Chapter 62: This Thing is Worth This Much?

Seeing the pattern on the paper airplane origami, Xu Li’s breath hitched slightly.

She unfolded the paper airplane to find the words "China Welfare Lottery" printed on the back.

Flipping it over to the front, it was a ticket with a total value of 100 yuan.

Wasn't this precisely the lottery ticket she had lost!

Swish!

Xu Li turned her head to look aside at her little darling, who was intently snapping snowflake blocks into various shapes on the coffee table.

Well, well! After making her feel guilty and remorseful for a day and a half, it turned out her little cotton-padded jacket had a leak!

Jiang Xue seemed to sense her mother's affectionate gaze. She turned her head to look at her mother and the unfolded piece of colored origami in her hand.

"Mom, why did you take apart the airplane I made for Shuke?"

Jiang Xue blinked her bright, expressive eyes and asked with a puzzled expression, looking at her mother whose chest was heaving as she took deep breaths.

"Hoo... hah... hoo... hah..."

Xu Li took several deep breaths, her expression transitioning from partly cloudy to clear, and finally returning to that of an emotionally stable mother.

What was done was done; no amount of scolding could help now.

In family education, calm reasoning was far more effective than shouting.

Besides, she couldn't blame her daughter entirely; she herself bore half the responsibility.

In the future, she must never casually shove such important items into her pockets like this again.

With a pleasant expression, Xu Li asked, "Xiaoxue, where did you get this piece of origami?"

Jiang Xue pointed at the clothes hanger on the balcony outside and replied with clear eyes, "From Mom's coat pocket."

"Mom is telling you, this isn't origami. It's something very important to Mom and Dad, so you can't use it to fold things anymore."

"How about Mom takes you to buy lots and lots of colorful origami paper specifically for folding things today?"

"Yay! Yay! Long live Mom!"

Upon hearing that her mother was going to buy her a lot of origami paper, Jiang Xue instantly became as happy as if the New Year had arrived.

A child's happiness was sometimes just that simple.

Looking at her delighted daughter, the gloom that had weighed on Xu Li's mood for a day and a half finally lifted.

A sudden sense of sudden clarity washed over her.

The guilt of losing 30,000 yuan vanished instantly, and the pressure faded away without a trace.

After educating her daughter, Xu Li didn't even bother to flatten the folded lottery ticket in her hand; she immediately called Jiang Tao to share her joy.

"Darling! That lottery ticket was actually found!"

"Your precious daughter folded it into a paper airplane and threw it behind the television!"

"Mmm-hmm! In a moment, I'll call my mom and my sister to come along with me to claim the prize."

"Such a large bonus, I wouldn't dare go by myself. What if I get robbed?"

"Yeah, yeah, make sure you eat your meals on time too. Love you, darling, bye-bye~"

"What? You found a pearl while eating seafood? You didn't choke, did you?"

Just as Xu Li was about to hang up, she suddenly heard Jiang Tao mention eating seafood.

"A Melo pearl? It could sell for over a hundred thousand? Really?!"

"Darling, you really have been having incredible luck lately!"

"Drinking a bottle of iced tea wins you a mobile phone, delivering goods and collecting payments lands you a premium phone number, dreaming of winning the lottery comes true, and now eating seafood yields a pearl!"

"Isn't this just a bit too lucky? Alright, go ahead, finders keepers since I witnessed it—share half with me when you sell it, hehe~"

"Mmm-hmm, bye-bye darling, wishing you instant success! Keep it up, go for it~"

After finishing the phone call, Xu Li felt wonderful.

It felt as though the dark clouds shrouding her heart had completely dissipated, revealing the long-missed blue sky and white clouds.

Her lost smile returned to Xu Li's face.

The lottery ticket worth 30,000 yuan was recovered after being lost.

Her husband had found a Melo pearl—which online reviews said was extremely valuable—while eating seafood last night.

A double blessing!

As thoughts shape appearance, after finishing the call, Xu Li looked radiant and cheerful.

"Let's go, Xiaoxue~ Today Mom is going to take you to eat delicious food and play fun games~"

Pocketing her phone, Xu Li called out to her daughter.

The two beauties, one tall and one short, walked out hand in hand, chatting and laughing.

...

Around 10:30 in the morning.

Jiang Tao exited Panjiayuan Station at Exit B4 and arrived at the antique market.

The sun was bright and the weather was fine today.

The pedestrian traffic in the antique market was also much higher than usual.

"Don't these people go to work on a weekday..."

Jiang Tao kept wondering to himself.

Why was it that whether it was a weekday or a weekend, buses, subways, and streets were always so crowded.

Complaining inwardly, Jiang Tao merged into the crowd and headed deeper into the antique street.

After a little over ten minutes, Jiang Tao stopped in front of Boya Auction House.

He had sold his premium all-four banknote here previously, and the transaction process had been very smooth.

The young master of this shop gave money promptly and had left a very good impression on Jiang Tao.

Therefore, when he obtained jewelry like a Melo pearl this time, this auction house was his first thought.

"Hello, sir. How can I help you?"

Seeing someone enter, Zhang Bo smiled and stepped forward to greet Jiang Tao.

Jiang Tao still remembered Zhang Bo as the young boss, but Zhang Bo greeted dozens of customers every day and had clearly forgotten about Jiang Tao.

"Boss, I came here before to sell a premium all-four banknote. Do you remember?"

Jiang Tao smiled and tried to strike up a familiar conversation with Zhang Bo.

"Oh! I remember, I remember! Are you here today to browse for some vintage pieces, or do you have another treasure you want to sell?"

Upon Jiang Tao's reminder, Zhang Bo's memory of him was instantly activated.

Recently, apart from Jiang Tao's all-four Qilin banknote, Boya hadn't acquired any other premium banknotes.

Zhang Bo had bought that premium banknote from Jiang Tao for 40,000 yuan and eventually sold it for just over 50,000 yuan, making a profit of over 10,000 yuan.

Without beating around the bush, Jiang Tao asked directly, "Do you buy jewelry here?"

Zhang Bo asked curiously, "What brand? What type? Necklace or bracelet? Can you let me see it first?"

"It's not finished jewelry. It's a Melo pearl I recently picked up."

As he spoke, Jiang Tao reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small plastic bottle of Liuwei Dihuang Pills.

He unscrewed the cap and took out the Melo pearl, which was wrapped in a layer of tissue paper.

Seeing the small medicine bottle and the tissue paper Jiang Tao used to store jewelry, the corners of Zhang Bo's mouth twitched slightly.

This big brother still treated these treasures as if they were worth nothing, just like before!

Zhang Bo clearly remembered that when Jiang Tao came to sell that premium banknote, he had pulled it directly out of his wallet.

When Jiang Tao handed the Melo pearl to Zhang Bo, he asked, "Boss, do you know what a Melo pearl is?"

"I've heard of it, but we haven't actually acquired one of these here before. Let me take a look first..."

Zhang Bo reached out to take the Melo pearl from Jiang Tao and carefully unwrapped the tissue paper, revealing the shimmering Melo pearl inside.

The surface of this pearl was as smooth as a mirror, and the classic flame-like pattern structure within the pearl immediately made Zhang Bo's eyes light up.

Turning it over and examining it repeatedly for over three minutes, Zhang Bo finally looked at Jiang Tao and asked,

"Brother, how much are you looking to sell this pearl for?"

"120,000."

Jiang Tao's tone was very calm, just like a vegetable vendor telling a customer the price was 12 yuan at a farmers' market.

"120,000??"

Zhang Bo looked back down at the Melo pearl in his hand. Was this thing really that valuable?