Chapter 77: Since You're Already Here

Pei Jing walked closer and asked, "Is there something wrong with this crystal ball?"

"Not wrong, just an unexpected pleasant surprise," Wen Gu said.

"Brother Wen, what do you mean by this... birefringence you mentioned just now?"

"Just watch..."

Wen Gu took another slightly smaller transparent crystal ball out of a wooden box; although there were some slight white wisps inside, it did not affect it.

He placed the crystal ball next to the black line drawn on the paper.

Pei Jing did not understand, but through the crystal ball, he indeed saw that black line.

But immediately after, a scene that astonished him occurred—as Wen Gu rotated the crystal ball, that black line actually gradually split into two!

"This!"

Pei Jing widened his eyes and leaned in to observe carefully.

Wen Gu handed the crystal ball directly to him, letting Pei Jing test it himself.

After testing it personally, he confirmed it was true.

Pei Jing even drew a thin line himself and tried it back and forth; it was all the same!

After all, coming from a noble background, after the initial surprise, he quickly calmed down.

"Is this what Brother Wen called birefringence?"

Wen Gu did not answer immediately, but picked up the slightly larger ball and let Pei Jing look again.

Only this time, no matter how he rotated this transparent ball, he did not see the scene of one line turning into two again.

Pei Jing operated it himself and confirmed this was the case.

He looked at Wen Gu in confusion: "Why is this?"

"Yes, why is this?"

Wen Gu had a smile in his eyes and continued:

"Most naturally occurring crystals possess this characteristic. It is hard to distinguish if they are too small, but if they are large and thick enough, it is more obvious, like Brother Pei's crystal ball. However, man-made... glass, mostly does not have this characteristic."

At least that is the case with the current level of technology.

Pei Jing was stunned.

He somewhat understood what Wen Gu meant.

Wen Gu asked again: "Between two similar crystal balls, this glass ball is larger and purer, yet Brother Pei seems to have limited affection for it?"

"I can't say why, I just don't like it as much."

Looking at that larger "crystal" ball, Pei Jing thought of many things.

He usually only held it in his hands when playing with it; in the past, even if he was curious, he only held the crystal ball to look at distant scenery, but he had never specifically observed this "birefringence" detail.

What he liked was the texture of this Water Jade Crystal.

No wonder when he held that glass ball, he always felt something was wrong; his degree of affection was limited, and after playing with it a few times, he left it in a corner.

Having played with Water Jade Crystal for so many years, he relied entirely on intuition to choose what he liked or disliked.

It didn't reach the point of dislike, but he usually ignored it.

So, this was not the natural Water Jade Crystal he liked, but something created by human labor!

Seeing Pei Jing stunned, Wen Gu said: "May I ask, who is the craftsman who fired this glass ball?"

"Fired..." Pei Jing muttered.

"Actually, I cannot confirm if this is as I suspect; I still need to ask in person," Wen Gu said.

Pei Jing gripped the glass ball with his fingers, using a little force, and a fierce look flashed in his lowered eyes.

The sons of noble families value their face; now, it is equivalent to having taken out a fake to let a guest admire it!

Someone actually dared to fool him!

Pei Jing's expression was ugly.

Seeing this, Wen Gu knew that these noble families sometimes valued face more than anything, so he hurriedly said:

"If I can find the talent who fired this object, it would be a huge help to me! Perhaps it could even bring greater benefits to your Pei Family!"

"Oh? Is it actually that important?"

Pei Jing had already adjusted his demeanor, and his tone sounded much calmer. At least on the surface, it appeared so.

He recalled the time he received this glass ball. It was after arriving in Xinzhou City, presented by those below.

His memory was good; for such a large crystal ball, as long as it wasn't long ago, he would have some impression.

He sent a servant to call the steward who had presented the treasure.

During this time, Pei Jing asked Wen Gu again why he valued this craftsman who fired fake goods so much.

Wen Gu told him very sincerely that if he could find this craftsman, it would save at least half a year of time!

Actually, saying half a year was an optimistic and conservative estimate.

Breakthroughs in technology can be very short, or they can be indefinitely prolonged; it might not be possible to break through for years or decades.

Qingyun Fang was attempting to fire glass, but was facing many difficulties.

Decolorizing Agent, Flux, kiln improvements...

Impurities, off-colors, failure to melt, where the most suitable materials were, how to proportion various auxiliary tools, how the kiln should be modified accordingly, and many other problems all needed to be solved.

Only by actually doing it did one know how difficult it was!

Given the conditions of this era, Wen Gu had originally planned to resolve these difficulties in half a year or more than a year.

During this period, he also had to take out experimental "defective products" to exchange for research and development funds.

The materials and supplies consumed every day were not a small number; the finished products currently made in the kiln could fool the wealthy, but they were still far from meeting Wen Gu's requirements.

The Daoist was not omnipotent either.

These are all secondary; what matters is time!

The trial-and-error process consumes too much time!!

That is why Wen Gu was so excited when he saw this clear Glass ball.

What kind of person is so talented? Let me take a look!

You must stay alive!

Wen Gu weighed the pros and cons and explained them to Pei Jing.

For noble families, sometimes, interests outweigh face.

That steward was quickly brought over.

The Pei Family had just been reorganized, so the steward dared not conceal anything.

"It is the foster son of the mansion's craftsman, Gui Tong. He offered it when they first fled to secure a spot to follow the escape north..."

Sweat broke out on the steward's forehead from fear; he had only wanted to curry favor with Pei Jing at the time and never thought such a precious-looking treasure would be problematic!

"So, the person is still alive?" Pei Jing asked.

He had an impression of Gui Tong; many Crystal carvings were completed by this craftsman, who was an old artisan raised by the mansion for many years.

"Alive! They are both alive!" The steward was terrified of having the blame shifted onto him. "A while ago, Gui Tong and his foster son, Gui Shi, were transferred to Wanfu Garden; they are currently living in Qingyun Fang."

Wen Gu sighed in his heart.

So they were right under his nose!

They were hidden too well!

When the statistics were taken, those two didn't tell the truth, otherwise they wouldn't have been assigned to cutting and carving work.

"Brother Pei, why don't we take a trip to Qingyun Fang together?" Wen Gu extended an invitation.

Pei Jing thought that since they were craftsmen from his own mansion, and one of them was an old artisan raised for many years, he indeed needed to go and clarify things.

Thus, he took some men and headed to Qingyun Fang with Wen Gu to verify.

Most of the technical craftsmen involved in the Wanfu Garden project lived in Qingyun Fang.

Kilns had been set up there, requiring craftsmen to fire Glazed Ware and Glass, as well as perform some fine manual labor.

When Gui Tong and his foster son Gui Shi were summoned for questioning, they both felt a sense of "this day has finally come."

So they honestly confessed the cause and effect.

The Pei Family's old artisan, Gui Tong, was indeed a carving craftsman, but his foster son, Gui Shi, was not, and he had no connection to the Pei Family before the chaotic times.

Gui Shi used to follow his master to fire Glazed Ware.

"My master accidentally obtained a batch of good materials and said we could try a new technique..." Gui Shi recounted the time when the master and apprentice fired Glass.

The master and apprentice tried and failed many times before making this one; they had hoped to exchange it for wealth, but unexpectedly, the world fell into chaos, and his master unfortunately fell ill.

Seeing that the situation was not looking good, Gui Shi took this Glass ball and found his fellow townsman, Gui Tong, and became his foster son.

"When we were fleeing, my status did not meet the Pei Family's rules. I was not a blood relative of my foster father, and I was only taken in as a foster son temporarily, so I was not on the list of those traveling together. I had no choice but to..."

He used this Glass ball to bribe the steward, obtained a spot to follow the Pei Family, and arrived in Xinzhou to take refuge.

Gui Shi hung his head as he spoke.

At the time, he had been cautious and didn't say it was fired, but he also didn't say it was the real thing.

He had wanted to hide it for his whole life. When he was transferred to Qingyun Fang and learned that there were people firing Glazed Ware and even things similar to Crystal, he was too scared to say he had fired Glass before, fearing it would cause trouble.

He didn't expect the matter to come to light so suddenly.

Wen Gu also sighed.

They are all talents!

It is a pity that the old master is already gone; this young Disciple does not know how much of the technique he has mastered.

The Flux is still being researched, and the kiln workers have also been constantly modifying the kilns and improving the techniques.

He didn't expect there to be a hidden Master! A true expert lost among the common people!

Wen Gu expressed once again that he wanted to hire this young craftsman Gui to go to the Glass kiln.

By this time, Pei Jing had already weighed the pros and cons and agreed.

Wen Gu was very happy.

If he could succeed, he could achieve a technical breakthrough ahead of schedule and complete the first phase of his goal.

The various "Jing" in his plan were not far from appearing in the world!

However, he still had to make some small things first to recoup his funds.

"Since you're already here, why not come sit at my place? Let's chat more about the design of the flying bridge." Wen Gu extended an invitation to Pei Jing.

Pei Jing thought there was nothing to do back home, so he said, "Then I shall intrude."

"The courtyard here in Qingyun Fang is still under renovation and is quite inconvenient, so I must ask Brother Pei to move to Jingxing Fang opposite."

The two arrived at the office in Jingxing Fang and first discussed the design issues from an artistic perspective.

The two had their own disputes over some details.

Wen Gu looked at the revised drawing paper and the look of deep thought on his face; after a moment of silence, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he said to Pei Jing:

"Some problems cannot be explained clearly just by talking. Fortunately, for this section of the long bridge, I had the craftsmen make some small components first to build a model. How to match the colors is more vivid when looking at the actual object."

"A model?" Pei Jing asked in surprise. "Like those sand tables? Can it be made?"

Wen Gu affirmed, "It can, and it is almost finished. Is Brother Pei interested? Why not try assembling the actual object? It is much more vivid than on the drawing paper!"

Pei Jing was somewhat tempted.

Now that his home had been reorganized and just gone through a round of cleansing, the people in the mansion could be well-behaved for a while.

Since he was idle at home anyway, he might as well come out and do something else.

What Wen Gu said made sense; the content that could be presented on drawing paper was limited after all, and making it into a model might reveal more problems.

Pei Jing looked at the drawing paper, pointed to the side of the long bridge, and asked, "You say that both sides of this long bridge are entirely floor-to-ceiling partition windows, decorated with Glazed Ware and Glass; can these also be pieced together on the sand table... model?"

"Yes, the craftsmen have fired a batch of small pieces of Glazed Ware... and Glass, which can be pieced together first to try it out," Wen Gu said.

Pei Jing was wildly tempted.

(End of this chapter)