I glanced at the date on the lunar calendar beside me and pondered briefly. "The ancestral worship of our family is coming in a couple of days. How about you come with me?"
When Fatty heard about our family's ancestral worship, his eyes immediately lit up as he stared at me. "Sure thing! You've really made progress, kid. Now you're even invited to the family's ancestral worship."
Half - way through his words, he frowned with a worried look. "But if your second uncle finds out that I bothered him just for this thing, the old man will surely give me a good beating."
This guy wrinkled his chubby face so hard that it looked quite comical. I held back my laughter and looked at him amusingly.
"You still know that my second uncle will beat you up?"
My second uncle is now in charge of a large part of the antique trading channels in the family. He was also a well - known restoration master in his youth. Even if he himself might not be able to restore the bottle, the masters he knows must be able to solve this problem.
Although Fatty said he was afraid of my second uncle, in fact, when he heard that there was a chance to have the bottle restored, he was extremely excited.
The chair under his butt creaked and groaned. Just thinking about meeting those remarkable uncles and elders during the ancestral worship gave me a headache.
I rubbed my faintly aching head and took out the ledger from the cabinet.
During the ancestral worship, my second uncle would surely ask me about the turnover of the shop. Although the performance wasn't great, I should at least prepare in advance.
I was writing in the ledger when Fatty leaned over with a sly look. "Brother, tell me the truth. How much is this bottle really worth?"
I gave him a disdainful look. Memories of the jade bottle I had seen before flashed through my mind. I sighed. Fatty really deserved to be cheated this time.
If the bottle hadn't broken into pieces on its own just a few days after he bought it, judging from its condition when he got it, it must have been worth more than just a few million.
As for the material of this kind of jade bottle, the texture of the jade, its size, and the traces left by the years were all very vague.
It could be determined that it was from a long - ago era, but with my current knowledge, I couldn't pinpoint a specific period.
"If I'm not mistaken, the actual era of this bottle belongs to an unknown period," I said.
Hearing this, Fatty's eyes immediately lit up and he leaned closer. "Really? An unknown period. Could it be from the Warring States era?"
"But it doesn't make sense. How could there be such exquisitely carved porcelain in the Warring States era?"
I thought of the strange patterns on the jade bottle and silently agreed. Even someone like Fatty, who only had a smattering of knowledge, could tell how exquisite the carving of the bottle's patterns was.
I immediately had an idea and sent the photo Fatty had sent me before to my second uncle.
"Let's wait and see what second uncle says."
My second uncle replied relatively promptly, about two hours later.
He only sent back a few short words: "See you at the ancestral worship."
I replied with an OK gesture, indicating that my second uncle had taken on this matter.
Fatty was overjoyed when he heard this. "But brother, even if the bottle is restored, it will probably be sold, right?"
This guy was smiling like a fox. I gave him a sidelong glance but didn't say anything.
Although I didn't know my second uncle very well, from just these few words, I could clearly sense his interest in the bottle.
Fatty slapped his thick chest and waved his hand nonchalantly. "Ah, what's the big deal. If our second uncle likes it, we can just give it to the old man for free."
I rolled my eyes at him. Not only would my second uncle not take advantage of him, but with his status, would he really cheat us juniors out of a little money?
However, when it came to the ancestral worship... I frowned in distress.
My fingertips tapped lightly on the somewhat old - fashioned countertop. Seeing my expression, Fatty immediately understood. "Got it. Brother, you're not still scared of the ancestral worship, are you?"
This guy had grown up with me since childhood and had heard a thing or two about my family's affairs.
I grew up with my parents in the Northeast. The most headache - inducing time every year was going back to the South for the ancestral worship.
The Chen family was considered a leading force in the industry. As the eldest son of a collateral branch of the Chen family, I was just a bystander.
But even a bystander couldn't escape the fate of being forced to participate in the ancestral worship since childhood.
Just thinking about the scene I saw during the ancestral worship when I was a kid made me shiver involuntarily.
Fatty had heard me talk about that incident. When I was seven or eight years old, my father took me to the ancestral worship once. After we returned to the Northeast, I immediately fell seriously ill.
Because of this, my mother almost divorced my father. Fortunately, we found a very famous shaman who treated me and I gradually recovered.
Fatty always laughed at me, saying that I wasn't tough - enough. If it had been him, he would have immediately taken care of that evil thing.
Even though I sometimes argued with Fatty, I still felt uncomfortable whenever I thought of that incident.
What Fatty didn't know was that I knew better than anyone what had happened during the ancestral worship that day.
At that time, I was just a naive and fearless kid. At the age of seven or eight, growing up in the Northeast had made me fearless.
But even the most innocent child would develop a serious psychological shadow after seeing such a terrifying scene.
Even now, in my twenties, sometimes in the middle of the night, I would still think of the old man's gaunt face, cloudy eyes, and crazy appearance.
I shivered and tried my best to dispel the panic in my heart.
That year, while everyone was burning incense for the ancestors, an old man suddenly jumped out of the tree. He was crazy, opening his big mouth and biting at me.
If it were me now, I might be okay. At most, I would get injured because I couldn't react in time.
But for a seven - or eight - year - old child at that time, this was nothing less than a nightmare.
The old man opened his big mouth and bit my neck. So many adults couldn't pull him away. In the end, his dark and yellowed teeth bit off a piece of my flesh.
Fatty knew what I was thinking when he saw my expression. He came over and gave me a big hug. "Brother, don't worry. I'll protect you no matter what happens."
Don't worry? I gave him a disdainful look, closed my mouth, and didn't answer.
I've been suspicious for years. That old man seemed to have a specific target. It was so strange that he directly targeted an eight - year - old child.
It was as if someone had told him specifically that the person he was supposed to attack was me.
I slowly reached out and touched the back of my neck. I sighed. There was still a faint scar there, the wound left by the old man's bite.
Over the years, just thinking about those things would make me shiver involuntarily.
Seeing my ugly face, Fatty immediately comforted me. "I wasn't there that year, brother. If your Fatty had been there, I would have beaten that old man to a pulp."