Chapter 71

After a few people left, the store became quiet again.

Zhou Yiheng walked over to the tea table, placed the bowl on a shelf, and fished out his camera from a drawer. He meticulously photographed it from head to toe, capturing even the intricate patterns on the surface and the nuances of the glaze. Afterward, he imported the photos into his computer, printed out the necessary documentation along with the photos, and placed them in a folder to bring to the agency tomorrow.

After cleaning up, Zhou Yiheng took the porcelain bowl. He was about to put it into the wooden box. When he tilted the bowl, the bottom of the bowl happened to face the lamp on the tea table. His gaze suddenly stopped. There was a line of small words on the bottom of the bowl. He subconsciously brought the bowl in front of himself. After seeing the contents clearly, Zhou Yiheng's gaze froze and his expression changed.

Xiao Xiao held the collected clothes and asked, "Teacher Shao's appraisal results are ready in three days, why did you tell them it would take seven days?"

Yang Ye was in the kitchen, rinsing the teacup they had just drunk from under the tap. The water flowed along the wall of the cup, washing away the tea stains at the bottom of the bowl. She didn't even turn her head and said, "I want to see..."

"What are you looking at?"

"See if they are sincere," Zhou Yiheng said.

Yang Ye came out of the kitchen, shaking his hands. He walked over to the dining table, snatched up two napkins, and wiped his hands dry. Zhou Yi held the wooden box horizontally, his face expressionless, but rather silent.

Yang Ye walked past him, saw his appearance and smiled, "Your eyesight is quite sharp, you can see this."

Zhou Yiheng placed the wooden box on his desk

"What did you see?" Xiao Xiao draped her clothes on the sofa and came over curiously. "Is there something wrong with this bowl?"

Yang Ye raised his eyebrows, raised his chin towards the wooden box, and motioned her to go and see for herself, "You'll know when you see it for yourself."

Xiao Xiao picked up the wooden box curiously. Just as she was about to open it, she heard Yang Ye saying, "When I was a child, there was a cousin in my family. His father died very early. It was his mother who raised him little by little. With the help of his uncle's family, he was able to take on the title that his father had previously held."

"After he got married, he never treated his mother harshly in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation. He even found the best items in the city for her. But even so, his mother was still found drowned in a pond on the front street one winter month after his wedding."

"The officials said that his mother got up early to wash clothes by the river, her feet got wet, and she slipped on a stone, so she fell into the river." Yang Ye walked to the sofa in the living room. "But at that time, with my cousin's status and position, there were so many servants in the house. There were four or five maids serving his mother alone. How could he let an old lady go to the river to wash clothes by herself? Originally, the government wanted to investigate this matter, but my cousin said that my mother had passed away, and he just wanted her to have a good journey and didn't want anyone to disturb her peace on the road ahead. He also ordered the government not to investigate again. On the day of the funeral, my father sent my brothers to my cousin's house to see what was going on and see if they needed help. When my eldest brother came back, he said that my cousin fainted three times from crying that day, and he was barely able to get up with the help of acupuncture from the doctor. But my eldest brother also said that when he went to burn incense for the old lady, he saw that the old lady's clothes were loose, and she was skinny and had no real flesh on her body. My father found it strange but didn't say anything."

"It hadn't been half a year since the old lady died when my cousin was kicked out of the building because he ran out of money. My father sent someone to find out what happened. It turned out that my cousin had squandered all the family money, even the old lady's dowry. His previous so-called care and kindness to the old lady were just a show for her and others to see."

"Do you think Grandma Chen's two sons are the same as your cousin?" Xiao Xiao asked, "But that's not the case. I heard from the villagers that one of Grandma Chen's sons runs his own company, and the other is a contractor on a construction site. They don't look like they need money at all."

"I'm not short of money, but I don't feel like I have too much money either," said Zhou Yiheng.

Xiao Xiao held the porcelain bowl, looking back and forth, turning it over and over again. She looked at the rim, the sides, and even the bottom of the bowl, but still couldn't see what was wrong. She couldn't help but ask, "This porcelain bowl looks quite regular, what's wrong with it?"

"Look at the line of words at the bottom of the bowl," Zhou Yiheng reminded.

Xiao Xiao turned over, and Yang Ye continued, "Grandma Chen must have known about it, so she reacted so strongly when she heard her son said he wanted to sell it, but she couldn't bear to give up the kindness her son had shown her."

"Since she knew it was fake, why did she still take it out?" Zhou Yiheng asked.

"You have to ask them about this," said Yang Ye.

On the day the results came out, several people came to the grocery store early to wait.

Granny Chen was squeezed in among them, her face a bit grim, her gaze unfocused on the oranges on the coffee table. She pursed her lips, her frail body trembling, her hand clutching the hem of her clothes, a hand she hadn't let go from the moment she entered until she sat down.

Xiao Xiao invited them to the previous tea table.

Grandma Chen was supported by Chen Cheng, her body was stretched straight. Chen Ming dragged a chair from the side and sat down next to her.

Xiao Xiao took a look, picked up the teapot on the table, opened the lid, poured cold water into the pot, put it on the tea table next to the teapot, and waited for it to boil.

While waiting for the water to boil, she got up and went upstairs. In Yang Ye's study, she found a jar of Longjing tea that Li Cheng had sent some time ago. He said it was the first crop of Longjing tea picked this year.

When I went downstairs, the water had just boiled.

She took the teapot and found a few sets of porcelain teacups from the bottom drawer. As she poured hot water into the cups, Chen Ming, who was standing by, became anxious. He leaned forward and bumped into the tea table. "Boss Xiao, how about our stuff? Is it real?"

Xiao Xiao shook the teacup slowly and unhurriedly. Hearing this, she raised her head and smiled, saying, "The boss went to get the report and hasn't come back yet."

As she spoke, she placed the heated teacups in front of the people, then picked up the tea can and skimmed some tea leaves into the small porcelain pot.

"Why haven't you come back yet?" Chen Cheng frowned.

Xiao Xiao didn't stop moving her hands. She slowly poured hot water into the porcelain pot. The hot steam wrapped around the fragrance of tea spread out. She distributed the brewed tea into the teacups in front of several people and said with a smile: "The appraisal report needs to be carefully checked. The boss also needs to sort out everything before coming back. You guys have a cup of tea and wait for a while."

Chen Ming had no mood to drink tea. His legs were shaking and he rubbed his knees again and again. "How long do you think it will take for them to come back?"

"It should be ready soon," Xiao Xiao said. She pushed the brewed tea in front of Grandma Chen and said, "Try it. This is the new tea this year. It tastes good."

"Hey," Granny Chen replied, nodded, and stiffly picked up the teacup on the table. The outer wall of the teacup, freshly washed with hot water, was still warm, and the tea inside was also scalding hot, but she seemed to be unaware of it, and her rough hands just grasped it.

"The boss said that last year's things are not very fresh, so we have to drink new tea in the new year." Xiao Xiao looked at Grandma Chen and said, but Grandma Chen didn't seem to react.

She saw that Granny Chen was still staring at the teacup in a daze, her eyes a little lost. Thinking of Yang Ye's meaning, she picked up her own cup of tea and took a sip, then continued, "Of course, then again, some things are better when they are old, but no matter how good something is, you have to figure out how to preserve it first."

Grandma Chen finally reacted. She moved her fingers on the table, but didn't look up.

Xiao Xiao looked at it and added some more to her teacup. "At the beginning of spring, the boss asked me to order this year's Longjing tea, but I was a step too late. The first batch of Longjing in the store had been ordered in advance, and the next batch would have to wait for another half a month. But as luck would have it, one of the boss's former friends came to the store to reminisce about the past. I had no choice but to take out last year's old tea and brew it as this year's new tea. Although the boss didn't say anything, when the new tea arrived, she brewed both the new and old tea for me and asked me what the difference was between the two."

Xiao Xiao chuckled, picked up the tea stick at hand, and gently stirred the teapot a few times to spread the tea leaves evenly. "Actually, you see, there's not much difference between the old tea and the new tea in terms of color and appearance, but the taste is indeed different. The new tea is refreshing and a bit fresh, while the old tea has a superficial taste, and if it's not brewed for the right time, it can easily have a stale taste."

She paused, and when she saw Grandma Chen raise her cloudy eyes, Xiao Xiao's voice became softer, "Old tea is old tea. No matter how you try, it can't become new tea. Some people like to play tricks and sell old tea as new tea. At first glance, they are fooling people, but as long as the buyer drinks it, the lie will be immediately exposed. Instead of trying every possible way to hide the fact that it is not new tea, it is better to say it clearly that it is old tea. People who really want it will not care whether it is old or new."

Just as Xiao Xiao finished speaking, there was the sound of the door opening.

Yang Ye and Zhou Yiheng entered, carrying their belongings. Everyone at the tea table looked up instantly. Granny Chen huddled in her chair, silent. Yang Ye took off her coat and hung it on the doorpost. Zhou Yiheng put down her belongings. As she entered, she glanced at Xiao Xiao, who blinked. Yang Ye seemed to understand, but without further comment, he simply pulled the newly received test report from his canvas bag.

The two walked to the tea table together.

"Boss Yang, you're finally back." Chen Cheng saw him come back and immediately stood up and took a half step forward. His tone was full of urgency. "How are our things? Are they real?"

Chen Ming next to him also leaned forward.

Yang Ye glanced at the two people in front of him, then looked at Grandma Chen who was silent with her head down. She slowly spoke, "After a professional institution's age test and comparison, it was confirmed that this porcelain bowl was a replica from the Republic of China period and not the original. This is the test report, you can take a look."

"What?!" Chen Ming stood up and slammed his hand on the table, shaking even the teacup beside him. The rippling tea reflected Chen Ming's expression of disbelief, "Impossible, how is this possible?"

Yang Ye pushed the appraisal report on the table towards them and placed the wooden box they brought on the tea table. "Here is the detailed information issued by the appraisal agency. It contains the appraisal of the body and glaze composition, as well as relevant data comparisons. According to our previous agreement, if the appraisal result is false, you will need to pay a separate appraisal fee of 5,000 yuan. Please scan the code to pay."