Are ancient music scores heavenly books?

Facing the host's apology, Nan Ye wasn't polite at all and accepted it all.

"Since you've asked this far, I'll say a few more words."

"Ancient books, calligraphy, paintings, and such are all very afraid of water."

"So later, if anyone wants to handle and look through the books, they must be extremely careful."

"If your hands sweat easily, you must wear gloves."

"To prevent sweat from causing it unnecessary damage."

"But if you need to turn pages, it's best to have someone without gloves help you."

"Human skin is the most sensitive."

"Wherever the book is damaged, be especially careful when opening and closing it."

"You need to slowly separate the intertwined damaged paper piece by piece, and at this moment, a sensitive and delicate touch is needed even more to gauge the right amount of force."

"Wearing gloves, separated by a layer of cloth, no matter how thin, it's still a layer of cloth, and the skin's sensation will become dull, making your hands not respond as intended."

"It's very difficult to accurately perform the subtle movements of separating intertwined damaged paper, and you might end up damaging the original scroll."

"Hmm, that's about it..."

After Nan Ye finished this long string of words, the host and the people around him all put away their contempt.

He really has experience; you can tell he's an expert just by listening.

North Dust also secretly gave Nan Ye a thumbs-up from the side.

These things were not in his knowledge base; he really didn't know about them.

The host asked curiously, "You must be a great collector, I presume?"

Thinking of the system's operations, Nan Ye didn't bother to hide it, as everyone would know eventually:

"I wouldn't call myself a great collector; I just spent 3.6 billion a while ago!"

Besides, talk is talk; who knows if I'm telling the truth or just bragging.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was stunned.

[3.6 billion? Although it sounds very Versailles, his tone of voice makes it sound like it's true.]

[Who is this person? Although I can't see his face because of the mask, he sounds quite young. Could he be the descendant of some prominent family?]

[Hard to say. Anyone invited by Duke Otto is not a simple figure.]

[...]

Hearing the discussions of the people around him, Nan Ye's mouth curved up. Wasn't this the effect he wanted?

Maybe you can find out my identity later, but you don't know it now!

If you think I'm the descendant of some prominent family, will you consider this relationship when bidding later?

As long as you consider it even slightly, it will be beneficial to me no matter what!

North Dust, who was behind him, scoffed:

"You guy, you can brag too."

"If I hadn't been following you for a long time and knew you only rose in the past few months, I would have actually believed your 3.6 billion."

The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart.

What North Dust said was not unreasonable. It was indeed hard for anyone to believe that he earned 3.6 billion in just a few months.

It seems even if I exchange for the overseas cultural relics, I can't immediately take them out.

I must find a suitable time, a time when no one will have doubts...

"Xiao Lanling, oh Xiao Lanling, I'm fooling them, can't you tell?"

Nan Ye first threw out a smoke bomb, mixing truth and falsehood.

For now, it's best if only I know about this matter.

We'll talk about other things later. The most important thing right now is to first look at this ancient music score.

As the two approached, someone grumbled:

"What is this thing? Is this Great Xia's ancient music score?"

"You must be kidding. Where is this a music score?"

"It doesn't even look like Great Xia writing. I'm afraid even Daxia people wouldn't know what's written here."

"This is simply an undecipherable book!"

After listening, Nan Ye desperately held back his laughter.

He couldn't laugh, absolutely couldn't laugh, or he'd give himself away.

But his body was trembling slightly.

North Dust, who was next to him, clearly saw that Nan Ye was acting strangely and asked curiously, "You knew this scene would happen?"

Nan Ye was just about to speak, but he nearly burst out laughing and held it back again.

It wasn't until his emotions were a little more stable that he spoke: "Of course!

The staff notation was only introduced to Great Xia in the 18th century and gradually became popular in the 19th century."

"And this is an ancient score from over a thousand years ago, which means it couldn't possibly be recorded using staff notation. It's perfectly normal for them not to understand it."

"Many of the characters in it are radicals of Chinese characters."

"For example, there are twenty forms such as yī, |, qī, bā, bǐ, jǐ, yǐ, sī, etc."

"Some scholars call these notation characters 'abbreviated characters' or 'half-character symbols'."

"There are also some difficult-to-understand marking symbols, which might include meanings like beat, repetition, adjustment, tempo, dynamics, and playing methods."

"For Daxia people, it's an undecipherable book, let alone these foreigners."

North Dust quickly understood Nan Ye's intention in suggesting to look at the ancient music score.

"So, when you suggested looking at the music score, you didn't actually want to see it yourself, but rather wanted to show it to these foreigners."

"If they can't understand it, their interest will naturally diminish, or even disappear entirely, and they won't compete with us for it!"

Nan Ye nodded, "Exactly. Otherwise, why would I go to such lengths!"

"That's why the host said that sentence about absolutely not letting it go unsold."

"Because they also know the consequences of everyone looking at the book."

"Even if I wanted to look, I wouldn't be looking at the content inside the book, but rather the origin of this ancient score!"

Nan Ye took the book in his hands and flipped through it, quickly gaining some insight.

But he couldn't say too much now, at least not in this place, as it would easily attract others' attention.

Sure enough, the next second the host asked, "May I ask if you've figured anything out?"

Nan Ye feigned helplessness and shook his head, "The writing in this book doesn't look like Great Xia writing; it looks strange and bizarre. I honestly couldn't understand a single character!"

The host didn't find it strange at all.

They had also invited experts from Great Xia to see it at the time.

Those experts said they knew what characters were written, but when put together, they didn't understand.

If even experts didn't understand, it was perfectly normal for others not to.

"Alright, now that everyone has finished looking, let's officially start the auction!"

"The starting bid is 5 million, and each subsequent bid must not be less than 500,000!"

After the host finished speaking, the entire venue was quiet, and no one was preparing to bid.

There was nothing they could do; they really couldn't understand it, not even ordinary Daxia people.

Even if they collected it, they wouldn't know what was inside, so what use would it be?

The host sighed. As expected, the thing he was most worried about had happened.

It was all because of that person who suggested looking at the ancient book!

But this was indeed a necessary part of the auction process.

Finally, he cast his gaze towards Nan Ye.

Meaning: You just said you would definitely bid, you can't go back on your word now!

Naturally, Nan Ye wouldn't do that. He directly raised his bid paddle.

The host immediately announced: "6 million! Table 22 bids 6 million! Is there anyone else?"

"This is an ancient music score from a thousand years ago! If it can be translated, it will definitely be something that shocks the world."

"Are there any more bids?"

He was right; if it could be translated, it would indeed be something remarkable.

But the problem was, they couldn't translate it!

"6 million, going once!"

"6 million, going twice!"

"6 million..."

Just as the host was about to call out the third time, a change occurred.

Table 38 raised its paddle...