"Mr. Su, may I discuss sothing with you?"
The restaurant owner didn’t answer Su Xuan’s question, asking instead, "Could you take a photo of with this pen?"
"What for?" Su Xuan asked.
"Well, it’s like this," the restaurant owner explained. "This pen is priced so high that I could never afford to own it in my lifeti. Of course, even if I could, you wouldn’t necessarily sell it to . Taking a photo, however, would bring a great sense of satisfaction. It would prove that I once ca close to this treasure, which is a matter of great honor for a collector like ."
"Alright, let’s take the photo, but I’d rather not be in it."
Hearing the sincerity in the owner’s voice, Su Xuan handed the pen over. "Here, you hold it. Take as many pictures as you want, however you want. Just pretend the pen is yours."
"Oh no, I couldn’t possibly do that!" the owner said, waving his hands dismissively.
If he broke it, there was no way he could afford to pay for it!
"Don’t be shy, take it." Su Xuan firmly pressed the pen into the owner’s hands.
As the owner held the pen, his hands began to tremble and his breath grew short. It was like holding a hundred million yuan!
He then pulled a DSLR cara from under his desk and said politely to Su Xuan, "Mr. Su, would you mind taking the picture for ?"
"No problem." Su Xuan took the cara and aid the lens at the owner.
"AHEM!" The owner cleared his throat solemnly, stood at attention, and held the pen out flat in front of him.
CLICK!
Su Xuan snapped the photo.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" The owner, thoroughly satisfied, handed the pen back to Su Xuan. "If I post this on my social dia, it will bring incredible glory. If I print it out and hang it in the restaurant, it will be a far greater attraction than that broken vase. This has also fulfilled one of my deepest wishes. As for the vase, you don’t need to compensate for it!"
Besides, there was another reason he didn’t want Su Xuan to compensate. Su Xuan was the owner of Caranda. That connection was far more valuable than a broken vase. Who knew when he might need Su Xuan’s help?
"This..." Su Xuan scratched his head. "You’re just writing off hundreds of thousands like that? It makes feel terrible. At the very least, I should compensate you for what you originally paid for it!"
"Really, don’t worry about it!" the owner said, shaking his head. "I’m completely satisfied now, more satisfied than if you’d paid a million!"
He wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have repeatedly asked contacts to get him into Caranda’s headquarters just to admire the pen. He was genuinely in love with it.
The owner then gave Su Xuan an analogy: the story of King You of Zhou, who lit the warning beacons simply to see his consort, Bao Si, smile. He played a prank on his feudal lords without a thought for the consequences. The owner explained that taking a photo with the pen was his version of making Bao Si smile. He was completely satisfied at heart and didn’t care about the cost.
Su Xuan was dumbfounded by the owner’s analogy. Yet, the owner absolutely refused to accept any compensation.
"How about this, then?" Su Xuan said, left with no other option. "You have to let take a few more photos of you with the pen. Otherwise, I really won’t feel right about this."
Next, Su Xuan had the owner pose holding the pen, pretending to write a few words on the desk as if it were his own. Then, he had the owner tuck the pen into his jacket pocket for another photo. This made the owner so happy he couldn’t stop grinning, exclaiming that he’d struck it rich and that this ti, he was truly putting on airs with a pen! Hahaha!
"Mr. Su, I’m so sorry for taking up so much of your ti over such a small matter. Please, sit down! I’ll send over a few dishes on the house."
As they left the office, the owner held Su Xuan’s hand, beaming as if he’d just scored a major conquest in there. He was absolutely ecstatic.
"Thanks for that." Su Xuan waved to Ye Qianqian and Su Zimo, then sat down at a table the owner had personally arranged for him. He told the two of them what had happened in the office, leaving them utterly surprised.
"What’s going on?" Fang Yuan was dumbfounded. How did Su Xuan get so friendly with the owner after just one trip to the office?
He couldn’t help but ask the owner, who was now picking up the vase shards, "How much did he pay you? You look ecstatic."
The owner bent over to gather the shards and joked, "There’s no need for compensation. The vase was a fake, just a cheap counterfeit worth a few dozen yuan, not the real deal."
"Seriously?" Fang Yuan’s face was a mask of disbelief.
But the vase had a certificate of authenticity! Could the certificate be fake, too? Was the owner just using a bunch of fakes to attract custors?
"Fang Yuan, have you forgotten your plans for tonight?"
Just then, a long-haired woman with a sharp chin walked over to Fang Yuan and chided playfully, "This is our first ti eting, yet you’re already ignoring ?"
"Oh, sorry. I just saw so old friends. They broke sothing, and I was helping to sort it out," Fang Yuan hastily explained to the woman.
He had t this woman on a dating site. His goal was just a fling; he had no intention of actually marrying her.
"They don’t look like ordinary friends to ," the woman said. "The way you were looking at that one girl seed a bit off."
"Not at all!" Fang Yuan argued. "Ever since I t you, my mind has been filled with nothing but you. How could I possibly have eyes for anyone else? You’re the woman I’m destined to marry. I’m going to be your husband for life!"
"Hehe, you’re such a smooth-talker!" The woman was amused and playfully swung her bag at him.
However, after the bag hit Fang Yuan, it bounced off and struck a jade zodiac ornant on the wooden shelving on the wall!
CLANG!
The ornant crashed to the floor, shattering into countless pieces.
"Damn it!"
The owner, who had just finished cleaning up the vase shards, saw this and his face fell again.
What kind of bad luck is this? Why is soone else smashing my things?
"Don’t be angry, boss!" Fang Yuan said, forcing a wide smile. "How much did you buy this thing for online? I’ll pay you back."
"Online?" The owner’s expression soured even more. "Who told you this was from online?" he said angrily. "I paid 150,000 yuan for this! Pay up now!"
With that, the owner produced the zodiac ornant’s certificate and grabbed Fang Yuan’s arm, demanding paynt.
"Wait, you said the other thing was a fake! How is this one suddenly real?" Fang Yuan’s eyes went wide. "Don’t you dare bully just because I look like an honest guy!"
"So you don’t want to pay, is that it?" The owner took out his phone and called the police.
Officers arrived shortly after. After examining the certificate of authenticity, they told Fang Yuan the sa thing: pay up, or be detained for destruction of private property.
Only then did Fang Yuan realize that what they had broken this ti was no fake.
"I... I..." Fang Yuan suddenly turned to the woman and said, "I don’t know her! We’re not together! She’s the one who broke it, she should be the one to pay!"
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