Grace Clark almost fainted, thinking to herself that this kid was just too honest—how could you just leave the optional questions blank?

In the darkness, Mr. William Clark also fell silent. Maybe he was thinking about jumping out and giving the boy a beating, but Eric Bennett didn’t care at all and said, “If Mr. William has nothing else, I’d like to leave now.”

Grace Clark was stunned again, feeling that his way of addressing people didn’t sound like a servant at all, but more like he was speaking as an equal. She couldn’t help but frown deeply.

After a long while, Mr. William Clark finally said, “Very good.”

Eric Bennett turned and left. Grace Clark was a bit indignant and turned around, saying, “Uncle William, is this really the person you chose? He’s got no sense of rules or standards at all. If you hand things over to someone like that, I’ll be the first to object.”

In the darkness, Mr. William Clark muttered, “He doesn’t have much in the way of rules, but as for standards…”

“What do you mean?” Grace Clark asked, puzzled.

“Surprisingly high,” Mr. William Clark said, a note of astonishment in his voice. He lowered his voice and added, “But how is that possible? Where did this kid learn all that?”

Hearing Uncle William’s evaluation of Eric Bennett, Grace Clark couldn’t help but be shocked. “How is he so skilled?”

“He’s at least as high as these three stories,” Mr. William Clark said lightly.

Grace Clark found Uncle William’s words amusing, but was also deeply shocked. The Cao family was a great clan, and in these troubled times, many talented people had emerged. In recent years, the most outstanding was, of course, Sikong Cao Cao. Cao Hong had followed Cao Cao everywhere, earning great merit, but Grace Clark knew that the family’s current glory owed a great deal to Uncle William’s indispensable contributions.

Uncle William had great insight and high standards, and rarely praised anyone. For him to speak so highly of Eric Bennett today was truly unprecedented.

Even though she trusted Uncle William’s judgment, Grace Clark was still full of confusion. “Uncle William, but he didn’t really do anything, did he?”

“That’s because you didn’t look carefully,” Mr. William Clark said calmly.

Grace Clark blushed, looking at the seven items on the table, but didn’t notice anything unusual. She felt a bit unconvinced, but knew that Uncle William would never speak without reason. What exactly had that boy done to make Uncle William see him in a new light?

After a long while, Mr. William Clark finally sighed softly and said, “Grace, Uncle William knows you’re extremely intelligent—one of the few insightful women in Xudu. Uncle William also knows you even want to help solve Uncle William’s problems. But many times, different professions are like different mountains—hard to cross. Many people look down on the work Uncle William does.”

“But Grace knows Uncle William is the most capable person,” Grace Clark said, gently biting her lip.

Mr. William Clark seemed to smile. “To do what Uncle William does, you need not only skill, but also a certain intuition for the trade. Because every time you open a tomb, what you face isn’t just the gold and jewels inside. If that’s all you see, you’re just a second-rate practitioner.”

Grace Clark asked, puzzled, “Then in Uncle William’s eyes, what counts as first-rate?”

Mr. William Clark was silent for a long time before saying, “You surely know these seven items on the table didn’t all come from the same time period?”

Grace Clark’s eyes lit up. Looking at the seven items on the table again, she began to understand. She picked up the small cauldron and examined it for a while. “This cauldron should be from the Xia dynasty.”

After all, she managed the Cao family’s business, and her eye for such things was far above that of ordinary women. Hearing Uncle William just grunt in response, Grace Clark picked up the lacquer jar and studied it for a long time before hesitantly saying, “After the bronze age, the royal family preferred lacquerware. Judging by the color and patterns, this lacquerware seems to be an ancient artifact from the Western Zhou period.”

Hearing no response from Uncle William, Grace Clark picked up the jade pendant and studied it for a long time before saying, “This jade pendant might be from the early Han dynasty…” After a long while, Grace Clark finally said, “The beads should be a recent product from the coastal Kuaiji area, and that piece of gold—oh, it was cast during Emperor Wen’s reign, because it bears the official mark from that time.”

After a long while, she had finally identified five of the seven items, which was already quite impressive. She thought to herself, to most people, gold is just gold—who cares about the dynasty?

Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat. Grace Clark stared blankly at the table, speechless for a moment.

The Xia cauldron, Zhou lacquer jar, early Han jade pendant, gold bar cast during Emperor Wen’s reign, and the recently produced jade beads from Jiangdong—she had painstakingly identified them, though not with complete certainty. But when she looked at the order in which the items were arranged on the table, she suddenly realized that they had already been placed in chronological order. She clearly remembered that when she had dumped them onto the table, they had been in complete disarray.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, focusing on the two items placed before the Xia cauldron. After a while, Grace Clark said, “Were these two items in use even before the Xia dynasty? Wouldn’t that date them back to the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors?”

In the darkness, Mr. William Clark said slowly, “As far as I know, that stone needle was indeed used during the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. As for the insect amber, it was formed even before that era.”

That unremarkable piece of insect amber was placed right at the very front.

Grace Clark’s heart trembled. She couldn’t believe that, besides Uncle William, there could be someone like Eric Bennett in this world—someone who, with just a few casual glances, could clearly and accurately arrange the seven items in chronological order.

Could Eric Bennett have just been guessing?

The thought flashed through Grace Clark’s mind, but she immediately dismissed it. The odds of picking up and putting down seven items and having them end up in perfect chronological order were vanishingly small. The only explanation was that Eric Bennett not only had a keener eye than she did, but also possessed even more profound knowledge.