Chapter 61: Reunion

  The porcelain shop owner became more and more confused, but still accompanied by a smiling face, replied:

  "There are kilns for ceramics outside the city, but high-quality large ceramic pieces need to be fired and purchased from Jinan Prefecture. Customers can place custom orders with me, and I'll let you know that it will take a month to get them."

  "Don't bother, I'll just take this porcelain jar, 45 cents each, I want 4,000 of them!"

  The shopkeeper, who had been confused for half a day, was startled by these words and thought to himself that this customer must have gone mad or come to the store looking for trouble. However, seeing Li Meng's serious expression, he didn't seem to be joking, so he cautiously asked:

  "This customer, this jar is only thirty-five cents. If you buy a lot, the price can be negotiated. These jars are all second-rate ceramics..."

  "What I, Li Meng, want to do has its own reason. You, the shopkeeper, are interesting, why have money but not earn."

  As they spoke, Li Meng took out ten taels of silver from his waist bag and handed it to the shopkeeper as a deposit. The moment the shopkeeper heard Li Meng's two words, he shivered all over and didn't dare say another word. He thought that this fierce god had nothing to do with the porcelain shop, what was he doing here? Suddenly, Li Meng asked again:

  "What's the trick to making this new porcelain look like it's old?"

  The owner of the porcelain shop replied subconsciously:

  It's said that after boiling porcelain in soy sauce and drying it, the smell disperses, making it look like an antique... all these are tricks of the trade for antique dealers.

  He suddenly stopped himself, broke out in a cold sweat, and thought to himself: "Could it be that Li Meng is going to use these thousand porcelain jars to deceive people into thinking they're antiques? If I speak up, I'm afraid I'll be silenced by being killed." Just then, Li Meng continued:

  "For every can I add two cents, they all become old for me."

  The shopkeeper could only repeatedly agree, and after Li Meng had taken care of the matter, he felt a sense of relief in his heart. He also had the mood to carefully examine the porcelain in the store. As he looked at these porcelains, Li Meng thought to himself that if they were in modern times, they would be considered antiques, and their prices would definitely increase by tens or even hundreds of times.

  He wandered around there, and the shopkeeper didn't dare say anything. He was also confused by Li Meng's words about the porcelain jar earlier. This deal would make at least thirty taels of silver, a huge profit. However, it's hard to say whether there will be any risks in the future. But Li Meng is notorious, and it's not worth offending him either.

  The best porcelain in this store is the porcelain horse standing on the base in the middle of the store. It's quite different from those porcelain horses Li Meng saw in museums before, which were made before the Yuan Dynasty. Although they didn't look as delicate and realistic as this one, they had a more free-spirited and bold charm to them. Despite not understanding art or aesthetics, Li Meng could tell that this porcelain horse looked dull and lifeless, while those Tang and Song Dynasty horses, although rougher, were full of vitality.

  After arriving in the Chongzhen era, Li Meng rarely relaxed, staring at this ceramic horse, Li Meng fell into deep thought, the ceramic horse's dull and lifeless appearance, I don't know if it represents the country's national fortune is at its most decadent stage.

  Every Chinese person who has received a junior high school education in modern times knows that, after another decade or so, the Huaxia will fall into the darkest three hundred years in history...

  Li Meng suddenly felt that the store was very quiet, and he woke up from his contemplation. He looked back to see that the shopkeeper and apprentices were too busy staring at him to attend to customers. Li Meng also knew that his reputation was quite intimidating, and the ceramic shop's apprentices and owner would probably be unable to sleep tonight.

  He felt a bit awkward and pointed to a porcelain Guanyin on the side and said:

  "You look at this Guanyin, it seems to be pure and clean, but when the light shines on it, it appears a bit mottled. I once saw a porcelain Guanyin in Beijing, its entire body was crystal clear, whether in bright or dark places, it looked like it was made of condensed green water. Not to mention burning incense and praying, even just looking at it would calm one's mind."

  If the owner of the porcelain shop knew what Li Meng looked like a year ago, he would definitely be shocked. This kind of talk was not something that a foolish and illiterate soldier from Jiaozhou who had never left his hometown could say, nor could he have such insight. However, when it came to their line of work, the owner's mood became much calmer, and he exclaimed in surprise:

  "Who would have thought there's such craftsmanship? I'm afraid my luck is too thin, and I won't be able to appreciate it!"

  Li Meng smiled and thought that it wasn't so embarrassing after all. Just as he was about to leave, a soft, melancholic female voice drifted from inside the store:

  "What you said must be the Qingyu porcelain of the Song Dynasty. According to the records, from the reigns of Emperor Zhenzong to Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, only three kilns were fired in total. Now, apart from the imperial palace in the capital, it is said that there are collections in Suzhou and Songjiang, but I don't know where you saw them?"

  The voice was very soft, speaking slowly, and it sounded like a very young girl. Li Meng felt a bit strange, looking at the owner of the porcelain shop, who hastily came forward and whispered:

  "She is the daughter of Governor Zhou, who loves porcelain and has visited my shop several times, always with a young servant girl attending to her in the inner courtyard."

  As they spoke, a girl came out of the inner door and, seeing the room full of men, immediately blushed bright red and lowered her head. The shop owner turned his head and chased all the apprentices out of the store. He bowed his head and didn't dare to look up, shouting loudly there:

  "You damned wife, wasn't I telling you to take good care of Miss Yan?"

  The women of the late Ming Dynasty were quite open-minded, but young men and women still had some inconvenience. Li Meng didn't have much contact with them, but he roughly knew the rules. He glanced at her and was about to turn his head, but after taking a look, Li Meng suddenly held his breath. He had seen this girl before - it was that time when he carried salt into the city by the riverbank, the girl wearing a pink jacket with a group of people.

  It's been almost a year since that meeting, and Li Meng often thinks of the girl, remembering her strolling along the riverbank, her slender figure walking among the willow branches, with a classical beauty and elegance that makes Li Meng feel deeply nostalgic.

  He also knew that in this era of uncertainty and sudden events, he had no expectation of meeting again, but unexpectedly met by chance in this porcelain shop today.

  Miss Yan, the daughter of Zhi Zhou, also lowered her head and said in a low voice:

  "I just heard this gentleman mention Qingyu Guanyin, I suppose you also understand ceramics. Can you tell me about the luster of this Qingyu..."

  Li Meng, apart from the phrase "the green water condenses" just now, if you ask him to come up with other metaphors to describe it, he really can't say anything else. You can't just tell him to go take a look at the Capital Museum and then he'll know, and people who understand porcelain will say that the luster must have its own specialized language. What was said earlier still had some literary flair, but if you continue, it will be embarrassing.