Chapter 485

At six in the morning, Lin Sicheng got up on time.

As always: he first ran a lap around the hotel, then practiced boxing in the garden.

After finishing his boxing and taking a shower, he had almost finished breakfast when the others got up one after another.

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng came downstairs together. When they reached the restaurant and saw Lin Sicheng looking full of vigor, both wore expressions of admiration: youth is a fine thing! Lin Sicheng had drunk quite a bit last night, nearly a jin, yet he felt completely unaffected.

Not only was there no effect the next day, there was even no effect at the time: his logic remained clear, his thinking remained agile; drinking was as if he hadn't drunk at all. They, however, were different; even if they hadn't gotten drunk, having only half the amount, their heads would still feel like they were rusted the next day.

Lin Sicheng offered to go get breakfast for them, but Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng didn't let him. The two each carried a bowl of porridge and sat down opposite Lin Sicheng. "Fourth Brother called again just now, saying he has already made arrangements with that General Manager Chen, and we can go whenever we like. He also said that Director Peng doesn't have much to do today and will accompany us..."

Lin Sicheng paused: How could Director Peng have nothing to do?

Anyone who has been to a museum knows that, usually, there really isn't much to do at a museum. A newspaper and a cup of tea can last the whole day.

But as holidays approach, there is no end to the work.

Among them, the busiest is the foreign affairs department, which must receive tourists and provide explanations.

Next is the Display Department: they must assist with changing exhibitions, and they might also have to receive leaders.

Although tomorrow is only New Year's Day and leaders generally wouldn't come early, the preparatory work certainly has to be done.

Seeing him not speak, Wang Qi Zhi smiled: "You don't need to feel like you're troubling people too much; sometimes, you have to look at things from a different angle."

Lin Sicheng nodded, meaning he understood.

Convenience for others is convenience for oneself; who knows when Director Peng might have a time when he needs his help.

Lin Sicheng had already finished eating and sat waiting for Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng. Hungover from the night before, the two had no appetite and only drank half a bowl of porridge. Just as they finished and just as they got downstairs, Peng Yanzhi's call came through. But it wasn't to Wang Qi Zhi; it was to Lin Sicheng.

The two went straight to the lobby.

Having only been separated for a night, seeing Lin Sicheng again, Peng Yanzhi felt even more enthusiastic.

Wang Qi Zhi was secretly puzzled: last night, one could say Peng Yanzhi was overly shocked, and coupled with the effect of alcohol, his emotions were amplified. Being close and enthusiastic with Lin Sicheng wasn't strange.

After calming down for a night and digesting it for a night, the alcohol had worn off seven or eight tenths, so his emotions certainly shouldn't be that strong. Logically, he should be much more reserved.

But it felt like Peng Yanzhi was the opposite?

Actually, it wasn't strange at all: as soon as work started this morning, Director Lu had arranged for people to help Peng Yanzhi look up data and pull files.

There were classifications for classifications, entries for entries; exactly which category, which book, and which volume it was in, Lin Sicheng had stated clearly. One only needed to find the materials and flip through them according to the entries; how much time could it possibly take to look them up?

In less than half an hour, the two Assistants had checked everything clearly. This even included the process of walking, asking for instructions, finding books, and transcribing. Immediately, Director Lu sent it to Peng Yanzhi, and Peng Yanzhi scanned it roughly: what Lin Sicheng said was almost word-for-word identical to what was recorded in the files. What year the event happened, which specific figures were involved, what the sequence of events was, and so on.

Even though Director Lu had said so last night, and even though he was mentally prepared, Peng Yanzhi was still shaken: these materials were not just rare or obscure; they were essentially impossible to find. For Lin Sicheng to remember them so clearly, how good must his memory be?

He finally believed some of the things Wang Qi Zhi had said: Lin Sicheng had extremely good luck and a very low cost of trial and error; where it was estimated that at least a hundred sets of experiments were needed, Lin Sicheng would at most do ten or twenty sets to test out the most precise data.

It certainly required luck, but Peng Yanzhi suspected that Lin Sicheng relied more on memory: if one kept the various data from each previous set in their head, then the next time, one could naturally avoid repeating the same erroneous process.

It was equivalent to Lin Sicheng alone being worth a data team that only a large or super-large laboratory would have, at least one with more than ten people. And it was an experimental team that could stay by the professor's side at all times, correcting erroneous data anytime, anywhere.

This was no longer difficult; it was impossible: in any laboratory, no matter how large, the work content of such a data team was only one thing: verifying based on experimental results.

If he could discover problems earlier than the professor, he would be the professor; what would he need the professor for?

Therefore, in Peng Yanzhi's view, someone like Lin Sicheng was simply a Scientific Holy Body; it was hard not to admire him.

Not to mention the existing achievements were right there, so he naturally had to be polite.

After exchanging a few pleasantries and waiting for everyone to arrive, the group got into the business car.

Not many people went: just Lin Sicheng, Wang Qi Zhi, Zhao Xiuneng, and Ye Anning.

It wasn't far, and Peng Yanzhi took the opportunity to introduce this General Manager Chen to them.

A Audience Mountain native, he started out in shipping, and now his business involved all walks of life. In any case, it was two words: very rich.

After about half an hour's drive, the business car stopped in front of a villa by the river.

An old man of about sixty stood at the bottom of the steps, thin and lean, with a very imposing manner.

Some people have a temperament that they cannot hide even if they want to. Lin Sicheng suspected that when this General Manager Chen first started out, he likely relied on nothing more than a single barge... Standing beside him were several others, likely his children and a butler.

"This is General Manager Chen!"

In the moment of getting out of the car, Peng Yanzhi said this and quickly walked up to greet him.

The others followed behind, and Zhao Xiuneng lowered his voice: "Professor Wang, why does it feel so grand?"

Wang Qi Zhi didn't speak, just nodded.

The reason was simple: when Ye Xingchi made contact last night, he told this General Manager Chen that "several relatives have come from Beijing."

Not friends, but relatives, and the key was: they came from Beijing.

Without even needing to overthink it, just based on the two words "relatives," General Manager Chen would receive them personally.

With this kind of setup, it wasn't strange at all.

Since he had a hobby of collecting, he naturally couldn't avoid dealing with experts and Appraisers like Peng Yanzhi. The two had a good relationship and were very familiar with each other. After exchanging greetings, Peng Yanzhi introduced them from the middle: "This is Professor Wang, this is Lin Sicheng, this is General Manager Zhao, this is Director Ye's niece, Miss Ye... This is General Manager Chen Shiquan."

Chen Shiquan was very polite, shaking hands with each one, but he felt a bit suspicious in his heart: four people with four different surnames, only one surnamed Ye, who was Ye Xingchi's niece. Yet Peng Yanzhi was introduced last?

Looking at the remaining three: this Professor Wang should also be a relative of Ye Xingchi, and the relationship was quite deep, which is why he was placed first. This General Manager Zhao should be due to his age, which is why he was third. Then what about the one in the middle, who looked the youngest?

Although not surnamed Ye, he was definitely a close relative, nine times out of ten a nephew or something similar.

Secretly turning this over in his mind, Ye Xingchi led them into the villa. The place was quite large, just like walking into an exhibition hall.

There were all kinds of antiques: Calligraphy and Painting, porcelain, Bronze, wood carvings. But it was laid out very reasonably, without losing the atmosphere of a living space. It gave one the feeling of having entered an ancient mansion.

The group sat down, the butler served tea, and Wang Qi Zhi looked around: the lobby was like this, and the two floors above were likely no different.

"General Manager Chen, are all three floors here used to store your collection?"

Chen Shiquan nodded: "I don't have much culture, but I love to feign elegance; you all must be laughing at me!"

Wang Qi Zhi smiled: "General Manager Chen, you are too modest!"

Ordinary wealthy merchants who collect usually only use one floor: the rougher ones might fix up a garage, while the more refined ones might fit out a basement. The reason they don't put them on the ground floor is mainly for ease of management: fewer doors, fewer windows, and the risk of theft or robbery is lower.

And if they are placed on the ground floor, it is not just for collection, but also for social purposes, which is sometimes even more important than the collection itself.

This General Manager Chen specifically used an entire villa for his collection, which showed how vast his collection was and how wide his circle of friends was.

Following that, there must be good items. Otherwise, what would you use to meet friends, what would you use to communicate?

After drinking half a cup of tea, they roughly explained their purpose. Chen Shiquan did not dare to make any guarantees: although he had many collections here, and quite a few porcelains, including Export Porcelain like Canton enamel, and even foreign porcelain, it did not necessarily mean he had the items they wanted.

Wang Qi Zhi and Lin Sicheng also knew: porcelains from the Li Canping and Sakaiida periods were rare even in Japan, so how could they be encountered so easily? But during the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou was the only foreign trade port in China, so the probability was highest here.

Not to mention finding anything too early, even encountering a few pieces of Arita Ware that had been passed down from Japan during the late Qing Dynasty would suffice.

It was not that Japan did not have them, but after all, they were going to dig up someone else's roots, and they were mainly afraid of alerting the enemy.

Japan certainly had to be visited, but there were more important matters...

After finishing the tea, the few of them stood up and went to the third floor. Half of this floor was filled with porcelain.

It was indeed as General Manager Chen had said; there were quite a lot of items, and the dynasties were quite complete, from the Song to the Yuan, from the Ming to the Qing, basically every dynasty and generation was represented.

Most of them were relatively ordinary, but there was no lack of fine pieces.