The next moment, Song Kaiyuan took a sudden step forward.
His movements were so agile that he didn't seem like an old man at all. He even threw the paper fan in his hand onto the ground without hesitation.
His cloudy old eyes were shining brightly with a sharp glint.
He stared fixedly at the box in Zhang Xuan's hands. His gaze was comparable to that of a subway pervert spotting a cosplay girl!
"Is this... is this... is this red sandalwood?"
"You actually have red sandalwood, you kid!!"
Zhang Xuan curled his lips.
"It's just red sandalwood. Although it's precious, teacher, you don't have to be so surprised!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Song Kaiyuan in front of him immediately became furious!
The two tufts of grizzled beard were fluttering up and down.
"What do you know! You idiot!"
"This isn't ordinary red sandalwood. It's red sandalwood with a 'starry sky' pattern, and looking at its quality, it's definitely among the finest of the finest red sandalwood!"
"Who would be such a waste to use such precious material to make a box?"
"If I find out who it is, I'll surely have a good argument with him!"
Zhang Xuan rolled his eyes.
"You'll have the chance. This thing was passed down from my ancestors."
Ignoring Zhang Xuan's teasing, Song Kaiyuan said anxiously, "Quick, put it on the table and let me study it carefully."
Hearing this, Zhang Xuan immediately placed the box on the table.
Song Kaiyuan's eyes were gleaming as he admired the patterns on the box. The sharp glint in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Beautiful! It's art, pure art!"
"The carving technique and the texture of the patterns are flawless. It must have been crafted by a master."
"Moreover, this box looks quite old. It must be at least a few hundred years old!"
"Kid, you're going to make a fortune!!"
Hearing Song Kaiyuan's unstinting praise, Zhang Xuan immediately let out a sigh of relief.
"My charming ancestor was quite reliable. He didn't leave any fakes for the descendants."
"I'm getting more and more curious now about what treasures are stored in that treasure-hiding place!"
Just as Zhang Xuan was daydreaming, Song Kaiyuan had already opened the box in front of him.
The next second, a shout rang out throughout the entire office!
"Ahhh! What a waste! What a waste!"
"This... this... this was carved from a whole log of red sandalwood! It's not pieced together!!"
"The length of this box is nearly fifty centimeters. I can't believe there could be such a thick red sandalwood!"
Hearing this, Zhang Xuan, who was standing by, was immediately stunned on the spot!
You should know that there are twenty growth rings in one centimeter of red sandalwood. It takes twenty years for it to grow one centimeter.
As the saying goes, nine out of ten sandalwoods are hollow. Up to now, the thickest red sandalwood ever discovered was only twenty centimeters!
A red sandalwood fifty centimeters thick was simply a miracle that had never appeared before!
At this moment, Song Kaiyuan's breathing became rapid.
His cloudy eyes were bloodshot.
"Ahhh! It makes me so angry! Your ancestor was really a waste to do such a thing!"
"When I die, I'll surely go down there and have a showdown with him!"
Compared to Song Kaiyuan's distress, Zhang Xuan only cared about one thing now, and that was how much this box was worth.
Zhang Xuan asked timidly, "Teacher, in your opinion, how much is this box worth?"
Hearing Zhang Xuan's question, Song Kaiyuan directly held up five fingers.
As Song Kaiyuan's student, Zhang Xuan naturally knew something about red sandalwood.
For red sandalwood of this thickness, it couldn't be valued according to the market price of ordinary red sandalwood!
He then asked tentatively, "Five hundred?"
Song Kaiyuan shook his head.
Immediately, Zhang Xuan's eyes widened, and his heart started pounding uncontrollably.
"Five... five million?"
Zhang Xuan blurted out a figure that he thought was an astronomical price.
Although red sandalwood of this thickness was quite precious, it was just a box after all.
And at this moment, Song Kaiyuan still shook his head.
Seeing this gesture, Zhang Xuan was already trembling all over without any dignity.
"Could it be fifty million? The cost of materials for refining corpses that I need is only about one or two hundred million! Is this one box worth fifty million?"
This price was already beyond Zhang Xuan's imagination. To confirm his guess, Zhang Xuan's voice trembled as he said, "Teacher, what do you mean..."
Before Zhang Xuan could finish his sentence, Song Kaiyuan suddenly said, "It's a priceless treasure! It's simply a priceless treasure!"
Hearing this, Zhang Xuan immediately twitched the corner of his mouth.
"A priceless treasure! So that's what you meant by holding up five fingers, old man!"
"A priceless treasure is even worse than fifty million. Another way to say a priceless treasure is that it has a price but no market."
"How much it can be sold for depends entirely on luck!"
Sensing Zhang Xuan's disappointment, Song Kaiyuan chuckled and patted Zhang Xuan on the shoulder.
"Stinky kid! Why are you so disappointed?"
"For this thing, I can guarantee you that it's at least worth ten million!"
"There happens to be a rather large auction at the auction house tomorrow. If you agree, I'll arrange this thing to be included in it!"
"The starting price will be ten million! If it fails to sell, I'll cover for you!"
Zhang Xuan raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Ten million! This figure is already quite terrifying! I originally thought it would only be worth a few hundred thousand."
"Ten million is more than enough for me to do many things!"
With this thought, Zhang Xuan nodded vigorously.
"Ten million, then ten million! Thank you so much, teacher!"
Song Kaiyuan stroked his beard gently, his face full of smiles.
"We're master and disciple. Why be so polite?"
"Besides, if there's someone who really likes this thing, fifty million isn't impossible either."
"It's just that my maximum ability is ten million!"
"After all, I'm not really interested in this thing."
"If it were some official kiln porcelain, I wouldn't let it go!"
Hearing this, Zhang Xuan nodded.
"There will be some in the future, teacher!"
Song Kaiyuan sneered.
"Do you think this is like Chinese cabbage? For your ancestors to have this box is already a great blessing!"
"Great! Once you sell this box tomorrow, your sister won't have to work in the factory anymore!"
Hearing this, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.
"Alas! Yuqing has suffered so much and endured so much hardship just to let me go to university!"
"Once this box is sold, big brother will never let you suffer or be tired again!"
"Once big brother refines himself into an Ultimate Heavenly Zombie, little sister, you'll be the queen of the whole world!"
After bidding farewell to Song Kaiyuan, Zhang Xuan didn't choose to go back to the dormitory. Instead, he used his last two hundred yuan to book a standard room in a hotel.
After all, with a box worth ten million yuan, it was better to be careful.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and night gradually fell.
Zhang Xuan went to sleep with endless expectations, hugging his "ten million yuan".
He didn't notice that the ancient jade on his chest was emitting a warm aura, and strands of golden light were merging into Zhang Xuan's body....