Chapter 111 The Ultimate Skill Reappears

The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, making their shadows long and thin.

The evening breeze carried the coolness of autumn, a faint dampness, and the fresh scent of grass and trees.

A colorful butterfly fluttered and swayed, silently landing on Lin Sicheng's shoulder.

He looked up at the moon, and the countless stars in the sky transformed into the shape of golden pearls.

Ye Anning tightened the collar of her trench coat and chuckled softly, "Lin Sicheng, we've arrived!"

"Wow, so fast?"

Lin Sicheng seemed to wake from a dream and looked up.

Before they knew it, the two arrived at the apartment building. The lights were on, and they could hear the sound of a television.

Suddenly, the window on the second floor swayed, as if something had flashed past.

A hint of confusion flickered in Lin Sicheng's eyes; he wasn't quite sure: "I think... I saw my teacher's wife?"

Still seems like it?

She's been standing there, watching for several minutes now.

Ye Anning pursed her lips, raised her finger and gently flicked it. The butterfly clumsily fluttered its wings and flew crookedly into the grass.

Is that kind of technique unusual?

Lin Sicheng nodded: "Yes, gilded granulated beads are very rare!"

"It's not like you're far away. You can go and take a look when you're not busy. Give me a call then, I live nearby!"

Ye Anning brushed a stray hair behind her ear. "I've been busy all day. Don't think about it anymore. Go back and get a good night's sleep..."

"Okay!" Lin Sicheng replied, then remembered something, "Sister Anning, how's work?"

Ye Anning smiled, pursing her lips: "Didn't Uncle tell you?"

"I've talked about some of it!"

Lin Sicheng felt that since they were friends, he should just leave it at that if he didn't think of it, but if he did, he would definitely ask.

Ye Anning smiled and said, "Everything is fine!"

As long as everything is fine.

"Sister Anning, you go upstairs!"

"good!"

Ye Anning nodded, turned and entered the building. With a "click," the latch locked.

Lin Sicheng walked back slowly, his hands in his pockets, head drooping, as if counting ants.

Shan Wangshu stood by the window, watched him walk away, and then drew the curtains.

Immediately, the sound of a lock being opened came from the doorway. Ye Anning entered, changed her shoes, and hung up her bag and trench coat.

Shan Wangshu smiled and asked, "What are you talking about? Why have you been standing downstairs for so long?"

Ye Anning pursed her lips: "We didn't chat!"

"Huh?" Shan Wangshu was taken aback. "Then what were you doing standing there for so long?"

"Think about the problem!"

Wang Qizhi had just taken a sip of tea when he almost spat it out.

Dan Wangshu turned around and glared at him: You still have the nerve to laugh?

She thought for a moment: "Was Lin Sicheng in a daze the whole time, not saying a word, and stopping every now and then, either looking up at the sky or looking down at the ground?"

It's the same when he's eating; his eyes are fixed on the food, but his pupils are completely unfocused. He doesn't even seem to notice what's on his chopsticks or what's being fed to him. Would he even eat a plate of maggots?

Ye Anning laughed out loud and nodded vigorously.

"It's hopeless!"

Shan Wangshu covered her forehead. "No wonder they're master and disciple?"

Wang Qizhi laughed and put down his teacup: "What antiques did you show Bai Wan that made Lin Sicheng so confused?"

"He looked at the gold piece and the agate cup quite quickly, saying both were fakes... But in the end, Teacher Bai bought the Dehua white bowl that hadn't been repaired yet, offering 180,000 yuan, saying he'd come over tomorrow to pay..."

"That lard-white one, right?" Wang Qizhi paused. "Bai Wan has that kind of eye?"

"She took it back to show Teacher Zhang!"

“Zhang Jindong, no wonder!” Wang Qizhi nodded. “He spent over two hundred on the porcelain shards and sold them for eighteen thousand, which is not bad!”

If he were to sell it, it would fetch at least 200,000 yuan.

"You call this 'not bad'? Wang Qizhi, how much do you earn repairing a single piece of bronzeware? At most, thirty to fifty thousand. Besides, how many pieces do you repair in a year?"

Although she was already numb to the shock, Shan Wangshu still sighed: "I hear about Lin Sicheng making money every day, sometimes tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, even millions. You can't make that much money even with a printing press."

"How many bronze artifacts have you actually seen that can be traded normally?" Wang Qizhi argued for a moment, then asked suspiciously, "Then what is Lin Sicheng worried about?"

“It’s not worry, it’s curiosity.” Ye Anning thought for a moment, “It seems that the craftsmanship on those two gold ornaments is quite rare: what kind of ‘rhenium’ was used?”

Lin Sicheng said that only a tiny amount of gold plating is needed to make copper look like gold... and you can't even burn it off!

Wang Qizhi was taken aback, thinking to himself, "Lin Sicheng is amazing, he even knows about rhenium?"

He didn't know what rhenium was until he went to Baoji (the largest rhenium mining area in China, accounting for 70% of the country's total reserves) and helped a leader of LianShi Aviation (a leading rhenium mining company in China) appraise antiques.

Few people know that this stuff can be used to make fake gold, and even fewer know that it's made with rhenium plating, so that it can't be detected by burning.

Wang Qizhi felt that this kid knew more about crooked and unorthodox things than about the righteous path.

Just as her thoughts were wandering freely, Ye Anning suddenly asked, "Uncle, what is 'fried pearl gold'?"

Wang Qizhi paused, his hand holding the teacup still, and his eyes widened: "What gold?"

"Gold-plated granulated pearls!"

With a "clang," Wang Qizhi slammed his teacup onto the coffee table: "He said it himself, 'gold-plated pearl jewels'?"

"Yeah... Lin Sicheng was spacing out all night, thinking about this the whole time!"

Daydreaming is nothing! I'm even more of a daydreamer...

Wang Qizhi stood up, patted his pockets, and looked around: "Where's my phone... Honey, where's my phone?"

"Wang Qizhi, what's wrong with you?"

"What do you know?"

After searching around, Wang Qizhi pulled his phone out from under the sofa. "A palace secret technique that has been lost for hundreds of years has reappeared in the world. Can you believe how excited I am?"

He dialed the number, and then said, "The number you dialed is currently switched off..."

"What time is it?"

Wang Qizhi was a little confused as he looked at Ye Anning.

"I don't know, it must be out of power!"

"Then why didn't you bring him up when you two went downstairs?"

"It was precisely because he was so engrossed in his thoughts that I didn't dare to bring it up!"

Ye Anning scoffed, "Once he arrives, will you two be able to chat all night long?"

"Nonsense, how could one night be enough?"

It was just too late, otherwise Wang Qizhi would have been able to rush Lin Sicheng to that store.

I had just replied when my phone buzzed.

Wang Qizhi casually tapped the screen, his eyes narrowing slightly. It was just a text message, no more than ten characters: "Professor Wang, the matter is settled!"

After reading it again, Wang Qizhi's emotions immediately calmed down.

I almost forgot, Lin Sicheng just stirred up a hornet's nest.

He thought for a moment, then typed six words on the keyboard: Secretary Ding, thank you for your trouble!

Then he grabbed his phone and went into the bedroom: "Go to sleep!"

Ye Anning and Shan Wangshu exchanged bewildered glances: "Auntie, why is Uncle acting so strangely?"

"Who knows?" After glancing at it, Shan Wangshu waved her hand. "Never mind him, go to sleep!"