I held the round stone and looked at it for a while, but I didn't notice anything unusual. I thought I'd have it tested to see if there was anything special about the stone.
Zeng Qiang then said, "Manager Zhang, that guest outside said he wanted us to close the curtains. Dan turned off the lights, and I was thinking, what's the point of looking around in the pitch black?"
Upon hearing this, Old Wu paused for a moment, then immediately said, "Let me see the stone!"
He handed the stone to him, and Old Wu took it and examined it. He then gently tapped the surface with his fingers, and then took it to a bright light and turned it on. Under the bright light, he carefully examined it and slowly rotated it a few times.
After hesitating for a moment, Old Wu turned on the light. Then he said to Zeng Qiang, "Draw the curtains and turn off the light!"
Zeng Qiang hesitantly drew the curtains, then turned off the light switch, plunging the room into darkness.
But the moment the room went dark, the stone in Old Wu's hand lit up, emitting a greenish glow, and the light seemed to grow stronger and stronger!
The three men, Zeng Qiang, Lao Wu, and Zeng Qiang, looked very strange under the green light; their three faces were all huddled together.
**Lu Qiang first called out to the leader: "Night-shining pearl!"
"That's right, it's a luminous pearl!" Old Wu nodded, his expression excited, his hands even trembling slightly. "Luminous pearls have always been legendary treasures. I only saw one once, twenty years ago, in March 1990, at the Hong Kong Kelly Auction. It was described as one of the three luminous pearls on Empress Dowager Cixi's hat, which was set with a hundred diamonds. It was eventually sold to a British collector for HK$47 million. At the auction, the auctioneer did a test, shining the pearl under a bright light for five minutes and then turning off the power. The pearl then emitted a shimmering light. I was sitting near the front, so I could see it clearly. The luminous pearl was about the size of a pigeon's egg, and its brilliance was quite strong. Since then, I haven't seen a luminous pearl!"
The three of them stared at the luminous pearl for a while, then suddenly remembered something. They quickly said, "Where is the owner of the luminous pearl? Quick, quick, Zeng Qiang!"
Volume 1, Chapter 118: Such Good Luck!
Bu Jian strode out of shop A, only to find Zhou Xuan standing there with his hands behind his back, leisurely looking at some books and objects. He paused for a moment, then looked around, but saw no one else except Chen Shuhua.
Zeng Qiang pointed at Zhou Xuan and said, "Manager Zhang, that's the guest!"
He immediately dragged Zhou Xuan into the inner room, muttering to himself as he went. After pulling Zhou Xuan into the inner room, Old Wu had already turned on the power and the light was on.
"What the hell are you doing? You've been driving me crazy these past few days, and you've just disappeared!"
While complaining, he glanced at the luminous pearl in Old Wu's hand and asked, "Little brother, do you know that this thing of yours is a luminous pearl?"
"Hehe, of course I know." Zhou Xuan replied with a smile, "Xiao Ying told me that our shop is missing a treasure, so I thought I'd use this luminous pearl to enhance the store's image. Is it good enough?"
"That's enough, that's more than enough!" he hurriedly said, but it was truly strange. His brother was like a mysterious figure, both enigmatic and incredibly lucky. He'd somehow struck it rich, making hundreds of millions—unthinkable, yet he'd definitely made it. Villas, cars, a girlfriend as beautiful as a fairy—he had it all. And then, on a trip back to his hometown, he'd found another one. A broken stone lion, from which 20 million worth of gold was unearthed. The stone lion could be attributed to the old Taoist priest from back then, but what about this luminous pearl?
"I found this luminous pearl by chance in a stone cave in Luozu. I brought it here specifically to enhance the image of our shop!" Zhou Xuan said with a smile.
He almost fainted. It wasn't that he was jealous of the benefits his brother Zhou Xuan had received; he just couldn't believe that someone's luck could be this good. Even if a pie fell from the sky, it wouldn't hit him so precisely, would it?
Zhou Xuan possesses the special ability of ice energy, so he can certainly determine its value, but his basic common sense knowledge is far lacking.
Among all these people, only Lao Wu truly understands.
“Take a closer look!” Old Wu placed the luminous pearl on the coffee table and spun it around. “This luminous pearl is slightly larger than the one I saw at the Hong Kong auction years ago, and its light source is stronger. The length and uniformity of the light are also better than that one. The quality of a luminous pearl is generally judged by the time it absorbs light, the duration of the light, its color, and the length and uniformity of the light. Based on this, the value of this luminous pearl should exceed that of the one from back then.”
To be honest, Zhou Xuan didn't really care about the value of this luminous pearl. How much it was worth didn't mean much to him at the moment. However, he did enjoy listening to Old Wu tell stories about those treasures.
Old Wu stared at the luminous pearl on the coffee table and said, "The luminous pearl is one of the most magical and precious treasures in history. Because of its mystery, value, and extreme rarity, it has become a legend, a mythical object. The luminous pearl..."
Zeng Qiang was enjoying the conversation when he noticed that Old Wu was rubbing his mouth, clearly thirsty. He quickly poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him.
Old Wu picked up his glass, took a small sip, and moistened his lips. It wasn't just others who were engrossed in the story; he himself had been speaking with great enthusiasm. It was like doing something enjoyable—of course, he wouldn't be satisfied if he didn't finish halfway through. He smacked his lips and continued, "In ancient times, luminous pearls were also called 'night-shining jade,' 'moon pearl,' 'following pearl,' 'hanging li,' 'jade of heavy thorns,' and 'jade of stone phosphorus,' among other names. According to historical records, luminous pearls already existed as early as the time of Emperor Shennong in prehistoric times. For example, Shennong possessed a stone ball called the 'Night Mine.' During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, pearls like the 'hanging li' and 'jade of hanging thorns' were priceless, comparable to the He Shi Bi."
"At that time, two people, Tao Laigong, a high-ranking official, and Jia Dun, a wealthy merchant, were able to afford it. The State of Jin once used the 'Hanging Thorn Wall' as bait to 'deceive Yu into replacing the silk.' Officials from the states of Chu, Qin, and Wei once used the luminous pearl to discuss national affairs, using philosophical principles."
Qin Shi Huang was buried with a luminous pearl in his tomb, which served as a substitute for candles. Guo Kuang, the younger brother of Empress Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, hung luminous pearls around his tomb, which shone like stars during the day and like the moon at night, to flaunt his wealth. Empress Wu Zetian bestowed a jade dragon with a luminous pearl upon Emperor Xuanzong, who then returned a clear pearl, its light illuminating an entire room. During the Tang Dynasty, a luminous pearl called "Water Pearl" was sold for millions. During the Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, the imperial family particularly favored luminous pearls. Officials from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties were sent to Sri Lanka to purchase ruby and garnet luminous pearls. The Ming Dynasty cabinet possessed several emerald luminous pearls, which glowed like candles at night.
Zhou Xuan listened with great interest and asked, "Old sir, why are there so few luminous pearls in modern times? If I hadn't happened to obtain one, I would have always thought it was just a legend!"
Zhou Xuan said this, but in fact he had seen quite a lot. First, he obtained a six-sided golden net stone meteorite night-luminous pearl, which was his first big fortune. Later, he saw dozens of night-luminous pearls in the sinkhole in the United States, but they were all thrown into the underground river by Ito. And this time, he saw as many as ten more in the deep cave in Luoyang!
"You're right," Old Wu said with a smile. "Treasures are precious precisely because they are rare. If luminous pearls were everywhere, just like pebbles in the sand, what would be their value?" He continued, "In ancient times, there were early records of collecting jade and other precious stones. Some people proposed that jade, the beauty of stone, possessed five virtues. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong proposed that jade had nine virtues, and in the late Spring and Autumn Period, Kong Qiu proposed that jade had eleven virtues. Over thousands of years, collectors have loved, revered, treated as gifts, appreciated, played with, appraised, and collected jade, and have put forward many theories about the virtues of jade. Luminous pearls are the most precious of all gemstones, the king of treasures. Therefore, emperors of all dynasties monopolized the ownership of this treasure, so ordinary people dared not even inquire about it, and did not even have the right to look at it. This made the already sacred and mysterious luminous pearls even more divine!"
Zeng Qiang scratched his head, somewhat taken aback, and asked, "Mr. Wu, since luminous pearls do exist, why are there almost no rumors about them now, and they're rarely even mentioned in the news?"
"It's precisely because luminous pearls are rare! Legend has it that they possess radiant colors, dazzling brilliance, and a captivating light. Above them lie the celestial spirits, below them the earthly fiends, all combining to create awe-inspiring heaven and earth. Luminous pearls gather and nurture the radiant light of the sun, moon, and stars, the nourishing moisture of wind, rain, and dew from the cosmos, the splendor of all trees on the earth, and the auspicious essence, spirit, soul, and soul of humankind—all fused into one, thus making them all the more precious!"
Old Wu smiled, shook his head, sighed, and said, "In the universe, there are the Heavenly Gang and the Earthly Fiends, together forming a fierce and malevolent force. The night and the two spirits of the heavens nurture the sun, moon, and stars! The wind, sunshine, rain, and dew of space pass through the earth, and the essence of all things, the spirit, soul, and auspiciousness of humanity, are all integrated into one, thus making it all the more precious."
"To take modern times as an example, legend has it that Empress Dowager Cixi had three luminous pearls on her phoenix crown. One of them is the one auctioned in Hong Kong, which I was fortunate enough to see. The whereabouts of the other two are unknown, but there is an even more famous one, the luminous pearl that Cixi held in her mouth. It is said that this pearl is divided into two pieces, which together form a sphere. When separated, it is transparent and without light, but when joined, it emits a cold green light that can illuminate the head from a hundred paces away at night. Cixi held it in her mouth to preserve her body from decay."
Zhou Xuan found it interesting and thought to himself that this luminous pearl was somewhat similar to the hexagonal golden mesh meteorite luminous pearl he had obtained. Both were separated into two halves, which shone when they were together and did not shine when they were apart, which was quite strange!
After a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly remembered something crucial and quickly introduced him to Old Wu: "Old Wu, this is my brother Zhou Xuan. He's also the largest shareholder of our antique shop and the owner of Zhou Zhang Antique Shop."
After saying that, he turned to Zhou Xuan and said, "Brother, this is Mr. Wu Daiyuan, the expert in our shop, whom I invited through Brother Hong's recommendation. He has profound expertise in antique appraisal and is at least among the top ten most authoritative experts in Beijing's collecting circles."
While introducing himself, he secretly winked at Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan nodded with a slight smile. He understood what he meant; the flattery and praise were meant to get Old Wu to come down.
Zhou Xuan also understood that hiring a skilled appraiser was very important for an antique shop. Although he could use his ice energy to test the authenticity of an item, he was too lazy and didn't want to tie himself to the antique shop. Hiring Lao Wu would be the best choice and he would feel at ease. Otherwise, no matter how wealthy he was, if he bought a shop full of fakes, wouldn't he lose everything?
"Hello, Mr. Wu, it's a pleasure to meet you." Zhou Xuan smiled and extended his hand. "My name is Zhou Xuan, you can just call me Xiao Zhou!"
Old Wu chuckled and shook hands with Zhou Xuan, saying, "Hey, forget it. Your Manager Zhang wouldn't let go of me, but now that you've met Little Zhou, that's fine. I'll give you a definite answer: I'll take the job of appraising."
Overjoyed, she quickly grasped Old Wu's hands and shook them vigorously, saying, "Old Wu, you've made me worry for days! Now I can finally relax!"
Zhou Xuan then asked, "Boss, where are Zhou Tao and my dad?"
"We ordered two sets of mahogany furniture for our store, haha, this is just for show," Uncle Song said with a wry smile. "Seeing that the price was too high, I was worried, so I asked Zhou Tao to go to the furniture store to personally escort the goods."
Zhou Xuan waved his hand, "Forget it, that's just how my dad is, cautious and careful. He gets worried when it's a lot of money. Hehe, boss, Mr. Wu, let's go to the shop and see what else we need and what we're missing!"
Inside the shop, Zhou Xuan looked outside and asked in surprise, "Where did Xiaoying and Yingying go? They've disappeared!"
Another shop assistant, Chen Shuhua, quickly said, "You mean Miss Xiaoying and another pretty young lady? Miss Xiaoying took her shopping."