Chapter 20 The most eye-catching black lacquer
"You little brat, you haven't been in there before, have you?"

"How is that possible? I just found out now."

"Master, is there any treasure inside?"

Zhang Yang raised his eyebrows at Feng Yao with an expectant expression.

After all, he is a well-known "kiln brother" in the world, so it is really unreasonable for him to leave a small workshop for his apprentice.

A mountain of gold or silver would be more like it.

"You're overthinking it, baby? Don't you think about what crime I'm in here for?"

"You think your master hasn't been in jail long enough, right?"

After Feng Yao reminded him, Zhang Yang remembered that the police had come to his house several times after his master was detained.

They even used flashlights to check Zhang Yang's piggy bank to confirm that it contained no copper coins unearthed from the ancient tomb.

It is very likely that the master's basement was also searched by the police.

"Well, what do you mean by basement?"

Zhang Yang sighed and asked, feeling happy for nothing.

"Of course it's something important. I put some black lacquer in it. It's already time. You have to help me deliver the things to the client."

"Otherwise, if it takes too long, the other party will refuse to pay the balance."

Zhang Yang was not interested in delivering goods at first, but when he heard from the master that there was still a balance of tens of thousands of yuan to be paid, he suddenly felt less sleepy.

"Master, why didn't you tell me earlier? What if the customer is kept waiting?"

"What's the client's name and contact number? Tell me and I'll write it down."

"Bullshit, do you think I'm the smartest guy who can remember all the contact information?" Feng Yao said to Zhang Yang unhappily.

"After I got home, I looked in the bottom layer of my bedside table. There was a Xiaomi 6 in there, and the phone had the client's contact information."

"This time the customer is called Lao Xing. You can call him directly and he will deliver the goods the way he says."

"Okay, I'll remember that." Zhang Yang nodded.

"Do you have anything else to say?"

"Nothing."

Feng Yao glanced at Zhang Yang, then at Shen Yiyi, hesitated for a moment, and added:
"Zhang Yang, as a man you should be responsible."

"I understand." Zhang Yang replied immediately, "Just like you, Master. Since you robbed a tomb, you should just sit in jail and do nothing."

"We need to reform ourselves inside."

"I won't transform myself. When the three-year period is up, I, your master, will be a brave man again."

Perhaps thinking that such talk might corrupt young people, Feng Yao added:
"You are still young, don't learn from me."

"Don't worry, I'm not a middle school student and I don't believe in tomb-robbing novels."

"By the way, Master, did you explain your crime clearly before you came in?"

After listening to Xiao Shen and the master's nonsense, Zhang Yang almost forgot the purpose of his visit today.

"What do you mean? Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"

"Because the police come to my house every few days, I have been taken to the police station twice." Zhang Yang said with a bitter look on his face.

"Is everything alright?"

"It's okay, it's just a little weird, so I asked you if there's something you didn't explain clearly."

"No, I've said everything I need to say."

Feng Yao answered without hesitation, and then comforted Zhang Yang:

"The counterfeit business is like this. Even if you are not at fault, if your customers use the products to cheat others, the police will trace the source and come after you."

"I used to be arrested once every two months on average."

"Just get used to it."

"I'm used to it." Zhang Yang said helplessly.

"Okay then, if everything is ok, I'll go back first."

"Do you want to talk to Xiao Shen again? After all, she is your new apprentice." Zhang Yang asked.

"No, just be careful."

While Feng Yao was talking, he waved goodbye to Zhang Yang and Shen Yiyi through the glass. The meeting, which was supposed to last half an hour, ended in just over ten minutes.

The reason was that Feng Yao was in a hurry to go back for dinner, and the food in the prison would be better on every visiting day.

He can't miss such an opportunity.

As for Zhang Yang, the master only leads you to the door, but the practice is up to you. He can only wish Zhang Yang good luck.

……

Walking out of the prison gate, Zhang Yang couldn't wait to go home.

He wanted to see the level of the master's antique black lacquer work, and also to see who the workshop's customers were.

"Miss Shen, when will your driver come?"

Zhang Yang thought that since he had to go back to the city anyway, he could take advantage of his cheap junior sister's car first.

But Shen Yiyi folded her arms and stared at the road in a daze, ignoring him.

Zhang Yang could only ask again.

This time Xiao Shen finally responded:

"Brother, I give you two choices. One is to call me by my name, Yiyi. The other is to call me Junior Sister. I will not respond to any other names."

"Then... Junior Sister, where is your driver?"

"He went back to help me with my luggage. He should be here in a while."

"Oh, take your luggage, are you going on a trip?"

"What kind of trip? I want to go back with you, brother."

"As the successor of Tukeng Duan, I don't know anything about bronze artifacts. It would be detrimental to the reputation of my sect if I were to walk outside. So I have to go back to the mountain gate and practice well before going down the mountain."

Shen Yiyi talked nonsense to Zhang Yang with a slightly cunning smile on her face.

Her meaning was very clear. If Zhang Yang didn't teach her something, it would be difficult for her to escape.

Zhang Yang had expected this scene and was not surprised.

"Okay, your driver hasn't arrived yet, so I'll examine your basic qualities on behalf of the master."

"By the way, I'll help you determine the direction of your studies."

Zhang Yang took Xiao Shen to sit down on the flower bed by the roadside.

At the prison gate, the two men openly discussed the technique of counterfeiting bronze ware, highlighting that the other had a clear conscience.

After some detailed questioning, Zhang Yang felt a little desperate.

Shen Yiyi's knowledge of bronze ware is still based on textbooks and legal provisions.

She knew that the earliest bronze artifacts in China appeared in the Majiayao culture;
It is also clear that bronze ware withdrew from the historical stage at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty;
I even know that bronze artifacts are not allowed to be auctioned in China now, which is actually an unspoken rule.

However, her counterfeiting of bronze ware was still at the stage of corroding it with horse urine.

"You are using a folk method from the Republic of China. Even if a blind person picks up a bronze vessel and smells it, he will know it is a replica."

"So what method do we use now?"

Xiao Shen took out his mobile phone to record, his eyes full of desire for knowledge.

Zhang Yang thought for a moment, cleared his throat, and slowly explained:
"The method you use depends on what kind of rust you want to make."

"For example, the rust on bronze artifacts stored in cellars is relatively thin and shallow, so electrolytic rust treatment is suitable;"

"If you want to make thick rust from a raw pit, it's best to take some old rust from the remains of bronze ware and transplant it;"

"If you want to make jujube skin red, apply borax on the surface of the bronze, and then bake it over a high fire until the borax melts."

"In short, there are many methods, the key is to match the shape, decoration and pit mouth well."

"So that's it..."

Xiao Shen nodded as he listened, and kept exclaiming in amazement, looking like someone who had never seen the world.

She inquired curiously, "Which type of rust is the most difficult to identify?"

"You asked the right question. When we get home, I'll show you the black lacquerware made by the master."

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be the same as the real thing."

(End of this chapter)