“Let me see.” Seeing that the old woman was about to leave, Yuan Ni hurriedly stopped her and took the large porcelain bowl from her hands.
The moment her right hand touched the bowl, a sensation like burning charcoal struck her, so hot that Yuan Ni nearly let go. What was going on?
She steadied herself and switched to holding the bowl with her left hand—the burning pain disappeared.
Yuan Ni understood immediately: this crude, rustic porcelain bowl was indeed an antique.
However, the bowl was covered in grime, making it impossible to see its original appearance, and difficult to date at a glance.
“Three eggs at most—no more than that.” With the old woman present, Yuan Ni couldn’t examine the bottom of the bowl.
That was just how the antique market worked—the more you showed interest, the more the seller would hold out.
If the old woman discovered that the crude porcelain bowl was truly an antique, she would certainly demand an exorbitant price.
Yuan Ni’s Mother furrowed her brow. She didn’t want to make the trade. “What use is this broken bowl? And you’d trade three eggs for it? Yuan Ni…”
She wanted her daughter to think carefully and not make such a losing deal.
The old woman grew anxious. “I’ll throw in another mao—I’ll take the enamel basin, alright?”
Yuan Ni kept a straight face, looking somewhat hesitant.
Seeing that her daughter was genuinely tempted, Yuan Ni’s Mother grew anxious again. “What’s there to trade?”
The moment she finished speaking, the old woman had already swiftly dropped nine eggs and a mao, then grabbed the enamel basin and ran off.
“You old woman, how dare you snatch things like that? Get back here!” Yuan Ni’s Mother was about to chase after her, but Yuan Ni held her back.
“Don’t chase her. We’re not at a loss—this big bowl is really something good.”
“How do you know? Would someone just give away something good for free?”
Yuan Ni’s Mother and the old woman were actually cut from the same cloth—the typical sort who couldn’t recognize good things even when they were right in front of them.
Yuan Ni didn’t want to explain further, because her mother was short-sighted. If she learned the true value of the porcelain bowl, she’d surely hide it away somewhere, and might even secretly give it to the eldest uncle as a family heirloom.
“The egg-trading idea was mine, so some things you just have to listen to me about.” Yuan Ni, like her mother, simply resorted to being unreasonable.
Yuan Ni’s Mother sat down and stewed in silence, refusing to even eat her rations. Her daughter could earn money now and had grown too independent—she wouldn’t even listen to her own mother anymore.
Still, she couldn’t entirely blame her daughter. She really was useless.
By the afternoon, fewer and fewer people came to trade eggs. Yuan Ni took a look, saw that they’d collected another half-basket of eggs, and told her mother it was time to head home.
“Yuan Ni, let me ask you something—was that broken bowl really something good?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just consider the bowl as given to me.”
“Then when we get back to the village, are we still collecting eggs?”
“No. This business brings in money fast, so we need to get a head start. We can’t let the villagers figure out our methods.”
Yuan Ni’s Mother nodded repeatedly. “You’re right. Let me grab some hay to cover the baskets.”
Yuan Ni’s Mother wasn’t being selfish—she simply needed money too badly. If someone else learned this money-making method, what would she use to build her house?
Back at home, her uncle and aunt hadn’t returned from work yet, and only a few younger cousins were playing in the yard.
Grandmother came out of the kitchen. “How was the harvest today?”
Yuan Ni’s Mother beamed. “Great. Let me carry the eggs inside first, and then I’ll tell you all about it.”
Two and a half baskets of eggs couldn’t just be left sitting in the yard.
Mother carried the eggs inside, washed her hands, and hurried over to tell Grandmother all about the day’s gains.
Yuan Ni got some water and carefully scrubbed the large porcelain bowl, washing away all the grime. The bowl revealed its true appearance—a pleasing sky-green color. Seeing this color, Yuan Ni’s heart began to pound violently. This was celadon.
The most famous ceramics of the Tang and Song dynasties were the white and celadon wares.
Whether from the Tang or Song dynasty, celadon held extremely high value.
To trade for such a rare treasure on her very first day of bartering eggs was simply a blessing from heaven.
But was it Tang porcelain or Song porcelain?
Yuan Ni closed the door, steadied her nerves, and then examined the bottom of the bowl.
The base was flat, and in the center was a single character: Ying.
The Ying mark?
As far as Yuan Ni knew, Tang dynasty porcelain generally bore no bottom inscriptions. If a piece had the character Ying, it meant the vessel came from the Baibao Daying Treasury.
That treasury was no ordinary place—it was the imperial private vault. Any vessel that entered the Baibao Daying Treasury was a treasure among treasures.
No wonder her right hand burned like fire. She could never have imagined that a rough, chipped bowl collected in a poor, remote village would turn out to be a rare treasure of incalculable worth.
The Ying-marked celadon bowl was in decent condition, with virtually no damage. Yuan Ni found a cloth, carefully wrapped the bowl, padded it with cotton on all sides, and tucked it into a cardboard box under the bed.
If she remembered correctly, porcelain bearing the Ying mark had never sold at auction for less than a hundred million…
Just then, the door creaked open.
Yuan Ni looked up warily, then relaxed when she saw it was Zhaodie.
“Sis, have some water.”
Knowing her sister had gone out to earn money, Zhaodie had hurried to pour her a bowl of water.
Yuan Ni patted Zhaodie’s little head. “Once I earn enough money, I’ll send you to school.”
“I don’t want to go to school. I want to barter eggs with you.”
“Why would you barter eggs? Within six months, the whole village will be doing it. There’s no future in this line of work.”
While accumulating her first pot of capital, she also needed to legitimize her funds, which was why she’d come up with the egg-bartering scheme.
Tramping through the streets and alleys was exhausting, and she had no intention of doing it forever—let alone dragging her little sister along.
Yuan Ni pointed under the bed. “See that box? Keep an eye on it while you’re home. Don’t let anyone get their hands on it.”
Zhaodie nodded solemnly.
Zhaodie wasn’t little anymore. She was a responsible child who could be entrusted with important matters—in that regard, Zhaodie was far stronger than their mother.
The two sisters were sharing private words when they heard a commotion in the courtyard.
It turned out that Second Aunt Zhao Fuhua had come home to cook. “Mother, you need to give me more grain. There are four extra mouths in the house now, and with only half a basin of cornmeal, the porridge I stir up is too thin.”
Yuan Ni frowned. However she listened to it, her second aunt’s words carried a hidden meaning.
Still, a married daughter bringing three children back to her mother’s house to eat for free was bound to be looked down upon anywhere.
Their mother rushed into the room in a fluster, grabbed the sack of dried potato slices, and hurried outside. “This is my and Third Girl’s rations. Today’s portion should be enough.”
“Guiying, what are you doing? I didn’t mean anything by it.” Second Aunt quickly pushed the sack back.
But whether she meant it or not, Yuan Ni’s mother felt uncomfortable.
She had originally wanted to show off today’s egg-bartering results to everyone, but now she’d lost the desire.
After a hasty meal, she took the children to bed early.
Moonlight streamed through the window lattice, casting its glow upon Yuan Ni’s Mother. She lay perfectly still, and just as Yuan Ni was about to drift off to sleep, she suddenly spoke, “Ni, do you think your mother is utterly useless?”
Yuan Ni pondered for a moment, then replied, “You shouldn’t say that. After all, you’re the one who pulled the three of us sisters out of the fire pit.”
“Mmm, and I’ll lead you all to a better life.”
As if she had made up her mind, Yuan Ni’s Mother rose especially early the next morning. She packed a few cornmeal buns as provisions and was about to head out with Yuan Ni when, just as she stepped over the threshold, Second Aunt called out to her,
“Guiying, you can’t leave today…”