Chapter 30 Part 1

Lu Ningshuang cursed inwardly—

What kind of local specialties were these? They were such a rip-off for an Alpha?

And Old Lu and Lady Ning—what kind of parents were they to scam their own daughter like this?

Lu Ningshuang dashed downstairs in a hurry. “What happened? What happened? Did something go wrong…?”

She saw a… vase standing right in the center of the spacious and bright living room.

It was a spinning heart vase.

At first glance, it was Dihuang pink porcelain.

The vase had a flared mouth, a long neck with folded shoulders, a circular foot that flared outward, and its body was decorated with colored pink enamel. The mouth, midsection, and base were all outlined in gold edges. The upper part featured four-sided blooming flowers symbolizing wealth and prosperity, while the lower part had alternating red-based blue colorful deformed checkerboard patterns with floating chaotic double fish leaping from the sea carvings, and below that, entwined branch floral Eight Immortals patterns, vivid and lifelike.

None of these descriptions about the vase were within Lu Ningshuang’s knowledge base.

Old Lu had always loved these things, and from a young age, she had absorbed it by osmosis. After hearing him chatter about them a few times, she could rattle off a few bluffing lines herself, sounding quite convincing.

The vase stood straight in the living room, with some cardboard boxes and foam packaging scattered beside it.

It wasn’t much, and the fact that it hadn’t shattered on the journey was thanks to the couriers not handling it roughly.

Yes.

It wasn’t broken.

She didn’t know if it was valuable or not, but it was way better than rotten local specialties. Lu Ningshuang felt a bit relieved.

The Alpha swept her pure gaze over everyone present, utterly puzzled. “It doesn’t look broken. Is there something wrong with this vase?”

Or did no one like the design?

If even Qin Yushu didn’t like it, she’d have to ask Old Lu to swap it out later.

It should be fine to spend money freely… right?

“Is… is this from Madam’s family?” In the silence, Housekeeper Nangong asked.

Setting aside her fondness for old-school CEO novels, Housekeeper Nangong was always steady and capable in her professional role. But even she stuttered a bit this time.

Lu Ningshuang didn’t understand what had shocked her. She nodded. “Yeah~”

So, was it broken or not? She was dying to know!

“It’s not broken.”

Qin Yushu stood up. She took on the role of spokesperson, voicing the doubt in Housekeeper Nangong’s heart—and everyone else’s.

“Do your parents have a hobby of collecting antiques on the side?”

Qin Yushu had already walked over to Lu Ningshuang’s side. She tilted her head slightly to look at her, her pitch-black, profound eyes sharpening a bit.

Just what did this Alpha’s parents do?

Everyone else let out a collective breath, secretly speculating: What was Madam/Miss Lu’s background?

She didn’t seem ostentatious at all and appeared very approachable, yet her background was this impressive?

What kind of hobbies did these rich people have!

“Just casual tinkering.”

Lu Ningshuang still hadn’t realized what was going on. She turned her head and met Qin Yushu’s gaze.

“Wait—”

The thick-skinned Alpha finally caught on. She glanced around at the shocked or suspiciously uncertain expressions on everyone’s faces…

She was certain.

These people had definitely gotten the wrong idea!!

It was all because Old Lu had sent something so deceptively impressive.

Lu Ningshuang held back her laughter. Now that she knew the item was fine, her expression was much more relaxed than her initial anxiety.

She pointed at the vase. “You wouldn’t think this thing is real, would you?”

“Isn’t… isn’t it?” Rebecca—the designer who had chatted with Lu Ningshuang earlier—couldn’t hold back and blurted out the question.

Everyone in the villa at that moment was either from prominent circles or had long dealt with people at this level. With their exposure and accumulated knowledge, their eyesight was naturally sharp.

When they had unpacked the delivery earlier, the moment the spinning heart vase was exposed to the air, they had all been dazzled by that noble Dihuang color.

Housekeeper Nangong was a graduate of a professional private butler academy, which included courses on this subject.

And she had been the closest, seeing the most, and thus shocked the hardest.

So, in the antique world, the more you knew, the more likely you were to be fooled!

A complete novice like Lu Ningshuang would only sigh at something that looked like an antique, “This vase is pretty,” without ever guessing it was worth hundreds of millions—or even billions.

On one hand, she wasn’t interested; on the other, her finances didn’t support it. She’d forget about it right away, and no one could scam money out of her pocket.

Facing the gazes turned her way, Lu Ningshuang delivered the final verdict: “It’s fake! All replicas~!”

“It’s really not?” Rebecca still wasn’t convinced. “It looks just like—”

“Like the real thing.”

Lu Ningshuang finished for her. “It’s because it’s good-looking enough that my dad picked it up from the fake goods market. He said there were a bunch of identical ones at the time, and this one had the finest craftsmanship and was the prettiest, so he grabbed it.”

Rebecca: “…”

“Can I flip it over to check the bottom?”

Ordinary spinning heart vases were thirty or forty centimeters tall, but the one Old Lu Yezhou sent her was extraordinary—over ninety centimeters, nearly a meter high!

No wonder the shipping box had been so huge.

Lu Ningshuang got it. This was the type who got easily scammed… ahem, the legendary amateur enthusiast.

And one with more money than sense.

She said, “Sure.”

Even though Lu Ningshuang insisted it was fake, the vase was too beautiful, drawing lingering glances.

When they flipped it over to check the base, Housekeeper Nangong and the others handled it with utmost care.

The base had green glaze with red enamel, inscribed with six seal characters.

Rebecca had some calligraphy knowledge and read them out deliberately: “Da… Chong… Long… Li… Nian… Zhi.”

Everyone’s gazes shifted back to Lu Ningshuang, seeking an explanation.

Lu Ningshuang: “Since it’s a fake, they have to make it as convincing as possible, down to every detail. Otherwise, how would they… ahem, sell it.”

Everyone: “…”

Was that how it worked? It was logical.

But it still felt off. Were fake markets producing stuff this advanced now?

“This is a Dihuang Pink Porcelain Four Faces Blooming Flowers Dark Ground Eight Immortals Pattern Spinning Heart Vase,” one of the designers stepped forward and said.

He rattled off an extremely long name in one go.

Lu Ningshuang’s eyebrow twitched.

Oh ho~

There was an expert!

Just for memorizing and spitting out such a tongue-twister flawlessly, this guy had to have been scammed out of at least a couple hundred thousand!

The new designer on the scene, Lucas, continued, “Seven years ago, this spinning heart vase appeared at the Flosas Auction House in Country Y and was bought by a mysterious tycoon.”

“For a transaction price of 170 million pounds.”

“Whoa!” Even Lu Ningshuang was startled.

Damn, this thing was really expensive if real!

Then Lucas adjusted his glasses and explained professionally why this spinning heart vase had fetched such a high price.

Besides being an imperial creation from ancient emperors using the most advanced, complex, and exquisite craftsmanship of the time, it was because of its body height—92.8 centimeters.

It was the tallest known spinning heart vase in recorded history!

Lu Ningshuang half-listened as this “enthusiast” finished his spiel; she didn’t really care.

Finally, she summed up, “That’s even more impossible!”

Everyone stared at her.

Lu Ningshuang: “This thing has been sitting in my house since I was little.”

Yes.

When Lu Ningshuang first saw it was this vase, she had also jumped in surprise, but her shock was completely different from the others’.

This vase had been in her home for over a decade; she was intimately familiar with it. At first, she thought it was pretty, but it was just an inanimate object—staring at it too long made it feel dull.

That was also why her reaction had been so flat while everyone else was freaking out.

And—

Old Lu and the others said they were sending wedding gifts, but they just packed up and shipped an existing decoration from home. Talk about zero sincerity.

Antiques and old junk differed by one word, but the meaning was worlds apart!

Sending this was no different from sending those disposable local “specialties” in terms of value.

Maybe the ordinary specialties spoiled after a couple of days, while this could sit around longer.

Yeah.

It had just changed locations—from one mansion to another. This junk vase had hit the jackpot!

She remembered when she was young and ignorant, she had been quite awed by all the vases and pots at home, all flashy and gaudy.

Later, after getting used to them and losing her fear, she and Lu Chengyue had horsed around at home and accidentally knocked one over, shattering it.

That had pissed off Old Lu so much he nearly beat her—sure, these things weren’t valuable, but he loved them!

Lady Ning had stepped in to shield little Lu Ningshuang and said a few fair words:

“If you don’t want these junk vases getting bumped into, just don’t put them out. The house is so small; it’s a hassle to navigate normally.”

With her mom backing her up, Lu Ningshuang got bold and chimed in from behind: “Yeah, yeah!”

…Nearly earning herself another beating.

Luckily, she dodged that one in the end, but the lecture was mandatory.

Their family emphasized mutual respect, treating adults and kids the same. These were Lu Yezhou’s treasures, so they should be cherished as much as possible. After that, Lu Ningshuang never broke another vase.

Her thoughts snapped back. “It’s been sitting there for at least over a decade. To say something weird, it’s basically watched me grow up. Your seven-years-ago auction in Country Y doesn’t match the time or place at all.”

Lucas: “Is that so? I see…”

Thus, the world gained yet another heartbroken soul.

Speaking of seven years ago, Lu Ningshuang recalled something else from around the time she started high school.

Back then, she was a day student, commuting between school and home. This big vase had indeed vanished for about a week. When she asked, Lady Ning said the house was too cramped to keep it out and had stored it away temporarily.

As Lu Yezhou’s hobby grew, the house filled with more and more flashy vases and pots at first, then gradually stabilized in quantity—but styles kept changing.

The ones that disappeared, Lu Ningshuang assumed Old Lu had stashed them in the underground garage, never to return. Or maybe tossed somewhere.

Hah, typical Alpha!

Quick to love new and tire of old!

She had always thought this vase was too big and in the way. Unexpectedly, after just a week, it magically reappeared.

—Oh, still loved, still couldn’t bear to part with it.

The massive spinning heart vase continued to squeeze into the tiny Lu home, poor thing.

Thinking of how its authentic counterpart was treated, what a case of same vase, different fates.

The 1.2-by-1.3-meter shipping box naturally held more than just that. While Lu Ningshuang reminisced, the others had moved on to unboxing the remaining “mystery gifts.”

Hiss hiss—