Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 54: Chapter 52 There is a treasure under the sea!

Wu Jun thought Huo Sining was just saying it offhand, but he didn’t expect a woman to show up at the shop the very next day.

The woman didn’t speak when she saw Wu Jun. She just eyed him up and down until Wu Jun felt uncomfortable, then she finally asked:

“Are you the new shop assistant that Ningning recently hired?”

Wu Jun didn’t know who the woman before him was, but given that she referred to Huo Sining as Ningning, it was clear that she was a very close friend. He nodded.

Su Qingqing wanted to ask more questions, but Huo Sining came down from upstairs and wasn’t surprised to see Su Qingqing:

“You’re back from Xi’an? How was it? Did you find anything good?”

With a triumphant look, Su Qingqing took out a box from her backpack and said with a smile, “I wouldn’t say I found a treasure, but I did make a lucky find. It’s the first time I’ve picked up such a bargain since I entered the appraisal circle.”

As she spoke, Su Qingqing’s face showed an expression of utmost pride.

“A lucky find?”

Huo Sining was somewhat unfamiliar with this term and didn’t understand what it meant.

Su Qingqing quickly explained: “In the antique trade, the quality of items varies greatly. There are countless fakes on the market while genuine items are incredibly rare. So, when selecting and buying antiques, it’s easy to end up with forgeries. In the appraisal field, we have a term for this called ‘being conned.’ Conversely, when you buy an item from a seller for a price higher than what it’s worth without the seller realizing it, that’s called ‘making a lucky find.’”

Huo Sining nodded her head and looked at the box in Su Qingqing’s hand, asking curiously, “So what is it that you picked up?”

With a smile, Su Qingqing opened the hand-held box, which contained a small porcelain vase not bigger than the palm of a hand, adorned with blue patterns all over it; indeed, it appeared very exquisite.

However, Huo Sining did not recognize this item, so she asked, “How did you pick up this lucky find?”

Su Qingqing laughed and said, “I went to Xi’an with Professor Xie. Remember they unearthed a Han Tomb there? We spent almost a week there, and although we planned on heading back directly, Professor Xie got wind of a ‘Ghost Market’ happening—a secret market for trading antiques in the dark. He suggested we go there for experience, so we visited the Ghost Market.”

Huo Sining nodded, and Su Qingqing continued: “This garlic-head vase is what I found there. At that time, it was placed among a pile of Republic of China porcelain pieces. When I picked up this vase, I felt that the color of the blue and white pattern was slightly different from the others, so I bought it for 200 yuan. And guess what, after Professor Xie looked at this vase, he told me that it’s Kangxi-Qianlong period blue and white porcelain. Even though it’s folk kiln, it’s well-preserved and could fetch at least 7,000 to 8,000 yuan on the market.”

Turn a 200-yuan purchase into a thirty or forty-fold profit; indeed, it did count as a lucky find.

Seeing Su Qingqing’s utterly joyful and triumphant look, Huo Sining knew that getting this garlic-head vase must have been a very proud moment for her.

But Huo Sining was somewhat perplexed. For Su Qingqing, 7,000 to 8,000 yuan was indeed not much, so why was she so delighted?

Perhaps noticing the confusion on Huo Sining’s face, Su Qingqing explained, “You might think 7,000 or 8,000 yuan is not much, but this is the first satisfactory answer I’ve gotten in my appraisal career. The antiques field is incredibly deep, but if you really have the skill to spot a major bargain, one piece can make you very wealthy. Not long ago, someone made tens of millions from just picking up a handwritten manuscript by a poet from the Tang Dynasty.”

“Tens of millions?!”

Huo Sining was taken aback. She wasn’t well-versed in the world of antiques, but hearing Su Qingqing mention that manuscript making so much money piqued her curiosity.

“That’s nothing. There are many more valuable treasures in the antiques field. Take Yuan Blue and White, for example. Not long ago, one was auctioned off in London for 14 million British Pounds. That’s two to three hundred million RMB!”

With a scornful twist of her mouth, Su Qingqing added wryly and helplessly, “However, our country’s treasures, if not in the hands of collectors, are housed in museums. Very few circulate in the open market. Many valuable items have been taken overseas. Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, countless items have been stolen by imperialist invaders. Some say many have been lost at sea, never to be found. Just the thought of those items’ worth is heartbreaking.”

Lost at sea?

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener intended. Su Qingqing had spoken idly, but to Huo Sining, it was like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

She was suddenly wide awake, and a thought became increasingly clear in her mind.

Yeah, if she can dig up ambergris in the sea, why didn’t she think that there are other treasures in the ocean?!

From ancient times to the present, how many people have salvaged shipwrecks in the sea hoping to find treasures!

The number of those silent vessels on the ocean routes is not small, and those submerged treasures are countless!

What others can’t do anything about, those things buried at the bottom of the sea, are extremely simple for Huo Sining.

With the Water-Repelling Pearl, aren’t those treasures just waiting for her to pick up?!

The more Huo Sining thought about it, the more excited she became, and she instantly felt that Su Qingqing was truly her lucky star.

In the past, she often complained that Su Qingqing was a brainless idiot, but now she wished she could hug her and plant a big kiss on her.

Su Qingqing didn’t know what Huo Sining was thinking. Seeing Huo Sining’s excited face, she thought that Huo Sining was happy because she’d found a bargain, so she didn’t think too much about it and just asked:

“Is that big idiot downstairs the new employee you just hired?”

Since Su Jinyuan knew about it, Huo Sining didn’t find Su Qingqing’s question odd. Huo Sining nodded and gave Su Qingqing a look: “What big idiot? He’s a retired soldier with a high combat value! You better not let him hear you calling him that!”

“So what if he hears it? Aren’t all soldiers just strong-bodied and simple-minded? I’m not wrong calling him a big idiot! By the way, can you trust him? And it’s not really appropriate for him to be living with you, right? I think you should have him rent a place to live instead.”

Su Qingqing thought it was somewhat inappropriate, the situation of a single man and woman living together just wasn’t all that convenient.

“There are plenty of white-collar workers out there sharing accommodation with others, what’s so inappropriate about it? It’s not like I’m living in the same room as him, and besides, his sister is also here.”

Huo Sining didn’t see anything inappropriate about it and secretly thought that Su Qingqing must have grown too accustomed to luxury and didn’t know the hardships of the world.

Renting a place outside would cost at least a thousand or eight hundred RMB a month, which clearly wasn’t suitable for Wu Jun.

Moreover, her Xianyu Shop already had rooms available, and she couldn’t occupy so many by herself. They’d be empty anyway, so it made sense to put them to good use.

However, thanks to Su Qingqing’s question, Huo Sining did calm down and suddenly remembered about Yaya’s school transfer and quickly asked, “By the way, do you know anyone at the Normal University Affiliated High School?”

“What for? Are you going to attend high school again?” Su Qingqing was somewhat puzzled. “Didn’t you graduate from high school already?”

“No, that’s not it,” Huo Sining explained. “Wu Jun, the ‘big idiot’ you mentioned, has a younger sister in junior high at an industrial workers’ school. Now I’ve let the girl stay with me, but it’s too far from that school and not convenient. Plus, you know how those schools for children of migrant workers are—the teaching staff isn’t that great. So I’m thinking of pulling some strings to transfer her to a school over here.”

Upon hearing this, Su Qingqing felt something was off:

“Wait, why do you care so much about a mere employee, even to the point of arranging his sister’s school transfer? Are you into him or something?”

“Where did your mind go?”

Huo Sining barely suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and said in frustration, “Wu Jun is a good guy, and I am keeping him around for a significant reason. Shouldn’t I start by winning his favor with a few sweet jujubes? Besides, that poor girl is an orphan and I can’t help but to want to help her when I see her; she reminds me of myself back then.”

Su Qingqing knew that Huo Sining was also an orphan and couldn’t help but sigh after hearing this:

“Alright, I hope those siblings prove worthy of your kindness. I can’t do anything about the school transfer, but my brother surely has connections. I’ll ask him for you.”

Huo Sining knew Su Qingqing’s character; if she couldn’t help or didn’t want to help, she would refuse directly. Since she was willing to say that, it meant there was a high probability that she could make it happen.