Chapter 43: The Yellow Field Display

  The lake water is crystal clear, and it's easy to see the small fish swimming leisurely in the lake. The lakeside is lined with a few weeping willows, which are now in full shade, making everything look lush and green. The scene is intoxicating, making one feel that the sweltering summer heat has dissipated instantly.

  In addition, at the intersection of things on the east side of the gourd-shaped small lake, a small bridge with an ancient flavor is built. The whole picture gives people a beautiful scenery of a small bridge and flowing water. Seeing such a beautiful scene, Chu Chen couldn't help but hesitate in her heart, wondering whether she should buy a quadrangle courtyard or this kind of residence full of natural and rustic scenery when buying a house in the future.

  On the east side of the lake, among the lush willows, stands an elegant octagonal pavilion.

  At this time, in the pavilion, an old man with white hair was sitting upright, and a slender young girl was also chatting while drinking tea. On the wooden table in the center of the pavilion, there was a brocade box, which should be the Tian Huang Shou Xing ornament that Liu Qingshu had mentioned earlier.

  The old man saw Wu Shu and others coming, and greeted them: "Zi Ping, you're here. Is this your nephew? The young man looks quite spirited."

  "Good old Liu."

  Wu Shu and Chu Chen first went forward to pay their respects to Old Liu, then Wu Shu replied: "Yes, this is my nephew, Chu Chen. I'm the one who brought him into our line of work, and now he's made a name for himself in ceramics."

  Liu Lao heard the news and said with some excitement and emotion: "It's great to have achievements! Our line of work needs new blood, the Yangtze River's rear waves push forward the front waves, our generation is already old!"

  Upon hearing Liu Lao say this, Li Beibei immediately flattered him by saying: "Liu YeYe, you are indeed a precious sword that has not grown old, and still the after wave of the Yangtze River."

  Everyone heard her say this and couldn't help but smile slightly.

  Li Pei asked Wu Shu after, and said slyly: "Wu Shu, this is your nephew, ah, he looks like a decent person, I don't know if he's really as fierce as you said?"

  Chu Chen's face showed a bitter smile when he heard her say that, thinking to himself that he must have suffered unjustly by following Wu Ke. He thought to himself, "If you're capable, go fight with Wu Ke, why take it out on others?"

  To say that Li Beibei's appearance is comparable to Wu Ke, she is about 1.7 meters tall, with delicate facial features, yet exuding a heroic and refreshing aura, while Wu Ke's style is different, she looks like a petite jade maiden.

  The key is that Li Pei Pei's chest is indeed very impressive, and it's true that she deserves the nickname "milk cow". If she were on the street, her beauty and figure would likely get a 100% head-turning rate from men.

  Such a beauty, normally on the road, Chu Chen would also take a few more glances, but that's just a kind of appreciation for beauty. As for liking, he still prefers Wu Ke's type a bit more, although Wu Ke's personality is still something he can't quite handle.

  It's not bad to get to know such a beauty in daily life, and it doesn't matter if you're biased or not. However, today is a very important day for Chu Chen, as it affects his future development in the antique business. This was his first meeting with Old Man Liu, and he didn't want any mistakes due to Li Peipei's bias, giving Old Man Liu a bad impression of him.

  "You this child."

  Li Beibei and Wu Ke's grudges, Lao Liu had also heard some of it, and knew why she said that. But what she said did make some sense. Being fierce or not isn't something you can just talk about with your mouth. So she turned her head to say to Chu Chen:

  "Well, Baobei is right, just like Xiaochu, Baobei brought a Tianhuang decorative piece this time, so you can tell us about it."

  "Money, this..."

  Wu Shu was taken aback when Qian Lao asked Chu Chen to appraise the Tian Huang, and although he usually let Chu Chen learn about other antiques besides ceramics, he had no confidence in his ability to appraise Tian Huang.

  Liu Lao saw Wu Shu's somewhat anxious appearance and smiled: "Zi Ping, if Xiao Chu is really like what you told me that day, then this ornament, he must have seen it. Do you think I would force someone to do something difficult?"

  Wu Shu felt a bit embarrassed when Liu Lao said that, while Chu Chen gave him a reassuring look on the side, then put down the thing in his hand and looked at the Tian Huang Shou Xing ornament in the brocade box.

  Tianhuang, I believe everyone is not unfamiliar with it. It is a unique "soft gemstone" in our country. The whole world only produces less than one square kilometer of Tianhuang stone in Shoushan, Dongnan Province, China. Because the color is generally yellowish, and it is mainly produced in the fields, it is called Tianhuang Stone.

  Tianhuang stone has a warm and moist texture, and can be said to be the first-class material among soft carving stones. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Tianhuang was always presented as a tribute to the imperial palace, carved into imperial seals and art pieces, so Tianhuang stone is also revered as "the king of stones" and "stone emperor", hence its value is beyond compare.

  Therefore, since ancient times, Tianhuang stone has been said to be "one or two Tianhuang for ten taels of gold", but because Tianhuang has become increasingly rare after so many years of mining, the price in recent years has risen year by year, to the point where some people have changed the previous saying to "one or two Tianhuang for ten thousand taels of gold", which shows its preciousness.

  However, Tianhuang is precious and has been flooded with counterfeit products since ancient times. Now that technology is advanced, the counterfeiting of Tianhuang is even more rampant, such as using chemical means to dye and make fake skin, or using other colors and textures similar to stone materials to pretend to be, etc., it's really hard to guard against. Therefore, when buying Tianhuang, you must keep your eyes open.

  Before Chuyan picked up the ornament, Baojue had already reminded him that this thing was valuable. When Tian Huang took it in his hand, it was also very warm and delicate, and it was generally indistinguishable from a genuine Tian Huang. However, until now, it cannot be proven that this Tian Huang ornament is genuine. Chuyan knew that several types of imitations also had such characteristics, and they also had their own value.

  Then, Chu Chen took out a flashlight and magnifying glass, carefully examining the ornament piece by piece, before putting it back in the box.

  Liu Lao asked him, "Xiao Chu, what do you think?"

  "Well, I'll share my thoughts with everyone. However, as a junior with limited knowledge, please forgive me if there's anything incorrect or incomplete."

  Chu Chen first humbled himself, then continued: "This Tian Huang Shou Xing ornament, the carving of Shou Xing is exquisite, and the whiskers are carved in a messy yet orderly manner, which can be said to have a certain charm. At first glance, the glaze and carvings seem to resemble the workmanship of the Qing dynasty's middle period."

  "It seems you really are as Wu Shu said, quite capable." Li Beibei's face lit up with joy when she heard Chu Chen say this.

  Seeing this, Liu Qinxu smiled and said: "Bei Bei, you're already 24 years old, why are you still so impatient? Let Xiao Chu finish speaking first."

  Li Bei listened to Liu Qinxu and felt a bit embarrassed, sticking out her tongue, looking cute and lovely.

  Chu Chen saw her like this, and couldn't help but stare blankly for a moment. He then quickly shifted his attention back, with an apologetic tone saying: "Miss Li, I'm really sorry, earlier I just said it looked like a Qing dynasty piece at first glance, but actually this decorative piece is a modern imitation of an antique."

  "How is this possible." Li Peipei heard him say this and suddenly became anxious.

  Liu Lao saw her like this, and comforted: "Alright, Pei Pei, don't worry, even if you're anxious, a fake can't become real. First listen to what Xiao Chu has to say about what's going on."

  The Tianhuang is very valuable, so if you buy the wrong one, the loss will be quite large. Especially this ornament, it's estimated to weigh around 100 grams. Even though this piece of Tianhuang isn't considered top-notch, it should still be worth several tens of millions.

  Seeing this, Chu Chen could only give her an apologetic look, and then picked up the ornament again to explain: "Actually, this ornament is both true and not true. It's true because it uses real Tian Huang, but it's not true because it's made by piecing together small blocks of Tian Huang."

  Upon hearing this, Li Beibei wanted to interrupt again, but was stopped in time by Liu Qinchu. Chu Chen smiled faintly and then shone a strong light flashlight on a position on the ornament, saying:

  "If it were a real Tianhuang stone, its red grid pattern should be continuous and its characteristics should also be the same. Everyone please take a look, the red grid pattern here is well-developed and continuous, but over there, the red grid pattern has some differences compared to the previous place."

  "Let's take a look at the radish pattern. The authentic Tianhuang has a radish pattern with consistent thickness and even distribution, which is continuous and harmonious. However, here it is obvious that the thickness is inconsistent and there are discontinuities. From these two points, we can see that this ornament is a pieced-together Tianhuang."

  "Of course, there is also a crude method to distinguish it. If you have a needle, just heat it red with fire and poke it at the positions I mentioned earlier. There should be a smoke phenomenon, which is the result of the adhesive melting."

  However, from these two points, it can also be seen that the person who made this piece is a master. Firstly, the materials he chose, the radish pattern and the red grid pattern inside, are all relatively close in style. If one doesn't observe very carefully, it's easy to miss this point.

  Moreover, the craftsmanship of this person is particularly exquisite. At those spliced joints, he used clever techniques to conceal them, making them look not stiff at all. And after the carving was completed, he should have also used powder made from Tianhuang stone to cover up the joints again, making it even more deceptive.

  "However, although this piece is made up of pieced-together Tian Huang carvings, the Tian Huang used and the craftsmanship are still quite good, so it has some value. I don't know how much you paid for it, Miss Li, but if it was a low price, then it's a suitable purchase."

  But judging from Li Beibei's tangled expression, she must have spent a lot of money when buying it.