Chapter 10 Pick Up By Accident
- If it had the power, it must be an authentic one. Evelyn Stone was happy but didn’t show her happiness on her face.
- Evelyn Stone walked to the stand. The stand owner ignored her because she was a teenage girl in ordinary clothing and seemed poor.
- Evelyn Stone didn’t care though. She pointed directly at the bracelet, “How much is this one, please?”
- The stand owner took a glance at the bracelet, then frowned with disdain. Why? Because in his eyes, this bracelet was fake. He even intended to throw it away. But since there was a buyer for it, he opened his mouth, “50 dollars.”
- Fifty dollars was a significant amount, but Evelyn Stone wasn’t willing to miss any chance to find something valuable. She didn’t want to show her real intention at the very beginning, so she bargained, “Could you please sell it for a cheaper price? I’m just a student with less money.”
- “Then 40 dollars, that’s all.” The stand owner agreed. He still believed the bracelet was worthless.
- Evelyn Stone pretended to hesitate for a second, then said, “Great, I’ll take it.” Then she gave money to the stand owner.
- The stand owner took the money and gave the bracelet to Evelyn Stone. Evelyn Stone went straight to the appraisal center with the bracelet afterward.
- She went to the appraisal center not to identify the bracelet but to get some cash. Only with money could she do other things. There was a monthly large fair in the market with many visitors. On a normal day, many visitors would come and make deals, but the price wouldn’t be high because dealers were not adequate.
- When Evelyn Stone arrived at the appraisal center, there was already someone in there to identify antiques. Bystanders stood around. Some were here just for fun, while some were here for the results. If there was a real one, they would bid.
- Those appraisers were all experienced, and the appraisal center had its own rules. If it was a fake one, they would not charge for it. If it was a real one, then you needed to pay for the service. If the item was sold on-site, the service price would be higher. The rules were quite acceptable.
- Evelyn Stone walked to the table of appraisal. There was an appraiser in the middle of identification. It was a delicate item and looked like an authentic one.
- Evelyn Stone used her special ability. She didn’t see any unusual signs around it. It was fake.
- “It’s fake.” It only took the appraiser around 10 minutes to have the result.
- “What? It’s fake?” A male voice sounded in shock among the crowd. The man wore an astonished face, “It’s impossible! How could it be fake!”
- “Are you questioning me now?” The appraiser wasn’t happy to be questioned.
- The man explained at once, “No, no, but it’s an heirloom from my grandfather to my father and to me. I can’t accept it’s fake.”
- The rest of the people in the center showed their sympathy.
- “Even if it’s an heirloom, it could be fake.”
- “True!”
- “Probably your grandfather made a mistake. It’s quite normal.”
- Others echoed.
- The man wore a displeased face. He left swiftly with his heirloom. He had believed it must be a real antique and wanted to sell it, but to his surprise, it was fake.
- Then, there were more fake ones, but no one felt disappointed because the owners didn’t pay much for their “antiques.”
- “Hi, could you please identify this bracelet for me?” It was Evelyn Stone’s turn. She handed over the bracelet she had just bought.
- Evelyn Stone’s appearance raised discussion among the crowd.
- “Gee, where did she get this dirty thing? It’s so ugly.”
- “This little girl must be crazy about money. It’s apparently fake.”
- Others echoed.
- Evelyn Stone ignored all of them. Let’s see. She thought to herself.
- Though the appraiser didn’t believe it was real either, he did his work.
- When he took the dusty bracelet over, he almost hated it at first glance. However, while he was cleaning the stains with a napkin, the real color of the bracelet appeared. It was white and blue in a random order and was made of porcelain.
- The appraiser frowned a little. He thought it was merely a modern artwork. In the past, no one would use porcelain to make a bracelet.
- But since he had begun, he decided to finish his work. Then, he kept on cleaning the bracelet. After a while, he felt something was unusual.
- Others asked immediately.
- “What happened?”
- “Is it real?”
- The appraiser stayed silent, focusing on his work. Before long, the bracelet was clean and shiny.
- Everyone now discovered that the bracelet was made of porcelain. All of them were assured that it must be fake because no one had ever heard of a porcelain bracelet being made in the past. It must be a modern artwork.
- While the appraiser thought otherwise. He was now astonished and super excited.
- “This porcelain is from an earlier period.” He suddenly said.
- “What?”
- “Really?”
- Everyone was shocked.
- Porcelain from an earlier period. Then, it was a real one?
- Though porcelain from that era wasn’t as expensive as from other periods, it wasn’t cheap at all.
- All of a sudden, everyone looked at Evelyn Stone in jealousy. Instead, Evelyn Stone was as calm as usual, which made people wonder if she had known it already.
- Actually, Evelyn Stone only knew it was real but had no idea what it was exactly.
- “It is porcelain from an earlier period. I suppose the original item is broken, and somebody has made it into a bracelet.” Or, no one would intentionally break a valuable piece of porcelain to make a bracelet.
- “Hey, young girl, where did you get this bracelet?” someone asked.
- “I just bought it from a normal stand,” Evelyn Stone told the truth.
- “What? You picked it up by accident? What a lucky girl!”
- Everyone agreed.
- “Young girl, do you want to sell it? I’ll give you 30 thousand.” A middle-aged man in a suit made a bid without any delay.