Yunyi is a twenty-year-old university freshman who inherited the Yunxi Museum, a century-old private collection business valued at tens of billions, after her parents died in a plane crash in Thailand when she was in junior high. Raised by her grandfather in the ancient town of Pingjiang in southwestern China, she grew up surrounded by antiques but lacks confidence in running the museum. Her nickname Jianjian means picking up bargains, a family tradition of finding hidden value in discarded items. The story begins with Yunyi attending an auction in Beijing where she attempts to buy a white jade vase for her grandfather but is outbid by a mysterious buyer who drives the price from 300,000 to 4 million yuan. Her grandfather reassures her and asks her to return home early because a distinguished guest is arriving. Upon returning to Pingjiang, Yunyi discovers the mysterious buyer is Shanze, the young heir to the Shan family, another prominent collecting dynasty with deeper historical roots. Shanze had purchased the vase as a welcome gift for Old Master Yun, revealing that the two families have a long-standing friendship and that his grandfather once sold many treasures to fund national resistance during the war. Yunyi and Shanze share an immediate connection through their mutual understanding of antiques. They spend the morning together sorting ancient coins in the courtyard, their movements synchronized like old friends. Yunyi notices Shanze's expertise and calm demeanor, while he is struck by her keen eye for authentication. Their interaction reveals that both families have been searching for lost Shan family heirlooms scattered overseas during the war. When Yunyi's grandfather arranges a matchmaker from the Zhou family to propose marriage between Yunyi and Zhou Shinian, a wealthy playboy, Yunyi is only interested in the engagement gifts, particularly a valuable artifact her grandfather coveted. She rushes to catch Shanze before he leaves, accidentally dropping the engagement gift list. In Beijing, Yunyi enrolls at Jingxi University to study Cultural Relics and Museology. She takes a part-time job as a livestream appraiser at the Shancheng Museum, a subsidiary of the Dezhou Group owned by Shanze, to fulfill her internship requirements. She hides her expertise initially, pretending to be an amateur. During her first week of livestreaming, she gains attention for her pure appearance and surprisingly sharp appraisal skills. One night, a viewer connects from a newly registered account and shows her a set of twelve Tang Dynasty painted pottery zodiac figurines. Yunyi recognizes them as the authentic set from Shanze's private collection, which she had seen earlier. The viewer is Shanze himself, testing her. She correctly identifies details about the glazed dragon eyes and broken-tailed monkey, going viral and gaining millions of followers. The livestream also attracts a tomb raider who shows off stolen Warring States period bronze artifacts, including a bronze sword and gold-thread jade burial suit. Yunyi recognizes the tomb entrance tools, revealing her familiarity with underground networks. The livestream is shut down for violating rules, but Shanze uses the incident to investigate the tomb raiding ring. Meanwhile, Shanze discovers that Zhou Shinian, Yunyi's arranged match, has been involved in threatening the Yun family. The story establishes a romantic tension between Yunyi and Shanze as they navigate their shared passion for antiques, family legacies, and the dangerous underworld of illegal artifact trading. Yunyi balances her university life, livestreaming career, and inheritance responsibilities while Shanze protects her from threats while maintaining his aloof public persona. Their relationship develops through shared appraisals, late-night conversations, and mutual respect for each other's expertise in the collecting world.
