Chapter 19: Jade

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"Boss, I want to have a look at that piece of unicorn." Bai Jing entered the store and said, his eyes fixed on the unicorn displayed on the shelf. 

"This young one really knows the goods. This unicorn was handed down as a true antique from Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. I heard there was a pair, but so far, I've only found one. We display it as exhibition, but since you like it, I'll show it to you. " 

Bai Jing felt at a loss when heard what the man said. In fact, he should have known that it was impossible for his mother's relics to appear here.

His face could not be concealed from the crowd. The boss took the unicorn from the cabinet and looked at Bai Jing, who seemed to heve lost the joy of happyiness, curiously asking: "Have you seen the other one?" 

Bai Jing nodded, his face showing slight loneliness: "My mother left me a unicorn, but it is lost." 

The boss looked clear and felt slight regret. Evidently this business was not successful, but he did not care too much. The business of antiques which dealt with the rich and noble required the dealer to have good judgement. Even if the deal was not done, to be friends was good enough.

Carefully handing the unicorn to Bai Jing, he smiled and said: "That really is a pity. In fact, only the fineness of the unicorn is good, but the tail has small flaws. Generally it's not visible if you do not pay attention to it. Is there any difference compared to yours?" 

Bai Jing checked thoroughly the unicorn, and saw clearly a crack in the tail. Although it was small, it destroyed the perfection of the unicorn. It was covered up while displayed, but the value was reduced if he wanted to keep it. However, this unicorn was indeed different from his mother's. The looks were exactly the same, but the direction of the heel was the opposite. 

"How much?." Bai Jing asked, as he tossed the unicorn around in his hands. The boss tightened and was afraid Bai Jing would carelessly drop it. Jade was an item that could not stand to fall. 

"If you want it, the price is three hundred thousand yuan, the fineness of this jade is actually more valuable than the price asked, but unfortunately..." 

Without waiting for the boss to finish, Bai Jing waved and threw a card to him: "Sure, I'll buy it." Three hundred thousand yuan was not expensive. Although it was a waste of money, it was better to have something similar to remember. 

The boss was a bit surprised and was happy that he did not miss this one. He then gave the properly packed unicorn to Bai Jing with his business card together.  

Bai Jing took the box and did not open it to check. He casually put it in a pocket. Thick winter clothes had large pockets, and even with the unicorn box inside, it appeared to have more space for storage. 

The Lin family was shocked. The old couple was startled by the three hundred thousand yuan. This was not a small sum of money, and for these mountain people, it was simply astronomical amount. Granny Lin nagged Bai Jing's prodigal habits, but thought when he had mentioned the loss of his mother's relics, she understood Bai Jing's sadness. Although it was for a memory, three hundred thousand yuan, tut, Granny Lin felt complicated. This child spent money with no hesitation. 

Even with the good old days years before, she and her husband dared not easily spend large amount of money. But she forgot that in her prime, which was a confusing period. Whoever had a good personal life suffered, whoever had more money on hand was a counter-revolutionary. They felt pessimistic and discouraged and decided to move back to live in the mountains. Could you compare that period and now? With the current popular words, Bai Jing was for lack of everything but money.  

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