Reborn Treasure Appraiser: I Really Didn’t Want to Be an Expert

Chapter 324 The Watch Made by Ferdinand Verbiest

No one spoke; the atmosphere was somewhat eerie.

Two people with four eyes looked them up and down.

Young, unusually young; even under the fluorescent light, a thin layer of downy hair could be seen on his face.

He is good-looking, with handsome features, a tall and straight figure, and bright and spirited eyes.

His demeanor was also unique. Among the seven people, young and old, one would unconsciously overlook the others and focus all their attention on his face.

But Li Jiansheng was still somewhat skeptical to say that he had sharp eyes and keen insight, and that his eyesight was even more advanced than that of Yang Xin, who had been learning from him for nearly twenty years.

Because in this industry, talent alone is useless; without twenty or thirty years of accumulation and sufficient experience, one cannot succeed in this field.

Yes, it might just be a smokescreen. The one with sharp eyes and real ability is someone else, not this child...

After a moment's thought, Li Jiansheng glanced around and his gaze settled on Zhao Xiuneng's face.

The age is quite right, and you can tell from the rust on his hands that he's definitely an expert. Although it's the first time Li Jiansheng has met him, he's heard of him: looking at that face, he looks seven or eight times like Zhao Xiuxian, and he's obviously his elder brother who's a local tyrant in Xi'an.

I've heard that this man is quite skilled at removing loose pieces, but he only specializes in porcelain. As the saying goes, every trade is like a mountain, and he could easily tell the difference between old and new pieces with a glance. But it's unlikely that he could tell that something from the Qianlong era was buried in a Qianlong-era tomb during the Republic of China period.

With that kind of insight, she wouldn't have let her younger brother's business go downhill and become a laughing stock in the industry.

For a moment, Li Jiansheng was also a little unsure, and secretly gave his partner a wink.

After decades of partnership, their tacit understanding was undeniable. Feng Shizong suddenly realized that the items on the table were indeed as the young man had described: one was real, one was fake, and one was half real and half fake.

Hmm, that's strange.

His eyes lit up: "What's your surname?"

“It’s not expensive!” Lin Sicheng looked at the outstretched hand. “Boss Feng, I once thought that your store had some kind of rule: such as not shaking hands with customers, or not saying your first name when a customer asks your surname. So, if you can avoid it, then you can!”

In an instant, Wang Qizhi's anger subsided by half.

Zhao Xiuxian asked the man his surname, but the man didn't respond at all. Zhao Xiuxian then tried to shake his hand, but the man didn't even raise his hand.

Karma comes quickly, and Lin Sicheng will repay it even faster: Since you're so impolite, let's just not be impolite at all!

Feng Shizong's hand froze in mid-air. He then looked at Yang Xin behind him: a man in his forties, his face turning red and then pale.

I understand, that's exactly what Yang Xin did just now.

He chuckled and said, "It's all a misunderstanding. We became friends after our fight!"

"You're the boss, whatever makes you happy!"

Regardless of their purpose, Zhao Xiuxian brought him here specifically to fix something. Moreover, Lin Sicheng hadn't intended to charge any fees; it was essentially a free service.

As a result, not only did they not take it seriously at all, but they also thought that Zhao Xiuxian had ulterior motives.

Sure enough, the old saying is true: the more you pay extra, the less valuable people think you are.

Lin Sicheng remained noncommittal, glancing at the old man with his arm in a sling, "You're a master chef, your arm must have been broken for over a month, right?"
"Your disciples are of poor quality and their skills are truly lacking, and the customers are in a hurry, so you sent out invitations everywhere, asking for help from fellow martial artists. But once you've found someone, you treat them like thieves?"

Li Jiansheng was startled, and then felt confused.

Surprisingly, no matter who asked, he always said his hand had been broken for over two months, including Feng Shizong. In reality, it hadn't been broken initially; he just didn't want to get involved and deliberately had it in a cast. Later, Feng Shizong became suspicious, and he had no choice but to break it.

All told, it took a month and a half.

No matter how sharp a person's eyes are, they cannot determine at a glance how long a bone has been broken. It must have been a fluke, so Li Jiansheng didn't pay much attention to it.

What puzzled him was this: there were seven people of all ages, and although Zhao Xiuxian's reputation in the circle wasn't great, he was still somewhat well-known. Moreover, his elder brother was a notorious local strongman in the Northwest. So why was this ridiculously young man the one stepping forward to support them?
In a flash, just as he was about to say something, Lin Sicheng turned his head and looked at the woman in her early thirties.

"You're the owner of the goods. Those items you just saw were all yours?"

The woman's eyes lit up.

No one has ever mentioned it, and Feng Shizong and Li Jiansheng didn't introduce him, so how would he know?

Just as he was wondering, Lin Sicheng gestured and asked, "That yellow item, is it also yours?"

The woman hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Lin Sicheng pointed to the box they had just looked at: "You've had it here for quite a while now, haven't you? Were you in a hurry to get it?"

The woman nodded again.

If you need it urgently, that's fine.

"Have you considered going somewhere else?" Lin Sicheng smiled. "You might not believe it, but my cooking skills are superb!"

The woman froze, then covered her mouth and laughed. She had a very voluptuous figure, wearing a trench coat over a thin undershirt, which swayed and bounced with each breath.

Even the shrewd and calculating Feng Shizong couldn't help but feel embarrassed after being urinated on in the face by a mere brat.

His smile gradually faded, and his face turned cold: "Kid, do you know the rules?"

"I really don't understand your rules here!"

Lin Sicheng pointed at Zhao Xiuxian, "But I'm not lying to you. President Zhao brought me here because he really wanted to help you out and broaden my horizons. But I didn't expect to be met with such a cold shoulder?"
You're treating him like a thief, simply because you're afraid Mr. Zhao will pull out his sleeve (steal business) or steal your clients. Mr. Zhao's business hasn't been doing so well these past few years, and given his attentiveness, your thinking is understandable. Even his refusal to offer a seat, serve tea, or introduce himself is nothing to worry about.

But my teacher is, after all, a senior researcher at the National Academy of Arts and Sciences and a professor at a key national university. When he goes to the National Museum of China or the Palace Museum, even the directors and curators don't dare to refuse to shake his hand.

He offered to shake hands with your apprentice… oh no, with your manager, but he didn't even bother to raise his hand, let alone give Manager Yang a second glance. Well, in that case, stealing some leftovers won't hurt.

Halfway through the conversation, the group of people were startled and looked at Wang Qizhi: "Senior researcher at the Institute of Literature and Art?"
Looking at this carefree, arrogant attitude, acting like he's the boss of the world, it doesn't seem quite right.
Just as they were pondering this, they heard the second half of the sentence, and the faces of the men darkened: "Is this stealing? This is outright robbery!"

How dare they defy the Grand Duke Jupiter!

Feng Shizong narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing like a knife. Li Jiansheng was even more direct, pointing a finger and saying, "Young man, you've never been in the martial world before, have you? Don't you even know where you are?"

“Master Li, you don’t need to threaten me. I actually know a lot about this stuff! You don’t need to lecture me either. As long as you know it, I really do know a thing or two.”

"So young, yet so arrogant?" Li Jiansheng scoffed. "Forget it, you're barely out of your teens, why should I argue with you? Get out of here..."

Seeing his apprentice standing still with a cold gaze, he snorted, "Yang Xin, what are you staring at?"

He knew what Yang Xin wanted to do, and Feng Shizong knew it too, but there were still guests present, and business was more important.

Otherwise, why would they have let this kid leave so easily?

Yang Xin nodded, and just as he lifted his foot, the woman stopped him: "Wait, don't rush to chase him away."

Knowing that this person had a powerful background, Yang Xin dared not make a move and glanced at Feng Shizong.

Feng Shizong shook his head slightly.

This is the store's biggest customer and an investor, so we definitely have to show him respect.

The woman looked at Lin Sicheng with a smile: "How do you know those gold items are mine, and how do you know the yellow goods are mine too?"

"Not only am I skilled, but I also have a good eye..."

Before she could finish speaking, the woman laughed again.

Lin Sicheng emphasized again: "Really!"

He was very serious and earnest, but the woman laughed even harder.

She could tell that the child wasn't just being glib and genuinely wanted to prove something to her, but she just wanted to laugh.

But then, she couldn't laugh anymore.

Lin Sicheng cupped his hands in greeting and made two more hand gestures.

One hand is crossed, and the remaining two thumbs extend out, forming a cross.

Then, with a slight twist, the two thumbs came together and bent slightly.

The first thing I did was to greet her: "Chu Tou, nice to meet you."

The second point is to demonstrate his own identity: he is the appraiser, and more importantly, the head of the scattered dealers.

The so-called "head of the gang" refers to the leader of a tomb-raiding or antiquities smuggling ring who specializes in handling the remaining stock. If ranked, they would be around sixth or seventh.

The "master appraiser" is usually a high-ranking member of a tomb-raiding gang, either the top leader or the second-in-command. They are experts in surveying mountains and waterways, locating tombs, determining their location, and finding the "golden well" (the best spot in the center of the tomb chamber for opening a tomb-raiding tunnel). They are also responsible for appraisal, dating, and valuation.

If it's a legitimate profession, then it's an appraiser with exceptional insight.

"Scattered pieces" refers to damaged artifacts; "repairing scattered pieces" refers to a restorer; and "master craftsman" refers to the head of the business. To dare to call oneself this way, one must not only have skilled workers capable of handling the situation, but also possess extremely high personal craftsmanship.

The woman narrowed her eyes: But how old are you?

The problem is that these two gestures cannot be faked, and even Feng Shizong and Li Jiansheng don't recognize them.

More importantly, even after five or six years of cooperation, neither Feng Shizong nor Li Jiansheng knew her true identity, and they only thought she was a dealer who specialized in dealing in uncirculated, loose-packed goods.

But the child saw right through it all in one sentence?

The woman was skeptical, but she read it carefully once.

Look not only at Lin Sicheng, but also at the people around him.

Knowing what she suspected, Lin Sicheng pointed to Zhao Xiuneng: "This is my senior brother, surnamed Zhao, Zhao Xiuneng. He is stationed in Shaanxi and doesn't come to the capital often, so you may not have heard of him."

He then pointed to Zhao Da and Zhao Er: "These are my two disciples!"

The woman paused, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the father and his two sons, before suddenly realizing: So he had already acquired some skills before becoming an apprentice.
Well, that's not quite right. To be more precise: the Zhao family's tradition couldn't be continued, so they had to change hands. In other words: although they had a family skill, these two younger brothers, clearly third-generation, couldn't learn it and had to find a renowned master. After learning it, they couldn't say it was a family skill anymore; they had to use the child's name instead.

Why didn't he introduce Zhao Xiuxian? Because Zhao Xiuxian's skills were not refined enough; he had not yet entered the inner circle and was not considered a true successor at all.

The key point is that she had Zhao Xiuxian repair things before, knew his background, and knew what Lin Sicheng meant by "sitting in charge of the three Qin regions".

Not only is he a true local expert, but he is also a legitimate successor of a master craftsman from the Qing Dynasty's Imperial Household Department.

So, how skilled must this child be?

Seeing her eyes linger on Wang Qizhi's face again, Lin Sicheng introduced her: "This is my teacher, a university professor, not in this field!"

The woman was startled again: "You haven't graduated from university yet?"

"Just graduated, and I'm starting my master's program this year!"

Her lips twitched twice, but the woman remained skeptical.

"I know you won't believe me because I'm so young. But I'm not lying to you, my eyesight and skills are indeed quite good."

Seeing Lin Sicheng's serious expression, the woman wanted to laugh again, but then felt it was inappropriate and pursed her lips.

Wang Qizhi and Zhao Xiuneng exchanged a glance: Lin Sicheng has always been humble and low-key, when has he ever boasted like this?

It seems we've found the right person.

No, to be more precise: we've found the right place.

This Qianjin Mansion is either connected to Ma Shan or to the woman who set the trap. Especially the woman in front of us, she is most likely directly involved.

Otherwise, Lin Sicheng wouldn't have been so serious and exerted so much effort.

As he pondered this, Lin Sicheng looked around.

There are three rows of workstations in the middle, instrument rooms on the left and right sides, and shelves on the front and back sides, filled with objects.

Whether it's silver or copper, gleaming copper or tin, inlaid with gold or gilded silver, it may be a broken piece, a repaired object, or one that's only half-repaired.

Lin Sicheng glanced at him briefly, then turned to the shop manager and asked, "Are you Master Li's top disciple?"

Yang Xin paused for a moment, then remained silent.

Looking at his hands, Lin Sicheng pointed again: "You repaired that gold-inlaid silver Bodhisattva statue, but you didn't master it: your hammering skills are just average, the patterns are stiff, the lines are messy, and it looks like it was chewed by a dog."

The craftsmanship of silver inlay and gilding is even worse: the original gold leaf is only half a millimeter (0.15 millimeters). Although you can hammer it to be that thin, you can't inlay it so firmly or so flat.

There was no other way but to resort to trickery: deepen the grooves, thicken the gold leaf, making it three times thicker. Afraid the customer would notice, you mixed a thicker gold amalgam, intending to seal the marks with gold paint. But you didn't control the heat properly; the mercury seeped into the base, and the piece was ruined…”

Lin Sicheng smiled again: "You lost a lot of money, didn't you?"

Yang Xin gritted his teeth, glared at Lin Sicheng, and then looked around erratically.

If the people in the store hadn't told him, how would this kid have known so much?
But what a weirdo: apart from the master, even the boss didn't know. How did these bastards know?
Feng Shizong and Li Jiansheng were both surprised and suspicious.

After so many years of cooperation, Li Jiansheng couldn't possibly hide anything from him. However, considering Yang Xin's years of diligence and conscientiousness, Feng Shizong didn't inquire about it.

They were certain that only the three of them knew about this. Even if someone overheard them talking about it, at most they would only know that Yang Xin had damaged the item, not that they knew this much.
They took shortcuts, carving deep grooves and adding thicker gold leaf...

Excess mercury, the gold amalgam was too cold, and the mercury seeped into the silver substrate...

The crucial point is that this kid just glanced at it from afar and didn't even lift a finger. It felt like he watched Yang Xin fix the broken part?
As the two men stood there, filled with surprise and doubt, Lin Sicheng pointed to a bronze enamel vase. Just as he was about to say something, he exclaimed in surprise...

After getting a closer look, Lin Sicheng asked with a strange expression, "No wonder?"

"This is Cantonese enamel, produced in Guangzhou. During the mid-Qing Dynasty, it was exclusively supplied to the Thirteen Factories for export to foreign countries. The glaze contains arsenic, which makes the colors more vibrant, but it contains very little zinc, so it is harder and has poorer ductility."

“Master Li was unaware of the situation, or perhaps he didn’t recognize it. He thought it was an official enamel repair (for official use, as opposed to imperial use). As a result, not only was it not repaired, but a large piece was burned off, and it even chipped off to the base of the enamel.”

"This piece has seven layers of glaze from the body to the surface, but unfortunately Master Li didn't master the craft and could only add three layers. What can we do then?"

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Just like my apprentice, I took a shortcut: I put another layer of copper on top of the copper base, but I didn't get the dimensions right and put it too thick, so I had to add two layers of glaze, otherwise it would bulge out."

But Mr. Li, to be honest: customers who can repair this kind of thing are usually very discerning. You think you can fool me like this? It's probably going to be a bit risky…

His face twitched uncontrollably, his lips trembled, and before he could finish speaking, Li Jiansheng roared, "You fucking fart..."

Feng Shizong was stunned: No wonder Li Jiansheng had already finished repairing it and asked him to deliver it, but he kept making excuses. It turned out that he was afraid of being exposed.
Wait... I don't even know myself, how did this kid know?
Moreover, we know that Li Jiansheng's skills are only good enough to repair three layers at most.

But no matter how he found out, he can't be allowed to continue talking about it.

Feng Shizong's eyes turned cold, and he was about to say something when the woman narrowed her eyes.

His heart skipped a beat, and he obediently shut his mouth.

The woman looked at Lin Sicheng with interest: "Is there any more?"

"Yes, there is, but I can't say any more, or I'm afraid I won't be able to leave this door today."

Lin Sicheng smiled and replied, then pointed to a Qing Dynasty gilded silver bronze saddle with gold beads: "There are also well-repaired ones, like this one, which uses the Ming Dynasty's temperature-controlled gold bead-making technique. The gold beads are extremely uniform, with a precision of 0.3 millimeters and an error of no more than 0.01 millimeters..."

"The soldering powder is well-prepared, and the soldering is even better: the gaps between the gold beads are of uniform size, and the three layers of bead mesh form a gyroscopic structure, making it more stable than the original..."

After a brief pause, Lin Sicheng looked around the workstations. There were about ten men and women, all craning their necks to watch the show.

After scanning the room, he smiled at a man in his thirties and said, "Master's skills are quite good, no worse than your master's, and far superior to your senior brother's..."

After a slight pause, Lin Sicheng looked at the gilded artifacts in his hand and exclaimed, "Something's not right. Judging from your skill in making wrought iron beads, it seems you're even better than your master... Haha, you've been hiding your talent? It seems you know you'll never get ahead here. Why don't you consider moving somewhere else?"

Feng Shizong and Li Jiansheng's faces turned green: How could they not know that Wu Quan's skills were far superior to Yang Xin's?
But in this line of work, it's not enough to just be skilled; you also need loyalty and, more importantly, to keep your mouth shut.

At this point, they had no more doubts: this little bastard not only had excellent eyesight, but also superior skills.

Without a discerning eye, one cannot see what's wrong with these items. Without skill, it's impossible to know how these things were repaired, fixed, or even sabotaged just by glancing at them from a distance.

But that's secondary; the key is that he's even more ruthless: Do you really think he's just trying to steal customers?

He was telling Ren Danhua in a direct way: This place isn't very reliable, you need to be careful.

If they lose this woman's business, Qianjinlu's revenue will drop by at least 30%...

So it's no exaggeration to say that if Ren Danhua hadn't been there, Feng Shizong and Li Jiansheng would have grabbed a knife and stabbed Lin Sicheng to death right there.

But forget about persuading them; they didn't even dare utter a harsh word. Because the woman was not only a customer, but also practically the boss. Otherwise, with Li Jiansheng's skills, the business here wouldn't have grown so large.

The business failed, and the partnership disbanded, but that was secondary. The main point was that once this woman hardened her heart, she could be even more ruthless.

In those ten minutes or so, she repeatedly threatened Feng Shizong and Li Jiansheng with her eyes: "Shut your mouths and let him finish..."

"Looks like your skills are really good, and your eye is even better!"

The woman nodded. "May I ask which school you studied under?"

Lin Sicheng answered crisply, "Grandma Zhao!"

Ren Danhua paused for a moment, then curled the corners of her lips into a smile.

The industry is only so big. There are quite a few people who can be considered top-notch at splitting hair, but there aren't many either. Anyone in the splitting hair business basically knows this.

Grandma Zhao's craftsmanship was superb, but she was only skilled in porcelain. No matter how shrewd she became, or how knowledgeable she was, she was definitely not at the level of recognizing a piece of Cantonese enamelware just by looking at it from afar without even touching it.

Even, as if he had X-ray vision, he could see that Li Jiansheng had damaged the original glaze, repaired a layer of body, and only repaired two layers of glaze.
Besides, if he really were to become Grandma Zhao's apprentice, why would Grandma Zhao need to make her two grandsons switch allegiances?

But the woman didn't spell it out, instead gesturing, "Where's the yellow stuff?"

Feng Shizong and Li Jiansheng were extremely unwilling, but dared not disobey. The two gritted their teeth secretly and gave Yang Xin a wink.

Yang Xin didn't dare to say a word, obediently opened the safe, and took out a small box about the size of a fist.

The woman took it and handed it forward.

Lin Sicheng accepted it without any hesitation.

It feels quite heavy in the hand. It has no patterns or designs, but it is smooth and lustrous, with a slightly yellowish tinge to its white color.

ivory?

Wow, even the boxes used to hold these things are genuine Imperial Household Department dental implements; the contents must be incredibly precious.

After a moment's thought, Lin Sicheng casually lifted the lid: a pocket watch!
The outer shell is made of gold, the chain of gold sesame seeds is made of gold, and the gold base is painted with a picture of three abundances: peach, pomegranate and Buddha's hand.

However, it is not well preserved; the glaze has almost completely faded, and only the outline of the original image can be barely discerned.

The same applies to the gold casing and chain: they have become dull and lost their luster.

Lin Sicheng glanced at it, a few doubts rising in his heart: it was indeed a piece of raw burial goods, but it was definitely not as short as half a year, it must have been dug out at least two or three years ago.

Moreover, such a person would at least be of the rank of Imperial Noble Consort, and more likely the Emperor or Empress, and would not be buried in the tomb of an ordinary concubine.

More importantly, there's the rust layer and corrosion mechanism: enamel only fades in a weakly acidic environment. In a weakly alkaline environment, whether it's ten layers of enamel or eight layers, it would peel off completely long ago.

Therefore, it has nothing to do with the Mu Mausoleum or the tomb that was looted in Mashan.

After a moment of thought, Lin Sicheng opened the watch cover. He was first stunned, then his heart skipped a beat.

There is a line of letters in the middle of the watch hands: Ferdinand VERBIEST!

If you pronounce it: This is the English name of Ferdinand Verbiest, who served as the Director of the Imperial Observatory, Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Grand Master of Ceremonies, Kangxi's mathematics and science teacher, a famous scientist and astronomer of the Qing Dynasty, and a Belgian missionary.

Haha... A watch made by Ferdinand Verbiest?
(End of this chapter)