Eric Bennett's head was as big as a watermelon, and he wondered to himself how this servant could possibly be connected to Mr. William Clark. He knew absolutely nothing about the servant's past, but he vaguely sensed that his servant's background seemed a bit mysterious as well.

 “Ning'er.” Mr. William Clark suddenly said, “Come here.”

 Miss Clark walked slowly to her third uncle, a bit puzzled, and said, “Third Uncle?”

 “Pour the contents of this bag onto the table.” Mr. William Clark raised his hand and handed over a cloth bag.

 So this young lady was actually called Grace Clark. He remembered that Cao Hong had both a daughter and a son, but in ancient times, men were always valued over women, and few men were recorded in the official histories, let alone women.

 Eric Bennett saw Grace Clark seem to pause for a moment, then heard her somewhat surprised voice, “Third Uncle, this... have you decided? Why won't you let me try?”

 “You're a girl, how could you do this kind of thing.” Mr. William Clark seemed to smile, “Go on.”

 Grace seemed a bit hesitant, biting her lip as she walked over, picked up the cloth bag, and poured its contents onto the stone table with a clatter.

 Eric Bennett looked over and saw seven items of various sizes on the table: a small cauldron, a piece of gold, a jade pendant, a lacquer jar, a pearl, a thumb-sized little ball, and a stone that looked like a needle.

 Under the dim lamp, the gold gleamed, the jade pendant glowed with a faint blue light, the pearl emitted a soft radiance, and even the lacquer jar had a bit of luster.

 But these seven items seemed completely unrelated. Why did Mr. William Clark have Grace pour them out?

 Eric Bennett didn't ask at all; he just watched the seven items on the table with great interest, then heard Mr. William Clark say, “If you can pick out the most precious item among these seven, I will take you as my disciple.”

 Grace Clark's heart trembled, and she blurted out, “Third Uncle, don't you want to think it over?”

 Eric Bennett could hear the nervousness in Grace Clark's tone, but didn't know what she was nervous about. He just hadn't expected that even in this era, there would be something like a doctoral advisor's exam.

 Take him as a disciple?

 This Mr. William Clark sure had a lot of confidence.

 Did he not know how many people in my time wanted to be my apprentice?

 Eric Bennett grinned, showing his white teeth. He was about to say that he had procrastination issues—revenge is a dish best served ten years later. He didn't want to bother with the servant's old grudges, nor was he interested in becoming anyone's disciple. But suddenly, his eyes lit up. Eric Bennett reached out, and when he drew his hand back, he was already holding that thumb-sized little ball!

Chapter 3: A Master Among Them

 It's insect amber!

 When Eric Bennett picked up that little ball, he immediately came to this conclusion.

 Insect amber, a type of amber, formed millions or even hundreds of millions of years ago, could be called a living fossil of the present day. Not long ago, a grape-sized piece of amber was unearthed from the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun from the Western Han dynasty, causing a sensation at the time, which shows how precious insect amber is.

 Eric Bennett hadn't actually seen much insect amber himself. Of course, there were plenty of knockoffs in modern times, but he hadn't expected that among the items for Mr. William Clark's test, there would be such a thing.

 As he stroked the insect amber, feeling the weight of its ancient history, Eric Bennett was momentarily lost in thought.

 Grace Clark, however, pouted her cherry lips, feeling that this guy was letting Third Uncle down. Third Uncle had no disciples, but those who knew his background knew that countless people wanted to be his apprentice, so this was no small matter. She had never expected Third Uncle would give Eric Bennett a chance.

 When the seven items were scattered on the table, of course she evaluated them too. Her favorite was the warm jade pendant, and the pearl was nice as well. But Grace Clark was self-aware enough to know that Third Uncle's test wouldn't be that simple. The cauldron was a national treasure, precious in terms of significance. The black lacquer jar looked unremarkable but seemed mysterious. The most valuable item should be among these four.

 She hadn't expected Eric Bennett to pick up something that looked like a stone, whose value probably didn't even compare to the gold ingot.

 Eric Bennett admired the insect amber for a while before finally putting it down, thinking that in terms of archaeological significance, it was definitely important, but if you tried to sell it, you probably couldn't even trade it for decent equipment.

 Why? Because no one recognized its value!

 He sighed inwardly, but as he thought about Mr. William Clark's words, he casually picked up the jade pendant, glanced at it, and put it back on the table.

 He picked up the needle-like stone and looked at it with interest for a while before putting it back on the table.

 When Grace Clark saw him pick up the jade pendant, she was a little pleased, thinking this servant had some taste. But when he immediately put down the jade and picked up the stone needle, she frowned slightly.

 These servants usually only got copper coins and rice, rarely saw gold or silver, and certainly didn't know the value of the jade pendant. Seeing Eric Bennett holding the stone as if he couldn't put it down, Grace Clark felt like she was watching a child pick toys, anxious for him as he gave up a watermelon for a sesame seed.

 But in the next moment, Grace Clark found it a bit funny, thinking, why should she be anxious about Third Uncle choosing a disciple?

 Eric Bennett finally put down the stone needle, then picked up the gold, the small cauldron, and the lacquer jar for a look, but quickly put them all down and clapped his hands.

 “Do you have an answer?” Mr. William Clark asked in a low voice.

 Eric Bennett smiled and said, “I can't tell which one is more valuable.”