Chapter 27

When Wang Xiaoqiang really decided to buy the porcelain vase, not only was the stall owner surprised, but Liu Juyi found it even more unbelievable.

If spending 3,000 yuan on clothes was something she could accept, spending 30,000 yuan on a broken porcelain vase was something she could never accept, no matter what. She immediately pulled Wang Xiaoqiang's arm and said, "Xiaoqiang, what are you doing? Why are you buying this vase?"

Wang Xiaoqiang replied, "Can't I use it to grow flowers?"

"What?" Liu Juyi's beautiful big eyes widened. "You want to plant flowers in it? Xiaoqiang, are you crazy!?"

At this moment, the old man with the sun hat stroked his white beard and smiled at Wang Xiaoqiang, "Young man, I have a request. Why don't you let me have this vase? It's exactly the same as the one I have at home... I've been wanting to get a pair, so please do me this favor!"

Wang Xiaoqiang, seeing the old man trying to get the vase, became anxious. Suddenly, he had an idea and flipped the vase upside down, showing the old man, "Old sir, this vase has a crack..."

The old man hadn't seen the bottom of the vase before. Now, seeing the large crack, he immediately looked disappointed and sighed, "Ah, what a pity."

After saying this, the old man no longer mentioned buying the vase and left, going to another stall.

The stall owner, seeing that the old man with the expertise didn't want the vase, grabbed Wang Xiaoqiang and said, "Young man, now no one is competing with you. Do you want it?"

Wang Xiaoqiang, seeing the stall owner's eagerness to sell, immediately acted disinterested, pretending to look at the crack on the bottom of the vase and shaking his head, "Ah, the crack is quite large..."

Hearing this, the stall owner became anxious and said, "Young man, if you really want to buy it, we can negotiate the price..."

This vase had been on the stall for over half a year. Any expert who saw the crack on the bottom, no matter how much the price was reduced, wouldn't buy it. As for those who didn't know, they wouldn't spend so much money on a broken vase. So, the vase had always been a chicken rib—neither useful nor completely useless. Now, the stall owner finally found someone who didn't know and wanted to buy it, so he didn't want to miss this opportunity.

"Fixed price, 20,000 yuan. If you agree to sell it, I'll go get the money right now," Wang Xiaoqiang said decisively.

"Xiaoqiang, let's not buy that vase, come with me..." Liu Juyi, seeing Wang Xiaoqiang offer to buy it, was so anxious that she was sweating profusely. She pulled his arm, trying to drag him away. Her movements were so forceful that her chest kept bumping into Wang Xiaoqiang's arm.

Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang cut the price by 10,000 yuan, the stall owner, who had intended to raise the price to 25,000 yuan, was afraid that Wang Xiaoqiang would leave. He immediately agreed, "Young brother, you're a straightforward person. Deal!"

"Xiaoqiang, what are you doing!" Liu Juyi let go of Wang Xiaoqiang's arm and stomped her foot in frustration.

Wang Xiaoqiang leaned close to her ear and whispered something. Liu Juyi then fell silent.

Then, Wang Xiaoqiang turned to the stall owner and said, "Alright, I'll go get the money now. Keep the vase safe for me!"

"Little brother, go with peace of mind. According to our rules, this vase is yours now. Even if someone offers 100,000 yuan, I won't sell it," the stall owner said, holding the vase in front of his feet and guaranteeing it with a pat on his chest.

In fact, even if he wanted to sell it, it would be hard to find a buyer.

Liu Juyi leaned close to Wang Xiaoqiang's ear and asked, "Xiaoqiang, are you really confident you can fix the crack in the vase?"

Wang Xiaoqiang leaned close to Liu Juyi's ear and said, "I wouldn't do it if I wasn't absolutely sure. Don't worry, we'll make 100,000 yuan from this."

As he said this, Wang Xiaoqiang glanced at the old man with the sun hat, who had entered an antique shop and was sitting inside, apparently familiar with the shop owner.

Seeing this, Wang Xiaoqiang breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly took Liu Juyi out of the antique shop and looked around. He saw an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ATM about 30 meters away and walked straight to it.

Liu Juyi, seeing Wang Xiaoqiang go to the bank to withdraw money, pulled him and reminded him, "Xiaoqiang, inter-bank withdrawals have a handling fee."

"To make big money, you can't focus on small savings."

Wang Xiaoqiang responded, walked to the ATM, and withdrew 20,000 yuan. Then, he pulled Liu Juyi back to the antique market.

After they left, the stall owner was a bit worried that Wang Xiaoqiang might not return.

However, in less than five minutes, Wang Xiaoqiang and Liu Juyi returned to the stall. The stall owner immediately picked up the porcelain vase with both hands and presented it to Wang Xiaoqiang with a smile, "Young brother, you're a man of your word. This vase is yours!"

Wang Xiaoqiang took the vase, examined it carefully, and confirmed it was the right one. He then handed it to Liu Juyi and took out 20,000 yuan to give to the stall owner, "Pleasure doing business with you. I hope we have more opportunities to work together."

The stall owner happily took the money and quickly took out a business card, handing it to Wang Xiaoqiang, "Young brother, this has my phone number. If you want to buy antiques in the future, come find me..."

Wang Xiaoqiang took the card, looked at it carefully, and put it in his pocket, "Sure, if you have good vases or even broken ones, save them for me."

The stall owner, hearing this, had a strange smile on his face... Did he want broken vases? Did he have a fetish for incomplete things, or did he like the beauty of Venus?

Before the stall owner could figure it out, Wang Xiaoqiang had already taken the vase from Liu Juyi and went to find the old man with the sun hat.

It didn't take long for Wang Xiaoqiang to find the old man, who was still sitting in the antique shop, drinking tea and chatting with the shop owner.

Seeing this, Wang Xiaoqiang was pleased. He asked Liu Juyi to stay and watch the old man while he found a secluded spot, squatted down, and used earth spirit energy to completely repair the crack on the bottom of the vase.

Looking at the perfectly repaired vase, Wang Xiaoqiang was delighted. When he returned, Liu Juyi told him that the old man had left the antique shop.

Wang Xiaoqiang looked up and saw the old man indeed coming out of the shop, hands empty, heading towards the exit of the antique market.

Wang Xiaoqiang and Liu Juyi immediately followed. At the exit, Wang Xiaoqiang caught up with the old man but didn't stop him. Instead, he held the vase and walked past the old man intentionally.

The old man recognized Wang Xiaoqiang and, seeing him with a vase, his eyes lit up, "Hey, young man, did you really buy that porcelain vase?"

Wang Xiaoqiang pretended to be surprised, turned around, and waved the vase, "Yes, I bought it, but it's not the broken one. This one is good."

"Good?!" The old man's eyes lit up even more as he pointed at the vase in Wang Xiaoqiang's hand, "Young man, can I take a look?"

"Sure, you can help me appraise it. I spent 120,000 yuan on this vase!"

The old man smiled bitterly, clearly not believing that Wang Xiaoqiang would spend 120,000 yuan on a vase. However, after carefully examining the vase, he was surprised and amazed because he found that it was not a fake but a genuine product from the Kangxi or Qianlong era. The old man, who had been in the collection business for most of his life, had a keen eye. Moreover, he had recently spent 120,000 yuan at an auction for a vase identical to this one.

The old man could doubt Wang Xiaoqiang's words, but he couldn't doubt that the vase was genuine.

"Is it real?" Wang Xiaoqiang asked.

"It's genuine," the old man looked at Wang Xiaoqiang, surprised and doubtful, "Where did you buy it? Can you tell me?"

Wang Xiaoqiang said seriously, "Old sir, to be honest, there's only one in the entire market. You can check if you don't believe me..."

Wang Xiaoqiang then held out his hands to the old man, asking for the vase back.

Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang wanting to take the vase back, the old man looked reluctant, as if the vase was his beloved grandson.

"Old sir, do you like this vase?" Wang Xiaoqiang asked knowingly.

"Yes, I have one at home, and this one would make a perfect pair..." The old man repeated what he had said before, still with a hopeful look.

"Old sir, if you really like it, I'll let you have it," Wang Xiaoqiang said, showing some reluctance.

"Ah, young man, you, you really mean it!" The old man was so excited that his fingers trembled slightly.

"Old sir, don't get too excited, it's not good for your heart," Wang Xiaoqiang said, fearing the old man might accidentally drop the vase.

"You're right, to be honest, I do have a heart condition and have had a stent implanted..."

"Then you shouldn't get too excited," Wang Xiaoqiang advised, "Don't worry, I'm a man of my word. I'll definitely let you have this vase."

The old man really had a heart condition and had undergone a stent procedure. He couldn't get too excited, but hearing Wang Xiaoqiang's words, he couldn't help but get excited again. After stabilizing his emotions, he said, "Alright, you bought it for 120,000 yuan. I'll give you an extra 5,000 yuan. How about that?"

Wang Xiaoqiang waved his hand, "Old sir, I'm not a businessman. Why would I make money from you? I'll just consider it a friendship. I just want to recover my costs..."

The old man, seeing Wang Xiaoqiang's refusal to make money, was surprised and pleased. He thought such a decent young man was rare and stared at Wang Xiaoqiang, "You're a good young man. I'll definitely make friends with you. Let's finalize this, but I don't have enough money on me. I'll have to trouble you to come back to my place."

"That's no problem," Wang Xiaoqiang smiled. Seeing that 100,000 yuan was about to be in his hands, he was very happy. He turned to look at Liu Juyi, who had been standing quietly behind him, and noticed that she was also excited and thrilled.

Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang turn to look at her, Liu Juyi couldn't help but hold his hand, feeling extremely excited as she saw him make another 100,000 yuan.