Upon arriving in the small town and paying the fare to disembark, Wang Guan immediately smiled and said, "Feibai, looks like we need to change our clothes again." "Change them then; it's not the first time." After lingering in the town for a moment, the two immediately changed their attire to look exactly like people coming from the city to purchase goods, then rode their motorcycle slowly toward the nearby mountain village. Not long after, the two finally reached their destination: a small mountain village nestled among rolling hills and surrounded by water.

The environment was quite picturesque, though the vegetation showed signs of winter dormancy; come spring, it would surely be lush and verdant. However, that wasn't the main point.

The key was that as they neared the village, the pair began their observation. After all, firing porcelain is no simple task.

The location is critically important, especially the kiln site, which absolutely cannot be haphazardly chosen. As the saying goes, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice; if they lack the crucial kiln, even with raw materials and finished greenware, there can be no fundamental transformation to turn the clay into exquisite porcelain.

That said, after scrutinizing the surroundings for a brief period, both Wang Guan and Yu Feibai felt they had come to the right place. Generally, near a mountain village, there should be swathes of farmland.

Even though autumn had passed and the crops were harvested, the outlines of the fields should still be visible. Yet, around this particular small mountain village, there were no fields to speak of.

Perhaps a few isolated patches, but mostly, there were workshops and kilns dotted everywhere. In other words, this small village was, in fact, a professional porcelain manufacturing hub.

This realization brought a measure of excitement, yet also considerable worry. The excitement stemmed from the fact that someone was firing porcelain here, meaning Mr.

Zhu Da might very well be hidden among them. The worry was that a larger population made searching harder, and more people meant more loose talk; any small stir could quickly spread, potentially reaching Mr.

Zhu Da and causing him to flee immediately. "Stop overthinking it." Wang Guan signaled at the opportune moment, "Let's go.

We'll enter the village and have a look." Yu Feibai naturally had no objection, and the two slowly walked into the mountain village. It seemed most of the able-bodied men were busy working in the kilns and workshops, leaving the elderly and children to populate the village.

This is the biggest and most pressing social issue facing modern rural areas: the young adults leave to work elsewhere, leaving only the elderly to look after the children. Furthermore, the elders aren't solely childminders; they often have other chores, while the young, uncomprehending children play carelessly, frequently leading to accidents and tragic consequences.

The situation in this particular mountain village was slightly better; the local young adults worked nearby, and with fewer fields, the elderly didn't have too many trivial tasks, allowing them to focus solely on childcare and thus minimizing potential mishaps. For instance, now that they saw two strangers entering the village, the gazes of several elders held a hint of vigilance, and they subconsciously called the children closer for protection.

"Grandpa." Seeing this, without waiting for Wang Guan to speak, Yu Feibai approached an elderly man with a bright smile, "We're here from the city to buy things. Do you happen to have any old items at home?" Hearing this, the old man's expression softened slightly.

Thanks to the era of universal collecting, with the collecting craze being so fervent, ancient cities like Luoyang and Kaifeng were naturally the prime destinations for many collectors to frequent. With more people venturing into the countryside to 'dig through' old houses, the elderly man was quite accustomed to such visitors.

Being rather straightforward, he simply shook his head, "Nothing now. We used to have some, but we sold them..." As he spoke, the old man sighed a little.

In the early years of the collecting boom, his family had a few old pieces, which they casually sold when someone came around seeking treasures. But in the last couple of years, after watching television, especially collecting programs, and hearing experts' appraisals, he felt he had sold them too cheaply, leading to natural regret.

"Really nothing left at all?" Yu Feibai pressed on, unwilling to give up, "Elder, think hard again. Perhaps something was overlooked...

By the way, those kilns, they couldn't be newly built, could they? If they existed in ancient times, surely some artifacts would have survived." The old man wasn't surprised by Yu Feibai’s question; when people saw the kilns before, those who came hunting for antiques had the exact same thought.

If they were ancient kilns, some good items should have been passed down. "Those aren't ancient kilns." However, the old man shook his head, "They are new constructions, built only a few years ago." Most people would be disappointed to hear this, but Wang Guan and Yu Feibai exchanged a look, feeling a touch of excitement instead.

They had a vague sense that this matter warranted deeper investigation. With that thought, how could the two possibly leave?

They immediately used thirst and fatigue as an excuse to ask the old man for a bowl of water. Seeing their travel-worn appearance, the old man harbored no suspicion, though he didn't invite them inside either, instead sending a child to fetch the water.

"Thank you, Grandpa!" Soon after, the child emerged with two bowls of water. Wang Guan took one, sipped lightly, and then smiled broadly, "And thank you too, little friend.

How old are you this year? Are you in school yet?" This was pure small talk, and the child was quite shy, clinging to the old man’s trouser leg and hiding behind him.

If asked by an elder, the old man might not have answered, but being asked by a child, he cheerfully pulled the boy out, patted his small head, and squinted, "Uncle is asking you a question. Be polite, answer quickly." This is how elders are; they can be guarded about themselves but strongly encourage their children to be lively, cheerful, and brave in communicating with others.

Under the elder's encouragement, the child timidly held out his small palm, then tucked his thumb back in, showing only four fingers, and whispered, "My name is Yao Ming, and I’m five years old." "Yao Ming, what a great name..." Yu Feibai praised effusively, completely ignoring the child's poor counting skills and focusing only on the positive, "I can tell you're destined for basketball..." The old man smiled, not quite understanding, and gently pulled the child's thumb back out, instructing, "Remember, this is five. That was four just now..." "Oh." The child nodded vaguely, unsure if he had remembered correctly.

Whether he remembered or not, Wang Guan was thoughtful. He then casually asked, "Grandpa, are most of the people in the village surnamed Yao?

It's the same surname as that basketball star, Yao Ming." "Yes, we are mostly surnamed Yao." The old man might not have known who Yao Ming was, but he nodded in confirmation that the majority of the villagers shared the surname Yao and had resided in the mountain village for several hundred years. Once confirmed, Wang Guan immediately gave Yu Feibai a meaningful glance, then downed the water in one gulp, returned the empty bowl, offered profuse thanks, and they departed immediately.

The two mounted the motorcycle and were quickly out of the village. Once they were a good distance away, Yu Feibai asked, "Why the rush to leave?

I feel like if we kept asking questions, we would definitely uncover more clues. Besides, we haven't even gone to check the spot where we saw the broken porcelain shards." "No need to look, lest we arouse suspicion," Wang Guan murmured.

"I think the most urgent matter now is to investigate who invested in building the factories here." "Why?" Yu Feibai reacted quickly, suddenly surprised, "You suspect the investor is Mr. Zhu Da?" "It's not an impossible scenario," Wang Guan nodded.

"The elder just said most villagers are surnamed Yao, which makes me wonder if this is Mr. Yao's hometown." "Hmm?" Hearing this, Yu Feibai understood a bit better.

After all, Chinese people have a deep attachment to their roots, whether it's returning home to rest in old age or the saying that wealth should not be kept secret—it’s like wearing fine brocade while traveling at night. In any case, many harbor a subtle sentiment toward their hometowns.

It’s very common for successful people to invest in their hometowns. Perhaps Mr.

Zhu Da shares that same feeling. "They say to think thrice before acting; being cautious won't lead to mistakes," Wang Guan smiled.

"Besides, Elder Qian just told us not to startle the snake. I think he's absolutely right." "Hearing you say that, I also feel it's essential to investigate the background of these kilns," Yu Feibai nodded, stroking his chin.

"Suddenly, I have a feeling we might be about to catch a big fish." "I hope your feeling is correct." As he spoke, Wang Guan asked again, "By the way, how are your connections in Kaifeng? Should we ask Elder Qian for help?" "Hmph, looking down on me." Yu Feibai snorted, "I'm a scion of a prominent family, a genuine 'Second Generation.' Flash my credentials, and countless people will be eager to suck up to me.

Digging up some information is a piece of cake..." As it turned out, Yu Feibai wasn't boasting. Not long after, the two returned to their hotel in Kaifeng city, and he made a call.

Two or three hours later, someone delivered a large bag of documents containing all the information about the Yao Village Kilns. "Legal representative..." There was a lot of material, but the pair didn't need to read it all; they went straight for the investor information.

"Yao Yuan, an overseas Chinese from the United States!" Seeing this information, Yu Feibai immediately exclaimed with pleasant surprise, "That's solid!" "Indeed." Wang Guan agreed, continuing to flip through the documents. However, the information on Yao Yuan was sparse—it only recorded that he was an overseas Chinese returning from the US who invested in building a kiln to support his hometown's development.

The kiln primarily produced daily-use porcelain at relatively low prices. Despite the items being exquisite, after two or three years of operating at a loss, the factory gradually found its market footing.

While its status elsewhere was unknown, it had gained some local fame in Kaifeng. "Hiding in plain sight," Yu Feibai sighed now.

"We always assumed Mr. Zhu Da's secret base was abroad; we never expected it to be right here domestically.

It’s completely unexpected." "Tell me about it," Wang Guan nodded. "It was our ingrained thinking that sent us down many wrong paths.

We never considered that he might be engaged in 'exporting for domestic sale.'" "We were clearly misled," Yu Feibai shook his head. He turned another page of the documents, studied it further, and suddenly seemed to see something unbelievable.

His eyes widened, his expression flustered, "No way!" "What's impossible?" At the same time, Wang Guan looked over, feeling puzzled, "What's wrong?"