Chapter 47

Upon receiving the news, Old Chang paced back and forth outside the door, unable to imagine what a porcelain panel over two meters tall and three meters wide would look like! He was afraid that it would become brittle from being stored for too long and break on the way, and he was worried that prolonged exposure to air would cause the glaze to fade...

Old Yang, who was getting dizzy from his pacing, said helplessly:

"Old Chang, calm down! It's just a porcelain panel, you're acting like it's the first time you're sneaking a peek at Mr. Li's daughter!"

Just as Old Chang was about to refute him, he suddenly remembered that he had only told Old Yang that Wu Di was going to give him a porcelain panel, but forgot to mention its size. He quickly covered his mouth and coughed twice,

"Calm down? I hope you old guy won't be scared to sit on the ground when you see it!"

It took four hours of bumpy driving to arrive, and it was already dark in the mountains. When Wu Di and the others carried the porcelain panel into the villa, Old Yang asked in surprise:

"Didn't you say you were sending a porcelain panel? Why bring such a big frame?"

Everyone laughed but didn't answer. After Wu Di laid a sheet on the ground and they carefully unwrapped the bedsheet covering the porcelain panel, Old Yang's mouth opened wide enough to fit his fist. Suddenly, he started panting, clutched his heart, and slowly fell to the side. Everyone scrambled, almost breaking the porcelain panel.

Old Yang half-reclined on the sofa, refusing to go back to his room to rest. He pointed at the massive object with a trembling hand and asked in a hoarse voice:

"Quick, check if it's an original."

Old Chang had been looking at it for a while and replied:

"It should be a painting by Giuseppe Castiglione, made by the court's skilled craftsmen. An object of this size must be recorded in history. Let me think, let me think..."

He suddenly walked quickly to the study in the west wing, and after about ten minutes, he came out holding a book, reading aloud:

"Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Volume 14, 49th year, Spring, 1st month, 22nd day. The Emperor returned from his southern tour to the capital, and the craftsmen presented a large porcelain panel. Castiglione painted a deer-hunting scene, and the Emperor was greatly pleased, praising it highly. It is a national treasure, a national treasure!"

Hearing Old Chang's words, Wu Di's heart stirred. A national treasure, which only showed a line in the Heavenly Book, while Lu Zigang's masterpiece took up an entire page. How astonishing must it be? If it were ever revealed, should he show it to the two old men? If anything were to happen, wouldn't it be...

Old Chang handed the book to Old Yang, who wiped the surface of the porcelain panel with a handkerchief and asked:

"Old Yang, can you still move?"

"Spit, if you can't move, I can still run. I'm much younger than you!"

"Just a year, can you call that much?"

"That's 365 days, can you say we're not counting the days now?"

Chang Linlin said playfully:

"Grandpa Yang, you're just over seventy, the best days are still ahead!"

"Hehe, I like what the girl says."

"Alright, if there's nothing, get up quickly and do something to preserve this painting. I'm afraid the colors will fade over time."

"Got it!"

That night, they worked until eleven, finally cleaning the entire porcelain panel and applying a layer of transparent protective liquid. The two old men, exhausted, went to sleep, while Wu Di was worried. Such a large object, should it be placed upright or lying down? If placed upright, it might fall and be ruined. If placed lying down, what if a mouse falls from above or walks across it at night, causing it to crack? What to do?

After much discussion, they decided to lean the porcelain panel against the wall, with sofas, coffee tables, and chairs layered on the ground to support it, solving the problem.

After finishing everything, everyone felt exhausted. Chang Linlin's eyes were barely open, and she weakly assigned rooms before going to bed. Wu Di quickly took a shower and fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed.

He slept until ten in the morning the next day. When he went to the living room, he saw that his godfather and godmother had arrived. The old lady scolded him as soon as she saw him:

"You, you're really not considerate. Look at what you've done, keeping Old Chang up all night and almost giving Old Yang a heart attack! How can you be so troublesome? Don't send anything here in the future!"

Old Chang, who had been watching the scene with a smile, became agitated at the last sentence:

"Hey, girl, are you jealous that the kids brought me a treasure? No, Xiao Wu, bring me the first treasure you find! Remember that?"

The old lady secretly gave Wu Di a look and muttered:

"Look, look, always looking at the kids' treasures, hiding your own things so well, hum, stingy old man!"

Old Chang, knowing it was a provocation, couldn't help but respond:

"Hey, girl, are you on a warpath today? Even if I show you my treasures, would you know what they are?"

Wu Di interjected:

"Grandpa Chang, I have another treasure, not worse than this one, at my godmother's place!"

"Boy, if you bring that treasure to me, I'll show you my collection. As for certain people, forget it."

"Hum, all talk and no action!"

"Come, Xiao Wu, let's go see the treasure. You two old guys, wait here."

Chang Linlin and Zhong Qi quickly followed, leaving Old Yang and the Zhong couple in the living room.

"Zhong's girl, your schemes might be in vain."

"What schemes?"

Old Yang ignored her and said:

"This morning, Old Chang said Xiao Wu has a connection with rare treasures and a good character, but he doesn't know if he has the talent for appraisal. I said, try with your things. Old Chang then went to the back garden and called some people to see the treasures."

"Is that true? Oh, I see this kid hanging around Panjiayuan every day, I'm afraid he'll be cheated. There are no honest people there."

"Generalizing! We used to hang around there too. The people Xiao Wu hangs out with, I and Old Chang know, they are descendants of old friends!"

Wu Di followed Old Chang to the study, where Old Chang said with a smile:

"There are 231 old items here. If you can find ten genuine pieces within an hour, I'll let you see my collection. You two, come with me."

Wu Di closed the door and began to examine the items. The study was large, with three antique shelves and items on the desk, totaling about 200 pieces. But why did he say to find genuine pieces among 231 old items? Could some of the old items not be genuine?

Wu Di, who had only studied porcelain, started with the porcelain. He put on gloves and picked up a white porcelain cup. White porcelain has been made in various dynasties, with the most surviving from the Song and Ming dynasties. Wu Di first looked at the inscription: "Made in the Yongle period of the Ming dynasty." The glaze on the cup was bluish-green, and when held up to the light, it showed a very light pink, which should be a genuine Yongle sweet white glaze. However, Wu Di felt a bit uncomfortable. Could this not be genuine? What was wrong?

Wu Di examined it for a long time but found no issues. Just as he was about to put it down and look at another piece, he suddenly remembered a description he had seen somewhere. The sweet white glaze of the Yongle period, due to the increased content of kaolin and fewer impurities, enhanced the whiteness and translucency of the porcelain. This porcelain cup's translucency and whiteness seemed average. The later generations of the Ming dynasty could not have imitated their own dynasty's items; if they did, it would have been Qing or Republic of China imitations. However, the Republic of China could not have produced such high-quality items.

Wu Di verified with the Heavenly Book, and indeed, it was a late Qing imitation.

He then picked up a red glaze bottle, with a bright and vivid red color like fresh chicken blood, a round and ancient shape... This was a red glaze underglaze with a floral pattern, with neat and detailed patterns, lively and bold painting, and smooth lines... A blue and white fish-dragon transformation basin, with a lively and ancient shape... A five-color openwork dragon pattern vase, with fine painting and rich, vivid red glaze...

Wu Di was so engrossed in the exquisite porcelain that he forgot to use the Heavenly Book and lost track of time. It wasn't until Chang Linlin called him for lunch that he realized it had been over two hours. He quickly used the Heavenly Book to verify the porcelain he had seen and then took out a magnifying glass to review the prompts. There were 29 pieces of porcelain, with exactly ten being genuine, twelve Qing imitations, and seven Republic of China imitations. Wu Di finally understood Old Chang's intention.

During lunch, Old Chang asked Wu Di with a smile:

"Xiao Wu, how do you plan to handle this large object? Grandpa Chang can't worry about it."

"Ah, I should have left it in the wall. Grandpa Chang, do you have any suggestions?"

"This object is too valuable and hard to preserve. Why not sell it to a museum?"

"Even the Palace Museum has scandals. What museum can be trusted? Ah, forget it, I won't ask for money. I'll donate it to the Palace Museum. Find some media to make a big deal out of it, so they can't ignore it. If it gets damaged in the future, they'll have to answer for it!"

"Hehe, do you want to become famous?"

"No, I prefer to donate anonymously, but how can I make a big deal out of it?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I know their Director Han. Why don't we let him come and see it this afternoon?"

"Great, if Grandpa Chang takes care of it, I'll be relieved."

"I didn't call you earlier because you were so focused. How did it go?"

"Oh, I was too slow. I just finished the first antique shelf. There are 29 pieces, with ten genuine, twelve Qing imitations, and seven Republic of China imitations. I shouldn't have made any mistakes."

Old Chang's eating stopped, and he suddenly stood up, pulling Wu Di's hand and walking out, saying:

"First, show me which are genuine and which are Qing imitations, then we'll come back to eat."

The others looked at each other, wondering if the old man was overreacting.

A moment later, the old man returned to the table, laughing:

"I'll take a nap this afternoon. Wu Di will go see my collection. You others can do as you please."

Old Chang led Wu Di to a basement with three locks, fingerprint, and iris recognition. The basement was not large, but the treasures were not many. However, at first glance, it seemed to have the five great Song dynasty porcelains, several blue and white porcelains, and a dozen scrolls. If each were of the quality of the five great Song porcelains, this secret room could be called a treasure trove.

Wu Di still followed the steps of appreciation, appraisal, and finally using the Heavenly Book, not even missing the scrolls. When Old Chang informed him that the Palace Museum's Director Han had arrived, he left the basement, unaware that the Heavenly Book in his pocket quietly displayed a line of text:

"Conditions met, upgrade starting!"

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