Chapter 12: Got the Treasure

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

It was half an hour later that Chen Fan finally picked his pieces.

The electric eel’s mouth was quite large. If opened to its maximum, Chen Fan would be able to carry eight to ten pieces of porcelain in his mouth. He was cautious, however. If he took that many pieces back, not only would he have difficulty hiding them, but he would also be in major trouble if they caught the eyes of the wrong people.

After taking a long time to choose, Chen Fan finally decided to bring two items back. He thought he’d see how it went. He still didn’t know how much they would sell for.

One of the items was a porcelain disk about 30 centimeters wide in diameter. It was painted a vivid crimson, and its edge was carved with mystical clouds. It was exquisite.

Although the second item was much smaller, the artwork was just as intricate. It was a small bowl with four different butterflies covering the outside. Delicate and white as snow, it was only a few centimeters wide in diameter.

The most astonishing part of the bowl was its wall. It was unexpectedly thin, like the traditional Chinese art paper used for painting or calligraphy. Chen Fan was sure that it was only a millimeter thick.

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These were divine works, no exaggeration.

He held the small butterfly bowl and the crimson disk in his mouth and kept turning back to look at the treasures. He was reluctant to leave the other antiques behind.

Chen Fan stopped worrying because he only needed a couple hours to swim back and forth from the wreck to the beach. The eel was much faster than it used to be.

He did not have time to fool around, though. As soon as the electric eel swam out of the sunken ship, it floated up about 10 meters from the surface of the water and swam as fast as possible towards Zhongyun.

When Chen Fan arrived at the beach it was after nine in the evening, and he hadn’t had time to eat on his way back.

He did not dare to let the electric eel return to its original hiding place, so he found a soft and secluded place nearby to hide instead. He was afraid of accidentally smashing the porcelains in his mouth on the rocky cave.

After settling the electric eel down, Chen Fan quickly got out of bed. He grabbed his backpack, cleaned it of a thick layer of dust, slung it over his shoulder, and rode his old bike to the beach.

“I am going to be rich!” Chen Fan shouted as soon as he reached the beach. He hopped off his bike, dumped it to the side, and lunged for the water.

Not minding that he was knee deep in the ocean, Chen Fan closed his eyes and fixed his mind on the electric eel. In spite of its hunger and exhaustion, he managed to make swim carefully to his feet without breaking the porcelain in its mouth.

He had been shocked by the pieces’ beauty when he was under water, but holding them now, Chen Fan realized that he had greatly underestimated the ancient workmanship. The porcelains had “Made in the years of Chenghua, Ming Dynasty” stamped on the bottom, and they felt as smooth as silk when held. They were so perfectly made.

After wrapping them carefully with old newspapers, he stashed them in his backpack and settled the electric eel in its original hiding place.

Although he was in a hurry, Chen Fan was extremely careful on his way home to maneuver around potholes and bumps. There was no way he was going to break these antiques.

Chen Fan couldn’t sleep at all that night, just like the night after he had first encountered the electric eel avatar.

———-

Bajing street, north of the main road in Zhongyun City, was a centuries-old street famous for selling antiques. The street was about five hundred meters long, and there were shops on both sides. One side of the street specialized in antique jade and porcelain, the other in calligraphy and paints on stones and gold.

It was nine o’clock in the morning.

The owner of the Ya Yun Xuan antique shop was passing the time playing with his Chinese Hwamei bird that hung in a cage by the door. Glancing up accidentally, he noticed a young man about 20 looking around. Anyone that was in the business for long knew potential sellers on sight.

“What do you want to sell, young man?” Since the young man was dressed in plain clothes and carrying a stuffed backpack, he knew that this young man was going to sell to and not buy from his shop.

“Uh, I want to sell two pieces of porcelain!”

As soon as he had gotten up that morning, Chen Fan had been desperate to turn his treasures into cash. After feeding both himself and the eel, he had gone to the local antique street with his two antiques.

After looking around for a while, Chen Fan had set his eyes on this antique shop that was full of porcelain.

“Oh, porcelain? Take it out and let me have a look!” The young man was an amateur; it was like he had “I don’t know what I’m doing” written on his face. The owner could smell a great deal on the horizon. He stood up and invited Chen Fan into his shop eagerly.

“Okay!” Chen Fan took the knapsack off his shoulder, put it on a glass cabinet, and carefully removed the layers of newspaper protecting the two pieces of porcelain.

After Chen Fan placed the two treasures on the glass cabinet, the store owner smiled and held up the crimson disk.

He examined it for a moment, then said to Chen Fan: “Oh, you just pulled it from the sea right? I can still smell the fish!”

“Yeah. Got it just a few days ago from Pingtou bay. What do you think? It’s from the Ming Dynasty. If you offer a reasonable price, I promise I will not hesitate to sell it.”

Looking at the shopkeeper’s joyful face, Chen Fan had seen no reason to hide the origin of the items, but he didn’t give away where he found them. Because the bay was close to the ancient border, fishermen nearby might have seen something like these before.

“I… Let me examine it for a little while more!”

The shopkeeper would not have expect that a normal boy like him could have possessed such exquisite and ancient porcelain. With his years of experience, he knew these to be authentic Ming treasures. His only concern now was price. He needed a “reasonable” price that wouldn’t drain him dry.

The shopkeeper put down the crimson disk and carefully picked up the butterfly porcelain bowl. It was smaller than his palm. Although the shopkeeper tried to mentally prepare himself, he was overwhelmed with the paper-thin edges of the bowl.

This… it’s… it’s eggshell porcelain! Suppressing the rapture in his heart, the shopkeeper quickly took out a flashlight from under the counter. He held the bowl over it gently as he flicked the light on.

Chen Fan and the shopkeeper gasped.

The tiny antique bowl was illuminated by the flashlight, glowing as bright as the moon. The four butterflies came to life. The light made everything look misty and surreal.

“Oh my god, that’s freaking awesome!” Chen Fan blurted out, filled with excitement.

“The real shit’s not over!” Feeling excited too, the shopkeeper replied to Chen Fan in the same manner.

The name “eggshell porcelain” implied great art. Ancient people used to say it was “as thin as a cicada’s wings” or “as light as floating clouds.” Since it was so thin, this kind of porcelain was extremely fragile and would crack if it was not handled properly. With modern technology, it was not difficult to mass produce of this type of porcelain. Antique eggshell porcelain, however, was very rare. Although the shopkeeper had seen it a few times, they were incomparable to this, always rough and not well decorated.

“Follow me, and I’ll show you ‘the product of the wisdom of five thousand years of Chinese Civilization.’” The shopkeeper said nothing more and walked into the back room, still holding the small antique bowl.