Chapter 29: If She Is Guilty

Once they realized the toxins weren't severe and only caused dizziness, netizens breathed a collective sigh of relief.

However, many netizens still felt indignant, and a portion of them stormed into Jiang Xiaoya's livestream room.

【The contestants on the show only fell into the pit because they were following Jiang Xiaoya. It was also because of the mechanism Jiang Xiaoya touched that the tomb robbers triggered the toxic mist. Now they are all in the hospital—shouldn't Jiang Xiaoya come out and give an explanation?】

【Fine, fine, you're famous now. But what about Zhou Yuyu and the others? They ended up in the hospital because of you. Now that you've gained fame and fortune, they're still lying in hospital beds. Are you even human?】

【Exactly! I wanted to say this yesterday. Everyone only went to dig because of Jiang Xiaoya; otherwise, they wouldn't have fallen in and ended up poisoned in the hospital. Meanwhile, Jiang Xiaoya takes all the credit, makes the news, and even gets a bonus from the Cultural Relics Bureau. Who would believe they weren't set up by her?】

【I think the Cultural Relics Bureau's bonus should be split equally, not just given to Jiang Xiaoya alone.】

【Right, they were all on the scene when the relics were discovered. How can it be credited to just her?】

Aside from the long-time fans who had been following the livestream, the newly arrived netizens were completely bewildered. Hearing the insults and accusations, they frowned, feeling an unprovoked sense of disgust toward Jiang Xiaoya, and many even joined the fray.

Jiang Xiaoya had no idea that some netizens wanted her to share her bonus with everyone. Of course, if she had known, she wouldn't have done it anyway.

If she were guilty, she would let the law judge her.

As for anything else—sorry, she was her own judge; she decided how things would be done.

It took over an hour of pedaling for Jiang Xiaoya to arrive at the entrance of the Cultural Relics Bureau.

After parking her bike, she headed straight to the office of the Cultural Relics Bureau representative without a moment's rest.

Upon seeing her, the staff at the Bureau were incredibly polite, serving her tea and fruit platters.

Hearing that she had arrived, the representative rushed over and, upon entering, excitedly grasped Jiang Xiaoya's hand.

"Comrade Xiaoya, thank you, thank you! Truly, thank you so much. This blade..."

Realizing that Jiang Xiaoya was still wearing her "Heavenly Eye" earphones, he quickly corrected himself.

"Relevant work has already commenced. Thank you so much indeed."

The investigation into the great blade was already yielding results; while more detailed verification was needed, the outcome was almost certain.

It could be said that this was a major discovery that had caused a sensation across the entire country. Senior leaders were already on their way.

"Hehe, no need for thanks. It's what I should do."

Jiang Xiaoya offered some polite pleasantries, but seeing him merely sighing repeatedly and offering bureaucratic platitudes, she couldn't help but interrupt.

"Uh, Comrade Representative, I came today because I wanted to know... how much bonus can I get for this great blade?"

As the saying goes, warm inquiries are nothing compared to a massive sum of money.

Of course, she wasn't asking for too much; she only wanted what she deserved.

The representative understood her intent immediately and clapped his hands together.

"This... this bonus certainly won't be small, Comrade Xiaoya. I've already asked the finance department to calculate it. Just leave an account number, and it will be transferred to you within the next two days."

Jiang Xiaoya's expression shifted. "How much will it be?"

The representative knew that netizens had surely looked up the origin of the blade. He knew the special black iron stone used in the blade was incredibly valuable, and he knew that rewards for relics and antiques were estimated based on their market value.

Therefore, this sum for Jiang Xiaoya would be quite substantial.

If they gave too little, netizens would surely accuse the Bureau of being corrupt.

But if they gave the bonus based on the actual valuation, they wouldn't be able to afford such a large payout. Thus, after deliberation, they had settled on a most reasonable figure.

"Comrade Xiaoya, this blade is a cultural relic. Relics must be handed over to the state to contribute to our nation's culture. We have already calculated the bonus for you..."

The representative was genuinely worried about being targeted by online mobs. His attempt to do "ideological work" on Jiang Xiaoya was also an attempt to do ideological work on the netizens. Finally, he held up his fingers to indicate a number.

"How much?"

Seeing him hold up two fingers, Jiang Xiaoya narrowed her eyes.

The representative held up more fingers, prompting her to guess.

"Two fingers?"

Jiang Xiaoya gave him a look of disdain.

"No," the representative shook his head.

Jiang Xiaoya knew he was testing her. He was a cunning old fox, so she decided to aim high.

"Twenty million?"

The representative: "..."

She certainly had guts; she wasn't afraid of overshooting.

The netizens saw it too.

【The representative is trying to test "Stupid Sister's" psychological price point, but he didn't expect her to be completely unfazed and just demand the moon! Hahaha!】

【Who said Jiang Xiaoya was stupid? She's actually brilliant.】

【Representative: I asked you to guess, not to rob me!】

【Jiang Xiaoya: You told me to say it, so I'm not holding back.】

"Not twenty million? Then is it... two hundred million?!!"

Jiang Xiaoya was stunned. She stepped forward excitedly to shake his hand. "Thank you! Thank you so much... I really didn't expect... I'm so lucky!"

She was moved to tears, gesturing wildly, nearly ready to give a victory speech on the spot to honor eighteen generations of her ancestors.

"No, no, no..."

Fearing she would keep guessing higher until he had to kneel, the representative hurriedly spoke up: "20... 200,000. Yes, 200,000."

He was truly a bit terrified of her mouth.

"Oh."

Jiang Xiaoya seemed to have expected this and wasn't particularly disappointed. Since it was a relic being handed over to the state, she couldn't be too excessive. Two hundred thousand was actually quite a lot; it was enough.

She raised her eyebrows and said, "That works. Just transfer it to my card later. I'm off."

With that, she released the representative's hand and walked away without looking back.

Watching her retreating figure, the representative wiped away a cold sweat, realizing belatedly that he had been played by a young girl, which left him feeling quite uneasy.

Netizens often said Jiang Xiaoya was stupid and just possessed heaven-defying luck, but after interacting with her, one realized she was far from simple on the surface.

It wasn't just the representative who had this thought; the Licheng Police Department did as well.

Because Jiang Xiaoya's group had accidentally stumbled into an ancient tomb and caught a gang of tomb robbers in the act, the entire station had been in a whirlwind of activity after the suspects were brought in.

If they were ordinary tomb robbers, it would have been one thing, but the firearms in their possession were clearly not those of amateurs. Among them were two AKs, both high-end imports from overseas.

This involved two possibilities: either the robbers were working for outsiders who provided the weapons, or it involved arms smuggling.

If it was the former, the matter might not be so dire.

But if it was the latter, then this was no accident. The opposing force might have been entrenched in the Dragon Kingdom for a long time, deeply rooted within the country's underground organizations.

If that were the case, the entire public security system of the Dragon Kingdom would be shaken.

The Licheng Police held a seminar to discuss the possible scenarios, and every face in the room was grave.