Gao Dequan was already there, holding a feather duster, moving between the shelves, meticulously brushing dust from the porcelain. Seeing Wang Guan arrive, he didn't speak, merely offering a friendly nod.

"Manager Gao, good morning," Wang Guan greeted proactively, quickly setting down the pale celadon small bowl and stepping forward to take the feather duster from Gao Dequan’s hand, continuing the cleaning. When working for someone, one should have this kind of awareness—if you can’t even handle trivial matters like pouring tea or sweeping, how can you expect to be entrusted with a promotion?

"Good," Gao Dequan nodded slightly, then walked toward the counter. As he passed, he spotted the pale celadon bowl wrapped in newspaper held by Wang Guan and casually inquired, "What have you brought?"

"A small bowl, one I picked up a while back. There are a few perplexing aspects, and I was hoping Manager Gao could take a look for me," Wang Guan quickly explained, having brought it precisely with this thought in mind.

Wang Guan recalled a collector once saying that antique enthusiasts enjoy handling objects. Regardless of whether the item is genuine or fake, the process of authentication itself is a form of experience accumulation. Surely, Gao Dequan would not refuse his request.

"Oh… let me see."

Gao Dequan did indeed show some interest, reaching out to peel away the layers of newspaper until the pale celadon bowl was revealed before him.

"Hmm, this looks quite promising."

Even before holding it, just by visual inspection, Gao Dequan couldn't help but offer a compliment, his interest deepening considerably. He knew that truly fine pieces often provided a strong, immediate visceral impact upon first sight.

If such an intuitive feeling arises, then the item, even if it turns out to be less than perfect, certainly won't be of poor quality.

Of course, only true experts, through years of accumulated knowledge and countless lessons learned, would have honed such a sharp intuition.

For a novice, that first impression is often unreliable; one should never blindly trust it.

"Yingqing porcelain…"

As soon as he held it, Gao Dequan’s initial judgment was further confirmed. Without turning on the lights, he walked directly to the front door, where the light was abundant, and began a careful examination.

Holding it up to the sunlight, the incised underglaze pattern on the exterior of the small bowl immediately became clearly visible on the interior wall.

The incised pattern was the common lotus scroll motif, executed with concise composition, lending an air of elegance, especially as the halo of light played over it, creating a sense of dynamic beauty.

Gao Dequan admired it for a moment, then deftly turned his wrist, his gaze falling upon the foot-ring of the pale celadon bowl. Four characters written in green kaishu immediately caught his eye.

"Muzhai Jushi!"

Gao Dequan read the inscription aloud, his expression shifting into a complex mix of surprise and delight.

"Manager Gao, do you know who this Muzhai Jushi is?"

At this moment, Wang Guan approached. He had noticed the inscription on the base earlier but didn't know the provenance of this "Muzhai Jushi." He regretted rushing to work that morning, otherwise, he would have immediately searched online. However, judging by Gao Dequan's reaction, he seemed to recognize the name.

"It really is Muzhai Jushi…"

Gao Dequan ignored Wang Guan for the moment, carefully cradling the small bowl, turning it over and over. The glaze, the lotus scroll motif, the quality of the clay on the foot-ring, the four kaishu characters—he scrutinized every detail.

Finally, he pulled out a high-powered magnifying glass and began to examine it bit by bit.

Seeing this, Wang Guan felt a slight jolt of alarm, accompanied by a growing worry that the powerful lens might reveal hairline cracks on the porcelain. However, the outcome proved his fears to be completely unfounded. Under the magnification, the pale celadon bowl remained as crystalline and translucent as ever, perfectly uniform, showing not the slightest flaw.

"The piece is genuine."

After a long pause, Gao Dequan set down the magnifying glass and sighed, "It has circulated for two to three hundred years, yet its condition remains utterly flawless, as if it just came out of the kiln, yet without any of the original kiln 'fire.' It truly lives up to its reputation as a masterpiece among official wares."

"Really?"

Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Wang Guan couldn't help but feel a wave of mixed joy and confusion. "But circulated for only two or three hundred years? The person who sold it to me claimed it was Song Dynasty Yingqing."

"Song Dynasty?"

Gao Dequan startled, then frowned. "Is he blind? Didn't he see the inscription on the base? If he said that, he certainly doesn't know who Muzhai Jushi is. How much did you pay for this small bowl at the time?"

"Three…"

Wang Guan was still somewhat bewildered and held up three fingers.

Before he could finish, Gao Dequan exclaimed in shock, "Only three hundred thousand! You managed to find an absolute steal."

It wasn't entirely Gao Dequan's fault for thinking this way; the condition of the pale celadon bowl was simply too excellent. Even if the seller had misjudged the period, the price wouldn't have been cheap.

However, unaware of Gao Dequan's assumptions, Wang Guan added fuel to the fire: "It wasn't as much as three hundred thousand."

"What, you mean thirty thousand!"

Gao Dequan was stunned, his voice slightly trembling.

Well, the price couldn't go any lower, or it might actually give him a heart attack. Wang Guan rubbed his nose, tacitly confirming the lower price. After all, for such a fine pale celadon bowl, who would believe it was bought for only three hundred yuan?

"A pale celadon small bowl with a lotus scroll pattern, self-made by Tang Ying during the Yongzheng-Qianlong period, sold for a mere thirty thousand—this is an earth-shattering bargain. Heavens, why doesn't such a stroke of luck ever happen to me?"

Gao Dequan lamented repeatedly, his excitement taking a long time to subside.

"Manager Gao, you mean this bowl is worth quite a bit?" Wang Guan asked tentatively.

"Not 'quite a bit,' but extraordinarily valuable. The person who sold it to you must have had their head kicked in by a donkey. Thirty thousand? You'd need to add two more zeros for that kind of piece."

A moment later, Gao Dequan calmed down somewhat and sighed, "That person must have been uneducated to misidentify the era of the bowl, which is why they let such a fine item go so easily to you."

"But still… even misdating it, such an exquisite small bowl shouldn't sell for only thirty thousand…"

Gao Dequan was deeply puzzled, which is why he was certain the seller must have been struck by a donkey.

"Or perhaps…" Wang Guan, quick on his feet, immediately offered an excuse: "That person thought the bowl looked too new, believing it was a fake. So, they tried to pull a fast one on me, not realizing the item was genuine, and ended up letting me have it cheaply."

"That's the only way to explain it," Gao Dequan nodded gently, glancing at Wang Guan with a complex expression. "And you? Did you suspect something, which is why you bought this bowl?"

"I couldn't be entirely certain, I just felt the bowl didn't seem fake, so I bought it," Wang Guan replied, naturally unwilling to reveal his true secrets.

"Better to buy something that looks fake and is real, than something that looks real but is fake," Gao Dequan stated solemnly. "Now, I can tell you with certainty, you have acquired a massive treasure."

"Thank you, Manager Gao," Wang Guan replied with a faint smile, maintaining a composed demeanor. A series of pleasant surprises throughout the day had left him feeling somewhat numb; while happy inside, he couldn't summon any visible excitement.

Of course, in Gao Dequan's eyes, this manifested as composure. He suddenly thought that a temperament like this, combined with decisiveness, made stumbling upon a major find seem less surprising.

................ New book, please collect and recommend, thank you for your support.