Outside the wall at the southeast corner of Panjia Yuan Antique Market, there's an unnamed alley about 100 meters long. With its low-rise buildings and dilapidated brick walls, it seems like a forgotten corner in the midst of modern structures surrounding it.

At 7:50 in the morning, Li Yi appeared at the mouth of the alley, carrying a briefcase made of faux leather.

The first shop at the alley entrance was a tiny storefront specializing in stationery supplies. It wasn't even open yet, and its two old, carved wooden doors were haphazardly patched together, seeming like they would collapse if you just pulled on them. You have to wonder, didn't the owner worry about it falling apart?

The second shop was a steamed bun store. In the early morning, the steam from the steamer filled almost ten meters. There were a few dirty and wobbly tables, and more than ten diners who swallowed buns in big bites blocked most of the alley.

Li Yiwu, catching the faint scent of sewage mixed with the aroma of steamed buns, wrinkled his nose and dodged the flowing filth on the ground as he stepped into the alley.

The first thing that catches your eye is a two-story building made of blue brick and tiles at the bottom of the alley. It's clear that the building has just been freshly painted. In this dilapidated alley, it seems out of place. In front of the building is a concrete wall about two meters high, with two newly painted red wooden doors in the center, which are particularly eye-catching. Above the door is a plaque inscribed with the four characters "Jianbao Lecture Hall" in neat and orderly regular script.

"This is it."

The fairly clean road surface made Li Yi's steps lighter, and not having to watch his feet gave him more time to admire the scenery of the alleyway.

On the left was the wall of the antique market, and on the right were five or six shops similar in size to the one by the alley entrance. They were all still closed, offering nothing interesting to see. Li Yi soon reached the entrance of the Appraisal Hall.

The entrance of the small building was no more than five meters from the courtyard gate. Above it hung three red banners. The widest one read "CCTV Appraisal Program Special Training Center," the one next to it read "Beijing Collection Association Best Training Center," and the bottom one read "Panjiayuan Market Designated Training Center."

It seems like the scale is not small, but... this appraisal show doesn't seem to be from CCTV, does it? Li Yi blinked his eyes and walked towards the small building.

He knocked on the door to the first office on his left and saw this time's contact: Wang Keshu, the general manager, principal, admissions director, and lecturer of the Appraisal Lecture Hall. He was a man in his forties, over six feet tall, but weighed well over five hundred pounds.

"Oh, here comes Teacher Xiao Li!"

The beady eyes, hidden behind thick lenses, darted up and down the young man before him. His casual attire, his short, choppy hairstyle, his thick black eyebrows, straight nose bridge, and slightly prominent eyes beneath the black-rimmed glasses, coupled with his somewhat thin cheeks, gave off an aura of sophistication.

What's lacking is the sparse, patchy beard that makes him look several years older than he actually is.

"Good, good, collecting is all about depth. These glasses and the beard are simply brilliant. If your eyes could be even more world-weary, it would be perfect."

The fat man glanced at his watch and smiled.

"The timing is perfect. Let's start class now and chat later."

Li Yi followed the fat man upstairs to the second floor and walked into a classroom directly across from the stairs.

In the classroom, neatly arranged were six rows of newly varnished wooden desks and chairs. Around twenty students were gathered in small groups, chatting softly. There were both male and female students, but a few older women stood out with their particularly loud voices.

Two students sitting at the door saw Fatty and Li Yi walk in, so they quickly reminded everyone to get back in position.

The fat man strode onto the podium, coughed forcefully several times, and then loudly declared:

"Welcome, warm welcome to the 198th session of the Treasure Appraisal Forum! I am Wang Keshou. Now, let me introduce you to another lecturer in this session: Li Yi, a Master's graduate from the Gemology Department of Beijing Normal University and a newly appointed appraiser of the Yanjing Jewelry and Jade Association. Please welcome him!"

Applause erupted, and all eyes turned to Li Yi.

Li Yi twitched the corner of his mouth, stiffly returning everyone a smile and said:

"Hello everyone, my name is Li Yi. The theme of this training class is jewelry and jade appreciation. It lasts for three days and 24 hours, taught by me and Principal Wang."

The fat man waved his hand, interrupting Li Yi and said:

This time, our class has both old students who have participated in multiple sessions of our appraisal lecture hall training and new students who came here after hearing about us. As always, before the start of the class, let me boast a few words first. As the pharmaceutical advertisements say, it's better to look at the results than the advertisement. We also have a saying: don't look at the tuition fee but the harvest! The appraisal lecture hall is able to stand out among many training classes with varying quality due to its reputation and excellent teaching quality! Old students know that in our over 100 previous training sessions, almost every session has had students use the knowledge learned in the lecture hall to make a profit! For example, student Li Rongfa (Li DaYe), graduated on the second day of the 37th session, bought a Qianlong blue and white eight-treasure pattern ewer at Panjiayuan for 10,000 yuan. This ewer was worth 1,280,000 yuan, ... Student Wang Hu from the 96th session...

The fat man spoke non-stop for five minutes, listing no less than twenty examples of his scavenging. As the fat man spoke, Li Yi noticed that the students' eyes grew brighter and brighter, and their attention became more focused. Almost everyone had a look of eager anticipation on their faces.

The fat man's expression was holy and solemn, but the words that came out of his mouth almost made Li Yi burst into laughter.

"Down below, everyone recite with me, Treasure Appraisal Classroom, the New East of the collection world, the Blue Sky of the Wenwan world!"

This morning's class went very smoothly. The students' focus and effort even made Li Yi, who had just finished his ten-year student life, feel sweaty.

Time flew by quickly, and after more than three consecutive hours of lectures, even the breaks were spent being besieged by students asking for advice. Li Yi, who hadn't had a moment to rest, looked a little pale. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, bid farewell to the last enthusiastic older woman, and went downstairs to Wang Keshi's office.

"Principal Wang, I know that for the sake of the school, a lecturer's qualifications can be slightly exaggerated, but..."

“Hehehe, it's nothing. But speaking of which, I have a question for you. Are you preparing to take the postgraduate entrance exam? Are you also preparing to become a jewelry appraiser? Then there's no problem! With your level, Mr. Li, these are just child's play! I'm just announcing it in advance.”

Li Yi chuckled, hesitatingly said:

"When I arrived, I saw the banner at the entrance. Are we really collaborating with CCTV?"

The fat man let out three loud laughs, then lowered his voice and said in a mysterious tone:

"Teacher Xiao Li, as a future jewelry appraiser, your observation skills are not very good!"

"Hmm?"

"On the banner, I didn't write CCTV. I wrote COTV. It's just that over time, the 'O' became only half there. But if you look closely at the glue residue, you can still see it was actually an 'O'."

"That..."

"There's a collector association in Beijing, but there isn't! Panjia Yuan market is everywhere, and I didn't write that it was an antique market. What if it's a vegetable market? Come on, these are all common promotional tactics. Everyone knows this, you didn't even see the students asking? This little trick compared to the schemes in the collecting world, it's pediatrics!"

Looking at the cunning glint hidden behind Fatty's serious face, Li Yi, who was new to the world, couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

He decided to retreat first and then speak.

"Principal Wang, there are no classes this afternoon. I want to go to the market for a stroll and pick up some more teaching materials. These students are simply too enthusiastic, it's overwhelming!"

The fat man laughed heartily a few times, waved his hand,

"Okay, go ahead. Take your time and explore. Just head straight to the classroom tomorrow for class."