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Each plate, each cup, even the little miniature saucers to sit the cups on, came separate in their own individual boxes. Bundled and wrapped in plastic bubbles and cardboard to show that they were special. Not like those cheap deals her neighbors got from the Dollar Mart that came all bunched up together and with always a bowl or a plate or a cup broken before it even saw the kitchen.

Her set was white and thin. With purple and yellow flowers following a fine gold trim that lined the edges of everything. Even the base of the tea cups. And everything had a sticker on it that said what it was and where it had come from. China.