Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1611: Chapter 1595: Master

Old Mr. Zhong saw the situation and wasn’t annoyed; he even laughed.

”Your master is quite a character, much more interesting than you, young lady. You’re young, and yet you behave as if you’re an old woman. Isn’t it exhausting to live life by the book all the time? Wouldn’t it be better to live a bit more freely and unrestrained?”

Old Mr. Zhong turned his head to look at Huo Sining and asked.

Huo Sining was taken aback; she hadn’t expected the old man to have such an impression of her. She smiled awkwardly.

Over on the other side, Zhou Shitao had no mind to pay attention to what the two were talking about. He was completely absorbed in the set of wine vessels.

He carefully examined those tall cups and the Zhihu for a good ten minutes before finally returning to reality.

He let out a long sigh and praised, ”Ingenious, truly ingenious!”

Old Mr. Zhong was also a bit surprised at this: ”You noticed, brother?”

Zhou Shitao laughed, ”This Zhihu should be genuine, but as for the tall cups, I’m not so sure. I can’t find any flaws, but there’s likely something amiss, either with one cup or perhaps several.”

As soon as Zhou Shitao said this, Old Mr. Zhong couldn’t help but give him a thumbs up.

However, the old man’s eyes showed some amusement, and with a playful smile, he said, ”Your eye is good, but still a tad inferior to your young apprentice here.”

Zhou Shitao could tell Old Mr. Zhong was teasing him, but he didn’t mind, and simply smiled:

”I told you before, this girl is a prodigy, not something you can figure out with common logic. Besides, however skilled she becomes, she’s still my disciple. I’d love nothing more than for her to surpass her master.”

At this point, even Old Mr. Zhong had to admire Zhou Shitao’s mindset and magnanimity:

”That’s hard to come by. Most of the experts I know aren’t this open-minded. In the antique circle, there are so many who dwell on seniority, experience, and background, making a complete mess. I really detest those old guys who act like pompous know-it-alls, but you, my dear brother, are quite interesting, haha.”

Zhou Shitao felt a sense of instant familiarity with Old Mr. Zhong. Although both these old men were eccentric, they could get along so well upon first meeting, and there was even a feeling of mutual appreciation and regret at not having met sooner. This made Huo Sining and Gu Xu feel it was quite incredible.

”Old Brother Zhong, since you’ve brought this set of wine vessels out, and we’ve admired them, could you tell us how this Cha Zi was crafted?”

Zhou Shitao was very intrigued by this set of Cha Zi wine vessels. Despite having seen so many antique collectibles, it was the first time he was so curious about an item, itching to know more.

Old Mr. Zhong just smiled without speaking.

”Old brother, don’t keep us in suspense. Even if you reveal the secret technique for firing, I wouldn’t be able to replicate it.” Zhou Shitao was impatient, seeing that Old Mr. Zhong was not speaking, he became anxious.

Old Mr. Zhong, however, turned to look at Huo Sining beside him: ”Young Huo, I’m going to test your basics now. When Cha Zi first appeared, do you know how domestic experts analyzed it?”

Huo Sining didn’t expect the spotlight to be on her, and after searching her mind for a moment, she replied:

”The concept of Cha Zi was proposed by the late senior Sun Yingzhou, but when it first appeared, many in the industry believed that porcelain of this color was a failed product of firing.”

”But if Cha Zi indeed were a failed product, then there would definitely be shards of Cha Zi at old kiln sites of the Porcelain Capital, because items that failed in official kilns were supposed to be smashed.”

”Of course, some also said that the appearance of Cha Zi might be due to a palace fire, and after the finished porcelain was fired a second time, it developed this color. Generally speaking, however, unless the firing temperature during the second firing is extremely high, this effect isn’t possible. Hence, I think this explanation isn’t valid.”

”So I estimate that Cha Zi at the time was definitely not a failed product of firing. The craftsman of the time might have intended to utilize Cha Zi to create a three-dimensional effect, so on overglaze colors, Cha Zi stands out above the glaze, rough and uneven, precisely to create a 3D effect.”

”Just like the butterflies on the Three Autumn Cup in the Forbidden City now, and the grapes on this Zhihu, these are the best demonstrations of the three-dimensional effect.”

Old Mr. Zhong nodded with a smile and said, ”You’re right, both explanations are wrong. Successful second firing at low temperatures wouldn’t result in a burnt iron-red color.”

”In fact, Cha Zi is actually an unexpected color flaw during firing, thereby called Cha Zi. The Cha Zi color in Chenghua Doucai isn’t burnt out but formed by low-temperature overfiring of Cha Zi glaze on porcelain glaze.”

Saying this, Old Mr. Zhong looked towards Zhou Shitao: ”But what Young Huo mentioned, does carry some truth.”

”The formation of Cha Zi is somewhat related to the mixing of primary colors in physics. These three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. I originally received inspiration from these three colors. By using the red Ox Blood Red from the Chenghua period, the green Equal Green, and adding clay yellow, mixing them in a certain ratio and trying repeatedly, Cha Zi came to be.”

”As for the three-dimensional effect Young Huo mentioned, it is precisely what I had speculated.”

”Logically, such a whimsical production technique by ancient craftsmen would require multiple experiments, but this Cha Zi is extremely difficult to fire, and the color outcome doesn’t harmonize well with white porcelain, appearing worse than the craftsmen expected.”

”Therefore, this technique did not get widely used, only a few finished products were made, and the few surviving pieces resulted in the mysterious and rare Cha Zi we have today.”

Upon hearing Old Mr. Zhong’s analysis, Zhou Shitao felt an epiphany as if he had an enlightening revelation, gazing at the Cha Zi imitation tall cups in front of him, he remained silent for a long time.

Huo Sining also nodded silently, this Old Mr. Zhong is truly a master in the realm of reproductions. With just a few words, he had already clarified the critical issue, directly hitting the mark and striking home.

With the old man’s ability, if he truly intended to profit from this skill, no one could probably stop him, and he would have long stirred up a storm in the antique world.

But the more Huo Sining thought about it, the more it seemed wrong. If this old man weren’t indifferent to fame and fortune and was instead mercenary, he wouldn’t have had the patience, much less the dedication to study these reproduction skills.