Tianhuang Ornament

The lake was so clear that one could see straight to the bottom, with small fish leisurely swimming through the water. Several golden-thread weeping willows grew along the shore, and in this season, their dense shade blocked the sun. The view was lush and green, an intoxicating sight that seemed to dispel much of the summer heat in an instant.

At the point where the east and west sides of the gourd-shaped lake met, an antique-looking bridge spanned the water. The entire scene resembled the picturesque sight of a small bridge over flowing water beside a humble home. Seeing such beautiful scenery, Chu Chen could not help feeling conflicted. When he bought a house in the future, should he buy a siheyuan, or a residence filled with rustic, natural beauty like this?

On the eastern side of the lake, nestled among the shady weeping willows, stood an exquisite octagonal pavilion.

At that moment, an elderly man with a head of white hair and a beautiful young woman sat inside the pavilion, drinking tea and chatting. A wooden table stood in the center of the pavilion, with a brocade box resting on it. Inside should be the Tianhuang Shou Xing ornament Liu Qinshu had mentioned earlier.

When the old man saw Uncle Wu and the others approaching, he greeted them. "Ziping, you're here. Is this your nephew? He looks like a fine young man."

"Good day, Old Liu."

Uncle Wu and Chu Chen first stepped forward to greet Old Liu, after which Uncle Wu answered, "Yes, this is my nephew, Chu Chen. I was the one who brought him into our line of work, and he's already achieved a little success in porcelain."

Old Liu was pleased and sighed with emotion. "It's good that he's accomplished something. Our trade needs fresh blood joining us. The waves behind the Yangtze River drive on those before them. Our generation is already getting old!"

Hearing this, Li Beibei immediately flattered him. "Grandfather Liu, you're still a sharp blade. You're one of the waves behind the Yangtze yourself."

Everyone laughed softly at her words.

After greeting Uncle Wu, Li Beibei said slyly, "Uncle Wu, so this is your nephew. He certainly looks the part. I wonder whether he's really as capable as you say?"

Chu Chen could only smile wryly at that. He figured he had suffered collateral damage because of Wu Ke. If you have what it takes, go challenge Wu Ke. Why take it out on someone else?

Li Beibei's looks were every bit as striking as Wu Ke's. She was around 1.7 meters tall, with exquisitely delicate features and a valiant, dashing air. Wu Ke had a different style altogether; she was more like a sheltered young lady from a small family.

The key point was that Li Beibei was exceptionally well endowed. She truly lived up to the nickname "milk cow." If she walked down the street, her beauty and figure would surely make every man turn his head.

For a beauty like her, Chu Chen would certainly have taken a few extra looks if he encountered her on the road. That was merely an appreciation of beauty, though. As for whom he actually liked, he preferred Wu Ke's type a little more. Of course, Wu Ke's personality could still be a bit much for him.

Ordinarily, it was nice to get acquainted with a beauty like this, and her prejudice would not have mattered much. But today was extremely important to Chu Chen, as it concerned his future development in the antiques trade. This was his first meeting with Old Liu, and he did not want Li Beibei's prejudice to cause any mishap or leave Old Liu with a bad impression of him.

"You child."

Old Liu had heard a little about the grudge between Li Beibei and Wu Ke, and he knew why she had spoken that way. Still, her words made some sense. Whether someone was capable could not be demonstrated merely by talking. He therefore turned to Chu Chen and said:

"Yes, Beibei has a point. All right, Little Chu, Beibei brought a Tianhuang ornament this time. Why don't you tell us about it?"

"Old Qian, this..."

When Uncle Wu heard that Old Qian actually wanted Chu Chen to appraise Tianhuang, he grew anxious. Although he usually had Chu Chen learn about antiques other than porcelain as well, every field had its specialty. He had no confidence whatsoever in Chu Chen's ability to appraise Tianhuang.

Seeing Uncle Wu's anxious expression, Old Liu smiled. "Ziping, if Little Chu really is as you told me that day, then he should certainly be able to see what this ornament is like. Do you think I would deliberately put him in a difficult position?"

Old Liu's words made Uncle Wu feel embarrassed. Chu Chen gave him a reassuring look, then set aside the things in his hands and turned his attention to the Tianhuang Shou Xing ornament in the brocade box.

Most people were probably familiar with Tianhuang. It was a unique "soft gemstone" of China, produced only in a field of less than one square kilometer in Shoushan, in China's southeastern province. Because it was generally yellowish in color and was mainly found in fields, it was called Tianhuang Stone.

Tianhuang Stone had a warm, smooth, and richly creamy texture. Among soft carving stones, it could be called the finest. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Tianhuang was presented to the imperial palace as tribute and carved into imperial seals and artistic ornaments. Thus, Tianhuang Stone was honored as the "king of stones" and the "Stone Emperor," making its value incomparable.

Therefore, since ancient times, people had said, "An ounce of Tianhuang is worth ten ounces of gold." However, after so many years of mining, Tianhuang had become increasingly scarce. Its price had risen year after year in recent times, to the point that some people changed the saying to, "An ounce of Tianhuang is worth ten thousand ounces of gold." This showed just how precious it was.

Yet because Tianhuang was so valuable, counterfeit goods had filled the market since ancient times. With modern technology, counterfeiting Tianhuang had become even more common. People used chemical methods to dye fake skins, passed off stones of similar colors and textures as the real thing, and employed all kinds of other techniques. It was truly difficult to guard against them, so anyone buying Tianhuang had to keep a sharp eye out.

Before Chu Chen picked up the ornament, Baojue reminded him that it was valuable. Once he held the Tianhuang in his hand, he found it extremely warm and delicate, indistinguishable from genuine Tianhuang. However, that still could not prove that the ornament itself was genuine. Chu Chen knew of several imitations that had the same characteristics and were valuable in their own right.

Afterward, Chu Chen took out a flashlight and magnifying glass and carefully examined the ornament piece by piece. When he was done, he put it back in the box.

Seeing this, Old Liu asked him, "Little Chu, what do you think?"

"Then I'll share my thoughts with everyone. However, my knowledge is limited. If I say anything wrong or fail to explain something properly, I hope you'll all forgive me."

Chu Chen began with a modest disclaimer, then continued, "This Tianhuang Shou Xing ornament is finely carved. The beard is detailed yet orderly, and it has considerable spirit. At first glance, the patina and carving style appear to be from the mid-Qing Dynasty."

"Looks like you really are as capable as Uncle Wu said," Li Beibei said. A pleased look appeared on her face.

Seeing this, Liu Qinshu smiled. "Beibei, you're already twenty-four. How can you still be so impatient? Let Little Chu finish speaking first."

Li Beibei stuck out her tongue sheepishly. The expression was both playful and adorable.

Chu Chen could not help staring blankly for a moment at her appearance. He quickly refocused and said apologetically, "Miss Li, I'm sorry. I only said that it looked like a mid-Qing Dynasty piece at first glance. In reality, this ornament was artificially aged in modern times."

"How is that possible?" Li Beibei immediately grew anxious.

Seeing her reaction, Old Liu comforted her. "All right, Beibei, don't worry. No matter how anxious you get, a fake can't become real. Listen to Little Chu explain what's going on first."

Because Tianhuang was so precious, buying the wrong piece could result in a tremendous loss. This ornament in particular probably weighed around a hundred grams. Even if the Tianhuang itself was not especially fine, it should still have cost several hundred thousand yuan.

Seeing this, Chu Chen could only give her an apologetic look. He then picked up the ornament again and explained, "Actually, this ornament is both genuine and not genuine. It's genuine because the Tianhuang used to make it is all real. It's not genuine because it was pieced together from several small pieces of Tianhuang."

At this point, Li Beibei wanted to interrupt again, but Liu Qinshu stopped her in time. Chu Chen gave a faint smile, then shone his high-powered flashlight at one spot on the ornament and said:

"If this were a genuine piece of Tianhuang Stone, its red grid patterns would certainly continue without interruption, and their characteristics should be consistent. Everyone, take a look. The red grid patterns here are well developed and continuous, but over here, their characteristics differ somewhat from those in the spot we just saw."

"Now let's look at the radish patterns. In genuine Tianhuang, the radish patterns are relatively uniform in thickness, evenly distributed, pleasingly arranged, and continuous. Here, however, their thickness is clearly inconsistent, and there are visible breaks. From these two points alone, we can tell that this ornament is Tianhuang pieced together from multiple sections."

"Of course, there's also a crude method that can identify it. If we had a needle, we would only need to heat it until it glowed red, then poke it into the spots I indicated. Smoke should appear. That would be caused by the adhesive melting."

"However, these two points also show that the person who artificially aged this ornament was an expert. First, the materials he chose had fairly similar radish and red grid patterns. Unless someone examined it extremely carefully, they could easily overlook this."

"Furthermore, this person's carving was exceptionally skillful. He cleverly concealed all the joins between the pieces, making them look completely natural. After finishing the carving, he should also have ground Tianhuang Stone into powder, mixed it, and used it to cover the joins again, making the fake look even more convincing."

"Although this ornament was carved from pieced-together Tianhuang, both the Tianhuang used and the carving are still fairly good, so it does retain some value. I don't know how much you paid for it, Miss Li, but if the price was low, it would still have been a suitable purchase."

Judging by Li Beibei's troubled expression, though, she had probably paid a considerable sum for it.