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 a little kid was lying on the mat, staring at the vase carefully.
The child was still tracing on 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 some of the brain.
After a while, Xiao Feng looked up at Xia Mian, "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. Maybe this is the first person who has shown interest in this bottle so far.
The man didn't say anything. He picked up the bottle and exposed the bottom of the bottle for Xiao Feng to take a closer look. He thought it was a last-ditch effort.
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 when he saw such a stranger, and quickly threw himself into Xia Mian's arms.
Everyone was just teasing him because he was cute, so they just laughed it off.
The owner of the porcelain antique shop said, "Little girl, don't be fooled. This bottle is really worth a lot of money. He should ask an expert to appraise it, or take it to an auction house. It's better than selling it here with false information."
"I've been there!" the man explained hastily, "but it will take a week for the experts to appraise it, and the auction house will sell it at least a month later. 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 held Xia Mian's neck tightly. He didn't understand the adults' discussion 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.
The man saw Xia Mian's expression, as if he had grasped the last straw, and gritted his teeth and said, "Give me ten thousand, ten thousand is enough, no less."
"It's halved all at once." One shop owner laughed, "You still say you're not a liar, but who would be willing to sell a real antique like that?"
"That's right, little girl, don't be fooled. He thinks you are easy to cheat. 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, then consider this bottle as 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 from you. I can even give you a little money. I promise I won't let you suffer any loss."
"That's funny. We don't even know if your bottle is real, so why would they give you so much money in exchange for it?" a boss said. "Even if the information you provided is real, if you really can't pay back the money, do you still want the girl to chase you every day to collect the debt?"
Anyway, no matter what he said or did, he sounded like a liar.
The man closed his eyes tightly, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but finally lowered his head dejectedly, bent over without saying a word, carefully packed the bottles, 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 frowning unconsciously, with a sad expression that looked like 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 stopped moving, with 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 a fool. Since we can't confirm whether this bottle is real, I'll confirm other things you said first." Xia Mian said, "What's your uncle's illness? Which hospital is he in?"
The man's dull eyes finally lit up again, and he couldn't wait to say, "Right, right at Yanda Hospital. I can take you there right away. If you don't believe me, you don't have to let me take the money, you can just 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, the person who is sick is real, and the bottle is more likely to be fake. People who are desperate have no bottom line, so you better be careful."
Xia Mian knew that the boss had good intentions, so he smiled and said, "Thank you for the reminder, boss. I'll 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 illness of his family 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, and he is a farmer in the suburbs of Yan City. The one who is sick is his uncle, or to be more precise, his adoptive father.
His father died when he was seven years old, his mother remarried, and his grandmother sold him when he secretly ran away. He fainted from hunger on the roadside and was rescued by a ragpicker named Fan Huairen, who took him home and adopted him. It has been almost two years since then.
A year ago, Fan Huairen had been bedridden due to lung problems caused by overwork.
I originally thought that he would get better with recuperation, but it suddenly worsened and turned 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, "The old man gave me this bottle because he felt that 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. Anyone who stole the life-saving money should be caught and beaten to death.
"I'm going to 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, "You think this bottle is fake and don't want to buy it, I, I will work for your family."
"I'm a junior high school student and I have the strength. Just give me some food until I pay you back and then you can 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 nestling in her arms obediently 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.
Of course, she is too.
Therefore, 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 reddened and he spoke incoherently, "Thank you, thank you, I, what I said is true, my uncle really did the 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 about sixty or seven years old, 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 uncomfortable?"
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 coughed hard. The family member didn't care about scolding Yan Peizhang anymore and hurried to calm the old man down, "Dad, where do you feel uncomfortable? Do you want some water?"
Yan Peizhang's expression changed. "Uncle, didn't I bring you food? Why didn't you eat it well?"
Fan Huairen said quickly, "I just can't eat much."
"Even if you can't eat, you have to eat." Yan Peizhang said anxiously, "You will have surgery the day after tomorrow, and the doctor said that your body must be in the best condition."
Fan Huairen hesitated to speak, Yan Peizhang seemed to know what he wanted to say, "Don't worry about the money, I have a way, you just live well." At this point, he choked up, "Can you stay with me, you're the only one 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, "Da Mei, you really have to bring up something irrelevant."
"Dad, are you okay? I was so scared." Da Mei 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, "You were not here that day. Xiao Fan didn't like the cost and didn't agree to Lao Fan having the surgery, so he had a big fight 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 a knife into his heart when you mention Xiao Fan like this!"
"Brother Fan? Fan Peiyu?" Da Mei said 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 the surgery for him, but he took it away?!"
"Oh my god," Damei didn't know how to describe it. "This is too heartless, isn't it? The biological son is worse than the adopted son?"
It turned out that the thief was actually Fan Huairen's biological son? No wonder Yan Peizhang looked so hateful just now. Betrayal from relatives is even more despairing.
Fan Huairen might have known this, and whether 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 surgery.
Xia Mian now sincerely feels that Yan Peizhang's life is not easy.