Chapter 30

Guo Bapi looked dazed, "I really didn't expect that Yang Bo would have such skills!"

Jia Huairan was also extremely surprised. He had never anticipated such an outcome. After a brief pause, he turned to look at Yang Bo, "Hey, is that an inkstone in your hand? Did you buy it recently? How much did it cost?"

Yang Bo's heart skipped a beat as he looked over. The reason he had placed the inkstone in a conspicuous spot was to test Jia Huairan. If anyone on this street had a grudge against him, it was Jia Huairan, especially since his intentions today were not pure. Hearing his question now, Yang Bo was even more certain!

"Are you talking about this one?" Yang Bo lifted the inkstone and asked.

"Yes, how much did you pay for it? It looks good, probably around forty or fifty thousand, right?" Jia Huairan asked deliberately.

"Forty or fifty thousand? This inkstone is worth forty or fifty thousand? How is that possible?" Guo Bapi glanced at it and finally came to his senses from the shock.

Jia Huairan frowned, "Why not? Maybe Yang Bo has a good eye!"

Yang Bo had been closely watching Jia Huairan's expression, "It didn't cost that much, only twenty thousand."

Jia Huairan was greatly alarmed. Fang Yuan had told him it was forty thousand! He was about to question it but held back, only to say, "You must be rich, twenty thousand is nothing to you!"

Liu Boss reached out to take the inkstone, looked at it for a moment, and then raised his head to look at Yang Bo, "This inkstone has an ancient and natural craftsmanship, it should be from the Republican era. The price... it shouldn't be worth this much!"

Yang Bo nodded, "I also think this inkstone isn't worth this much!"

"Are you a fool? If you think it's not worth the price, why did you buy it?" Guo Bapi asked.

Yang Bo didn't answer. He picked up the inkstone and pointed to the bottom, "Because there's a 'Gu' character here!"

After saying that, Yang Bo took the inkstone and walked straight to the stairs, and soon the sound of footsteps could be heard.

"Hey, what do you mean by that!" Guo Bapi called out to the upstairs, but there was no response from the wooden stairs.

The three of them looked at each other, puzzled, not understanding what Yang Bo meant. Jia Huairan looked at Guo Bapi, "What's up there?"

"There's his stuff." Guo Bapi said.

...

A moment later, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs. The three of them turned their attention and saw Yang Bo coming down with a hammer in hand!

"What are you going to do?" Jia Huairan became nervous. He knew his earlier behavior was too obvious, and Yang Bo might have already figured it out. But he didn't expect Yang Bo to come down with a hammer. Was he going to take violent revenge?

Yang Bo didn't speak. He put the inkstone down and stared at it for a moment before gently tapping the corner with the small hammer.

"Clank! Clank!" The hammer made a clear sound as it hit the inkstone.

However, this scene left the three of them speechless. They didn't expect Yang Bo to destroy the inkstone himself after losing money!

"Yang Bo, what are you doing?" Liu Boss took a few steps forward and grabbed Yang Bo's shoulder.

"Since you bought it for twenty thousand, consider it a lesson. Everyone makes mistakes. This Republican inkstone can still be sold for a thousand or two, so you didn't lose much!" Liu Boss consoled him.

Yang Bo raised the hammer a bit and looked up at Liu Boss, "Don't worry, I have a plan. Just wait a moment, and you'll see."

After saying that, Yang Bo didn't explain further and raised the hammer, tapping it again.

Yang Bo's movements were very gentle, not at all like he was trying to break the inkstone. After a short while, as the three of them were about to stand up, a smile appeared on Yang Bo's face.

Then, Yang Bo took out a pocketknife from his pocket. The blade was extremely thin, and he inserted it into the inkstone.

Can a blade be inserted into a stone? How is that possible?

Guo Bapi watched this scene and was about to stop Yang Bo, but the next moment made his eyes widen. He really saw the blade go into the inkstone!

"How is this possible!" Guo Bapi exclaimed, "How can a blade go into a stone!"

"It seems there's a crack!" Liu Boss noticed that Yang Bo had only inserted the blade partway and was using the tip to gently pry the stone apart!

Soon, the inkstone in Yang Bo's hand began to separate. A small piece of the "brick" came off like a cap, and Yang Bo peeled it off layer by layer. The inkstone separated, and Yang Bo picked it up and pulled it with force. There was a "pop" sound, like a bottle cap opening, and the inkstone completely separated!

The three of them watched in shock as Yang Bo gently tilted the "brick," and soon a Duan inkstone slid out from inside!

"This! This... This is truly incredible!" Liu Boss exclaimed.

Jia Huairan was also shocked by this scene, and then a wave of anger surged through him. This inkstone was the one he had given to Yang Bo. Even though he didn't know its origin, the meticulous protection clearly indicated that it was very valuable!

"Yang Bo, how did you find such a good deal again?" If Guo Bapi had any doubts before, he now had none. Seeing Yang Bo find such a good deal with his own eyes made him surrender.

Yang Bo picked up the inkstone with a smile, noticing the seal in the lower right corner, which read "Made by Gu Erniang of Suzhou." The light shone brightly, and a ray of light entered his eyes, making him laugh uncontrollably!

Gu Erniang was a female inkstone craftsman from the Qing Dynasty, from Suzhou, active during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods. She was a close friend of the famous inkstone collector Huang Ren, who highly praised her.

Huang Ren was a calligrapher and painter of the time, obsessed with inkstones. When he retired, he used his 2,000 taels to buy ten ancient inkstones and built a house to store them, naming it "Ten Inkstone Pavilion" and calling himself "Old Man of Ten Inkstones." While serving in Duanzhou, Huang Ren obtained a fine piece of inkstone material. To find a skilled craftsman, he kept the material with him for over ten years.

Later, he heard that there was a skilled inkstone craftsman named Gu Erniang in Suzhou. He traveled from Yongfu in Fujian to Suzhou with the material. Seeing the Old Man of Ten Inkstones' sincerity and the quality of the material, Gu Erniang happily crafted a beautiful inkstone for him.

The Old Man of Ten Inkstones was very grateful and immediately wrote a poem titled "Gift to Gu Erniang," which he engraved on the back of the inkstone. The poem reads: "A one-inch sword cuts through the purple mud, the sun sets in the alley of Zhuanzhu. How can the hands that grind the inkstone cut through the ten-mile stream of Duanzhou?"

From then on, the two formed a deep friendship. Later, Gu Erniang crafted more famous inkstones for the Old Man of Ten Inkstones, such as the Ming Dynasty-style blue inkstone.

Moreover, the Palace Museum still houses some of Gu Erniang's excellent works!