The event was held on the seventh floor of the Mengxi Building in Beijing. The organizer was an enthusiast known online as "Not Short of Money." His real identity is a staff member at the Beijing Museum, drawn by his work and personal interest. However, being only thirty years old, his knowledge of antiques is still limited. "Not Short of Money" invited four appraisal experts: two professors from his museum and two professors from Beijing University. While their reputations may not match those of the CCTV Treasure Hunt team, they are sufficient for the average enthusiast.
The four experts are specialists in a single area, each with expertise in a particular type of item, categorized into four groups: ceramics, calligraphy and painting, bronzes, and miscellaneous items.
Wei Haihong knew that Zhou Xuan had some special skills, especially in healing the sick and collecting antiques. He was a collector himself, so he invited Zhou Xuan to come along, hoping they might find a bargain at this event. Even if they didn't, they could still buy anything of value they found.
This event wasn't as formal as a treasure hunt program. The entire seventh floor was rented, and the event funds were covered by one percent of the transaction amount paid by the successful seller after expert appraisal. The appraisal experts worked for free.
When Zhou Xuan, Wei Haihong, and Fu Ying arrived, the large hall was already filled with seventy or eighty people. However, the event had not yet officially started, and the experts and Bu Cha Qian had not yet arrived.
Zhou Xuan and his two companions found seats in the room. They didn't know almost anyone there, as the experts and organizers weren't present, so everyone was on guard. They exchanged very brief greetings, sometimes not speaking at all, just nodding to each other. Everyone kept a close eye on their suitcases or backpacks.
The seventh-floor lobby is the entire floor, with an area of approximately 400 square meters. It is presumably rented out as a dedicated venue for conferences.
Zhou Xuan had just sat down when he received a call from Li Wei. That kid can't go a day without bothering him, but luckily Bing Qi is back, so there's a way to deal with him.
"Brother Xuan, where are you? I'm at your house, but you said you went out!" Li Wei asked anxiously.
"I'm on the seventh floor of the Mengxi Building. There's a private treasure appraisal event here. Do you know this place?"
Zhou Xuan gave him the address and then asked Li Wei if he knew where the place was.
This question is basically pointless.
Li Wei only said one sentence: "I can find it with my eyes closed!" and then hung up the phone.
"That kid!" Zhou Xuan put his phone away and laughed at Wei Haihong, "It's Li Wei. These days he's been clinging to me like an ant, I can't shake him off."
Wei Haihong laughed and said, "It's alright, it's alright. I heard from Uncle Li. This workaholic seems to respect you quite a bit. In his family, he only respects his father and grandfather. But they're two-faced. They're all talk and no action, but they're truly sincere towards you. No pretense, right?"
“That’s true!” Zhou Xuan smiled. Li Wei was indeed very respectful to him. Although he clung to him every day, he didn’t go astray. Moreover, Zhou Xuan felt that Li Wei was a good person at heart, unlike Wu Jianguo, the “second generation.”
Wei Haihong himself has a superficial understanding of collecting and appraisal; he has some knowledge but is not an expert. Fu Ying is even more of a layman.
Zhou Xuan's current level is much stronger than Wei Haihong's, and if you add his ice-qi ability, there's no comparison.
Zhou Xuan did not use his ice energy to probe the treasures of the people in the hall. Since it was a folk appraisal activity, he should at least train his eyesight and not always rely on the ice energy. What if the ice energy disappeared one day?
Just like this incident, the ice energy was swallowed up by the crystal, and it was extremely dangerous to get it back. I still feel lingering fear when I think about it now.
However, Zhou Xuan was also thinking. The energy within that crystal was so immense. Although he had taken a huge risk this time, the Ice Qi Pill had absorbed a large amount of energy from the crystal and become even purer. It had grown at least ten times in size. If it could absorb more energy from the crystal in the future, wouldn't it be like a treasure trove, inexhaustible and endless?
However, Zhou Xuan immediately rejected the idea. It was too dangerous, and now that he thought about it, he didn't want to go through that kind of torment and experience again.
Half an hour later, Li Wei arrived, but to Zhou Xuan's surprise, Li Wei actually came with Shangguan Mingyue!
Li Wei was also stunned when he saw Fu Ying. He didn't expect that Fu Ying would come with Zhou Xuan to such a boring place.
During these past few days, Li Wei also learned that Fu Ying wasn't always with Zhou Xuan. When they were at Zhou Xuan's house, he only asked Jin Xiumei where Zhou Xuan was, and Jin Xiumei said she didn't know. Wei Haihong made a phone call and then left. A different experience!
Li Wei was unaware that Fu Ying had left with Zhou Xuan and was happy to go out with Wei Haihong. He also liked this third uncle of the Wei family, who was unlike his father, who was so serious, and they had common interests.
Actually, Wei Haihong could be considered a playboy. But overall, he was much older than Li Wei. He was past the age of indulging in pleasure and was much more mature than Li Wei. Moreover, in terms of status within the gang, Wei Haihong was definitely much higher than Li Wei.
When Li Wei saw Fu Ying, he was a little awkward for a moment, but that awkwardness vanished immediately. He called out with a grin, "Third Uncle, beautiful sister-in-law, Brother Xuan!"
"Hey kid, you have no manners!" Wei Haihong cursed. "What sister-in-law, Xuan-ge? You should call her uncle. Zhou Xuan is my brother, what are you calling 'brother'? You should call your father 'brother' instead, or I bet Brother Lei will slap you to death!"
Li Wei was dumbfounded. He had always called him that. It was so familiar that he was used to it, but now Wei Haihong was angry with him. He didn't dare to talk back. Yes, Wei Haihong was Uncle San's brother, and his own father seemed to call Zhou Xuan "brother," so why was he calling him "older brother"?
While Li Wei and Wei Haihong were arguing and Zhou Xuan was embarrassed, Fu Ying and Shangguan Mingyue were exchanging glances.
These two stunningly beautiful women were meeting for the first time. They immediately became wary, especially Fu Ying. They sized each other up for a moment, then both looked at Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan's heart skipped a beat. There was nothing wrong with it initially, but the two people's gazes were burning, and in the blink of an eye, they weren't looking at anyone else but at him. This was troublesome.
Zhou Xuan immediately noticed a hint of doubt in Fu Ying's eyes, while Shangguan Mingyue, besides being amazed by Fu Ying's beauty, suddenly realized something. It turned out Zhou Xuan wasn't interested in her at all; he already had a national treasure-level beauty by his side, no wonder he ignored her!
Shangguan Mingyue was somewhat indignant and resentful. She raised her head and looked at Fu Ying with a proud and defiant gaze.
Fu Ying bit her lip, her pretty face slightly angry, and suddenly reached out to grab Zhou Xuan's hand in response to Shangguan Mingyue's provocation.
Zhou Xuan was in a sorry state. He really had nothing to do with Shangguan Mingyue, but the more he tried to explain, the worse it would get. In this situation, anyone would suspect that Zhou Xuan and Shangguan Mingyue had some kind of relationship.
Li Wei has actually stopped talking. Zhou Xuan gritted his teeth inwardly, but had no choice but to say, "Yingying, this, this is Li Wei's... Li Wei's friend, Sister Shangguan Mingyue."
That statement is too general.
Fu Ying said "Oh," and then said casually, "So you're Li Wei's girlfriend. Li Wei, you're really something! You found such a beautiful girlfriend!"
Li Wei smiled awkwardly. In this situation, he didn't know whether to explain or not. If he explained, it would obviously be bad for Zhou Xuan. If he didn't explain, Shangguan Mingyue might get angry. Personally, he hoped that it was true.
As expected, Shangguan Mingyue snorted and said, "I'm not Li Wei's girlfriend." She added at the end, "Not even a regular friend!"
Li Wei could only smile wryly. Shangguan Mingyue's words were already quite impolite to him. Before coming here, she had called him to inquire about Zhou Xuan's whereabouts. Li Wei also wanted to find Zhou Xuan and see Shangguan Mingyue, so after learning where Zhou Xuan was, he simply called Shangguan Mingyue along as well. But he didn't expect Fu Ying to be with them. This meeting clearly caused problems.
If it were anyone else saying such things to Li Wei, wouldn't he be furious? In their circle, he was known as a workaholic, from a powerful and influential family; who wouldn't give him face?
Shangguan Mingyue actually knew Li Wei's personality; he wasn't like Wu Jianguo. That's why she said that. Li Wei might get angry with others, but not with her.
Shangguan Mingyue was indeed not Li Wei's girlfriend, but when she said those words in a provocative tone in front of Fu Ying, the meaning was completely different. To Fu Ying, it was an absolute and blatant provocation.
Given Shangguan Mingyue's status and beauty, she naturally wouldn't develop any irreconcilable love for Zhou Xuan. However, with her proud nature, she wouldn't tolerate others' doubts or disrespect, especially since he was also a stunningly beautiful girl!
"Oh, you're not Li Wei's girlfriend. I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I thought you were." Although Fu Ying was angry, she didn't back down. She added, "Miss Shangguan, it's a pleasure to meet you."
The two girls' eyes, which had been sparking with each other, finally met.
Shangguan Mingyue smiled slightly at Zhou Xuan and said, "Mr. Zhou, Miss Fu is very beautiful. Is she your girlfriend?"