With a plan formed in her heart, Jade's mood lifted as well. She smiled and said, "Even if I only obtain this single Curio, the trip is already well worth it."
In the rest area, Aventurine and Topaz deeply agreed. If they'd had something like this earlier, why would they ever have needed to go to a gloomy place like the Shackling Prison and engage in verbal sparring with the judges of the Ten-Lords Commission?
A huge amount of cost could have been cut right from the root.
After quietly planning out a future collaboration with the Genius Society, Jade turned back to Sylvester and said, "I'll trouble you to explain the other Curios."
Hearing that, Sylvester raised his hand and knocked on the plaster bust, tapping it as he spoke. "This thing is called the [Pawnshop Appraiser]. You decide whether it's activated or shut down by slapping its forehead. Once activated, place an item in front of its eyes, and it'll state the item's detailed information, then give an appraisal value."
After finishing the introduction, he added to Jade, "This Curio is perfectly aligned with your profession. And it even comes with a Xianzhou-style explanation method built in—it has its own unique flavor."
Hearing Sylvester's words, Jade smiled gracefully. "If that's the case, my workload would become much lighter."
Bonajade Exchange claimed it could fulfill any wish. Many people came offering their entire fortune, or even their whole lives, in exchange. Those were things this [Pawnshop Appraiser] clearly couldn't handle.
But those were ultimately the minority. Most people who came to Bonajade Exchange were still there to trade items for money.
In that case, this plaster-bust-looking thing could naturally help her shoulder quite a bit of the burden.
And that Xianzhou-style explanation method sounded rather interesting as well.
She smiled at Sylvester and asked, "Shopkeeper Sylvester, may I borrow an empty teacup?"
"Of course." Sylvester rummaged beneath the counter and took out a brand-new white porcelain cup.
He tapped the cup wall lightly, producing a deep, solid sound.
Sylvester nodded in satisfaction. As expected of a complimentary item that came with tea priced at two million Credits per 50g—its quality was quite good, nearly comparable to the standard tea set of the Sleepless Earl.
He handed the teacup, with a market price of 500 Credits, to Jade.
Jade slapped the plaster bust on the head, and the [Pawnshop Appraiser]'s eyes emitted a dazzling red beam.
"..."
Jade pressed her lips together. For some reason, she suddenly felt that this thing might not be very reassuring.
She placed the teacup under the red light, and the beam instantly spread out, enveloping the cup along its contours.
"Beep!" The plaster bust emitted a notification sound.
Jade focused her attention, her eyes filled with expectation as she waited.
She really did want to know what kind of distinctive explanation methods her Xianzhou peers would use.
Then she heard the plaster bust let out a long, resounding call: "Wriiiite~~~"
Sylvester nodded and explained to everyone, "This is called 'singing the pledge.' It follows the traditional Xianzhou pawnshop workflow. The appraiser and the recorder work as a pair. Dragging out the word 'write' is the appraiser's way of reminding the recorder to begin work."
Jade and her two colleagues nodded in understanding.
Sure enough, it was authentic Xianzhou flavor—even the procedures were faithfully replicated.
Under everyone's gaze, the plaster bust spoke again. "Wriiiite~~ carbon-deficient, short-flue, travel-use white porcelain mini hotpot—one unit!"
"???"
Jade stared at the plaster bust in complete confusion.
It—it was speaking Xianzhou language, right? Or had something gone wrong with her synesthetic beacon?
Otherwise, why couldn't she understand a word of what it was saying?
Wasn't this just a teacup?
Carbon-deficient, short flue—how would this thing even use charcoal or a chimney?
And a travel-use white porcelain mini hotpot? Was there really such a tiny hotpot? Put two slices of meat in it and the boiling water would lose heat immediately. After a few bites, you'd have to wait for the water to boil again.
Using this thing for hotpot—whether you'd get full or starve first was anyone's guess!
"Tch, it really does have the style of a traditional Xianzhou pawnshop."
Feixiao smacked her lips, reluctantly affirming the plaster bust's function—only to draw astonished looks from the three members of the Corporation.
"Huh?"
Aventurine and Topaz looked at it with confusion and awe.
Did Xianzhou people really all understand this kind of appraisal method?
Jade forcibly maintained her composure. After carefully choosing her words, she asked, "This… really is Xianzhou traditional culture?"
"It can barely be counted as such."
Sylvester held his expression steady and said in a calm voice, "Xianzhou appraisers have two habits. First, regardless of whether an item is good or bad, they must criticize it thoroughly to make it easier to drive down the price—usually closing the deal at only ten to twenty percent of its actual value."
"As for the second—absolutely never admit there's something they don't recognize. If they truly don't recognize it, they'll make something up on the spot. If they can bluff even one person, that's a win."
"Sigh—that's just how it is." After Sylvester finished speaking, Feixiao also sighed, expressing agreement and further confirming that this [Pawnshop Appraiser] was indeed authentically Xianzhou-flavored.
After all, who said dross couldn't be part of the flavor?
If there was any profession on the Xianzhou that everyone loved to hate, pawnshop appraisers were definitely one of them.
Not only did they drive prices down ruthlessly, some even secretly engaged in fencing stolen goods.
But in that regard, pawnshops across the universe were all the same—Bonajade Exchange included.
It had indeed fulfilled many people's wishes, but comparing what those people gained to what they paid, the ratio was hardly pretty.
But desire itself had value.
Bonajade Exchange didn't go door to door forcing purchases. In the end, Jade wasn't running a charity—whether someone was consumed by their desires ultimately depended on themselves.
The working style of Xianzhou pawnshops was long familiar to Sylvester and Feixiao.
But the three from the Corporation were different. They deeply suspected that this broken plaster bust was really just a machine with a bizarre name.
Sylvester gave them a detailed explanation, then said, "If you don't believe it, just watch."
He turned to the plaster bust and asked, "How much is this worth?"
The plaster bust continued in its long-drawn tone. "Fiiive Credits~~"
Sylvester spread his hands toward Jade. "See? Black-hearted to the core. My teacup isn't particularly valuable, but a skewer of Berrypheasant costs 600 Credits—and it just gave a single-digit number."
After hearing this, the room fell deathly silent.
Because no one could think of any words to praise this Curio.
After a long while, Aventurine slowly spoke two words: "Real."
Jade frowned slightly and said, "Mm… it can indeed be considered a kind of ability."
After all, being able to mimic human psychology so accurately was truly rare.
And not recognizing certain items did indeed affect a pawnshop's reputation—but the nonsense names it made up were far too bizarre, weren't they?
She hesitated and said, "It's just that…"
Wasn't it supposed to only make things up for items it didn't recognize?
Did it not even recognize a teacup? What kind of idiot appraiser was this?!
At the Corporation, it wouldn't even make it past the twenty-first round of interviews.
Seeing her confusion, Sylvester explained directly. "That's because this plaster bust currently has very little information stored. To broaden its knowledge, the user needs to press their forehead against the plaster bust's forehead. That way, your knowledge can be uploaded into its database."
"So that's how it is."
Even with Sylvester's explanation, Jade still felt inexplicably irritated looking at the plaster bust.
Just imagining herself reviewing pawn tickets every day and seeing piles upon piles of bizarre, incomprehensible item names already gave her a headache.
She stared at the plaster bust for a long time before finally letting out a sigh.
It still deserved a chance, at least.
Setting it aside for the moment, she continued, "Shopkeeper Sylvester, may I ask—what exactly is the purple Curio I obtained?"
===BREAK===
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