Chapter 48

Zhao Chong infused his mental energy into the Rejuvenation Fruit, passing through its outer skin. In his mind, images appeared.

"One year, two years, three years... twelve years, it’s actually really twelve years?"

Zhao Chong counted the years it took for the Rejuvenation Fruit to mature, suddenly startled. It was actually twelve years. Could this kid have really identified it correctly? That’s impossible, right?

No, I need to re-evaluate it again, to confirm. I might have counted wrong just now.

Zhao Chong began the evaluation again.

"Nine, ten... twelve, it’s really twelve years!" After re-evaluating again, Zhao Chong’s gaze toward Lin Yiming became dazed. It was really twelve years, and the other party was not wrong.

But how could this be possible? In such a short time, he couldn’t have identified it correctly.

He must have guessed, yes, this guy must have just guessed and got lucky.

Zhao Chong had an answer in his mind. He looked down at the table, where there were about ten treasures waiting for re-evaluation, and his belief became even stronger.

So many treasures, although they are easy to identify, it’s clearly impossible to identify so many in the time it took me to re-evaluate them twice. Besides, identifying treasures consumes a lot of mental energy. Where does this kid get so much mental energy to identify so many treasures?

It seems my guess was right. This kid just guessed and got lucky.

The next one, you won’t have such good luck.

While thinking, Zhao Chong took out a name tag and stuck it on the Rejuvenation Fruit. Whether it’s the main appraiser or the appraiser responsible for re-evaluation, they need to stick their name tag on the item after the evaluation is complete.

The other appraisers, who had been watching this process, were suddenly shocked.

"What’s going on? Why is he sticking the name tag?"

"Sticking the name tag means the appraiser responsible for re-evaluation also agrees with the main appraiser’s evaluation. In other words, this kid has successfully identified it?"

"He identified it successfully? That’s impossible. In such a short time, how could he have identified it successfully? None of us could do it in such a short time to identify the Rejuvenation Fruit."

"Maybe he just guessed?"

Suddenly, one appraiser voiced his opinion. His words were immediately echoed by several other appraisers.

"That’s right, he might have just guessed. Everyone knows that Rejuvenation Fruits of ten years and less than ten years can be distinguished by their appearance. But to determine the exact age, the appearance can’t tell. This kid might not know that." A fatter appraiser speculated, "This kid might have seen a twelve-year-old Rejuvenation Fruit before. He saw that this Rejuvenation Fruit looks the same, so he guessed it’s also a twelve-year-old Rejuvenation Fruit. And he guessed right."

"That makes sense. Look at him, he identified so quickly, and in just a short time, he has already identified five treasures. At this speed, it can only be a guess, right?"

"It should be like that."

Everyone nodded, thinking this guess was probably correct.

They continued to watch the appraiser responsible for re-evaluating Lin Yiming. This kid’s luck can’t last forever. He will be exposed with the next one.

Zhao Chong casually picked up another treasure to be appraised and looked at the label on it.

"A five-year-old black wood. Let’s see if he identified it correctly."

Zhao Chong then began the evaluation, but...

"That’s right, this is also a five-year-old black wood, no mistake... This kid identified it correctly again? But a five-year-old black wood is still easy to identify. Let me see his next one."

Zhao Chong picked up another treasure to be appraised.

"Seashore Fire Grass, this is also correct!" The old appraiser was stunned. One or two could be luck, but three in a row being correct is not luck, but skill.

Is this kid really a very skilled appraiser?

Zhao Chong turned to look at the other party’s face. No matter how he looked, this young, tender-faced kid didn’t seem like a very skilled appraiser.

Lin Yiming finished identifying the last treasure, stuck his name tag on it, and turned to look at the other auction house members: "I’m done. Are there any more treasures?"

"Done?"

Everyone suddenly came to their senses and realized that the table of the appraiser responsible for re-evaluation was already piled with identified treasures, while the young kid’s table had no more treasures to identify.

So many treasures, identified in such a short time? This speed is too fast. Even if he was guessing, he should at least pretend to take his time.

Not to mention, no one in the town’s appraisal alliance can do this. Even if they could, who has enough mental energy to sustain it?

This kid is too disrespectful. Is he treating this like a game? Appraisal is a very serious matter.

Several appraisers couldn’t help but want to scold him, even if he was introduced by Elder Qin. This kid is too careless and doesn’t deserve to stay here.

Just as the appraisers were about to speak, Zhao Chong, responsible for re-evaluating Lin Yiming, stammered: "You... you’re done? Of course, there are more treasures. I’ll continue the re-evaluation."

Zhao Chong wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly grabbed another treasure to be re-evaluated.

The appraisers who were about to speak were stunned. This tone didn’t sound right. Why did it sound respectful?

Suddenly, they heard the young appraiser’s exclamation: "All correct, all the treasures he identified are correct, and the re-evaluation appraiser’s name tags are all stuck on. All correct!"

"What?"

Hearing the exclamation, everyone looked closely and indeed saw that the three re-evaluated treasures all had name tags stuck on them.

"Heaven, what good luck, all correct!" one appraiser exclaimed.

As soon as this appraiser finished speaking, another appraiser immediately contradicted: "It’s not luck. Three in a row being correct, how can that be luck?"

"Not luck? You mean he has the skill? Impossible, I’ve never heard of such a skilled appraiser in our town. Even the president, who is already a great appraiser, isn’t that skilled. It can only be that this kid has good luck, three in a row being correct."

"It’s not three, it’s four..." the young appraiser’s voice sounded again.

"What? Four in a row being correct?" All the appraisers were instantly speechless. This doesn’t seem like luck anymore.

"I can’t stand it, I have to check if he identified it correctly!" After a long pause, one appraiser left his seat and quickly walked to the side of the appraiser responsible for re-evaluating Lin Yiming, picked up an iron sword, and began the evaluation.

A moment later.

"This iron sword is also correct, he identified it without any mistake! It’s a sharp sword made of black iron, and it’s brand new, never used by anyone, no mistake at all."

A cry of surprise instantly made all the other appraisers freeze, looking like they had mental issues, staring blankly at the young, unbelievable kid.

His identification was correct, at least all the ones reviewed so far were correct.

There was no need to continue the review. Everyone knew this couldn’t be luck; it was his appraisal skill.

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old kid, being this strong, if someone else had told them, they wouldn’t believe it. But now, they had seen the entire process with their own eyes!

How can there be someone with such good appraisal talent in the world? It’s simply terrifying.

While everyone was shocked, Lin Yiming glanced at Zhao Chong, who looked pale. Lin Yiming stopped his appraisal and turned to look at him.

"Old Master Zhao, please stop for a moment. You look very tired. If you continue to consume your mental energy, it will damage your spirit."

Zhao Chong, who was about to stop and pick up another treasure, turned to look at Lin Yiming, a grateful look on his face.

He was really tired, and he knew his condition better than anyone. But how could he say he was tired when the main appraiser didn’t say anything?

He had never heard of a re-evaluation appraiser voluntarily saying they were tired and needed a replacement. Re-evaluation appraisers don’t get paid. Of course, appraisers usually take turns being the main appraiser and the re-evaluation appraiser.

This time you do the re-evaluation, next time you will definitely be the main appraiser. This is an unwritten rule among appraisers.

But if a re-evaluation appraiser says they are tired and can’t continue, how will others see them?

Do you think they are not getting paid, so they don’t want to do it?

Re-evaluation appraisers can’t say such things. So even if they are really tired, they have to persist.

Fortunately, Lin Yiming spoke up, so no one would say anything.

Zhao Chong looked at Lin Yiming with gratitude and then looked at the other appraisers in the room, his voice weak: "I can’t continue, I’m too tired. This is too mentally draining. Someone, please come and replace me, I can’t hold on."

Zhao Chong’s face was pale as he leaned against the chair, feeling as if he had just recovered from a serious illness, with no strength left.

He was really too tired. He had been an appraiser for twenty years, and he had never been this tired before. The most embarrassing thing was that he was exhausted from re-evaluating for someone else.

The main appraiser kept giving him more treasures to re-evaluate, which was embarrassing to say. Even more embarrassing was that he had looked down on the other party at first, thinking they were just guessing, but all the treasures he re-evaluated were correct.

The other party really had the skill. It was laughable that he had initially lectured the other party like a teacher to a student, which was very embarrassing.

Thinking about the words he had said before, he felt a burning sensation on his face, truly ironic.

On the contrary, the other party didn’t seem to care about his previous words and was very concerned about his rest.

The appraisers, seeing Zhao Chong’s weak state, looked at each other, stunned. The speed at which the re-evaluation appraiser was exhausted was astonishing.

And this kid, his identifications were all correct.

This is too abnormal. Where did Elder Qin find such a talented person? The appraisal speed is unimaginably fast, and he has identified so many treasures, yet there is no sign of fatigue on his face.