Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 593: Chapter 591: Warring States Jade Bi

Huo Sining struggled to suppress a twitch at the corner of his mouth, looking at the child’s excitement, he coughed twice softly and asked with feigned calmness,

”Kid, are you saying that these two modern pieces are just fifty yuan each?”

When the child heard Huo Sining’s question, he immediately looked over at Huo Sining.

Seeing nothing of note in Huo Sining’s expression, the child hesitated for a couple of seconds before responding, ”Right, these modern craft pieces are fifty yuan apiece.”

Huo Sining nodded, ”Okay, I’ll take this jade buckle.”

With that, she pulled out fifty yuan from her bag and stuffed it into the child’s hand, and promptly grabbed the ancient jade into her own.

Without waiting for the child’s reaction, Huo Sining walked away cheerfully with Su Qingqing, leaving the child standing there dumbfounded.

As she walked and examined the ancient jade, Huo Sining’s mouth broke into a smile; she had never expected to actually find a good thing in such a place.

With the characteristics of this piece of ancient jade, combined with the spiritual energy it carried, Huo Sining was very certain that the jade was at least two thousand years old.

”Ningning, did you... find a steal?”

Seeing Huo Sining’s expression resembled that of a sly little fox, Su Qingqing had no doubts left. She couldn’t help but look skeptically at the unremarkable jade buckle in Huo Sining’s hand and curiously asked.

Huo Sining nodded.

Su Qingqing instantly perked up, ”What’s the story behind this? How come I didn’t notice it?”

Huo Sining chuckled, ”Have you heard of Jade Bi?”

Su Qingqing blinked, ”Jade Bi?”

She instinctively looked at the jade buckle in Huo Sining’s hand and, upon realizing something, asked in surprise, ”You mean to say, this isn’t a jade buckle, but a Jade Bi?”

Huo Sining pursed her lips into a smile, effectively confirming her guess.

In the past few days, Huo Sining had just finished flipping through a stack of books left by Zhou Shitao, one of which was titled ”Detailed Explanation of Warring States Jade Artifacts.”

This book featured a detailed explanation of the exquisite jade artifacts and masterpieces from each dynasty in China’s five to six thousand years of history, which included a mention of the Warring States Jade Bi.

The characteristics, such as the millet-pattern and small holes, as well as the age of the ancient jade made Huo Sining feel a sense of familiarity. After comparing it with her knowledge of ancient jade appraisal, she suddenly realized:

This yellowish ancient jade wasn’t any ordinary peace buckle, but rather a pocket-sized Warring States Jade Bi!

The Jade Bi was an extremely important type of jade artifact in ancient times, especially during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period. Used in ceremonial rites, it symbolized nobility and was often worn by those of status, also serving as an important article for burial offerings.

The most famous, and one that’s well-known to households, is the story of Lin Xiangru’s ”Returning the Jade Bi to Zhao” during the Warring States period. The renowned beautiful jade involved in that story is none other than the Warring States Jade Bi—He’s Bi.

However, it’s a pity that the He’s Bi was later carved into the Imperial Jade Seal. It eventually ended up in the hands of commoners and thereafter disappeared without a trace; nobody knows into whose hands that piece of jade eventually fell.

Jade artifacts are incredibly scarce, and those imbued with historical tales are even more precious.

It’s precisely because of the potential huge profits that there has been a grave issue of counterfeit ancient jades in recent years in China.

Imitations from the Qin and Han dynasties, Tang and Song dynasties, Ming and Qing dynasties; generation after generation of forgeries have flooded the antique market, making true treasures as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, increasingly hard to find.

This was the very reason that child was deceived, because even the vendors themselves did not know whether what they were selling was genuine or not. Without real expertise, it’s very easy to make a mistake.

Especially this piece of ancient jade, which had a poor appeal resembling a craft, with its rough texture and yellowish color, was thus mistaken for a modern imitation by the child and sold off.

If that child knew he had mistaken fish eyes for pearls and sold a Warring States jade bi worth one hundred and twenty thousand for just fifty yuan, would he regret it immensely?

But let’s put that aside for the moment, at least Huo Sining was very happy in her heart.

Although she already had a net worth of several billion, no one would complain about having too much money, and after less than half an hour of searching, she had identified a valuable item using her own expertise, naturally putting her in an exceptionally good mood.

Envy filled Su Qingqing’s heart, but she was well aware of Huo Sining’s abilities—Ningning’s appraisal skills were indeed better than hers. Such talent is innate, and even with envy, she couldn’t match it.

Luckily, Su Qingqing was not one to dwell on such matters, unlike Ye Zixin, whose narrow-mindedness would have surely driven her crazy in such a situation.

After roaming around a few stalls and antique shops, finding nothing of note, they both became a bit hungry.

Because they had been delayed by a robbery at the bank earlier, it was already noon after nearly an hour of browsing, so Huo Sining checked the time and decided to find a restaurant for lunch before continuing.

Su Qingqing had no objections, so the two prepared to leave Antique Street to find a place to eat, but before they had gone far, they heard someone at a nearby stall shouting loudly.

”Five hundred thousand! Little brother, I won’t beat around the bush, what do you say to five hundred thousand? This is all the money I’ve prepared, if it’s a deal, we can exchange goods and payment right away!”

As soon as these words were spoken, many people nearby heard them and turned their attention towards the man who had shouted.

The man who spoke was not far from Huo Sining, at a small stall about seven or eight meters to her right.

This stall was different from the others, which were cluttered with all sorts of antique items, but this particular one only displayed a pair of tall jade cups.

The pair of jade cups had a verdant color all around; even from a distance, one could feel their crystal-clear transparency.

The man’s voice attracted the attention of most people around, who began to gather around his stall.

Soon, twenty or thirty people had assembled in front of the stall, including Huo Sining and Su Qingqing, who, thanks to the advantage of their slim figures, easily made their way to the front.

The people around began discussing the matter, as five hundred thousand wasn’t a huge sum on S City’s Antique Street, but it still wasn’t a small amount for these street vendors.

So, upon hearing about such a large transaction, they all crowded around, eager to see what the man was interested in.

Huo Sining and Su Qingqing also moved to the front and squatted in front of the stall.

The jade cups were just beneath Huo Sining’s feet, and upon such a close inspection, she quickly noticed what made these cups different.

”The vast sea under the moonlight grieves for the pearl’s tears, Lantian jade smokes in the warmth of the sun.”

Genuine Kunlun Mountain Lantian jade is elegantly pale, lustrous, with a fine texture and very high translucency.

These characteristics were exactly what the pair of jade cups before her exhibited; the material of these two cups was undoubtedly Lantian jade.