Becoming Rich with Daily Scavenging APP-Chapter 565: Golden Cicada Jade Leaf

"This Schaefer might have been deceived." Chen Yiyang opened the palm-sized box.

Inside the box lay a meticulously crafted small object.

The object as a whole was a golden cicada perched on a jade leaf.

The entire carving was exquisite, holding it in hand, you almost felt as if the cicada was alive.

Chen Yiyang initially thought it should be a piece of modern art.

But judging by the craftsmanship, it seemed to be hand-carved.

It happened that Chen Yiyang planned to visit his private collection gallery today to store some items.

So he took this small object along as well.

"Historian." After arriving at the gallery, Chen Yiyang exchanged a few words with the Historian and then took out the item Schaefer had given him.

"This was a gift from someone else, I thought it looked like a modern craft. What do you think?"

"Let me have a look." The Historian took the item from Chen Yiyang, and his face quickly turned serious.

He then had the item tested with an instrument and finally said to Chen Yiyang,

"Mr. Chen, this is a Ming Dynasty Golden Cicada Jade Leaf. It’s invaluable. Where did your friend buy it?"

"Golden Cicada Jade Leaf?"

Ming Dynasty Golden Cicada Jade Leaf Diagram.

"Yes," the Historian said, "this is a hair ornament from the Ming Dynasty noblewomen. It’s composed of a gold-cast cicada and a carved white jade leaf.

The connection between the cicada and the leaf is made using a concealed welding technique, so the exterior shows no sign of man-made joints, ensuring its aesthetic value.

This kind of ornament represents the pinnacle of craftsmanship from the late Ming Dynasty.

More importantly, only one such ornament has been discovered in the country, and it was found in a Ming Dynasty tomb.

Since its discovery, it has been preserved as one of the eighteen treasures of the Jinling Museum."

Chen Yiyang didn’t expect the gift from Schaefer to be so valuable.

Or rather, it couldn’t even just be described as valuable.

After all, his private collection gallery didn’t have much that could rival the treasures of the Jinling Museum.

"Let’s keep it in the collection gallery for now; this should definitely not be loaned out or taken elsewhere for research."

"Mr. Chen, rest assured." The Historian quickly assured him.

An item with only one known discovery in the country, just researching it could easily produce several papers.

Only a fool would take it outside for others to study together.

After leaving the gallery, Chen Yiyang called Schaefer to express his thanks.

"What? You’re saying that thing is actually an antique?" Schaefer said in surprise after hearing Chen Yiyang’s words. "I saw it at the home of a Chinese friend I know, thought it would make a nice gift, so I asked if he would sell it to me.

This friend said it was brought by his ancestors and was the only one left. I agreed to offer him a position in Beifu business, so he gifted it to me."

"I see, no wonder." Chen Yiyang thought it was unlikely Schaefer could afford to give such a valuable gift.

It turns out it was obtained without realizing its value.

Many Chinese have been immigrating to North America for a long time.

In just two or three generations, those Chinese family legacies vanish. It’s normal not to know how precious the family belongings are.

It’s fortunate they didn’t melt it down for gold money.

Nevertheless, Chen Yiyang still thanked Schaefer for the gift, and they arranged to meet again in Europe.

After talking with Schaefer, Chen Yiyang sat at home scrolling through his phone.

He stumbled upon news about Yiyang Coffee.

Previously, Chen Yiyang had suggested promoting a minus-eighty-degree coffee at Yiyang Coffee’s stores in Shanghai, which indeed became popular.

Though the taste was average,

Shanghai people cared more about whether it was ’Instagrammable’ rather than taste.

So after the launch of the gimmick-rich minus-eighty-degree coffee,

even with its high price of over sixty yuan, Shanghai’s bourgeoisie still lined up to buy, photograph, and check-in.

This made Chen Yiyang’s Yiyang Coffee, a chain brand, suddenly gain fame as a niche boutique coffee shop.

Upon returning to the company, Chen Yiyang chatted with several subordinates who had been performing well recently.

During the conversation, he turned to Xu Yun.

Xu Yun had previously been in charge of short dramas at Greenfruit.

After Greenfruit was sold to Heartbeat, Xu Yun was brought into the company by Chen Yiyang to help manage other businesses.

Xu Yun had been performing well in these roles, so Chen Yiyang specially asked him what reward he wanted.

"Mr. Chen." Xu Yun stood up and said, "Actually, I still want to continue making short dramas. I believe the short drama industry has a very promising future."

"But Greenfruit has already been sold," Chen Yiyang said. "Heartbeat acquired Greenfruit and has monopolized over half of the short drama market by leveraging its traffic.

If we want to enter the short drama industry again, even investing several times the money might not catch up to Heartbeat."

"We have no chance domestically, but what about abroad?"

"Abroad?" Chen Yiyang looked at Xu Yun.

"Yes, abroad," Xu Yun said. "The short video sector abroad is already quite developed.

Short dramas are essentially a type of short video, pursuing high entertainment value with quick and punchy content.

Domestically, we lead the world in the short video industry.

Which is why the short drama industry first emerged here.

So, can’t we assume that as the short video industry abroad develops at a normal pace, the short drama industry will also emerge?

But right now, we can use our upfront experience to capture the overseas short drama market."

"How do we do it, do you have any ideas?" Chen Yiyang listened to Xu Yun explain.

Knowing that he had probably already thought through related concepts, he directly asked.

"It’s simple, the things that excite people are universal. People domestically like watching bossy CEOs falling in love with me, people abroad will surely like it too.

However, the domestic market has already figured out these short-drama formulas that rely on quick twists and thrills purely for entertainment, whereas abroad, they haven’t.

We can send some behind-the-scenes staff to countries with developed short video industries like North America or Japan.

Recruit local actors and have our staff serve as directors and technical guides, teaching them how to make short dramas.

We don’t need to build a platform; we only need to sell the completed short dramas to relevant video platforms or earn revenue through ads.

Once their market is mature, we can support their local teams, then earn profits by investing in shares."

Xu Yun’s words made Chen Yiyang’s eyes light up.

Besides the short drama element, this model is entirely a version of how companies with technology from abroad entered the domestic market in the past.