Chapter 40: Fallen Ill?

  In October, Beijing's weather has transitioned from a thriving summer to a deep autumn, unlike the south, with a hint of chill in the air in the mornings.

  Dazed and confused, he woke up from his sleep, only to feel exhausted all over, as if he had just finished the eight-year war. The high-imitation Qinghua porcelain was still intact beside him, and Qu Wen's heart was unwilling to try to move his spirit, wanting to see if there was any remaining aura on it. But this attempt gave him a fright.

  "Huh, why can't it condense?"

  No matter how hard Qingwen tried, the spiritual awareness could not be gathered together, and it flowed slowly in the meridians like a wandering thread. Only then did he begin to regret his reckless behavior, for the sake of temporary curiosity, he had done something that not only destroyed the aura on the Qinghua porcelain, but also damaged his own spiritual awareness ability.

  "It seems to be caused by a temporary excessive consumption, and I don't know when it will recover."

  With a dejected mood, I arrived at Bao Guoqiang's house and entered the hall. The nanny had already prepared breakfast. Seeing Qu Wen's poor complexion, Gu Quan asked with concern: "Awen, what's wrong with you? Your face looks terrible."

  "Is it? Maybe I'm not used to Beijing's weather, so I didn't pay attention at night and caught a chill."

  Since taking Qu Wen as his apprentice, Gu Quan has become more and more fond of this apprentice, who is not only studious and upright but also extremely talented and blessed with good fortune. Now he loves him just as much as his own precious granddaughter Su Yaxin.

  "Hey, you young people are too careless. The weather in the north is not like the south. After autumn arrives, you need to pay more attention to dressing warmly."

  "Got it, Master."

  Hastily finishing breakfast, he arrived at Bao Guoqiang's store again. Ling Jue was still unusable, making Qu Wen feel awkward in his heart. He had become very accustomed to having Ling Jue by his side, able to observe the surroundings and investigate the spiritual energy on antiques at any time. Now it felt like someone who had suddenly lost both hands, so unaccustomed.

  Suddenly heard someone calling out, turned around and found it was Zhao Haifeng.

  "A Wen, what were you spacing out on just now? I called you and you didn't even hear me."

  "Oh, I just thought of something, did you call me for something?"

  Zhao Haifeng mysteriously took out a Qinghua porcelain bottle from behind his back: "I heard that you appraised a high imitation of Qinghua porcelain the other day, and He Lao praised it as excellent. How about helping me take a look at this Qinghua figure with a mouthwash today?"

  The vase was carefully picked up and examined, the Qinghua glaze on it is deep and rich, from top to bottom, it is fully painted with figures and landscapes. In the language of antique dealers, it is also called "full work". The characters are deeply carved and vivid, with clear layers, showing the characteristics of the mid-to-late Qing dynasty. From a visual perspective, the quality is perfect and intact.

  According to Qu Wen's current level of antique appreciation, it can only be considered as a beginner. Without intuition, it is difficult to distinguish between true and false antiques. After looking at the bottom of the foot with difficulty, I immediately discovered the clues. Although the workmanship of the entire piece is extremely exquisite, the pattern on the bottom has been ground flat, making it impossible to tell which dynasty it belongs to, giving a sense of mystery, so it's probably fake.

  "It must be fake." Qu Wen came to a conclusion after looking at it for a while.

  "Fake? Impossible! You can even tell the difference between a high-quality imitation of Qinghua porcelain, how could you not tell this one is fake?" Zhao Haifeng looked at Qu Wen with an incredulous gaze: "I showed it to Master before and he said it was a masterpiece from the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty...and yet you say it's fake..."

  Compared with Qu Wen, Zhao Haifeng believes that Bao Guoqiang is more convincing, after all, his age and experience are there, and everyone praises him.

  "Really……" Qu Wen picked up the teacup again and looked at it for a long time. In the past, he had relied on his intuition to distinguish between true and false, and could always make people stunned with some theoretical remarks. Now, without the help of intuition, he was like a blind man who had just lost his sight, unable to find his way. "But there's no mark at the bottom, how can you be sure this is from the Qianlong period?"

  "You really don't understand..." Zhao Haifeng stared at Qu Wen for a long time: "Master said that when the Eight-Power Allied Forces looted and burned Yuanmingyuan and the Imperial Palace, many palace kiln ceramics flowed into the folk. After the Eight-Power Allied Forces left, the situation was relatively stable, and the Qing court issued a notice that all stolen palace kiln ceramics must be recovered. If they disobeyed the imperial edict, they would be beheaded and their nine clans would be exterminated."

  "In order to leave behind the extremely rare imperial kiln porcelain, many people would grind away the marks at the bottom, thus turning them into unmarked authentic pieces. This even triggered a controversy known as 'the Imperial Kiln Fuss' back then. Look at the blue and white glaze above, the material is deep and stable, the body is snow-white, hard and dense, with an extremely high density, the glaze is even and shiny, giving off a sense of heaviness. Adding to that, the composition of the figures and landscape has characteristics typical of the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty. Therefore, this piece should be a Qianlong masterpiece from the imperial kiln with its mark ground away."

  After listening to Zhao Haifeng, Qu Wen suddenly felt like a frog at the bottom of a well, feeling that what he had learned and known was still too little, and without the help of spiritual awareness, nothing could be done.

  As they chatted halfway, Bao Guoqiang walked over and saw that Qu Wen's face was still pale, lacking the usual vitality and energy, looking listless. He asked with concern: "Awen, how is your body? Do you want to go back and rest first?"

  One's own body is most clear to oneself. Because of excessive consumption of spiritual energy at one time, the complexion becomes poor, but in fact it is not much different from usual.

  "It's nothing serious, just a chill, it'll be fine in two days."

  Bao Guoqiang dare not be careless, now his master regards Qu Wen as a treasure, and with great care, he decided to let Qu Wen go home and rest first.

  "You'd better go back and rest first, come again when you're feeling better."

  Since Bao Guoqiang said so, Qu Wen also didn't want to say more, refuting his good intentions. He helplessly scratched his head: "Okay, then I'll just go back."

  Bao Guoqiang immediately let Zhao Haifeng act as a free driver again and sent Qu Wen back home.

  Ever since the failure of absorbing the aura from the fake Qinghua, Qu Wen's spiritual awareness had not recovered for a whole week. Without the help of his spiritual awareness, he couldn't even appraise objects, and as a person, he looked listless and lacking in energy, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

  Although anxious, I didn't know what method to use to make Ling Jue recover faster. Helpless, I took this opportunity to make up for my knowledge of antiques. I bought big and small books from the bookstore, and every day from morning till night, except for eating, I spent all my time reading books at home.

  Everyone says that being studious is a good thing, and Gu Quan is also happy to see Qu Wen's enthusiasm, but he prefers his usual lively and cheerful appearance. After discussing with Bao Guoqiang, they wonder if Qu Wen has been in Beijing for too long and is starting to miss home.

  Bao Guoqiang clapped his hands heavily: "That's right, Ah Wen must be homesick, he once told me that too. Think about it, just graduated from school and left parents again, if I were him, I'd feel strange too. Moreover, Beijing's weather will get colder and colder, different from the south, maybe not being used to the climate here is also a reason. More importantly, if Yaxin and Ah Wen have good feelings for each other, and Master splits them up like this, it's hard to guarantee that nothing will happen over time."

  After listening to Bao Guoqiang's analysis, Gu Quan suddenly realized and secretly blamed himself for being an old fool: "Why didn't you say it earlier? I'll go get two plane tickets for him and Ya Xin right away. Don't delay their matter."

  "Master, you've never asked me anyway. Besides, I said it early and you would listen if you wanted to." Bao Guoqiang had a belly full of grievances. Compared with Qu Wen, his position in Master's heart was thousands of miles away. "I'll make a call later to help you book tickets, but don't let Ah Wen continue to stay at Chen Qifeng's small pawnshop, it will affect his future development."

  He nodded cautiously: "I know this, I will give him a satisfactory compensation at Qifu's place."