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Hearing Curator Qin's invitation, Gu Jiuque was indeed tempted.

After all, Jade Celestial Pivot's restriction—that it had to repeat something ten thousand times before he could use more abilities—meant that Gu Jiuque needed to come into contact with large numbers of cultural relics and antiques in a short period and gain more restoration opportunities than ordinary people. Only then could he better accumulate energy and prepare to use more abilities in the future.

Given that, joining the Painting and Document Restoration Research Institute at Jingzhou City Museum was clearly more suitable for Gu Jiuque than joining the Cultural Relics Administration's ancient architecture restoration team. The former would give him access to more cultural relics, a broader range of items, and more restoration opportunities, without requiring him to travel everywhere like the latter. It also did not conflict with Gu Jiuque's plan to participate in the Antique Appraisal Tournament.

Seeing that Gu Jiuque was genuinely interested, the Cultural Relics Administration instructor immediately flew into a rage and accused his old friend, "Qin, I spotted this promising kid first. How could you poach him? That's just bad form!"

Curator Qin waved a hand and said magnanimously, "What poaching? We should respect the young man's own wishes!"

The instructor looked aggrieved and turned to Gu Jiuque. "Why don't you think it over a little more? Your talent in ancient architecture restoration—"

Before he could finish, another burst of phone ringing interrupted him.

Grandma Gu pulled out her phone and looked at Gu Jiuque with a smile. "It's a call from that boy from the Bai family. Do you want to answer it?"

Gu Jiuque shook his head, and Grandma Gu hung up directly.

Having had several hundred calls rejected in succession, Bai Yuesheng was practically driven mad with rage. He stormed out of the hospital, hailed a taxi by the roadside, and gritted out the address of the Gu Family Ancestral Residence.

"Gu Jiuque, you've gone too far! Since you've shown no mercy, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Meanwhile, Gu Jiuque was strolling through the antique market with a group of restorers. Earlier, Gu Jiuque had turned down the Cultural Relics Administration's invitation and chosen to join the Painting and Document Restoration Research Institute at Jingzhou City Museum. Though he had his own reasons, to the young restorers who had already been won over by him, it was no different from being abandoned by their great master.

Thus, amid the waves of wailing rising and falling from the rooftop, Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu smilingly prepared lunch for everyone. After they finished eating, the elders sent them to wander around the antique street in front of the old residence.

"Think of it as working off your meal!"

As it happened, Gu Jiuque, with Jade Celestial Pivot in hand, also wanted to experience the protagonist halo's antique appraisal ability. So he led the group of restorers into the antique market at a leisurely pace.

Unlike in the original novel, where Bai Yuesheng, after obtaining Jade Celestial Pivot, could only squat in front of stalls and painstakingly feel up each item one by one in search of bargains, Gu Jiuque only had to stand there for faint halos to immediately appear over the stalls throughout the market. Some halos were large, some small; some strong, some weak. Their glow varied according to the items' age and craftsmanship.

Gu Jiuque knew that the glowing items were, more or less, the "genuine goods" in the entire antique market. In earlier years, one might still find one real piece among a thousand; now, there was not even one in ten thousand. Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu often lamented that times had changed and people's hearts had grown corrupt—even finding hidden treasures was harder than it had been decades ago.

—There were not many good things to begin with, and once people saw that Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu were interested, they became even less willing to let go. After all, Antique Appreciation Studio had quite a reputation within Jingzhou City.

Just like when he visited the antique market with his grandparents, Gu Jiuque's process of "finding bargains" did not go smoothly either.

Unlike Bai Yuesheng, who had never been interested in antiques or collectibles growing up and could immediately play the fool to outsmart others after suddenly gaining an appraisal ability, every stall owner in the antique market knew the young master of Antique Appreciation Studio. They also knew that Gu Jiuque came from a family of experts, was diligent and hardworking, and had inherited the full extent of his family's expertise in appraisal, dating, and cultural relic restoration. Not to mention the string of curious young restorers following behind him, openly wearing the Cultural Relics Administration's uniform work clothes.

The moment the group entered the market, they drew the stall owners' attention. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to quietly snap up bargains unnoticed.

The stall owners immediately sharpened their focus the instant they saw Gu Jiuque. Wherever his gaze landed, their response was either to raise the price on the spot or simply put the item away and refuse to sell it. Some especially familiar stall owners even directly asked Gu Jiuque about an item's origins, fully embracing the principle of asking whenever they did not understand.

Gu Jiuque only wanted to test Jade Celestial Pivot's appraisal ability, so he was not particularly fixated on finding bargains—if he truly wanted to, he could simply make a few trips out of town sometime. In unfamiliar places where no one knew him, all he needed to do was pretend to be a clueless newcomer who was interested in antiques and collectibles but knew only a little. Those were exactly the suckers many people loved to cheat most.

So, Gu Jiuque was happy to act as an appraiser for the time being, answering the stall owners' questions along the way. With a rare treasure like Jade Celestial Pivot helping him cheat, Gu Jiuque, already highly skilled at appraisal and dating, was now unstoppable. There was no chance he would ever misjudge an item.

As they wandered, Gu Jiuque became a free little tour guide who helped everyone learn about antiques and collectibles. He was handsome, witty, and able to explain things in simple, easy-to-understand terms. His voice was as clear and pleasant as spring water. Wherever he went, a long string of visitors followed behind him, stopping and moving in step with him, forming a distinctive sight.

When President Shen entered the antique market surrounded by a crowd of assistants, bodyguards, and representatives from the contracted company, this was the scene he saw.

The blazing sun hung high, and scorching heat waves rose from the entire antique market. Only a handsome, gentle young man, like a sculpture carved from white jade, stood before an antique stall. Holding a fragment of ancient sky-blue glazed porcelain, he spoke with ease and confidence. Under the sunlight, the broken shard showed a beautiful bluish-green hue, making his palm appear all the more pale, smooth, and lustrous, as though it would feel warm to the touch.

"Look at this fragment. Its body is fine-textured, and its glaze is thick, lustrous, and pure. It is covered in roe-like crackle patterns, so it looks very much like a fragment from a Longquan Ge Kiln. But it is actually an imitation Ge Kiln piece from the Qing dynasty. Porcelain fragments from Southern Song Longquan Kiln have a finer, denser, and more solid body, while their glaze layer is relatively thinner. And look here—the color of the exposed clay body is also wrong. On genuine Longquan Kiln ware, the unglazed areas are red, like roof-tile fragments. But the clay body of this shard..." [Note 1]