Chapter 9 - Antique market
On her neck, attached to a silver chain was a quail egg sized jade.
Her gold earrings weren't small by any means. It was as if she was dressing in fear that people wouldn't be able to tell that she was rich.
Seeing the woman, Gu Ning couldn't help but let out a suppressed laugh.
The woman's complexion turned red, "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at you! Since you're so rich, why do you wear a fake jade bracelet? And then there's that pendant as well." Gu Ning opened bluntly.
Yes, the jade on the woman's hand and neck were both fakes. She wanted to absorb the Lingqi from her jewelry, unexpectedly, both of them were fake.
As for the gold and diamond, Gu Ning couldn't say anything. However, the jade on her finger was absolutely real.
Although she knew that the woman was most likely unaware that she was wearing fake jade, it didn't hinder her from delivering a blow to the nosy lady.
Women! It was hard to find any that were not narrow-minded. Gu Ning had to admit that she wasn't imposing nor stylish with her current appearance, perhaps she should have expected that some ill-willed fellow would act up.
"What did you say?" Hearing Gu Ning, the woman immediately swelled with anger. She didn't believe Gu Ning, only thought that the other party was making up lies to embarrass her in front of the other customers.
These jewels were something that her husband gifted her! He was so rich, how could he possibly buy her imitation?
Moreover, the opposite party was some poor street rat, how could she possibly know?
"Humph! If you don't know anything then don't talk nonsense. Poor people these days love to try and save face, blaming their shortcomings on the wealthy."
Being scolded for being poor, Gu Ning wasn't angry.
"You don't have to believe it, but every shop has an appraiser, you can have it checked. I have a matter to attend to, I won't accompany you any further." Gu Ning kindly reminded as she turned and left.
"You lit-", the woman didn't want to let Gu Ning off so easily but she was stopped by the other woman from earlier. "Sister Jin, there's no need to bicker with that poor girl, you'll only lower your status by talking to her."
Immediately, Sister Jin put on an aloof expression. Looking at Gu Ning's back, she said with disdain, "Humph! This lady won't bother with her."
Then she moved her gaze back to the jade displays.
Only, she couldn't help but think about Gu Ning's words, she had the urge to get an appraisal for her bracelet and pendant all of a sudden.
Shao Feifei was still loitering around the shop's entrance. She wanted to see what Gu Ning would do, naturally, she had seen the situation with the woman.
Seeing Gu Ning about to leave, Shao Feifei couldn't help but taunt. "Heh, some people can't afford, but they have the nerve to pick on those who can."
"If you can afford it, you buy!" Gu Ning indifferently said.
"You…"
Unexpectedly, Gu Ning had stepped on Shao Feifei's sore spot, her face turned ugly.
Although she was born in a rich household with tens of millions in property, it didn't mean that she herself could afford such items. (1,950,800 USD)
The items displayed in the shop cost tens of thousands on average. With a monthly allowance of 2,000 - 3,000, where would she find the money to buy this stuff? (10,000 Yuan - 1950 USD) (2,000 Yuan to 3,000 Yuan - 390 to 580 USD)
But her birthday was around the corner. She wanted to take a look at the jewelry and choose some to have her mother gift them during her celebration.
Ignoring Shao Feifei, Gu Ning walked out the door.
Although Shao Feifei wasn't willing to eat a loss, she couldn't think of anything to refute Gu Ning.
Shao Feifei's cousin, Shao Xue observed that her cousin was angry. With the atmosphere around the girl, she didn't dare to peep out of fear that she would end up a target for Shao Feifei's anger; after all, it wouldn't be the first time.
If not for the fact that Shao Feifei's family was prosperous, and if not for the fact that her family was relying on Shao Feifei's approval to her parents, Shao Xue wasn't willing to lower herself before her.
After leaving the jeweler, Gu Ning made her way to the antique market.
She would have to ride the bus for half an hour from downtown to the market. By the time she got there, it was already 3 in the afternoon.
The antique market was also called the flea market. Since only old things were sold in the place, whether it was genuine or fake, people had started to call them antiques. Often times people would bring out the older jewelry or ceramics that had been collecting dust for generations in their homes, this was where the true antiques were found.
Antiques had been main-stream for quite a while, so the traffic in the market was quite abundant. However, most of these people were older or middle-aged men.
There weren't many young people, children of Gu Ning's age were few, and the girls even fewer. In the case that some of the younger generations visited the market, it was usually a onetime thing, they were visiting with their grandparents, or they were just hanging around for a taste of the liveliness.
Therefore, whenever Gu Ning passed by, the shopkeepers didn't call out to her.
On both sides of the streets, people had spread out their wares and set stall, much more conspicuous than the stores. In the over hundred stalls set up, there were thousands of items for sale in total. In such a huge collection, being able to find two genuine good would already be considered a great feat.
With good luck, it's possible that an item bought in passing would turn out to be a windfall, but the opposite could be said for bad luck as well.
Gu Ning moved slowly. Because she became tired due to prolonged use of the Jade Pupil, she had to rest every now and then.
As she strolled, she was disappointed by the lack of quality.
Many of the items displayed had been laid every day for years now. Most of the genuine goods were already collected, where should she go for her windfall ah?
It seemed that her idea of making money off of antiques was a bit naïve.
Contrary to what one might expect, there were actually many stone betting establishments, however, the primary source and market were located in Myanmar and Y province. Even if there were any in the other cities, a majority of them were low quality, leaving the success rate quite low.
Naturally, just because the jade didn't look good on the outside, it didn't represent its actual value.
However, not to mention going to Myanmar, Gu Ning didn't even have enough expenses to leave F city.
Although the airplane tickets were only a few thousand dollars, to the Gu mother and daughter these few thousand dollars were more than their monthly household income.
Her reasons for leaving weren't something that could be spoken out in open either, she would need to think of a reason to give to Gu Man. She couldn't just carelessly bounce here and there.
But even if the jade in F city was trash, she would still try. No matter the quality or amount, even mosquito meat is meat! She wouldn't just give up.
When Gu Ning was finally planning on leaving, her gaze was drawn to an item for sale in a humble corner.
It was a Cuan Chain bracelet, strung together with 12 toe sized porcelain beads. It was covered in gray dirt, the outward appearance was unattractive. However, Gu Ning could see a wisp of faint white mist.
-> This is a Cherry Clan translation, if you are reading this anywhere other than the wordpress or wattpad account, it's been stolen.