Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 80: Chapter 78 Ebony

Su Qingqing wasn’t joking around; seeing that Luo Jinzhi was genuinely interested in meeting people from her hometown, she quickly found the phone number on her smartphone and called her senior brother.

The senior brother was very enthusiastic, and upon hearing that a little sister from Min City had arrived, he eagerly asked for Luo Jinzhi’s contact information and mentioned that they were organizing a S University Min City fellow-townsmen meeting in a couple of days and invited Luo Jinzhi to attend.

Luo Jinzhi was very excited about attending the meeting, but Huo Sining had no interest whatsoever.

Rongcheng wasn’t particularly large or small, and she had never mentioned to anyone about getting into S University because she didn’t want to get entangled with people from Rongcheng.

If she happened to run into someone from Baiyun Village at the meeting and they spoke of her affairs in S City, it could possibly lead to trouble.

Luo Jinzhi was sensitive and insecure inside. Initially, upon learning that Huo Sining was not from S City and assuming Huo Sining was a poor student from the countryside just like her, she naturally wanted to get closer.

However, after finding out Huo Sining had given her an expensive set of skincare products, her feelings towards Huo Sining instantly became complicated, knowing full well she had been terribly wrong—Huo Sining might come from a rural background, but they were fundamentally different.

Driven by her inferiority complex, she intentionally gave Huo Sining the cold shoulder, yet Huo Sining did not distance herself as a result and even invited her to visit her home.

After spending the whole morning at Xianyu Shop, she had learned from the brief exchanges between Wu Jun and Su Qingqing that Huo Sining was also a child from the countryside who had endured great hardship while living in others’ care, and ultimately had come to S City alone to study. By a stroke of luck, she had used her knowledge of fish-keeping to open the fish shop.

The more Luo Jinzhi knew, the more shocked and ashamed she felt in her heart.

She had thought Huo Sining was a pampered rich girl benefiting from her family’s protection and had even looked down on Huo Sining for it, but she never imagined Huo Sining’s experiences were even more complicated than she had envisioned.

Enduring so many hardships, this girl still remained determined and strong-willed. Compared with Huo Sining, her own feelings of inferiority seemed so ludicrous.

In the afternoon, Luo Jinzhi received a call from the tutoring center. The tutoring job she had applied for had responded, requesting she tutor a child for seven days during the National Day holiday. Luo Jinzhi, who had been worrying about having nothing to do, eagerly accepted the offer.

The story of Huo Sining inspired Luo Jinzhi and gave her motivation. She felt that her past insecurities were completely unnecessary. Although she couldn’t achieve what Huo Sining had, she was capable enough to find a part-time tutoring job and be self-reliant without any issues.

Huo Sining was unaware of the profound change that had occurred in Luo Jinzhi’s mind in just half a day. She had wanted to host Luo Jinzhi at her home for a few days, but Luo Jinzhi insisted on returning to school, and so she didn’t press the issue.

After so long with military training, there was plenty to do in the shop. Once Huo Sining had finished tallying the accounts for the month, she got busy restocking the aquariums.

Some of the varieties from Cai Jianxin’s batch had sold out, and she needed to replenish them. She called an ornamental fish supplier, and upon hearing that Huo Sining was looking for ornamental fish, the supplier arrived with stock that afternoon.

Huo Sining wasn’t picky; as long as the price was right, she would buy. With the Spiritual Energy in play, even the worst fish fry could be raised to become top quality.

Picking fish and paying for them, the entire process took less than twenty minutes—it was done swiftly and neatly. The supplier might have never seen a boss who bought fish as decisively as Huo Sining did, and was still somewhat stunned, barely able to react even after receiving the payment.

While taking the opportunity to place the fish into the aquarium, Huo Sining quietly infused a few strands of Spiritual Energy into the water. The aquarium was fitted with colorful decorative lights, so the green Spiritual Energy flowing from Huo Sining’s fingertips didn’t catch anyone else’s attention.

“Ah—-”

Huo Sining hadn’t finished her work when Su Qingqing, who was crouching upstairs, let out a cry of astonishment as if she had discovered a new continent. With the sound of rapid footsteps descending the stairs, she soon appeared at the back door, staring at Huo Sining with surprise, “A Ning, where did you get this box?!”

Turning her head, Huo Sining saw Su Qingqing holding a wooden box and was momentarily at a loss before recalling that the box was something she had found at the bottom of a deep pool by a mountain cliff during her last camping trip with the military camp. Since the military training dormitory was crowded and many eyes were present, she had not opened the box and had kept it in her backpack ever since, almost forgetting about it until Su Qingqing dug it out.

Seeing both shock and excitement in Su Qingqing’s eyes, Huo Sining was perplexed, “That box? I picked it up. What about it?”

“Picked up again?!” Su Qingqing’s voice raised several decibels in disbelief as she stared at Huo Sining, “Where did you pick it up from?”

Huo Sining nodded, “During the military training camp, there was a stream behind the mountain of the training camp. Upstream, I found a waterfall with a deep pool. Seeing the fish in that pool were plump and beautiful, I jumped in to catch some. Instead, I discovered this box at the bottom of the pool. It was submerged and locked, which I found odd, so I brought it back. Why, does this box contain some historically valuable items?”

Su Qingqing shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Huo Sining was immediately frustrated, “Here, I was thinking that there might be an antique hidden in this box, and you’re acting surprised without knowing its significance? It made me think I had stumbled upon another treasure.”

“I don’t know if there’s an antique inside, but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell this box is something valuable! Do you know what material this thing is made of?”

Su Qingqing nearly crumbled under her frustration. Sometimes she really wanted to ask if the heavens had gone blind, how could such good things always end up with Huo Sining, a woman who knew nothing? Just let go of the piece of ambergris, but how could she have come across this box too?!

“The material of the box? What do you mean?” Huo Sining looked down at the dull-looking box and then back at Su Qingqing, puzzled.

“Do you know what Ebony wood is?” Su Qingqing asked Huo Sining expectantly.

Huo Sining honestly shook her head.

“Then have you ever heard the saying ‘Half a square of Ebony wood at home is better than a box of treasures’?” Su Qingqing’s eyes were wide as she looked at Huo Sining, as if she might leap at her and strangle her if Huo Sining answered she didn’t know.

Huo Sining, like a monk puzzled by riddles, still shook her head.

Su Qingqing felt utterly deflated and insufferably vexed, “Talking to you is really a waste of my saliva. Let me put it this way, the material used for this box should be the very rare Ebony wood, commonly referred to as Ebony wood. Moreover, judging from its carving work, if I’m not mistaken, this box should date back to the late Ming or early Qing dynasty.”