Hearing Leo’s words, Freda Wollaston became even more pleased. She crossed her arms and said, “That’s right, this vase is from the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong era of China. We purchased it at a high price from abroad. Asking for three million dollars is completely reasonable.”
“Mr. Henley, or perhaps your son has a keen eye. He says it’s worth this price, so why not pay up quickly?” Freda Wollaston glanced at Martin with a teasing expression. “Don’t tarnish your hard-earned reputation in the antique world.”
“Idiot!” Martin wished he could slap Leo.
To Martin, although Leo didn’t admit to breaking the vase, saying it was worth three million dollars meant that he indirectly sided with Freda Wollaston.
“Leo, you good-for-nothing, can’t you keep quiet?” Jessica was also furious. It seemed to her that their family was on the verge of losing three million dollars, and she couldn’t stand the thought of being ridiculed.
“Dad, you don’t need to pay for this vase; I’ll buy it!” Holding the base of the vase in one hand, Leo took out his credit card and handed it to Freda Wollaston. “Three million, just swipe it.”
Jessica’s face turned pale. “Leo, where did you get that money? Did Sophia give it to you?”
Suddenly, Martin remembered Leo’s talent for identifying treasures among trash. Seeing what Leo was doing, he felt somewhat relieved and quickly gave Jessica a significant look.
Jessica, however, couldn’t understand why Martin was suddenly winking at her.
Leo just looked at Freda Wollaston. “Hurry, swipe the card, and if everything is in order, let’s sign the transaction contract.”
Freda Wollaston didn’t hesitate at all; she swiftly swiped the card, had the contract drawn up, and even put the shards into a bag for Leo.
The financial transaction was completed swiftly.
“Such a complete waste!” Seeing Leo holding a bag of fragments, Jessica thought he had lost his mind. She couldn’t help but curse him.
But Martin remained silent. At the moment, he was pondering Leo’s intention for doing this. He couldn’t help but feel curious, especially considering Leo’s recent ability to recognize valuable antiques among the trash.
However, this wasn’t the right time to ask Leo. Martin planned to inquire about the mystery behind the broken vase when they got home.
The bystanders sighed and shook their heads. They mocked Leo for not understanding how to negotiate. In such cases, even if compensation were required, haggling could lead to a discount.
Paying immediately like this was nothing but foolishness.
“All right, the transaction is complete, you can leave,” Freda Wollaston said, quite satisfied and pleased. “Be more careful in the future; the items here are quite expensive. Even breaking one casually would cost millions.”
“Manager Wollaston, why are you in such a hurry for us to leave? Don’t you want to take a look at a priceless treasure?” Leo looked at Freda Wollaston with a peculiar smile on his face.
“A priceless treasure?” The crowd was bewildered by Leo’s words.
Freda Wollaston narrowed her eyes and sneered, “Enough, don’t try to show off here.”
Crack!
Leo didn’t waste words; he reached for the vase’s base and, with a crisp sound, turned it into two separate pieces.
Opening it up, he revealed a piece of stone inside.
Seeing that something was hidden inside the base, everyone’s attention turned to it.
What appeared before them was a piece of stone, about the size of an adult’s palm. It looked plain, and the quality didn’t seem to be very good, with a dim luster.
Martin widened his eyes at first but soon sighed in disappointment when he took a closer look. The stone was too rough, unmistakably of low quality, and it was evident that it was a piece of street-market junk.
Freda Wollaston couldn’t stop giggling. “I thought your luck was incredible, that you’d make a few million dollars by finding a bargain.”
“I never expected that there would be something hidden in the vase base. It’s just a worthless trinket.”
“This stone looks like it might be bloodstone, but it’s poorly crafted, lacks luster, and has no smoothness at all. You can tell it’s a fake.”
“I wonder who would have nothing better to do than hide a piece of stone waste inside a vase base. They were probably just trying to play a trick on people.”
Several lovely salesclerks couldn’t help but ridicule the situation after a brief assessment.
Jessica initially thought Leo was in luck, but it turned out quite the opposite.
Martin couldn’t help but snort, saying, “Leo, you don’t always have luck on your side; you must be suffering a loss this time.”
Leo remained silent. He activated his inner spiritual energy to sense the aura of the piece of jade.
After infusing a bit of spiritual energy into the stone, he could see that beneath the rough surface, a faint red glow was shining through.
“Stop embarrassing yourself,” Martin waved impatiently. “Let’s go.”
Leo wasn’t bothered by the onlookers’ comments and asked, “Could I borrow a whetstone?”
One of the salesclerks, hoping to see Leo make a fool of himself, handed him a whetstone.
Leo began to carefully carve the stone.
Freda Wollaston scoffed, “Do you think there’s something inside?”
Leo responded with a light smile and meticulously performed his work. He worked slowly and with great concentration.
As Leo scraped away the bulk of the rough fragments, a raspy voice suddenly erupted from the crowd, “Oh my, this looks like bloodstone!”
An elderly one-eyed man, accompanied by a few others, excitedly pushed his way through the crowd. He fixed his gaze on the stone in Leo’s hand and said in amazement, “It seems to be a ‘jade within jade.'”
“I can’t believe that within this rough fake jade, there’s actual bloodstone! In ancient texts, the art of ‘jade within jade’ was thought to have been lost 600 years ago, and here I am witnessing it today.” The one-eyed man appeared thrilled, as though he’d found something extraordinary.
Hearing the words of the one-eyed man, the crowd instantly exploded into discussion.
“Unbelievable, a fake jade containing real jade. I always thought ‘jade within jade’ was just a scam, but it turns out it’s real!”
“This is real bloodstone; could the old man have made a mistake?”
“Nonsense! Do you know who this elderly man is?”
“Who is he?”
“Master Hill, the Golden Eye. He ranks among the top five in terms of expertise in appraising treasures.”
Upon learning that this unexpected elderly man was none other than Master Hill, the Golden Eye, many people involuntarily gasped in shock.
Martin, who had been feeling down, suddenly felt elated, and Jessica couldn’t help but become excited as well. After all, Leo was Jessica’s son-in-law, and if he had found this legendary ‘jade within jade,’ it would certainly earn her some face.
Leo continued to work, completely ignoring the chatter around him. His hands didn’t stop, and he kept on carving the stone.
Master Hill’s presence and his words had affected Freda Wollaston’s mood, but she still didn’t seem too concerned. Even if the stone in Leo’s hand turned out to be bloodstone, it was still worth around three million dollars.
After over ten minutes of carving, the stone, originally the size of an adult’s palm, had been reduced to the size of a baby’s hand.
Now, with its smooth, rounded, and lustrous surface, it radiated a deep crimson hue when exposed to the light.
What was even more peculiar was that within the red coloration created by the light penetrating the stone, a silhouette appeared. It was a strong, heroic figure, standing proudly with a drawn sword.