The Vase and the Cat

A man wanders into a small antique shop in San Francisco. Mostly it’s cluttered with knickknacks and junk. On the floor, however, he notices what looks like an ancient Chinese vase. On closer inspection it turns out to be a priceless relic from the Ming dynasty whose value is beyond calculating. It is worth everything else in the store put together. The owner clearly has no idea about the value of this possession, because it’s filled with milk and the cat’s drinking out of it.

The man sees an opportunity for the deal of a lifetime. He cleverly strategizes a method to obtain the vase…