234 A Pastel Plate with Patterns of Nine Peaches and Five Bats

After a long while, Gu Ning noticed an object with power. It was a 30-centimeter wide pastel plate with patterns of nine peaches and five bats.

The white plate was crystal clear with a smooth texture. It was a great advertisement for Yongzheng pastels. The background color of the plate and the color of the painting around it were both pure and fine. The two colors combined together producing effects of elegance and nobility. Therefore, people might think that it was a fake, and outsiders would never believe that it was real, even if there were two vertical lines of words saying Yongzheng Period, Qing dynasty in blue and white on the bottom of the plate.

The patterns around the plate were light and obvious at the same time. The color of the peaches was red, but not bright, and changed naturally from yellow to red. Every touch of the painting pen was precisely accurate.

The peach blossoms had long leaves with sides that were bright in the front and darker in the back. The front sides of the leaves were green, while the back sides were bluish and dark, which reflected the differences under the light. The leaves were densely distributed and reasonably dynamic, matching the iron-red bats so well.

Gu Ning asked about its price. It only cost two thousand yuan, so Gu Ning paid the money without hesitation.

Leng Shaoting wanted to pay for Gu Ning, but Gu Ning declined. If would be meaningless if he paid.

Gu Ning and Leng Shaoting continued walking ahead with the plate.

Seconds after Gu Ning and Leng Shaoting were gone, a middle-aged man came quickly with an old man who was around 70-years-old. They stopped at the stand where Gu Ning bought the pastel plate.

"Master, this is the..." the middle-aged said. However, before he could finish, he was struck dumb when he glanced over the stand. Then he was shocked and raised his voice asking, "Where is the pastel plate with patterns of nine peaches and five bats?"

The stand owner didn't know why the man was so emotional, but he recognized the old man who stood beside him. He was the curator of the museum and the leader of the Antiques Association, Gu Changjiang.

The middle-aged man had visited the same stand a while before. He had stared at the pastel plate for a long time, but still left in the end. Now he came back with an antique expert to check it again. All of sudden, the stand owner had a sense that the pastel plate could be real.

"Hey, I'm asking you something!" the middle-aged man said again.

The stand owner replied at once, "Oh, I sold it already."

"What?" The middle-aged man couldn't accept it. Although he wasn't completely certain that it was real, he was confident that it could be real. That was the reason why he went to invite his master and came back again. Within minutes, the pastel plate was sold. It was terrible news for him.

The stand owner swallowed with great force. He couldn't help thinking to himself. Is the pastel plate real? If it was real, he would have lost a fortune. The stand owner regretted now.

"Who's the buyer?" the middle-aged man asked. The buyer could still be around.

"It's a teenage girl with a young man," the stand owner replied.

"Where did they go?" the middle-aged man asked again.

"To the right," the stand owner answered.

"Master, let's catch up to them. I think we can probably still meet them," the middle-aged man said.

They wanted to buy the plate as part of a collection.

"Wait a second." Seeing that they were leaving, the stand owner immediately asked with anxiety, "Is the plate real?"

"I'm not sure yet," the middle-aged man said, then he ignored the stand owner, walking quickly to the right with Gu Changjiang.

Gu Ning and Leng Shaoting walked slowly, so the middle-aged man and Gu Changjiang caught them up within a short time. Gu Ning was holding the pastel plate in her hands, so they instantly recognized her.

"Hey, please wait a moment." The middle-aged man immediately stood in Gu Ning's way. Although it was impolite, he didn't have time to waste.

Gu Ning and Leng Shaoting then stopped. Both of them thought that the man must have something urgent.

However, when Gu Ning noticed Gu Changjiang who was standing by the middle-aged man's side, she immediately understood what was going on.

"Master Gu, nice to meet you," Gu Ning said.

"Do you know me?" Gu Changjiang was surprised. Gu Ning looked familiar in his eyes, but he couldn't remember where they had met before.

Gu Ning smiled gently. "We met at Master Qin's birthday party. I'm Gu Ning."

"Oh, it's you!" Gu Changjiang then got his memory back. Gu Ning had worn makeup back then, and now she didn't wear any makeup, so Gu Changjiang failed to recognize her in the beginning. However, he did remember her name.

"The reason that you were looking for me must be for this pastel plate. Am I right?" Gu Ning asked.

"Exactly! My student just walked by the stand and noticed this plate. He wasn't sure whether it was real, so turned to me for help. However, when we came back, it was already sold," Gu Changjiang said.

"Since you want to see it, please help yourself!" Gu Ning then handed the pastel plate to Gu Changjiang.

Gu Changjiang was thrilled. "I think that we better find a place to have a closer look at it."

Gu Ning agreed, so they walked into a nearby teahouse.

Gu Changjiang looked at the plate closely for a long while, and he was more than excited after he was sure that it was real. He asked Gu Ning, "Girl Gu, did you buy it because you knew that it was real?"

Gu Ning smiled, and explained. "I wasn't very sure, but I thought that it was highly possible, so I bought it. Even if it's a fake, it's a beautiful plate. I could still use it as decoration."

Gu Changjiang nodded. He thought highly of her courage and confidence. To distinguish real antiques relied on one's luck, vision and courage. Like the middle-aged man, who had good luck but was not courageous enough to buy it, so he missed it.

"Girl Gu, may I ask, are you willing to sell it?" Gu Changjiang asked. He indeed wanted to collect this pastel plate, as long as Gu Ning was willing to sell it to him.