Heirloom

Xu Nanzhi grew up in a Beijing hutong, raised by Zhang Yunhe, a master of antique restoration. At twenty-two she returns to the Xu family, a Shanghai dynasty—but the adopted daughter, Xu Mianmian, makes her life hell. Nanzhi answers with her craft: each restoration proves who she really is, and each forgery exposes Mianmian's schemes. Then a competition entry—the painting Ferry by the River—unlocks the truth of eighteen years ago: she wasn't abandoned, she was lost. She wins the championship, refuses to become the family's publicity trophy, and goes back to Beijing. The light that always waited for her was the one in the hutong.