Chapter 91

Seeing Jiang Ping, Zhang Chenlin's face tightened, and she quickly walked up to him, asking with concern, "Are you okay? How's your body now? Have you been to the hospital?"

Confused by Zhang Chenlin's question, Jiang Ping couldn't help but counter, "I'm fine, why would I go to the hospital?"

"You still say you're fine! Recently, I often smell the scent of Chinese medicine in your room. If you're taking medicine, how can you say you're fine?" Zhang Chenlin gave Jiang Ping a reproachful look and, after a moment's hesitation, said to him, "If you're sick, you should go to a proper hospital. If you're afraid, I can take the afternoon off and go with you!"

Jiang Ping was surprised by Zhang Chenlin's words and felt a bit moved. After all, they were just ordinary neighbors, and for Zhang Chenlin to take leave to accompany him to the hospital was already quite a lot to ask.

Thinking about this, Jiang Ping couldn't help but smile at Zhang Chenlin and said sincerely, "Thank you, you're a kind and good girl."

Zhang Chenlin's face turned slightly red from Jiang Ping's praise. However, she could tell that Jiang Ping was genuinely praising her, so she felt a bit shy but also a bit proud.

Looking at Zhang Chenlin's smiling face, Jiang Ping explained seriously, "But I really am not sick. The medicine smell you smelled is from a tonic my mother got for me. She said I was too tired from preparing for the college entrance exam, so I need to take some tonics."

"Is that so?" Zhang Chenlin accepted Jiang Ping's explanation but soon said with a hint of disappointment, "You're really lucky to have your family care for you so much."

Zhang Chenlin was not from the local area. As a young woman far from her family, struggling alone in a big city, she knew the taste of it all too well. What she missed most about her hometown was her family and their care. So when she heard that Jiang Ping's mother had gotten tonics for him, she felt a bit melancholic.

Jiang Ping hadn't expected that his casual excuse for the medicine would touch Zhang Chenlin's heart. Making such a kind girl sad was not his intention, so he quickly smiled and said, "Now that we live under the same roof, we're like temporary family. Let's take care of each other more in the future!"

Zhang Chenlin was moved by Jiang Ping's words and couldn't help but smile at him, "You're right. Okay, I need to go cook. See you later!"

"See you later!" Jiang Ping waved to Zhang Chenlin and then added seriously, "Thank you!"

"It's nothing, see you later!" Zhang Chenlin waved back at Jiang Ping with a bright smile and then went upstairs.

Watching Zhang Chenlin's slender figure disappear up the stairs, Jiang Ping smiled and murmured to himself, "She really is a kind and good girl, and... she has a great figure too!"

For Jiang Ping, the misunderstanding about his illness was just a small episode. However, this small episode also showed him how kind Zhang Chenlin was, and he had a better impression of the slender and refined girl.

After having lunch outside, Jiang Ping followed his usual routine and took a medicinal bath while waiting for the chemical agent on the agarwood ornament to dry completely. It was already mid-summer, so the chemical agent dried very quickly. By the afternoon, it was completely dry.

Compared to before the chemical agent was applied, the agarwood ornament had undergone a noticeable change. A clear layer of patina had formed on the surface, giving the ornament a sense of age and history. More importantly, this patina looked very natural, thick where it should be and thin where it should be. Most people wouldn't be able to tell that it was artificially aged.

Of course, to an expert like Jiang Ping, the current agarwood ornament still had some flaws. After all, the patina was artificially applied, and there were still some differences from natural patina. Perhaps only top experts could spot the differences, but there were still flaws.

In his previous life, Jiang Ping had always strived for perfection in forging antiques and artworks. That's why his forgeries could deceive many experts and top collectors.

After being reborn, Jiang Ping's habit of striving for perfection remained unchanged. Although he knew the chances of Su Moran seeing through the artificial aging were slim, he didn't plan to ignore this small flaw.

Jiang Ping sifted through several bags of potting soil he had bought in advance with the finest sieve, filtering out all the small stones and other impurities. He then mixed the potting soil with high-quality peat that had been similarly sifted and dried to remove excess moisture, resulting in a fine, loose, and low-moisture soil mixture. Finally, he used pH paper to test the soil's acidity and alkalinity, and after confirming it met his requirements, he nodded in satisfaction.

Jiang Ping went to great lengths to mix the soil, not for planting flowers, but for the final step in the aging process. He found a wooden bucket, placed the agarwood ornament and the mixed soil inside, and completely covered the ornament with the soil. He then carefully pressed the soil down to ensure that every surface of the agarwood ornament came into contact with the soil.

The method of burying objects in soil to age them has been around for a long time, and almost everyone who ages objects does this. However, the strict requirements Jiang Ping had for the soil's texture, moisture content, and even pH level were unique.

Jiang Ping buried the agarwood ornament in the soil to remove the faint "fire and smoke" smell that remained after the chemical aging. This was the only small flaw after the aging process, and with Jiang Ping's character, he wouldn't leave it unattended.

Since the agarwood surface had only been coated with the chemical agent twice, the "fire and smoke" smell was not very noticeable. Burying it in the soil for ten to fifteen days would completely remove this smell, and then he could sell it to Su Moran.

After finishing everything, Jiang Ping wiped the sweat from his forehead in satisfaction and rode his bike home. Jiang Ping came home a bit late today, and by the time he arrived, his parents, who worked, had already come home. As soon as Jiang Ping entered the house, he noticed the festive atmosphere, with everyone's face beaming with happiness.

"I'm home," Jiang Ping said, habitually going to wash his hands and smiling, "What's going on today? You all look like someone won five million!"

"Winning five million is impossible!" Jiang Wei laughed, "But your college acceptance letter did come!"

"Oh? It's already here! That's great!" Jiang Ping was also very happy to hear this news and quickly asked his sister, "Which university did I get into?"

Zhu Yun smiled, "We didn't open the envelope. We're waiting for you to open it yourself!"

Jiang Jianhua handed the red envelope to his son, "Open it quickly, we're all waiting for you to announce the good news!"

Although they didn't know which university Jiang Ping had been accepted to, receiving an acceptance letter in the first batch meant that the university he got into wouldn't be bad, so everyone was in a good mood.

Jiang Ping didn't waste any time and immediately opened the envelope, taking out the acceptance letter.

===分割线===

Today's second update is here!

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