Reborn As Super Heiress
Chapter 387 - 383: Mahogany Antiques

Chapter 387: Chapter 383: Mahogany Antiques

Huo Sining subconsciously stared at the man called Uncle Tong, and just at that moment, the man lifted his head to look back at her.

His gaze was calm and serene, yet Huo Sining could sense a dangerous element in his eyes, as if a falcon had its prey in sight and was ready to strike at any moment.

Huo Sining felt something odd and looked again, only to find his eyes tranquil, devoid of any emotion.

Huo Sining hesitated, wondering if that previous feeling had been an illusion.

"Uncle Tong, this girl is Huo Sining, Uncle Liang’s child, just recently found from Bashu. From now on, she will be in charge of this residence. She’s here to check the old house. Please show her around inside the residence," Huang Hanyun said, pulling Huo Sining forward to introduce her to Ling Tong. Ling Tong nodded, and since he couldn’t speak because of his throat, he gestured for them to come in, leading Huo Sining and the others through the gate.

Perplexed, Huo Sining turned to give Uncle Tong another few glances.

Facing the door was a decorative wall, with an enormous ’fortune’ character hung on it and the four corners adorned with patterns of flowers, birds, insects, and fish.

Su Qingqing, who was fascinated by archaeology, became immediately excited upon seeing these items and began to photograph them with her camera.

The group turned and walked through the screen door, traversed a long corridor, and entered the second gate.

This was a standard quadrangle courtyard, with two cloisters connecting the main house and two wing rooms. The yard was empty, with two large locust trees in front of the three rooms of the main house, which appeared to be quite old.

In front of the main house’s west wing room was a small courtyard planted with the ’Four Gentlemen,’ and deeper into the backyard was a central hall, leading to a small courtyard with no plants but a small pavilion and a well.

Astonished, Huo Sining realized that although she had only spent a short time—less than a day—at the Huang family residence, she had thoroughly examined their two-courtyard compound.

In the Imperial Capital, due to geographical constraints, sweet water wells were scarce. Even Huang family’s standalone residence lacked its own well and had to rely on the water supply company. Yet, this house had a well that did not seem very deep, probably only about four or five meters, but the water looked very clear. She wondered whether the water was sweet or not.

The backyard was slightly longer in the north-south direction than the front yard, with five rooms in the main house. Like the front, there were two locust trees in the yard enclosed by the cloisters.

Further back, the area consisted of a row of inverted rooms, and through the moon gate, one could reach the eastern courtyard, with the front and rear entrances. The inverted rooms and the main hall were connected by covered walkways, with a rockery pavilion in the courtyard and an artificially excavated small pond with clear, cool water housing a few red ornamental carps.

Although she had only briefly seen the residence, Huo Sining could tell from the size of this house that it was not smaller than the Huang family’s two-courtyard estate, with the significant addition of a landscape resembling Suzhou gardens in the back.

Such a residence was extremely rare, even in the Imperial Capital.

The Imperial Capital was a place of ’Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’ and with her father having passed away more than a decade ago, Huo Sining found it hard to believe that no one had designs on the house; yet it had miraculously been preserved.

If she had suddenly come into possession of such a residence six months ago, Huo Sining would have felt very uneasy. Even if she had lived there, it would not have been easy to hold on to it.

But now, she was no longer a helpless orphan. Not only did she have the backing of both the Huang and Gu families, but the Lu family would certainly not let her suffer any losses either.

Having finished viewing the entire estate, Uncle Tong bowed his head silently but then took out a string of copper keys tied around his waist, and proceeded to unlock the three main rooms of the front courtyard in order.

As the six vermilion lacquered openwork doors were opened, the furniture within was revealed.

Upon seeing those sets of furniture, Li Quan and Su Qingqing’s eyes widened, and they leaned in closely to scrutinize them, reluctant to look away.

"Holy cow, this is Huali wood!"

"This is Rosewood!"

The two of them, forgetting their image, each threw themselves into a room and began studying the furniture there.

Seeing their avaricious expressions, Huo Sining was somewhat speechless, while Huang Hanyun laughed and said:

"You can’t blame them for being so excited. The first time Grandfather brought me here, I reacted the same way when I saw these pieces. You don’t know how blessed you are; nowadays, a single piece of antique redwood furniture is being sold at sky-high prices outside, let alone a complete set, which money can’t even buy."

In the three main rooms of the front courtyard, there were three sets of redwood furniture laid out in full: a six-piece set of Huali wood Eight Immortals table and chairs in the guest hall, and in the east and west wing rooms, each a set of Xiao Chen Zitan tatami and chaise longue.

Besides these, almost every large wooden furnishing in every room was made from rosewood or fragrant rosewood, including tables, bedsteads, and even the curio shelf in the study was made of redwood.

A set of Huali wood table and chairs could now fetch at least seven to eight million on the market, the problem is that even if one is willing to pay, it might not be possible to purchase, as families in possession of such items generally have a significant heritage background and don’t need the money in special circumstances, so they wouldn’t be willing to sell such valuable items.

This means that, not to mention the value of the estate itself, just the furniture sets inside are worth tens of millions at least.

Seeing such grandeur, even Su Qingqing, a young lady from a prestigious family, was stunned, not to mention someone like Li Quan, who was a poor bastard.

Li Quan hadn’t seen much of the world, but in this moment, he was utterly thrilled.

At first, he had only thought of Huo Sining as a common wealthy individual, but now, seeing these redwood antiques, he realized he had misjudged; this wasn’t just wealth, this was a hidden female tycoon, right?

While outsiders were so excited, Huo Sining remained calm, as she didn’t have a collecting hobby, so no matter how much the antiques were worth, to her, they were just a string of numbers.

Moreover, she had no intention of selling these pieces. Since they were left to her by her grandmother and father, they shouldn’t cease to be in her hands. The setup would remain as it was for the future.

However, seeing these pieces of furniture, she finally completely understood the meaning behind Huang Hanyun’s earlier words—that the estate attracted covetous burglars, probably because they believed these priceless redwood antiques were the real reason.

Redwood is becoming increasingly scarce, and these pieces are antiques from the Qing Dynasty; anyone who truly understands redwood furniture would know their value. Would they not be enticed upon seeing these well-preserved sets?

While grateful to Uncle Tong, Huo Sining was also curious about him.

The estate’s masters had been deceased for so many years, and until the Huang Family found Huo Sining, this estate had no true custodian.