Becoming Rich with Daily Scavenging APP

Chapter 85: The Inkstone Used to Prop Up a Table Leg



Accompanied by Li Qiqi's narration, Chen Yiyang also learned about Li Qiqi's background.

Her parents divorced early, and she lived with her grandparents in the countryside.

So she has a deep affection for the countryside and doesn't have the typical impression of it being poor, tiring, or dull.

In Li Qiqi's description, the countryside is filled with beautiful memories and simplicity far from the complexity of cities and society.

After listening to Li Qiqi's description, Chen Yiyang finally understood why this girl became a big internet celebrity later on.

Her perspective on the countryside is indeed different from most people. In her description, there's only the beauty of the countryside, without the hardships.

Hardships are a real part of reality, but beauty is what humans have always pursued.

If someone is willing to strip away the hardships of reality and only show the beauty to people who have never lived in the countryside, it will surely be appealing to many.

After hearing Li Qiqi's story, Chen Yiyang proactively reached out to Li Qiqi and said, "I'm willing to invest in you."

"Thank you." Li Qiqi was also very pleased that her words had moved the other party.

She asked excitedly, "Can I join your MCN company?"

MCN company?

Chen Yiyang wondered where this MCN company came from.

But to avoid making Li Qiqi suspicious of his identity, he said to her,

"I see great potential in you. I think with your abilities, just joining our company would be a bit of a waste.

I just listened to your description, and I think the countryside you've depicted would be hard to capture through live streaming alone.

How about this: I'll personally invest in setting up a studio for you, and we each own half of the shares.

Then we can publish videos online as video bloggers, so there's no need for live streaming."

"But can video income alone support a team?" Li Qiqi was a bit skeptical.

After all, the revenue share from video websites is too low nowadays.

Many bloggers find it hard to support themselves without selling products.

Hearing Li Qiqi's words, Chen Yiyang also realized this.

Monthly video revenue of over a million — could this really be the rate offered by domestic video platforms?

Could it be that Li Qiqi will not only be famous domestically but also wildly popular abroad in the future?

Only by accessing global platforms like YouTube could such income be possible.

So Chen Yiyang said, "We can try this model first. If it doesn't work, we can later switch to live streaming.

Of course, we won't just limit ourselves domestically; we can also post videos internationally."

Chen Yiyang painted a very beautiful future for Li Qiqi.

This future was something he speculated based on the information provided.

But the future was so beautiful and successful that even Li Qiqi herself was a bit doubtful.

So Chen Yiyang decisively said, "You don't need to worry about the costs; I'll take care of everything. All you need to do now is resign quickly and get ready to return to the countryside to make videos.

I will arrange for the studio to be set up. We will own half of the studio shares each. I'll also provide you with a starting fund of 500,000 upfront."

As he said this, Chen Yiyang took out his phone and said to Li Qiqi.

"Let's add each other as friends."

After Li Qiqi accepted Chen Yiyang's friend request, he transferred 50,000 yuan to her.

"Consider this a deposit," Chen Yiyang said to Li Qiqi.

When Li Qiqi saw the five thousand yuan reflected in her account,

she felt the sensation of being trusted for the first time.

She sincerely thanked Chen Yiyang, saying, "Thank you."

Because it was too late, Chen Yiyang and Li Qiqi agreed to meet again the next day to talk, and then they each went home.

The next morning, Chen Yiyang opened his phone.

Today's intelligence: The treasure used to prop the table: An inkstone engraved by Master Wu Changshuo is being used to prop a table leg at a convenience store located at 197 Nanhe Road, Weiyang District, West Capital City. Purchasing it will result in a rare find.

When Chen Yiyang first saw the intelligence today, he didn't think much of it.

After all, such things were common in rural areas.

Maybe some elder's pickling stone is a historical stele from the Ming or Qing dynasties.

Not all antiques are valuable.

Those with no worth aren't given attention and are often repurposed for other uses, which is common.

However, when Chen Yiyang opened his computer and looked up who Wu Changshuo was, he was stunned.

Wu Changshuo, a famous traditional Chinese painter from the late Qing and Republic periods, was known for poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal cutting, merging them into one. He was hailed as "the first person in stone drum seal script" and "the last peak of literati painting."

Such a person would have each of his paintings sold at exorbitant prices.

And the inkstones personally engraved by him that have survived to now are extremely rare.

For those well-preserved and in good condition, the price can even exceed a million.

Chen Yiyang didn't expect such a celebrity-engraved inkstone could be used as a table leg prop.

So he immediately got up from the bed.

He drove all the way to the place described in the intel.

Chen Yiyang pretended to be a passerby and walked into the small shop, saying he wanted to buy two packs of cigarettes.

While waiting, Chen Yiyang glanced around at the shop's arrangements.

In the small shop of more than a hundred square meters, it was crammed full of various items.

In the farthest corner of the shop, barely enough space for a small table, a twelve or thirteen-year-old child was sitting in front, doing homework.

The small table also looked very old, and because one table leg was missing a piece, something was needed to prop it up.

So that seemingly unremarkable inkstone, actually engraved by the master Wu Changshuo, was used to prop up the table leg.

"Here are your cigarettes." The shopkeeper's wife handed the cigarettes to Chen Yiyang at this time.

Chen Yiyang thought for a moment, then said, "Shopkeeper's wife, can you help make some instant noodles here? I'm a bit hungry right now, make me some instant noodles and add a sausage. I'll give you an extra two bucks."

"No need, it's just a little help." The shopkeeper's wife warmly brought Chen Yiyang some instant noodles and then used her own kettle to get hot water.

"Young man, are you working from out of town? Don't work too hard, don't always eat instant noodles, eat proper meals when you should."

"I only do it occasionally." Chen Yiyang pretended to smile honestly.

Then he used the topic to chat with the shopkeeper's wife and quickly learned about her family situation.

Her husband had passed away due to illness, and since there were no other relatives in the family, she was raising the child alone.

Although having a shop could earn a little, the location of the small shop was not good, so the monthly business was not much.

The main profit every month came from neighbors buying cigarettes.

At this point, the instant noodles were also ready.

Originally, Chen Yiyang wanted to eat while standing, but the shopkeeper's wife shooed her child away and let Chen Yiyang sit at the table to eat.

So Chen Yiyang placed the instant noodles on the table, which was propped by a million-worth inkstone, and started eating.

Halfway through eating.

Chen Yiyang thought for a moment, then directly pointed at the inkstone propping the table leg and said to the shopkeeper's wife, "Where did you get this thing propping the table leg?"

"I forgot. That day, naughty Xiaobao kicked one leg of the table off. I searched the house for a long time and found this thing, so I told him to use it to prop the table. And, you know, the height fits perfectly."

Seeing the honest face of the shopkeeper's wife, Chen Yiyang simply told the truth, "I think this thing seems to be an antique."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The shopkeeper's wife thought Chen Yiyang was joking.

Chen Yiyang finished the instant noodles with a few bites, then put the bowl aside.

He reached under the table and picked up the inkstone.

This is a purely black inkstone, and surrounding it are carvings, although not immediately noticeable, upon closer inspection, you'll find extremely vivid floral and bird motifs and a poem.

According to the inscription, it can be confirmed that this is indeed an inkstone engraved by Wu Changshuo back then.

Chen Yiyang picked up the inkstone and said to the shopkeeper's wife, "This thing is indeed an antique and is worth quite a lot. Are you willing to sell it?"

"Young man, you wouldn't be a scammer, would you?" The shopkeeper's wife's face immediately turned cold.

She still couldn't believe that the thing used to prop the table leg was an antique.

In her understanding, antiques should be bottles, jars, or calligraphy and paintings.

This pitch-black, stone-like thing, how could it be an antique?

"I've heard that some scammers trick people by claiming something in their house is an antique, then introduce them to auction houses, demanding high auction fees.

We are just a mother and child, already short on money. Young man, it's not right to scam us like this."

Seeing tears in the shopkeeper's wife's eyes, Chen Yiyang handed her his business card.

"This is my business card; I run an antique trading store in Jin City. I came to West Capital this time to buy antiques. It just happened that I saw this treasure at your place.

If you still don't believe me, how about this? We can sign a contract, you give me the item, and I'll immediately give you three hundred thousand on the spot."

"Really?" The shopkeeper's wife still didn't quite believe it.

"If you're really skeptical, you can even call the police to act as a witness."

"Then I believe you, but we need to sign a contract." Seeing that Chen Yiyang was willing to call the police, the shopkeeper's wife's attitude softened considerably.

Chen Yiyang's phone had contract templates stored in it, so he went out to find a print shop to print the contract, then returned to the small shop.

He handed the contract to the shopkeeper's wife, who then video-called someone who seemed like her close friend. After her friend confirmed the contract was fine.

Only then did she trustingly inquire Chen Yiyang.

"Young man, are you really willing to pay three hundred thousand for this inkstone?"

"Really." Chen Yiyang nodded, "To be honest, buying this inkstone for three hundred thousand, I can actually earn quite a bit of profit."

"I don't want to know how much you'll earn." The shopkeeper's wife was worried that Chen Yiyang would reveal the true price of the inkstone.

She directly said, "How much you earn is your skill. But the fact that you're willing to pay three hundred thousand for a treasure we used to prop the table, I'm really grateful to you. I was originally worried about how to afford Xiaobao's tutoring classes."


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.