Chapter 33 Taobao Flying Warehouse Network

  After breakfast, Professor Guo invited Zhang Jun into his study. Due to the little episode earlier, he had a very good impression of Zhang Jun and no longer treated him as an outsider, even showing him his treasured collection of many years.

  Professor Guo opened a large trunk and took out frame after frame of three-foot square photo frames, which were inlaid with various types of ceramic pieces and pottery pieces. The surface was covered with thick cotton cloth, looking very treasured.

  Zhang Jun thought to himself, "What's so special about these broken ceramics?" But as he took a closer look, he discovered that each piece of ceramic had a different texture. He couldn't help but say, "Professor Guo, it seems like each of these ceramic fragments is unique."

  Professor Guo smiled and said, "Good eyesight! These fragments are of many kinds. There are the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty, such as Ge Kiln, Guan Kiln, Ru Kiln, Jun Kiln, and Ding Kiln. And also Yuan Dynasty's Qinghua porcelain, Ming Dynasty's Yongle sweet white porcelain, Chenghua doucai porcelain, as well as Qing Dynasty's enamel."

  "What I mentioned above are just some representative porcelain pieces, the fragments I collected include all dynasties and regions, from Han and Tang to the early days of the founding of the country, everything is included." Professor Guo said with a smile, "It's not an easy task to collect all these completely."

  Zhang Jun patted him on the back, gave a thumbs up and said: "Awesome, it's simply a brief history of ceramic development! Professor Guo is indeed worthy of being an archaeologist, ordinary people don't have this kind of vision!"

  Professor Guo sighed: "It's been over 40 years, I started collecting from the 70s and only achieved my wish last year. Thinking about it, it really wasn't easy."

  Zhang Jun was indeed not very interested in these fragments, but others had put their life's work on display, so he couldn't just take a casual glance and leave, and thus pretended to appreciate them.

  As he looked, his gaze fell on a piece of porcelain the size of a palm, which was a fragment of Yuan Qinghua. As he gazed at it intently, his clairvoyant ability unfolded unintentionally. Suddenly, his eyes seemed to penetrate the long river of history and landed on the land of the Yuan Dynasty, feeling the breath of that era.

  Cruel, vast, and ambitious, with anger, oppression, and pain, all sorts of emotions flooded his mind in an instant, bringing forth various flavors to his heart. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh and say, "How could the Yuan Dynasty not have perished!"

  Professor Guo was taken aback by this abrupt and inexplicable remark, but when he saw Zhang Jun admiring the fragments of the yuanqing flower, he suddenly understood and smiled: "The Yuan Dynasty only lasted for over 80 years because it was too brutal and corrupt. Such a regime cannot last long, it is self-destructive."

  Zhang Jun nodded, and he continued to observe one by one. The ones from the Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty each brought him different feelings. Even within the same dynasty, under the rule of the same emperor, ceramics from different regions carried distinct auras.

  This is a very special kind of sensitivity, he can clearly feel the humanistic aura and historical characteristics of each object. This is a macroscopic grasp, without the aid of instruments, similar to intuition.

  Zhang Junben had intended to just go through the motions, taking a casual glance, but he unknowingly became immersed in the vast and boundless historical river, marveling at the prosperous culture of past dynasties, and lamenting the changes of the times and the progress of history.

  He didn't drop a single piece, from start to finish, one frame after another, one piece after another, and before he knew it, two or three hours had passed. Professor Guo was initially still accompanying him, but later seeing Zhang Jun so absorbed, he was also delighted in his heart, and smiled as he read his book.

  When Zhang Jun finished looking at all the porcelain pieces, he finally came back to his senses and found that it was already 12 o'clock in the afternoon. He patted his head and hurriedly walked out of the study, only to see that the table had been filled with food again.

  He scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Professor Guo, sorry about that. I was too engrossed just now and forgot the time. Didn't keep you from anything, did I?"

  Professor Guo put down the large book in his hand and laughed loudly: "Little Zhang, you can't judge a person by appearance. I didn't expect that you are also a ceramic enthusiast. Otherwise, how could you be so fascinated? Most people wouldn't even bother to take a second look at these things, let alone spend several hours looking at them."

  Zhang Jun's face was covered in sweat. Wasn't he also like this at first? If it wasn't for the feeling that leaving after just one glance would be impolite, he probably would have left the study room long ago.

  Professor Guo seemed very pleased, inviting Zhang Jun to sit down and saying to Guo Lan: "Lanlan, take a look at Xiao Zhang's attitude towards studying, and then take a look at your brother. Hmph, that kid is completely an uneducated and unfilial son."

  Guo Lan smiled and said, "Indeed, if it were Brother, he probably wouldn't last a minute. Luckily, he's an antique dealer."

  Zhang Jun was flattered and smiled, saying: "Professor Guo, I'm not some kind of expert. I hadn't been in contact with porcelain before, I was just curious earlier."

  Professor Guo was even more delighted and said: "Young people being humble is not a bad thing, good, very good. People like you who study will definitely be able to achieve something."

  Guo Lan rolled her eyes and said, "Dad, stop using that educational tone from your classroom all the time, let's eat quickly."

  In the morning, he had already eaten a meal, and at noon, he ate another one without any hesitation. Zhang Jun was not polite, opened his stomach to eat, this kind of generous attitude made Professor Guo like him even more.

  After lunch, Zhang Jiandao said: "Professor Guo, Guo Lan, I'm sorry to have disturbed you for a whole day. I have to catch the evening train, so I won't stay."

  Guo Lan was taken aback and said, "Are you leaving now? Why not stay for a few more days?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt it wasn't right. They had only known each other for half a day, after all, and saying that was a bit too much.

  Professor Guo also said: "Little Zhang, if there's nothing important, don't rush off. I've been quite idle these days, this afternoon you accompany me to Gui Gu Street for a stroll."

  Zhang Jun had also heard of the great reputation of Guiguzhai Street, a street for antique shops that gathered antique dealers from all over the country. It was extremely lively and famous nationwide. He thought to himself that it wouldn't matter if he returned a few days late, and besides, today's assassination attempt had left a shadow in his heart, so he also wanted to take some time to think carefully about it.

  "I haven't offended anyone in Donghai except for Xu Bo, and the only one left is Chen Fusheng. Although Chen Fusheng is narrow-minded, he wouldn't go so far as to hire someone to kill me." Thinking of this, the answer was imminent - the person who wanted to kill him must be Xu Bo!

  "What a Xubo, five times three times he laid hands on me, this vendetta I must report!" A thread of murderous intent rose in his heart.

  After a moment of distraction, he smiled slightly and said, "Alright then, I'd also like to go to Ghost Valley Street to broaden my horizons, as long as Professor Guo doesn't mind the trouble."

  In the afternoon, Guo Lan drove, taking Zhang Jun and Professor Guo to Gui Gu Street. Gui Gu Street is divided into three major areas: the North District mainly deals in modern art and replicas, the South District is a free trade zone, basically all street stalls. The remaining East District is a uniform antique shop, operating a variety of antique businesses.

  Professor Guo walked into the antique street and headed south. Guo Lan followed behind him, laughing and saying, "Dad, are you thinking of finding a few more treasures?"

  It turned out that Professor Guo had once discovered a Tang Dynasty Mongolian ancient jade on a street stall, and bought it for 50 yuan. Later, after years of fondling by Professor Guo, the ancient jade gradually revealed its extraordinary quality, and now it has become his treasured possession, which he is reluctant to show others easily.

  Listening to his daughter's joke, Professor Guo chuckled: "Maybe Little Zhang can bring me good luck, and today I can take home a vase of Yuan Qinghua."

  Even Professor Guo himself didn't believe what he just said, and after finishing speaking, he laughed at himself.

  The southern district is the area with the most tourists, almost everyone has a treasure-hunting mentality, fantasizing about finding great deals at street stalls. In reality, everyone knows that such good fortune belongs to low-probability events, out of 100 people, maybe only one or half a person has good luck and can buy something that's worth more than its price. But this doesn't affect everyone's enthusiasm, the place is still crowded with people every day, bustling with activity.

  Surrounded by such an atmosphere, Zhang Jun suddenly felt that he might really be able to find some treasures, so he looked around and scanned the area to see if there was anything he liked.

  Professor Guo quickly squatted down beside a stall, picked up a string of Buddhist beads and examined them carefully. Guo Lan was also busy, running to another stall, holding a jade bowl and looking at it repeatedly, with an uncertain expression on his face.

  Zhang Jun found that his range of sight had extended to over two meters since the last "inner vision", which made it convenient for him to observe the antiques on the ground, and he no longer needed to bend down and lean forward every time he observed something.

  Even so, he still didn't find anything special, and with a great sense of disappointment, he called out to Professor Guo and continued walking forward alone.

  "Look, it's just a copper-plated iron thing, and they're actually daring to ask for 10,000 yuan." He saw a stall where a buyer and seller were enthusiastically haggling over the price, leaving him speechless.

  All the way down, he relied on his clairvoyant ability to discover that most of the things on the stalls were counterfeit, occasionally there would be a real deal, but the price was so high that even if he bought it, he would still lose money.

  "One-watered junk, if I didn't have my X-ray vision, I'd probably buy a few worthless things too." He shook his head and quickened his pace, preparing to quickly cross the street to check out another street that sold calligraphy and paintings.

  As he turned the corner of the street, Zhang Jun's gaze inadvertently swept over a stall and suddenly stopped in his tracks. It turned out that he had spotted an iron incense burner with three feet, which was more than 20 centimeters in diameter.

  This iron incense burner doesn't have anything special on its surface, the craftsmanship is rough and unrefined, even people who don't understand antiques can tell that it's not a cultural relic, at most it could be sold for a few kilograms of scrap iron.

  But what's strange is that inside this iron incense burner, there was actually another incense burner, and its shape was very similar to the fake Qianlong stove on the street stall earlier. After he used his X-ray vision, he suddenly felt a special aura emanating from it.

  This breath is introverted and prosperous, inspiring refinement and governance, with a strong cultural and military aura, calm but not losing its sharpness, which is the style of the Xuan De era. He had felt this breath from the fragments of Xuande Qinghua porcelain preserved by Professor Guo, which were almost identical to each other.

  "What's inside is the Xuande stove?" Zhang Jun's heart skipped a beat, he had never eaten pork but had seen pigs run, and the name of the Xuande stove had been heard on TV networks before, it seemed to be very valuable.