Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1099: Chapter 1095: Taotie

However, with this tug, she wasn’t able to make Qibao move a single step. The little guy was staring intently at these two kids in front of him.

Huo Sining was a bit helpless. That little girl was also sharp, seeing Qibao standing still at the stall, she knew business had arrived. She eagerly looked up at Huo Sining and asked, ”Sister, do you want to buy a Jade Buddha?”

Huo Sining instinctively shook her head and tried to pull Qibao away. The little girl saw Huo Sining shake her head and immediately looked disappointed and dispirited, her gaze shifted to other people on the street, starting to look for the next target.

Huo Sining sighed inwardly. Whether these kids were abducted was unknown, but seeing how prematurely clever they were, they might have been through no less than Qibao. However, she wasn’t running a charity. If she bought something, it would only fuel the arrogance of those lazy people behind these children.

”Qibao, let’s go.” Huo Sining called out, about to leave.

”Sister, that sheep looks nice, let’s buy it...”

Seeing that Huo Sining was about to leave, Qibao suddenly pulled her back, pointing at the little boy squatting on the ground across from them and whispered.

Huo Sining was taken aback, and followed Qibao’s gaze to see the four-year-old child squatting beside the little girl, holding a dull grey object, playing with it. When she took a closer look, she couldn’t help but laugh silently.

That was no sheep, it was clearly a Taotie.

The Taotie was first recorded in the ”Classic of Mountains and Seas.” It had a sheep’s body, eyes under the arms, tiger’s teeth, and human claws, with a big head and a large mouth.

Because the Taotie is greedy and likes to put anything in its mouth, ancients often crafted the Taotie on bells and cauldrons, symbolizing a life of feasting and indulgence.

Although this pattern was the supreme emblem of the Bronze Age during the mid-Western Zhou dynasty, in terms of mystery, power, and status, the Taotie far surpassed the dragon in the Bronze Age, but was eventually replaced by the dragon and disappeared.

Carvings of Taotie alone were extremely rare. The material in the child’s hand seemed to be semi-finished Jadeite, known as water foam, the same material as the paper Jade Buddha, but the item in the boy’s hand was a dark color, green like completely mature old leaves, with a grey-black hue, even lower in quality than the tender color of the Jade Buddha wrapped in canvas on the paper.

Huo Sining wasn’t interested in such things because she knew they were fake. But Qibao stood by, staring blankly at the Taotie, so she reluctantly said, ”Little sister, could you give me that sheep from your brother’s hand to take a look?”

The little girl was startled and turned back to look at the item in her brother’s hand, a hint of unease flashed in her eyes, but she obediently took the Taotie and handed it to Huo Sining.

The Taotie sculpture was larger than the Jade Buddha, about the size of two palms, no more than ten centimeters high.

The carving of this Taotie was quite skillful, from the wide-open mouth to the round rope-like patterns on the dragon rides on both sides of the abdomen, all very smooth, and the appearance quite endearing, only the material was too poor.

Water foam itself does not qualify as jade because it is not true Jadeite, just a semi-finished product in the formation process of Jadeite.

Since the Jade Buddha on the stall was made of water foam, Huo Sining naturally thought the Taotie was also made from water foam. However, when her hand touched the Taotie sculpture, she realized she might have been mistaken.

The material of this Taotie seemed not to be water foam, but real Jadeite Oily Green Species.

Huo Sining had handled gambling stones many times and had produced Oily Green Species, so she was well aware of what it entailed.

The Taotie in front of her was indeed made from authentic Oily Green Species, but because its color was darker than usual, one couldn’t perceive its lively and spiritual jade-like essence with the naked eye, so she mistook it for water foam.

The price of Oily Green Species is slightly higher than ordinary dog-tooth ground, but compared to fake Jadeite water foam, it is definitely one or two grades higher. After all, it is genuine Jadeite. Buying it is not a loss.

”Are you selling this?” Huo Sining casually asked, since it was just a plaything and Qibao liked it, if the price wasn’t outrageously high, she might as well buy it.

Upon hearing Huo Sining’s question, the little girl quickly raised her head, looking both surprised and pleased at Huo Sining: ”Sister wants to buy it?”

Huo Sining nodded, ”If the price is right, I’ll buy it.”

The little girl was selling the Jade Buddha, but unexpectedly, Huo Sining was interested in the dull plaything in her brother’s hand instead of the Jade Buddha. She thought for a moment and held out five fingers to Huo Sining.

Huo Sining pretended to be confused: ”Fifty bucks? Okay!” She said, making a move to reach for her wallet.

The little girl suddenly became anxious, ”Not fifty bucks, it’s five thousand bucks.”

Huo Sining laughed and pulled Qibao to leave. Seeing Huo Sining about to go, the little girl quickly said, ”Five hundred bucks. If five hundred bucks is okay, sister can take it.”

Huo Sining stopped, considered it with a pretense of hesitation, and after a few seconds, nodded, ”Okay, five hundred bucks it is.”

Saying so, Huo Sining took out five hundred yuan from her bag, handed it to the little girl, took the Taotie, and left with Qibao.

The price of Oily Green Species has never been high in the market, but this Taotie is at least the size of two palms, weighing at least three or four hundred grams, so its price should definitely be over five hundred bucks. She wasn’t at a loss buying it.

It’s not that Huo Sining wanted to take advantage of a little girl. If these children were truly poverty-stricken, coming to the street to sell Jade Buddhas out of desperation, she wouldn’t hesitate to spend five thousand bucks, even fifty thousand. But clearly, these two little girls were being manipulated and exploited.

In inconspicuous corners of the street, who knows how many such scams exist. Even if Huo Sining bought the Jade Buddha, soon, in another street, the little girl would reappear with another Jade Buddha. Buying the Jade Buddha doesn’t mean she can save this little girl from the sea of suffering.

As expected, not long after Huo Sining walked away with Qibao, two sneaky adults appeared at the stall where the little girl was sitting. Seeing this, Huo Sining immediately took out her phone and made a call to the police station.

The call was picked up by a new dispatcher in Chenghuang District. After clearly understanding the situation from Huo Sining, the dispatcher did not take it too seriously.

There are countless children used for begging on the streets. If the police dealt with every case, they wouldn’t be able to do anything else all day except driving away beggars.