Chapter 253: THE ANTIQUE STORE

The antique district sat tucked away behind a row of modern storefronts, the kind of place easy to miss unless someone already knew exactly where to look.

Wang Chengli parked outside a narrow shop with faded gold lettering above the door, the paint chipped enough to suggest decades of business rather than years.

"This is the place." Wang Chengli killed the engine. "The owner’s been dealing in Song dynasty pieces longer than I’ve been alive, or close to it."

Guiying stepped out, studying the storefront with mild skepticism. "It doesn’t look like much."

"The best ones rarely do." Wang Chengli led the way inside, a small bell chiming overhead as the door swung open.

Dust motes hung visible in the shafts of afternoon light filtering through the windows, illuminating shelf after shelf of ceramics, some displayed under glass, others simply sitting exposed, trusted to the care of whoever walked past them.

An elderly man looked up from behind the counter, recognition flickering across his face the moment he spotted Wang Chengli.

"Old friend." His voice carried a rasp, warm despite its roughness. "It’s been a while."

"Master Chen." Wang Chengli inclined his head respectfully. "We’re looking for something for Madam Fu. Song dynasty, if you have anything authentic."

Master Chen’s eyes shifted toward Guiying, sharp despite his age, studying him with the same careful attention he likely gave every piece in his shop.

"You must be the young master’s husband." He said it plainly, without fanfare. "Word travels."

"Guiying." He offered a small bow, uncertain of the proper etiquette in a place like this. "It’s nice to meet you."

"Come." Master Chen waved them toward the back of the shop. "I have something that might suit her taste. Difficult woman, from what I remember of our last conversation, but difficult women often appreciate difficult pieces."

Guiying followed him past shelves crowded with vases and bowls, some cracked with age, others polished to a shine that made their true age difficult to guess.

Master Chen stopped before a locked cabinet, retrieving a small brass key from his pocket. Inside sat a single celadon vase, pale green, its glaze catching the light in a way that made it look almost liquid.

"Northern Song." Master Chen lifted it carefully, presenting it for inspection. "Genuine. I can provide documentation if she requires it, though a woman with her reputation likely won’t need convincing beyond a glance."

Guiying studied the piece, turning it slightly in the light. Simple, understated, nothing about it screamed for attention, though something in its quiet elegance felt exactly right for someone as particular as Fu Wanqing sounded.

"How much for this one?" He kept his tone casual, though genuinely curious now.

"Four hundred and twenty thousand yuan." Master Chen said it without ceremony, the way a man says a number he’s said a hundred times before. "Fair, given the provenance."

Wang Chengli’s eyebrows lifted slightly at the figure, though he said nothing.

Guiying considered it a moment longer, admiring the vase’s quiet elegance, the way the glaze seemed to shift color depending on the angle he held it. It would work. It would probably impress her, even.

That was exactly the problem.

"It’s beautiful." He handed it back carefully, something firming in his expression. "But I think I’d like to keep looking. If I’m giving her something, I want it to be something I actually chose myself, not just the first good piece you showed me."

Master Chen studied him for a moment, something like approval flickering behind his eyes. "Fair enough. Most people take the first thing I put in their hands and call it done."

"I’m not most people." Guiying offered a small, wry smile. "I’d rather take my time and get it right."

"Then take your time." Master Chen gestured toward the rest of the shop, setting the vase carefully back into its cabinet. "I’ll be here. Call if you need anything explained."

Guiying wandered deeper into the shop alone, running his fingers lightly along the edges of various shelves, studying each piece with more attention than he’d given the first one. Something about picking it out himself mattered, though he couldn’t quite articulate why, beyond a vague sense that Fu Wanqing deserved more effort than the path of least resistance.

"You’re taking this seriously." Wang Chengli’s voice came from just behind him, faint amusement threaded through it.

"She’s testing me tonight, isn’t she?" Guiying glanced back at him. "Might as well show up prepared."

"Smart." Wang Chengli fell into step beside him, hands folded behind his back. "Though I should warn you, nothing you choose will fully satisfy her. That’s simply who she is."

"I don’t need to satisfy her completely." Guiying’s fingers paused over a small bowl, turning it over to check the base. "I just need her to see that I tried."

Wang Chengli said nothing further, letting him browse in peace.

Twenty minutes later, Guiying found himself drawn to a smaller shelf near the back, half-hidden behind a stack of unrelated boxes, holding a modest collection of jade hairpins alongside a scattering of smaller ceramic pieces that hadn’t made it into the main display.

Something about the smaller, quieter pieces felt more honest than the vase’s obvious grandeur, and he found himself lingering there far longer than he’d expected to.

Tucked behind a chipped porcelain bowl, half-forgotten in the shadow of the taller boxes, sat a small covered jar, its glaze a deep, mottled blue-black, unlike anything else displayed in the shop. Faint gold veining ran through the surface in irregular patterns, almost accidental-looking, as though the color had simply decided to pool there on its own.

Guiying lifted it carefully, turning it over in his hands. No maker’s mark that he could see, nothing obviously identifying it, though something about the weight of it, the strange, deliberate imperfection in the glaze, made it feel older and stranger than anything else in the shop.

"Master Chen." He carried it back toward the front counter. "What can you tell me about this one?"

Master Chen took it from him, his expression shifting the moment it settled into his hands, surprise flickering across his weathered face.

"Where did you find this?" His voice had lost its earlier ease, sharpening into something more focused.

"Tucked behind some boxes near the back." Guiying watched him study the piece more closely, turning it slowly under the light. "Is something wrong with it?"

"No." Master Chen’s fingers traced carefully along the glaze, almost reverent. "I’ve never seen this piece before in my life, and I’ve owned this shop for over forty years. I don’t recall acquiring it, and I certainly don’t recall pricing it."

Wang Chengli’s brow lifted, exchanging a brief glance with Guiying.

"It must have come in with an estate lot years ago." Master Chen turned it over, searching the base for any hidden mark. "Buried in a box I never fully sorted through, I suppose. This glaze technique, if I’m reading it correctly, predates most of what I typically deal in. Possibly Jin dynasty, possibly earlier."

"Is that good?" Guiying asked, though the answer seemed obvious from Master Chen’s expression alone.

"Good doesn’t begin to cover it." Master Chen set it down carefully on a velvet cloth, stepping back to study it as a whole. "If this is what I believe it is, it’s rarer than anything else in this shop combined. I’d need to have it properly authenticated before I could set an honest price, though even without that, I wouldn’t let it go for less than one point two million yuan."

Guiying’s brows lifted slightly at the number, though something in him had already decided the moment he’d picked it up.

"I’d like to buy it." He said it plainly, without hesitation. "Whatever the final authenticated price turns out to be, I’ll cover it."

Master Chen studied him for a long moment, something almost startled in his expression. "You haven’t even asked if it’s the right gift for the occasion."

"It found me, not the other way around." Guiying reached out, running a thumb lightly along the rim. "That has to mean something."

"I’m not sure why, honestly." Guiying turned the jar over once more in his hands, something instinctive rather than informed pulling at him. "I don’t know anything about authenticating pieces like this. I just know it caught my eye the second I saw it, and I don’t want to walk away and regret not trusting that."

Master Chen studied him for a long moment, something faintly amused crossing his weathered face. "Some of the best collectors I’ve known started exactly that way. Instinct first, knowledge later."

"Let’s hope you’re right." Guiying set the jar down carefully on the velvet cloth. "Please have it authenticated as quickly as possible. I need it by this evening."

"That’s an aggressive timeline for something this significant."

"I don’t have a choice." Guiying’s expression softened slightly. "Dinner’s tonight, and I’d like to bring something that actually means something, rather than just something expensive."

Master Chen considered him for a moment longer, then nodded slowly, already reaching for his phone. "I’ll call in a favor. For you, specifically, not for the money."

"Thank you." Guiying meant it, warmth threading through the words.

Beside him, Wang Chengli said nothing, though the corner of his mouth had curved upward, watching Master Chen dial the phone.