The books Wang Guan had collected were not read in vain; he knew there were at least dozens of methods to make a new object appear decades or even centuries old in an extremely short time.

Now, he needed to verify which of the antiques spread out on the stalls were genuine and which were fakes.

Speaking of which, these antique stall owners were an interesting bunch. Dozens of stalls lined the street, yet rarely were the vendors seen staying put, waiting for customers to approach.

Instead, they gathered in small groups, either playing Mahjong or Chinese chess. For the occasional passerby, they would only use their peripheral vision to gauge whether someone was a potential buyer while dealing a card or drawing a tile.

After all, those who frequented antique markets knew that true pieces were scarce, and fakes were abundant. Generally, people would only look and wouldn't buy easily. Therefore, a vendor would only step forward to greet a customer when they actually picked up an antique and showed intent to inquire about the price.

In the past, Wang Guan also browsed antique centers by just looking, never buying.

Now, to test his abilities, touching and examining things was unavoidable.

Approaching a stall, Wang Guan’s eyes roved, maintaining the appearance of a novice, his face full of curiosity as he picked through the items on the cloth.

He touched over a dozen antiques in succession, but not a single strange reaction occurred.

“What’s going on?”

Wang Guan felt somewhat perplexed. He slowly stood up and moved toward the next stall.

After a moment of thought, Wang Guan reckoned there might be three possibilities: either his strange ability was merely an illusion, or every antique on the stalls was fake, or perhaps triggering his ability required a certain condition...

“Could it be that this ability only works on ceramics?”

Remembering that the previous incident happened over a ceramic bowl, Wang Guan stopped, changed direction, and walked toward a stall piled high with ceramic pieces.

The ceramics at this stall were also varied—plates, bowls, dishes, and vases were all present. Furthermore, there were unique ceramic figurines shaped like Guanyin, Buddhas, pigs, oxen, monkeys, and horses.

And the variety of shapes wasn't the main point; more importantly, ceramics from every dynasty were complete on this small stall.

Gray pottery, black pottery, red pottery, painted pottery, and glazed hard pottery from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties; roof tiles (wadang), Han bricks, and terracotta figures from the Qin and Han dynasties; celadon and white porcelain from the Sui and Tang dynasties, as well as Tang sancai; secret-color porcelain from the Five Dynasties period.

Of course, the wares from the Five Great Kilns—Ding, Ru, Guan, Ge, and Jun—were naturally not missing. As for the blue-and-white, wucai, doucai, and fencai porcelain from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, they had everything imaginable.

A tiny stall, with barely a hundred ceramic pieces, had managed to encompass the five-thousand-year history of Chinese ceramics.

Believe it or not, Wang Guan certainly didn’t. Especially after touching more than half the ceramics on the stall with no sensation whatsoever, he knew it was time to move on.

After checking two or three more stalls, although he found nothing, Wang Guan’s enthusiasm didn’t wane. However, he suddenly noticed the looks from some stall owners were off, and he immediately realized he might have trodden on a sore spot.

After all, when ordinary people visit a shop, even if they look more than they buy, they at least make a purchase. Unlike Wang Guan, who had lingered for a long time, looking extremely focused while picking things up.

But in the end, he left without even asking the price, just dusting off his backside and walking away. Such behavior wasn't like visiting to buy antiques; it was clearly causing trouble or merely passing the time for amusement. This was also because Wang Guan didn't stay long at any single stall; otherwise, those vendors would have already started shouting reprimands or subtly pushing him away.

Everyone knew that if you spent a long time picking through things in a store and didn't buy anything, you were bound to receive dirty looks. Being called a cheapskate would be mild; they might even curse you under their breath.

“Perhaps I shouldn't waste time at these street stalls. I should head straight into those formal antique shops. Since I'm just observing, it shouldn't bother them…”

Wang Guan realized that continuing like this might incite general indignation. He then headed toward the storefronts along the street. After all, even if legitimate antique shops contained some fakes, they should still have quite a few genuine items.

“Right, I almost forgot, there’s this!”

Just as he was about to enter an antique shop, Wang Guan suddenly spotted something, immediately quickened his pace, turned a corner, and stopped before a stall. This stall wasn't displaying antique objects, but rather numerous incomplete, shattered pieces of porcelain shards.

“Fragmented, yet it does not lose its authenticity; fragmented, yet it does not lose its beauty; fragmented, yet it does not lose its value; fragmented, yet it does not lose its teaching.” Wang Guan remembered that a great collector once described the appreciation of porcelain shards this way. Especially for beginners, they could improve their connoisseurship by collecting, organizing, observing, and comparing these shards.

Of course, what truly drew Wang Guan over was his knowledge that while complete ceramics in this ancient porcelain capital might contain fakes, the vast majority of ancient porcelain shards were genuine.

This was because, over the past decade or so, numerous kiln sites, both imperial and civilian, had been excavated in the porcelain capital, yielding large quantities of fragmented ancient porcelain.

Except for areas designated as strictly protected kiln sites where picking was forbidden, the shards unearthed from other ancient kiln ruins were not prohibited from circulating among the populace.

Moreover, prohibition would be futile. The entire city was built upon the ruins of ancient ceramic production. Any construction that involved digging the earth could unearth vast numbers of porcelain fragments.

In earlier years, someone could kick aside a layer of dirt by the roadside and see huge piles of shards. Even now, people frequently find various precious ancient shards along the Chang River.

The supply of ancient porcelain shards was quite sufficient, and the prices weren't high—ranging from a few yuan to a dozen yuan, though some particularly rare ones could fetch tens of thousands of yuan.

Furthermore, because the shards were broken, they clearly exposed the composition of the clay body, making forgery very difficult. Even if a forgery were successful and incredibly lifelike, the cost required would far exceed the selling price. Forgers would not engage in such thankless work.

Therefore, the overwhelming majority of ancient porcelain shards in the entire antique market were genuine. However, determining the exact age of a shard and its true value depended entirely on one's own judgment.

“Hello, boss, please take a look around. Let me know if you fancy anything.”

Unlike the vendors selling complete antiques, the peddler selling ancient porcelain shards was exceptionally enthusiastic. Seeing Wang Guan approach, he immediately launched into a detailed spiel: “All these shards I have were dug up from kiln sites like Hutian, Xianghu, and Yinkengwu. Those were imperial kiln factory ruins; I don’t need to elaborate on the quality of the shards…”

“Look here, this is Song Dynasty celadon (yingqing), Yuan and Ming blue-and-white, Qing Dynasty falangcai and fencai... Boss, tell me which dynasty’s shards you like, and I’ll pick them out for you.”

This peddler might not have a high level of formal education, but his knowledge of ancient porcelain shards was remarkably professional. His descriptions regarding the age, decorative patterns, and inscriptions on the shards were exceptionally accurate.

Although Wang Guan couldn't discern the authenticity himself, he felt that this peddler was no different from an ordinary expert... ...New book, please give lots of support, asking for collections and recommendations.