Chapter 37

"Goodness!" After listening to Dean Gu's analysis, Lin Ruxue's small mouth opened wide, unable to close for a long time.

After a while, she leaned over to Li Yi and said, "Then we... aren't we going to get rich?"

Li Yi smiled and held his aunt's hand, saying, "I've told you before, don't worry about money. Anything that can be solved with money is not a problem!"

Lin Ruxue's cheeks flushed with excitement, as if millions of little deer were colliding in her heart. After a long while, she calmed down a bit and curiously asked in a low voice, "Where did you get this antique?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Didn't Xiaoting tell you? I bought it at the art market."

"Ah? How is that possible?" Lin Ruxue looked astonished.

At this moment, a local expert, seeing the box Li Yi had brought the antique in, couldn't help but exclaim, "Mr. Li, how can you put such a valuable antique in a simple box from the art market in the east of the city? What if it gets damaged? Oh my!"

Li Yi smiled and whispered to Lin Ruxue, "Did you hear that? That's the box it came in, and I still have the receipt!"

"Ah?" Lin Ruxue felt a wave of dizziness.

Gu Delong said, "Although I am completely certain that this is Ru porcelain, I still suggest you use the scientific instruments here to test it, to produce a scientific and authoritative report to convince everyone."

"No problem, then I'll leave it to you, Dean Gu," Li Yi said.

The current methods for testing antiques are mainly a few, such as using carbon-14 and thermoluminescence to indirectly or directly determine the age of ceramics, using spectroscopy and mass spectrometry to analyze and compare the chemical composition of ceramics, using electron spin resonance spectroscopy to check the content of chemical elements in ceramics, and using electron microscopy to determine the texture and structure of ceramics, etc.

In Li Yi's view, these testing methods were all too primitive and low-end, and not credible at all. If the fake he made couldn't pass these tests, that would be a real ghost.

"Indeed, it is genuine Ru porcelain!" An expert, after testing with scientific instruments, printed out an appraisal report and excitedly returned to report. However, he found that everyone was surrounding another piece of porcelain!

"What... What's going on?" the expert asked.

"Mr. Li has brought out another piece of Ru porcelain," someone whispered in reply.

"What?" The expert was directly stunned, his jaw dropping.

...

After appraising two sets of Ru porcelain, Gu Delong's old face turned red with excitement. He took off his reading glasses, gently wiped the lenses, and then rubbed his eyes.

Ru porcelain comes in various colors, with sky blue being the most precious, powder blue being the best, and sky blue being extremely rare, known as "the sky after the rain." The two sets of Ru porcelain Li Yi brought were one set of sky blue and one set of sky blue.

More astonishingly, Li Yi's two sets of porcelain were exceptionally well-preserved.

Most existing Ru porcelain has crackle patterns, with a fine and dense network of cracks, often appearing as slanted cracks, deep and shallow intersecting and overlapping, like shimmering fish scales or cicada wings, giving a sense of orderly layers. The fine sand eyes in the glaze appear as fish roe, sesame flowers, and crab claws.

However, crackle patterns and crab claws are non-typical features of Ru porcelain. The best Ru porcelain is "copper bone without crackle," and those without crackle are the finest.

Li Yi's two sets of porcelain were both the most precious "copper bone without crackle," without any crackle!

"Do you have other antiques? Goodness, just these two sets of Ru porcelain are enough to elevate the entire exhibition to a new level. What else do you have? Bring them out quickly!" Tan Mingcheng said with a smile.

He was the organizer of this exhibition. If the exhibition could cause a sensation, it would all be his credit. With two rare pieces of Ru porcelain appearing, it would be hard for the exhibition not to cause a sensation. Thinking about the news reports in tomorrow's major newspapers, Tan Mingcheng was a bit excited.

"Oh, there's this too!" Lin Ruxue handed a scroll of calligraphy to Gu Delong.

"Calligraphy? Professor Hua is the authority on calligraphy. He is not only the top expert in ancient calligraphy appraisal in our country but also a famous calligrapher and painter!" Gu Delong said with a smile.

"Old Gu, when it comes to writing and painting, you are not as good as me, but in terms of appraisal, you are not necessarily worse than me!" Professor Hua waved his hand and did not compete with Gu Delong.

Gu Delong smiled and unfolded the Xuan paper in his hand. His expression changed: "The 'Lanting Xu'? Which dynasty's copy is this?... Goodness, Old Hua, come over quickly! Quickly!"

Professor Hua was surprised, "What's the matter? What's so strange about a copy of the 'Lanting Xu'? Could this copy be better than the five famous Tang dynasty copies?"

Throughout history, countless people have copied the 'Lanting Xu,' and there are even more forgeries. So, Professor Hua was not initially concerned. However, when he moved to Gu Delong's side, his eyes opened even wider than Gu Delong's.

"Goodness, this calligraphy is graceful and elegant, outstanding and unique, with a refined and free spirit that fills the entire piece. It can almost rival the five famous Tang dynasty copies... No, this calligraphy is actually better than the five famous Tang dynasty copies?"

"Impossible, the five famous Tang dynasty copies were copied by a few of the greatest calligraphers in Chinese history. How could anyone's copy be better than theirs?"

"Could it be?" Gu Delong looked at Professor Hua, and Professor Hua also looked at Gu Delong. Then they said in unison, "The original by Wang Xizhi?"

"Absolutely impossible!" Professor Hua shook his head first, "How could the original by Wang Xizhi appear? It has been missing for hundreds of years. Let's take another look!"

"Okay!" Gu Delong nodded.

The two experts examined the calligraphy again. After a long while, they couldn't help but exclaim.

This calligraphy was written with a powerful and graceful brush, with varying sizes, both harmonious and unique, ingeniously crafted without any artificial or contrived traces, naturally perfect.

"Goodness, this is truly the most perfect masterpiece in the world!" Professor Hua exclaimed sincerely.

Gu Delong nodded, "In the past, Emperor Li Yu commented on calligraphy, saying that good calligraphers each captured a different aspect of Wang Xizhi's style: Yu Shinan captured its beauty but lost its vigor, Ouyang Xun captured its strength but lost its elegance, Chu Suiliang captured its spirit but lost its variation, and Xue Ji captured its clarity but lost its restraint. I always thought this was an exaggeration. The four great calligraphers of the early Tang dynasty are renowned for their unique styles. How could Wang Xizhi's calligraphy combine all their strengths and avoid all their weaknesses?"

Professor Hua said, "Yes, yes, I used to think the same. Now it seems we are like frogs at the bottom of a well, not knowing how vast the sky is. Look, this is truly the essence of Chinese calligraphy, indeed the greatest calligraphy in history!"

"What, the greatest calligraphy in history?"

Seeing the excitement of the two experts, a few other professors who were knowledgeable about calligraphy also gathered around.

The greatest calligraphy in history, the original by Wang Xizhi, appearing? How is that possible?

This is a true priceless treasure!

Could they witness history today?

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