Chapter 19 Chapter 19 The winter sun is faint, shining through the sparse...
The winter sunlight was faint, shining through the sparse strips of paper onto the ground.
Jiang Wan's cart cast a long shadow on the wall, and the stall was crowded with passers-by, surrounded by three layers of people inside and outside.
"I heard there are new and improved porcelain bowls today?"
"That's right. My uncle next door came back yesterday and told me that there are new patterns on it."
"How is that possible? Everyone knows that celadon can't be glazed. Even the imperial craftsmen in the palace can't add patterns. She's a little girl, and it's already lucky that she can improve the base color of the porcelain. How can she glaze it?"
"Don't disbelieve me, since Miss Jiang said so, she must have found a way!"
"No one has figured out this method in all these years. How could she have figured it out? I don't believe it."
Jiang Wan ignored the discussion and took out the porcelain bowl as usual, putting it away neatly. Then he cleared his throat and said loudly, "Everyone, please listen to me!"
The constant chatter suddenly quieted down a lot.
Jiang Wan continued, "Thank you for your interest in the improved porcelain bowls. To make the celadon even more beautiful, I've experimented with glazing it. Today, I've also brought you a freshly fired new product: a porcelain bowl with the Chinese character for 'Fu'. Interested customers are welcome to come and take a look."
She pointed to the ten porcelain bowls in the front row.
"Miss Jiang can really glaze celadon?" Her words ignited the chatter in the crowd. A few days ago, she was selling improved porcelain bowls, and many passersby bought them and loved them. This positive reputation immediately earned her several visitors, who squeezed through the crowd and curiously picked up the bowls with the Chinese character "Fu" (meaning "blessing") on them.
While passersby were watching, Jiang Wan was also observing the crowd.
In addition to the customers who had bought her products before, she also saw two familiar faces. One was the young man from Loulan who had come to buy a hairpin last night. This time, he was not wearing his red clothes embroidered with a sun pattern. Instead, he changed into a green long gown and a conical hat, looking like a swordsman from the Central Plains.
The other one was Aunt Qian, who had destroyed her place last time. Her fat face was full of disgust.
At the stall, a passerby held up a porcelain bowl to the sunlight, examined it closely, and touched the printed Chinese character for "Fu" (blessing). He exclaimed, "This pattern is so delicate, and it feels so smooth, as if it were born on the bowl! This is amazing!"
The crowd erupted in excited cheers. Being able to glaze celadon was a major invention. If Jiang Wan truly succeeded, these people would be the first witnesses and the first to purchase the new porcelain. Just thinking about it was exciting.
"That's impossible!" A shrill roar reached everyone's ears over the cheers. It was Aunt Qian. "She must be lying. It's a recognized fact that celadon can't be glazed!"
"Isn't this Aunt Qian? You said it was impossible last time, and you're here again this time?" a passerby mocked.
"That's right!" A chorus of voices echoed around her, making Aunt Qian's face turn pale and blue. She took a deep breath, suppressing her trembling voice. "Think about it, if this girl could have invented a method for glazing celadon, she would have been famous in the capital long ago. Why would she be exiled here? She must be lying. The color will fade with a little water."
The mocking voices paused. The crowd quieted down, looking at each other in bewilderment. They seemed to agree that this statement made sense. Developing a method for glazing celadon—an achievement worthy of fame in the Great Zhou—could it really have been accomplished by an exiled teenage girl with no professional training?
Previously, changing the colorant could be considered an advanced method in the capital, but it is well known that celadon is extremely difficult to glaze, and this is something that even many master-level craftsmen cannot do.
After Aunt Qian said this, many passersby looked skeptical. The customers who had been scrambling to buy the porcelain bowls all shut up.
Jiang Wan was about to speak when he suddenly heard the voice of the Loulan boy: "What this lady said makes sense."
Well, another problem. Jiang Wan forced a professional fake smile, his brain working rapidly, thinking of a response.
Aunt Qian said proudly, "Young man, you have good taste."
Unexpectedly, the Loulan boy changed the subject: "Just like what the lady said, if you want to know whether the color will fade, can't you just splash it with water?"
The whole audience was stunned when these words came out. After all, this was porcelain that someone had painstakingly made. How could they openly say they were going to throw water on it? That was too rude.
Jiang Wan, however, didn't take it personally and nodded in agreement. Only a newcomer from Loulan, unaware of the unwritten rules of the Central Plains, could say such a thing. However, this method was indeed the most direct and effective. She had been in the business world for so long that those unwritten rules were ingrained in her bones, so she hadn't considered it for a moment.
"This young man is quite right. I wonder which distinguished guest would be willing to come up and verify it?"
She glanced at the passersby around her, but those gathered around the stall avoided her gaze. Throwing water at someone's newly released merchandise was considered a troll in the Central Plains. The young man had the nerve to say it, and Miss Jiang had the audacity to agree. They didn't want to be the first to act, or look like they were bullying a young girl.
"Then let me do it!" Seeing that no one responded, the young man from Loulan curled his lips in disdain and walked forward through the crowd.
Jiang Wan smiled slightly, nodded, and handed him the porcelain bowl. He took the bowl with his left hand, removed the kettle from his waist with his right hand, and pulled out the cap.
Aunt Qian hadn't expected someone to verify this on the spot. Feeling somewhat guilty, she tried to stop him, "Hey, you really want to test it? Aren't you afraid this fake glaze is poisonous?"
The boy tutted impatiently, "Why are you being so nosy? I don't eat glaze, what are you afraid of?"
"Alright, do whatever you want. Don't blame me for not warning you when the time comes!" Aunt Qian choked at the rebuke, then wondered what she was worrying about. How could this newly exiled young woman solve such an age-old problem as glazing celadon? She'd definitely be exposed soon.
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt more confident and looked up at the actions of the Loulan boy.
Water trickled down the spout, soaking the entire rim of the bowl. It flowed over the area where the blue "Fu" character was printed, remaining clear as it flowed down. When the dripping stopped, he turned the bowl slightly, so that the "Fu" character faced passersby.
Seeing that the pattern was still clear and firmly stuck to the wall of the bowl, a low exclamation was heard from the crowd.
"That's nothing!" Aunt Qian was stunned for a few seconds before reacting and continuing to smear. "It's normal for a freshly made bowl to become a little firmer after being exposed to the sun for a while. What's the big deal about splashing some water on it?"
She looked at Jiang Wan angrily: "Do you dare to let someone scratch you with your fingernails?"
As soon as he finished speaking, there were gasps from the side. Pouring water on merchandise was already considered rude, but since it was done to verify quality, and with the stall owner's consent, it was justifiable. Scraping it with a fingernail was simply damaging it. Everyone knew celadon was delicate, easily damaged by a single bump, let alone scratching it with a fingernail.
The most difficult thing is that the force of the nail scraping is controlled by the verifier. If the force is too strong, not only the glaze but even the dye used as a colorant can be scraped off. However, there is no standard for force. If it is not scraped off, it may be that the force is too light and it is intentional to cover up.
If Jiang Wan refused, it would be because she was guilty. Even if she accepted, no one would be willing to take on the hot potato of being a validator and risk being accused of harboring someone.
Aunt Qian's words were meant to put Jiang Wan in a dilemma, and she used an arrogant and provocative approach.
Jiang Wan returned the other person's gaze without hesitation. Her eyes were cold and there was no obvious emotion in them, but they made her feel uneasy for no reason.
Aunt Qian has been running the shop for many years, but this is the first time she has felt a creepy feeling from a teenage girl, as if all her secret thoughts and calculations have been seen through, as if all her achievements and struggles are just a drop in the ocean in the eyes of the other party.
Compared with her, Wang Da, who clenched his fists so hard that they made a creaking sound, and Wang Er, who pointed at her nose and cursed her, were nothing compared to her.
But Jiang Wan quickly smiled, as if her previous cold expression was just Aunt Qian's illusion. She didn't seem offended at all. "Okay. But this young man doesn't have long nails. Why don't you ask Aunt Qian to help you check it out?"
Jiang Wan looked relaxed, but the two apprentices beside him weren't so relaxed. Wang Da and Wang Er exchanged a glance, feeling perplexed. Judging from their master's behavior, she didn't seem to notice that Aunt Qian was messing with the place.
But Jiang Wan resolved his disciples' concerns with just a few words.
She said, "But glazing is very laborious, so I'd like to ask you for a guarantee. If the design does fade, I'm willing to apologize and never sell you porcelain again. If the design doesn't fade, please don't bother me again. But if you scratch my bowl and remove the cyan dye, you'll have to pay ten times the price. What do you think?"
After she finished speaking, Aunt Qian's face turned as black as an iron pot.
Jiang Wan, initially caught between a rock and a hard place, reversed her disadvantage with just a few words. Now the dilemma fell to Aunt Qian: if she refused, she'd be admitting she'd been deceiving the girl. If she accepted, using a little too much force might scrape off the cyan dye. Even if she managed to discolor the glaze, it wouldn't count, and passersby would think she was deliberately framing her. If she used less force, she could only hope that Jiang Wan's porcelain would actually discolor.
Aunt Qian was now deeply regretful. If she had known this little girl was so shrewd, she would not have gotten involved in this mess, lest she shoot herself in the foot. But now that things had come to this, she could only gamble that Jiang Wan's celadon glaze was a scam.
Thinking of this, Aunt Qian closed her eyes, made up her mind, rolled up her sleeves, walked over and took the bowl from the Loulan boy's hand.
"You're not going to give up until you get to the Yellow River! Then let me verify it and put you out of your pretense of lying!"
Aunt Qian spoke with such force, but her raised right hand couldn't stop shaking. The force was neither strong nor weak. She weighed it for a long time before tremblingly pointing her fingernail at the word "Fu" on the porcelain bowl.
This time the rowing was so slow that everyone held their breath.
The blue glaze fell off in a flurry.
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