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

Chapter 66 Evil Disciple
The most authentic Qishan臊子面 comes in a large bowl as big as a head, with translucent red oil floating on the soup.

Red carrots, white tofu cubes, yellow egg skins, green leek leaves, black wood ear shreds, slightly yellow alkaline noodles... are like colorful pearls piled on a topaz rope.

Steam rose. The aroma of vinegar mixed with the spicy flavor rushed into my nose, and my Adam's apple rolled uncontrollably. With a light poke of my chopsticks, "slurp", half of the noodles in the bowl were gone.

After three or four mouthfuls at most, there was only soup left in the bowl, and Lin Sicheng brought over a second bowl.

The uncle and nephew sat opposite each other, stirring the noodles absentmindedly.

I was very hungry, but there were more complaints: the two of them were shocked from beginning to end, and they could hardly keep up with the conversation, let alone interrupt.

An old lady with a rusty face and speaking jargon?
Even the walking stick is inlaid with Shang jade. You can only see rare objects in museums. Are they being sold at a circulating price?

And there are more than ten antiques that have been restored but can still be called treasures.

Even stranger is Lin Sicheng.

She speaks better than an old lady, knows historical allusions and figures like the back of her hand, and can see through the fake restorations at a glance?
Even if millions of Shang Yubai were given to him, he wouldn't be tempted at all?
Even if you suspect fraud or worry about the source of something, shouldn’t you struggle with it in your heart?
But thinking back to that time, Lin Sicheng didn't even hesitate...

What surprised Wang Qizhi the most was the box that the old lady took out at the end: How rare must this item be that she was willing to pay Lin Sicheng millions of dollars as a reward?

After Lin Sicheng finally finished his second bowl, Wang Qizhi quickly stretched out his chopsticks:
"What's in the last box?"

Really hungry, Lin Sicheng picked up the third bowl and slurped it up: "Chicken Cup!"

"What?"

"Chicken Cup!"

The hand holding the chopsticks shook, causing ripples on the soup. Wang Qizhi was stunned.

As we all know, there are only more than ten Chicken-Glazed Cups in existence: ten in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, one each in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States, the David Foundation in the United Kingdom, and a Swiss museum.

There are thirteen of them, and there are definitely no more than five in private collections... How many do they add up to?
But now, two more suddenly appeared? Even if these two were broken...

He was about to say it was impossible, but the words came to his lips and he couldn't spit them out.

I was far away and the light was backlit, so I couldn't see it clearly. I just knew there was a bird on the topmost porcelain piece on the box.

But Wang Qizhi could see the other pieces clearly: Lu Zigang's jade carving, Li Dongyang's handwritten letter, the tribute inkstone bestowed by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty...especially the tribute inkstone made of chengni, which could not be more authentic.

So, if the item in the box is not a Chicken-Glazed Cup, what kind of porcelain is it that would cost millions to repair?

Based on this idea, the old lady’s identity as “the successor of the brazing craftsman of the Imperial Household Department” is most likely true.

If she wasn't a descendant of a brazing master, her hands and face wouldn't be rusted like that...unless the old lady had been buried in a resurrection pit thousands of times (never seen the light of day, never had oxygen).

If you are not a descendant of a mender, it is impossible for you to be able to repair anything, be it porcelain, wood, copper or jade, and do it so well.

If you're not a descendant of a brazer, it's impossible to steal a chicken-glazed cup from the palace... even if it's broken...

But why must Lin Sicheng make up for it?
After a moment of thought, Wang Qizhi's eyes widened: "Can you make up for it?"

Lin Sicheng shook his head: "Not yet, but can I learn?"

Wang Qizhi exclaimed: How to learn?
Not to mention the Chicken-Glazed Cup or Doucai, more than 80% of Ming porcelain restoration techniques have been lost. Where did Lin Sicheng learn it from?

If the old lady could learn it, she would have learned it herself without asking Lin Sicheng for help.

Wang Qizhi looked at the wooden box under his feet, puzzled. "But the old lady seems to be sure that you can definitely learn it?"

Lin Sicheng sighed inwardly: Because I really can. He hadn't repaired the Chicken Cup, but he had repaired the Doucai Cup a lot. It was just a matter of practicing a few more times...

Lin Sicheng was silent for a long time: "She must have smelled a bit of blue on me!"

After replying, Lin Sicheng put down his chopsticks and pointed at the blue spot on his right fingernail. "Professor Wang, this is lacquer. I mixed it when I was painting blue the other day. I got a little on it and it won't come off..."

Wang Qizhi nodded: "I know, then what?"

Wang Qizhi had glued the two fish on himself. Feng Lin had reminded him at the time that Lin Sicheng had instructed him that the paint wouldn't wash off his hands.

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment and said, "The real blue lacquer refers to the glue and lacquer used by the Imperial Kiln Factory in the Ming Dynasty to repair blue and white porcelain. It was later passed down to the Qing Dynasty and was specifically used to repair blue and white porcelain left over from the Ming Dynasty..."

Because the glaze formulas are similar and both use cobalt, they were modified by the Imperial Household Department and used to repair enamel... However, the specific formula was lost during the Republic of China..."

After a pause, Lin Sicheng emphasized, "Professor Wang, I'm not lying to you. This isn't real lacquer. I just made it up based on the literature... But for some reason, the old lady was convinced: This is the real lacquer..."

"She inferred from this that if I could mix the blue lacquer, I would definitely be able to repair Ming blue and white porcelain. If I could repair Ming blue and white porcelain, I would definitely be able to repair doucai porcelain (doucai porcelain is a blue and white base with colored glaze). If I could repair doucai porcelain, I would definitely be able to repair the chicken-glazed cup..."

Lin Sicheng spread his hands and sighed, "That's why I didn't take the inkstone. But the old lady didn't believe me and insisted on giving me a box of porcelain pieces so that I could practice first..."

Lin Sicheng spoke so quickly and urgently that Wang Qizhi was still confused at first. But when he heard the last sentence, his hand trembled and his chopsticks fell into the bowl of noodles.

The corners of his mouth kept twitching, and he almost cursed: Lin Sicheng, are you talking nonsense?
I'm your teacher, and you're just fooling me like this?
It was so small, the size of a millet grain, and I hadn't noticed it for several days.

But the old lady recognized it at a glance. How sharp must her eyes be?

So, she could still admit her mistake?

Including just now, Wang Qizhi was still wondering, if there really was a Chicken-Glazed Cup in the box, why did the old lady take it out so carelessly?
Now think about it: What the hell is careless?
The old lady embodies the saying that old people are wise and cunning:

Why did the old lady give the crutch to Lin Sicheng?

Test his eyesight.

Why use Shang Yu to lure Lin Sicheng?

Test his character.

The subsequent jargon, the gold in the sleeve, more than ten restored items, and three treasures were all on the Pantuo Road.

In addition to finding out Lin Sicheng's background, we must also find out his strength and even his character.

Even Lin Sicheng's question, "Why not send it to the Palace Museum for repair?", was intentional by the old lady: Who with normal thinking could resist asking?
If you don't ask, then there's something wrong with you. Nine times out of ten, you have an agenda.

So, in just over an hour, how many tricks did the old lady use, and how much wisdom did she employ?
That’s all, he’s just the successor of the brazing craftsman from the Imperial Household Department?
This is an old veteran, an old veteran who has experienced many twists and turns, weathered many storms, seen many intrigues and deceptions, and has long since developed a keen eye.

She made so many attempts and only took out the Chicken-Glazed Cup after she was sure that it was at least 90% correct. How could it be fake?

Such a person would not even show his hand when he saw a rabbit. Based on a little guess, he would give away porcelain pieces worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to others for training, and even dare to give away imperial artifacts worth millions of dollars as a deposit?

Therefore, the blue dot on Lin Sicheng's nails is definitely real lacquer...

So, Lin Sicheng, who never told the truth and was always talking nonsense, really knew how to repair the Chicken Cup...

Subconsciously, Wang Qizhi thought of what Lin Sicheng had just said and gritted his teeth involuntarily:
Professor Wang, seriously, I just read the literature a few times and came up with this formula randomly...

Professor Wang, seriously, I've never done Doucai, but I can learn...

Come, tell me: How did you figure it out, and where are you going to learn it from?
Evil disciple, I am your teacher, why are you so foolish?
(End of this chapter)