Divine Eye Appraisal: Starting with a Lucky Pickup of a Beautiful CEO's Family Heirloom

Wen Zhaoye parked his secondhand Jetta at the entrance of the inpatient department, with his grandmother's old quilt and the pot of jasmine flowers stuffed in the trunk.

As the nurse helped Grandma into her wheelchair, the monitor wires were removed one by one. Her thin wrists still bore the marks of the IV catheter tape, white rings that looked like bracelets she had worn for many years.

The nurse handed the discharge papers to Wen Zhaoye, who took them, signed them, and then bent down to take his grandmother's slippers out from under the bed and put them in a plastic bag.

"Grandma, let's go."

Grandma didn't say anything, her hand gripping the armrest of her wheelchair, her eyes fixed on the window.

The wheelchair was pushed to the entrance of the inpatient department. Sunlight shone on the steps, and there were still traces of rainwater on the ground from last night.

Grandma squinted at the sun, and the wrinkled expression on her face slowly relaxed.

"It's good to be alive."

she says.

Wen Zhaoye steadied the wheelchair, his Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't reply.

He helped his grandmother into the car, placed the pot of jasmine flowers at her feet, and put a quilt behind her back.

As he closed the car door, he glanced at the inpatient building—through the glass doors, a nurse stood waving in his direction.

He got into the car, fastened his seatbelt, and glanced at his grandmother in the rearview mirror.

Grandma was looking down at the pot of jasmine, her fingers touching the leaves.

"This flower has withered."

"Just water it more when you get back," Wen Zhaoye said.

As the car drove away, Grandma didn't say anything more, her eyes fixed on the street outside the car window.

She probably hasn't seen these street scenes in a long time.

The rental apartment is no longer habitable.

Wen Zhaoye rented a small bungalow with a small courtyard for his grandmother by the river. It wasn't big, with two rooms and a kitchen, but the courtyard was bright and sunny.

The landlady is an old lady whose son lives in the provincial capital. The house is empty anyway, so she doesn't ask for a high rent.

The car was parked at the entrance of the alley.

Wen Zhaoye got out of the car first, unloaded the quilt and jasmine flowerpot from the trunk, and then turned around to help his grandmother.

Grandma walked slowly, leaning on her newly bought rattan cane, but every step was steady.

She stood at the gate of the courtyard, glanced at it, said nothing, and went inside to sit down on the bamboo chair.

The sunlight shone perfectly in the middle of the courtyard.

The caregiver, Sister Zhang, was recommended by the housekeeping company. She was in her forties, efficient, and hardworking, and clearly had work experience.

She first poured her grandmother a glass of warm water, and then began tidying up the room.

Wen Zhaoye divided his grandmother's medicine into morning, noon and evening doses, put them in three small medicine boxes, and wrote a note on the refrigerator door: yellow after breakfast, white after lunch, and red before bed.

Grandma watched him bustling around and said, "You're even more talkative than a nurse." Wen Zhaoye smiled and said, "I'm used to being talkative."

He squatted down in front of his grandmother and put the lids on the three medicine boxes.

Show her the pills inside: "The yellow one is for lowering blood pressure, take it after meals. The white one is for protecting your heart, also take it after meals. The red one is for bed, take it and then go to sleep, don't wander around."

Grandma frowned: "With my legs like this, where can I possibly wander off to?"

"Then just go to sleep."

Sister Zhang, watching from the side, smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Wen, I've memorized all the medicine instructions; there won't be any mistakes."

Wen Zhaoye stood up, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, on which was written Sister Zhang's salary and schedule.

"Sister Zhang, I'll be at the shop during the day, so please take good care of Grandma. Call me anytime if anything happens."

"no problem."

Grandma sat on a bamboo chair, leaning on her rattan cane, staring blankly at the sunlight in the yard.

The jasmine plant was placed at her feet, its leaves swaying gently in the breeze.

Wen Zhaoye squatted down and moved the flowerpot further inside, afraid it would be blown over by the wind.

"Grandma, I'll be back for lunch."

Grandma nodded.

He stood up and walked towards the door, but then looked back at it again.

Grandma was still sitting there, looking down at the flowers.

The sunlight fell on her graying temples, making her look much prettier than the lights in the ICU.

Qin Fei called at noon.

"Grandma has been discharged from the hospital?"

"Yes, I just picked him up this morning." Wen Zhaoye sat on the steps in the backyard of Jianzhen Pavilion, holding a bottle of mineral water. "Where are you staying?"

"I rented a bungalow by the river with a yard; the environment is alright."

There was a two-second silence on the phone.

"Don't go to that shop today, stay home and keep Grandma company."

"I'm already home," Wen Zhaoye said. "I came back for lunch."

"That's good." Qin Fei's voice sounded quite relaxed. "By the way, I've already submitted the materials for Bao Dequan's case, and I expect to have a result in the next couple of days."

"Are his account books even useful?"

"It's extremely useful," Qin Fei said. "His records of buying and selling counterfeit goods alone are enough to keep him in jail for a few more years."

Wen Zhaoye took a sip of water and didn't say anything.

"Also," Qin Fei paused, "I also checked Bao Hu's side. Those few times he made those calls, he was calling a number in the provincial capital. The owner of that number is Qian Bohong."

Wen Zhaoye's finger stopped on the bottle cap.

"You guessed right, Bao Dequan does have someone behind him."

"Have you investigated Qian Bohong?"

"I checked. He's the executive director of the provincial antique association, and he has a lot of influence in the industry. Five years ago, during the Warring States jade disc case, he presided over the appraisal as a representative of the association."

The face of Sun Bo'an's son flashed through Wen Zhaoye's mind.

"Understood. Thanks, Captain Qin."

"Don't thank me, hurry back, don't leave your grandma alone."

After Qin Fei finished speaking, she hung up the phone immediately.

Wen Zhaoye looked at the call log on his phone screen and put it back.

He stood up, threw the empty water bottle into the trash can, and dusted off his hands.

His phone vibrated again. He took it out and saw it was a WeChat message.

Qin Fei sent: "I'll come visit your yard another day. My grandmother also loves growing jasmine."

Wen Zhaoye stared at the line of text for a few seconds, then put his phone back in his pocket.

He looked up at the sunlight in the courtyard, then walked out of the backyard, through the newly painted walls of Jianzhen Pavilion, pushed open the door, and headed towards the small courtyard by the river.

The jasmine flowers in the yard are still blooming.

Grandma was asleep in the bamboo chair, her head resting on the back of the chair, her breathing very light and steady.

Sister Zhang was picking vegetables nearby. When she saw him come back, she made a shushing gesture.

Wen Zhaoye walked quietly to his grandmother's side, squatted down, picked up the blanket that had slipped to the ground, and covered her knees with it.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the jasmine leaves, falling on Grandma's wrinkled hands.

He squatted there and watched for a long time.

Then he stood up, walked into the yard, took out his phone, and called Sun Bo'an.

"Old Sun, I want to start investigating the Warring States jade disc from the direction of the provincial capital."

Sun Bo'an was silent for a while on the other end of the phone, then said, "I've been waiting for you to say that for five years."

Wen Zhaoye hung up the phone, stood there, and watched the river flow by outside the courtyard.

The sun was warm. He suddenly felt that although the road was difficult, it was worth it.