Chapter 254: Want to Go Home
Xu Youyou didn’t have time to carefully examine the red lacquered plate in her hands until she left the grocery store and sat in the car.
The craftsmanship of the lacquer plate was intricate, with multiple layers of red lacquer applied to the base. The number of layers ranged from eighty or ninety to as many as one or two hundred. After reaching a certain thickness, the design was outlined and then carved.
Xu Youyou put on professional gloves and carefully cleaned the dirt off the plate, revealing its original appearance.
“The carving is of grapes,” Xu Youyou remarked.
She didn’t see any clear inscriptions on it and wasn’t sure which dynasty the piece came from.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a little girl with such a gentle aura,” an old voice suddenly spoke near her ear, startling Xu Youyou, almost causing her to lose hold of the plate.
She quickly looked around, only to catch Lu Jingyao’s curious gaze.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Jingyao asked softly.
Xu Youyou shook her head, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to speak, but then froze. She suddenly remembered that one of her task rewards was the ability to hear special voices from time to time.
She lowered her head, looking at the lacquer plate. Could it be…?
“This little girl seems to be Chinese. Finally going home,” the voice said again.
Xu Youyou’s heart trembled. She had guessed right—it was the plate that was speaking.
Once back at their accommodation, she immediately locked herself in her room. She looked down at the plate and said, “Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Xu Youyou. Nice to meet you.”
After about half a minute, the plate’s voice finally spoke, though it seemed a bit confused, “Is this little girl talking to me? Can she hear me? Well, whether she can hear me or not, I should be polite.”
Then, the old voice continued, “Hello, my name is Xiao Hong. This was the name my first owner gave me. It’s a pleasure to meet you, little girl.”
Xu Youyou gently asked, “Xiao Hong, who was your first owner?”
The plate let out a long “Ah,” and after the surprise passed, it couldn’t help but say, “Little girl, you can really hear me?”
Xu Youyou nodded.
The plate continued, “No wonder I feel so comfortable with you. Turns out you’re quite something.”
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but ask, “Being able to hear special voices makes me impressive? How many impressive people have you met?”
The plate responded, “I’ve been alive for nearly eight hundred years. Besides you, only one other person. That person is different from you. Their aura is too mixed, not as clean and comfortable as yours.”
Xu Youyou didn’t think too much about this. She assumed the person the plate met was from hundreds of years ago.
The plate then remembered Xu Youyou’s initial question and said, “My first owner was the founding Khan of the Yuan Dynasty.”
“The founding Khan of the Yuan Dynasty? Which one? Could it be Genghis Khan?” Xu Youyou asked.
The plate replied, “No, it was Kublai Khan.”
Xu Youyou paused for a moment, then recalled that according to historians, Kublai Khan was indeed the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.
“I didn’t like the name my first owner gave me, but after so many years, I’ve gotten used to it,” the plate said with a tone full of nostalgia for its former master.
Xu Youyou sighed softly. Initially, she had planned to sell the treasure after acquiring it, but now that it had a consciousness, she didn’t want to act arbitrarily.
“Do you want to go back to China with me?” Xu Youyou asked.
The plate immediately responded, “Yes, I want to go home!”
Xu Youyou asked again, “Do you have any other requests? I’ll try my best to fulfill them.”
The plate replied, “You’re quite nice.”
Xu Youyou said, “Since I can hear your voice, I should respect you.”
The plate thought for a moment before saying, “I want to go to a museum!”
Xu Youyou was taken aback. “You even know about museums?”
The plate replied, “When I was at that Frenchman’s house, they had foreign art pieces. They always said those should be in a museum, for people to admire and appreciate, not for me, a broken plate, to be with them.”
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but feel a little angry. “Your first owner was Kublai Khan, and the Yuan Dynasty’s iron cavalry once trampled across Europe. If we’re talking about nobility, you are the most noble!”
The plate kept talking, “Right, right, that’s what I think too. But they always bring up the Eight-Nation Alliance… burning of the Old Summer Palace… that kind of stuff to annoy me…”
Xu Youyou didn’t expect that antiques would have their own hierarchy. She couldn’t help but sigh—truly, a weak country has no diplomacy.
The plate continued, “They always think being in a museum is such a big deal. I want to see if it’s really that hard.”
Xu Youyou said, “For others, maybe it’s difficult, but for you, it should be easy.”
The plate immediately became proud. “That’s what I think too! I’m better than all of them! After all, I outlived all of them!”
Xu Youyou remembered what the Finnish old man had said—the Frenchman’s family had fallen apart after obtaining the plate.
“Did you cause that Frenchman to lose everything?” Xu Youyou asked.
The plate wasn’t the least bit guilty, simply saying, “I never wanted him as my owner. He didn’t treat me well. He deserved it! Besides, he used unscrupulous means to acquire me!”
Xu Youyou was skeptical of the plate’s last words. After all, in some sense, the way the Finnish old man obtained the plate also had a hint of robbery to it.
The plate said, “Don’t worry, we’re fellow countrymen. I won’t harm you.”
Xu Youyou wasn’t entirely convinced, but she repeatedly said, “I still have to stay in Europe for a while. Once I return to China, the first thing I’ll do is donate you to a museum. Which museum do you want to go to? We can negotiate.”
The plate didn’t realize that Xu Youyou was a bit afraid of it. Hearing this, it became happy again. “I can choose myself? If I can choose, I’ll definitely pick the best one! The biggest! I want the most people to see me! Praise me!”
Xu Youyou could tell that although the plate had been alive for nearly eight hundred years, its personality was still quite childish.
“Alright, anything is fine,” Xu Youyou agreed.
The plate suddenly said, “Little girl, you’re so kind. Can you do me one more favor?”
Xu Youyou didn’t immediately agree, instead asking, “What favor? Tell me first.”
She also needed to weigh whether she could help with this request.
The plate said, “I have an old friend. Just like me, it ended up in that Frenchman’s hands. But it was traded to the Germans. I haven’t heard from it since. Can you help me find it? I’m sure it wants to go home just like me.”
