The two were talking in private when Du Ruo's phone rang. It was Ji Bailin who called.
He said, "Sister, I'm getting engaged next month, would you like to come and sit with me?"
"Let's wait and see. If I have time, I will definitely go there."
She had a good impression of this younger brother, but they were not very familiar with each other and had only known each other for a few days.
Du Ruo glanced at Fan Jun who was sitting next to her. She was not familiar with this adopted brother yet.
Ji Bailin paused and said, "I mainly want to ask you for a favor. My family lacks female elders. You know what our mother is like. I'm afraid she can't handle it.
You may not understand the situation very well, but our mom is quite delicate and always has problems. I want you to help me look after her. Normally I can take care of her by myself, but now that I’m engaged, I’m really worried that I won’t be able to take care of her.”
Du Ruo thought about her biological mother's appearance in her mind and felt sympathy for her adopted brother for a second, but she still said, "I will try my best to go."
Ji Bailin was very happy. He finally found a reliable person. "Sister, you must come, right?"
Du Ruo said vaguely: "Try your best, try your best."
Ji Bailin seemed to suddenly remember something, and he whispered, "I met Mr. Yuan at the banquet yesterday. He mentioned you to me in a very familiar tone. Sister, you and him..."
"We're friends, just ordinary friends."
Ji Bailin didn't know whether to believe it or not. He said "Oh" and hung up the phone.
When Fan Jun heard the person on the other end of the line calling him "sister" all the time, he asked, "Who is this? She's quite sweet-talking. She calls me "sister" all the time, which sounds very affectionate."
There's nothing shameful about this. Du Ruo said, "My younger brother. We have the same mother."
Fan Jun's eyes widened. "Your mother gave birth to it? Isn't your mother dead? Can a dead person give birth to a child?"
Du Ruo looked at him speechlessly: "So she must not be dead."
This time Fan Jun was really surprised. He had heard people tell him since he was a child that his aunt-in-law was dead, so how could she still be alive?
The fire of gossip was burning in Fan Jun's heart. He looked at Du Ruo eagerly with a strong desire for knowledge.
Du Ruo spread his hands: "Don't ask me. I don't know either."
Seeing Fan Jun's expression that said "just deceive me", Du Ruo said she felt very wronged. She only met her biological mother once and watched her biological mother show their affection, and she really didn't have time to ask anything.
As the two were talking, Zhou's mother came over with a few people carrying a long tray. Du Ruo took a closer look and saw that there were quite a lot of things, and they were made quite well.
Du Ruo picked up each piece and looked at it carefully. Although she couldn't make a complete conclusion, most of them were imitations from the Republic of China period. She put them down without interest.
Fan Jun, however, picked up each item and looked at them with great interest. A hint of disappointment flashed in Zhou's mother's eyes. Fan Jun didn't have much money, and she mainly wanted to cheat Du Ruo today, but she didn't have any interest in Du Ruo now.
Since I can't cheat you, selling something will do. Mother Zhou smiled and said, "I have some fine products in my warehouse. Ruoruo, do you want to take a look?"
Since they were already here, Du Ruo nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take whatever I like."
Mother Zhou happily took her people back into the warehouse.
Fan Jun picked up the same thing here and there. Suddenly, Du Ruo became interested. It was a scroll. Judging from the mounting technique, anyone who knew about it would know it was from the Republic of China period. However...
Du Ruo glanced at Fan Jun. When he took the painting just now, the horizontal line above his head fluctuated a bit.
Du Ruo rolled up the scroll and threw it on the table, pretending to be completely uninterested.
She directed Fan Jun with a smile, picking up each one and looking at it. Sure enough, another inkstone showed movement, which was interesting.
Du Ruo also didn't reach out, she pretended to have no interest.
This time, it was Zhou's mother who brought over a tray with only four items on it.
A Qing Dynasty enameled box in the shape of flowers, birds and crabapples. The box is extremely exquisite, and the bird's feathers are clearly visible.
A sword guard, also known as a sword hilt, is the space between the blade and the hilt. Originally intended to protect the hand and wrist and control the sheathing of the sword, it later became a symbol of social status and nobility. This jade sword guard is exquisitely carved, light and elegant, and crystal clear, truly a fine piece.
The other two items are an inkstone and a paperweight.
Fan Jun's eyes widened, and he kept saying, "My goodness, this is a really good thing, isn't it? Ruoruo?"
This time he finally had his eyes open, this is indeed a good thing.
Zhou's mother said proudly, "You have good taste, this is our treasure."
This is a bit far-fetched. If the Zhou family regards this kind of thing as the treasure of their store, they should not open a shop in Antique Street.
Seeing Du Ruo smiling but not saying anything, Zhou's mother asked, "Ruoruo, what do you think?"
Du Ruo didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I'm quite interested in that jade sword guard."
Mother Zhou picked up the teacup with a hint of smile on her lips: "This is a good thing, the price is 50,000, no bargaining."
Du Ruo laughed. "Are you kidding me? If you want a complete set of sword head, sword guard, sword sheath, and sword scepter, let alone 500,000, someone would want it even if you asked for 500,000. But this thing is not as simple as one plus one equals two. You only have a single sword guard. I'll give you 10,000. What do you think?"
Zhou's mother smiled and said, "This price is too low, girl, you can't take it away."
Du Ruo smiled and said, "Then I don't want the sword guard. I want these two inkstones."
As she spoke, she pointed at the inkstone on the tray and then at the one on the desk.
Zhou's mother was a little stunned by her. Anyone could see at a glance that the performance of the two inkstones was very different. What was she saying?
Du Ruo smiled and said, "You also know that I invested in a construction company with others. These days, people are coming and going, and my office is empty, which doesn't look good.
I'm not dealing in antiques, so I don't know if it's real or fake. I heard about that sword guard from someone a few days ago, and I've been looking into it these past few days. I want to get something inexpensive, but not too embarrassing, and put it in the office to scare people."
Zhou's mother understood that it didn't matter whether this thing was real or fake, as long as it looked real.
This is a difficult situation. It's too expensive, and the girl can't accept it. She thought for a while: "The eyes of merchants are very sharp. You can't let go of this real thing. How about this, I'll sell you the sword guard for 30,000 yuan, and the inkstone for 20,000 yuan, for a total of 50,000 yuan. You can pick any of the things on the table, three or five will do."
Du Ruo hesitated a bit: "That's too expensive. How about this? Your enamel is from the Qing Dynasty, and the paperweight doesn't look worth much. I'll give you 80,000, and you give me these four things and the things on the small table."
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