Ye Chen Takes Action!

Overjoyed, Ye Chen immediately prepared to tuck the Nine Profound Heavenly Scriptures inside his robe.

But the book instantly crumbled into powder and vanished.

Every word in the book, however, was clearly imprinted on Ye Chen's mind.

Just then, his father-in-law, who had fled, was roughly dragged back by several burly men.

Both sides of his face were red and swollen. It looked as though they had caught him and given him a good slapping!

Ye Chen could only laugh to himself at the sight of him in such a sorry state.

The old fellow had caused trouble and still wanted to pass the blame to him. The nerve of him! Letting him learn a lesson was punishment enough.

His father-in-law, Xiao Changkun, was in a particularly sorry state. He had run for his life and was utterly exhausted.

But he didn't have the car keys. He was old and fat, and he couldn't run fast, so how could he possibly outrun these young men?

Before long, they had caught him and brought him back tied up. He had also been slapped several times. He really couldn't have been more miserable.

After the men brought Xiao Changkun back, the manager, Zhou Liangyun, gritted his teeth and said, "You old bastard, you smashed our vase and thought you could run? Why don't you find out who's behind Auspicious Celebration Hall?"

His father-in-law said in terror, "I didn't do it on purpose! The vase was too slippery..."

Zhou Liangyun said coldly, "Cut the crap! I'll give you this afternoon to come up with the money. If you can't pay, I'll report you to the police for deliberately damaging someone else's property. A case worth over five million is enough to put you behind bars for life!"

Xiao Changkun trembled all over with fright. He looked at Ye Chen as though he had spotted a life-saving straw. "Ye Chen, my good son-in-law! You can't just stand by and watch me die!"

Ye Chen said helplessly, "Dad, I don't have that kind of money either!"

Xiao Changkun hastily blurted out, "Then go to prison in my place! The Xiao Family has supported you for so long. It's time you repaid our kindness!"

How do you have the nerve to say that? Ye Chen thought.

He was about to refuse when the middle-aged man spoke first. "Every grievance has its source, and every debt its debtor. We at Auspicious Celebration Hall value our reputation above all in business. You broke the vase, so you have to pay for it!"

With that, he said to Ye Chen, "You can go, but you'd better help him raise enough money. Otherwise, once this afternoon is over, I'll send him to the police station!"

Ye Chen nodded lightly.

Xiao Changkun was terrified and cried, "My good son-in-law, you can't leave! What am I going to do if you go?"

Seeing how frightened he was, Ye Chen couldn't help finding it funny.

Naturally, though, he couldn't laugh in front of him.

He was just about to find an excuse to leave and raise money, letting his father-in-law stay and suffer a little.

But he suddenly remembered that the Nine Profound Heavenly Scriptures had contained an ancient method for restoring porcelain artifacts. An idea occurred to him, and he said, "Manager Zhou, if I can restore that yuhuchun vase, will you let my father-in-law go?"

Zhou Liangyun sneered. "Who do you think you are, claiming you can restore an antique? To tell you the truth, I already sent photos to a cultural relics appraiser in Jinling. He said that with it broken this badly, there was no way to restore it."

Ye Chen shook his head. "Your vase is already broken, and it's no use keeping it like this. You won't lose anything by letting me try..."

Zhou Liangyun scoffed disdainfully. "Fine. You won't give up until you reach the Yellow River, will you? All right! Let's see what you can do!"

Ye Chen said, "Get me a sheet of xuan paper, a writing brush, and five eggs. The eggs must be raw."

Zhou Liangyun was waiting to see what kind of fool Ye Chen would make of himself. Without hesitation, he soon found him a basket of raw eggs.

Even so, he couldn't resist mocking him. "Restoring a cultural relic with eggs? I've never seen a method like that. I'm warning you, don't try any tricks. Either pay up, or we'll take your father-in-law to court. Five million is enough to put him in prison for the rest of his life."

Ye Chen nodded. "What if I restore it?"

Zhou Liangyun snorted. "If a professional appraises it and confirms that it's been restored and most of the loss can be recovered, then you can leave!"

"Good!" Ye Chen nodded. "It's a deal!"

With that, he wasted no more words on him. He picked up the brush and traced the outline of the yuhuchun vase on the xuan paper.

He then cracked a small opening in an egg, dipped his index finger in some egg white, and spread it on a fragment of the vase. He pressed it onto the paper model, then picked up another fragment and pressed it on. Gradually, the paper model was covered in pieces of the antique...

Everyone held their breath, afraid of disturbing his work.

Before long, half an hour had passed.

When Ye Chen straightened up again, a Tang dynasty yuhuchun vase, as good as new, stood before everyone.

He smiled at Zhou Liangyun and said, "Take a look and see if you can find any flaws."

Zhou Liangyun picked up the vase and looked it over before saying disdainfully, "Are you fucking kidding me? You think smearing it with egg counts as restoring it? How about I break your legs and smear them with egg too?"

"Don't touch that vase!"

Just then, a clear, urgent voice suddenly rang out from the doorway.

Immediately afterward, a coolly beautiful woman in a white casual suit stepped inside.

Her features were delicate and lovely, and her figure was perfect and slender. Standing close to 1.7 meters tall, she carried an air of nobility. Her beautiful eyes swept across the room, filled with icy arrogance, like those of a frost queen.

The instant Zhou Liangyun saw her, his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly lowered his head and said respectfully, "Miss, what brings you here?"

The newcomer was none other than Song Wanting, the eldest daughter of the Song Family, one of Jinling's foremost families, and the actual owner of Auspicious Celebration Hall.

Song Wanting snorted, anger on her face. "I was afraid that if I didn't come, you'd run this entire shop into the ground! What's going on here?"

Zhou Liangyun gave an awkward smile and hurriedly replied, "A customer accidentally broke the vase while looking at it. His son-in-law patched it up with egg. I was just about to tell them that this kind of repair was worthless and discuss compensation with them."

Song Wanting leaned over the yuhuchun vase and examined it for a moment. Her expression suddenly changed!

She immediately turned and angrily rebuked Zhou Liangyun. "Put it down, now! Who told you to touch things when you don't understand them?"

Zhou Liangyun was instantly dumbfounded. "Miss, what do you mean?"

Song Wanting said angrily, "This artifact has just been restored. Apart from the expert who restored it, no one else can touch it with their hands for the time being. Don't you even know a rule that basic?"

Zhou Liangyun hesitated. "But... he just smeared it with egg. That doesn't count as restoration, does it?"

Anger filled Song Wanting's beautiful eyes as she scolded him. "You fool! After its restoration, this vase's price should have at least doubled, but because you touched it, it's lost at least two million in value! Pack your things. Don't come back tomorrow!"

She had previously seen a porcelain plate from the same period as the yuhuchun vase at an auction in Hong Kong.

The plate had a very interesting history. It was Tang dynasty porcelain that had been broken during the Song dynasty, then restored by skilled craftsmen of the Song dynasty using the same method.

Because this restoration method was exceptionally rare and had long been lost to history, the plate had ultimately sold for thirteen million, far above its actual value.

Now that Ye Chen had restored this yuhuchun vase using a lost method, its value would also rise sharply!

Zhou Liangyun's face went deathly pale. He had never imagined that merely touching the yuhuchun vase would cause such a tremendous loss and cost him his job.

Song Wanting continued, "Where is the master who restored this yuhuchun vase? Take me to meet him at once."