"This was made by his suicidal sister. His sister jumped off a building due to depression when Li Jiani was eighteen. This vase is sort of a relic," Lu Qi said, looking at the red box in Xu Qingqing's hand and sighing regretfully.
"I see. No wonder he got so angry," Xu Qingqing nodded, then continued with a hint of confusion, "Why didn't you call me in advance? I would definitely have made time to repair it."
"I wanted to," Lu Qi replied with a helpless and angry expression, then told Xu Qingqing the whole story.
Before Xu Qingqing came to Lu Qi's shop, there was an old master in the shop with extremely superb restoration skills. Since his surname was Hu, everyone in the shop called him Master Hu.
Master Hu had good skills when he was young, but he developed presbyopia at the age of 40. His eyesight was so poor that even the thickest reading glasses didn't help.
Lu Qi wanted Master Hu to retire. Of course, Lu Qi always remembered Master Hu's contributions over the years. He arranged a pension for him and would also help him pay the five social insurances.
For an ordinary person, such good conditions should have been readily accepted.
But Master Hu refused. He thought Lu Qi was depriving him of the opportunity to work and would clock in for work on time every day.
Lu Qi understood Master Hu's psychology. It was indeed a bit cruel for a genius like him to be prohibited from working due to his physical condition.
So Lu Qi deliberately arranged some easy restoration jobs for Master Hu, taking his eyesight into consideration.
But then Xu Qingqing came to the shop a few days ago. The most difficult restoration jobs in the shop were transferred from Master Hu to Xu Qingqing, which made Master Hu resentful.
He thought Lu Qi was being partial and had given all his jobs to Xu Qingqing.
Moreover, he simply didn't believe that Xu Qingqing's skills were that good.
He would always mention Xu Qingqing's shortcomings to other colleagues intentionally or unintentionally, hoping to damage Xu Qingqing's image.
After Lu Qi learned about these things, he endured them for the sake of Master Hu being an old master. But Master Hu became even more excessive.
After Li Jiani's vase was delivered, Lu Qi had someone keep it properly and planned to let Xu Qingqing restore it when she came.
Unexpectedly, after Master Hu learned about this, eager to prove himself, he restored the vase without Lu Qi's permission.
As a result, he caused a mess.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Master Hu quietly asked for leave and went home.
Leaving Lu Qi to clean up the mess caused by his mistake.
"I see," Xu Qingqing said, feeling a bit angry.
If Master Hu had truly wanted to restore the cultural relics, she would have felt sorry for this old worker.
But it was obvious that Master Hu looked down on her, being stubborn and obstinate.
Moreover, he had ruined someone's treasure. Such a thing should not have happened to an old restorer.
"Sigh," Lu Qi let out a long sigh.
He didn't want to fall out with Master Hu like this. He wanted to fire Master Hu because of this incident, but he would still pay Master Hu's pension as usual.
Just as Lu Qi and Xu Qingqing arrived at the entrance of the antique shop, the receptionist ran over with a troubled look on her face and whispered something in Lu Qi's ear.
"What? Master Hu is causing trouble again!" Lu Qi rushed to the antique storage room immediately after hearing that.
There was a middle - aged man wearing glasses with lenses as thick as beer bottles. His hair was in a mess, his face was a bit greasy, and there was some gunk in the corners of his eyes. It was obvious that he had come without even washing his face. He was unkempt and slovenly.
The middle - aged man was walking out with an antique waiting to be restored when he bumped into Lu Qi and was startled.
The antique vase in his hand almost fell to the ground, but luckily Lu Qi caught it in time.
"Good thing I caught it!" Lu Qi was scared out of a cold sweat. He patted his chest to calm his pounding heart and put the vase back on the cabinet.
The middle - aged man didn't repent. He reached out his hand to take the vase again, and Lu Qi's tone became a bit more severe.
"Master Hu, I've already said that your eyesight is no longer suitable for restoration work. Go home quickly."
Xu Qingqing guessed in her heart that this reckless middle - aged man was probably Master Hu that Lu Qi had mentioned, and she was right.
Facing Lu Qi's criticism, Master Hu blushed with shame and anger, showing a wronged and pitiful expression.
"Lu Qi, you're being too unreasonable! My eyes were damaged while restoring cultural relics for your Lu family. Now you want to drive me away!"
"You guys are so heartless and ungrateful!"
Hearing Master Hu use the word "heartless," Lu Qi was so angry that he couldn't speak and just looked helpless.
"Master Hu, didn't I say that I would pay you a pension every month? Why don't you understand?"
"Can you pay me for a lifetime?" Master Hu refused to give in. Because his glasses were too thick, they always slid down to the tip of his nose, and he had to keep pushing them up.
Master Hu was domineering and unreasonable.
"You must just want to pay me a month's pension and get rid of me!" After saying that, Master Hu reached out his hand to take the vase on the shelf again.
"I have hands and feet. I can earn my own living."
"But if you restore things like that, aren't you ruining the Lu family's reputation?" Lu Qi was angry and forcefully snatched the vase back from Master Hu's hand.
"If you really want to make a living by restoration, then why didn't you apologize to the owner after you ruined that vase? Instead, you just ran away!"
"Just for this, I can fire you!"
Unexpectedly, Master Hu immediately grabbed onto this statement and plopped down on the ground, crying and making a scene.
The sight of a middle - aged man throwing a tantrum was really unpleasant, attracting other staff members to come and watch.
"Security guards, drag him out!" Lu Qi closed his eyes tightly, not wanting to look at Master Hu's embarrassing behavior.
The bond between them had been completely destroyed by Master Hu.
Two strong security guards grabbed Master Hu from the left and right and dragged him out.
Lu Qi turned his back to Master Hu and said, "Master Hu, if we can part on good terms, I'll take care of your pension for the rest of your life.
"But if you keep causing trouble, I won't show you any mercy."
After Lu Qi finished speaking, Master Hu was dragged outside by the two security guards and was finally dumped at the entrance of Chengde Street Alley.
On the way, passers - by looked at Master Hu as if he were a performing monkey.
Master Hu wanted to cover his face with his hands, but his arms were firmly held by the two security guards, so he couldn't move them.
Whoever looked at him, Master Hu would glare back with a more vicious look.
"What are you looking at? Anyone who looks at me will have their whole family die!"
"You fatso! All you do is eat. Why don't you eat yourself to death!"
Master Hu cursed the passers - by with the most vicious words, which made many passers - by dislike him and want to rush up and beat him.
After being dumped on the street, Master Hu was like a homeless stray dog.