* * *
The spotlight of the entire venue suddenly fell on Yang Chen, making him the center of attention.
As an excellent auctioneer, Zhou Hui paid no mind to why Yang Chen had bid on this seemingly ordinary set of black pottery teaware. She quickly called out, "Ten thousand for the first bid. Is there anyone else willing to offer?"
The wealthy guests below burst into laughter, their amusement clearly implying they thought anyone spending ten thousand on a pile of black dirt was a fool.
Ceramics, while a single term, actually refers to two distinct types of items. Those with glaze are porcelain; those without are pottery.
The most obvious difference is that the clay pots used at home to stew medicinal herbs are pottery. Bowls and plates with a glossy glaze on their surface are considered porcelain.
Humans likely knew how to fire clay into pottery like pots even before they developed writing. After all, making pottery is incredibly simple; just bake yellow mud in a fire, and it hardens.
But porcelain is not so simple; it requires complex craftsmanship. To this day, Europeans in the Middle Ages couldn't produce any decent porcelain and, risking great danger, traveled across mountains and deserts to China to import it.
If the auction table had presented a set of porcelain teaware from the Kangxi period, even if it was from a folk kiln, no one would have thought ten thousand was expensive.
As for pottery…
They would have considered a thousand yuan too much!
Zhou Hui, afraid Yang Chen might regret his decision, continued without taking a breath after her last call, "Ten thousand for the second bid. Is there anyone else willing to offer?"
"Ten thousand for the third bid…"
*Bang!*
With a swift strike of the gavel, Zhou Hui announced loudly, "Sold for ten thousand on the third bid. This set of Kangxi period pottery teaware belongs to buyer number 3!"
"This time, I'll get my revenge and settle old scores!"
Seeing the gavel fall, Zhang Hongjie immediately advised Chu Xiang, "Xiang Xiang, I told you this kid couldn't be trusted. Look… look, he actually went ahead and spent ten thousand on this piece of junk by himself!"
"Xiang Xiang, it's best if you don't pay for the teaware yourself. Ten thousand yuan isn't a lot, but it's too embarrassing!"
"He should pay for the price he bid!"
Although Chu Xiang didn't know the true value of this set of black pottery teaware, based on the principle of trusting one's subordinates, she coldly said, "Zhang Hongjie, you don't need to teach me how to do things!"
"Xiang Xiang, I'm just offering my good intentions, wanting to prevent you from being cheated…"
"Enough!"
Chu Xiang interrupted him, "You should worry about yourself. Liu Manjiang, whom you just trusted, has cost you eight million!"
Her words choked Zhang Hongjie into silence.
The crowd, however, suddenly recalled Yang Chen's earlier discovery of the anomaly in the dragon-and-pearl red-glazed double-eared porcelain. They all thought, "Judging by his performance just now, his appraisal skills are clearly not bad. It's unlikely he wouldn't know that pottery isn't worth much. Could it be… there's something more to this set of teaware?"
He Hongjian and Wei Tianheng even went straight up onto the stage, one picking up the tea tray and the other the Zisha teapot to examine them carefully.
He Jianhong suddenly shouted, "Bring me a strong flashlight!"
Everyone was taken aback.
Could this Zisha teapot truly be something special?
Just then, Wei Tianheng also shouted, "Bring me a strong flashlight and a UV light together, quickly!"
The crowd was even more astonished.
This tea tray was also extraordinary?
All attention was focused on He and Wei, eagerly awaiting their appraisal results.
For a moment, everyone held their breath, not daring to utter a word, fearing they might disturb the appraisal of these two eminent experts.
Chu Xiang was also very excited. She unconsciously clasped Yang Chen's hand, awaiting He and Wei's results, completely forgetting that she could have directly asked the person beside her for the answer.
This scene of them holding hands was witnessed by Zhang Hongjie, who felt as if his vinegar jar had been overturned. He gnashed his teeth in anger.
He Jianhong and Wei Tianheng appraised the items meticulously and slowly. It took over ten minutes before they carefully placed the items back in their original positions.
Wei Tianheng spoke first, "Old He, what do you think?"
He Jianhong nodded, surveyed the entire venue, and then smiled, saying, "I'm sure you're all very eager to know the value of this set of teaware, aren't you?"
A commotion arose from the crowd. If not for the esteemed status of He and Wei, they would have cursed them directly!
Wasn't that stating the obvious? They had waited for over ten minutes while these two old men appraised treasures on stage, so of course they wanted to know the result.
After speaking, He Jianhong fell silent again. He paused for a full minute, building the suspense, before finally speaking again, "What I want to tell you is… this is a priceless treasure!"