The Tycoon's Enchanted Mermaid

Chapter 99: Chapter 99: The Precious Treasure, Priceless

Ming Tao pushed up his glasses with his middle finger, and his first impression of the girl online was that she was quite young, as evident from her voice. Due to the platform’s regulations, he cautiously asked,

“Excuse me for asking, but are you of legal age, Miss? We have a rule in our live stream room not to appraise antiques for minors unless accompanied by a parent.”

Ah Da immediately responded, “I am of age, do you need to see my ID?”

“No need, just be careful not to disclose your personal information recklessly.” The young girl’s voice was sweet, carrying the innocent naivety of a college student, which Ming Tao gently scolded, feeling confident about this fortunate viewer. He added, “I trust you; you wouldn’t lie to me in front of tens of thousands of viewers, right?”

Ah Da’s true age was well beyond eighteen, even over a thousand, and she helplessly said, “I really haven’t lied to you.”

“As long as you’re not lying to me, that’s fine. I’m just worried about losing the live stream,” Ming Tao jokingly said while fanning himself.

Most of the live comments were filled with laughter, some urging to start quickly, while a small portion still stubbornly asked Ah Da to show her face.

“The time is pressing; let’s start. Miss, could you move the camera closer? It’s too far, and Brother Ming here is nearsighted and can’t see clearly.”

Ah Da moved closer, causing the camera to shake a bit.

“Hold it up, one by one, start with the one on the left.” Ming Tao’s keen eyes spotted the Jade Ring on the table; its shape and quality seemed to be a treasure.

Ah Da held the phone with one hand and picked up the Jade Ring with the other, directing it towards the camera and adjusting the angle to capture the entire Jade Ring clearly, “Can you see it now?”

Ming Tao had already seen the Jade Ring clearly. He sat up, stretched his neck, and his eyes bulged, “You, you, you… hold the camera steady, yes, just focus on the front and don’t move.”

Ah Da immediately froze, holding her hand steady on the Jade Ring.

Ming Tao was in disbelief, eyes glued to the item on the screen, looking too shocked to speak.

Live comments:

“Wow, this girl has got something.”

“Here we go again, the old thief is scaring people again.”

“Brother Ming, your acting is so immersive, it’s a pity you don’t act.”

“No, something feels off, this piece of jade seems incredible, I think something big is going to happen.”

“The jade is carved with a white dragon, and dragons, logically, in ancient times were only for the Emperor to use.”

“Am I the only one who thinks Brother Ming isn’t acting?”

“Bros, are you all born with a divine gift for identifying treasures, focused only on the object? Am I the only one who noticed the girl online has such smooth, fair hands? Definitely a beauty.”

“We’re here to see the treasure, who, like you, can’t move on after seeing a girl, even the cured ones still drool.”

The live comments were in heated discussions, incessantly noisy, while the two connected individuals remained unusually quiet.

It took quite a while for Ming Tao to regain his composure; his expression subtle, he skipped his usual routine of drinking tea to calm his nerves and asked directly, “Miss, this item of yours… it’s quite powerful. You’re quite young, where did you get it from?”

The clever Ah Da, who had watched the livestream, had already prepared her response, knowing the host would ask about the origin of antiques; she obviously couldn’t admit it was her keepsake.

“A gift from an elder in my family.”

Ah Da delivered the lie she had prepared, adeptly fabricating it to conceal her identity, her face showing no sign of deceit, which she didn’t know whether to consider a good or bad thing.

Ming Tao casually snapped open his fan, “I see, Miss, your family must be quite remarkable, right?”

Ah Da pursed her lips, what family background did she have? No relatives, no past, only friends.

Seeing the young girl remain silent, Ming Tao assumed she didn’t want to disclose her identity, understandable since owning artifacts from Western Zhou and earlier could only mean it was a gift from an extremely top-tier family within Z country, a very small circle.

Such ancient families most loathed being exposed to public scrutiny.

“Okay, to prove that our Longquan livestream is not a professional ‘personal information inspection’ room, let’s now show some real skills. Sister, tell me first what do you want to know?”

At last, they had smoothly arrived at this part. Ah Da’s eyes were dark and shiny as she immediately said, “Host, I want you to estimate a price for me, for a jade ring and another small tripod.”

“Another tripod?”

Dragon-shaped Jade Ring and tripod, could these two artifacts be from the same period? Ming Tao gasped in astonishment.

The comments exploded:

“What’s going on? The more I hear, the more confused I get. Decipher it quickly.”

“Do these two items have anything special?”

“Not good, this Jade Ring seems vaguely familiar. Guys, I think I’ve seen something similar in a museum, almost the same, it couldn’t be a replica, could it?”

“It’s not just familiar, it looks a lot like the treasure from the Yuhang Museum, the Western Zhou Dragon Pattern Jade Ring. I just visited last week, I remember it clearly.”

“Oh man, it’s really in the museum, so this one is fake? Fakes are no fun.”

“Let’s disperse, let’s disperse.”

“It might not necessarily be fake; nobody has proven that there is only one of these items.”

Ah Da was also paying attention to the comments. Seeing people mentioning it might be fake, she couldn’t help but interject, “It’s not fake, it’s real.”

It was genuinely a thousand years old, having spent millennia with her in the incense burner space.

How could it be fake?

The host Ming Tao stepped in to control the situation. He tapped on the table with his fan: “Hey, hey, hey, who said this thing is fake? When will you change the habit of falsely authenticating things without proof?”

“This Dragon-shaped Jade Ring is symmetrical, carved with double dragon heads chasing each other among cloud patterns, all using the double-hook carving technique. Look at the lines—graceful and smooth; even whether it’s the carving technique or the shape, both are almost identical to the Dragon Pattern Jade Ring at Yuhang Museum, so some guys who have been to the museum are quick to call it fake.”

“Wait a minute, everyone. As we all know, the Jade Ring at the Yuhang Museum not only has dragon carvings, but also has a Divine Bird Phoenix carved on the upper left side, so the official full name is the White Jade Dragon and Phoenix Pattern Jade Ring.”

Ming Tao told Ah Da, “Sister, pick it up and point the camera inside the ring.”

Ah Da did as he instructed, with the interior structure of the Jade Ring clearly displayed on the screen.

“See, inside it’s still just the Dragon Pattern, no phoenix, double dragons connected seamlessly.”

Ming Tao stroked his chin thoughtfully: “I’ve often heard from the old masters in the industry that where there’s a dragon, the phoenix appears as companions, never solitary. Your Jade Ring’s texture is clear and the carvings extraordinary, yet it’s remarkably well preserved.”

No signs of friction or any historical traces, astoundingly pristine. If not for the unique craftsmanship, it would be hard to believe that this was from over a thousand years ago.

Despite all this, Ah Da only wanted to know its worth. “Is it still valuable?”

“Hahaha, I thought you’d have your answer already after hearing my explanation,” Ming Tao laughed, waving his fan.

Comments:

“That means you’ve struck it rich, sister.”

“Does it worth a hundred ‘w’s?”

“Being on the same level as a museum’s treasured ancient jade, expecting a hundred ‘w’s is wishful thinking, you won’t get anything.”

“Cool fact, in 2019, a Western Zhou Jade Artifact was auctioned for fifty million, setting a record for jade auctions at that time.”

“Awesome, the Jade Ring is tonight’s star!”

“I can smell the money through the screen.”