Chapter 10 Extremely Disappointed

Aiden immediately strode toward the small stall in the corner. Still, he ensured that he didn’t show an interest in that particular item as his eyes roved around at the old antiques displayed in the little shop. He pretended to be casually browsing through them, fearing that his interest might garner unwanted attention. “Have a look, young man! All items in my stall are good stuff!” the seller said with a smile, ready to charm him or perhaps scam his latest customer. Aiden merely nodded to the seller as he continued looking through the items. He was somewhat surprised when he spotted the thing with a relatively strong energy field. It’s actually an extremely ordinary ceramic vase?! It’s about 24 inches in height, and not a section of it screams extraordinary. A sense of disappointment was written all over the seller’s face when he saw that Aiden’s gaze was fixated on the ceramic vase. He even instantly lost his energy to speak. I know that vase! It’s just a worthless contemporary counterfeit! And most importantly, I can’t scam this man with it, for its craftsmanship is so poor that even non-collectors can tell that it’s a poorly made counterfeit. “Young man, please tell me you don’t have eyes on this…” the seller asked feebly. Aiden merely placed the ceramic vase down and asked with a smile, “What’s your starting price?” “500 dollars! I’ll give you the original price. It was also 500 dollars when I collected it, but as you can tell, the craftsmanship of this counterfeit is inferior. Anyone with discerning eyes can tell it at a glance!” The seller still wanted to rake in some cash. Aiden got up and left without hesitation when he heard those remarks. “Hey! Hey! Don’t go, young man! Why are you pulling such an unconventional approach?! At least give me a counteroffer for me to work with!” the seller shouted helplessly. The people who strolled around the stall chuckled in amusement when they heard the seller. They shook their heads after they glanced at the ceramic vase in the seller’s hand. It’s no wonder that the young man didn’t bother haggling earlier. That vase isn’t something authentic in the first place. That young man probably saw through the seller’s intention of ripping him off. Aiden turned around and returned to the stall once again. Then, he offered with a wave of his hand, “80 dollars! I’ll take it if it’s a deal!” “80 dollars?!” The seller widened his eyes in shock. There was a disbelief look on his face as he stammered, “I offered 500, yet you counter-offer 80?! Young man, that’s not the right way to haggle!” “I’m only interested in buying this vase because I think it’s big enough for me to store my pickles. It’s fine if you aren’t interested in doing business. I’ll just buy some smaller ones, then.” Aiden pursed his lips. “But the price you’ve given is too low,” the seller said with slight discontent. Aiden didn’t rise to the bait as he shook his head and said, “Although I’m a mere layman regarding antiques, I can still tell this is nothing but a defective product. If it weren’t for the fact that I can use it as a container for my pickles, I wouldn’t even bother looking at it!” The onlookers couldn’t help but burst out laughing. This young man is right. Any form of useless items will only be deemed as a waste of space at home, even if it’s given away for free. “Make it 200! 200, and it’s yours!” The seller made his final offer after seemingly having made up his mind. Once again, Aiden took one step out of the store before saying lightly, “I thought you would give me a discount, yet you still want to hike up the offer?! In that case, you can keep it and store your pickles instead!” “Hahaha!!!” Everyone in the marketplace dissolved into hearty laughter. This young man’s words are rather interesting. “Hey! Hey! Come back! Take it! Take it! Final offer 80! No more, no less!” the seller cried out helplessly. Yet, Aiden retorted, “Can’t you give me a few dollars discount?” “80! I won’t sell it to you for a penny less. Otherwise, I’d rather break it,” the seller said impatiently. With that, Aiden ‘reluctantly’ took out his cash and paid the seller 80 dollars. Then, he picked up the ceramic vase and uttered to himself, “This should be able to fill up to 178 ounces of pickles!” When their little audience saw that Aiden actually bought the vase, they concluded that he was an idiot. Who else will be this idiotic to spend 80 dollars on a crappy-looking vase just to fill it up with pickles? Alas, only Aiden knew that there was something mysterious concealed inside this ceramic vase. Otherwise, it’s impossible for it to emanate the most robust energy field in the entire Antiquities City! The seller was delighted with the sale, for he actually sold a piece of junk that cost him eight dollars for 80! When Aiden returned home, he saw that both Linda and Angelina were already home. So, he asked Angelina in surprise, “You got off work early?” As for why Linda was home, Aiden knew without needing to ask. She definitely lost all her money to her poker buddies! Angelina didn’t answer Aiden as she sniffed disdainfully at the things in his hands. When she saw the two translated versions of the ancient books about traditional medicine, she furrowed her brows deeply and questioned in an affronted tone, “Didn’t I tell you to buy two beauty-centric books?! Why are you still buying books about traditional medicine?! What’s the matter? Still dreaming of becoming a traditional medicine practitioner?” Aiden wasn’t the least bit affected by her attitude as he replied amicably, “I’m just more interested in traditional medicine.” “Angelina gave you money to buy books—not some random junk! Don’t you forget that you are spending money belonging to the Grays!” At last, Linda found a channel to lash her anger. In an instant, she vented all the distress she had suffered during those rounds of poker on Aiden. “Also, what’s that you’re holding in your hand? A defective vase? Why did you buy it? Do you think we’re made of money?!” Linda instantly fumed with rage when she saw the ceramic vase in Aiden’s hand. She could no longer suppress her anger and yelled, “You good-for-nothing man! You only know how to waste our family’s money. Not only are you unable to help share the family’s burden, but you waste away doing absolutely nothing! Look at Madam Westbury’s son-in-law. He would give her gift cards worth thousands of dollars during every festive season! And me? I still have to chip in for my own gifts. Forget ever receiving expensive gifts or getting a penny out of you!” At this moment, Linda looked at Aiden with disgust written all over her eyes. Angelina also frowned after she laid her eyes on the ceramic vase in Aiden’s hand. Therefore, she demanded, “Why did you buy this?” “I think it looks quite pretty,” Aiden replied. Of course, Aiden wouldn’t tell Angelina that he could see the vase’s energy field. Angelina’s frown deepened at his answer. At this point, she felt that Aiden was hopeless. On top of that, he still does nothing worthwhile! “Pretty! In what sense does this vase look pretty?! If you can’t tell me the reason, then get the f*ck out of this house!” Linda bellowed angrily. “Tell me, you brainless trash!” Linda demanded hotly. Although Aiden was faced with Linda’s malicious anger, he couldn’t be bothered to explain himself to her. So, he simply stood there and uttered nothing. Angelina felt he looked more and more like a loser when she noticed that he wouldn’t even defend himself. In her heart, she was highly disappointed with Aiden. Finally, she had enough of this farce as she got up and headed toward her bedroom on the second floor. On the other hand, Aiden returned to his room while Linda was still screaming obscenities at his back. He placed the ceramic vase on his side table and observed it carefully. Outwardly, there’s nothing outstanding about this vase. Yet, where does its strong energy field come from? Aiden studied it for a long time but still couldn’t make heads or tails out of this strange vase. Thus, he could only place the ceramic vase in the corner. Meanwhile, Angelina was sulking in her room. I originally meant well when I gave Aiden the money, asking him to buy a few beauty-centric books. Yet, I can’t believe he eventually bought books on traditional medicine. Is he unaware that saving Mr. William that day was merely an accident? Does he honestly think he is a miracle doctor? Angelina was extremely annoyed at the fact that Aiden insisted on living in his own fantasy and loafed around all day long. In fact, she even had the urge to settle things with Aiden once and for all. Meanwhile, just after Aiden left Antiquities City, a young man in a suit and leather shoes came looking for something with an anxious expression on his face. When he arrived at the stall where Aiden had bought the ceramic vase earlier, he glanced at the seller before rejoicing with a bright smile, “Finally, I found you!”