NOVEL SIMPLE
Chapter 45
Yu Shu didn't understand antique appraisal. At first glance of the vase, she only felt it was beautiful, but couldn't say where exactly it was beautiful. She could only say it was beautiful everywhere, and couldn't come up with any other words besides "Wow".
"This is called Yongxuan Dragon Pattern Blue and White Flat Vase, and it's a pair. Looking at the shape, it still retains some traces of the Yuan Dynasty. Porcelains in the Yuan Dynasty were generally thick and heavy in texture, possibly related to the ruling nomadic people whose style was bold and unconstrained. Later porcelains pursued increasingly thinner bodies," Shen Youlin slowly explained to her. "The blue and white of Yongxuan is rich in color. They used cobalt pigment with high iron content from Sumali at the time. Some lines would have these deep blue speckles. Can you see them more clearly when looking against the light?"
"Oh! So knowledgeable!"
"These blue speckles are called tin spots. Aren't they beautiful!"
"How can these be a pair? The shapes are the same but the patterns are completely different!"
"Look at the negative space on this one, doesn't it form a dragon? Isn't it exactly the same as the dragon pattern on this one? The negative space technique is even more difficult. The blue and white is fired at 1300 degrees Celsius, and it can bleed and smudge easily. The artistic skill of the negative space on this one is even higher."
My goodness. Yu Shu's eyes were opened.
Yu Shu carefully stroked the vase: "I'm more superficial. I want to know how much they are worth?"
Shen Youlin looked smug: "Priceless. Can't estimate a value. Even placing them in a museum as national treasures would suffice." I bought them from a collector in Suzhou and Hangzhou area. It took me a month of haggling before he sold them to me, for this price."
Yu Shu clicked her tongue. She retracted her hands. Too expensive, can't afford to break them.
"Go ahead and touch them. What are you afraid of? Even if you break them, I won't ask you to pay for them."
"Just looking from afar is good, just looking from afar is good."
Antiques at this level, breaking them would make her a sinner of the world.
Just as the two were appreciating the vases, Shen Youlin took a phone call: "Yeah, I'm here. Bring him over."
Yu Shu heard it and thought he had guests. She got up and said, "Then I'll go back first."
"Sit down. He's coming for both of us."
Soon, two men in suits brought in a middle-aged man. As soon as the middle-aged man entered, he knelt down in front of them and kept kowtowing: "It's my fault, I didn't recognize Mount Tai. Please spare me, Your Honors."
The two men in white-collar dress called out "Young Master Shen", then stood silently to the side. Shen Youlin didn't even glance at them.
Yu Shu recognized the man as the taxi driver who had tried to scam them a few days ago. She had already forgotten about it. She didn't take Shen Youlin's words back then to heart. She didn't expect him to really follow through.
Shen Youlin leisurely looked at him: "Go on. If you make me feel better, I'll let you off."
"I dare not continue. I really dare not scam people again. Please, for the sake of my elderly parents and young children, making a living is so difficult. I had a momentary lapse of judgement. Please..."
Shen Youlin raised his voice: "Oh, so you're trying to morally blackmail me?"
"No no no...I didn't mean that. I..."
"You scam people, so just say you have a black heart. I'd actually look up to you for being honest. What's with this elderly parents and young children nonsense? The way you're talking, it seems as long as you have elderly parents and young children, you can go around murdering, plundering, and doing evil!"
Shen Youlin kicked him in the shoulder, knocking the taxi driver to the ground.
The driver quickly climbed up and slapped himself in the face repeatedly: "I do have a black heart. May scabs grow on my head and pus flow from my feet. I'm rotten to the core..."
Soon, the taxi driver's face was badly swollen, yet Shen Youlin remained indifferent.
"I'm leaving." Yu Shu couldn't bear to watch any longer and got up to leave.
"Stay there!" Shen Youlin snapped in anger. "You sympathize with him? Showing random kindness?"
Yu Shu turned and looked at him, her tone detached: "Does Young Master Shen have any other orders?"
Shen Youlin was even more furious: "What's with your attitude?! Who do you think you're talking to!"
"What attitude should I have?" Yu Shu ignored him further and swiftly left his room.
Yu Shu didn't want to get involved in this matter. She knew clearly that many things in this world were not simply black and white. Shen Youlin's principles and this society were completely at odds. He was Young Master Shen, and could do whatever he pleased. All he cared about was satisfying himself.
They couldn't communicate. She could only choose to turn a blind eye.
Shen Youlin cursed and kicked the tea table in front of him. The two men were shocked and quickly grabbed the vases on the tea table, managing to protect the rare treasures.
Seeing this, Shen Youlin became even more furious.
The two men quickly tried to placate him: "Young Master, she's just a woman. Why bother getting angry at her? She's not worth it."
The two understood his temper. They didn't dare mention the vases at all, only saying that Yu Shu didn't know better and would definitely regret it after sleeping over it tomorrow.
Shen Youlin: "Really?"
"Really. Women like this, you can't indulge them. The more you indulge, the more unruly they become. You have to give her the cold shoulder."
Shen Youlin was still angry. He glanced at the taxi driver kneeling there, trembling and not daring to speak. Shen Youlin kicked him: "Get lost!"
The two young men wiped the sweat from their brows: "We'll take the vases out first then?"
Shen Youlin neither agreed nor disagreed. The two quickly took the vases and the taxi driver and left.
"Young Master was quite reasonable this time?"
Last year in Kyoto, Young Master Shen was scammed by an antique shop. Not only did he trash the shop, he chopped off two of the boss's pinky fingers.
At the time, Shen Youlin's words were: "For people, if some parts are missing from the body, the memory goes bad."
Shen Youlin tapped his index finger on the armrest, pondering how to deal with Yu Shu.
"Hmph, give you some face and you think you can act so arrogantly."