"The person is gone," the woman replied, her delicate eyebrows furrowed.
The middle-aged man said coldly, "Gone? I think you bumped into it yourself and are making excuses to shirk responsibility!"
The woman's eyebrows shot up, "How am I shirking responsibility? Someone really did bump into me."
"Then find them! If you can't, it's your responsibility, and you have to pay!" The middle-aged man pointed fiercely at the scattered fragments on the ground.
"I!" The woman was clearly very angry.
However, seeing the growing crowd of onlookers, the woman could only suppress her anger, "Fine, how much do you want? I'll pay!"
A hint of cunning flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes upon hearing this.
But he still feigned anger, "Do you know this is an heirloom from our family? And it was used by Emperor Kangxi himself, an authentic royal porcelain!"
"Enough nonsense, just tell me how much!" The woman was a bit annoyed and didn't want to argue with the middle-aged man.
"Seeing as you're young and a girl, I'm not unreasonable. I know you didn't do it on purpose, so just give me the cost price. Someone offered me twenty million for this last time, and I didn't sell it. So, give me twenty million!" The middle-aged man held up two fingers.
"What? Twenty million!" The woman's eyes widened.
Then she pointed at the fragments on the ground, "This broken thing, do you think I don't know its market value? With this kind of glaze and brushwork, how could it be worth so much."
The middle-aged man replied, "Girl, you can't just say anything. I have an appraisal certificate for this."
"Then let's send it for appraisal. I don't believe this broken thing can be worth so much," the woman said coldly.
If this wasn't a black market, she would have called the police. This was clearly a scam.
"This shop has some good items."
Chen Mo, standing at the entrance, suddenly heard the voice of his ancestor in his mind.
Looking at the situation unfolding inside, Chen Mo's face suddenly broke into a smile.
He glanced at Wu Zongcheng beside him, gave a few instructions, and then walked inside.
"This item is indeed imperial court porcelain. The boss saying twenty million is actually not expensive at all," Chen Mo said suddenly.
The sudden voice caused everyone present to turn their heads, looking in Chen Mo's direction.
The middle-aged man's expression was initially one of confusion, but upon hearing Chen Mo's words, a smug look appeared on his face.
He then turned to the woman and said, "Girl, did you hear that? Here comes someone who knows their stuff, and they say the same thing."
The woman turned around angrily, about to accuse Chen Mo of being in cahoots with the middle-aged man.
But when she clearly saw Chen Mo's face, her expression froze, and she looked somewhat shocked.
Just as she was about to blurt out Chen Mo's name, Chen Mo discreetly winked at her.
The woman blinked in surprise and closed her mouth in confusion.
Chen Mo squatted down, examining the porcelain fragments, and said with a look of pity, "Alas, such a good item, broken like this. It's truly a shame, a shame!"
The middle-aged man quickly chimed in with a sorrowful tone, "Who says not? These are heirlooms passed down through generations. It's a pity this one is gone!"
Chen Mo glanced at the woman, "You know, this is their family heirloom. Asking you for twenty million is not unreasonable at all."
"Who says not," the middle-aged man continued to agree.
"I!" The woman's chest heaved with anger.
If it weren't for Chen Mo's look, she would have lost her temper right then!
"Mr. Chen," Wu Zongcheng said, walking in quickly with a porcelain vase.
Chen Mo saw Wu Zongcheng and took the vase from him.
The middle-aged man looked at the vase in Chen Mo's hands with suspicion. It was very similar to the one he had just broken, only slightly different in shape.
Chen Mo looked at the middle-aged man and said, "Boss, to be honest, this is also my family's heirloom, passed down from the imperial palace. And it's almost identical to the one you broke."
The middle-aged man frowned slightly, looked at it, and asked, "Sir, are you planning to sell it?"
Chen Mo shook his head, "I'm not planning to sell it. This is my family heirloom. I just saw the broken porcelain and thought I'd bring it over for you to take a look."
Upon hearing that Chen Mo had no intention of selling, the middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief.
He was afraid Chen Mo would say he wanted to sell it, and then try to sell it to him. If he refused to buy it in front of so many people, it might arouse suspicion.
The middle-aged man praised, "No problem. I can tell just by looking at it. This was fired in the same batch as mine, and it's even more valuable. The estimated price is at least fifty million!"
The middle-aged man thought that since the other party wasn't selling, it was fine to inflate the price a bit, especially since Chen Mo had helped him earlier.
"Oh really?" Chen Mo asked with feigned surprise.
The middle-aged man reached out to take the vase Chen Mo was handing him and nodded, "How could I be wrong? If I'm wrong, you can pick anything you want from my shop, and I'll never do antique business again!"
Chen Mo's lips curved upwards. This was exactly what he wanted the man to say!
Just as the middle-aged man carefully took the vase and was examining it, Chen Mo suddenly produced a silver needle in his hand.
"Ouch!"
The middle-aged man suddenly cried out in pain.
It felt as if something had pricked him, and his hands instantly went numb. At that moment, the vase in his hands dropped to the ground!
"Crack!"
A crisp sound.
The scene fell into a sudden, deathly silence!
The middle-aged man's eyes widened in shock.
"My heirloom!"
This time, it was Chen Mo's turn to let out a heart-wrenching cry. He squatted on the ground, sadly picking up two fragments of the porcelain.
"I, I, I didn't do it on purpose," the middle-aged man stammered, standing there in a daze.
"Not on purpose? Are you just going to say whatever you want? So many people here saw it clearly. You broke my porcelain!" Chen Mo glared at the middle-aged man with fury.
The middle-aged man's face turned even uglier than if he had eaten rat droppings. How could he have imagined that the vase he was holding so carefully would suddenly fall!
Chen Mo looked utterly grief-stricken, "You just said yourself that my item is worth at least fifty million. You broke fifty million worth of goods just like that. Today, you must give me an explanation!"
The middle-aged man looked bewildered.
He had just said that casually. This item was merely a modern handicraft, made to look old, not an imperial object from the Qianlong era!
"Sir, this is just a fake. It's not worth much," the middle-aged man quickly explained.
"A fake?" Chen Mo pointed angrily at the porcelain fragments on the ground.
Then he pointed at the surrounding crowd, "They all heard you clearly. You kept saying that if this item was a fake, I could pick anything from your shop. You even swore you'd quit the antique business and said it was worth fifty million. Now that it's broken, you're telling me it's a fake?!"