Chapter 684: Chapter 681 Being Able to Take It and Let It Go

Upon arriving at the Zhou Residence, Huo Sining was immediately called into Zhou Shitao’s study.

As soon as Zhou Shitao saw Huo Sining, a complex look involuntarily surfaced in his eyes.

In fact, since he had taken Huo Sining as his Closed-door Disciple, surprises had come one after another, and each time it refreshed his understanding of this little apprentice.

He really didn’t know whether he should believe or doubt, but the continuous stream of surprises made it hard for him to attribute it all to mere luck.

Huo Sining felt a bit uneasy under Zhou Shitao’s gaze and asked tentatively, “Teacher, what’s wrong?”

At Huo Sining’s call, Zhou Shitao instantly came back to reality and scolded himself for why he started to doubt his own disciple. Even if it was just talent, it was a gift bestowed by the heavens, something others could only envy.

“You’ve come.”

Zhou Shitao’s expression quickly returned to normal. He smiled, took the brocade box from the desk, and sighed softly,

“I have already cleaned your Opal Glaze bowl; take a look for yourself.”

Huo Sining sensed something off in Zhou Shitao’s tone and couldn’t help feeling nervous: “Teacher, is there a problem with that bowl?”

“There is no problem with the bowl; you’ll know once you open it.”

Zhou Shitao didn’t know how to explain it, the day he asked Huo Sining to bring the Opal Glaze bowl to the Imperial Capital, he was driven by curiosity.

Having studied antiques for many years and witnessed many concealment techniques, he could usually understand what was what at a glance, but that Opal Glaze bowl had stumped him for a long time.

However, the more elusive it was, the more Zhou Shitao was sure that the bowl had an extraordinary origin. The person who aged it had used such a precise technique to disguise this bowl as an ordinary porcelain, proving that this bowl was no common item.

In order to understand the true origin of this bowl, Zhou Shitao had searched through many documents and utilized numerous modern instruments for testing, and it took him more than half a month to understand the concealment technique of this bowl.

When Huo Sining opened the brocade box, she saw a Thin Jade Porcelain Bowl lying peacefully on the satin.

The moment she picked up the bowl, Huo Sining saw, through her Heavenly Eye, the intense purple aura. After confirming that the porcelain bowl in front of her was the same Opal Glaze bowl she had bought from the old man, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes in disbelief.

“Teacher, this bowl…”

Zhou Shitao nodded, his tone a mix of anger and regret: “It is your bowl. This bowl is a Tang Dynasty Ru Kiln white porcelain. If I’m not mistaken, this bowl, along with the entire box of porcelain mentioned by that old landlord, are all white porcelain, very likely stolen from some ancient tomb.”

Huo Sining was astonished: “Are you saying that the landlord is actually a Tomb Robber?”

Zhou Shitao did not deny it, but his gaze rested on the Ru ware white porcelain bowl, his eyes reflecting a complex mixture of emotions:

“Over forty years ago, I once saw a special concealment technique from an aging expert. In his hands, counterfeit goods could be made indistinguishable from the real ones, and genuine items, once disguised, couldn’t even be discerned by experts in authentication.”

“It’s just a pity that he died that year, and his techniques were lost. I thought I would never see an object disguised with that technique in my lifetime, but unexpectedly, I encountered one with you.”

This wasn’t the first time Huo Sining had encountered a concealment technique, just like the camphor wood vanity box before, which looked unremarkable on the outside. Who would have thought there would be a mechanism hidden at the bottom of that box? Thinking of this, Huo Sining couldn’t help asking:

“Teacher, I remember you saying before that this bowl employs the Hidden Mist technique?”

Zhou Shitao shook his head, “No, this method is even more special compared to the Hidden Mist technique. Although I’ve seen this method before, I wasn’t able to grasp its essence and couldn’t reproduce the skill. I thought that after the death of that person, the craft would be lost, but now it seems there might still be people out there who have mastered this unique skill.”

At this point, Zhou Shitao wasn’t sure whether to be happy or worried.

For them, the antique research experts, someone mastering the skill meant the transmission of cultural heritage, providing more research avenues and methods for studying ancient artifacts;

However, for private collectors, the existence of forgeries meant it would be difficult to distinguish the authentic from the fake.

If these people used their skills to create counterfeits, it would be a disaster for the collecting world. Among the plethora of antiques, it’s hard to know how many people would be ruined by fakes.

Huo Sining wasn’t Zhou Shitao. She wasn’t an antique collector and couldn’t see things from Zhou Shitao’s perspective. Her concern wasn’t the direction of the antique market, but the rightful ownership of this Ru ware white porcelain.

Although she had her suspicions about the origins of this bowl, she never thought it could actually be from Ru Kiln.

Not knowing was one thing, but now that she was aware, it was another.

If this item had been dug up by tomb robbers from an ancient grave, then it would be a national cultural relic. If Zhou Shitao decided she should hand it over, Huo Sining had no grounds for refusal.

But the thought of donating such a beautifully exquisite bowl for nothing made Huo Sining feel as if her heart was bleeding.

Seeing Huo Sining’s hesitance, Zhou Shitao knew all too well what his young disciple was thinking.

Moved by a sudden impulse to tease her, he pretended to be serious and said, “Huo girl, I have already contacted the Forbidden City Museum. In three days, a staff member will come to take the bowl back.”

Upon hearing this, Huo Sining’s face instantly fell, and a look of reluctance flashed in her eyes as she gazed at the bowl.

Seeing his young disciple’s pitiful expression, Zhou Shitao chuckled inwardly, realizing that Huo Sining was after all but a young girl. Despite her usually composed demeanor, her maturity was still lacking.

With that thought, Zhou Shitao was about to tell Huo Sining the truth.

But unexpectedly, at that moment, Huo Sining had already regained her composure, her face wearing a faint smile, her eyes clear. She was not dejected over a bowl, but instead comforted him with a smile, saying,

“Let it go if we must. ‘Lost in the east corner, received in the mulberry field.’ After giving up this bowl, we might encounter even better things.”

Zhou Shitao was surprised by such a reaction from Huo Sining. He stared at her intently, confirming again and again that she wasn’t feigning indifference but truly had a detached perspective. This pleased Zhou Shitao greatly:

“Not swayed by material possessions–you being able to think this way makes your teacher very happy!”

People who deal with antiques usually have an obsessive desire to possess, particularly cherishing what they’ve stumbled upon by chance. Not even ordinary ancient objects are easily given up, let alone Ru Kiln white porcelain.

Zhou Shitao had not expected that his little joke would lead to such an unexpected discovery.

He always felt that his disciple was young and lacked maturity, but now it seemed he was the one who had been mistaken.

To be able to let go as easily as one takes–possessing such a quality in the antique circle meant that his disciple was no ordinary person.