A few minutes later, three adults and one child were squatting on the roadside. An antique vase was placed on a thick cotton mat in the middle. The three adults looked at each other, and only one little kid was lying on the mat, staring at the vase carefully.
The child was still tracing the vase with his little finger. Xia Mian remembered that this was how he had recorded the pictures in the auction house's catalog.
She thought it was a child's play, but it turns out that he really remembered it?
Xia Mian looked at the little girl with envy, wishing she could have a little of the brain.
After a while, Xiao Feng looked up at Xia Mian and said, "Aunt, the bottom of the bottle."
Xia Mian looked at the man awkwardly and said, "Please let him see the bottom of the bottle."
Although this is a normal operation, it looks weird no matter how you look at it. Perhaps this is the first person to show interest in this bottle so far.
The man didn't say anything. He picked up the bottle and exposed the bottom to let Xiao Feng take a closer look for a while. He thought it was a last resort.
Probably because they found it interesting, several owners of nearby antique shops came over to watch the fun.
"Little expert, have you figured it out? Is it true?"
Xiao Feng was startled to see so many strangers and quickly threw herself into Xia Mian's arms.
Everyone was just teasing him because he was cute, so they just laughed it off when they saw him.
The owner of the antique porcelain shop said, "Little girl, don't be fooled. If this bottle is real, it's worth a lot of money. He should take it to an expert for appraisal or to an auction house. It's definitely better than selling it here with false claims."
"I've been there!" the man explained hastily. "But the expert appraisal will take a week, and the auction house will sell it in a month at the earliest. I can't wait."
He said anxiously, "I have to get the money today. My uncle is going to have surgery the day after tomorrow, and the surgery fee must be paid today."
aestivation:……
No wonder no one believed him, this really sounded like a scammer's trick.
But Xia Mian noticed that he was talking about uncle. If he was really a liar, any identity such as father, son, or wife would be more convincing than uncle, but why did he insist on saying uncle?
Xiao Feng subconsciously tightened his arms around Xia Mian's neck. He didn't understand the adults' chatter and only whispered to Xia Mian, "Antique."
It seemed that he had decided on this bottle. Xia Mian hesitated for a moment. It was rare for a child to want something.
Seeing Xia Mian's expression, the man seemed to have grasped the last straw and gritted his teeth, "Give me ten thousand. Ten thousand is enough. No less."
"It's halved right away," one shop owner laughed. "You're not a liar, but who would sell a genuine antique like that?"
"That's right, little girl, don't be fooled. He thinks you're easy to fool. If you have that ten thousand, come to our store and buy a real one. It's not much safer than his one."
The man obviously didn't expect that his last struggle at the end of his rope would make things worse.
He scratched his head fiercely a few times like a trapped animal, looked up at Xia Mian and said, "Little girl, this is really the real thing."
"If you don't believe me, consider this bottle my pledge to you. I'll give you my address and all my information. When I have money, I'll come back to redeem the bottle. I can even pay you a little more, but I promise you won't suffer any loss."
"That's ridiculous. We don't even know if your bottle is real, so why would they give you so much money?" one shop owner said. "Even if the information you provided is true, if you really can't pay back the money, do you still want this girl to chase you every day to collect the debt?"
Anyway, no matter what he said or did, he seemed like a liar.
The man closed his eyes tightly, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but finally he just lowered his head dejectedly, bent down without saying a word, carefully packed the bottle, and prepared to leave.
Xia Mian seemed to be able to see the taut string in his body, and just one more straw would be enough to crush him.
The atmosphere was a little silent. Xia Mian felt his hand tighten, and saw Xiao Feng's brows unconsciously frowning, with an expression that looked as sad as if he was about to cry.
Xia Mian touched his head, looked up at the man who was about to leave and said, "Sir!"
The man paused, a strange expression on his face, as if he wanted to hold out hope, but was afraid of facing despair again. He said stiffly, "What's the matter?"
"I don't want to be taken advantage of. Since we can't confirm the authenticity of this bottle yet, I need to confirm other things you said first." Xia Mian said, "What's wrong with your uncle? Which hospital is he in?"
The man's dim eyes finally lit up again, and he couldn't wait to say, "It's at Yanda Hospital. I can take you there right away. If you don't trust me, you don't have to let me pay you. You can give it directly to the hospital!"
"I'm really not a liar!"
Xia Mian and Ning Shaoyun looked at each other. What a coincidence.
The shop owner reminded her, "Little girl, if the person who is going to get sick is real, then the bottle is even more likely to be fake. People who are desperate have no bottom line, so you'd better be careful."
Xia Mian knew that the boss had good intentions, so he smiled and said, "Thank you for the reminder, boss. I will be careful. I live near Yanda Hospital, so it's a good opportunity for my family to come and see me."
The boss shook his head and sighed, "The little girl is kind-hearted."
When they looked up at the man, they opened their mouths but didn't say anything unpleasant in the end. They obviously realized that the news that his family was sick might be true.
He just sighed and said, "Everyone has difficulties, just don't go against your conscience."
The man said nothing. Now he only cared about whether the girl in front of him could buy his bottle. He didn't care about anything else.
Several people took a taxi and went straight to Yanda Hospital.
The man in the car introduced himself.
His name is Yan Peizhang, a farmer in the suburbs of Yan City. The one who was sick was his uncle, or to be more precise, his adoptive father.
When he was seven years old, his father died and his mother remarried. When his grandmother wanted to sell him, he secretly ran away and fainted from hunger on the roadside. He was rescued by a ragpicker named Fan Huairen and taken home for adoption. It has been almost twenty years since then.
A year ago, Fan Huairen developed lung problems due to overwork and was bedridden.
I originally thought that he would get better with rest, but it suddenly worsened into a tumor a month ago. I need to arrange surgery as soon as possible while Fan Huairen is in good health.
"Since the decision to have the surgery was made a month ago," Ning Shaoyun said softly, "the cost of the surgery should have been prepared early." The bottles could have been sold a month ago.
Yan Peizhang understood her implication and explained, "This bottle was given to me by the old man because he felt he was dying."
"The money for the surgery had actually been prepared." Yan Peizhang's eyes were red when he said this, and he wanted to drink human blood and eat human flesh, "but it was stolen..."
Xia Mian frowned. People who steal life-saving money should be arrested and beaten to death.
"You have surgery the day after tomorrow, and today is the final deadline for the surgery fee." Yan Peizhang said this with a pleading look in her eyes, "If you think this bottle is fake and don't want to buy it, I will work for your family."
"I'm a junior high school student and I have the strength. Just give me food until I pay you back and then let me go."
Xia Mian almost immediately thought of Xia Wenyue's workshop. If what this person said was true, he might really be a suitable candidate.
Of course it has nothing to do with this transaction, I just think this person has good character.
She touched Xiao Feng, who was nestled in her arms, and said, "Don't worry, as long as what you said is true, I will buy your bottle."
When Xiao Feng heard this, she suddenly raised her head with bright eyes.
Xia Mian smiled gently. The little guy remembered things so clearly and had such rich emotions. She didn't want him to grow up and become sensible, and every time he thought of this incident, it would become a regret that he could not let go.
Of course, she is too.
So, for the sake of both of their future peace of mind, she had to go through this journey no matter what.
Yan Peizhang became excited, his eyes red as he spoke incoherently, "Thank you, thank you. I, everything I said is true. My uncle really needs surgery, and the bottle is real. My uncle said it was a family heirloom."
Xia Mian was a little amused and helpless. She really wanted to advise him to say less. The more he talked, the more he sounded like a liar.
When they arrived at the hospital, Ning Shaoyun went straight to Ning Shaobai to inquire about the situation, while Xia Mian followed Yan Peizhang straight to Fan Huairen's ward.
In order to prevent the old man from becoming suspicious, Xia Mian and Xiao Feng did not go in, but stood at the door and looked inside.
The old man lying on the middle bed had a head full of white hair and was almost skinny. He looked to be in his sixties or seventies, and looked more like a grandfather than an uncle.
The old man was awake, and when he saw Yan Peizhang, he smiled, "Xiaozhang, you're back?"
Coupled with that sallow face, it makes people feel sad for no reason.
Yan Peizhang also tried to make his expression less sad, "Uncle, how do you feel today? Are you feeling bad?"
Fan Huairen naturally said everything was fine.
However, the family of the patient in the next bed betrayed him, "What's good about that? How can you be good after not eating or drinking for a day? Xiao Yan, what have you been doing all day? Brother Fan is not here, and you didn't come either. Your uncle couldn't even go to the toilet..."
"Cough, cough, cough!" The patient on the bed started coughing violently. The family member no longer cared about scolding Yan Peizhang and hurried to help the old man calm down. "Dad, what's wrong with you? Do you want some water?"
Yan Peizhang's expression changed. "Uncle, didn't I bring you food? Why didn't you eat it properly?"
Fan Huairen quickly said, "I just can't eat anymore."
"Even if you can't eat, you have to eat." Yan Peizhang said anxiously, "You have to have surgery the day after tomorrow, and the doctor said your body must be in the best condition."
Fan Huairen hesitated to speak, but Yan Peizhang seemed to know what he wanted to say. "Don't worry about the money. I have a solution. Just live well." At this point, his voice choked up. "Can you stay alive and accompany me? You are all I have left."
Tears welled up in Fan Huairen's eyes. He finally sighed and obediently let him be helped to the toilet.
As soon as they left, the old man who was coughing and gasping for breath stopped immediately and angrily scolded his daughter, "Damei, you really have to bring up something irrelevant."
"Dad, are you okay? I was so scared." Damei felt wronged. "What did I say wrong? Uncle Fan was so sick, wasn't it Brother Fan and Xiao Yan who took turns to take care of him..."
The old man sighed deeply and said, "When you were not here that day, Xiao Fan objected to the expense and refused to allow Lao Fan to have the surgery, leading to a huge argument with Xiao Yan."
"A few days ago, I heard that Xiao Yan sold his house and scraped together the money for the surgery. But when he came to pay the money the day before yesterday, Xiao Fan took it all away."
"You're stabbing me in the heart by mentioning Xiao Fan now!"
"Brother Fan? Fan Peiyu?" Damei asked in disbelief. "Fan Peiyu is Uncle Fan's biological son, right? Not only did he not support the surgery, but Xiao Yan raised the money for it for him, and he took it all away?!"
"Oh my god," Damei didn't know how to describe it. "This, this is too conscienceless, right? My biological son is even worse than my adopted son."
So the thief was actually Fan Huairen's biological son? No wonder Yan Peizhang had acted so hateful just now. Betrayal from one's family is what makes one even more despairing.
Fan Huairen may have known this, and whether it was with the intention of arranging his funeral or giving Yan Peizhang hope, he gave him the antique bottle.
As a result, Yan Peizhang immediately used the money to raise funds for the surgery.
Xia Mian now truly feels that Yan Peizhang's life is not easy.
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