Zhu Yaqiang, in high spirits, carried a box containing the pastel porcelain bowl and went home with Jin Mutong.
"Have a seat," Zhu Yaqiang said as he poured Jin Mutong a glass of water before heading inside to retrieve the small clay figurine.
Jin Mutong, anticipating seeing the figurine, felt a bit nervous. Her grip on the cup tightened slightly as she stared in the direction where Zhu Yaqiang had disappeared.
Zhu Yaqiang came out holding a box, placed it on the coffee table, and opened the lid with a smile. "This should be the clay figurine you were talking about, right?"
Jin Mutong glanced into the box. A small clay figurine lay quietly inside, its appearance quite similar to the one she had seen before, bearing some resemblance to the craftsman's older brother, Fan An. As she had suspected, the two figurines were indeed modeled after the brothers. However, unlike the younger brother's figurine, this one had a broken arm, with its left hand missing, leaving Jin Mutong feeling a bit heartbroken as she looked at it.
Unable to resist, she reached out to touch the broken arm. At that moment, the figurine opened its eyes and blinked, immediately noticing Jin Mutong.
"Even though this figurine's arm is damaged, it's still a genuine piece," Zhu Yaqiang boasted, proud of the fact that he had paid just 500 yuan to get a real antique from a street vendor.
As he was showing off, a woman emerged from the room. "Zhu Yaqiang, you..." she said, her face showing displeasure and anger in her tone. Just as she was about to speak her mind, she noticed the guest sitting in the living room and forcibly restrained her temper.
"Zhu Yaqiang, come here!" she ordered.
Seeing his wife upset, Zhu Yaqiang dared not delay. He apologized to Jin Mutong, "Miss Jin, please have a look around. I need to take care of something."
Jin Mutong nodded, "Go ahead, don't worry."
Once Zhu Yaqiang left, Jin Mutong found herself alone in the living room. She couldn't help but softly ask, "Little figurine, can you hear me?"
The moment she spoke, the figurine opened its eyes again, looking surprised. "You… are you talking to me?"
Jin Mutong nodded and gently replied, "Your younger brother is with me."
The figurine's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "How is my brother?"
"He's fine. I originally came here to take you back, but unfortunately, this person isn't willing to let you go. Don't worry, though. I'll find a way to buy you back and reunite the two of you."
The figurine's expression shifted. Though a bit disappointed, he kindly said, "Don't force yourself. Since my brother is with you, please… take good care of him for me."
Jin Mutong nodded, "Don't worry, I will."
She wanted to talk more with the elder brother figurine, but just then, Zhu Yaqiang and his wife returned.
Sun Yueshan, still visibly upset, knew better than to let family matters spill out in front of a guest. Holding back her anger, she said to Jin Mutong, "I'm sorry, miss, but we have some personal matters to attend to, so we won't be able to keep you here any longer."
Jin Mutong, understanding the situation, stood up to say her goodbyes.
As soon as Jin Mutong left, Sun Yueshan pointed at Zhu Yaqiang and began scolding him. "How much did you spend to repair that porcelain bowl?"
"It wasn't much. A restoration of this quality would typically go for at least a hundred thousand yuan in the market. I only spent twenty thousand to get it fixed…" Before he could finish, Sun Yueshan was trembling with anger. "You spent twenty thousand yuan just to fix that broken bowl?"
She hadn't expected that the cost to repair the bowl she had shattered in a fit of anger would be so high. Tears welled up in her eyes out of frustration.
Seeing his wife cry, Zhu Yaqiang panicked. "Honey, don't cry! I repaired the bowl for the sake of our family. Think about it: a broken bowl is worthless, but now that it's restored, we could sell it for at least a hundred or two hundred thousand yuan. We're still making a profit!"
Sun Yueshan couldn't stop her tears. Gritting her teeth, she pointed at him and said, "Zhu Yaqiang, ever since we got married, how many antiques have you secretly bought behind my back? How much money have you spent? We've been living so frugally for years, cutting back on everything, and you don't even see it. Look at our friends and classmates—who among them isn't living in comfort? You keep saying these antiques are valuable and will sell for a fortune. Then sell one! Sell one and show me! If you don't sell that porcelain bowl today, I'm divorcing you!"
Zhu Yaqiang could see that his wife was seriously upset this time, and he began to defend himself quietly, "Antiques can't just be sold on a whim. You need to wait for the right time and the right buyer. Besides, the items I've bought will only appreciate in value. If we sell them in another ten years, they'll be worth much more."
Sun Yueshan shouted in frustration, "I don't care about your reasoning. If you want me to believe you, sell one of them!"
Seeing his wife so serious, Zhu Yaqiang became flustered.
Back when they had first fallen in love, their relationship had been wonderful, and they were very considerate of each other. But gradually, he had become obsessed with collecting antiques. At first, his wife had supported him, but over time, as he accumulated more and more antiques, their family's financial situation had grown tighter.
Looking at his wife's distressed face, Zhu Yaqiang suddenly realized that he had been too selfish.
He closed his eyes slowly. When he opened them again, he gently embraced the woman he loved.
"I'm sorry. I've been too much these past years."
After apologizing, Zhu Yaqiang immediately called Jin Mutong, who had just left.
"Miss Jin, you were interested in the small figurine, right? I can let you have it."
When Jin Mutong received the call, she was already on the train, ready to leave. She thought she had misheard, but after Zhu Yaqiang repeated himself, she realized she hadn't. She quickly turned back.
Returning to Zhu Yaqiang's home, she found him looking apologetic. "I'm sorry for going back on my word and making you come all the way back."
Jin Mutong shook her head repeatedly, "No, no, it's fine. Are you really willing to give me the figurine? Weren't you…"
Jin Mutong was still a bit incredulous. She could tell that Zhu Yaqiang genuinely loved the figurine, so why the sudden change of heart?
Zhu Yaqiang forced a smile. "It's nothing. I was too stubborn. No matter how valuable antiques are, they can't compare to the person I love. I was just too caught up in it before."
Looking at him, Jin Mutong suddenly understood and felt admiration. For a man to prioritize his family at a moment like this was no small feat.
It was great that he was willing to sell the figurine, but she… had no money.
Jin Mutong was still thinking about how to express this fact, but Zhu Yaqiang seemed to read her mind and said, "Miss Jin, is it because you don't have enough money?"
Seeing that he had brought it up directly, Jin Mutong didn't hide the truth and admitted with a nod, "To be honest, I really don't have the money right now."
"Miss Jin, earlier you mentioned that the small pottery figurine is worth 100,000. Was that the amount you could afford?" Zhu Yaqiang asked.
Jin Mutong nodded again.
"This time, I'm taking advantage of you by having you restore the antique for me. I'll knock off the original price, and I won't ask for 250,000. For 200,000, I'll let you have the small pottery figurine," Zhu Yaqiang smiled and added, "As for the 200,000, you can first pay me 100,000, and for the rest, you can just write me an IOU."
When he said this, Jin Mutong was genuinely surprised.
A 100,000 yuan IOU is no small amount. Even among friends, most wouldn't dare to do such a thing, especially since they had only just met.
Seeing Jin Mutong's shock, Zhu Yaqiang smiled, "Anyone with your kind of restoration skills couldn't possibly be short on money for long. Though I didn't ask, something must have happened in your life that's left you temporarily strapped for cash. I'm not worried at all about your ability to pay it back. In fact, helping you now might earn me a favor down the road—maybe next time I can get a discount when you restore something for me."
He ended with a joke.
"Of course," Jin Mutong's joy was almost impossible to contain now that she knew the reason behind his generosity.
After they agreed on the deal, she immediately transferred 100,000 yuan to Zhu Yaqiang's account, and they wrote up an IOU for the remaining amount.
Once all the formalities were taken care of, Jin Mutong carefully picked up the small pottery figurine, placed it in a box, and gently put it into her bag.
All the way home, Jin Mutong couldn't suppress her excitement. She couldn't believe she had actually managed to bring the small pottery figurine back. Everything that had happened today felt like a dream. She had been ready to give up, yet here she was, experiencing an unexpected turn of events.
The small pottery figurine stayed quiet in her bag, not making a sound.
Jin Mutong knew it couldn't possibly be unexcited. She had seen the flash of joy in its eyes when the deal was struck; it was clear how much the figurine longed to see its brother again.
But even so, it remained calm and composed.
Jin Mutong couldn't help but smile. The personalities of these two figurines really were quite different.
She wasted no time in returning home.
As soon as she opened the shop door, she heard the voice of the younger pottery figurine lying on the counter, "Big sister, you're finally back! I've been waiting for so long. Life is so tough. Why did you leave me all alone here?"
Jin Mutong suppressed her laughter and walked over to the younger pottery figurine. "Guess what I brought back?"
"What? Could it actually be my brother?" The younger figurine pouted. "Sometimes you're really stubborn. I told you there was almost no chance you'd be able to get my brother back, but you kept going anyway. Even I was starting to feel bad for you. Were you just trying to win my affection?"
The younger figurine rambled on, only to be interrupted by another voice: "Brother."
The younger figurine fell silent. It stared at Jin Mutong's bag in disbelief. That voice—it was unmistakably its brother!
"Brother, is it really you?"
Jin Mutong saw the younger figurine's reaction and didn't tease it any longer. She carefully took out the older pottery figurine.
The younger figurine was overwhelmed at the sight of its brother, its eyes filling with tears. "Brother, I thought I'd never see you again—or at least, not for a long time. How did you come back? Didn't big sister say the man wouldn't sell you? Did he hurt you? How have you been? Brother…"
The younger figurine spoke rapidly, while the older figurine simply stood there, quietly watching, with a contented smile on its face, listening to its brother speak.
"Brother, did you miss me?" the younger figurine asked hopefully after rambling on.
"Mm," the older figurine nodded gently.
"Brother, now we can stay together forever. From now on, I'll protect you!" the younger figurine said happily.
"Big sister is so kind. Brother, do I look good now?" the younger figurine lifted its hand to show its brother.
"You look great."
"Big sister restored me! After she gets some rest, she can restore you too!" the younger figurine said excitedly, turning to Jin Mutong. "Right, big sister?"
"Of course," Jin Mutong nodded with a smile.
The younger figurine happily looked back at its brother.
The older figurine, after a moment of thought, said, "You've had a long journey today. You must be tired. Rest first; we can take care of the repairs in a few days."
Jin Mutong couldn't help but smile as she quietly watched the two pottery figurines. Though their personalities were completely different, they were both equally kind and thoughtful.
She realized that the brothers she had seen in these pottery figurines were likely just like this—always watching over each other, equally caring and compassionate.
Though the brothers themselves were no longer in this world, their essence had been preserved in these pottery figurines, carrying their memories forward.
A warm smile spread across Jin Mutong's face as she quietly closed the door and headed to her room to rest, leaving the reunited brothers to their long-awaited moment together.