Chapter 36 Chapter 36 Jiang Wan looked up and saw someone standing next to the window...
Jiang Wan looked up and saw a woman in a dark red outfit standing by the window. Her long hair was tied in a simple high ponytail, and she folded her arms, looking at her coldly. If you looked closely, you could see a thin layer of calluses on her fingertips.
Jiang Wan quickly looked her over, then put down the rag in his hand, stood up, and walked towards the woman from the counter he had just finished wiping. He smiled as he walked, "Oh? What's wrong?"
"The main reason celadon can't be glazed isn't the glazing itself, but the firing process. Ever since celadon's emergence, it's been impossible to achieve a non-fading pattern on its surface. This is because firing requires an extremely high glaze thickness, which is difficult to control using traditional tools. The discovery of a method called glaze blowing, where you can control the thickness of different glazes by adjusting the diameter of a wooden tube, is truly remarkable, but it's still impossible to achieve color through firing."
The woman in red paused and asked, "You must have tried firing it many times before selling it. No matter how you control the temperature and time, only one color of glaze can be fired successfully, right?"
Jiang Wan smiled: "Yes."
The woman in red was stunned for a moment, initially disappointed, then anger flashed in her eyes. "You're going to sell all the unsuccessful celadon? Why even use a window display? I was wondering why you were so kind as to showcase your research techniques? Turns out you're just trying to avoid the firing process!"
She pointed at Jiang Wan and said, "Just now I thought you had some special tricks, so I didn't expose you in public. You'd better return the money to the customer immediately and apologize sincerely. Otherwise, I will make you pay for it!"
"How can you be so unreasonable? My master didn't do anything wrong!" Chen Xi couldn't help but pout and said angrily after hearing this.
The woman in red responded with a cold sneer.
Jiang Wan patted the girl's shoulder, signaling her to be quiet. The girl pursed her lips and, though reluctant, continued to check the account book.
"Wait a moment," Jiang Wan said to the woman in red, then calmly bowed and went back into the storeroom. A moment later, he emerged holding a celadon wine jug.
The wine jug had been fired, and the blue and purple flowers on the body of the jug contrasted beautifully with the green branches and leaves. It was exactly the one that Jiang Wan had been glazing in the window during the day.
The color is bright and vivid, and it won't wear off, which clearly shows that it has been fired successfully.
The woman in red stared at it with wide eyes, then carefully touched the pattern, her words stumbling in shock. "Is this the one in the window? Did you burn it?"
"Yes. I made an agreement with that customer and made it for him. I guess he will come to pick it up in a while." Jiang Wan put the celadon wine jug on the counter and explained.
"How is that possible?" the woman in red stared intently at the jug. "Different glaze colors have different thicknesses and firing times. Glaze thickness alone is difficult to control. You used the thickness of the wooden tube to control the thickness. You must have gone through thousands of experiments to find the most suitable diameter. But the difference in firing time can't be adjusted by the wooden tube. How did you do it?"
As soon as he said that, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. If Jiang Wan could really do it, it was her own method, and she would make money from it in the future. Since she had a way to burn it, but didn't display it in the window, she must not want to show it to others.
I was just curious and reckless at the moment.
The woman in red was secretly annoyed, but she had already said it. Before she was sure that Jiang Wan could really make colored porcelain, she didn't want to give in and apologize.
She had seen many scammers selling fake celadon. This little girl looked very cunning and had many tricks up her sleeve. She might be a little scammer.
The woman in red was so conflicted that her brows couldn't help but furrow slightly, and her shiny black eyes looked at Jiang Wan intently.
Seeing the other person's expression change, Jiang Wan guessed what she was thinking and said patiently, "Different glazes have different firing times, but a piece of celadon doesn't have to be fired all at once. For example, blue glaze takes the shortest time to fire, requiring four incense sticks, while purple glaze takes five, and cyan six. Simply scrape off the blue and purple glazes first, put them into the furnace and fire for one incense stick, then immediately apply the purple glaze and fire it for another incense stick, and finally apply the blue glaze and fire four incense sticks in a row."
She had failed hundreds of times before she was able to accurately control the time of entering the furnace and burn out a perfect finished product.
"Is this even possible?" The woman in red was increasingly amazed as she listened. "This would indeed meet the time requirement, but local kilns fire in batches, and it takes a whole day to fire one batch. If I have to put it into the furnace multiple times in a row—do you know anyone at the kiln?"
"I use a small homemade stove." Jiang Wan shook his head and said nothing more.
From the few words she had just exchanged, she could sense that the woman in red was a master of celadon—even in her previous life, when celadon craftsmanship was highly developed, few could delve so deeply into the craft. Because of this passion and vision, even if her attitude was a bit off, she was willing to share her experience in porcelain making.
But the incinerator was exchanged in the system, requiring no energy to burn directly, and was a perpetual motion machine, something she couldn't explain. Furthermore, if word got out, she'd be guilty of possessing a treasure, drawing unnecessary envy from others, so she decided to keep quiet.
This expression struck the woman in red as a unique method for firing porcelain that she didn't want to discuss. After resolving the previous misunderstanding, she recalled her earlier slander against Jiang Wan and felt a surge of guilt. Then, thinking about how she hadn't taken her rudeness seriously and had readily explained the method, she felt even more strongly that this young woman was so intelligent and honest, despite her youth.
But she felt uncomfortable apologizing to a little girl. After some hesitation, she snorted, "Alright, I'll trust you for now. But you've made a big splash today, and you're bound to get into trouble later. This shop is great, but if you buy it, you have to keep it. I advise you to keep a low profile in the future, or don't blame me for not warning you when you go bankrupt."
After hearing this, Chen Xi glared and was about to retort, but was held back by Jiang Wan.
The woman in red had a point. Jiang Wan had become a household name in Xiaofangpan City in just two months, and her celadon sales were a distant second. This was bound to attract jealousy, and any misstep would likely lead to accusations. Even if she hadn't made any mistakes, there would likely be those who would stir up trouble and plot against her, ensuring future trouble.
However, Jiang Wan had experienced many ups and downs in her past life, so this little trouble wasn't a big deal for her. It was just that less trouble was better than more, so she should be more cautious and prudent in her daily life to avoid any trouble.
After a few rounds of conversation, Jiang Wan concluded that this woman was arrogant and unwilling to yield. Her words, meant as a kind reminder, had somehow come across as a threat. If she truly was a naive young woman, he was afraid he would dislike her from now on.
Jiang Wan blinked and said softly, "Thank you for the reminder. I understand the principle of possessing a treasure. Just like those wealthy families in the capital, their luxurious days of prosperity can only last a short time. Gradually declining is considered the best, but the worst thing is to fall to the bottom all of a sudden, with their life and property being thrown out of their hands."
The sky gradually darkened. Jiang Wan stood with her back to the setting sun, her expression gloomy, her voice calm but tinged with sadness. When she had traveled through time, the exile group had already approached Xiaofangpan City. The pain of falling was largely shared by the original owner. But over the past three months, she had clearly felt her body and memories gradually merge with the original owner's. Recalling these memories now, she could actually taste a hint of pain.
There was a moment of silence. When the conversation stopped, even Chen Xi put down his abacus, making the sounds of the Wang brothers sorting porcelain in the warehouse particularly noticeable.
The red-dressed woman's expression darkened, and her eyes moved, as if she was also pondering what she said.
After a moment, she asked, "Did you come here last December?"
Jiang Wan breathed a sigh of relief, confirming his guess: "Master Fang, have you ever met my young lady?"
Jiang Wan had heard of Lady Fang Hong when he was working part-time at Xu's pawnshop. She was a treasure appraiser specially hired by the Dunhuang prefecture governor. Although a woman, she held the rank of seventh rank official. However, when merchants mentioned Fang Hong, they were more likely to associate her with the title of the Western Region's foremost treasure appraiser, rather than her official title.
Fang Hong usually didn't stay at the county government office, but traveled throughout the cities of the Western Regions, studying various treasures and artifacts. She was well-versed not only in celadon but also in other rare and precious treasures. Small Fangpan City lacked a professional treasure appraiser, so whenever the pawnshop acquired a particularly valuable item, it would wait for her to travel here for her appraisal. In cases of urgent need, the owner would even travel to the outer city to meet with her personally.
The first time Jiang Wan heard of this person, she was intrigued. Having lived two lives, she'd found no equal in treasure research; it would be a real pleasure to exchange ideas with this Lord Fang. So, she inquired about Fang Hong and learned that, besides being known as the Western Region's foremost treasure appraiser, she was also very close to the county magistrate's wife, often appraising treasures for them, earning her a seventh-rank official position.
When Fang Hong came in, Jiang Wan noticed that this person's clothing, appearance, temperament and tone were consistent with the rumors, and he had a deep understanding of porcelain. He had already guessed something, so he deliberately brought up the matter of exile.
After being exiled last year, Jiang Wan and his family stayed in Xiaofangpan City. Meanwhile, the only remaining descendant of the Duke's family, Miss He, was escorted to Dunhuang County and became a maidservant to the county magistrate's wife.
This was the customary arrangement of exiled criminal slaves in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Ordinary criminals were sent to government offices to do hard labor, and could be redeemed with just enough silver. However, the criminal's direct blood relatives were sent to mansions above the county level, becoming personal servants and slaves, and could never be redeemed. This arrangement was intended to prevent the criminal's blood relatives from harboring resentment and seeking revenge.
Last autumn, the Duke's conviction had caused a stir in the capital, and coincidentally, he had been exiled to the Dunhuang area. Fang Hong was familiar with the county magistrate and his wife, and when Jiang Wan mentioned him, she was bound to think of Duke He. It was through her reaction that Jiang Wan confirmed his suspicions.
After two conversations, Jiang Wan recognized Fang Hong, who also reacted and looked at her carefully. "I heard that you were born a convict, and you saved money by using celadon to escape from slavery. So you're actually from the He family."
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