Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 454: Chapter 450: Each Has a Grudge

Ma Liwen’s expression darkened upon hearing Huo Sining’s refusal. Seeing Huo Sining about to turn and leave, he became anxious at once, ”Two hundred thousand! I’ll pay two hundred thousand for your set of porcelain bowls!”

Huo Sining turned back with a smile that was not quite a smile and glanced at Ma Liwen before asking, ”Professor Ma, as a reputable figure in the antique circle, though an expert in ancient paintings, you ought to understand the true value of enamel color porcelain from the peak of the Qing Dynasty. If it were you, would you be willing to sell it for two hundred thousand?”

Huo Sining’s words plainly pointed out that there was indeed genuine famille rose enamel in the set of bowls. Ma Liwen was shocked, furious, and, above all, filled with frustration.

He had already been outwitted by Huo Sining yesterday, having thought that the girl had accidentally seen through the Hidden Mist technique to find the genuine artifact hidden within the fake, and now he had intentionally bought the porcelain to make him admit defeat out of pride.

Now, it appeared that was not the case at all; this girl had keen eyes and had long since spotted the trick with the set of bowls—it was he who had misjudged!

”Professor, what’s the matter?”

Just as Huo Sining was about to leave, suddenly two girls emerged from a nearby antique shop. Apparently, they had heard the commotion and hurried over to Ma Liwen, asking.

When Huo Sining saw one of the girls, she was momentarily taken aback; the girl was the same one who had bought the Jade Incense Burner earlier.

”What treasures have the two of you found?” Instead of answering the girls’ question directly, Ma Liwen turned his gaze onto the Jade Incense Burner in one girl’s hand, his eyes lighting up as he called out, ”An Yueru, let me take a look at what’s in your hands.”

An Yueru handed over the Jade Incense Burner to Ma Liwen, but her gaze shifted to Huo Sining and the set of famille rose enamel that had yet to be packed into a box. Her eyes immediately darkened,

”Professor, did that woman snatch away the porcelain bowl set you were interested in?!”

Upon hearing this, Huo Sining felt displeased. What do you mean I snatched it? This item wasn’t Ma Liwen’s to begin with; I bought it fair and square from the vendor! Following your insane logic, wouldn’t I have to say that you snatched the Jade Incense Burner from me?

Ma Liwen, in his heart, also felt that the item had been snatched by Huo Sining, but in front of his students, he had to maintain his dignity and professional ethics. Thus, he put on an air of magnanimity,

”It’s true I was interested in the porcelain bowl set, but the seller didn’t keep his word and didn’t reserve them for me. This young lady bought them from the vendor—it was I who was one step too late!”

The implication of his words was obvious; he suggested that Huo Sining had taken his item.

Huo Sining scoffed to herself but remained silent.

Upon hearing Ma Liwen’s words, An Yueru’s face changed instantly as she exclaimed in shock, ”How could this be? Professor, you saw it first. How can she not follow the rules? We can’t let this go; that’s a Qianlong...”

An Yueru stopped talking halfway as if afraid that Huo Sining would overhear and reveal what she knew. But her eyes still bore intently into Huo Sining with a look full of deep resentment and unwillingness.

From the start, Huo Sining had felt that something about the girl was familiar. Now, seeing An Yueru’s expression, a person’s image suddenly flashed through her mind, and she came to a realization.

She finally remembered why this woman looked so familiar; during the family recognition banquet earlier in the year, Liang Junqi was almost bitten by Heitan, and the woman who dealt with the aftermath for Liang Junqi, named Liu Manshu, bore a resemblance to the girl in front of her, about six or seven points similar in facial features.

Back then, when Huo Sining was demanding compensation from Liu Manshu, she was unaware of the relationship between Liu Manshu and Liang Junqi. It wasn’t until after the banquet that Huo Sining learned from Huang Jialin that Liu Manshu was the second daughter-in-law of the An family, and that the An family and the Liang family were related by marriage.

Thinking of that Liu Manshu and looking at the girl before her, then considering the girl’s name, Huo Sining quickly clarified the relationships: it seemed that this girl named An Yueru was the daughter of the An family and Liang Junqi’s cousin.

Huo Sining couldn’t help but smirk inwardly. What kind of grudge was this? She was just strolling down Antique Street, so why did she randomly encounter two people, and each one turned out to be her enemy? Could it get any more coincidental?

An Yueru, unaware of Huo Sining’s thoughts, had a very high opinion of herself and looked down on someone like Huo Sining. If it weren’t for hearing from her mother that Zhou Shitao had taken Huo Sining as his closed-door disciple, she wouldn’t have paid any attention to such a minor figure.

An Yueru had once visited Zhou Shitao at the Zhou family’s residence, even offered herself as a disciple, hoping Zhou Shitao would take her under his wing. But Zhou Shitao didn’t think highly of her and directly criticized her for her arrogance and lack of talent.

This assessment made An Yueru very indignant. After she became a disciple of Ma Liwen, she often heard him praising her, which inflated her ego even more; she believed that Zhou Shitao was deliberately making things difficult for her.

When An Yueru learned that Huo Sining had become Zhou Shitao’s closed-door disciple, she naturally regarded Huo Sining as her rival. She wanted to confront her but couldn’t find an excuse; to her surprise, the opportunity presented itself so quickly on Dashilar.

At the young trader’s stall earlier, An Yueru had recognized Huo Sining. That’s why she had bought the Jade Incense Burner ahead of Huo Sining, intending to embarrass her purposely.

Strictly speaking, An Yueru buying the Jade Incense Burner was essentially the same as Huo Sining buying the Famille Rose Porcelain Bowl: it was a voluntary transaction between buyer and seller, with no rules broken, save for creating a bit of inconvenience for the person who was looking first.

But An Yueru didn’t see it that way. She believed it was her right to buy the Jade Incense Burner, yet Huo Sining buying the enamel favored by Ma Liwen was shameless.

Thus, An Yueru had no good expression for Huo Sining: ”Hey, did you buy that set of porcelain from an old man?”

”What if I did, what if I didn’t?” Huo Sining couldn’t help but turn back and ask.

An Yueru, looking down on Huo Sining, naturally had arrogance in her tone, and her gaze toward Huo Sining was filled with disdain:

”That set of porcelain bowls was originally something my family’s professor had his eye on. Since you bought it first, we’ll let it go. How much did you pay for that set of Famille Rose Porcelain Bowls? I’ll offer ten times the price to buy it back, how about it?”

Ten times the price? Haha, what a dear price!

Sure enough, birds of a feather flock together; Ma Liwen and An Yueru, these two people, even had similar behaviors. No wonder they became mentor and disciple.

Upon hearing An Yueru’s words, Huo Sining just found it amusing, couldn’t help but curl her lip, shake her head, and decided not to engage any further, turning to leave.