Chapter 56: You Should Have Understood

After all, he had sworn that the antique bowl had some significance and was an heirloom passed down in his family.

Zhao Ge saw this kid acting all scholarly and calm, clearly not just talking nonsense, so he asked to take him to get it appraised.

And the result? What a joke! That whole pile of bowls was all rubbish! Not a single one was authentic!

Did they think they could fool him like a monkey?!

Zhao Ge suppressed his anger and informed Wei Tianhong of the result, but who would have thought that Wei Tianhong wouldn’t believe it, insisting that Zhao Ge and his group wanted to deceive him out of his precious bowl and would just return a regular porcelain bowl to trick him!

One can imagine how badly he got schooled in the end.

Wei Tianhong had never suffered such humiliation before. Being insulted and lectured was one thing, but the crucial point was that deep down, that mysterious intuition of his turned out to be false…

Could it be that he really dreamt this up and imagined it all?

Thinking about Xia Li’s poor family background, it really was hard to believe they had any antiques.

This incident made him feel an intense sense of emptiness, as if he had been knocked from a cloud back into a muddy pit.

But… his past instincts had always been correct; he had never made a mistake! How could it turn out like this now?

He clung to the last shred of hope, his bloodshot eyes tightly fixed on Xia Li.

Xia Li looked at him in surprise: “There aren’t any left; I’ve lent them all to you. It’s been a few days, and we can hardly have a meal at home. Didn’t you say you’d return them to me soon? Could there really be anything valuable in those bowls?”

Wei Tianhong didn’t miss a single change in her expression. It seemed she wasn’t lying; he weakly loosened his grip on the bedsheet, a bitter smile escaping his lips.

“… It’s not possible, there’s nothing valuable. I told you not to hold too high hopes.” His face was ashen.

“Oh, you’re right.” Xia Li sighed in disappointment.

“Well, if it’s worthless, then please return my bowls, a total of thirteen, I’ve counted them.”

Wei Tianhong looked at her with a serious expression, nearly catching his breath.

He had smashed all those bowls in a fit of frustration, a pile of worthless trash that humiliated him and got him beaten up for nothing! How could he remember to bring them back?

He never even considered that Xia Li would really ask him to compensate her!

Stammering awkwardly, Wei Tianhong explained that he had slipped and accidentally broken the bowls when he returned, injuring himself on the sharp pieces.

Thinking Xia Li would feel sorry for his injury, he was caught off guard when she nodded sympathetically, “Ah, there’s no way around it; you’ll just have to pay for them.”

Zhao Xueling didn’t know the whole story, but she understood the situation from the side.

Seeing Wei Tianhong’s dazed expression and poor complexion, she quickly encouraged Xia Li, “Li Zi, Tianhong is just trying to help you. It’s not easy for him to make that trip! If the items broke on the way, then they broke; old bowls and plates aren’t anything precious.”

“He even got hurt himself. You should be understanding; you definitely won’t let Tianhong help you and then suffer for it, right?”

Hearing her soft voice, Wei Tianhong couldn’t help but glance over in admiration.

What she said made sense.

As Zhao Xueling spoke, she subtly winked at Xia Li, suggesting she should take this opportunity to win over Tianhong. He would surely be touched.

Xia Li looked at her with a strange expression, her brows slightly furrowed: “Xueling, just because you like Tianhong doesn’t mean you should say that. My family’s bowls and plates were left by my dad; they are old heirlooms, and I lent them to him because he promised he would take good care of them.”

As she spoke, she suddenly felt a bit wronged, and her fair complexion almost turned red around her eyes.

“All of those were left by my dad before he passed away. I never expected them to get broken like this, and you two are saying these things to me; how could it be like this…”

Wei Tianhong and Zhao Xueling both felt awkward.

What exactly had they said to her?