Chapter 38: The Mysterious Qinghua Porcelain (4)

  The three-person gamble did not affect the liveliness of the party, and young people gathering together can always find fun. After Qu Wen's performance, it quickly became the focus of attention for the little girls.

  Mature humor, knowledgeable and refined, handsome and elegant, dressed casually but with a sense of elegance, exuding an air of nobility and refinement, and those slightly flirtatious eyes, simply the perfect lover in every girl's dreams.

  Fortunately, Qu Wen discovered it early and felt that something was wrong, so she secretly carried a pile of food to the yard and enjoyed the beautiful and charming moonlight alone. As a result, Bao Xiaolin complained all the way back, almost being driven mad by Ling Kai.

  In less than two days, news came from Zhang Chen's side that his father was willing to transfer the high imitation Qinghua porcelain, but he wanted to have a face-to-face talk with Qu Wen.

  Upon receiving the news, Bao Guoqiang curiously asked: "Awen, how did you get involved with Zhang Dong of Guangtai Energy?"

  Bao Guoqiang was referring to Zhang Chen's father, Zhang Hua Wen. The Guangtai Energy Conservation Company he founded mainly engages in the development of power station air cooling equipment, heat dissipation components and refrigeration technology. It also has several subsidiaries operating in different fields, with total assets more than double that of Chen Jun's father.

  Moreover, Zhang Huawen has another impressive aspect besides his wealth, which is his family background. His uncle holds a position in the national core group and often appears on TV. So without him saying a word, many people will open convenient doors for Zhang Huawen, making his career smooth sailing.

  "Do you still remember that day when I accompanied Xiaolin to attend the class reunion? That's the day I met his son...". Qu Wen roughly told what happened at the reunion, and finally mentioned the Qinghua vase: "Although I haven't been in this line for long, I've seen few fakes, and never seen one as good as this, so I want to buy it back to study."

  Gu Quanzhong sat on the side, nodding in satisfaction: "It's a good thing to be eager to learn. In the antique business, relying solely on luck won't do; there will always be times when you get wet shoes. You need to study and research more, especially the subtle differences between genuine and high-quality imitation products, in order to develop a discerning eye for antiques. Guoqiang, why don't you accompany Quwen on this trip? It's rare for him to be so eager to learn, so help him buy the things he wants."

  Bao Guoqiang grunted: "Later I'll go with Awen."

  Gu Quan's words made Qu Wen feel ashamed, and he became even more determined to learn about antique appraisal. Before long, they arrived at a high-end residential apartment in Xinghe Bay, BJ City, driven by Bao Guoqiang.

  The apartment is divided into two floors, with a total area of over 600 square meters, decorated in the Baroque style, looking luxurious and grand. With famous handmade furniture decorations, it showcases the style of a wealthy family.

  Not to mention the villa in Changping, this set of high-end apartments is worth tens of millions at the market price at that time. It's normal for top-notch super-rich like Zhang Huawen to have several properties in BJ city.

  Qu Wen Gang had just entered the house and calculated that the money he had on hand was probably only enough to buy a few toilets here.

  "Goodness gracious, when a small witch meets a big witch, and a small sum of money encounters a large sum of money, this person is really infuriating."

  Zhang Huawen is about the same age as Bao Guoqiang, around 45 or 46 years old. Due to middle age and career success, his physical activity has decreased, and a rich appearance has begun to emerge. His confident and proud demeanor can be seen at a glance, revealing that he is a wealthy and noble person.

  Upon seeing Bao Guoqiang, Zhang Huawen immediately went up to greet him and shook hands with an unusually familiar tone: "Old Bao, I didn't expect you to be here too." Then he looked at Qu Wen beside him, his eyes slightly surprised: "Is this your junior apprentice, Qu Wen? Truly a talented young man, a rare gem among people."

  "Don't praise him, my younger brother has just started learning and can't be considered a genius yet." Bao Guoqiang said politely, but he was actually very happy in his heart. When others praised his younger brother, it also reflected well on him.

  "Ah, ah, you're not simple at all, little brother. You have such a keen eye for spotting something that even several experts missed. If you continue to study and research for a few more years, by the time you reach our age, you'll be unbeatable. Come on, let's go talk in the living room, Old He is waiting for us inside."

  Bao Guoqiang was shocked and said: "He Lao is also here, why didn't you say it earlier."

  Having been in Beijing for many days, I've heard of quite a few names of antique dealers in Beijing. The first one that comes to mind is this old man He.

  He Laoquan's full name is He Haoshi, who has passed his eighties and is a master of the antique industry in northern China. He has a deep understanding of ceramics, jade stones, calligraphy and painting appreciation. Due to his name, he is also known as "Good Stone Old Man". For convenience, people in the industry respectfully refer to him as He Lao.

  I've always heard of his great reputation, today Qu Wen finally saw the real Buddha. Although He Lao is over 80 years old, he still looks robust and healthy, with bright eyes that seem to be full of spirit, and a long white beard on his chin, giving off an air of elegance and refinement.

  Upon entering the living room, Zhang Hua immediately introduced him: "Mr. He, this is Qu Wen, the younger brother we just discussed, a closed disciple of Master Gu."

  He Lao took a closer look at Qu Wen and saw that he was young and handsome, with a straight posture and steady steps, exuding an air of heroism. He couldn't help but nod his head in approval: "Not bad, you've cultivated a good temperament at such a young age, truly a talented young man."

  The older generation not only looks at people's clothing and appearance but also pays attention to their movements, saying "walk like the wind, stand like a pine tree, sit like a bell". Walking should be as swift and powerful as the wind, standing upright like a tall pine tree, and sitting up straight like a bell. This reflects a person's good living habits and physical temperament.

  With literary elegance, he followed the traditional etiquette of the old Jianghu, placing his left hand on top of his right, raising both hands above his head, and bowed deeply to Old He: "Junior Qu Wen pays respects to Old He."

  This set of greetings and etiquette was learned from Gu Quanzhong, and it's quite particular. Generally, when greeting others, the left hand is placed on top of the right hand, but if there has been a recent death in the family, the right hand is placed on top of the left hand, making it clear at a glance that something has happened recently. Raising both hands to the face is the way to greet elders, while for peers, it's done with hands clasped at chest level.

  Qu Wen just raised his hand above his head, showing great respect for He Lao, and couldn't help but add a few more appreciative glances.

  "Alright, alright, no need for formalities, let's all sit down and talk."

  The three of them sat down immediately, and Zhang Huawen took out the high imitation Qinghua vase from the other day and placed it on the tea table. He asked Qu Wen, "Qu Wen, little brother, I've been hearing a lot about you lately. First, you picked up a piece of Hu Kaiwen's old inkstone, then you bought a pair of double dragon grape mirrors with Master Gu, and later you found a set of black-based Sancai porcelain in an old house. Just the other day, you identified a high imitation Qinghua vase at my place that had fooled several experts. Can you tell me how you determined that this Qinghua vase was a high imitation?"

  "Director Zhang, you'd better call me Xiao Qu or Awen, it sounds more familiar."

  The words spoken with a group of young people the night before last were just casual fabrications, half true and half false. However, after Qu Wen returned, he did his homework and added deeper evidence to his previous views, causing He Lao and San Ren to nod their heads in agreement.

  Everyone in the industry knows that most of the Qing materials used during the Wanli period were Huiqing, first seen in the "JX Provincial Gazette", which records the use of Huiqing as a tribute from foreign countries. This material is a single color, with a slight purple tint in the blue, different from the Su Ma Li Qing material used in the early Ming dynasty. The green on this piece is similar to the Ping Deng Qing used during the Chenghua to Jiajing period, but still slightly different. Therefore, based on the principle of being cautious when encountering doubts, I would rather believe it's fake than real, and determine that it's a later imitation. As for the glaze and style of this piece, they are indeed flawless, which makes it easy for people to misunderstand and believe it's genuine.

  Although the reasoning of Quwen is still a bit weak, it clarifies his skeptical views. For antiques, as long as there are doubts, they should be identified as fake first and cannot be used to deceive oneself with excuses, which will only lead to being cheated.

  Listening to Qu Wen's explanation, He Lao couldn't help but nod continuously, with a look of admiration in his eyes: "Not bad, at your age you can already see the subtle differences on the Qinghua fabric, and the way you arrange the heart-shaped pattern is truly rare. Don't be afraid of being laughed at, when I was your age, I didn't even have half of your skill. Old Gu really has taken in a good apprentice!"

  He Lao paused for a moment and then continued: "When I first saw this Longquan celadon vase with dragon pattern, I also thought it was genuine. The glaze and shape were very beautiful, but after careful observation, I found that except for the inappropriate green material on top, there were some problems with the glaze. Although there were obvious cow hair cracks, the cow hair cracks on top seemed to appear too quickly, unlike the normal historical wear marks, and it was possible that someone had artificially aged them. So I asked Huawen to take it to a professional appraisal center for chemical element testing, and indeed, as I suspected, it turned out to be a modern high-quality imitation."

  "If we say that this person is making a counterfeit, it would be better to say that he is creating an artwork. Being able to replicate something to this extent has already far exceeded the category of counterfeiting and reached an extremely high level of artistry. If sold as a modern craft product, the price should also be quite good. Especially the patina on top is exceptional, with a degree of authenticity that can reach at least 90%."

  He Lao had just finished speaking, and Zhang Huawen immediately took over: "Later, I found the auction house and asked them about the origin of the item. They gave me a name, and I sent someone to continue investigating. The seller said it was bought from the ghost market, and he couldn't remember who the seller was, so he couldn't tell me the name of the counterfeiter. The clue ended here."

  The "Ghost Market" in the antique market refers to a night market, also known as "Ghost Market Child", which opens from midnight to dawn. As early as the late Qing Dynasty, some aristocratic young masters, due to excessive spending, secretly sold their family's antiques and treasures for money, while some thieves sold stolen goods under the cover of darkness, gradually forming the later Ghost Market.

  Nowadays, the ghost market mainly sells second-hand goods, with unclear sources of goods, and a large number of counterfeit and fake products are everywhere. However, there are also many rare and precious items, which are loved by insiders because of their cheap prices, forming a strange and unique antique market.

  Things bought in the ghost market, because the source of the goods is not proper and it's very hard to find the root, so no matter how capable Zhang Huawen is, he can't continue investigating.

  This is something that Qu Wen never thought of. The technique of making old has been around since ancient times, and by the Ming dynasty, the methods for making old were constantly being innovated, from ordinary dyeing and earth soaking to change the appearance and color, evolving into detailed processing, especially for the traces of years of wear and tear on old objects, cow hair lines.

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