Riding the wind of rebirth

If this pair of bottles is kept for another ten years, the price will soar tenfold. In fact, even now, this price can only be regarded as the "adjusted price" within the antique industry. If it is put up for auction, there will generally be a premium of at least 50% higher.

Zhou Zhi was waiting for Elizabeth to bargain, but unexpectedly, Elizabeth said, "It turns out that these two artifacts have such an important connection with the place where my husband saved his life. I'm sorry, George, but I don't want to transfer them now."

"This..." Zhou Zhi was stunned for a moment, then thought about it and said, "Then I hope you can keep this pair of bottles well. They are a symbol of the combination of Tibetan and Han cultures, and your husband has given them new humanistic value."

"But the current storage conditions are a bit too poor. If you allow me, I hope to clean them up."

Elizabeth of course agreed to this condition.

Cleaning porcelain is not complicated because the glaze itself is a kind of glass and is extremely stable, so you can use some detergent or the like.

There is a lot of wax accumulated on this pair of Benba bottles, which looks very dirty. In fact, if you heat and soak them in warm water, the wax will melt and float to the surface, and then you can remove it by rinsing with hot water.

The remaining dirt is mostly organic matter, which can be removed using household alcohol and cotton swabs.

When cleaning the dirt, Zhou Zhi's focused gaze and gentle technique moved Elizabeth deeply. She now knew that Zhou Zhi really cherished the pair of utensils.

After the porcelain was cleaned, Zhou Zhi wiped it dry with a soft towel and put it back on the coffee table. The exquisiteness and exquisiteness of Qianlong's official kiln porcelain was undoubtedly displayed, and the pair of porcelain vases seemed to have regained life.

"The bottles are as good as new now!" Elizabeth stroked them and exclaimed, "George, you have really good hands."

"If you want to continue to use them, I suggest putting a glass container in the mouth of the bottle, as Martin did, but it may have to be specially customized, deepened to look like a test tube, and surrounded by a circle of cork to protect the bottle mouth from collisions and damage."

"Put essential oil in the test tube, add a cork, punch a hole in the middle of the cork, and insert a hollow willow branch. The essential oil will be drawn to the top of the tube by the willow branch due to capillary action and evaporate into the air, which can also achieve the effect of creating fragrance."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea! George, your invention is quite good!"

"This is actually a very common usage of ancient Chinese porcelain." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "Qing Dynasty court porcelain generally had a built-in copper liner to hold water and arrange flowers. This is not my invention, I just simply extended it."

"Then we'll take our leave." Zhou Zhi touched the Benba vase lovingly at last, "Ms. Elizabeth, Oriental artworks have great potential for appreciation. This pair of porcelain may be very valuable in the future. In addition to collecting it well, you must also prevent it from being stolen."

"I understand. I will definitely pay attention to it and use it."

"Big brother, you can't leave!" Seeing Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao stand up, Rose hugged Zhou Zhi's thighs, and then heard the little sister yell anxiously: "You have to prepare the food you brought back for us."

Zhou Zhi couldn't help but laugh. What little sister Rose said made sense. The heating method of fried rice and cola chicken wings was indeed a little different from the frying method commonly used by foreigners.

Elizabeth also invited: "George and Lily, please have dinner at our house. You brought back so much food that we can't finish it all."

"Then I'll make some sour potato shreds. This is also an oriental dish." Potatoes are an ingredient that almost every Western household has. Instead of frying or stir-frying, which is easy to produce oil smoke, just boil them in boiling water, drain them, and eat them cold. This can be considered an oriental dish that will refresh Elizabeth. "Egg custard is also OK." Mai Xiaomiao promoted his specialty: "The egg custard I make is also delicious. On the way here, he said he would make it for Rose if he had the chance. Now is the chance."

After adding these two dishes, Zhou Zhi felt that there was still a lack of vegetables, so he cut some apples to supplement it. Today's dinner can be considered sumptuous.

Elizabeth also praised the cola chicken wings and Yangzhou fried rice that she brought back.

After dinner it was time to say goodbye. Before leaving, Elizabeth gave Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao a box. Inside the box was a set of twelve small cubic candles, each of which had a different color and a different fragrance, and smelled very comfortable.

Elizabeth used to be a literature teacher at a nearby middle school. After retirement, she started making scented candles. Now she has gained some fame and all the candles she makes need to be pre-ordered. Today, she wanted to thank Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao for their love for Rose and Martin, so she took out her most satisfying collection and gave them to them.

Mai Xiaomiao loved it very much. Basically no girl could refuse such a gift. Naturally, the two of them thanked Elizabeth profusely.

When both of them went downstairs, Martin ran out again: "Big brother and big sister! Grandma is calling you back!"

When the two went back upstairs, they found another old suitcase on the coffee table.

Elizabeth said, "I am old and confused. I forgot that Tom also brought some things back from China. I put them in this box after Tom went to God."

"If you think it's valuable, I can transfer it to you."

If Zhou Zhi didn't have a deep enough understanding of Elizabeth, he would have almost thought that this was a scam.

The saying “Don’t look at jade under the lamp” is because the light is not natural light, which can easily lead to errors in people’s judgment and cause misjudgment.

The same problem exists with porcelain. Only the glaze color reflected under natural daylight is the most realistic glaze color. Now that dinner is over and it’s dark before you take out the things, if you switch to other Taozhaizi’s business, you are most likely encountering a scammer.

However, Zhou Zhi did not see such a possibility for the kind old woman who lived alone with her two children in a foreign country.

When the box was opened, a large space was found inside filled with some men's items, including clothes, pipes, lighters, stainless steel wine bottles, several medals, and even a pistol. I guess these were all the male owner's personal belongings, kept by the old lady as souvenirs.

These things are meaningful to Elizabeth, but they are of no use to Zhou Zhi.

Apart from these there were a few wax paper packages, and Zhou Zhi guessed that these were what Elizabeth was talking about.

When Zhou Zhi took out one of the pieces and opened it, he discovered that it was indeed a piece of porcelain.

Porcelain is not afraid of water, but it is afraid of being touched. Elizabeth used moisture-proof but thin wax paper to protect them. Zhou Zhi just wanted to complain, "Old lady, you protected them for nothing." (End of this chapter)