Chapter 17

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 17 - Provocative

All the lights in the auditorium dimmed, and the large powerpoint projection on the screen let out a bright glow. If audience had been excited about Tang Yin’s painting, then they were ecstatic with the next item, or maybe they were just in shock. The image on the screen was a Song Dynasty Ge-ware bamboo incense burner. The whole piece was coated in a light green glaze. The iconic Ge-ware-style sharp cracks and dark lines stretched over the body of the burner. Its slim shape was truly elegant.

PSP guy’s eyes subconsciously lit up, and his slumped posture suddenly straightened. This was a very pricey item. If it was genuine, a seven-figure auction price would be a generous estimate.

Lin Yan couldn’t help getting excited, but Xiao Yu seemed completely uninterested. He put his fingers on the top of his back and snuck them underneath his collar. He stroked his collarbone with cold fingertips and leaned over and hugged him. He kissed the side of his face unscrupulously. Lin Yan couldn’t pull his hand away. He felt so anxious and angry, quietly thinking about what the two thousand people in the audience would think. He begged that no one in the audience could see the ghost behind him. If anyone could see him… even jumping into the Yellow River couldn’t wash off his shame.

He wasn’t sure why, but the intimacy of this clingy ghost happening now wasn’t as disgusting as it was when the events started. Lin Yan blushed. He knew that this ghost’s temper, and that whenever he resisted, the torment would never end. However, the constant comfort could always calm him down. As the saying goes, “Whosoever understands current events is a great man.” Lin Yan grabbed Xiao Yu’s hand and tugged gently.

The cold hand touched his face, then dropped back to his shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

Professor File Folder pushed up his glasses. He took out a safe from under the desk, twisted the combination lock, and took out the bamboo incense burner that was in the photo with both hands and placed it on the mahogany desk frame. A white spotlight shone down on it, and you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium. The silence audience cast their gaze onto the piece on the desk. The fine light green porcelain was covered in sharp cracks, and the shape of it was simple but not amateur. The white light covered all corners of the burner, giving the eye-catching piece a frosty aura.

This was the charm of antiques. Life goes on. Time passes. The people have long since died but the artifacts will forever remain. They are passed down through generations of people with money holding strong and unmoved throughout the years.

This was definitely the final piece, Lin Yan thought. The professor motioned him and the PSP guy to come up and take a closer look. Lin Yan tilted the incense burner and looked closely at the bottom. Experts look at porcelain and examine the exposed portions before estimating its age. If there wasn’t any issues, then the authenticity of the piece could be determined almost immediately. However, when the precious incense burner was turned over, Lin Yan couldn’t help but let out a gasp. PSP guy was also taken aback. After pondering, his expression eventually revealed what he was thinking.

PSP guy’s reaction convinced Lin Yan that today was definitely going to be a tie. Just as he was about to put the incense burner back, the glazed pattern suddenly caught his attention. Something seemed off, Lin Yan hesitated. He picked up the incense burner to check it again and frowned.

“Why are you so slow every time? Do you need someone to do it for you?” After the PSP man finished writing the answer, he took out a stick of gum and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing indifferently while looking at Lin Yan.

Lin Yan didn’t bother paying attention to him. He was able to determine the age at a glance, and there was no problem with the glaze color and the crack patterns. This thing was almost a perfect fake of Song Dynasty Ge-ware… But it was being handled by the professor personally… It was almost impossible to make a guess.

“… What do you think?” Lin Yan asked for Xiao Yu’s opinion softly. Xiao Yu didn’t say anything, but the expression in his eyes seemed encouraging. He wasn’t sure why, but being watched by those eyes, Lin Yan suddenly had a little bit of confidence in his guess and even changed what he was originally going to answer. Xiao Yu held his wrist and nodded very lightly.

So be it, Lin Yan thought.

“Students, please reveal your answers.” The red jacket skirt girl announced.

The two whiteboards turned around at the same time. Each had the same answer again: fake.

Professor File Folder nodded approvingly, and said: “It looks like we have a playoff today. Both are correct. This is indeed a fake.” He turned to face the PSP guy. “I won’t explain it this time. Instead, this classmate will explain.”

The PSP man took the mic, and the sound of chewing gum echoed through the loudspeaker. Lin Yan cringed. PSP guy didn’t care at all, and said casually, “In the Ming Dynasty Chenghua period, there were lots of imitations of Song Dynasty kiln porcelains. It’s in good condition and valued at 3 to 5 million yuan.”

Lin Yan’s brow furrowed even more.

Professor Folder was very satisfied. He doesn’t even care about the bs that the PSP guy just spewed. He nodded and smiled: “That’s right, these students can make these conclusions in such a short amount of time. They have good eyes. They both have a future in this field.”

After speaking, he clapped his hands together, turned to the audience and said with vigour: “This is indeed not a Song Ge-ware incense burner, but a Ming imitation. There are very few imitations of Ge-ware works made during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty left. This is only a representation of the Palace Museum, which has extremely high historical value. It’s said that this school has excellent students. I didn’t believe it before I saw it today. It was worth the trip, haha, definitely worth it.”

“I have decided to make a special case for these two, and give each of them a prize.”

Lin Yan looked at Xiao Yu hesitantly. The latter pushed his shoulders forward, as if urging him on. Lin Yan gritted his teeth, turned his head and said to the PSP man: “No, you’re wrong.”

The sound of chewing gum suddenly stopped, and the PSP guy stared at him. “Excuse me?”

Lin Yan took mic from the host and stuttered: “This-this is indeed an imitation, no one is arguing that, but it’s modern. Even with the exquisite craftsmanship, it probably wouldn’t sell for more than a 200 yuan decoration piece.”

As soon as he fell silent, the audience was in an uproar, and some even leaned on the back of the chairs in front of them as if they were ashamed. The PSP guy snorted to express his disdain, and squinted at Lin Yan. “You’re kidding, right? You can’t see the obvious Ming Chenghua Ge-ware piece. I’ve been studying this for so many years.” After that, he switched off his PSP and curled his lips: “It’s time to go back class and educate yourself.”

If it weren’t for Lin Yan’s calm composure, he would’ve rushed over and punched him. His anger of being humiliated in public made him clench his fists, but Xiao Yu must’ve known what he was thinking and held his shoulders with both hands to prevent him from acting on it.

There was a sneer across the auditorium. Someone called out for him to get off the stage. Lin Yan’s heartbeat quickened. The building energy of the audience made him a little panicked. He looked at Professor File Folder like he wanted confirmation.

File Folder was embarrassed. To be honest, he personally identified this bamboo incense burner before it went into the Palace Museum exhibit. There was no debate about its authenticity. The purpose of bringing it to these events was not to re-appraise it, but only to serve as a typical example to teach students about the identification and collection of Ming imitations.

“It seems that this classmate is not very good at porcelain appreciation. Let me explain. When judging the age of porcelain artifacts, we must first look at the appearance of its base. This one has obvious characteristics of Ming Ge-ware, but it’s an imitation of Song porcelain. Such things are called antiques in modern times, but at the time they were made, they were fakes…” File Folder gestured at Lin Yan that he could leave the stage. The corner of his mouth lifted, showing why young people should really take care of their skin.

Lin Yan was at a loss. He squeezed the armrest of the chair. He was so overwhelmed by File Folder’s reputation as a leading porcelain expert that he didn’t dare speak up. In all fairness, he didn’t belong with a group of talented professionals. This time, he just happened to see a small contradiction and blatantly tried to argue with an expert. Lin Yan glanced at the darkened audience under the stage, and his stomach rolled.

A chill covered the back of his hand, another hand wrapping around his own. Xiao Yu stood beside him and tilted his head to look at him. There was no aggression, his eyes calm and serious. As if there was a steady stream of energy coming from the cold palms, Lin Yan felt funny. There were more than 2,000 pairs of eyes, yet only one ghost could see the truth. There were more than 2,000 living people, yet only one ghost was willing to listen to what he had to say. Xiao Yu’s lips touched Lin Yan’s cheek very lightly, motioning him to look at the incense burner in the center of the stage, and gently shook his head.

Under the dazzling spotlight, the fine porcelain’s green glaze sparkled, and the cracked patterns were delicate and elegant. It was really beautiful. Lin Yan thought: The imitation was preserved because of its beauty, but the reality was left in the dark because of its cruel truth, turning into a coffin with decomposing bones.

“Go.” Xiao Yu pressed his knees and said with great effort, “… Trust me.”

Lin Yan took a deep breath, looked at Xiao Yu and nodded.

There was really only one way he could prove that this was really a modern fake. He walked around behind the square table and strode towards the piece on the stage. Before anyone had a chance to react, Lin Yan picked up the incense burner and smashed it on the ground without a second thought. There was a crisp sound. The million-dollar-priced treasure was broken into dozens of pieces and scattered on the ground. The PSP guy was stunned. The professor couldn’t form a coherent sentence. The jeers from the audience stopped and the whole auditorium was silent.

Youth could be wild and energetic, but also incredibly stupid. Lin Yan stood stubbornly amidst the broken porcelain. Professor File Folder suddenly lost his composure. He leapt over and shoved Lin Yan’s shoulder, his mouth opening and closing, unsure of what words to even say. The commotion from the audience grew louder and louder, as if being fueled by a storm.

Lin Yan broke away from the professor. He squatted down and picked up one of the shards off the floor, selecting a piece of the base of the incense burner. He pointed out the incline of the fracture, stuffed the shard into the professor’s hands, and said softly but clearly: “It’s a modern fake. It’s a shame to put it in the Palace Museum.”

File Folder let out a distressed noise, his face flushed. Anyone who really loves antiques knows that compared to the high price of an antique, the historical value it carries was a truly priceless treasure. Everyone was waiting to see the professor lose his mind. However, even though he was furious, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Lin Yan in disbelief, and then stared at the broken porcelain piece. His stubby fingers rubbed the porcelain piece back and forth. He trembled: “ How… how could you tell?”

The professor spoke very quietly, but the mic on his collar picked it up, and the sentence echoed across the auditorium.

Hearing this question, PSP guy also picked up a piece of debris from the ground and looked at it over. When he raised his head again, the expression on his face looked like he had just eaten shit.

“Uh…” There were several things he wanted to say but they were all caught in his throat. Lin Yan has this problem. No matter what the situation, he never has any trouble when he speaks to a friend, but when he is alone in a large group arguing with others, he often freezes up because he lacked self-confidence.

Xiao Yu held Lin Yan, fingers tightly interlocked with his, standing side by side. His whole body was also cold like a piece of porcelain. After a while, he slowly calmed down, and cold lips gently tapped the side of Lin Yan’s mouth.

He… was on his side. This thought made Lin Yan relax a little. After taking a few deep breaths to straighten out his thoughts, he explained: “Because of the temperature of the kiln, no matter how accurate the imitation of Ming Ge-ware porcelain is, there is still a slight difference in the direction of the cracks in the glaze of Ge-ware porcelain. The glazed surface of this incense burner has the characteristics of the Song Dynasty, but the exposed base has the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty. There is only one possibility for two eras of craftsmanship to appear on one piece; that is, contemporary counterfeit.” After finishing speaking, he added: “These kinds of frauds only started appearing within the past two years. I… I also took a gamble. I didn’t think I’d be right.”

The professor stared at him blankly, and hissed through his teeth: “You… you took a gamble? What if you were wrong? What if you made a mistake!” He tapped his feet twice, and finally gave up. He slapped the surface of the desk and said in a deep voice to the audience: “The students here are truly amazing.”

After thirty seconds of silence, the audience burst into thunderous applause.

Lin Yan scratched his hair. He looked at Xiao Yu embarrassedly, and said softly, “We won.”

He swore that this was the first time in his life that he has seen this ghost showing the expression of an ordinary person, looking very proud. Xiao Yu gently hugged him from behind, his long hair rubbing against his face. Lin Yan didn’t avoid it. He was a little grateful for this ghost, even a little dependent on him. His palms were soaked in a cold sweat. Lin Yan gave Xiao Yu a sideways glance and rubbed his wet palms on his clothes.

Professor File Folder took a sip of water. He took out a pen and memo from his book bag, and looked at Lin Yan with interest: “Classmate, what’s your name? Come to me when the lecture is over and I’ll engrave it for you.”

Lin Yan took two steps towards the professor and decided on what he wanted engraved.

“Xiao Yu. "Xiao” written as the character for “dejected”, “Yu” written as the character for “sweet smelling”.“ Lin Yan explained…

The professor’s smile dropped immediately, and his face changed in an instant.