Chapter 76: A Basket of Antiques? A Pocketed Sixty-Million-Yuan Hot Potato!

Night fell.

Xie Zhao sat on the bed with a long wooden bench in front of him.

Hunched over the bench, he held a Chunghwa pencil and quickly finished the exam paper left behind by Wei Qingzhi.

Xie Zhao’s exam paper was the hardest.

Because he had the most education.

From the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977 to 1983, only six years had passed.

Since the general public had received very little basic education, the exam content was not difficult, mostly testing the students’ basic knowledge and skills.

The registration requirements were even more relaxed; anyone who met the age and educational background requirements could take the exam.

In other words, as long as they were officially enrolled, Xie Zhao and Lin Muyu could take the exam even if they did not attend classes at school.

Xie Zhao finished the last math problem, checked it over, and then carefully put the paper away.

Lin Muyu was still reading.

Her eyes shone with a soft, shimmering glow.

She was like a flower bud, desperately absorbing knowledge from the books, slowly growing as she drank it in, gathering strength for the moment of full bloom.

Xie Zhao did not have the heart to disturb her.

He watched her quietly for a moment, then took out the design drawings for the satchel and walked out of the room.

Tian Xiufen was cutting fabric.

Seeing Xie Zhao come out, she quickly stood up, walked over with her sewing basket, and said, “Come take a look. Are these stitches neat enough? Does the cut pattern look right?”

She was very nervous.

In the past, she had only made insoles or sewed cloth shoes to sell in Xiangyang Town. She had never tried making something like this before!

Fortunately, the drawings Xie Zhao brought were clear.

She just had to take the fabric apart, trace the patterns onto it, and cut them out.

Tian Xiufen was an experienced hand at needlework, and since the item was small and simple, it only took her a day to start sewing the pieces together.

Xie Zhao took the two half-sewn pieces of fabric and examined them carefully by the light of the kerosene lamp.

His expression was extremely serious.

Tian Xiufen could not help but grow tense as well.

After a long moment, Xie Zhao smiled and said to Tian Xiufen, “As expected of my mom! These stitches are just as neat as a sewing machine’s!”

Tian Xiufen immediately let out a sigh of relief.

She scolded him with a smile, “You and your sweet talk!”

With that, she took the fabric back and carefully resumed sewing under the kerosene lamp.

Xie Zhao sat down beside her, took out his pencil and paper, and began to design the remaining two bag styles in his head.

With four types of fabric in total, he planned to design four styles.

Two would be youthful and lively, while the other two would be mature and elegant.

But these two categories could be further subdivided.

The youthful and lively style could be split into fresh and cute, while the mature and elegant style could be divided into bold luxury and understated sophistication.

In Xie Zhao’s mind, the best-selling retro bags from his previous life, along with the most classic designs of several major luxury brands, slowly surfaced.

The next moment, his wrist moved as lines appeared on the white paper. After sketching, erasing, and refining repeatedly, he finally finalized the remaining two designs.

“Phew!”

He let out a sudden sigh of relief.

He stood up and rubbed his sore wrist.

It was already nine o’clock in the evening.

Outside the window, the bright moonlight cast a silver glow.

Xie Zhao poked his head out to look, intending to rest his eyes, but a dark shadow suddenly emerged from the corner of the wall, giving him a fright.

“Fuck!”

He swore instinctively.

Immediately after, Xie Cheng’s deep, steady voice rang out.

“It’s me.”

He rounded the corner of the wall, carrying a basket.

“Brother? What are you doing up so late?”

Xie Zhao rubbed his brow, opened the door, and stepped out from under the eaves. By the moonlight, he finally got a clear look at Xie Cheng.

He had crawled out from who knew where, covered in dirt with cobwebs clinging to his hair. He carried a basket on his arm, covered with a piece of blue cloth.

The cloth was pulled back slightly, revealing a round object inside.

Xie Zhao’s eyes widened.

Wait.

That color…

“What is this? A vase?”

Xie Cheng remained silent.

He took a few steps forward, pulled Xie Zhao inside, and shut the door to the main room.

“Take a look at these. What are they? Are they worth anything?”

Xie Cheng whispered.

With that, he pulled back the patterned cloth, revealing the contents of the basket.

When Xie Zhao saw what was inside the basket, his eyes widened in shock.

Good lord!

What on earth was all this?

The topmost item in the basket was a vase with a pale blue glaze, decorated with a blue-and-white interlocking lotus pattern. It had a long neck and was incredibly beautiful.

Beneath it were patinated snuff bottles, plates, bowls, and some exquisite gold and silver items. Under those lay a layer of silver dollars and copper coins, with a few books resting on top.

Xie Zhao was stunned.

This was the first time since his rebirth that he was completely shocked.

Staring at Xie Cheng, he lowered his voice and asked, “Did you bring these over from next door?”

Xie Cheng nodded. “Yeah.”

“She hid them in the pigsty, and I saw her every single time. I couldn’t be bothered before, but she’s gone too far! I’m going to make her feel the pain!”

Xie Cheng stared at Xie Zhao. “Are they worth a lot?”

Xie Zhao: “…”

If this vase was genuine, judging by a similar one he had seen at a Poly Auction in his previous life, it would be worth around thirty million yuan.

Xie Zhao picked up the silver dollars to examine them.

He sucked in another sharp breath.

One of them was a Qing Dynasty Double Dragon coin, and another was a coin featuring a bust wearing a tall hat, reflecting a colorful luster.

Hiss!

These two coins alone were worth another thirty million yuan!

Even Xie Zhao, at this very moment, felt like smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves.

He knew Xie Cheng had taken something from next door, but he never expected it to be this!

“What’s wrong?”

Xie Cheng was also taken aback. “Is there something wrong with this stuff?”

Xie Zhao shook his head, finally calming down.

Once the initial shock passed, he suddenly realized a critical question: where did these things come from?

Needless to say, the Xie Family had been poor peasants for three generations, dirt poor. Forget about these antiques; they couldn’t even produce a single common Yuan Datou silver dollar.

That only left Wang Jinhua.

But Wang Jinhua’s family were just ordinary peasants as well!

How could she possibly have these things?

Besides, with the way things were during the campaign to Destroy the Four Olds back then, her pigsty would have been ransacked long ago.

How could they have survived?

There was only one possible answer: these were recently acquired goods from the past few years.

Wang Jinhua and Xie Youshun?

Dealing in antiques?

Xie Zhao rubbed his temples. It was a complete mystery. Unable to make heads or tails of it for now, he simply stopped thinking about it.

He calmed himself down a bit, then said to Xie Cheng, “Big Brother, you must hide these things well. No matter who asks, say you don’t know anything.”

Xie Cheng was stunned for a moment.

He hadn’t expected it to be so much trouble.

“I’m not very bright. Since these things are so important, you should keep them.”