Chapter 41: Better Not Let Him Know

Having been instructed in advance, the receptionist led them directly to the Reception Room.

Just as they entered, his nephew Wang Youwei grabbed Wang Qi Zhi's arm and started bragging:

"Little Uncle, you have no idea. It was a dog basin, filthy and stinking. It would be considered trash even in a garbage can..."

"But after a splash of water, *swish*, it became an antique? Sister Anning actually said it's worth at least several hundred thousand..."

"The key is that the guy didn't look more than a few years older than me..."

Wang Qi Zhi was stunned for a moment: "What thing? A dog basin?"

His older brother had only said he had his eye on a piece of cloisonné and asked him to come over to vet it; Wang Qi Zhi truly didn't know what the specific object was or how it had come about.

"Right, it's a dog basin!"

Wang Qi Hua looked wistful, "It was covered in dog food and dog feces. At the time, the basin was wrapped tight inside and out; you could smell the stench through the car window..."

"I was wondering then: the young man looked quite sharp and was dressed neatly. How could someone who could afford a dog not even afford a basin?"

"But then, he wiped it with a cloth, and the blue porcelain was revealed... It wasn't until Anning explained it that we knew it was cloisonné..."

Wang Qi Zhi listened, dumbfounded: over the years, he had heard more than enough stories about picking up bargains. But picking up a bargain that turned out to be a dog basin was truly a first.

"Where is the item?"

"We arrived a bit early, so we already sent Huaizhi and Anning to ask!"

No sooner had he spoken than the door was pushed open, and the two nieces walked in together.

Wang Qi Zhi pointed a finger: "Call your mother; I'm not getting involved in this!"

Ye Anning let out a scoff: "Fine, tomorrow I'll hold a basin and a stick and stand right at the Xida gate..."

"You think I'm afraid of you? Go ahead!"

As the uncle and niece bickered, Hao Jun followed closely behind, with a sales clerk carrying the basin in tow.

Perhaps due to the enclosed environment, as soon as the soft cloth on the outside was opened, a stench hit them in the face.

Wang Qi Zhi exclaimed in surprise: It really was a dog basin?

After a brief introduction, they got straight to the point.

Wang Qi Zhi immediately used a high-magnification Magnifying Glass, moving with lightning speed: "The copper body is very thin, and the overall shape tends toward simplicity and beauty. It should be from after the Kangxi era..."

"The wire filigree is fine and uniform, consistent in thickness. The technical requirements are even stricter than in the Kangxi era..."

"The base color, the Blue Glaze, is Huiqing mixed with Shiqing; the waterweed leaves are lake green, and the fish tails are light pink. Both of the latter are domestic Enamel materials newly created during the Yongzheng era... This basin should be a Yongzheng creation, nine times out of ten from the early Yongzheng period!"

Wang Qi Zhi paused slightly, then looked a bit suspicious: "But it doesn't quite look like the craftsmanship of the Zaozuochang?"

Ye Anning blinked: "Why?"

"There are too many pinholes in the glaze, which shows that the glaze-mixing technique was not yet very mature."

"The patterns on the bottom of the basin are too three-dimensional, and the style of Western painting left over from the Kangxi era is too heavy..."

"The composition is too focused on delicacy; the whole thing is bloated and cumbersome..."

Wang Qi Zhi let out a "ha": "Given Yongzheng's personality and his fanatical obsession with Enamelware, if the Zaozuochang had fired it like this, he would have slapped the basin onto the face of the General Manager of the Imperial Household Department..."

Ye Anning was stunned for a moment, recalling what Lin Sicheng had said on the roadside:

Kangxi and Qianlong were emperors for a combined 121 years, ten times longer than Yongzheng. But the imperial edicts they issued to the Enamel Workshop don't even add up to half of what Yongzheng issued in his twelve years on the throne. One can see his level of obsession, right? If the Zaozuochang had fired Enamelware like this, the General Manager of the Imperial Household Department might as well have quit...

It wasn't just similar; there was absolutely no difference!

She sighed and flipped the basin over.

"Huh, Daozuo... Daozuo Room?" Wang Qi Zhi's eyes lit up, "A trial-fired piece from Prince Yi's Mansion!"

Everyone in the Reception Room was taken aback in unison.

Hao Jun was completely bewildered: It was one thing to be unable to compare to Lin Sicheng, but where did this person pop out from?

Wang Qi Hua and Ye Anning were also quite shocked: The third brother (the little uncle) had loved this line of work since he was a child, studied it in university, and had been doing it for nearly ten years; his research level was extremely high.

That he could identify it at a glance at the mark was not surprising to them at all.

But that young man was only about twenty; where did he accumulate the experience, and where did he train his eye?

The key was, what kind of state was this basin in when it was covered in filth?

Wang Qi Zhi still found it hard to believe: "Is it really a dog basin?"

"The dog was lying under our car at the time, could it be fake?"

"You can tell just by smelling how thick the gunk was: the stench has seeped right into it."

"He really is only in his early twenties. Standing next to Youwei, you really can't tell who is older?"

"He even knows the Draft History of Qing and the Qing Palace Archives by heart!"

Hearing the last sentence, Wang Qi Zhi was shocked again: That's not very likely, is it?

But it's hard to say; just like Lin Sicheng, isn't he also only in his early twenties?

It just feels like this place, Xijing, is quite bizarre...

Only curious for a moment and not thinking too deeply, Wang Qi Zhi put away his Magnifying Glass: "Manager, name your price!"

"Eight hundred thousand, 17% commission!"

"Less than a million, the price is fine. Write up the invoice!"

Wang Qi Zhi made the final decision, staring at the bottom of the basin, and sighed:

"Big brother, it's a pity. The main subject of the pattern is these two fish, but the glaze on the fish has fallen off seven or eight tenths? Otherwise, it would be worth more than three times eight hundred thousand..."

Wang Qi Hua also felt it was a pity: "Third brother, can this glaze be repaired?"

"Of course, but you have to find a master of glaze repair, such as Teacher Yang Shiqi or Teacher Cheng Qun (Porcelain Restoration Expert at the Forbidden City) from the Forbidden City... There is one at Xida, who used to be the Deputy Director of our institute, but unfortunately, he has retired..."

Wang Qi Zhi thought for a moment: "However, his grandson hasn't graduated yet and is at our institute. I'll ask him later to see if I can invite him to take on the job."

Hao Jun was watching the sales clerk write the invoice and couldn't help but be stunned: A Deputy Director of a certain school at Xida, and also a Porcelain Restoration Expert—if this isn't Professor Lin, who else could it be?

And his grandson is still studying at Xida and hasn't graduated yet?

Subconsciously, Lin Sicheng looked at the Cloisonne Bowl with Sunflower Mouth on the table, then looked at Wang Qi Zhi: although the antique circle wasn't large, wasn't this a bit too coincidental?

Just as he was inwardly exclaiming at the wonder of it, Wang Qi Zhi took out his phone, scrolled a few times, and dialed out:

"When you arrive at school tomorrow, find some time to come to my office... What, you're injured?"

"Lin Sicheng, don't give me that nonsense... Come on, tell me which hospital you're at, I'll go see you."

"What, you don't need to be hospitalized? If you don't need to be hospitalized, why aren't you coming to class?"

"Tomorrow, if you don't come to find me, I'll go find you..."

Hao Jun's eyes went wide, and he didn't dare to make a sound: listening to this tone, was this merely just knowing each other?

He was a teacher after all; if this person were to say: Lin Sicheng, 800,000 is too high, lower it for me, would Lin Sicheng lower it or not?

After finishing the receipt, Wang Qi Hua also finished swiping the card.

With the Sunflower-mouth Plate packed into a box, Hao Jun saw the group out of the shop door.

Seeing the two cars drive out of the parking lot, he took out his phone and hesitated for a moment.

If he sees that basin tomorrow, and this Professor Wang sees that Lin Sicheng is not the least bit shocked, he will inevitably think: so you brat knew that the one who bought the basin yesterday was me?

What, afraid I would haggle, so you didn't even dare to make a peep on the phone?

Forget it, it's better not to let him know...