After binding to the super rich system, I became a real daughter of a

Chapter 19: The Test of Buying a Teapot at Antique Street

After briefly browsing the tailor's booklet, Yun Zijin quickly settled on a Tang-style skirt in an elegant sky-blue hue. However, the details would have to wait until Wang Zhuqin produced a proper design. Zijin left her phone number and paid a deposit of 50,000 yuan, making sure to use her left hand to swipe the card. Even though 50,000 was only a fraction of the five-million-yuan spending task she needed to complete, every bit counted.

Leaving the tailor shop, Zijin headed to where her car was parked. Just as she pulled out her keys, she heard someone call her name. Turning around, she saw Xia Zhiyun. Her immediate thought was, Bad luck...

"Why are you here?" he demanded. "Do you even know where this is? This place isn't for you!" The Lu Group building stood in this district with numerous high-rises, mostly occupied by white-collar workers. Meanwhile, the Xia family's office wasn't anywhere near.

"I was just strolling around," she replied. She wasn't about to mention how she'd just had coffee with President Lu to finalize a lease termination. Besides, knowing Xia Zhiyun, he would probably assume she was lying.

"Jiaojiao's getting discharged tomorrow, and Grandpa's 80th birthday is the day after," he said. "If you come with me now, I'll have a tailor prepare a dress for you. You have to attend Grandpa's birthday banquet!"

"No." Zijin had no intention of being paraded around like a show horse. Besides, she'd heard that to placate Xia Jiaojiao, the Xia family planned to formally introduce her at the banquet as an "adopted daughter," even though she was the biological child they'd only recently found. She, who was now financially independent and worth billions, didn't see a need to let them treat her as a mere outsider.

"You're your parents' daughter," he argued. "If you don't attend your grandfather's birthday, how will the entire upper class in the Imperial Capital see us?" He frowned, viewing Zijin as unreasonably stubborn.

"Grandfather?" she scoffed. "Who in the Imperial Capital's elite circles doesn't know I'm the real Xia child who got swapped out twenty-one years ago? If you wanted me back so badly, why haven't you given me a single cent? Did you ever care about how I'm doing? I heard Xia Jiaojiao gets a monthly allowance of one million yuan. Have you compensated me for the twenty-one years I missed? If we do the math, that's 21 years times twelve months times one million, equaling 252 million. As my so-called biological brother, shouldn't you reimburse me? At the very least, you should treat me equally, right? Yet you never have. Don't blame me for telling you exactly how I feel."

Xia Zhiyun opened his mouth to respond, but he had no retort. Handing over hundreds of millions of yuan in pocket money wasn't something the Xia family could do easily. Even though they were prominent in the capital, they didn't have that kind of disposable cash lying around. Not everyone had a system behind them like Zijin did.

"Anyway," Zijin concluded, "I've said it many times: I won't return to the Xia family. From now on, if you see me, just pretend you don't. You've never raised me, so stop acting like I owe you anything." She walked around him, got into her Ice Plum Pink Porsche, and hit the gas. Her nanny car of bodyguards followed close behind.

Watching her drive away, Xia Zhiyun wondered when she'd found the money to buy a Porsche. His phone rang before he could dwell on it further, and hearing Jiaojiao's sweet voice on the line strangely irritated him.

Meanwhile, Zijin, oblivious to whatever internal struggle was gripping Xia Zhiyun, decided to spend more money at the famed Antique Street in the Imperial Capital. Whether the prices were inflated or not didn't matter; she only cared about meeting her consumption quota. She parked in a nearby lot, taking Lingyi and the rest of her bodyguards from Lingyi to Lingqi with her.

Antique Street was crowded, with street vendors calling out for customers. Zijin's target, though, was an antique shop rather than a roadside stall. After some comparison, she finally chose one called Jubaozhai, lured in by its auspicious-sounding name.

The shop was fairly quiet. Inside, an older man was carefully wiping down items at the counter. He didn't offer any greeting when Zijin walked in, but at a glance, Zijin felt the store had genuine heritage.

"Hello, sir. I'd like a set of purple clay teapots," she said. There was a tea room in her home at Xingyu Huafu Villa No. 1, but no tea set. Zijin didn't really drink tea much, and this day's consumption task reminded her about that missing piece.

Hearing her, the old man paused his cleaning, gently placing the item on the display case. "Young lady, do you even know tea?" Although his tone was aloof, he still responded.

"To be honest, I don't know much," she admitted. "I just have a tea room missing a tea set, so I figured I'd buy a purple clay pot."

The old man snorted. "If you don't understand tea, why bother with purple clay? You might as well buy some modern ceramic set out there."

He clearly wasn't eager to sell. Zijin chuckled, unbothered by his reluctance. "Just name your price. I'm not short on money."

"You want to buy it?" The old man eyed her skeptically. "Alright. If you can pass my little test, I'll sell it to you."

"What test?" Zijin asked, wary. She didn't want to be fooled by some random challenge.

"Relax. It's nothing criminal. I'll show you how to brew tea properly with this purple clay pot. If you can replicate the technique and successfully brew a pot, you pass," the old man said, guiding her to a back-room tea area. There, a purple clay Pixiu tea pet sat on a side table. Spotting it, Zijin's eyes lit up—it was adorable.

"If I pass, in addition to selling me the pot, I want that tea pet, too!" She now imagined making tea daily, raising the pet—a whimsical pastime.

The old man raised an eyebrow. "I also have a small golden pig figurine. If you pass, I'll give it to you. Deal?"

"Deal!" Zijin replied. The man proceeded to demonstrate a traditional tea-brewing procedure, infused with ancient elegance. Despite her lack of experience, Zijin watched intently. Her memory was excellent, and she carefully imitated every movement. Soon, she had brewed a passable pot of tea.

Watching her, Li Bingzhen—the old shop owner—nodded quietly. The young lady did have a knack for it.