Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1108: Chapter 1104: The Reason Behind It

Seeing the fragment of the porcelain piece in the Old Granny’s other hand, Huo Sining couldn’t help but show a look of regret in her eyes.

Aside from whether the Old Granny could come up with that much money to repair the porcelain, even if it were truly repaired, whether the porcelain would be worth the cost of the repair work was still unknown. After all, no one wants to do a losing trade.

The people in the room all looked at the Old Granny with sympathetic expressions, but the Old Granny’s eyes were devoid of any sadness; instead, they sparkled with excitement: ”You mean, if the entire set of porcelains could be completed, it would fetch a very high price?”

Huo Sining had initially intended to comfort the Old Granny, but upon hearing her words, she was taken aback.

”Madam, are you saying...?”

The Old Granny simply laughed: ”That young shop assistant didn’t explain the origins of this Plum Vase clearly to me, I got flustered. If it weren’t for you explaining, young lady, I would still be unaware of the significance of this vase.”

As she spoke, the Old Granny no longer had the look of despondency and said:

”When I heard you say it’s Mao Porcelain, it all came back to me. I forgot to mention, this vase was originally brought out from the kiln by my father. Back then, my father worked over in Jiangxi at a kiln as a kiln maker. After the factory fell apart, he came back, and since he didn’t get his wages, he got these three sets of porcelain instead.”

Upon hearing this, not only Huo Sining, but even Lu Huairu, who was roasting near the charcoal stove, was taken aback, instinctively sitting up straight, while Yin Zeyan’s expression changed and he hurriedly asked: ”Three sets of porcelain? Old Granny, what do these three sets include, and do they still exist?”

”Oh dear, that’s what I’m talking about.” Old Granny rolled her eyes at Yin Zeyan, clearly still having a grievance with Yin Zeyan’s unpredictable demeanor.

”Those three sets of porcelains are what you mentioned—dinnerware, teaware, and drinkware. The dinnerware consists of bowls, plates, cups, and spoons—small items; the teaware is a complete nine-piece set of teapots and cups, with several kinds of tea cups—big and small, seven to eight pieces; the drinkware includes a wine pitcher and eight stemmed glasses. I can’t recall the professional names you use, but they all look beautiful. The white porcelain painted with plum blossoms, just like this Plum Vase, is very pretty, and the only large porcelain piece in the set is probably this Plum Vase. There are a pair of them, kept with the teaware.”

Upon hearing such a description from the Old Granny, the three people, including Huo Sining, Yin Zeyan, and Lu Huairu, began to breathe heavily. They were the only ones in the room who realized the hidden value the three sets of porcelains represented.

Yin Zeyan’s eyes turned red, and he opened his mouth as if wanting to interrupt the Old Granny’s speech.

But the Old Granny ignored him and continued: ”When my father brought back these sets of porcelains, my mother was furious. Our household was dirt poor then. When Father didn’t get his wages, he only got these three sets of useless porcelains. My mother, with her fiery temper, wanted to smash them.”

”My sister and I happened to be there and immediately took a liking to the porcelains. We had both been married by then and found it beautiful, so we stopped Mother. After discussing, my sister and I divided the three sets using food coupons and meat coupons.”

”My sister got the dinnerware, my husband loved drinking tea, so we took the entire teaware set. My father kept the wine pitcher and four stemmed glasses. My sister and I each took two of the remaining stemmed glasses. Since the Plum Vase was pretty, my sister wanted it too, so the pair of vases was split, with each of us taking one home to use for flowers.”

This explanation clarified the origin of the Plum Vase; Huo Sining and Yin Zeyan exchanged glances, with both of them showing solemn and serious expressions. Clearly, they appreciated the importance of what the Old Granny was saying.

”Are those sets of porcelains still around?”

The Old Granny shook her head: ”When my father brought back the porcelains, he didn’t tell us they were Mao Porcelain. We assumed they were ordinary porcelains and just used them as everyday household items. My sister had many children, and that dinnerware set got mostly broken with use, leaving only the Plum Vase.”

”My husband loved tea, and those teacups were so clear and white as jade—very elegant. He liked them very much, so he kept them and rarely used them, only bringing them out during holidays to entertain guests. So, his set of tea cups is still there, but two of the lidded tea cups are likely the Victory Cup you’re referring to. My father took them back. The teacups were too large and not elegant enough, so my husband didn’t like them and just gave them to my father.”

At this moment, Su Qingqing’s mind was working well, and she looked at the Old Granny with curiosity:

”What you’re saying implies you didn’t know the porcelains were Mao Porcelain. How did you come to pawn this Plum Vase at an antique shop? You should know it’s just a modern craft item. If it weren’t Mao Porcelain, just from its appearance, no one would know it’s worth anything. How did you make that connection?”

Su Qingqing’s words reminded Huo Sining and the others, who all turned to look at the Old Granny, as if they were waiting for a reasonable explanation.

The Old Granny’s lips showed a slight bitterness, but her eyes were deep and thoughtful, as if recalling the past:

”This is something I’ve wanted to tell you. After bringing back the tea set, my husband locked it in the cabinet, but I took the Plum Vase to place it in our living room. In my youth, I loved beauty and would often put flowers in it when I had spare time.”

”Later, one time, a friend of mine came over with her partner and noticed the Plum Vase, saying she wanted to pay a thousand yuan for it.”

”That was back in the ’80s, when someone was willing to pay a thousand yuan for the vase. At that time, a thousand yuan was equivalent to tens of thousands today. My husband and I found it unbelievable and thought we encountered a swindler. We subtly questioned my friend’s partner, hoping to find out what was special about the vase, but the person remained tight-lipped and refused to tell the truth. So, we didn’t sell the Plum Vase in the end.”

”Following that incident, my husband and I put away the vase. Although we weren’t exactly sure what was special about it, we sensed it must be valuable. We never mentioned it to anyone until this time when my husband fell seriously ill and we ran out of spare money at home. That’s when I thought of taking the vase to Antique Street to test our luck.”