In all honestly, despite Xu Anqiao’s assumption that he was a knowledgeable person, he had never heard of a beast called the Yin River big carp.
The same could be said for many other beast appraisers.
When learning about various types of beasts, most beast appraisers got their information from books or encyclopedias.
However, encyclopedias couldn’t possibly include every species that ever existed in the world as the author wasn’t omniscient nor omnipotent. Perhaps only a small fragment of extant beasts was ever recorded in the pages.
And Xu Anqiao was aware of this.
Hence, he had a bad feeling that things might go awry today.
They only came to challenge Maple City’s branch because the latter used private connections to apply for additional official positions, endangering their benefits in turn. But they never expected the situation to develop in such an unfavorable direction.
Xu Anqiao had appraised the scale Ding Hong produced as well, and the results he came up with were similar to Ding Hong’s, the scale being that of a flood dragon.
Does it mean that Lin Jin’s evaluation implied that his own evaluation was incorrect as well?
At that moment, the northern merchants were given the piece of scale to examine. It only took them one look when one of them exclaimed with a laugh, “That’s right. This thing here belongs to a Yin River big carp. ‘Tis a solid scale, the toughest piece on the carp.”
Xu Anqiao’s heart sank.
Ding Hong refused to believe it.
“How is that possible? How can a carp’s scale be this tough? I don’t believe it!”
Ding Hong simply shook his head, clearly skeptical of the northern merchants’ identity. He even presumed they were impostors hired by Maple City’s branch to put on a show.
In addition to their tall and brawny build, the northerners possessed straightforward personalities.
They were only here to help, but when they noticed Ding Hong’s doubtful gaze and heard his expression of denial, the northern merchants got annoyed.
“There’s no reason for us to lie. It is what it is. We, tradesmen, would never cheat others.”
Ding Hong responded enigmatically, “Who knows? The north is so far from here that no one can really prove that your words are genuine. What if you’re only here to spout nonsense after receiving certain benefits? I doubt that the Yin River big carp you mentioned even exists!”
His words infuriated the northern merchants.
“You! How dare you say that? Who’s spouting nonsense here!?”
The northerners were obviously enraged.
Ding Hong scoffed arrogantly in response.
He wouldn’t believe it no matter what. Or to put it more accurately, he wouldn’t believe their words even if it was the truth.
If he did, wouldn’t he end up losing?
This sharing session was in fact just a competition. A contest between both associations. And what was the wager, you might ask? Pride and fame. Hence, only victory was allowed, nothing more and certainly no less.
If he remains loyal to his opinion, the northerners had no evidence to prove this belonged to a Yin River big carp.
However, Ding Hong was dumbstruck by what the northern merchants said next.
“Didn’t we bring in two of those carps this time? Pull it here and we’ll show this man if we’re spouting nonsense or not.”
Clearly outraged, someone immediately hurried outside to fetch the fish over. No one could stop them.
Lin Jin wouldn’t stop them either. He never expected there to be merchants from the Northern Zhu Kingdom staying in Maple City at such a convenient time, nor did he anticipate them to possess Yin River big carps among the merchandise they were selling.
Tan Lin breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like their problem was resolved.
She swept a discreet, yet curious glance at Lin Jin.
Because even she had never heard of the Yin River big carp, a fish that only thrived exclusively in the rivers of the north.
Soon, the familiar sound of wooden wheels could be heard rolling outside the premise. The northern merchants hollered for the beast appraisers to go out and take a look at the carps.
The crowd exited the hall. Outside, on a wooden cart laid an enormous carp that was still fully intact.
This carp was massive, being about ten feet in length. However, it must’ve been stored in an ice cellar before being brought over, as it was still covered in a layer of frost.
Upon seeing the huge carp, Xu Anqiao knew it was over. Meanwhile, Ding Hong’s maw was gaping and he was speechless.
Just because he stayed quiet didn’t mean the angered merchants would just let him be.
“Come, come! Come and take a look! Compare the scales and say to my face that they don’t look exactly the same and whether we’re spouting nonsense,” One of the northern merchants said haughtily as he dragged Ding Hong over forcefully.
What was there to compare?
Those who weren’t blind could easily tell that the scale Ding Hong had produced earlier looked exactly the same as the scales on this big carp, be it the pattern, size, or quality.
Now, the situation was cleared up.
Ding Hong couldn’t deny it even if he wanted to.
His mind froze.
‘A Yin River big carp exists?!
‘But this scale looks like it belongs to a flood dragon too. How did that Lin Jin tell it apart?’
Being the experienced cunning old man he was, a thought suddenly came to Xu Anqiao and he said, “Appraiser Lin is a learned man indeed! The north is more than a thousand miles from here but Appraiser Lin even knows about fish they have there. How remarkable! We’ve learned a lot this time.”
One statement to whittle down the issue into nothing.
It was as if their skepticism and denial never happened at all.
Ding Hong realized what was going on and he was amused by how well Chief Xu managed to handle the matter. Seeing how Lin Jin’s evaluation was flawless, there was nothing to gain out of continuing the charade any longer.
Lin Jin’s group thanked the northern merchants before returning to the main hall.
The beasts appraisers of Green River City no longer seemed as arrogant as before. On the other hand, Maple City was in high spirits.
Tan Lin summoned the two newcomers they were previously fighting over into the hall.
What happened next was simple. They asked both Zhang Ze and Mo Huan if they would like to join Green River City’s Beast Appraisal Association, or remain here in Maple City.
For a moment, everyone focused their attention on the candidates.
No doubt, no matter which side both of them chose, they would end up offending the other faction. But such was life. When one was required to pick sides, a final decision had to be made. They couldn’t get the best of both worlds. If they tried to please both groups, the ones to suffer would be themselves.
Being bright lads, they could see the risks in their options and this increased the importance of their decision.
If they chose wrongly, their future might go down the drain.
Several minutes later, the beast appraisers of Green River City bid their farewell and left with sour expressions. Their plan of robbing talents obviously failed this time.
After careful consideration, Zhang Ze and Mo Huan chose to remain with Maple City.
There might be a lot of reasons involved but one of them most definitely involved Lin Jin. If Lin Jin hadn’t publicly defeated Ding Hong with his exceptional skills earlier, their choice might have been different.
Gao Jiang left in a hurry. Tan Lin stopped Lin Jin.
She was curious as to how Lin Jin managed to conclude that the scale came from a Yin River’s big carp.
Although his evaluation report was marvelous, she found his level of accuracy to be puzzling. After all, even her father, Tan Xun, a Rank 3 beast appraiser, might not be able to come up with such results, much less she herself.
Lin Jin came to realize what Chief Tan was insinuating. After some thought, he said, “Actually, I ran into those northern merchants this morning as they were unloading their goods. out of curiosity, I took a good look at the Yin River big carps they carried and asked them about it. Otherwise, how could I have been able to tell just from one piece of scale?”
Having said that, Lin Jin grabbed his chance and fled while Tan Lin was still in deep thought.