Chapter 8

Chen Yi looked at the check in his hand, then at the young man who had come and gone in a hurry, and shook his head with a smile. What was this all about? A jade pendant he bought for 300 yuan was sold for 28,000 yuan, and the young man seemed afraid that he would regret it.

Ha ha, 28,000 yuan. The intense joy that Chen Yi had suppressed earlier surged up. When he thought about selling the jade at the antique shop, his highest price in mind was no more than 10,000 yuan. He never expected that his random quote of 30,000 yuan would actually result in a successful sale for 28,000 yuan. He bought it for 300 yuan, which was almost a hundredfold increase. He was incredibly excited; this was a real bargain he had found.

As for the authenticity of the check, he, a finance major, was very proficient in his professional knowledge. When he got it, he could tell if it was real or fake just by touching it and giving it a quick look. The authenticity of the check was much simpler to verify compared to the complexities of antiques.

At that moment, a notification from the appraisal system in his mind sounded: "Bargain-hunting task completed. Purchase price: 300 RMB. Sale price: 28,000 RMB. Sale price is 93 times the purchase price, meeting the 10-fold completion condition. Task completed with excess. Special reward: 5 appraisal talismans, 1 appraisal point. Total reward: 25 appraisal talismans, 2 appraisal points."

A total of 25 appraisal talismans, with 5 extra talismans and 1 appraisal point for exceeding the task, was a pleasant surprise. Chen Yi watched as the number of appraisal talismans in his mind increased to 28, and his face lit up like a flower.

Five more talismans meant five more chances to appraise, and five more opportunities to find bargains.

Looking at the appraisal talismans in his mind and the 28,000 yuan check in his hand, Chen Yi felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and achievement. Finding a bargain truly made one feel refreshed and invigorated.

In just one day, he had transformed from a penniless loser with only a few hundred yuan to a ten-thousand-yuan household. All of this was thanks to the appraisal system that suddenly appeared in his mind.

When he was appraising the jade earlier, he was still worried about his sister Yating's 10,000 yuan tuition fee. Now, with 30,000 yuan, the 10,000 yuan seemed like a joke to him.

If he had given up hope, he wouldn't have appraised the jade for Boss Wang, and he wouldn't have earned the tuition fee so quickly.

The bargain-hunting task was difficult, and the pressure of life almost made him break down. But the sense of rebirth after success was incredibly joyful.

Thinking about the call from his mother and the fact that the jade he appraised was genuine, he felt a surge of excitement.

If the despicable Boss Wang knew that the jade he casually threw away was sold by him for 28,000 yuan, he would probably be so heartbroken that he would jump off a building. Thinking of this, Chen Yi felt even more delighted.

Suddenly, his phone rang again. It was Uncle Liu. "Hey, Xiao Yi, I might not be back today. The antique shop probably won't have much business. Clean up and close the shop, and go home. You're off today, don't worry, it's paid. Go home and have a good time."

Chen Yi quickly thanked him and agreed, feeling a warm sense of gratitude. Compared to Uncle Liu, Boss Wang was a real bully. Now that the bargain-hunting task was completed and he had more than enough money for his sister's tuition, the most important thing for him was to figure out the mysterious appraisal system in his mind.

Thinking about the mysterious appraisal system and the bargains it had helped him find, Chen Yi couldn't resist. He closed the shop, ran out of the antique market, and took a bus back to his rental apartment. With the 25 appraisal talismans rewarded by the system, he now had 28 in total. He could go treasure hunting anytime.

The problem was that what he needed most now was not to go treasure hunting, but to understand the system better.

On his way back, Chen Yi stopped at a bank and transferred the 28,000 yuan check to his family's account. As for himself, with the 5,000 yuan reward from Uncle Liu, he could live in Haoyang for a while.

Moreover, with the appraisal system, he wouldn't have to worry about money, as the system had said. As a great appraiser, why should he worry about money?

Smelling the lingering smell of burnt circuit boards in the room, Chen Yi smiled bitterly and sat down on the bed, starting to study the appraisal system.

The interface that appeared in his mind was similar to the ones in the games he played, with storage slots and a photo of himself above the slots. There was a button for body data, which he subconsciously pressed in his mind.

A new interface immediately popped up. He looked closely and saw his body data: Strength: 70, Speed: 50, Toughness: 60, Health: 75. Below that was a line of small text: All body data below normal (normal data is 100), due to lack of exercise, irregular diet and sleep, etc.

Seeing this data, Chen Yi widened his eyes again. The appraisal system could not only appraise antiques but also his body data. It was too amazing.

He smiled bitterly, thinking that his body had been ruined during his university days when he spent all his time in the dorm, playing on the computer.

"What can the appraisal system appraise?" Chen Yi asked out of curiosity.

"As long as your appraisal skill level is high enough, or you have the corresponding level of appraisal talismans, you can appraise various objects in the world."

Chen Yi's face lit up with excitement. The appraisal system could appraise anything, which was incredibly powerful.

Suddenly, he saw the broken computer nearby. He had a thought and placed an appraisal talisman on the computer to test the system's ability.

"Appraising... Appraisal successful. 21st-century DIY desktop computer, system: Windows XP (pirated), processor: Intel Core i5-4570, graphics card... Status: Scraped, all components severely damaged, no repair value."

"This... The computer data is completely out, even the pirated XP system is identified." Chen Yi looked at the appraisal information in his mind, unable to believe it. He had a deeper understanding of the system's power, but the last line of text made him feel like crying. The computer was completely scrapped.

However, perhaps it was because of this computer that he obtained the appraisal system. Chen Yi felt a sense of relief. He had also asked the system where it came from, but the system ignored him.

Lying on the bed, Chen Yi kept checking the system's various functions and buttons. Suddenly, he noticed a "Reset and Reappraise" button in the upper right corner. Out of curiosity, he pressed it in his mind.

"Do you want to reset and reappraise your body data? After resetting, the highest level appraisal skill or talisman you have will be used automatically."

The prompt in his mind piqued Chen Yi's interest. Reset and reappraise, was this just like in games? He pressed "Yes" in his mind without hesitation.

The moment he pressed "Yes," Chen Yi felt his body become immobile. He shouted in panic, "What's happening? Why can't I move?"

"Body resetting. Your body will be immobilized until the automatic appraisal is complete."

"Reset complete. The highest level appraisal skill or talisman will be used automatically. There is a high chance of garbage data. Automatic appraisal in progress... Since this is the first time you are using the reset appraisal function, to better adapt to the data after the appraisal and avoid unknown situations, the automatic sleep function has been activated..."

"What? High chance of garbage data? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Stop it now!" Chen Yi, unable to move on the bed, heard the system's prompt and his face changed, shouting in anger.

As a college student who often played games, he clearly understood that the system's prompt meant that his body data after the appraisal might be even worse than before, which made him very anxious.

However, the system's subsequent prompt made his protests weaker and weaker, and he eventually fell into a deep sleep.

"Appraisal complete. Reset appraisal function completed. Host's body data: Strength: 25, Speed: 15, Toughness: 27, Health: 30. All body data severely below normal..."

The system's appraisal completion sound echoed in Chen Yi's mind, but he was asleep and didn't know that his current physical condition was extremely weak.

The next morning, Chen Yi rubbed his eyes, stretched, and sat up from the bed, still half-asleep. He instinctively wanted to go to the bathroom, but as soon as he got out of bed and took a step, he fell to the ground in a dog-like position.

"What's wrong? What's wrong with my body..." Chen Yi's face changed, and he hurriedly got up from the ground. When he took another step, the same thing happened.

"Due to the reset appraisal function you used yesterday, your body data has changed significantly. After a night of adaptation, you may experience temporary discomfort upon waking. Don't worry, you will adapt soon."

Hearing the system's prompt, Chen Yi suddenly remembered what happened yesterday. Out of curiosity, he had pressed the reset appraisal button, and when he learned about the possibility of garbage data, he wanted to protest but fell into a deep sleep involuntarily.

Garbage data, Chen Yi's face changed drastically. He hurriedly asked the appraisal system to open the body data menu. Seeing the data, with the highest value being 30, he felt like he had been struck by lightning and sat on the ground, "Appraisal system, I curse your ancestors for 18 generations. Why didn't you remind me during the appraisal?"

"As a great appraiser, you must explore and familiarize yourself with all the system's information. The system will only provide prompts when necessary."

Chen Yi clenched his fists, feeling the weakness in his hands. He felt like crying, as his body data was already below normal, and now with a strength of 25, he probably couldn't even lift a chicken. This was what it meant to be weak and helpless.