The Real Heiress Has an Appraisal System

"Orange gemstones are generally quite rare."

"Usually, you’re looking at spessartine garnet, which we call Mandarin garnet—pretty descriptive, right? There’s also citrine, imperial topaz, orange diamonds, and lots of smaller melee diamonds. But this stone of yours is none of those."

Gu Shengsheng held it up, turning it over. She took out her portable magnifying glass and examined it.

The System showed no reaction either, which proved this thing wasn’t an orange gemstone at all.

The young woman selling the stone grew excited as well. "That’s right! Streamer, I took it to so many places to get it appraised—I even went to provincial and national inspection centers. None of those jewelry and jade labs knew what it was. But they all told me its quality was good."

"And at the time, I had no intention of selling it. What’s more, this thing has a secret benefit," she said, a little proudly.

"I’m telling you, but you can’t tell anyone else."

The viewers in the stream: "We all know now."

"I know, but I’ll pretend I don’t +1"

"Just tell us already, stop keeping us in suspense."

"I can see the streamer is curious too. This thing must be worth a few hundred thousand, right?"

"Probably more."

"..."

Everyone started guessing the item’s price.

The seller cleared her throat. "This thing of mine... I let my mom wear it once, and she said it felt nice and warm. She didn’t even feel cold when she went out in the winter."

"I also let my little brother wear it, and he’s still in elementary school. He said it felt really comfortable, too. He was always showing it off to his classmates, telling them it was a magical item left behind by Ultraman."

"If I weren’t so broke right now, I really couldn’t bear to sell it."

Gu Shengsheng now understood completely.

Her story sparked a realization. She already had a feeling this thing was strange, but she never imagined it was *this* strange.

Gu Shengsheng said with a grave expression, "I wonder if you’ve ever heard the saying: the prettier the mushroom, the more potent its poison. Countless people have even eaten them, experienced hallucinations, and then died."

Yun City was famous for its mushrooms. They grew in abundance in the mountains and wilds and were a fragrant, delicious food. That’s why the people in that area were so fond of them.

But eating them required great care—the prettier they were, the more you had to avoid them.

Back in the parallel world, there was a major viral outbreak, but in South City, the number of new infections couldn’t compare to the number of people who died from eating mushrooms.

It was because their toxicity was so unpredictable, and people didn’t even know the right way to prepare them.

"But what does that have to do with my item?" The young seller was confused. "Streamer, you’re not trying to scare me so you can trick me out of my stone, are you?"

"I used to think you were a good person, but now I see what you’re really like!"

Gu Shengsheng said, "No. I’m just trying to say that your item is very beautiful, but it’s also highly toxic."

"The prettier the mushroom, the more dangerous it is. The same goes for minerals. This thing of yours clearly isn’t a gemstone, but a type of toxic mineral."

"Most importantly, it’s not something simple like stibnite, nor is it a common mineral like peridot or malachite, or even a stone used for experimental research. What you’ve found is indeed rare—so rare that even scientists have seldom seen it, which is why no one could appraise it."

"Then what are you trying to say?" the young woman asked, growing more impatient. She was determined to see just what kind of story Gu Shengsheng would spin.

She had handled it for years, and this was the first time anyone had claimed it was poisonous. A poisonous stone—the idea was laughable and absurd!

"Streamer, are you just trying to get your hands on my item and lowball me?"

"I’ve watched so many of your streams, I know your tricks. The price I gave you is already my absolute lowest."

"If there’s really something wrong with it, then please, explain it clearly," she said, her voice hardening.

The people in the stream chat didn’t know whose side to take.

"Streamer, hurry up and tell us. We want to know too."

"This girl is just too anxious. She’s trying to sell her valuables, so hearing you say that probably shattered her composure."

"Streamer, hurry up and tell us what to do!"

"How can a stone be poisonous?"

"Yeah, don’t just stop halfway through. You’re making us all anxious."

"It’s actually quite simple," Gu Shengsheng said. "Most of the elements in our stones are composed of chemical elements. And as I’m sure everyone knows, chemical elements can be either toxic or non-toxic."

"In nature, many different minerals are often mixed together."

"I wonder if any of you have heard of chrysotile asbestos."

"Chrysotile is a potent carcinogen. Long-term exposure is highly toxic and can cause significant harm to the body’s acid-base balance. Then there’s another substance: arsenic trisulfide."

"That one’s no slouch either. Prolonged contact can lead to poisoning from the toxins it releases, causing nerve damage that can potentially leave a person in a vegetative state. But the stone itself is beautiful, which tempts people to touch it."

"Arsenic trisulfide was known even in ancient times. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen poisoned arrows in movies or TV shows. Smearing them with something like powdered stone could poison a person. This was a discovery of our ancestors’ great wisdom—they found it could kill people, so they put it to use."

"But what we’re looking at today is neither arsenic trisulfide nor chrysotile asbestos. It’s a hybrid mineral formed from prolonged contact between the two."

"It’s like the country rock next to volcanic rock—with enough contact, the surrounding rock gets contaminated too. The part where they cross-contaminate forms a new mineral."

After finishing her explanation, Gu Shengsheng looked at the young woman.

She asked directly, "After your elderly mother wore it, did she experience a rapid heartbeat, and has her health been poor recently? Have you taken her to the hospital for a check-up?"

"And your little brother—at his young age, exposure to a toxic mineral like this would likely trigger acute illnesses. If he has any genetic predispositions, the effect would be even greater. I once saw a little boy in a similar situation who developed systemic lupus erythematosus."

The moment Gu Shengsheng finished speaking, the young woman dropped to her knees.

She was overcome with emotion and crying uncontrollably. Gu Shengsheng handed her a tissue.

She waited for the woman to calm down a little before she spoke again. "Yes, Streamer... my little brother... he really was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus..."

"The whole reason I’m selling these things is to save him. We’ve been to countless hospitals. He’s been living in a special care unit—a day in the ICU costs so much money. Our family used to be comfortably well-off; I could even afford to have my own jewelry hobby."

"But my brother’s treatment has been going on for so, so long. We can’t hold on anymore. Our family’s finances have collapsed. And only now do I know... it was because of me. It was all my fault!"

She was on the verge of a complete breakdown!