Chapter 38
The sun has completely set at this moment, dragging the tired afterglow behind it, slowly disappearing into the tall buildings in the distance.
In the dim living room, a wrought iron table lamp in the corner cast a soft, warm yellow glow. The light faded into a hazy halo, and tiny dust particles drifted slowly in the light. The living room floor was littered with various old items they had retrieved from the warehouse or from outside. Yang Ye sat in the wooden chair at the dining table, her eyes complex as she glanced at Zhou Yiheng and Xiao Xiao, who were busy in the living room, her brows unconsciously furrowed.
Xiao Xiao knelt on the ground, carefully unrolling several worn scrolls. Zhou Yiheng had just turned over a few green-glazed porcelain vases, his hands constantly adjusting their positions.
Yang Ye placed her hands on the back of the chair, tapping the edge with her fingers, making a subtle tapping sound. She tilted her head and asked with a hint of doubt, "Will your method work?"
"Yes." Zhou Yiheng didn't look up, but he didn't stop his hands. He moved the vase in front of him slightly, squatted and took a few steps back, looking at the position of the porcelain vase, and said, "The anchor just wants popularity, so let's give him this popularity."
After examining them carefully, he suddenly stood up and walked to the sofa, pulling the white plush blanket from the sofa and placing it under the vase. Zhou Yiheng nodded in satisfaction at the combination of the two objects, then turned to Yang Ye and asked with a smile, "Doesn't this look much better than before?"
Yang Ye didn't answer, but stood up and walked to the living room where many items were placed. His eyes swept over those old items one by one, "Do you have to make it like this, so fancy?"
Zhou Yiheng said: "The more flashy something is, the more eye-catching it is. If you put it neatly next to it, who will pay attention to it?"
A few subtle wrinkles formed between her eyebrows as she stared at the items on the ground. She had no idea where he'd found all these strange fake antiques. Not to mention the porcelain vases themselves, which were completely unverifiable, even the chipped corners, rust marks, and deliberately scraped areas of the vases were clearly artificial artifacts.
"Who would be willing to show off their real collection? These half-new, half-old pieces are what 'collectors' like," Zhou Yiheng reminded Yang Ye as he fiddled with the fake antiques. "Boss, you have to remember your image. You came back from studying abroad with so much money at home that you like to spend it on these rare things. It's best to let the anchor know that you're a fool who doesn't know anything about the business."
"You came back from studying abroad and bought something so fake? Can't you find a few that look a bit similar? I can tell they're fake even from a distance. The anchor isn't a fool." Yang Ye squatted down and looked at the pile of things, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She took a deep breath and squeezed out the words through her teeth, "This blue and white porcelain has floated to the surface, and look at this. To make it look old, they just rubbed it with sandpaper and sprinkled some yellow mud on it."
Touching the yellow mud she brought down with her, she shook her hands and said with disgust, "Even street stall goods are more thoughtful than this."
Zhou Yiheng stood up and said, "Don't think it's fake now, just turn off the lights and adjust the color of the room."
"How to adjust it?" Yang Ye also stood up.
Zhou Yiheng's gaze shifted, meeting Yang Ye's, and they were caught off guard by each other's gaze. And the moment their eyes met, time seemed to stand still. At such close range, Zhou Yiheng's pupils widened uncontrollably, the panic evident in his eyes visible to Yang Ye. His heart raced, each beat pounding his eardrums. Yang Ye's gaze was drawn to Zhou Yiheng, like a stone suddenly dropping into the stillness of water. Zhou Yiheng's eyes were clear and pure, brimming with the youthful vivacity of youth, yet for a moment, they revealed a vague familiarity that made her trance.
Decades ago, someone also looked at her so carefully.
Zhou Yiheng's breathing was already erratic, the panic in his eyes still lingering, and the tips of his ears were already red. He opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but nothing came out. In the end, his Adam's apple moved slightly, and any sound he wanted to make was drowned out by his heartbeat.
Yang Ye withdrew his gaze, and she smiled. The ripples in her eyes gradually subsided, and she kept a perfect distance from him.
Similar, but not the same.
Yang Ye suppressed his emotions: "Why are you in a daze?"
"Here I am, here are what you want, right?" Xiao Xiao's crisp voice broke the silence in the room. She was holding a fill light that was taller than her, and the corner stand was clanging. Xu Jingzhe, who was following behind her, was not in a much better situation. He was carrying several bulging equipment bags in his hands and a bag of reflectors was hanging around his neck.
Yang Ye was surprised when she saw the things they took out of the bag, including colored filters, sunshades, and green plants used to decorate the scene. "So many things are needed!"
"Yes," Zhou Yiheng said, putting down the fill light he was adjusting, he looked up and said to Yang Ye, "Boss, come here."
Seeing where his finger was pointing, Yang Ye asked, "Here?"
"Yes," said Zhou Yiheng.
Yang Ye stood in the middle, puzzled. Xiao Xiao tightened the fill light placed diagonally opposite her and adjusted the angle and position of the light. Xu Jingzhe turned off all the lights in the room, leaving only the dim lights in the corners. The light in the room was divided into bright and dark. The light facing Yang Ye was soft and bright. The warm yellow light from the left, like the sunlight in the afternoon of winter, gently fell on her, making her face look more delicate and gentle. The few shareholder ornaments placed beside her, the mixture of warm yellow and the bright light from the opposite side, under the touch of light, made her feel as if she was in a museum.
"That's great, Zhou Yiheng. It really feels like that when you do it this way." Xiao Xiao exclaimed, staring at the porcelain vase in Yang Ye's hand.
The warm light shines down from a forty-five-degree angle, casting shadows of varying depths on the bottle.
Zhou Yiheng adjusted it again, "Sometimes, you just have to feel it."
Xiao Xiao's phone rang several times. It was a reminder from the host's assistant to go online.
"Boss, it will be your turn soon." She quickly put up her phone, patted Yang Ye's shoulder, and several people stepped behind the phone, leaving their place for her.
"Hello, hello, hello, little sister." The host's voice came from the mobile phone.
"Hello," Yang Ye replied dully.
With a frivolous tone, the anchor said, "I wonder what the young lady is going to show us today?"
Colorful bullet screens flashed across the lower left corner of the screen.
She stood there blankly, and the several fill lights made her whole body feel a little hot. Yang Ye, who was the focus of everyone's attention, felt a little uncomfortable and tickled the outer edge of her index finger with her nails.
"I, I bought some things a few days ago and wanted the anchor to help me check whether they were real or not."
"Oh" the host said with a deliberately rising tone, leaning back in his chair with an unusual smile, looking at Yang Ye across the screen, he suddenly said deliberately, "Sister, you are so pretty, I guess what you took out must be pretty too."
After that, he waved his hand pretentiously and said, "I'm just joking, don't mind it, little sister."
Yang Ye only felt that her temples were beating faster. The irritable ending tone and the clearly abrupt gaze made her hands at her sides clench unconsciously. She sat down facing the screen, pressed her outstretched fingers against the cold floor, trying to dispel the irritation in her heart.
She took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. Her eyes had just glanced at the phone screen, quickly glancing at a few lines. Before she could clearly read the content of the barrage, she was startled by the host's face that suddenly leaned over.
The greasy face caught Yang Ye's eye without warning. The facial features were magnified, revealing a man who was about fifty years old. His slightly sagging face was covered with layers of fat. The beauty filter had made his loose skin look like a steamed bun, and he wore a pair of thin-rimmed glasses on his face.
Seeing that she hadn't spoken for a long time, the man smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. He said to Yang Ye in a deliberately low voice: "It seems that this young lady seems a little nervous. Don't be nervous, let's just chat for a few minutes."
The words revealed a false intimacy. Yang Ye frowned impatiently and pursed his lips. His eyes swept across the front and happened to see Zhou Yiheng's gaze coming towards him. His bright eyes were clean and clear.
Yang Ye hesitated for a moment and said to the anchor on the screen: "I bought a few things at a flea market abroad last month. I want you to help me check which ones are authentic."
"Oh," the host on the other side pretended to be surprised, and sat up straight from relaxing on the back of the chair. "It seems that the young lady wants to see more than one thing today."
Yang Ye nodded.
The host picked up the water glass next to him, and a thin layer of mist condensed on the transparent glass wall. He interacted with the audience watching the live broadcast, "The families watching the live broadcast today are in for a treat."
Yang Ye looked at the things in front of him, picked out a porcelain vase that looked a little bit like the real thing from the pile of fake things, took it and placed it in front of him, "I just collected this bottle."
The anchor asked as usual: "How much is the charge?"
Yang Ye said casually: "Three hundred thousand"
The anchor then asked: "RMB?"
"right"
The host raised his eyebrows, his face still maintaining a professional and steady expression. He instructed Yang Ye, "Pick up the thing and get closer to the camera."
The porcelain vase expanded inch by inch, its smooth lines gleaming faintly in the light of the fill light in front of it. A hint of blue tinged the plain azure. The three-dimensional porcelain surface, with its several straight cracks running through it, resembled the surface of a lake cracked by the cold winter wind.
The moment the host saw her pick up the bottle, his cloudy eyes became clear. He leaned closer to the screen, looked at the bottle carefully, and his palms unconsciously began to rub on the table.
"Wow, what is this?"
"It looks so good."
"This looks like Ru kiln porcelain from the Song Dynasty."
Suddenly, the barrage of comments became numerous.
The host stared at the green-glazed porcelain vase for several seconds before slowly speaking, "Judging from its appearance, the quality of this porcelain vase is also among the best in similar collections."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
