The bodyguard next to Ning Zhiheng is named Kurihara Masatake. He speaks the best Chinese among all the bodyguards and is also quite clever. Ning Zhiheng values him highly and often asks him to run errands.
Upon hearing the chairman's whispered instructions, Kurihara Masatake immediately understood. He slowly stayed at the back, and when no one was paying attention, he turned around and followed the diners at a distance.
Ning Zhiheng and Yamada Nobuyuki then went sightseeing; their schedule for the day included a visit to Zhongshan Park.
This is the largest park in Hankou. It has ponds and ancient trees. Although the scenery is nice, it is obviously somewhat dilapidated. Ning Zhiheng lost interest after walking a few steps.
At this time, it was a time of war and the people's livelihood was in ruins. Where would they find the spare funds to maintain these public facilities? Now it has become a gathering place for all kinds of vendors and laborers.
Nobuyuki Yamada was also helpless about this. The Japanese army had caused great destruction in Wuhan, and coupled with the economic downturn at the time, the market was inevitably depressed and declining.
However, there were many stalls gathered under the eastern section of the wall of Zhongshan Park. When Ning Zhiheng walked here, his eyes lit up and he said to Yamada Nobuyuki with a smile, "I heard that there is a calligraphy and painting antique market here. I searched for a long time and finally found it!"
Yamada Nobuyuki then realized Ning Zhiheng's intention in choosing Zhongshan Park in the first place today. He looked around and said, "So, sir, you like antiques and calligraphy!"
At this moment, he couldn't help but curse himself for being so slow to realize that he had been so negligent. He hadn't even thought of this. Knowing that Mr. Fujiwara liked antiques, he should have already found a few treasures to present to him.
When Ning Zhiheng was in Shanghai, he had a hobby of collecting antiques. He had an excellent eye and could often find good items. Although he eventually gave them all to Deputy Director Huang, he still enjoyed the process quite a bit.
"When I was in Shanghai, I visited all the antique and calligraphy shops. Wuhan is a famous city with a thousand-year history, so there must be a lot of antiques and treasures left behind. I must take a good look at them."
The antique stalls here seemed rather casual, with various calligraphy and painting stalls mixed with antique stalls. Ning Zhiheng strolled among them with great interest, followed closely by Yamada Nobuyuki, while the other bodyguards and agents gradually dispersed.
Wuhan has a very long history, and many treasures have been passed down among the people. Ning Zhiheng carefully selected for a long time and finally chose a fine official kiln piece from the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty: a fish basket vase with intertwined floral patterns.
Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain has always been famous for its simple and elegant shapes, crystal-clear and bright glaze, and colorful patterns.
This fish basket vase with intertwined floral patterns has a straight mouth, a flattened round belly, and is decorated with blue and white patterns all over. The interior is decorated with a chrysanthemum spray pattern, the shoulder is decorated with a continuous pattern of diamonds and rings, and the belly is decorated with intertwined floral patterns. The three layers of patterns are separated by blue and white lines. It is named after its resemblance to a fish basket. Its simple form and rounded lines made it quite popular with Ning Zhiheng. It seems that this trip was worthwhile.
The stall owner was an elderly man in his early fifties. Seeing Ning Zhiheng holding the fish basket vase with its intertwined floral pattern with obvious delight, he gave a thumbs up and kept praising, "Sir, you have a really good eye. This fish basket vase is a fine example of Ming Dynasty official kiln porcelain. This is the best item I have on my stall."
Ning Zhiheng looked at the stall owner and asked with a smile, "There aren't many good things in Wuhan! I've been looking around for a long time, and this is the only item that catches my eye."
Upon hearing Ning Zhiheng's unusual accent—not only was he not a local, but his Mandarin was also somewhat broken—and seeing the person behind him, the stall owner immediately realized that this man was Japanese. His expression changed instantly, and his tone turned cold as he said, "There aren't many good things here to begin with. In the chaos of war, even if there were good things, they would have been stolen."
Hearing the stall owner's unfriendly tone, Yamada Nobuyuki, who was standing nearby, became angry. Fearing that Ning Zhiheng would be displeased, he stepped forward, but Ning Zhiheng gestured for him to stop.
Ning Zhiheng didn't mind the stall owner's attitude. In fact, he secretly admired the stall owner for having some backbone. He turned around and asked with a smile, "How much is this fish basket vase?"
The stall owner had only acted impulsively. Seeing Yamada Nobuyuki's unfriendly expression, and fearing it might cause trouble—these Japanese were extremely arrogant in Wuhan, and one's life could be in danger at any moment—he sighed and replied calmly, "Eight hundred silver dollars."
Ning Zhiheng was satisfied upon hearing this. The price wasn't high in Shanghai, but it seemed quite expensive in Wuhan. However, he greatly admired the stall owner's character and immediately nodded, saying, "Alright, that's the price!"
Upon hearing this, the stall owner immediately regretted his decision. He had already asked for a much higher price than originally planned, but the other party didn't even try to bargain. He regretted that he had asked for more money if he had known that the Japanese man was a sucker.
Ning Zhiheng only had US dollars on him. After paying the money, he carefully put away the fish basket vase, feeling very happy. This fish basket vase with intertwined floral patterns was indeed a fine example of official kiln porcelain made in Jingdezhen during the Ming Dynasty. Although there are a large number of blue and white porcelain pieces from the Ming Dynasty, such exquisite pieces are indeed rare.
Seeing Ning Zhiheng's delighted expression, Yamada Nobuyuki couldn't help but say in Japanese, "Sir, if you like these antiques, I can simply order them to be put away. Wuhan is such a large city, there should still be places to buy and sell them, which will surely satisfy you. There's no need to spend this money."
Ning Zhiheng turned to look at Yamada Nobuyuki and said in Japanese with a smile, "Yamada-kun, the greatest pleasure in collecting antiques is not in owning them, but more importantly in the process of collecting. It's about using your own eye to acquire the items you love with minimal cost. Every step is a story, and you derive great joy and satisfaction from it. This kind of pleasure is hard to explain to outsiders! Haha!"
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