Chapter 159: Going to See the Liangzhu Culture, a Feast at Hong Gate?

These were likely things left behind during the pillaging and burning of the past, items too cumbersome to carry away.

Zhang Lianqing immediately called the local Rui City police to investigate the site.

Wang Debao asked nervously, "This doesn’t make me a criminal, does it?"

Zhang Lianqing spoke first. "If these items were truly left behind and not taken out of the country, then you haven’t broken any laws."

"Your transaction with Miss Gu is also perfectly legal."

Hearing this, Wang Debao was crestfallen. "And here I thought I could get them back!"

He had sold them to Gu Shengsheng because he didn’t know if they were genuine. Now that he did, he realized just how much money he had lost.

"Can I take back the sale, Miss Gu?"

Gu Shengsheng shook her head. "The deal is done. You don’t get to just take it back."

"Oh, come on. I thought they might be valuable, which is why I took them to be appraised. But every single big shot in Rui City looked at them and said they were junk!"

"And no one believed me when I said I dug them out of the ground."

Gu Shengsheng said, "That’s because there are too many scams these days involving things ’dug out of the ground.’ Some con artists even construct a fake tomb, bring a potential buyer to the site, let them ’discover’ a treasure, and sell it for a huge sum."

"It looks like it was just unearthed, but it was actually buried there not long before. It’s a common trick. Besides, the appraisers in Rui City aren’t so foolish that not a single one of them could tell the difference."

"Not everything you sold me was authentic, either. There were some high-quality replicas mixed in. I suspect our ancestors created those replicas as a way to swap them for and retrieve our genuine Huaxia artifacts."

"So, the item you had appraised was probably one of the fakes. If it’s a fake to begin with, what kind of price could you possibly expect?"

’It was a matter of timing and fate.’

’One could only say he was unlucky.’

Wang Debao sighed. "I dug up everything. Too bad there’s nothing left."

"Oh well, forget it. I guess that’s all someone like me could get for them anyway."

By the time the investigation was concluded, evening had fallen.

The whole thing had been a misunderstanding. Ordinarily, the artifacts would be returned now that the matter was closed. However, Gu Shengsheng’s treasures had just been properly packed and stored, and unboxing them again would be a waste of time and effort.

Since she had nowhere to store the treasures herself, she simply asked the police to manage the entire collection for her.

She said, "These are all mine, but they’re inconvenient for me to transport. Officer Zhang, since you’ll be returning to Beijing City anyway, it would be great if you could take them with you. I’d appreciate the help!"

"..." Zhang Lianqing was speechless. He really didn’t want to be responsible for all these fragile items, but now he was stuck with them.

’Oh well,’ he thought. ’Transporting a few is the same as transporting a lot. Whatever.’

"Mm," he grunted, nodding.

After gratefully thanking him, Gu Shengsheng cheerfully went on her way with Zhang Zhengyi and Director Wang Yu.

As the three of them walked, they started talking about the Chicken Blood Stone Bracelet from earlier that day.

After hearing the story, Wang Yu sighed in amazement. "So you really didn’t spend a single cent! You two are truly incredible."

"And Shengsheng, you’ve got some real nerve, swindling your own family like that."

Zhang Zhengyi snorted. "That family is full of terrible people. It’s about time they got a taste of their own medicine."

"They disowned their own daughter, throwing her out to be a substitute bride. Then, after reaping the rewards from that, they have the gall to berate the very daughter who brought them that good fortune. They’re just awful."

"Shengsheng, your biological parents are truly horrible. It’s a good thing you grew up in the countryside and weren’t corrupted by them. Otherwise, the Antique Appraisal World would have lost out on a great talent."

Gu Shengsheng said, "It’s better this way. We don’t owe each other anything."

"Let’s not talk about them anymore. The two of you came to find me together, so there must be something else, right? It doesn’t seem like it was just about the bracelet."

Director Wang Yu quickly explained, "I heard that you bought the 150,000 RMB bracelet today, and then your family paid ten million for the better one. Because of that, the owner of the Golden Phoenix Pavilion wants you to join us to view the artifacts from the Liangzhu Culture sites."

"And with all the recent news about you and Professor Zhang Zhengyi, well... Huang Bai, the owner of Golden Phoenix Pavilion, is pretty much the wealthiest man around here. It’s a meeting you should probably take."

Gu Shengsheng nodded, not saying anything.

She only asked, "He wanted to see me only after the incident with the treasures today, correct? Before that, he probably only wanted to meet with Mr. Zhang Zhengyi."

When Gu Shengsheng asked this, he nodded.

She understood immediately. ’This owner of Golden Phoenix Pavilion must know that both artifacts ended up with me. He’s certainly well-informed.’

’He found out everything so quickly.’

Since she was in Anxi now, it was a meeting she couldn’t really refuse.

Besides, the Liangzhu Culture... Gu Shengsheng was quite interested in it. It was from a very, very long time ago...

But the major discoveries related to the Liangzhu Culture had only been made in the last year. Shortly after the news broke, the artifacts were already being bought up.

Everyone was speculating about what kind of powerful tycoon could be behind it, basically using wads of RMB to brute-force their collection.

Gu Shengsheng had been curious about it at the time and had followed the news. She never expected the buyer to be the owner of the Golden Phoenix Pavilion.

’Interesting...’

Gu Shengsheng nodded. "I’ll go. Why would I pass up a chance to see artifacts from the Liangzhu Culture?"

"Besides, I’ll be with Director Wang Yu and Mr. Zhang. If anything goes wrong, you two can take the blame."

Zhang Zhengyi said helplessly, "Are you planning on using us as a shield to cause all sorts of trouble? I’m telling you, Shengsheng, that’s not very nice."

"I don’t really have any experience in the appraisal business; I’m just here for the show. As for Director Wang Yu, he strikes me as an ’empty vessel makes the most noise’ type."

"How can he possibly be on the same level as Director Gao Liu?"

Wang Yu immediately rolled up his sleeves. "Who says I’m not skilled? I’m just not *as* skilled! Mr. Zhang, you’d better not tarnish my reputation!"

"I’m an old man! I can’t just take any kind of abuse!"

Gu Shengsheng found it amusing listening to the two old men bicker.

Wang Yu looked at Gu Shengsheng. "Don’t you worry, I’ll protect you."

"We’re just going to look at some artifacts, right? What could possibly happen? This Huang Bai, the owner of Golden Phoenix Pavilion, is probably just showing off his wealth."

"Mr. Zhang can go research the historical materials of the Liangzhu civilization, and we can go check out the merchandise."

As he spoke, Wang Yu’s wife called him repeatedly, and he rushed home.

Gu Shengsheng and Zhang Zhengyi returned to their hotel to rest.

The next day, Gu Shengsheng once again slept in until the sun was high in the sky.

Whenever she felt exhausted, her sleeping time would stretch on for a long, long time...

After Gu Shengsheng washed up and got ready, she and Zhang Zhengyi took a taxi to the Golden Phoenix Pavilion.

Director Wang Yu was already there. Standing before him was a refined, middle-aged man with glasses, exchanging pleasantries with the director.

When Gu Shengsheng and Zhang Zhengyi walked over, the middle-aged man was visibly surprised. "Miss Gu is so young?"

"You must be the youngest person in our line of work."