changtu's expression changed slightly, which made her secretly delighted.

After calming down, Liao Jiayue found Jin Shiyue ridiculous.

She and Ye Hantao were classmates for half a year, so there's no way this person could afford Qinan agarwood!

Among the group, Ji Changtu was the only expert who could speak the truth and convince everyone.

Ji Changtu took two steps forward and glanced sideways at the wooden beads held in Ye Hantao's hand.

In an instant, the fat on his cheeks twitched, and he let out a soft scoff, "Agarwood?"

Earlier, he was thoroughly embarrassed by Jin Shiyue in front of the entire live broadcast audience for his identification of furniture wood, but he has actually done some in-depth research on the counterfeiting of sandalwood.

It's one thing if other people wear it, but Ye Hantao wears it? 100% fake.

"Supermodel Kim, you have some issues with your eyesight."

"You can take it and smell it."

Jin Shiyue frowned in displeasure, but still said a few more words, "The earthy yellow color has a golden texture, and the base notes have floral and frankincense. Tell me, what's the problem?"

Ji Changtu shook his head. "The patterns on it are obviously artificial, which is why it feels rough to the touch. Genuine agarwood has a smooth surface."

After saying that, he didn't even bother to look at it closely. "The most important thing is that this bead feels light and airy when you hold it in your hand!"

Jin Shiyue, refusing to believe it, took one from Ye Hantao's hand.

After several comparisons, she had to admit that it wasn't as heavy as a certain type of agarwood she had seen in the store.

[This is hilarious, everyone. Jin Shiyue is speechless.]

[That's a true expert!]

Fortunately, Ji Changtu arrived just in time, otherwise he would have been fooled by Jin Shiyue.

What do you mean by "fooling"? Sister Jin has never seen counterfeit goods!

[Well, my grandpa said it's not necessarily true; he said even old materials can feel unstable when handled.]

[A gram of this old material might cost over 100,000 yuan. If she could afford a bracelet like this, would Ye Hantao still need to wear clothes that cost 39 yuan? Should she check the average price per person at the Jinwan Hotel online?]

An elderly passerby, around seventy years old, stepped forward from the crowd.

He adjusted his reading glasses and squinted to examine the wooden beads held in Ji Changtu's hand.

Regardless of whether it's genuine or fake, some old wood will naturally appear wavy. This is because the wood has been aged for a long time, causing the woody parts to shrink.

Similarly, if old materials are oxidized for a long time, the surface will also become rough.

Unfortunately, such good materials have become rare in recent years.

The old man wanted to get a closer look, but before he could move, he was stopped by several plainclothes bodyguards of Jin Shiyue, who stared at him warily with their fierce eyes.

"???"

These days, even celebrities have plainclothes bodyguards following them when they record shows?

Ji Changtu noticed the astonished looks from those around him and couldn't help but feel elated.

He glanced down and casually smelled the beads between his fingers, then continued to offer his opinion, “The sweet and frankincense you mentioned, I just smelled them, and the scents are very weak. They are obviously artificial fragrances produced using advanced technology, and the scents will dissipate completely over time.”

The old man disagreed with this statement.

He smelled it too roughly, without savoring it properly. Besides, the aroma of old Qinan is inherently subtle and delicate.

If this person is truly an expert, they should fill a glass with water to verify it; counterfeiting techniques cannot replicate old, submersible materials.

A private plane cuts through the clouds.

At an altitude of 10,000 meters, the Wi-Fi signal on board was stable, and the variety show "Classmates Are Here" was playing smoothly on the tablet.

Cheng Zhao's well-defined fingers slid across the screen, zooming in to enlarge the image.

Ye Hantao, still holding the wooden beads in her hands, stood in the crowd. Her eyes were clear and bright, like the sky after a mountain rain, washed clean and pure.

Ji Changtu's clearly dismissive evaluation didn't make her show the slightest bit of embarrassment or anger; instead, her face was filled with a look of sudden realization, "So that's how it is," which was rather endearing.

“Your bracelet…” Ji Changtu glanced arrogantly at Ye Hantao not far away and said sarcastically, “It’s worth at most two or three hundred.”

[Phew, that almost made Ye Hantao lose her public image.]

I feel a little sorry for Ye Hantao; she became rich overnight, but only for a few minutes.

Ye Hantao seems quite happy.

Other viewers looked closely and saw that Ye Hantao was putting the wooden beads back into her backpack with even greater care than before.

Her eyes crinkled into crescent moons with joy. "It's actually worth two or three hundred! My mom found a bargain at the two-dollar store!"

The audience: "???"

Ye Hantao realized she had let something slip and quickly corrected herself, saying, "But it was blessed by my parents at a particularly efficacious temple, and in my heart it's priceless!"

Why!

If he hadn't let it slip, he could have insisted it was agarwood, which would have been a huge blow to his vanity.

Ye Hantao secretly regretted her carelessness!

When the bespectacled old man heard that Ye Hantao's bracelet was bought from a two-dollar store, he immediately lost interest in helping her with the authentication.

Finding a bargain on old agarwood at a two-dollar store? The odds are higher than winning the lottery.

Jin Shiyue frowned as she examined the pad of her finger that had touched the wooden bead; a faint fragrance of the bead seemed to linger on it.

That soothing and calming scent couldn't possibly be from artificial fragrances.

“After Tao Tao finishes recording the first episode and goes home, let’s secretly switch the wooden beads.” Ye Weizheng patted Zhou Ti’s shoulder lightly. “I think Jin Shiyue is suspicious.”

Zhou Ti nodded, "I'll text Tao Tao later and tell her not to let anyone else see the bracelet."

Before giving these agarwood pieces to Tao Tao, they did indeed take them to the temple to have an old Taoist priest consecrate them.

The excuse for not letting others see it is readily available: "Things that have been blessed should not be frequently lent to others."

Ye Weizheng clicked his tongue, "This Ji Changtu, he's really putting on an act."

Finding a bargain worth two or three hundred yuan at a two-dollar store is possible, but finding a bargain worth hundreds of thousands of yuan like Huang Qinan? Even the naive Tao Tao wouldn't believe it.

It's better not to believe it.

He had previously mentioned the possibility of a promotion, and Tao Tao felt uncomfortable. If the 1 million yuan bracelet is confirmed, Tao Tao will probably have to be sent to the hospital on the spot.

Liao Jiayue, who was also at the scene, relaxed her tense facial muscles after confirming that Ye Hantao's bracelet was just a fake worth two or three hundred yuan.

"Tao Tao, here's three hundred yuan. I'm so sorry, I accidentally broke your bracelet."

Liao Jiayue pulled out three extra red bills and stuffed them into Ye Hantao's hand. Before Ye Hantao could refuse, she quickly bent down and picked up the white rabbit. "I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'll go to the next stall first. We'll meet at the meeting point later."

Clutching the three red bills in her hand, Ye Hantao shouted as she watched Liao Jiayue run off into the distance, "Jiayue, try to negotiate the price! Try to negotiate the price!"

Liao Jiayue ran even faster and faster, and soon disappeared into the bustling market. All that haggling was just an excuse to snatch the white rabbit from her.

"Are all four of you here?" Su Yi'ang, wearing his conspicuous yellow hoodie, ran over from the other side of the crowd. "Have you finished buying the antiques?"

Yuan Kai put his arm around Ji Changtu's shoulder and said, "We bought two in total, and we still have eight hundred left. We thought we'd come here and take another look."

"You guys can still have 800 left after buying two?!" Su Yi'ang gave a thumbs up. "The two I'm eyeing, the cheapest one is 2400."

He was unsure what to do, so he sent a message to Wu Xia, but hadn't received a reply yet.

[He's trying to persuade the stall owner to lower the price with his eyes, hahaha.]

[Hahaha, sitting in front of the stall holding a vase, not letting go, not saying a word, just enduring it all.]

The stall owner, with his legs crossed, announced, "Everything on the stall is priced at two thousand. Don't miss out!"

Yuan Kai noticed that the stalls were selling jade ornaments and became interested. "Changtu, shall we take a look? You're more knowledgeable about this than we are."

"..." Ji Changtu tugged at the cuff of his suit, glanced at the items on the stall, but couldn't see many clearly. He said, "No need to look anymore, the genuine articles have probably been bought by Liao Jiayue."

Ye Hantao nodded in agreement, "Yes, I also think the white rabbit that Jiayue bought looks like the real thing."

It was rare for Ji Changtu to hear a pleasing word from Ye Hantao; Yuan Kaitai had insisted on bringing him to this stall.

"Old Yuan, let's hurry up and take a look at the porcelain stalls," he said.

"Okay." Yuan Kai agreed, then asked the remaining three, "What about you? Want to come along?"

Su Yi'ang thought for a moment, "I'll go too. Wu Xia might be there."

"Where's Tao Tao?" he asked.

Ye Hantao glanced at the remaining jade ornaments on the stall. Among them, two ornaments were of far superior quality to Boss Ji's jade pendant, like the green rabbit.

I don't expect them to be antiques, but if I can bargain them down to 100 yuan for two, it would be nice to bring them home as gifts for my mother.

"Let me pick some more." Ye Hantao squatted in front of the stall, picking out a rabbit and a lotus leaf from a pile of jade ornaments. "Boss, I'll buy them as a package, so please give me a fair price!"

"Two thousand for now, no bargaining."

Ye Hantao tried hard to recall the bargaining techniques she had learned while shopping with her classmates, pondering which ones could be incorporated into antiques.

"Uncle, the Qianlong seal on the bottom of this rabbit is blurry, and it feels rough to the touch. Before I came here, I saw the exact same one at another stall, and they were selling them for thirty yuan each!"

Stall owner: "..."

You've got three million nitpicking rabbits!

Did you hear that?! Answer me! It's three million!!!

Ye Hantao's legs ached from squatting, so she clenched her fist and tapped her calves, then poked at the lotus leaf-shaped fabric with her fingertips.

She rattled off her words like a machine gun, “Uncle, and this lotus leaf material of yours, is it glass-dyed? It’s not as clear as the Shoushan jade at home that costs a few dozen yuan, and the edges are rough.”

After picking and choosing, Ye Hantao found a bunch of minor flaws. Her throat was dry from talking, and she secretly glanced at the stall owner, only to find that he was unmoved.

"..." Ye Hantao decided to go all out.

She propped herself up on her knees as if to stand up, and after standing up, the toes of her canvas shoes moved away from the stall. "Uncle, really no price reduction? Then I'll go take another look at the stall I checked before I came."

Seeing that the stall owner remained silent, Ye Hantao dragged out her words.

"I'm leaving."

—Take half a step.

Two seconds passed but nothing happened.

"I'm really leaving now."

— Take half a step.

Hahahaha!

When did you ask other stalls?!

[Hahahaha, I was just planning to take a quick look and leave, but I got completely captivated (covers mouth and laughs.jpg)]

[This feels so familiar! It's like I'm shopping for clothes with my mom at a mall.]

[Yes, yes, yes! My mom and I do the same thing when we're shopping for clothes at the mall. We keep saying other stores have cheaper clothes, and we keep glancing at the vendors' expressions as we walk out.]

Jin Shiyue's thoughts returned, and she stopped thinking about whether the agarwood was real or fake.

She looked up and stared at Ye Hantao, who kept muttering about leaving, sometimes two meters away from the stall, sometimes one meter away.

...Why don't you just leave? You're getting closer and closer.

All eyes were on them, and Jin Shiyue was so embarrassed that she really wanted to turn around and leave.

She didn't know this stingy person, and various media outlets that disliked her were not allowed to associate her with Ye Hantao!

An elderly stall owner at the next stall was amused and his beard trembled as he tried to persuade her, "Why don't you give the little girl a discount? It's not that expensive."

They've been at the market for over a decade or two. These jade stones, priced at a fixed price of two thousand, are all designed to fool laymen who are unwilling to spend money but want to find bargains.

It could very well be an antique. Even with only a one or two chance, the asking price would be five or six figures.

The staff member pretending to be a stall owner: "..."

"Alright, alright, I'll sell them to you at a discount! Two for a hundred yuan, hurry up and choose!" He shouted exaggeratedly, his square face drooping. "They're genuine antiques! You've got a steal!"

Holding the two ornaments she had just bought, Ye Hantao's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Thank you, Uncle!"

"You sold three in less than an hour. The rest will surely sell out quickly too. I wish you booming business and continued wealth!"

Her voice was as sweet as honey, and it sounded especially pleasing amidst the shouts and bargaining in the antique market.

The staff members' faces crinkled into smiles; who wouldn't love a blessing of wealth?

He picked out two more ornaments and handed them over, saying, "You're such a sweet talker, little girl. Here, take these two and play with them too."

"Thank you so much, Uncle! You're such a kind person!"

After thanking her repeatedly, Ye Hantao added a string of blessings, such as "May wealth roll in, may your pockets always be full, may your wallet be bulging, and may good luck always come your way," which made the stall owner beam with joy.

He picked up the ornaments again and stuffed them into Ye Hantao's hands. If he couldn't hold them, he would stuff them into his bag. Even the surrounding stall owners looked over.

The way you're stuffing it in, even the dumbest customer can tell you're selling counterfeit goods.

The staff didn't care. Since it was the production team's stuff, no matter how much they sold or how expensive it was, it wouldn't go into his pocket. But the blessings for getting rich were genuinely given to him.

The stall owner is too easily swayed!

[But Ye Hantao's wishes for wealth were so appealing, I wanted to hear them too.]

[Wishing you prosperity with eyes as bright as a kitten's—so sincere!]

Looking at the dozen or so ornaments in Ye Hantao's arms, I suddenly felt that Liao Jiayue had gotten a bad deal.

[Haha, Yueyue spent 2000 to buy a genuine antique, while Ye Han spent 100 to buy a bunch of junk.]

Why are Liao Jiayue's fans in Ye Hantao's personal live stream?

Ye Hantao, carrying a backpack, walked briskly, the ornaments stuffed inside jingling incessantly. "Sister Shiyue, where are we going next?"

"There's still one stall selling calligraphy and paintings that we haven't visited yet." Jin Shiyue looked at Ye Hantao's fair face, which was filled with the joy of finding a great deal, and suddenly said, "You're bargaining so much, aren't you afraid that people around you will say you're stingy?"

Kim Si-wol could already guess what the media would say: being so stingy with such a small amount of money was really petty.

The cameraman standing nearby jolted Jin Shiyue awake. The words that were about to come out of her mouth turned into an unpleasant lecture: "Isn't this a waste of time?"

"Sister Shiyue, didn't you buy a genuine antique?" Ye Hantao's lips curled up, her voice full of trust. "If you can recognize the small-leaf sandalwood used in furniture, the inkstone you bought must also be a genuine antique."

If a genuine antique is purchased, each group member will receive 10 points. Of the remaining two antiques, Jia Yue bought the white rabbit, and the other one will probably be chosen by Boss Ji or Teacher He Qiang.

Ye Hantao knew herself quite well; in her nineteen years of life, she had seen very few genuine antiques.

One is a painting by Zheng Banqiao and Qi Baishi hanging in the villa's corridor, and the other is Boss Ji's teacup.

At the jade stall, I was able to determine the authenticity by comparing it with Boss Ji's jade pendant; it's hard to say about the other stalls.

Jin Shiyue hesitated for a moment, then said, "Take out your sandalwood bracelet and let me take another look."

“My mom just messaged me saying that this bracelet has been blessed and shouldn’t be lent to other people too often.”

Ye Hantao hugged her backpack and blinked, "Sister Shiyue, I believe what you said. Boss Ji can't compare to you in terms of recognizing quality."

Zhou Ti & Ye Weizheng: "!!!"

"Did Tao Tao recognize you?!"

"Ye Weizheng! Don't panic whenever Tao Tao is involved," Zhou Ti said calmly. "If Tao Tao really recognized you, would you still be so lively and energetic?"

Ye Weizheng looked down at his wrist, which was being pinched hard, hissed, and said in a trembling voice, "Darling, you can only calm down because you pinched me!"

Zhou Ti let go of her hand, a fleeting look of embarrassment on her face.

Jin Shiyue perked up, "Your bracelet is really—"

"Really!" Ye Hantao said proudly, "My bracelet is made of genuine Huangqi agarwood."

Jin Shiyue felt exhausted. "...Huang Qinan."

"Oh, Huang Qinan agarwood, my mother specially spent a lot of money to buy it for me."

Because Ye Hantao still vividly remembered Jin Shiyue saying that a gram cost tens of thousands, she didn't purse her lips when she lied about a gram costing tens of thousands. "A gram really does cost tens of thousands. Boss Ji doesn't know its value."

[Illness progression 90% (critical threshold), current character profile maintained at 6/10.]

yeah!

Ye Hantao was happy, and her persona was maintained for another round.

If her mother hadn't specifically told her not to lend it to others so often, she would have even asked the program's expert appraiser to take a look, which would have further confirmed that she was lying.

[Ye Hantao, are you even capable?! I just had a better impression of you because of the price negotiation, and now you're coming here to spite yourself and lie?]

This just shows that old habits die hard.

[That bargaining was just for show, all because the camera was on.]

[This is 100% staged. The main livestream relies entirely on discussion volume to determine who gets featured. Ye Hantao's bargaining segment was broadcast entirely in the main livestream.]

[This also boosted the popularity of her personal live stream.]

After being alerted by a few viewers that the popularity was rising, others also glanced at the online popularity of the live stream in the upper left corner and were immediately surprised.

[Ye Hantao, a complete amateur, has somehow surpassed Yuan Kai and Wu Xia in online popularity?!]

Currently, the top eight guests in terms of popularity in their individual live streams, from top to bottom, are Su Yi'ang, Jin Shiyue, Liao Jiayue, Ye Hantao, Wu Xia, Yuan Kai, He Qiang, and Ji Changtu.

[Friendly reminder: The duration of individual streams in the main livestream room is positively correlated with the popularity of individual streams.]

[Case solved! Ye Hantao only bargained to boost her popularity; we were all complete idiots :)]

All viewers believed that once Ye Hantao's true intentions were exposed, the popularity of the live stream would drop further and further.

A minute passed.

Ye Hantao's live stream firmly holds the fourth position.

Five minutes passed.

Ye Hantao's live stream room still firmly holds the fourth position.

Ten minutes passed.

Ye Hantao's live stream room remained firmly in place... no, it moved.

It's starting to push for third place!

【？？？？】

【You guys didn't leave? ? ? ? 】

-----------------------

Author's Note: Tao Tao was selecting antiques; after a thorough analysis, the process was completely wrong, but the result was correct. [Sunglasses]

Thank you everyone for the thunderbolts and nutrient solutions [pat on the head]. I just joined Peach Blessing Class: I wish you all good sleep, plenty of money in your bank account, happiness, health, and peace!

The random giveaways of big and small red envelopes from the previous chapter are all done! Who were the lucky ones? [Let me see!]