31: Eight consecutive wins

The Curator was taken aback; it should be for the team, right? Weren't they answering as a team? There's strength in numbers. Otherwise, wouldn't the chances of winning be even smaller if it were just him alone?

However, the Curator didn't speak out of turn but looked toward PD Zhao. Lu Qingyu had been too quiet today, so quiet that PD Zhao was starting to feel a bit panicked. But after Lu Qingyu asked this question, PD Zhao actually breathed a sigh of relief.

"You can nominate one person to answer specifically, or all seven people can work together. If you answer together, it will be calculated based on the accuracy of the answers."

This method was very reasonable. No matter which answering method was chosen, individual glory was absolute.

Lu Qingyu nodded, and PD Zhao continued, "Then please, guests, discuss your chosen method of participation."

The three people on the opposite side chose the collaborative method. On this side, Lü Qing was the first to suggest:

"I think the collaborative method is better. There's strength in numbers."

Su Jing said, "I agree too."

Lu Qingyu: "I think individual participation is also good."

Bai Tingxin: "Do you mean you want to answer by yourself?"

Lu Qingyu: "I can."

Everyone looked at Lu Qingyu together, their mouths practically grinning to their ears. *I bet you want to hog the 200,000 all for yourself.*

200,000 was equally tempting to the other guests. If they won, they could get a sum of money for nothing. At a time like this, no one wanted to give up.

Among them, Lü Qing and Kaluo had the highest incomes, and 200,000 wasn't much to them, but everyone held the mindset that only a fool wouldn't take advantage of a bargain.

Lü Qing said, "The risk of nominating an individual is too high. The other side has three people, and we have seven now. We have the advantage."

The others also nodded. "That's right."

"Let's stick with the collaborative method. I think that way is better."

Among the seven guests, the three male guests insisted on collaborative answering. Yao Yiyi and Bai Tingxin also knew absolutely nothing about cultural relics, so collaborative answering was in their best interest because there was a fifty percent chance they could split the 200,000.

Kaluo didn't really care. Wen Minmin preferred nominating one person to answer; she didn't know how to identify real or fake artifacts and didn't want to participate.

Lu Qingyu said, "Then let's agree beforehand. If we answer together and there's a disagreement on a crucial question, and in the end, we lose because the majority overrules the minority and chooses the wrong answer, the responsibility lies with those who chose the wrong answer. Is that okay?"

At the mention of taking responsibility, those who had been clamoring for collaborative answering suddenly went silent because no one wanted to bear the blame.

Lü Qing: "You can't put it like that. We are a team now; we need to have a spirit of cohesion. If we're wrong, we can bear it together."

Lu Qingyu crossed his arms. "If it's my fault, I'll take responsibility. If it's not my fault, I won't take any at all."

Lu Qingyu valued team spirit, but he knew that such noble things weren't meant for these people. Everyone had their own hidden motives. He was the youngest; if they really answered together, his suggestions would definitely not be taken seriously later.

Team spirit should be used on people who deserve it. They... were not worth it.

Lü Qing got a little angry. "You won't get every question right either. Only thinking about the benefits and not wanting to take responsibility—isn't that a bit too irresponsible?"

Lu Qingyu: "So, nominate one person to answer. Good or bad, one person will bear it."

Su Jing, He Chenguang, and the other female guests were also a bit angry. This was the first time they had seen such a serious expression on Lü Qing's face.

It felt like Lu Qingyu was acting like a troublesome child at this moment.

Lü Qing felt it was time to give Lu Qingyu a lesson. Since he requested it, then let him participate alone. The audience across the country was watching now; he would pay for his capriciousness.

Lü Qing: "Fine, then I also agree to individual participation. However, I can't do it; I don't know much about cultural relics."

Seeing Lü Qing say this, the others also said, "I can't either."

Yao Yiyi: "Me neither. Besides, I have bad luck; I can't even guess right."

Lu Qingyu almost had the words 'money-grubber' written on his face. "I can do it. I'll take it on then."

Identifying cultural relics was what he was best at, but not by relying on any techniques.

In his past life, his uncle-in-law had a private museum passed down through generations. Things like glazed bowls that other museums would treat as centerpieces were just stacked up at his place.

He had treated that place like a playground since he was a child, even using those antiques as tableware. Would you misidentify something you use every day?

Besides looking at quality, the aura of a cultural relic was also very important, but very few people could understand it.

It's like people who have treated Hermès as toys since they were children; they haven't studied how to identify forgeries, but if it's fake, they can tell at a glance.

This whole discussion of theirs was broadcast live, and everyone started sending bullet comments about Lu Qingyu's behavior.

"That was hasty. I think Lü Qing has a point; collaborative participation would have been better."

"Lu Qingyu's machismo is acting up, showing off at a time like this."

"Someone's vision is too narrow; he only sees the 200,000 and hasn't gauged whether he has the ability to get it."

"Lu Qingyu is only eighteen. What kind of experience could he have with cultural relics? This is a joke."

"Little brother, don't! It would have been so much better to participate together."

PD Zhao: "Since there's a result, let's begin. Lu Qingyu versus the three volunteers."

The Curator gave both sides a notebook and a pen.

The glass cover protecting the artifacts was slowly removed, and the Curator handed them white gloves.

Curator: "Artifact number one: a Song Dynasty Jun kiln rose-purple glazed sunflower-shaped flowerpot, 15.8 cm tall. One minute for observation. Please write down the correct answer within one minute."

Now it was Lü Qing's turn to stand aside with his arms crossed to watch the show. So what if Lu Qingyu was popular? This one incident would be enough to ruin his popularity with the audience. The audience hated arrogant, conceited, and irresponsible people the most.

The other guests didn't say anything, but they also held the same attitude of watching a show, waiting for Lu Qingyu to make a fool of himself.

After the Curator finished introducing the first piece of porcelain, the three volunteers on the opposite side even pulled a magnifying glass out of their pockets to observe. Lu Qingyu, however, just walked up to the two flowerpots, looked for less than three seconds, and wrote down the answer to hand to the Curator.

Even the Curator was stunned. He's not going to look more closely?

"This, this, this... is he really not going to take a closer look?"

"Lu Qingyu is planning to rely on guessing for all ten answers. Is this going to work?"

"It's a bit too disrespectful to the competition. It would have been better to participate in a collaborative way; at least others could give some advice."

"The two porcelain vases are basically identical; they are indeed hard to identify."

"I can't see any difference at all. I think if one doesn't have deep knowledge of cultural relics, it's indeed hard to choose."

The one minute was up, and the three volunteers handed in their answers. Everyone's eyes fell on the Curator, waiting for him to announce the answer.

The Curator unfolded the slips of paper to check the answers from both sides, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes. "Lu Qingyu chose the flowerpot on the right. The volunteers chose the flowerpot on the left."

"Congratulations to Lu Qingyu. Lu Qingyu gets one point."

"Holy crap, he guessed right."