The Real Heiress Has an Appraisal System

Then, the people from the Huaxia embassy called the National Security Bureau.

The National Security Bureau immediately told them to talk to Gu Shengsheng first.

Soon, Zhao Dehai came over and sat down with Gu Shengsheng.

He said, "The person from the National Security Bureau said you should help get to the bottom of this. After all, you’re the one who broke the story."

Gu Shengsheng said, "Mm."

She was perfectly composed. "Could you two please explain the situation from the beginning? Back in Huaxia, everyone has been very worried about you."

The wife gave a helpless smile, but a hint of relief appeared in her eyes. "There’s no need for everyone to be disheartened on our account, and we weren’t dragged into this against our will. My husband and I were part of their group before."

In the live stream chat:

"Holy crap!"

"Holy crap! That’s insane!"

"Is this some internal gang war? So we sympathized with them for nothing?"

"The more intelligent they are, the more likely they are to make mistakes."

"..."

Gu Shengsheng was also very curious, and she waited for the wife to continue her story.

The woman continued, "After my husband and I made a name for ourselves back then, we did use our skills to make a lot of money in the antiques market."

"But as time went on, we started losing control of our greed. We felt too constrained back home, so we came abroad. We earned more and more, and we did more and more things that were illegal and against our conscience."

Recalling these events, she felt as if she had been completely numb at the time.

Gu Shengsheng asked, "Then why... did you decide to turn yourselves in?"

"When you do too many things that weigh on your conscience, you’ll face retribution." As she said this, tears streamed down the woman’s face, and she began to sob uncontrollably.

Her husband held her in his arms, gently comforting her as he spoke. "My wife has been pregnant twice. Our first child stopped breathing right before birth. Our second died just after being born."

"Her body has been severely weakened, but now she’s pregnant again. We can’t keep committing sins."

It was the truth.

For so many years, they had earned a lot of money—much of it dirty money—using the skills built upon their knowledge and intelligence.

They used these skills to do wrong, helping a criminal organization rake in cash.

Then, the husband said, "Considering that we’re turning ourselves in, we hope our child will be okay in the future..."

Gu Shengsheng understood what he meant, so she looked at the embassy representative across from them.

She asked, "Since they’re turning themselves in, can they receive the necessary care before the baby is born? To ensure the baby is born safe and sound."

The representative nodded. "Of course. Even death row inmates receive the humanitarian care they’re entitled to. After all, the child is innocent."

Hearing this, the couple was finally relieved.

"In that case, we have no more worries," they said. "Thank you for your live stream, Miss Gu. We knew that many official accounts follow your stream, so we decided to try our luck here."

Gu Shengsheng nodded. She had realized from the beginning that the couple had likely been under the control of a criminal organization for a long time, with no way to contact the outside world.

Now, by appearing on her live stream, the domestic authorities and the embassy abroad were able to coordinate closely and execute a precise operation to rescue them.

For the couple, this was a form of redemption.

Just as they were about to be led away, the husband said, "The Nine Dragon Cup and that Terracotta Warrior are both from our country. They were lost abroad by accident years ago. Now that we’ve found them, it’s only natural that they be returned to Huaxia."

"We’ll give them all to Miss Gu then."

Because these items had been lost to the world, if the couple gave them to Gu Shengsheng as a token of gratitude, she could have legally placed them in her private museum.

But she knew she couldn’t do that. She was well aware that these were long-awaited treasures, representing a cultural legacy and symbol.

So she said directly, "In that case, I will join you in donating them to the Imperial Palace Museum!"

The live stream brought the matter to a perfect conclusion, but the viewers in the chat were left with mixed feelings:

"Damn, thank god I’m poor. I don’t have the money or the ambition to commit crimes like that."

"My life status: stably poor."

"No worries, I’m still broke as a joke this month. I guess being poor keeps me from becoming a criminal, which is pretty comforting."

"They’re in their forties, living it up abroad, committing crimes, and getting thrown in prison. Meanwhile, I’m in my forties, snatched a one-cent red packet in a group chat, and got kicked out for not saying ’thank you’."

"Dude above me, stop! I pity you for one second!"

"I’ve given up on myself. I just hope that in my next life, I can be reborn as our streamer’s brother and just be a freeloader who lives the good life by her side!"

"..."

Gu Shengsheng found the comments from her viewers quite amusing.

She played along, "Alright, you can just lie back and spend money then."

"But where’s the easy money? All the jobs that pay well are listed in the criminal code."

After saying that, Gu Shengsheng started a red packet giveaway in the live stream, sending out 1,000 lucky bags, each worth 10,000 yuan.

The bullet comments in the chat were all the same: "Enough! I freaking love you!"

Her "Treasure Friends" in the live stream had been with Gu Shengsheng through it all. Without their Emotion Value and support, she wouldn’t have made it this far.

Their relationship was one of mutual success.

She then said with a smile, "Alright, I’ve hit the red packet limit for today. Wait for the next time I give out more perks."

With that, she ended the stream. She got up, intending to say goodbye to Zhao Dehai and head back.

But who would have known that Zhao Dehai was still there, poking at his phone with a single, determined finger, trying to get a lucky bag.

Gu Shengsheng said, "They’re probably all gone by now. The viewers in the stream are really fast."

Zhao Dehai looked regretful. "What a pity! Ten thousand yuan would have lasted me a long time as a secret stash!"

Gu Shengsheng’s expression turned deadpan. She had even recorded it. She showed him her phone. "Should I tell your wife?"

"Don’t! You little rascal!" Zhao Dehai said, looking frantic. "Don’t be rash! I’ll just... forget about the money, okay?"

But Gu Shengsheng’s eyes darted around. She had another idea.

"Uncle Zhao," she said, "I think at this stage in our relationship, we should be a little more honest with each other about some things."

"Are you talking about the video call just now? You recovered the artifacts, and you helped those people. Uncle Zhao is very happy for you." Zhao Dehai played dumb, praying internally that she wouldn’t ask about Lu Shijing...

But of course, that’s exactly what Gu Shengsheng asked.

"The last time I asked you about Mr. Ryan’s identity," she said, "your expression was a little off."

"You were normal before, but now you’re not. Is there something you can’t tell me?"

"No!" he answered decisively this time.

Which only made Gu Shengsheng feel even more certain that something was up. ’He’s hiding something... heh heh.’

She continued to press, "Did he threaten you? Did he tell you not to reveal his true identity to me?"

"No, I don’t know him." He remained as tight-lipped as ever.