Most of what she touched were the most common types of rocks, like basalt and granite.
They had only been picked up because their rinds showed some minor characteristics of jadeite gemstones.
In the stone gambling market, that was good enough.
However, this was the second time Gu Shengsheng had seen the Emotion Value. 'It was 0 before, so how can it be negative now?'
[System]: Friendly reminder, Emotion Value represents the audience's level of shock toward you during appraisals. Currently, the System can only appraise jadeite attribute panels.
Emotion Value 100: Nephrite Jade attribute panel +1;
Emotion Value 1000: amber attribute panel +1;
Emotion Value 10,000: Porcelain attribute panel +1...
Gu Shengsheng thought, '...What if the Emotion Value hits -1000? Will I lose the corresponding attribute panel?'
'By that logic, if one person generates one point of Emotion Value, and there are already so many people who are annoyed with me... When I get more famous, if I attract hate during my streams and thousands, or even tens of thousands, of people despise me, won't I be in big trouble?'
[System]: Correct. If deductions exceed 10,000, the System will crash.
Gu Shengsheng cursed inwardly, 'Totally unreliable, just as I thought.'
Seeing Gu Shengsheng staring blankly at a worthless rock, the viewers in the livestream chat found it amusing.
"If you don't know how to appraise, then just admit it. What are you putting on an act for?"
"If you don't have the skills, streamer, just admit it. If you can't do it, you can't do it. Stop streaming this eyesore."
"I can't stand idiots, and I especially hate people who pretend to know what they're doing when they don't. I hope the streamer has a little self-awareness!"
"There are other streamers live in Rui City. Let's all go watch someone else. This woman is definitely a bust."
"..."
Just then, Gu Shengsheng walked up to a small ground stall.
The old man running it was just holding a handful of stones, about to throw them out as trash.
She quickly called out, "Sir, wait. Let me see those stones."
She touched a small piece, about the size of her thumb, that looked like a simple pebble. Logically, it should have been impossible to cut anything of value from it.
But appraising treasures didn't rely on logic alone...
As soon as she touched it, the System displayed information about the Jadeite rough stone.
Item: Jadeite rough stone
Description: The entire rough stone has a jadeite content of 89.8%. Recommended to be made into a pair of earrings. Worth acquiring.
Market Price: 2,000 yuan
System Buyback Price: 1,800 yuan
Emotion Value Collected: -6
"How about selling me this stone?"
Gu Shengsheng asked directly.
"Hey, little girl, are you nuts? This is just a pebble, and you want to have it cut?"
"Are you crazy? We wouldn't even sell this junk to kids on vacation. It has no value!"
Gu Shengsheng said, "...I just feel a connection to it."
"The cheapest stones we have are 30 yuan a piece. This one I was about to throw in the trash. If you want it, you can have it for 20 yuan!"
Gu Shengsheng felt her pocket. She only had 10 yuan left. "Ten yuan," she said. "I'll take it."
"Fine, fine, fine. If you insist on giving me money, I can't stop you. I'll cut it for you."
"Then you can see for yourself what a piece of junk it is!"
The owner was just waiting for Gu Shengsheng to be proven wrong and eat her words, so he went ahead and started the process.
"Okay."
"The texture on this stone's rind is clear, the joints aren't obvious, and the cleavage is parallel. I'd say it's from the Mu Yuan Mine over in Myanmar."
"Who knows? Maybe you'll actually get something out of it."
Because the stone was so small, all he could do was grind away the rind.
The owner said as he did the delicate work, "This is just a waste of time. I'm telling you right now, it's impossible!"
The words had barely left his mouth when the spot he had just ground away revealed a faint hint of green.
The shocked owner was speechless. "..."
'Damn it, this is the first time I've ever seen something like this.'
Then, he explained, "This kind of 'false green' is a common phenomenon. You won't get anything out of it anyway."
The viewers were also getting antsy, mainly because they thought Gu Shengsheng was being so stupid.
"Is this streamer nuts? She's torturing the audience and the owner with a tiny piece of trash."
"Can't you all see? The owner is at a total loss for words."
"This streamer's brain is fried. There's really no point in any of this..."
"Enough, you guys. The streamer spent ten yuan, she probably just bought it to play around!"
Gu Shengsheng explained with a smile, "I really think there's jadeite inside."
Just then, the owner made a second grind, then a third, and a fourth... His movements grew faster, yet at the same time, more cautious.
Because... it was all green.
A small piece of scrap was actually green through and through.
Moreover, in the owner's expert opinion, a piece like this should have been completely incapable of yielding jadeite.
He hadn't expected it, but the green looked like it was waxy-grade with good translucency. Most importantly, it even had little white flecks inside.
It looked like "piao hua" jadeite...
'I'm floored...' he thought. 'Piao hua jadeite is rarer than the common variety, which makes it more valuable.'
"This little stone can be made into a pair of earrings. At a base estimate, you could get three or four thousand for it. With a bit of work, you could earn even more. The 'piao hua' makes it much better."
He then looked at Gu Shengsheng in disbelief. "You, little lady... you've got some uncanny luck. How on earth did you fixate on my trash..."
Gu Shengsheng said humbly, "How about I sell this stone to you, boss? I'm in urgent need of cash right now."
She really was; she only had forty yuan in cash.
The owner was thrilled. He grinned and said, "Three thousand! Consider it the price of making a new friend, little lady!"
For an owner to sell his own stone for ten yuan only to have to spend three thousand to buy it back would normally be outrageous, but in the stone gambling market, it was completely normal!
'I'll just have to eat the loss,' he thought. 'Anyway, if I get it for three thousand, I can find some clueless tourist and easily flip it for five thousand or more!'
"Deal!"
Hearing the notification sound of the Alipay transfer hitting Gu Shengsheng's account, the viewers were left speechless.
'Can someone really be that lucky?!'
'How could this completely unknown girl be so incredible?'
At the same time, the number of viewers in the stream rose to between fifty and sixty, and the System's Emotion Value quickly climbed to 53.
It wasn't a large audience, but they were all active users. The bullet comments flew nonstop across the screen, with everyone wanting to know just how Gu Shengsheng had done it.
"This streamer made three thousand in just a few minutes. Maybe she actually *can* earn more later!"
"No way. She's just a clickbaiter. How could she possibly make ten million in a week? We're not idiots."
"Just waiting to see her fall flat on her face!"
"Let's go, fam, I see another streamer, a guy, in the same market as her. He's really good and always cuts amazing stones."
"That guy hasn't cut anything good today either!"
"Doesn't look that skilled to me."
"..."
Gu Shengsheng continued toward the center of the stone gambling market. The piles of stones grew larger, the crowds grew thicker, and it became a real motley scene.
In the stone gambling market, everything came down to one's own judgment.
Gu Shengsheng walked for a while, but it was so crowded she couldn't even squeeze her way to the piles of rough stones.
She had no choice but to give up for the moment and decided to find a place to sit and rest.
The original owner of this body had been brought back from the countryside by her mother to be a substitute bride for the fake young miss, and it hadn't had a proper rest since. Now, she was rushing around appraising treasures without a moment's break.
It was really being pushed to its limit.
Just then, a voice spoke up beside Gu Shengsheng.