Chapter 67 Chapter 67 Jiang Wan recalled...

Jiang Wan recalled the exquisite porcelain she had seen in her previous life, mostly teapots, teacups, lamps, etc.

Teapots often feature carved hollow patterns on their lids, allowing the emerald green tea to be seen while brewing. Teacups are hollowed out on the sides, and lamps are hollowed out all around to let in light.

The lamps had intricate patterns and intricate carvings, making them difficult to complete within five days. As for the remaining teapots and teacups, there wasn't much room for innovation with the teacups, so she decided to make a celadon teapot.

But while the hollowed-out lid was novel, it lacked a certain degree of brilliance. Jiang Wan racked his brains for two days, but to no avail. While the few drafts he drew were good, they still felt a little off.

So she first molded the body, glazed it, and put it in the storage room to dry. After a day or two, she planned to rest well and then go out for a walk in the suburbs to find inspiration.

Jiang Wan was under pressure after accepting this competition. Staying indoors to sketch and staying up late into the night had left her brain bogged down, making it difficult for her to generate inspiration.

After sleeping from the early morning of the 14th until dusk, and finishing two large bowls of knife-cut noodles, Jiang Wan finally felt recovered. The evening breeze from Dunhuang Prefecture refreshed him, and some new thoughts occurred to him.

Calculating the time, Wang Da should be arriving soon. Jiang Wan decided to meet him at the city gate, then go to the western suburbs factory to mix the transparent glaze, which would be a good opportunity to discuss the hollowing design.

Two hours later, in the western suburbs.

Wang Dana stirred a basin of translucent gelatinous liquid with a wooden pestle. As he stirred, he said, "Master wants to hollow out the lid, but the hole can't be too large, otherwise it would lose its delicateness. But the teapot is sealed, so it doesn't let in light, and the hole is too small, so it's difficult to see the tea inside."

Jiang Wan said, "Well, I've been thinking about it for two days, but I can't think of any good solution."

Wang Da: "Can the body of the pot be hollowed out? If it is hollowed out symmetrically at the same height on the body, light will be able to pass through."

"No, the body of the pot is curved, but transparent glaze can only fill it into a flat surface. If you want to hollow out the body of the pot, you have to rebuild the fulcrum and fill it multiple times, which won't be enough time."

Wang Da lowered his head, stirring the liquid in the basin as he pondered. The transparent glaze became increasingly viscous and clearer.

"It's OK," Jiang Wan said. "Take it back and glaze it. If it doesn't work, we'll have to give up on the goal of seeing the tea soup. Although the visual effect isn't stunning, it's novel. I'll work on the glaze later. As long as Liu Guang's work isn't too outrageous, we can still win."

Wang Da nodded obediently, picked up the whole basin of transparent glaze, and followed Jiang Wan back to the Jiang family shop.

As soon as he opened the door, Jiang Wan noticed something was wrong.

The room was quiet and the furnishings inside had not been moved, but she could smell a strange scent.

Having been in the antique business for many years, her intuition had never been wrong, so Jiang Wan immediately became alert and gave Wang Da a "hush" gesture. Then, instead of entering the house, the two of them returned to the western suburbs and fetched a few strong men on the night shift.

Several strong men entered the shop first, stamped their feet, and shouted, "Who are you, trespassing in this shop?"

The house was empty, and the only sound that responded to them was the rustling of the wind against the window frames.

The strong men looked at each other for a moment, not knowing what was going on in their minds, but a hint of fear appeared on their faces. They first lit the lights and then carefully searched the entire house, but they didn't find anyone. They only saw one or two spots of mud on the window frame.

The strong men breathed a sigh of relief and said dissatisfiedly, "There is no one here. Boss, if you are afraid of the dark, don't go out at night."

Wang Da also held up a candle and looked carefully. After confirming that there was no one there, he politely apologized to the strong men, paid them double the duty fee, and asked a carriage to take them back to the western suburbs.

After the strong men left, Wang Da lit a few more candles and said softly, "Master, I'm sure you've been thinking hard these past few days and are under too much pressure. It's late now, you should rest for a while. I'll keep an eye on you. No one will come."

Jiang Wan shook his head and picked up the semi-finished teapot in the storage room to check.

There is a hole the size of a copper coin on the bottom of the pot. The hole is irregular, probably caused by a stone.

But when she came in, the teapot was clearly placed in its original position, which showed that someone must have done it on purpose.

As for who it is, it is obvious.

Wang Da's face turned pale with fear when he saw this scene. He stumbled and asked, "Is this the teapot for tomorrow's competition?"

Jiang Wan frowned and said nothing.

"What should I do? The glaze pattern on the pot is intricate, and it would take two days just to apply the glaze. How can I redo it now?" Wang Da punched the wall. "Damn Liu Guang, he can't beat me physically, so he resorts to trickery."

Jiang Wan hung his head and remained motionless, like a sculpture.

"Master, Master?" Wang Da stretched out his palm and waved it in front of her eyes. "Master, shall we make a new one? I'll help you. If it doesn't work, can you call the second brother over as well?"

Jiang Wan remained motionless. The candlelight stretched her shadow very long, and since she was facing away from the light, Wang Da couldn't see her expression clearly.

"Master, don't be sad. Even if we lose, the worst that can happen is that we lose the shop. We can still do other things." Wang Da consoled him. "Master, don't you always tell me that I was born with talent and will be useful. Even if I lose all my money, I will get it back again [1]."

Jiang Wan seemed lost in thought and remained silent. Just as Wang Da suspected she was too heartbroken and was about to take her to the clinic, she suddenly laughed out loud.

"Hahahaha! Liu Guang, ah Liu Guang, you're really too clever for your own good! Hahahaha!"

Wang Da: It’s over, Master has really gone crazy.

Meeting his disciple's madman look, Jiang Wan coughed twice and tapped him on the head. "What are you thinking about? I won't go crazy over such a small matter. I just thought of a way to see the tea inside through the exquisite hole in the lid."

"Huh?" Wang Da was confused by this unconventional thought. "What's the solution?"

Jiang Wan pointed at the hole in the bottom of the teapot. "I've been thinking about working on the lid, but I've gotten stuck. I'll modify the hole into the shape of a lotus stem, coat it with transparent glaze, and then carve a lotus shape into the lid. It'll let light in, and it'll look like a lotus flower passing through the teapot."

Wang Da:!!!

"Master, this idea of ​​yours is perfect!" He jumped up excitedly. "Liu Guang would never have imagined that his painstaking efforts to sabotage would actually provide Master with inspiration."

"Okay, stop bragging." Jiang Wan finally came up with a satisfactory solution and smiled. "The transparent glaze on the bottom of the pot needs to be harder. Separate some of the glaze and add more quartz to it for the bottom of the pot. Then help me trim this hole into the shape of a flower stem."

She picked up the special carving knife she had exchanged for through the system. "It takes me about three hours to carve the lotus pattern. It's Chou hour now, so I should be done by Chen hour. Applying the transparent glaze will take half an hour, air-drying it will take another half an hour, and then firing it at high temperature for three hours. Then, cooling it down for half an hour, it will be finished by You hour, just in time for the competition tonight."

The task was urgent, so the two of them tacitly stopped communicating and went about their own business.

The time came to the evening of April 15th.

News of Liu Guang and Jiang Wan's competition had already spread five days ago. Before it was even dark, a large crowd had gathered inside Yuwan Tower.

This time, even entering the first-floor exhibition hall required an asset verification, and the second floor was occupied by wealthy businessmen. The eight private rooms on the third floor were all lit, and silhouettes of people could be seen through the window paper from time to time.

Such a grand event is rare in the auction history of Yuwanlou.

As soon as Jiang Wan and Jiang An, brother and sister, stepped into Yuwan Tower, they felt the surroundings suddenly become quiet.

Countless pairs of eager eyes gathered and looked at the brocade box in her hand.

In the center of the exhibition hall stood two women of similar stature, wearing identical gowns, their faces obscured by masks. One of the women held a brocade box that looked identical to the one Jiang Wan was holding.

Liu Guang had been waiting in the hall for a long time and smiled at her from afar: "Miss Jiang is finally here. I thought you were going to break your promise."

Jiang Wan's tone was gentle, hinting at something: "How dare I? It was just a little trouble that took up some time. But Master Liu seemed to be hoping I'd break my promise?"

Liu Guang touched his nose awkwardly, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment, revealing a hint of doubt.

He was probably wondering how she dared to come to the competition with porcelain that had a hole in it.

Jiang Wan handed the brocade box to another masked woman.

According to the agreement of the blind auction, the two women entered a secret room with their faces covered. After an incense stick of time, they walked out together and returned to the center of the exhibition hall.

The same brocade box, the same clothes, the same body shape. The audience couldn't tell which box belonged to Liu Guang and which one belonged to Jiang Wan.

This novel sense of mystery made the audience restless, and the spectators stretched their necks and whispered to each other.

The woman on the left opened the brocade box first. What appeared before everyone was a teapot, its smooth surface and elegant, indifferent porcelain color. The ingenious gradient design made it look like mist from a distance.

"This superb polishing technique must be the work of Master Liu!" a spectator commented.

The woman opened the lid of the teapot and poured half of it into it with steaming green tea, and then half with cold water. Then she took out two teacups and picked up the teapot to pour water.

The first cup was steaming green tea; the second cup was just plain water.

There was an incredible cry in the exhibition hall.

The woman explained, "This teapot incorporates Taoist mechanical techniques to create a Yin-Yang rotating teapot, capable of holding two different beverages."

The spectators were whispering in curiosity, but Jiang Wan felt very familiar with it.

She really wanted to show the people of this time and space a famous palace drama. After the emotional test, they would no longer find it novel.

Of course, this is the first time that the Yin-Yang Pot has appeared in this time and space. It is rare for Liu Guang to come up with this idea, and the audience also bid high.

The price of the seats on the second floor has been auctioned off for two hundred taels of silver.

Box No. 6 on the third floor also raised a sign, offering four hundred taels of silver.

The beautiful shopkeeper bid loudly: "Four hundred taels once! Four hundred taels twice! Any other bids?"

The building fell silent. Although many people wanted to buy the teapot, spending four hundred taels of silver on it was still too much of a waste.

Even if it was only four hundred taels of silver, it was already the highest price paid for celadon in the century-long history of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No one believed that another teapot could surpass this price.

Just as the shopkeeper was about to drop the hammer, a higher price was offered in Box 1 on the third floor:

"Five hundred taels!"

[1] From Li Bai's "Drinking Song"