Chapter 2: Picking Up the Slack

  The solar eclipse has passed, and the bright sun is reappearing in the sky.

  Han Qin sat stupidly on the stone chair, everything that had just happened seemed like a dream, so real yet unbelievable. Super work assistant system? If it's really like this, wouldn't he have become an all-powerful superman, with work, houses, money, and everything else at his fingertips, and a beautiful life beckoning him?!

  Suddenly, Han Qin broke out in a cold sweat. Where would such good things come from? Had he been too focused on taking the civil service exam and suffered a shock, overworked to the point of developing delusional disorder! Han Qin quickly denied his own thoughts. Delusional disorder is a mental illness, and people with mental illnesses are not clear-minded enough to realize they're ill.

  In less than a minute, a smile appeared on Han Qin's face. Is it really just a test to know? Looking at the antique market not far in front of him, Han Qin walked over with a complicated mood.

  Han Qin has been working here for three years, but he hasn't had a chance to explore the place carefully. His work hours are in the morning, and by the time the antique market gets busy, Han Qin is already off duty and back at school attending classes. When Dongfang Antique Market was first established, there were only a few dozen stalls, all of which were run by owners who would go to the countryside to collect old goods to sell. Although there wasn't much merchandise at that time, there were many genuine items, and most of the stories about collectors finding hidden gems took place during that period. With the rise of the national collecting craze, the antique market developed rapidly, especially after CCTV's "Treasure Hunt" program was broadcast in Dongfang. The number of collectors coming to dig for treasure increased day by day, but now it's as difficult to find a great bargain as it is to win the lottery!

  After wandering around for a few minutes, Han Qin stopped in front of a stall selling ceramics. The owner was a stranger who hadn't come to Xin Yuan Zhai to pick up goods before, so he could avoid some trouble. The owner looked Han Qin up and down several times, seeing that he was an ordinary young man, probably a student from a nearby university, and knew there was no chance. For these stall owners, one is relying on the flashy nouveau riche, and the other is looking at a few antique appraisal books, this is the fat pig waiting to be slaughtered. A poor student like him was just a fleeting glance!

  The stall owner was too lazy to greet him, and after a brief glance, he continued reading his antique appreciation book.

  Han Qin didn't care about the stall owner's attitude and squatted down to observe these ceramics. After working at Xinyuan Zhai for three years, he had indeed learned a lot of things. These ceramics were obviously counterfeit products with poor workmanship, and they were not in the same league as the high-quality imitation ceramics that Xinyuan Zhai represented. After looking for a while, Han Qin's gaze stopped on a strangely shaped object. This was a ceramic piece with a thin middle and thick ends, without a bottom or lid, black with blue undertones. Han Qin had come into contact with many counterfeit ceramic manufacturers before, and they all imitated famous ceramics - vases, jars, plates, bowls - these could be mass-produced, but no one would imitate this strange and unusual thing that didn't even have a name.

  The stall owner saw Han Qin staring at the dumbbell-like object, and a sly smile appeared on his face. This thing was something he had encountered when collecting goods in the countryside. The family who owned it had filled it with soil, half-buried it underground, and used it as a flower pot. Later, when they renovated their house, there was no place to put this thing, so he bought it for five yuan. At that time, the owner of the house said many good things about it before leaving it behind. After bringing it back and putting it in the antique market for over two months, nobody paid attention to it, and moving it around every day made it a burden. The stall owner had also looked through many books but couldn't even find its name. Seeing this young man staring at it intently, the stall owner thought that today he might be able to trick someone into buying it, so he smiled and said: "Young brother, good eyesight, this is the real deal, make an offer."

  "Hey boss, what's this thing called?" Han Qin asked casually. "Uh...this..." The vendor was momentarily speechless, he really didn't know. The vendor, being quite knowledgeable, made something up on the spot: "Isn't this just an ancient dumbbell? It's something rich people used to exercise with back in the day." Originally, the vendor had wanted to say it was a dumbbell used by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty, but he thought that would scare off the young customer, so he downgraded its status.

  Holding the dumbbell-like ceramic device in his hand, Han Qin tried to activate the super work assistant system with his mind. As soon as he thought about it, the beautiful Hu Mei really appeared again! Hu Mei was wearing a professional suit dress, still without makeup, looking fresh and elegant. Hu Mei smiled sweetly: "Master, what work do you need me to do?"

  Han Qin gave a mental command to appraise the ceramic, and Hu Mei stared at the dumbbell-like object for over half a minute before giving her conclusion: This is a Tang Dynasty Jun Kiln black glaze blue splashed waist drum, extremely rare and highly valuable for collection! Han Qin asked again what the market price of this thing was now. After a few seconds, Hu Mei gave an answer, searching through nearly twenty years of records from various major auction houses, there were no similar lots, so the price couldn't be determined, but since it's a Tang Dynasty ceramic, its value should be over 100,000 or even higher.

  What a surprise and delight! That super work assistant system really exists, and I encountered the real thing on my first try. It looks like I'll be picking up a not-so-small bug today!

  The stall owner looked at Han Qin staring blankly at the dumbbell, with an incredulous smile on his face, thinking he had met a madman! He impatiently asked: "Have you made up your mind? If so, it's 50 yuan, take it away!"

  Han Qin withdrew his thoughts, smiled calmly: "This thing without a lid or bottom also wants 50 yuan. Boss, you'd better keep it yourself to exercise your body!" He stood up and pretended to leave.

  The stall owner, seeing that someone was finally interested in the item after two months, couldn't bear to let the deal go easily. A few dozen yuan is also money! He stood up from his stool and smiled: "Little brother, you have to give me a price!"

  Han Qin stretched out two fingers, and with a look of pain as if he was cutting his own flesh, gritted his teeth and said: "Thirty yuan, not a cent less!"

  Since he already knew the value of this thing, Han Qin didn't bother to haggle with him anymore. He was worried that if he bought it too cheaply, the stall owner would regret it afterwards. Seeing that the stall owner was determined to sell, Han Qin took out 30 yuan from his wallet and handed it over to the stall owner, then picked up the Tang Jun kiln black glaze waist drum and left the stall.

  Not far from where he had just left, Han Qin saw a crowd of people gathered in a corner of the antique market, discussing something in hushed tones. Han Qin, carrying his waist drum, also went over to join them. In the corner was a middle-aged man, wearing a work uniform and a safety helmet on his head, clearly a construction worker. On the ground in front of him were several sheets of newspaper, with an old-looking Qinghua porcelain vase placed on top, covered in dirt and dust.

  From the onlookers' murmurs, Han Qin roughly made out that this middle-aged man was a construction worker at a subway building site. While excavating the foundation, they had unearthed an ancient tomb, and the grave goods were looted by the workers. He hadn't managed to grab any gold, silver, or jewels, only ending up with this jar, which he hoped to exchange for some cash.

  At this time, a well-dressed old man squeezed through the crowd, looking like either a retired cadre or a university professor.

  The old man picked up the Qinghua vase and examined it carefully, then took out a magnifying glass to look at the signature on the bottom of the vase, with a surprised expression on his face. The old man asked in a low voice: "How much do you want to sell this vase for?" The middle-aged man replied without looking up: "This is something from an ancient tomb, I've seen it on TV, such vases can be sold for hundreds of thousands." The old man looked around and said in a low voice: "Don't ever say that again, the cultural relics underground belong to the country, this is against the law. This vase of yours, I've taken a look, it's genuine, but buying such things is risky, I'm taking a chance, if we get caught by the police, it'll be like throwing money into the water, I'll give you 2,000 yuan, will you sell?"

  The middle-aged man heard that this was an illegal transaction and immediately became afraid, muttering: "This is not stolen, how can it be against the law? You give me 3,000 yuan and I'll sell it to you!" The old man took out his wallet and counted only 2,000 yuan, then said to the middle-aged man: "I only have 2,000 yuan here, why don't you come with me to get the money?" The middle-aged man firmly shook his head, no matter how the old man tried to persuade him, he refused to go with him. The old man had no choice but to return home to get the money, and before leaving, repeatedly reminded him that this jar was already sold, don't sell it again.

  As soon as the old man left, the onlookers had a change of heart. Those who came to browse the antique market had all read several books on antique appraisal and roughly knew that this Qinghua porcelain was not cheap. To be able to buy it for 3,000 yuan would be a great bargain!

  Han Qin squeezed in, and the middle-aged man saw someone carrying a strange object, looked up and glanced at him. Their eyes met, and Han Qin couldn't help but stare! Isn't this Old Fourth? He was too familiar with this Old Fourth, who often took things from Xinyuanzhai, was notorious for being a freeloader, and had even taken away several high-quality Qinghua vases that morning. This disguise really looked like the real deal, and upon closer inspection, the vase was indeed the one Han Qin had handed to him earlier, except with some mud stuck on it. That old man must be in cahoots!

  Lao Si saw that it was an acquaintance, but didn't say a word, just lowered his head and left. Han Qin had originally planned to let the system appraise the authenticity of this Qinghua porcelain vase, but now it wasn't necessary at all. Just as he was about to leave, he thought again, what if the system couldn't tell the difference between real and fake? Would it mistake this high-quality imitation for a genuine one?

  Thinking of this, Han Qin activated the system's ceramic identification function with his mind. Hu Mei took a glance and gave her conclusion: This is a new imitation porcelain, it doesn't have any value.

  Han Qin was excited to shout out loud, with this system, from now on, wouldn't he be able to make a fortune just by picking up leftovers?

  Han Qin just came out of the crowd, and someone pulled him from behind!