Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 592: Chapter 590 Safety Buckle

In front of the child lay a worn bedsheet, on which a bunch of peace buckles with a jade hue were displayed.

There was Nanyang Jade, Hetian Jade, and also some very low-grade Jadeite, all sorts and sizes, with a wide variety of styles.

The quality of these peace buckles was not good, they looked like very ordinary jade, and were not very valuable.

However, the sheer number of jade buckles gathered together was quite rare.

”Are you two sisters looking at jade? You can pick any of these peace buckles, they’ll protect your safety.”

Only two or three customers were browsing the child’s stall. When they saw Huo Sining and Su Qingqing coming over, they glanced at Huo Sining and, seeing that Su Qingqing and her companion were dressed in high-end clothes and carrying a shoulder bag, appearing wealthy, their dark pupils suddenly darted around mischievously as they quickly stood up with a grin to ask.

Huo Sining saw that the child’s smile held a hint of slyness and couldn’t help but be amused. However, her expression remained unchanged as she asked with interest, ”How much are you selling these jade buckles for?”

The child took another quick glance at Huo Sining, ”These are all Ancient Jade, but some are older than others and some are relatively new; the prices vary. Sister, you pick first and then I’ll give you the price.”

Upon hearing this, Huo Sining couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The way the child spoke, could he really discern the origin of these buckles?

With this thought, Huo Sining grew curious and bent down to rummage through the pile of Ancient Jade.

While she was still picking, Su Qingqing had already selected two pieces that looked relatively well-preserved.

Huo Sining subconsciously looked over at the two jade buckles Su Qingqing had chosen.

The quality of the pile of jade buckles varied, but the best by far were the two pieces Su Qingqing was holding in her hands.

Those two jade buckles were from the middle to late Qing Dynasty and looked pretty decent. If taken to a proper antique store for resale, they could probably fetch around four to five hundred yuan.

Huo Sining lost interest in searching further. Noticing Su Qingqing was holding the two buckles seemingly ready to ask the price, she no longer planned to continue looking. However, just then, her gaze swept over and she suddenly caught sight of an inconspicuous jade buckle not far away.

Huo Sining’s eyebrows knitted slightly, and without revealing anything on her face, the delight in her eyes flashed and was gone in an instant.

It was a beige peace buckle with a raised grain pattern, typically seen on jade artifacts from the Ming Dynasty, though imitation versions are also made in the modern era.

Yet this jade buckle struck Huo Sining as odd because the hole in the center was very small.

Typically, peace buckles are worn close to the body, with larger holes drilled to facilitate the threading of needles and ornaments, making them more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing to wear.

But the hole in the center of the buckle in front of her was very small, and the whole jade buckle had a dull color, looking as if it had molded.

The dim color instantly reminded Huo Sining of the authentication rules for ancient jade she had recently read about—the color of ancient jade becomes grayish when left unset and unplayed with for a long time.

They say jade nourishes the person, but in fact, people also nourish jade. That’s why many jades need to be fondled and played with in the hand for ten years or even decades before they reveal their luster, which is known in the antiques world as ”playing the jade.”

An ancient jade’s value can increase several-fold after being frequently handled and appreciated.

Upon seeing the jade buckle in front of her, dull in color and oddly shaped, Huo Sining initially felt puzzled, but she quickly realized what it was and couldn’t help but let a trace of delight show in her eyes.

She stealthily played with the jade buckle in her palm, and sure enough, not long after she touched it, she saw a rich purple aura envelop the entire buckle.

Feeling secretly overjoyed, Huo Sining pretended to casually hold the jade buckle in her hand. She glanced at several other buckles that seemed to be of poor quality and picked up another one that looked similar to it, a modern crafted piece, for comparison.

”How much for these two jade buckles?”

There, Su Qingqing opened her palm and asked about the price of the two Qing Dynasty jade buckles she had chosen.

The kid had been watching Su Qingqing pick out the jade buckles all along. Seeing how effortlessly she selected the two best quality buckles from the pile, he formed a new opinion of her, realizing that this woman was not easy to deceive.

Seeing that Su Qingqing was inquiring about the price, the kid’s eyes quickly darted, and he replied with a sly smile, ”Sister, you have good taste. These two are the best quality among all my buckles. It seems you know your stuff. Ancient jade is good for your health, and I won’t shout random prices. For Qing Dynasty jade buckles, one thousand yuan each.”

A thousand!? This kid sure knows how to ask for a price! Just for a broken jade buckle, and he’s charging more than double the price of a regular store.

Su Qingqing couldn’t help but roll her eyes—did this kid take her for a sucker?

”Buddy, I know it’s not easy for you to be doing business at such a young age, but you have to offer a fair price. A thousand is too much, how about one hundred yuan?”

With a gentle smile on her face, Su Qingqing indeed liked the two jade buckles, and they were genuinely antiques, but ultimately, they weren’t worth much, and moreover, they had no special significance.

She was there to pick out a birthday gift for Su Jinyuan. It didn’t really matter to her whether she bought the buckles or not, so her bargaining was quite aggressive—cutting the price by ninety percent right off the bat.

To her surprise, the kid seemed quite unhappy after hearing Su Qingqing’s offer, glaring at her with wide eyes:

”A hundred yuan? Sister, are you joking with me? This is an antique from the Qing Dynasty. Go ask outside, can you buy a Qing Dynasty jade for a hundred yuan? Do you think these are modern manufactured goods?”

Wow, this kid sure has a sharp tongue, thought Huo Sining, a bit surprised as she quirked a brow.

Even Su Qingqing was at a loss for words, not knowing how to refute the kid’s argument.

That was not the end of it. In his excitement, the kid snatched the two jade buckles from Huo Sining’s hands and grabbed the Qing Dynasty buckles from Su Qingqing’s, putting them all together to compare, while indignantly saying:

”Look, these are the two from that sister’s hands, and these are the ones you were looking at. Compare them, and you should see the difference, right?”

”I’m not lying to you, these two buckles that sister picked out are obviously modern factory-produced, fifty yuan each! I took them out for you to compare. Just look, can these modern pieces, whether in terms of color or quality, compare to ancient Qing Dynasty antiques?”

The kid compared the two different types of jade earnestly, his face turning even more crimson.

Huo Sining couldn’t help but be amused—this kid was too funny! Modern artifacts? One of the two jade buckles in her hands was a genuine piece of aged old jade!