Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1106: Chapter 1102: 1,400 Degrees Celsius

”Ningning... what’s happening here? What’s the history of this Plum Vase?”

Su Qingqing’s eyes were wide open, her gaze lingering repeatedly on the Plum Vase. She found it hard to believe that such an apparently ordinary vase could exhibit such exquisite craftsmanship.

Huo Sining reached out and gently flicked the body of the Plum Vase, producing a crisp sound. Upon hearing this sound, Huo Sining couldn’t help but sigh deeply:

”This Plum Vase was fired under special high temperatures of about fourteen hundred degrees Celsius. Typically, porcelain is fired at around thirteen hundred degrees. Though the difference seems to be just one hundred degrees, increasing this one hundred degrees is extremely difficult. The further you go, the more each degree requires painstaking effort, and often requires the collective research and discussion of experienced kiln masters; this is not just about increasing the temperature inside the kiln, but whether the porcelain inside the kiln can withstand such high temperatures.”

The thinness or thickness of the porcelain’s body and glaze, moisture content, materials, etc., all directly affect the maximum temperature it can withstand. Even a one-degree difference can cause blistering, cracking, or damage to the porcelain surface. In severe cases, it can even cause the entire kiln of porcelain to be completely ruined.

”Why go through so much trouble to use a fourteen hundred degree high temperature? Isn’t thirteen hundred degrees enough?”

Hearing Huo Sining’s words, Su Qingqing was a bit puzzled. Since porcelain can be fired at thirteen hundred degrees, why bother raising it to the maximum temperature these porcelains can tolerate? Isn’t this asking for trouble?

Huo Sining smiled and said, ”Because porcelain fired at fourteen hundred degrees has another more important and magical property.”

With that, Huo Sining turned and went into the shop, followed by the others including Yin Zeyan. Inside, Manager Lu was sitting in the hall drinking tea. The old man probably heard Huo Sining’s explanation from outside the door, and when he saw her coming in, he lifted a kettle of boiling water from the stove in front of him, addressing Huo Sining: ”Huo girl, is this what you’re looking for?”

As Huo Sining wandered in the store, looking for a water dispenser, she saw the kettle of hot water in the old man’s hand and couldn’t help but chuckle, giving Lu Huairu a thumbs up: ”Old man, you’re truly insightful!”

Taking the kettle from Lu Huairu, Huo Sining turned around and asked the Old Granny: ”Madam, may I borrow your Plum Vase?”

The Plum Vase was already chipped, and the Old Granny knew it was beyond repair, so when Huo Sining asked, she handed it over without a moment’s hesitation.

With the Plum Vase in hand, Huo Sining indicated to the shop assistant to hold it sideways for her, with the unbroken bottom facing down and the chipped side facing up, with the bottle mouth tilted towards the door so that the bottom of the vase could still hold a bit of water.

Then, Huo Sining slowly poured the boiling water from the kettle given to her by Lu Huairu into the chipped side. By the time she was halfway through the kettle, Su Qingqing and the others had already widened their eyes.

Because the shop assistant was holding the bottom of the vase with one hand, and if it were ordinary porcelain, it couldn’t be held like that. The hot water would have already burnt a layer off the surface, and they had already seen that the Plum Vase’s body was even thinner than that of usual porcelain, so its heat insulation should be even worse. Yet, the shop assistant holding the bottom with his palm didn’t flinch, showing no signs of a hot hand.

”Isn’t this water hot? Was it not boiled?” Even Zhou Yan, who had been silent, couldn’t help but ask, looking at the shop assistant with confusion.

The shop assistant looked equally puzzled because the only sensation from holding the bottom was a very gentle and comfortable feeling, without any particularly hot sensation.

Seeing the group’s doubts, Huo Sining didn’t bother explaining. Instead, she directly took several overturned teacups from the table, pouring the remaining water from the kettle into them, handing one cup to Su Qingqing.

Su Qingqing took the teacup, lowered her head to take a sip of the water, and after just less than half a sip, she suddenly jumped up, her face turning red, spitting with her mouth open, and sticking out her tongue to shout: ”Darn, it’s scalding! Ningning, why didn’t you warn me? This is way too hot, my tongue must be blistered!”

Huo Sining was both amused and helpless: ”You were in such a hurry to drink, I didn’t have time to say anything. I was just going to let you dip your fingers in to test the temperature, who told you to drink it?”

Upon hearing Huo Sining’s words, Su Qingqing’s expression froze, displaying a frustrated and awkward look.

However, with Su Qingqing’s reaction, she effectively demonstrated to everyone that the tea in the kettle was indeed freshly boiled and extremely hot.

The people in the room showed surprised expressions once more, unable to understand why the Plum Vase’s thin porcelain wall had such excellent insulation.

”Why is it like this?” Su Qingqing looked puzzled.

Huo Sining signaled the shop assistant to pour out the hot water from the vase and return the vase to the Old Granny before explaining: ”This addresses your earlier question about why we need to use the fourteen hundred-degree critical temperature when thirteen hundred degrees could suffice. Because at thirteen hundred degrees, you absolutely cannot produce such a temperature-resistant porcelain.”

”In terms of high-temperature resistance, the pinnacle is the Chenghua Doucai. The firing of Doucai uses temperatures even higher than fourteen hundred degrees, resulting in more advanced porcelain, and therefore, more valuable. A single Chenghua Doucai Chicken Cup can be sold for billions.”

”These high-fired porcelains, even when boiled in boiling water and then thrown into ice water, won’t explode like ordinary porcelain, and their glaze is everlasting. This is why I said this Plum Vase is a true treasure, and its artistic value is on par with a painting by Qi Baishi.”

Su Qingqing half-understood what Huo Sining was saying. She fully comprehended the high-temperature firing explained by Huo Sining, but there was still a point she couldn’t grasp:

”After all this, you still haven’t told me what kind of porcelain this is and why it needs to be fired at fourteen hundred degrees. Also, I find it hard to understand why you’d make a flower vase with high-temperature-resistant material, akin to using a bull knife to kill a chicken. Isn’t that a waste?”

The question Su Qingqing raised was also the point of confusion for Zhou Yan and the others in the store. They all turned to Huo Sining, awaiting her explanation.