Chapter 7 — I Can't Be Patient Anymore

The sound of cracking echoed through the microphone, spreading throughout the studio. Porcelain pieces scattered. Blue and white enamel pieces scattered under the light, sparkling like a crushed starry sky. I sat in the corner. Mind is empty. She... really broke it. Right in front of hundreds of people. In front of the whole country. The vase my mother left behind. The vase is worth 30,000,000 yuan. The only relic. MC also froze.

“Miss… even if it's not worth the money, you shouldn't beat it like that…”

“What's the point of keeping a fake!”

The mother-in-law is still inconsolable.

"Bad luck! I told you, she's not a kind person, leaving behind fake things to deceive people!"

Under the stage, Chu Dinh ran up to pull her.

“Mom, come down…”

“Get off what!”

She waved her hand.

"I'll force him to sell that old house when he comes back! What did the family heirloom say? It's all a lie!"

I stood up. Step towards the stage. The heartbeat clearly beats under the soles of the feet.

“Miss, don't go up…”

The staff tried to stop it.

“I am the owner.”

The voice is not loud. But clear enough. The other person paused. I walked onto the stage. Stand under the light. When my mother-in-law saw me, her face immediately changed.

“What…what are you doing here?”

I don't look at her. Just bend down, pick up a piece of porcelain. The sharp piece cut my hand. Blood seeped out. I don't feel pain.

“May I ask you?”

“I am the owner of this vase.”

I stood up straight, looking straight into the lens.

"This Thanh Hoa porcelain vase is a relic left behind by my mother, Mrs. Lam Uyen Thu. This morning, without my knowledge, it was arbitrarily taken away for examination by my mother-in-law."

The whole auditorium roared. The cameras simultaneously turned towards me.

“What did you say!”

Mother-in-law shouted.

"I'm your mother-in-law! How about I take your things and see? Moreover, they're fake! The experts said so too!"

I turned to Old Liu.

“Master Liu, are you sure this is a fake?”

He pushed his glasses, a bit confused.

"Judging from the design, glaze, and bottom mark, it doesn't match Thanh Hoa's ware. But... I don't dare to say with absolute certainty, because I haven't checked thoroughly..."

“Then take a look at this.”

I pulled out a yellowed piece of paper from my document bag. Give it to him. Old man Liu took it. Just take a look. His expression immediately changed. He put on his glasses, lowered his head to look more closely again, each passing second became suffocatingly long, then his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

“This… this is…”

His voice was lost.

“Certificate of appraisal from the Co Palace Antiques Assessment Center, issued in 1987.”

I said, calmly.

"The signer is teacher Vuong Chan Hoa, he is probably not a stranger to you."

“Master Vuong…”

Old Liu's voice also began to tremble.

“This is his real signature… I recognize this handwriting…”

"On the paper it is clearly stated, Thanh Hoa porcelain vase with the name Thanh Hoa, genuine product, first-class national literary object, market reference price 30,000,000 yuan."

I speak slowly. Every word. The whole studio fell into absolute silence. Everyone was dumbfounded. The mother-in-law opened her mouth, like a fish pulled out of water. Chu Dinh's face turned pale. Old Liu's hands shook more intensely. He bent down, picked up a few pieces of porcelain, held them up to his eyes, then used a magnifying glass to look under the light, observing the cross-section of each piece. No one spoke up. He stood up. Face pale, forehead covered in sweat.

“I… I looked at it wrong.”

His voice was hoarse.

“This vase is real... Thanh Hoa pottery has a special technique, under the light it will shine pale pink, called 'pink flesh', Just now I didn't shine the light so I didn't detect it... as for this color of Thanh Hoa glaze, I used 'To Ma Ly Thanh', but because it was well preserved, the color is still fresh, I mistook it for modern chemical glaze..."

The more he spoke, the quieter he became. Almost inaudible.

“This is a real thing… Thanh Hoa period vine flower vase… there are less than ten in the world… last year at an auction in Hong Kong, a similar one… sold for 38,000,000 yuan…”

The whole auditorium exploded.

“Thirty million?!”

“Really or fake?!”

“Oh my god, the thirty million vase was broken?!”

“Is that old lady crazy?!”

MC stood stunned for a few seconds before regaining his voice:

“Liu… Old Liu, are you sure? This is live streaming…”

“I'm sure.”

He smiled bitterly, looking at the broken pieces on the ground.

“I've been working for forty years, today... I saw it wrong. I'm sorry, sorry..."

He bowed his head to me. I don't avoid it. Didn't reply either. I just looked at my mother-in-law. She stood there. Like a statue. The expression on his face changed from anger to shock, from shock to blankness, then from blankness to panic.

“Three… thirty million?”

She stammered. My legs were soft, I almost fell. Chu Dinh quickly caught it, his voice shaking as well:

“Mom… mom… thirty million…”

“Impossible…”

Mother-in-law suddenly shouted.

“Impossible! It deceives people! This paper is fake! It's fake!”

I pulled all the documents out of my pocket.

“This photo is a family photo taken during the Republican period. In the background of the photo you can see this vase.”

“If you want, you can completely assess it.”

“This is a letter my mother wrote before she passed away, clearly stating the origin of the vase.”

I held each thing up in front of the camera. Not fast. Not slow.