Chapter 80

"It's more than just a little useful. I heard the vegetable seller next to me muttering that her two sons have been coming back to their hometown more frequently recently, and their attitudes have changed 180 degrees. They used to not come for several months, but now they come every few days to bring some food and daily necessities. They say that Grandma Chen has finally made it."

When Yang Ye heard this, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, "That's good."

"Yeah," Xiao Xiao walked over and continued, "What do you think people want when they get old? Isn't it just for this time, so that their son can be around and take care of them when they need it? When Xu Jingzhe and I went out to dinner a few days ago, we talked about Grandma Chen. She said that when we have children in the future, we will definitely only have one, preferably a daughter."

"Why do you want a daughter?" Yang Ye asked curiously.

"She's such a sweet girl," Xiao Xiao said. "I dressed her up beautifully when she was little, and now she's grown up and can take care of me. How wonderful!"

"But," Xiao Xiao muttered. Suddenly, she thought of something and came over to lean against the stone table. She looked at Yang Ye sleeping on the rattan chair and asked, "Do you think Grandma Chen feels comfortable with this?"

Yang Ye opened her eyes and put down the palm-leaf fan. She looked up at the lush camphor leaves above her head and thought for a long time before she spoke. "There's no unified standard for the word 'comfortable'. Some people are happy to see their sons often, while others feel that this filial piety is not pure and feel uncomfortable. But there's never a way to have the best of both worlds. No matter how you think about it, there's always regret."

"But I think some people are very happy when they get old. They have their whole family around them and are very lively every day. How wonderful it is."

"There are tens of billions of people and tens of billions of families in the world. There are always some who live happily, but most families are just ordinary," Yang Ye said. She saw the sunlight leaking through the gaps in the leaves, and a bright spot of light fell right into her eyes. She subconsciously squinted her eyes and raised the back of her hand to block it, but she felt it was too dark as soon as she blocked it. So she opened her hands slightly to let the sunlight leak through her fingers. Although it was still dazzling, this was exactly what she wanted.

Maybe it’s because I’ve seen too many regrets that I feel happiness is far away from me.

Xiao Xiao shook her head. "I always feel that this filial piety is too utilitarian. If it weren't for that bowl, her son would still treat her the same way as before. Actually, think about it, Grandma Chen is quite pitiful. She gave birth to two sons. I heard that she had heavy bleeding when giving birth to the younger one, and was rescued in the hospital for several days."

Yang Ye looked at the sunlight leaking through his fingers and did not interrupt.

Xiao Xiao continued to talk about what she had heard from the vegetable seller, "Back then, conditions were poor. Grandma Chen went back to work in the fields three days after giving birth. She didn't take good care of herself during the confinement period, and then she got seriously ill. She almost died. They say that Grandma Chen is still alive today because God took pity on her."

"If God had mercy on her, he would not have let her live until now," Yang Ye murmured softly as he looked at the sunlight.

Xiao Xiao seemed not to hear what she had just said, and continued: "Now, her sons are nice to her all because of this bowl. Do you think she will feel bad?"

"This kind of thing is all about knowing one's own well-being," Yang Ye said softly, his eyes fixed on the swaying camphor tree leaves. "For the elderly, seeing their children come back often is enough, and nothing else matters. When people get old, there are some things they don't need to understand too much. A vague understanding is enough."

Xiao Xiao stared at the pebbles on the ground, her voice filled with resentment. "I don't think it's right. A mother's lifelong efforts shouldn't be measured and treated like this."

"Many things in the world are inherently unfair." Yang Ye sat up cross-legged. She turned to look at Xiao Xiao with gentle eyes. "Maybe you think this superficial warmth is fake and is for profit, but what Grandma Chen wants may be just this superficial warmth. Grandma Chen understands better than we think."

"I understand, but I don't feel wronged. I worked so hard to raise you, and now that you're old, you can only use this superficial effort to comfort yourself."

Yang Ye sighed softly, meeting Xiao Xiao's somewhat troubled and unhappy expression. This was the first time she was in a dilemma, not knowing how to tell Xiao Xiao. The cicadas were noisy above her head. She picked up a palm-leaf fan and waved it slowly, her voice also slowing down. "I have felt wronged, but I am old, and the rest of my life is not many. I know in my heart which is more important, the wronged or that little comfort."

"If you return it to me, I will never be able to swallow this anger."

"You'll understand when you're seventy or eighty. Sometimes, fake warmth is better than real cold." Yang Ye smiled, then changed her position and lay back on the rattan chair. With her chin propped up by her hand, she looked sideways at Xiao Xiao and asked, "Did you see Grandma Chen? Did she tell you what she was going to do with the bowl? Did she sell it?"

"That's not the case," Xiao Xiao crossed his arms, "Why would they sell it now? They must be keeping it as a treasure now. If you think about it, it's 100,000 now, who knows how much it will become after a few years?"

"That's right, antiques will increase in value. The longer they are kept, the more money they will be worth." Yang Ye nodded. She fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan and suddenly paused.

100,000

Folk kilns in the late Qing Dynasty

At that time, she was happy for Grandma Chen and didn't think much about it. But now, the more Yang Ye thought about it, the more she felt that the number was wrong. She suddenly sat up from the rattan chair, and her movements were so fast that even Xiao Xiao was startled.

"What's wrong with you?" Xiao Xiao looked at her strangely.

Yang Ye sat cross-legged without saying a word. The palm-leaf fan she had just picked up to fan herself was now placed at her feet. She frowned, her fingers unconsciously fiddling with the gaps in the rattan chair. Her mind was turning over and over, and she thought again of what Grandma Chen had said to her when she came over a few days ago.

"It's a new appraisal agency in the city. A Ming also said that the appraisal teacher was a good person and told them a lot of things to pay attention to."

"The teacher said it was made from a folk kiln. If it weren't for the good color, it probably wouldn't be worth 100,000 yuan."

Yang Ye's expression became increasingly serious, her brows furrowed, and her gaze gradually darkened. Xiao Xiao noticed the change in her expression and walked over to ask, "What's wrong?"

"That price is not right," Yang Ye muttered to himself as he sat there.

"What's the price?"

Yang Ye raised his head, his eyes slowly focusing, "The appraisal agency that Grandma Chen's son went to, the valuation they gave is completely wrong."

Xiao Xiao wondered, "One hundred thousand yuan is not right?"

Yang Ye said solemnly, "Grandma Chen told me that the appraisal agency gave the result that it was a folk kiln in the late Qing Dynasty, and said that it was worth 100,000 because of its good color."

Xiao Xiao nodded, "This statement sounds very reasonable."

"Reasonable?" Yang Ye stood up and walked quickly into the inner room. "That thing was left by my mother. It was her dowry."

Xiao Xiao also followed in and stood behind the sofa. Yang Ye opened the drawer of the coffee table and took out the pile of things in the drawer.

"Don't you think it's strange?" Yang Ye said as he searched. "Given my mother's background and my grandfather's concern for reputation, he asked my grandmother to buy things for my mother's wedding. How could she use folk kilns? And the flower bowls are a set. In addition to the bowls, there are also porcelain plates, chopstick frames, and jade cups. I just asked Liu Guoxing to take the others away. His appraisal result showed that they are old official kiln products. If they said that the whole set was folk kilns, I could believe it, but now only Grandma Chen's is said to be a folk kiln."

"Moreover," Yang Ye sat down on the edge of the sofa, "the price difference between official kilns and folk kilns can be at least ten times."

After all the items were turned out, she finally found the slightly curled white business card that had been stuffed in under the unopened napkin.

This was something that accidentally fell out of Grandma Chen's pocket when she came over last time. Yang Ye picked it up and put it in the drawer.

Xiao Xiao sat next to her, her tone a little uncertain, "But they all have special appraisal reports. A formal report like this shouldn't have any problems, right?"

"The report may be false, but there must be something wrong with the price," Yang Ye affirmed.

She looked at the business card in her hand. It had a garish design, with the words "Jinshizhai" printed in the center, and below that were the appraiser's name, address, and contact number. Yang Ye looked at the name of the institution and the appraiser, and the more she looked at it, the more unfamiliar it seemed to her. After a long moment of reflection, she realized that no one she knew had ever mentioned this institution, nor had she ever heard of the appraiser named Wu Yu.

Yang Ye took out her cell phone, took a photo of the business card, transferred it to WeChat, found the person she had asked to do the appraisal for Grandma Chen, and sent the photo to him.

"Teacher Shao, you know a lot of people. Can you help me find out where this appraisal agency is from? Is it reliable? And what about this appraisal teacher? How good is he?"

As soon as the WeChat message was sent, I heard Zhou Yiheng's voice in the office area.

"Boss, a guest is coming."

Yang Ye temporarily put the business card on the coffee table and went out with Xiao Xiao.

"Grandpa Zhang, why are you here?" It was another familiar face. Xiao Xiao was a little surprised to see the white-haired old man standing next to Zhou Yiheng.

Grandpa was holding a long object wrapped in cloth carefully in his hand.

"I'm here to see Boss Yang," Grandpa Zhang said. His deeply wrinkled face showed the awkwardness of arriving in an unfamiliar environment, but it couldn't hide the anticipation in his eyes. He looked at Xiao Xiao nervously.

"It's me. Is there anything I can help you with?" Yang Ye asked with a smile.

"Boss Yang" Grandpa Zhang seemed relieved when he saw Yang Ye, but then he became even more nervous. He lowered his head, placed the things he was holding on the desk next to him, and untied the knots on the cloth bag, unwrapping it layer by layer.

It was a blue and white porcelain vase about 40 centimeters high, with a classic landscape painting of fishermen and woodcutters painted on the body. The glaze was smooth and it looked quite impressive at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the blue and white color was too bright and even, especially at the mouth of the vase. The blue pattern floated on the surface, lacking the layers that traditional blue pigments should have.

Although she had already made a judgment in her mind, Yang Ye still took the porcelain vase. She put on gloves and felt that the weight of the vase was wrong as soon as she picked it up. It was too light and lacked the pressure that old porcelain should have. She turned it around and saw the floral paintings on the vase. There were all kinds of painting techniques, and it was so messy that she could hardly see the main point.

Looking down, it was deliberately made to look old, but one could still see the neat lines polished by modern machinery. Yang Ye lowered his head and smiled, then gently placed the porcelain vase on the desk.