Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 453: Chapter 449 Extra Gifts

Huo Sining was overjoyed internally, but she couldn’t show it on her face.

She put on a skeptical look, her doubtful eyes fixated on the old man. After a few seconds of silence, just when the old man’s heart was almost changing his mind, she suddenly said,

”Is it real or fake? If this really is an antique, could you carelessly throw it around everywhere and even use it as a stool to sit on? Don’t fool me, or else I won’t buy this set of porcelain bowls, and you’ll have to refund me!”

Upon hearing Huo Sining’s words, the old man immediately became anxious. This young lady didn’t understand the rules of Antique Street. If she made a fuss, it would be troublesome. He quickly said,

”It’s true, it’s true. My son spent a hundred and twenty yuan when he got this, but when he brought it back, no one understood what it was. Since it’s handy, we just use it as a small stool. Even if you can’t use it for anything else, it can still serve as a stool. It’s very sturdy, definitely much harder than those plastic stools you have at home!”

The old man spoke as if Huo Sining had gotten some great bargain.

Thinking back to when she almost dropped this square object while examining the Famille Rose Porcelain Bowl and how the old man said it was worthless even if it broke, Huo Sining was speechless. Wasn’t he contradicting himself?

However, Huo Sining remembered the purple aura enveloping that square object. Since the old man was so generous to offer it to her, it would really be too coy to keep pretending indifference.

Since the object was like a pearl covered in dust in the hands of these people, it would be better for her to uncover the true face of Mount Lu.

A hint of surprise and anticipation appeared in Huo Sining’s eyes, as if she had truly stumbled upon a great deal. She happily picked up the stool and examined it, then looked at the old man and asked,

”Is this really that thing from Ghost Market?”

The old man nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at grains, ”On that day, how could I, at this age, possibly deceive a young girl like you?”

Hehe, aren’t all the dealers on Antique Street known for their smooth talking? Who would believe now that you don’t deceive people?

But Huo Sining didn’t want to entangle with this man any longer, lest more trouble arise. A smile appeared on her face, and she nodded, ”All right then, I’ll take this as the bonus!”

Saying so, she stood up with the square object in hand and left the stall to continue walking forward. The old man heaved a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and thought to himself that he had finally sent the girl on her way!

Huo Sining hadn’t walked far when suddenly she heard someone calling from behind, ”Hey, girl ahead, stop for a moment! Can you let me have a look at that set of porcelain bowls?”

Huo Sining initially didn’t realize she was being called until she heard ”porcelain bowls” and then turned her head back to look.

Looking back was no big deal, but she was taken aback to see the person who called her wasn’t a stranger—it was Ma Liwen, whom she had seen yesterday afternoon at Diecuiyuan!

Ma Liwen also froze upon seeing Huo Sining. At first, he only found Huo Sining familiar. After a two-second pause as if recalling who she was, his expression drastically changed, and he looked at the Famille Rose Porcelain Bowl in Huo Sining’s hands with an uncertain gaze.

Huo Sining was puzzled, but still looked at Ma Liwen with a half-smile and asked, ”Professor Ma, is there something you need?”

Ma Liwen thought about the bet he had with Huo Sining yesterday and felt a twinge of annoyance, but when his gaze fell upon the set of porcelain bowls, he couldn’t help feeling unwilling to let it go and blurted out a question, ”Did you buy this set of bowls from that old man we just saw?”

Huo Sining had a very poor impression of Ma Liwen, and seeing his unfriendly tone, as if she had stolen something that belonged to him, she immediately felt displeased, ”So what if I did? What’s it to you?”

Upon hearing this, Ma Liwen was taken aback, but recalling his earlier suspicion, he forced himself to swallow his pride and softened his expression, addressing Huo Sining in a gentler voice, ”May I take a look at your porcelain?”

Huo Sining gave Ma Liwen a glance, noticing that he seemed very eager to see the set of bowls, and after a moment’s thought, she didn’t refuse.

After all, this was taking place in Dashilar, with police stations at both ends of the street, so even if this man had any ill intentions, he would have to think twice.

Ma Liwen carefully took the bowl that Huo Sining passed to him and immediately picked up two of the enamel to inspect them closely, his eyes flickering with excitement, unwillingness, anger, and regret.

Huo Sining saw the enamel bowls that Ma Liwen had picked up, and her pupils suddenly constricted.

This Ma Liwen had actually singled out the two real pieces of enamel!

Huo Sining started to feel suspicious, wondering if Ma Liwen had already detected the uniqueness of the set of bowls.

”Young lady, how about we discuss a deal?”

Indeed, just as Huo Sining thought this, the old man spoke up, smiling at her confidently, ”The price you paid for this set of bowls couldn’t have exceeded eighty thousand, right? I’ll offer you one hundred thousand to buy this famille rose set from you, how about it?”

As soon as Ma Liwen spoke, Huo Sining confirmed her suspicions; it seemed Ma Liwen really had seen through the trick within these pieces of porcelain!

But what Huo Sining couldn’t understand was, if she had bought the porcelain on a whim and Ma Liwen had already spotted the problem, why hadn’t he bought it before her?

Perhaps noticing the confusion in Huo Sining’s eyes, Ma Liwen explained, ”I had seen this set of porcelain two hours ago and had even agreed on a price with the shopkeeper, but I didn’t have enough cash on me at the time, so I asked the old man to hold it for me while I went to the bank. By the time I had withdrawn the money, you had already bought it!”

While saying this, Ma Liwen’s eyes conveyed an accusatory and questioning look, as though he felt Huo Sining had deliberately bought the bowls before him, purposely making things difficult for him.

Huo Sining, however, couldn’t help but laugh inwardly at Ma Liwen’s misfortune, thinking it was rather pathetic how the item he had his eye on was snatched up by someone else; he must be extremely annoyed right now.

What was more important, she mused, was that he had to watch helplessly as she bought the item—surely a frustrating experience for him.

Just yesterday, Huo Sining had made a fool of Ma Liwen over a Tang Bohu painting, and now she was adding insult to injury. No wonder Ma Liwen was taking it poorly. But no matter what Ma Liwen might be thinking, Huo Sining wouldn’t be foolish enough to give up the porcelain set.

She shook her head and said with a faint smile, ”Professor Ma, I’m sorry, but cash and goods have already exchanged hands—it’s first-come, first-served. I’m quite fond of this porcelain set and have no intention of parting with it.”