Filed to story: Disdained Son-in-Law, Destined Riches >>
Jacob blurted anxiously, “Go to prison on my behalf, then! The Wilson family has supported you for so long, it’s time for you to repay us!”
Joe stared at his shameless father-in-law and wondered how he had the nerve to say such things now.
Before he refused, Raymond interjected, “Stop. At Vintage Deluxe, we do business in an honest and trustworthy way. Whoever commits the mistake takes the blame. Old man, you broke the vase, so you have to pay for it!”
Then, he said to Joe, “You can go now, but I advise you to help him get the money. Otherwise, if I don’t have the money by the evening, I’ll send him to the police station!”
Joe nodded lightly.
Jacob wailed loudly, “My dear son-in-law, you can’t leave me here! What should I do if you’re gone?”
He wanted to laugh seeing his father-in-law so frightened and scared, but of course, he couldn’t smile for real.
He was about to leave this place with the excuse of getting the money and left his father-in-law here to suffer a little, but suddenly, it occurred to him that there was an ancient method for the restoration of porcelain artifacts in the Apocalyptic Book. Hence, an idea struck his mind as he said, “Mr. Cole, if I can repair the vase, will you let the old man go?”
Raymond smirked, “Repair the vase? Who do you think you are? To tell you the truth, I’ve sent the photos to the experts of cultural relics appraisal in Aurous Hill and they said it is beyond repair after such damage.”
Joe shook his head in doubt. “Your vase is broken anyway, what’s the use of keeping around, right? Why don’t you let me try?”
The disdainful smirk widened on Raymond’s face. “Oh, okay, you’re an overly stubborn and confident young fella, aren’t you? Alright! Let’s see what you can do!”
Joe said firmly, “Give me a sheet of Chinese rice paper, a brush, and five raw eggs. Raw.”
Raymond complied with his request without hesitation since he was looking forward to seeing what kind of ridiculous show Joe would perform. Soon, his man brought back a basket of raw eggs for Joe.
However, he still found it bewildering that he couldn’t help but tease, “Restoring artifacts using eggs, huh? Seriously, I’ve never heard anything so absurd before. I warn you, don’t you try any tricks. You can either pay compensation or we’ll sue your father-in-law. Five million—it’s enough for the old man to stay in prison until he dies.”
Joe nodded. “What if I fix it?”
Raymond snorted. “I’ll need to check with the appraisers. If they verify that you’ve fixed it and recovered most of the damage, I’ll let both of you go!”
“Alright!” Joe nodded. “It’s a deal!”
He quickly turned back to the workstation and quietly started his work. He took the brush and sketched the outline of the vase on the Chinese rice paper.
Then, he knocked the egg lightly to crack a small opening, dipped his index finger into the egg to get some egg white, wiped it on a fragment of the vase, and pressed it against the paper model. Then, he repeated the same process for the next fragment, and another, until the paper model was gradually covered with the vase’s pieces…
Everyone watched silently while holding their breaths in for fear of interrupting his restoration process.
Half an hour passed very quickly.
When Joe stood upright again, what appeared in front of everyone was a Tang Dynasty Yuhuchun vase that seemed to be rejuvenated with new life.
He smiled at Raymond and said, “Take a look and see if there are any flaws.”
Raymond picked up the vase and looked at it a few glances before he grimaced disdainfully. “You’re kidding me, right? Do you fucking think that you’ve repaired it after putting some egg liquid on it? Fuck you! Why don’t I break your leg and glue them back together with egg liquid, huh?!”
“Don’t touch the vase!”
At this moment, a crisp and anxious voice resonated from the door abruptly.
A glamorous young lady in a white casual suit stepped in immediately afterward.
The lady had a very beautiful face paired with her tall and perfect figure, who looked about 1.7 meters tall. Standing by the door, she was scanning the room with her cold and arrogant gaze, radiating an elegant and radiant aura just like a snow queen.
Raymond’s expression shifted drastically when he saw the lady. He bowed his head respectfully and said, “Miss, why are you here?”
The lady was Jasmine Moore, the owner of Vintage Deluxe and the young missus of the Moore family, one of the prominent families in Aurous Hill.
Jasmine growled angrily with a furious blush on her face. “If I hadn’t come, I’m afraid that you would’ve single-handedly ruined this shop! What is going on?”
Raymond smiled sheepishly and answered, “A customer accidentally broke the vase while looking at it. His son-in-law repaired it with eggs, which is utterly ridiculous. I am about to discuss the compensation with them.”
Jasmine leaned towards the vase and observed it closely. Then, there was a dash of shock on her face!
She immediately growled at Raymond, “Put it down, you fool! Don’t touch it if you don’t know anything!”
Raymond was stunned by her sudden reaction. “Miss, what are you…”
“This is an artifact that has just been restored. No one is allowed to touch it with their bare hands except for the restoration experts! Don’t you know the rule?”
Raymond stuttered hesitantly. “I… he simply used some eggs to glue it together, it doesn’t count as restoration, does it?”
There was the wrath of fury burning on Jasmine’s eyes. She scolded indignantly, “You dumb fool! After the restoration, the price of the vase will at least double but because you’ve touched it with your bare hands, it’ll lose at least two million of its value! Pack up your things, you’re fired!”
She had seen a porcelain plate in the same period as the Yuhuchun vase at an auction in Shipton.
The history of the porcelain plate was very interesting. It was a relic of the Tang Dynasty but it had broken into pieces a few decades later during the Song Dynasty. A skilled craftsman in the Song Dynasty had restored the relic using the same method.
Due to the rarity of the restoration method that had long been lost in time, the final auction price of the porcelain plate was 13 million dollars, which far exceeded the actual value of the plate.
Right now, the Yuhuchun vase had been restored by Joe with the same rare method, so the value of the vase would undoubtedly rise!
Blood drained from Raymond’s face upon hearing Jasmine’s order. He didn’t expect that a simple touch of the vase would have caused such a big loss as well as his job.
Then, Jasmine asked, “Who is the master who repaired this vase? Take me to see him now!”
Raymond was dumbstruck!
He never would have imagined, not even in his wildest dreams, that the vase would transform into a more precious treasure after being restored by a few eggs!
He pointed to Joe and said, “Miss, this is the man who fixed the vase…”
As Jasmine glanced at Joe, she couldn’t help but wonder how such a young man would know the long-forgotten cultural relic restoration technique!
Despite her doubt, she managed a polite smile and asked, “Hi, I am Jasmine Moore. How should I address you? May I know from whom you have learned the relic restoration technique?”
Jacob, who was still shivering at the side, was dumbfounded when he heard Jasmine Moore’s name!
The Moore family!
The Moore family was the most elite family in Aurous Hill! Their influence was not comparable to those of Eastcliff’s elite families, but in Aurous Hill, they were at the top of the pyramid where no one could ever reach!
He didn’t expect that he would meet one of their family members here!
Meanwhile, Joe had a lukewarm reaction towards Jasmine’s status. The Moore family was powerful, but their net worth was valued at hundreds of billions. They paled in comparison to the Smith family with their net worth of a trillion dollars.