Chapter 376: Chapter 375: Watching the Pot Chapter 376: Chapter 375: Watching the Pot “How else would I describe it as ‘birds of a feather,’?” The re ntion of this second brother made want to laugh, “Chairman Zheng loves stories, and though I may be an uncouth man, I love to sing people’s praises! As long as the item is genuine, I can lift it to the skies! Think about it: one loves to hear stories, and the other loves to kiss up—who wouldn’t hit it off? So every ti old Zheng buys antiques, he always drags along. Otherwise, who would appreciate his elegance in solitude? You’ve got to have soone to play the straight man, right?”
With that explanation, Wang Hao totally got it!
In other words, they were just two fools: one rich and overbearing, and the other not far behind, just fanciful, wealthy, and wilful—basically, they just buy whatever they fancy!
“I see!” Wang Hao grinned, “So you’re saying I should tell him a story when the ti cos?”
“My point is we’ll just go for the fun of it,” the second brother chuckled, “You’ll see how I play flatterer then! If you can learn even thirty percent of the tricks, I assure you, you’ll be capable of talking the dead back to life!”
Wang Hao: “…”
Second brother, do you really have that skill?
While they were talking, they arrived at their destination, a shop specializing in Purple Sand Pots, with the gilded sign “Yixing Zisha Workshop” written on it.
They got out of the car and hadn’t waited long when the second brother suddenly looked ahead, and with a smile said, “Oh, there’s Principal Zheng!” He hurriedly waved his hand and called, “Principal Zheng! This way, this way!”
This was Principal Zheng arriving?
Wang Hao hurriedly looked over and saw Principal Zheng dressed in a Tang suit, wearing glasses, and holding a pair of walnuts, sniffing from a snuff bottle—all the style of an antique enthusiast. Accompanying him was a middle-aged man with an air of an immortal, the epito of cultured grace, clearly no ordinary character!
“Ah, Ren, how long has it been?” Upon arrival, Principal Zheng first shook hands with the second brother, then laughed and said, “Oh my, I haven’t seen you in a while, and you’ve changed quite a bit, hahaha!”
“Of course,” the second brother then greeted the immortal man who seed to have the air of a reincarnated Zhuge Liang, “Master Liu! Haha, it’s been a long ti. You seem even more detached from the mundane world, almost like you’re about to ascend to immortality!”
“Too kind, too kind!” Master Liu, upon hearing this, bead with pride. He really loved this kind of flattery. Normally, he was almost like a half-practitioner, not your average joe!
After the greetings, Principal Zheng looked at Wang Hao with a puzzled expression and asked, “And this is…”
“A close buddy of my nephew, Wang Hao Wang Ritian, Brother Ritian!” the second brother proudly stuck his thumb up as he introduced to Principal Zheng, “You know about ‘Dostic Agent,’ the big hit recently, right? It’s his masterpiece! My nephew invested five million or so, and his dad and I thought for sure it was money down the drain, but guess what? We made more than thirty million! Cool, right?”
Principal Zheng was astonished: “You wrote the script for ‘Dostic Agent’?!”
“I collaborated with Teacher Li Fei,” Wang Hao scratched his head a bit embarrassedly, “I just made so suggestions.”
“That’s still quite impressive, I’ve watched the drama, it’s really good!” Principal Zheng looked at Wang Hao more and more pleased and laughed, “Truly a young hero, can’t deny old age its due, haha!”
“Don’t rush !” the second brother clearly wasn’t done talking, “I’ve also invested in a drama, you know. The young Ritian went, ripped up scripts, and put that lousy screenwriter to sha on the spot, left them speechless! He just overhauled the script, and I tell you, the plot now, well, just wait until it’s broadcast, no one can top it! I’m even playing an important role in it!”
“Really?!” Principal Zheng was flabbergasted again, “I heard that screenwriter was ng Zenan, a well-known writer in the industry!”
“What’s the use of that?” the second brother said disdainfully, “Not even fit to carry little Ritian’s shoes! The original title was ‘Swordsman of the Martial World,’ clearly a flop, so tacky! Little Ritian changed it to ‘Swordsman Legends’—high-end and classy. Now that’s talent!”
Wang Hao: “…”
Second brother, please stop talking, otherwise, I’m going to end up in heaven!
“Not bad, not bad at all! The young man’s got so skills,” Principal Zheng now had an even higher opinion of Wang Hao and, with a smile, went on, “Alright, let’s not talk here anymore, we’ll have plenty of ti to chat after we’ve seen the teapot. Shall we go in now?”
Second Uncle imdiately nodded, “Sure! Let’s go and take a look at this treasure of the shop!”
As the group entered the store, they were greeted by two two-ter-tall vases on either side of the entrance, which oozed luxury and class!
The spacious and trendy interior of the Zisha teapot shop was also quite impressive. The long, narrow space was very well planned, with display shelves wrapping around both sides. The tall, vertical design, together with the multi-layered shelving acting as dividers, effectively segnted the space and displayed many Zisha pots, all clearly organized for custors to choose from. The wide range of exquisite designs were all perfectly presented.
At the mont, a young man around thirty-five or thirty-six years old was gently wiping a Zisha pot in his hands. As soon as he saw the group walk in, he looked startled and then hurriedly smiled, “Oh, if it isn’t Principal Zheng, please, co in!”
“Mm, I’ll take a look,” Principal Zheng smiled and strutted directly into the back room. The young man put down the Zisha pot he was holding and said as he walked, “My master has told about Principal Zheng’s matter. He’s out today but should be back shortly. Please, take a seat inside first. I’ll go prepare so tea.”
“Go ahead,” Principal Zheng waved his hand, and the apprentice hurried off to boil water for tea.
Inside the back room, Wang Hao looked around. This room was relatively simpler. In the southeast corner was a small pool with a dozen red carp swimming in it. Hanging against the surrounding walls was a bookshelf, sparsely filled with a dozen books related to Zisha pots. Near the window grew several pots of bamboo, lush and beautiful. In the center of the room was a set of circular sofas with a coffee table in the middle, on which sat an ancient-looking set of Zisha teapots and cups—eight cups to one pot, which was quite impressive.
Leaving everything else aside, the decor alone certainly had a very high standard of sophistication, and Second Uncle was right!
“Ah, Principal Zheng really is in a league of his own,” Second Uncle comnted as he looked around, “I’ve heard that usually, unless soone is purchasing Zisha pot sets worth tens of thousands, they don’t qualify to co in here! Impressive, truly outstanding indeed!”
Wang Hao: “…”
You really never miss a chance to throw in a complint…
“This set of Zisha pots…” As soon as Principal Zheng sat down, his eyes were fixed on the Zisha set on the coffee table. He picked it up carefully, playing with it ticulously for a while, examining it from all angles before nodding, “What a fine set of Yixing Zisha pots!”
Wang Hao: “…”
I thought you were about to point out sothing noteworthy, but that’s all you had to say…
“Principal Zheng, let have a look,” said Master Liu, the picture of an immortal sage, smiling as he took the teapot to examine it more closely. He even stretched his finger inside the pot to feel around, a look of mysterious profundity on his face.
Principal Zheng asked anxiously, “Master Liu, what about the pot?”
Unexpectedly, instead of replying to him, Master Liu first brought the pot over to Wang Hao, asking with a smile, “What do you think of this pot, young man?”
“This pot…” Wang Hao looked it over from all sides and then shook his head, “It’s just average.”
On hearing this, Master Liu burst out laughing, “Truly, youth is to be treasured! If you’re interested, old man here could give you so pointers.”
Wang Hao: “…”
This master sure has a good opinion of himself…
“Hey, could it be that this pot is fake?” Upon hearing Master Liu’s words, Principal Zheng eagerly asked, “Is it fake in its age, or is the whole thing fake?”
“It’s all fake,” Master Liu said gradually narrowing his eyes, shaking his head as he spoke, “Principal Zheng, take a look at this first: the bottom of the pot is not perfectly round. Although it may seem stable on the table, there’s a slight bulge at the center of the bottom, so it’s not completely flat. Now look inside the pot—though there are tea stains that seem to suggest a lengthy period of steeping and aging, and the bottom even has the three characters ‘Liang Xiaoyu’ etched into it, unfortunately, these three characters are enough proof that this Zisha pot set is fake!”
“Master Liu truly is learned!” exclaid Second Uncle when he heard that the Zisha pot set was a fake, his eyes lighting up like bulbs, “May I ask, Master Liu, why do those three characters on the bottom an that the pot is fake?”
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