Chapter 54

Lin Yuan, seeing that the big man had already spoken to this extent, knew there was nothing more to say. He had a sudden idea and said, "Please inform Master Cheng that a man named Lin Yuan will bring him a generous gift tomorrow."

The big man nodded with a smile and agreed. Lin Yuan returned to the Beijing warship and asked Han Mingguang, "Commissar, do you still remember the gift the overseas Chinese gave us in Indonesia?"

Han Mingguang sighed and said, "How could I forget? You didn't see how that old overseas Chinese man held my hand and cried. He kept telling me that in 1998, his wife and son were both killed. If we had an aircraft carrier back then, his family wouldn't have died such a tragic death."

In 1998, under the tacit approval of the Indonesian government, large-scale anti-Chinese riots occurred in Indonesia, resulting in the deaths of over a thousand Chinese people, and many Chinese women were raped and murdered.

Lin Yuan said, "In this era, such things will never happen again. Where is that gift?"

Han Mingguang said, "It's in our exhibition room."

The next day, Lin Yuan took the gift and went to Beishan again. Sure enough, he met the big man from yesterday. The big man was delighted to see Lin Yuan and said, "Oh, isn't this Master Lin? You're right on time."

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Visiting Master Cheng is a big deal for me, how could I not be on time?" He handed over the gift box and said, "Please deliver this gift to Master Cheng."

The big man took the gift box with one hand and smiled, "Master Cheng's rule is that all gifts from outsiders must be inspected before being delivered. If they don't meet his taste, they will be smashed on the spot. If your gift gets smashed, Master Lin, please don't blame me."

He placed the gift box on a stone table, opened it, and removed the cotton inside, revealing the true gift. The big man's eyes widened in surprise, and he was speechless for a moment!

Inside the gift box lay a crystal-clear porcelain bowl. The bowl's walls were as thin as cicada wings, and the pattern on the bowl was a butterfly and flower design. The butterflies and flowers were vividly depicted, and the most remarkable feature was that there were several translucent dots embedded in the pattern, which brought the entire design to life. Sunlight filtered through the dots, making the porcelain bowl appear dreamlike.

The big man's hands trembled as he held the gift box. He respectfully placed the cotton back in the box, held it with both hands, and handed it to Lin Yuan. He stepped aside, bowed, and said, "Master Lin, please go ahead. I'll show you the way."

Climbing up several layers of stone steps, Lin Yuan arrived at the compound. It was more like a village than a compound. As soon as he entered, it felt like he had stepped back into the Ming Dynasty, with everyone dressed in Ming Dynasty attire. Lin Yuan had expected Master Cheng's house to be magnificent and luxurious, but the big man led him to a small courtyard at the back of the village. The courtyard had a bamboo gate and fence, with chickens and ducks playing in the yard. In the center was a thatched-roof house.

The big man stopped at the gate and called out, "Grandpa Cheng, we have a distinguished guest!"

The door opened, and an energetic old man came out, opened the gate, and smiled, "The path has not been swept for guests, and the humble gate is now opened for you. I apologize for not welcoming you from afar."

Lin Yuan had expected Master Cheng to be arrogant, but he was surprisingly courteous and amiable. The big man laughed, "Our Master Cheng was annoyed by the Japanese, so he came up with this method to avoid common guests."

Lin Yuan was not bothered by this and presented the gift box. Master Cheng invited Lin Yuan into the courtyard, sat him down at a bamboo table, and opened the gift box. Seeing the porcelain bowl, Master Cheng was moved to tears. He held the bowl, knelt towards the north, raised the bowl high above his head, and touched his forehead to the ground, crying, "Ancestors! Heaven! I, Cheng Jiuzhen, have finally seen the Linglong Bowl in my lifetime!"

Seeing Master Cheng kneeling and weeping like a child, Lin Yuan quickly comforted him, "Master Cheng, please get up."

After a while, Master Cheng stood up, sat back down, and looked at the bowl, saying, "Our ancestors followed Lord Guoxing to Taiwan, but later, the Manchus occupied Taiwan, and we fled here. For generations, we have wanted to recreate the Linglong Bowl, but we have never succeeded. Today, seeing it, our ancestors' wish is finally fulfilled!"

Lin Yuan understood that for someone who had dedicated his life to the Linglong Bowl, seeing the real thing would be a tremendous help. This explained why Master Cheng was so moved.

Lin Yuan knew that the Linglong Bowl first appeared during the Ming Dynasty's Chenghua period and gradually became lost during the Qing Dynasty. In the 21st century, Chinese ceramic masters rediscovered the technique for making the Linglong Bowl. The bowl's production was extremely difficult: the bowl's walls were as thin as cicada wings and as light as silk, with the rough mold only two millimeters thick. Carving patterns on such thin walls required perfect breath control and steady hands; any slight tremor would cause the mold to break.

Lin Yuan knew he had thoroughly moved Master Cheng, so he said, "Master Cheng, my name is Lin Yuan. I have come here today with a request."

Master Cheng smiled and said, "Please speak, sir. I will do anything for you!"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "No need, no need. I just want to ask if you have saltpeter on your mountain?"

Master Cheng said, "To be honest, our family can produce the peacock green glaze thanks to the saltpeter! Sir, are you looking for saltpeter?"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Exactly!"

Master Cheng laughed heartily and said, "Our village's saltpeter is almost used up. We will go to collect more tomorrow. If you don't mind, you can join us."

Lin Yuan was about to decline, but Master Cheng had already arranged for him to stay. Lin Yuan had no choice but to agree. That night, around three in the morning, Master Cheng personally came to call Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan followed the group up the mountain path, turning several corners. Suddenly, the view opened up, and they saw a large, snow-white expanse of land.

Lin Yuan looked closely and saw that the "snow" was made up of small, rock candy-like pieces stuck together. Master Cheng smiled and said, "This is our saltpeter."

Saltpeter, chemically known as potassium nitrate, naturally precipitates in saline-alkali soil.

The group began sweeping the saltpeter into baskets. Master Cheng smiled and said, "This is just nitrous soil. We need to process it further to obtain saltpeter."

A wave of disappointment washed over Lin Yuan. He had thought there would be a lot of saltpeter here, but the amount was far from enough for industrial production.

Just then, a woman ran up, crying, and found a man, crying, "Master, something terrible has happened, the child is missing."

The man asked, "How could he be missing?"

The woman said, "The child lost the sheep, and I scolded him. He must have been upset and went to look for the sheep!"

The man asked, "Where did he lose the sheep?"

The woman's face changed, pointing to the mountains beyond the open land, "He must have gone to the ghost land!"