Kissed and Seduced By the Most Rough Man in the Village-Chapter 451: Make A Feint

Su Xiaoxiao wandered around the market and finally found a few stalls selling second-hand items in a secluded corner.

The stalls displayed second-hand comic books, kettles, and iron pots with multiple patches. There were also porcelain ornaments, plates, and bowls.

Her gaze swept over the items, but it quickly landed on a bundled-up object.

A combination of red rubies and white diamonds, even though dulled by time, still exuded a lethal charm to women.

Su Xiaoxiao’s long lashes fluttered, concealing the delight in her eyes.

She walked over and squatted in front of the pile of old items, casually picking up a porcelain vase.

The vase resembled blue-and-white porcelain, but it had clearly been shattered and mended before.

Su Xiaoxiao examined it closely. Regardless of its condition or pattern, something about it felt off.

Flipping it over, she saw the mark at the bottom: Ming Dynasty, Wanli Era.

There was no issue with the marking, yet holding the vase gave Su Xiaoxiao an inexplicable sense of strangeness.

As she hesitated, the elderly man squatting nearby and puffing on a dry tobacco pipe suddenly spoke.

"This is a six-hundred-year-old antique, and it’s a treasure from the imperial palace. If you want it, I’ll sell it to you for sixty."

"Sixty? That expensive?" Su Xiaoxiao was taken aback by the price.

If this were genuine, the price would be fair since it would be a rare treasure. But with such obvious repair marks, who would spend sixty yuan on it?

A bystander overheard Su Xiaoxiao’s exclamation and leaned in to take a closer look.

After inspecting the vase in her hand, the man clicked his tongue and remarked, "Tsk tsk, this is truly a rare find. If you miss this, you won’t see something like it again. Young lady, do you want it? If not, let me have it."

"Then you can take it." Without hesitation, Su Xiaoxiao handed the vase to the man.

The man reached out to take it. Su Xiaoxiao felt the vase was already in his hands, so she loosened her grip. Unexpectedly, the man withdrew his hand at the last second.

The vase dropped rapidly. Both the stall owner and the man gasped in alarm.

But Su Xiaoxiao was quicker. In less than a second, she caught the vase mid-air.

Frowning, she was about to question why the man didn’t hold on properly, but then she noticed his awkward expression.

Su Xiaoxiao wasn’t foolish. In an instant, she figured out what was happening.

The porcelain vase was likely a later imitation, with only the mark at the bottom being genuine.

The man was a decoy. Their ploy resembled those seen in the modern era when selling jade—intentionally pretending to drop an item during a handover, forcing the buyer to compensate for the "damaged" goods.

Such incidents were so common that it led to the phrase "goods without hand exchange" in jade trading.

Su Xiaoxiao almost laughed in exasperation at their little trick. Not wanting to waste time arguing with them, she carefully placed the vase back in its original spot.

"You can discuss this directly with the owner," Su Xiaoxiao said flatly.

The man pursed his lips and simply turned to the stall owner. "Will you sell the vase for forty?"

"Fine. You’re my first customer today. I’ll take it as a good start," the stall owner replied impatiently, though Su Xiaoxiao caught the flash of reluctance in his eyes.

This confirmed her suspicion.

Su Xiaoxiao sneered inwardly but didn’t leave immediately.

Instead, she moved to another spot and picked up a ruby-and-diamond necklace.

The main stones were exceptionally clear, and their carat weights were significant.

The larger diamonds were about five carats each, with smaller ones around three carats per stone.

The rubies flanking the sides were one carat each, gradually increasing to three and five carats. The centerpiece pendant was an impressive twenty-plus carats.

This piece didn’t seem like a 17th-century artifact. It was more likely a custom order from abroad by a wealthy lady a few decades ago.

The large carat sizes and the high purity of both the rubies and diamonds made it valuable.

In twenty years, this necklace would be worth at least thirty to fifty million yuan.

"How much for this?" Su Xiaoxiao asked.

The stall owner glanced at the necklace and hesitated before replying, "One hundred and twenty yuan. These are real gems, globally recognized hard currency."

"Sixty," Su Xiaoxiao countered without hesitation, cutting the price in half and startling the stall owner.

His face darkened as he retorted, "Such a fine piece couldn’t possibly sell for just sixty."

"Alright, forget it then." Su Xiaoxiao turned to leave without a second thought.

One, two, three...

She counted silently, reaching six without hearing the stall owner call out. She almost lost her patience.

But then she thought it over. If she couldn’t buy it, she could always have Jiang Yexun come over later to purchase it.

When she reached ten, the stall owner’s disgruntled voice finally called out.

"Sixty is too low. How about a hundred? The necklace is yours."

Su Xiaoxiao raised her hand and gestured an eight.

The stall owner gritted his teeth. "Fine. Eighty it is."

Su Xiaoxiao’s lips curved into a satisfied smile. She turned back, picked up the necklace, and examined it carefully again.

After confirming there were no issues, she pulled eighty yuan from her satchel and handed it to the stall owner.

The stall owner took the money, clearly pleased.

But knowing the necklace’s true future value, Su Xiaoxiao was even happier.

She could tell the stall owner wasn’t someone in desperate need of money.

He was likely collecting items in secret and reselling them later. His attire suggested a relatively comfortable lifestyle.

However, his narrow-mindedness and lack of business integrity would likely lead him to regret selling so many treasures cheaply in the future.

Su Xiaoxiao placed the necklace into her satchel, though she secretly stored it in her space. Then, she scanned the remaining stalls.

There were still some old items, but none were extraordinary treasures.

Items worth tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands in a few decades weren’t worth the hassle or the risk of becoming gossip material.