Chapter 014: Triggering a Grade-C Mission

This was Lin Feng's first time visiting an antique market.

This area was essentially an antique street. Apart from a few pawnshops, the street was lined with antique shops of various styles, standing side by side with distinct decorations.

In front of the shops, many people had set up street stalls hawking their wares.

Jade and jadeite, celadon pottery, Buddha statues and incense burners, calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, the Four Treasures of the Study, rosewood furniture, bone and wood carvings, vintage clocks and cameras—everything was available.

The street at the market entrance was packed with all kinds of cars. Many people came to purchase antiques with an investment mindset, while others came hoping to find a bargain that would make them rich overnight.

Lin Feng belonged to the latter group.

Laymen watch the excitement, experts see the details. But even experts didn't dare be careless when appraising antiques. After all, in this business, one misstep leads to eternal regret. Many seemingly experienced players were extremely careful and meticulous when authenticating antiques.

Lin Feng had already mastered artifact appraisal techniques. Even at a glance, he could tell whether any item was genuine or fake.

Although the market was basically full of replicas, the transaction volume was still considerable. These days, genuine antiques rarely circulated.

Lin Feng wasn't a businessman—he had no confidence he could resell purchased fakes at a higher price. However, when he saw an exquisitely crafted jade bracelet, he still asked about the price.

"How much is this bracelet?"

"This one?" The vendor looked up and sized up Lin Feng from head to toe. Seeing that Lin Feng was dressed plainly and looked like a student, he showed little interest and said casually, "This is Hetian Pebble Jade, several tens of thousands per gram. You can't afford it."

If one didn't know the market, they'd probably be intimidated. But Lin Feng knew this was just an ordinary jade bracelet, similar to the three-for-ten-yuan ones on the street, just with slightly finer craftsmanship.

Ignoring the vendor's quoted price, Lin Feng said, "Twenty. Deal or no deal?"

"At least five hundred!" Seeing that Lin Feng actually wanted to buy it, the vendor became somewhat interested. His expression softened a bit as he said, "Young man, this is genuine Hetian Jade. I haven't made a sale today, so for good luck, five hundred is already cheap for you."

Lin Feng couldn't accept this price. He shook his head and turned to leave.

"Hey, hey, young man, young man, the price is negotiable. Two hundred and you can take it... One hundred, buy one get one free..."

After some haggling, Lin Feng bought the bracelet for thirty yuan.

Finding nothing else of interest in the entire antique market, just as Lin Feng was about to leave, one bowl in a stack of ceramic bowls caught his attention.

The stack had about a dozen bowls that all looked similar. According to the seller, they were undoubtedly Qing Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain bowls. But Lin Feng knew these bowls were all modern crafts—except for one, which was a genuine blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

He didn't know what had gone wrong in the process, but somehow an authentic blue-and-white porcelain bowl had gotten mixed in with the fakes.

Lin Feng could distinguish genuine from fake antiques, but he didn't know market prices. However, he had heard about how valuable blue-and-white porcelain was. Could this bowl be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions?

Although he tried hard to control his excitement, when inquiring about the price, Lin Feng's tone was somewhat unusual. He pointed at the pile of ceramic bowls and said, "How much are these?"

The vendor took one look at Lin Feng and was delighted. Having worked in the antique market for over ten years, what kind of people and situations hadn't he seen? Whenever customers new to the antique market thought they'd discovered some treasure, no matter how hard they tried to stay calm, he could see right through them.

The vendor knew Lin Feng must have discovered something.

However, these were just ordinary ceramic bowls. Although Lin Feng didn't look wealthy, even a mosquito's leg is still meat!

"High-grade replicas of Qing Dynasty premier kiln blue-and-white porcelain bowls, one thousand yuan each. I can see you're a student without much money. If you really like it, I'll give you one for six hundred." The vendor knew Lin Feng didn't have much money. Wanting to make this sale and worried about scaring Lin Feng away, he didn't ask for an outrageous price.

"I only have a little over three hundred on me." The money Lin Feng had was for his senior year study materials.

"Take one!"

Lin Feng paid the money and picked out the genuine Qing Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain bowl. Under the vendor's contemptuous and mocking gaze, he took off his school uniform and carefully wrapped the bowl.

Walking out of the antique market, Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief, his heart still wildly excited.

Although he could distinguish genuine from fake antiques but didn't know market prices, he had heard about how valuable blue-and-white porcelain was—often worth hundreds of thousands or even millions. Could this bowl be worth that much?

Carrying the blue-and-white porcelain bowl, Lin Feng came to a large antique shop near the market—Dynasty Antiques.

"How much is this bowl worth?" Lin Feng placed the bowl on the counter.

A staff member, seeing that Lin Feng was a student, merely glanced at the bowl and smiled, "Got it from the market, right? Take it home and use it for eating!"

Hearing this, Lin Feng sneered and said, "I thought Dynasty Antiques was something special. Turns out it's just an empty reputation—you can't even recognize a genuine Qing Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain bowl?"

Just as the staff member was about to argue back, an elderly man walked out from inside. After seeing Lin Feng's porcelain bowl, his eyes immediately lit up. He quickly took out reading glasses from his pocket, put them on, walked forward, picked up the bowl, and had a staff member bring over a magnifying glass. He began examining it carefully.

Seeing this, the staff member immediately shut his mouth and looked at Lin Feng with astonished eyes.

A full five minutes later, the elder removed his glasses, looked at Lin Feng, and sighed, "To find a genuine Qing Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain bowl in the antique market—young man, you have a good eye!"

"How much?" Lin Feng asked.

Hearing Lin Feng inquire about the price, the elder picked up the bowl again, examining it from all angles.

Lin Feng's mood was extremely excited. It was like buying a two-yuan lottery ticket and already confirming he'd won, with the prize amount being very high—possibly even reaching millions.

However, Lin Feng knew he was still inexperienced. The more he said, the more mistakes he'd make. He didn't speak further and instead began examining the antique artifacts inside Dynasty Antiques.

"It's genuine, but unfortunately not from an imperial kiln—just a premier kiln masterpiece. I'll offer fifteen thousand. How about it?" After a while, the elder made up his mind.

Hearing that the bowl was only worth fifteen thousand, Lin Feng felt slightly disappointed. However, such a windfall was still enough to make him happy.

He looked at the other antiques in Dynasty Antiques. A Qing Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain bowl with similar condition to the one Lin Feng was selling was priced at just over thirty thousand.

Lin Feng felt that fifteen thousand wasn't too unreasonable a price, so he agreed.

After obtaining his first pot of gold, Lin Feng was quite excited. Fifteen thousand—for a high school student from a humble family background, this was indeed a huge windfall.

With so much money, Lin Feng planned to leave some for his family. But after thinking it over, he couldn't find a suitable excuse, so he decided to wait a bit longer.

The next day was the weekend. At five-thirty in the afternoon, Lin Feng arrived at the school gate to wait.

Actually, Lin Feng knew that Bai Yichen asking him to watch a movie was just for show for Wang Jun. But this was also a good opportunity for Lin Feng to get close to Bai Yichen, so he still came.

However, by six o'clock, there was still no sign of Bai Yichen.

A mocking smile appeared on Lin Feng's face. Even when using him as a shield, she couldn't be bothered to meet him in person. Truly worthy of being Qinglan Middle School's number one campus belle!

Shrugging his shoulders, just as Lin Feng was about to leave, a dazzling white Range Rover Evoque stopped beside him. When the driver's window rolled down, inside was a young, beautiful girl whose expression was even colder than Bai Yichen's—like an ice goddess who didn't partake of mortal food.

For some reason, Lin Feng felt the ice goddess before him looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember where he'd seen her.

"You're waiting for Yichen, right? Get in!"

Lin Feng got in the back seat, slightly dazed—not because he was stunned by her appearance, but because just now, the Peach Blossom Manual had triggered a new mission.

Mission: Kiss the ice goddess's bosom. Mission Grade: C. Mission Completion Reward: 10 Peach Blossom Points. Mission Status: In Progress.