Rebirth 93: Break off the engagement at the beginning and marry Bai Fumei

"What?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Zi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He stared at Chen Yang in disbelief, as if he were looking at some alien creature.

Qin Haofeng put down the water chestnut bottle in his hand, moved closer to the pillar, and stared at the large bowl with curiosity. He suddenly realized and said, "Brother, you weren't just teasing him, were you? You looked so serious just now, I almost believed you!"

Chen Yang smiled smugly, a hint of cunning and pride in his smile. "He's already setting a trap for me. If I don't fight back, wouldn't I be letting down all his efforts? Besides, if I don't show him what I'm capable of, he'll really think I'm a sucker who can be easily fooled!"

Qin Haofeng became even more curious. He moved closer to Chen Yang and asked in a low voice, "Brother, tell me quickly, what exactly happened?"

Zhu Zi couldn't help but chime in, "Yeah, brother, didn't you just say that the mark on the bottom of this bowl is in ink? No official kiln porcelain from any dynasty has ever used ink for its mark, right? Besides, we've collected so many official kiln porcelain pieces in our shop, and we've never seen any with an ink mark!"

Hearing this, Chen Yang couldn't help but laugh. He patted Zhu Zi on the shoulder and said, "Zhu Zi, you weren't paying attention when I said this. What I said was that most imperial porcelain had blue and white marks, but..." He paused deliberately, his tone mysterious, and a sly smile on his face, "But, coincidentally, some official kiln porcelain from the Hongzhi period had marks written in ink!"

Official kiln wares from the Hongzhi period typically bear two types of base marks: one is a blue-and-white mark with blue characters on a white background, and the other is a black-and-white mark with black characters on a yellow background, both arranged in two vertical lines. Generally, upright vessels like vases use blue-and-white marks, while thinner dishes and bowls use black-and-white marks. The characters are in a slender, official script style, with moderate spacing between characters, each written neatly and with clear, strong strokes. The marks on upright vessels and large bowls are usually enclosed in double circles, but it's important to note that the square-circle blue-and-white marks common in the Chenghua period did not exist during the Hongzhi era.

“Zhu Zi, let me tell you, this thing is a treasure! An absolute treasure!” Chen Yang said, deliberately lowering his voice and winking at Zhu Zi, his expression as if he were sharing some earth-shattering secret. “Don’t be fooled by its cracks. Although the rim of this bowl has a few minor flaws, like the pimples on your face, they slightly affect your appearance.”

"However, that doesn't diminish its value! The Hongzhi Emperor was a famously discerning person. Could the things he used be of poor quality? This bowl was either used by the royal family for meals or for sacrifices to Heaven. Tell me, how could this be an ordinary item?"

After listening to Chen Yang's words, Zhu Zi nodded silently, walked to the table, pulled up a chair, and sat down to carefully examine the ink-painted porcelain bowl from the Hongzhi period. He would touch the inscription on the bottom of the bowl, and then hold it up to the light to examine the porcelain's texture, his expression focused, as if he wanted to engrave every detail of the bowl into his mind.

Qin Haofeng looked at Zhu Zi's serious expression, then turned to Chen Yang and asked, puzzled, "Brother, what did you mean by what you just said? What do you mean he's treating us like suckers?"

Chen Yang did not answer Qin Haofeng's question directly. Instead, he pointed to the porcelain and other antiques on the table and said slowly, "Haofeng, look at these things. Don't they all seem unremarkable?"

"That's right." Chen Yang picked up his teacup, gently blew on the floating tea leaves, took a sip of tea, then put down the teacup and continued, "He's become cunning now, and he's also gone astray!" Chen Yang snorted coldly, his tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction.

He was out of town, so he sold all the good quality items that could fetch a good price there, leaving behind these things that others didn't want. He brought them back to try and fool us!

“He knew I had a good eye and could see the value of these things. He also knew that we knew about their family’s situation and sympathized with them. So he was plotting to take advantage of our sympathy and sell these things that others wouldn’t want to us at a high price, making a fortune off us!”

"Damn it!" Qin Haofeng was furious after hearing Chen Yang's explanation and couldn't help but curse. "How did this guy become so wicked? We were worried about their family before and thought about helping them out, but in the end, they turned around and tried to scam us. They're like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, not recognizing a kind heart!"

Seeing Qin Haofeng's indignant expression, Chen Yang smiled instead. He patted Qin Haofeng's shoulder and comforted him, "Tangdou, don't be too angry. This guy may be a bit cunning, but doesn't he realize that we're not so easily fooled?"

“What others consider worthless may become valuable in our hands. Take this water chestnut bottle, for example…” Chen Yang said, picking up the water chestnut bottle he had casually placed aside from the table. “Tangdou, keep this safe for now. I’ll study it carefully and see when it’s the right time to sell it.”

Although water chestnut-shaped vases are not popular now, there are always exceptions. Before 2010, China Guardian auctioned one for more than 400 million yuan, and it was this Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period yellow-ground blue and white water chestnut-shaped flat vase with scrolling floral pattern. Then in 2014, China Guardian again auctioned another Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period yellow-ground blue and white water chestnut-shaped flat vase with scrolling floral pattern for 2760 million yuan.

Chen Yang needs to think about whether four million from 2000 years ago or 2760 million from 2014 is more appropriate. As for that olive-shaped bottle... well, let's just keep it for now!

Which year is the best for auctions?

Just as Chen Yang was pondering this, Lao Shan sat down next to him. Chen Yang glanced at him and saw Lao Shan pull something out of his back and hand it to Chen Yang. "Mr. Chen, would you like to take a look at this?"

Lao Shan mysteriously pulled a package from his pocket, his careful movements as if he were holding a priceless treasure, not some junk he'd found at a roadside stall. Seeing this, Qin Haofeng and Zhu Zi also craned their necks curiously, like two cats drawn by the smell of fish, wishing they could just dive into the package and see what was inside.

Chen Yang took the package; it felt heavy and slightly cool to the touch. He raised an eyebrow. What was this kid up to? He slowly unwrapped the outer layer of coarse cloth, layer after layer. Just as everyone's anticipation reached its peak, a gleaming short knife suddenly appeared before their eyes.

Chen Yang let out a startled "Awooo!" and sprang up from his chair like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, almost performing a backflip. Pointing at the short knife, his voice trembled, "Damn it, Third Brother, what are you doing?"

Seeing Chen Yang's exaggerated reaction, Lao Shan couldn't help but chuckle. He scratched his head, revealing a憨厚 (honest and simple) smile, "Boss Chen, don't be nervous, let me explain slowly..."

So, Lao Shan vividly recounted her thrilling experience from the previous night, adding exaggerated gestures to the most dangerous parts, as if she were acting out a heart-pounding action movie. After listening, Chen Yang stroked his chin, gave a meaningful "Oh," and looked at Lao Shan with a knowing glint in his eyes.

"So..." Chen Yang deliberately dragged out the last syllable, his gaze sweeping over Lao Shan, making Lao Shan feel uneasy. "Yi Zhi, did you really kill Yi Zhi?"

Qin Haofeng and Zhuzi have already told Chen Yang about this. Although they can't be sure it's Yi Zhi, they've only met one person like that so far, so it's probably no one else but her/him.

"It wasn't me!" Upon hearing this, Lao Shan nearly jumped up in fright. He waved his hands repeatedly, as if he wanted to raise both hands to prove his innocence. "Boss Chen, what does this have to do with Yi Zhi?"

"Not you?" Chen Yang raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise, a playful smile playing on his lips. "If it wasn't you, why would the Japanese be chasing you? If anyone has a grudge against the Japanese, it's me. They wouldn't bother chasing you!"

"I..." Lao Shan was speechless after Chen Yang's words, and could only blink innocently, looking like a wronged little deer.

Qin Haofeng chimed in, "Third brother, stop hiding it. We all know you're incredibly skilled, so just admit it! Besides, we're all on the same side, we definitely won't tell anyone!"

"That's right, that's right!" Zhu Zi chimed in from the side. "Look at Lao Shan, they know you're skilled, so they specially sent two experts to 'deliver' the knife. What an honor that is!"

After listening, Lao Shan was both amused and exasperated. He sighed helplessly, thinking to himself, "What is all this nonsense?" He narrowed his eyes slightly and began to think seriously. After a moment, he said solemnly, "What you're saying seems to make a lot of sense, but I really don't have any!"

Chen Yang couldn't help but laugh at Lao Shan's innocent expression. He handed the dagger back to Lao Shan, gesturing for him to put it away. "Maybe you have sleepwalking problems? Maybe you accidentally bumped into Yi Zhi while sleepwalking in the middle of the night, and then..."

"I didn't!" Lao Shan retorted loudly. "Boss Chen, we've slept together. Don't you know whether I have sleepwalking or not? Please help me analyze this, don't tease me."

Qin Haofeng and Zhu Zi looked at Lao Shan and Chen Yang, and asked in strange tones, "You... slept together?"

"Oh no, I'm not pure anymore!" Zhu Zi said with a wicked grin.

"It's okay. Even if I haven't slept with Lao Shan, he's not innocent anymore!" Qin Haofeng added with a smile.

"You two brats!" Chen Yang chuckled and cursed at them, then looked out the door. "This isn't so simple. I reckon the Japanese might be making a comeback!"