Chapter 3: Supernatural Abilities

  Chu Chen sighed in his heart and had no choice but to sell one of his treasured items, a Qing dynasty imitation Wanli blue and white five-color figure vase.

  Chu Chen thought so in her heart, but still smiled and said to Zhang's mother: "Auntie, you're right. The rent will be handled as you said."

  Afterwards, they said a few more unimportant things and then bid each other farewell.

  Chu Chen returned home, plopped down on the living room sofa, and suddenly felt a sense of weakness all over his body. The good mood brought by the successful Olympic bid was ruined by this rent issue. Where could he find 18,000 yuan at once? Was he going to bother Uncle Wu again?

  Wu Shu's original name was Wu Ziping, he is exactly sixty years old this year, and opened a small antique shop in Panjiayuan, specializing in ancient ceramics. He can be said to be the pioneer of Chu Chen's career in antiques. To talk about their relationship, we have to start from Chu Chen's experiences.

  Chu Chen was quite miserable when he was young. He was a bit dull and was kidnapped by human traffickers at the age of five, then wandered with them to the Shunde Mountains in Yan Province.

  However, the human trafficker was also quite unlucky. The family that had previously agreed to buy her suddenly reneged on the deal, leading to a conflict between the two parties, and in the chaos, Xiaochu managed to escape.

  He was just a five-year-old child, how could he possibly get out of the mountainous area? Moreover, he was unfamiliar with this place. Fortunately, Chu Chen had been training his body since childhood due to his grandfather's influence, and his physique was not bad. After wandering for four or five days, he was met by his adoptive father, who took him home upon seeing how pitiful he looked.

  Chu Chen's adoptive father, Liu Guomin, was a lecturer in the history department of Beijing University. Due to his family background, he was labeled as a capitalist roader during the turmoil and later sent to this place for labor reform.

  Years after the turmoil ended, although he was also rehabilitated, he was only a lecturer and had no connections. In addition to his experiences during the turmoil, he became disheartened and did not return to Beijing. He made a living by teaching at an elementary school in a mountainous area.

  Although at that time Chu Chen's image was like a little beggar, his clothes could still be seen vaguely, and from this, it can be seen that he was born well.

  Seeing this, Liu Guomin thought that the child was probably kidnapped. He originally wanted to ask him for some clues later and then go report the case to see if he could find his parents.

  However, it turned out that after Chu Chen arrived at his home, he fell seriously ill and suffered from amnesia after recovering. At that time, the public security bureau was not connected to the internet, and the case was reported but ultimately went cold. Liu Guomin never got married, so he adopted Chu Chen.

  The name Chu Chen now also comes from a small lock piece hanging on his body. The small lock piece is about the size of two adult thumbs, made of high-quality sheep fat white jade, with a lifelike lotus flower carved on the front and the words "Chu Chen" carved on the back.

  Perhaps it was because the lock piece was too small, and the human trafficker didn't understand its value, so he didn't take it away, leaving behind a clue for Chu Chen to find his relatives.

  It's probably because of the old saying "good fortune is hidden in disaster, and disaster lurks within good fortune". Although Chu Chen lost his memory, he suddenly became clever and quick-witted. Liu Guomin had a professional interest in antiques, so over the next few years, Chu Chen learned about 40% to 50% of his adoptive father's expertise in this area.

  It's just a pity that Liu Guomin was in poor health due to being persecuted back then, if it wasn't for the family-transmitted Tai Chi he practiced, he might have passed away even earlier. Even so, he still passed away when Chu Chen was 15 years old.

  Before Liu Guomin passed away, he left Chu Chen with over 2,000 yuan and told him to go to the capital city. When he first met Chu Chen, it was in the accent of the capital city, so his family should be there too. Maybe if he went there, he might have a chance to find them.

  Liu Guomin also gave him two letters and asked him to deliver them to the addressees in the capital, where he could take refuge with them.

  One letter is to be given to Liu Guomin's sister, due to some misunderstandings in the past, they lost contact afterwards, but the affection between them still exists, and she should accept Chu Chen on his behalf.

  Another letter was handed over to Wu Ziping. The two families of Liu Guomin and Wu Ziping can be said to have been acquainted for generations, and the two men also grew up together from childhood, with feelings that can be described as like close brothers. Moreover, Wu Ziping's family is a family of antique collectors, so Chu Chen's learning has found its place.

  After Chu Chen settled Liu Guomin's affairs and waited until he was sixteen years old, he set off for the capital.

  However, when Chu Chen arrived in the capital and found Liu Guomin's sister's address, the owner had changed to someone else, and neither the current owner nor the neighbors knew where the original family had gone.

  Fortunately, Wu Zhiping's home address had not changed. When he heard Chu Chen's intention, he was both sad and happy. He was sad because he felt extremely sorrowful for Liu Guomin's passing, never expecting that his childhood friend was now separated from him by life and death. He was happy because Chu Chen had come to seek refuge with him, as he put it, "Old Liu's son is my son."

  Later in life, Wu Ziping proved to be genuinely fond of Chu Chen, often showing concern for his well-being and teaching him the skills of antique appraisal with great care.

  Chu Chen is a relatively independent person, and for some other reasons, he doesn't want to live in Wu Zhiping's house or work in his store, so he has the idea of becoming an antique peddler.

  However, Wu Ziping did not get angry about this matter. On the contrary, he taught Chu Chen how to take goods and introduced him to the old housekeeper, which made him very moved. Later, when he was short of money several times, it was also Wu Ziping who lent him money. Over the years, their relationship became like that of an uncle and nephew.

  Chu Chen hadn't bothered Wu Ziping for a long time, and now if he went to ask him for money, he would feel somewhat ashamed in front of the people of Jiangdong. He gritted his teeth and thought, forget it, might as well just sell that five-color porcelain figure.

  He took out a box of porcelain from the bedroom and put it on the coffee table in the living room, preparing to take another good look at it, or else he would not have had the chance.

  As I opened the box, a beautifully crafted five-colored ceramic bowl caught my eye.

  The mouth of this bowl is 14.5 cm in diameter, with a flared mouth, arc abdomen and ring foot. The whole body is applied with a pale blue glaze, the glaze is bright and smooth, the inner and outer edges of the mouth are decorated with a blue and white dragon pattern, the inner edge of the mouth is decorated with a five-color flower and grass pattern, the inside of the bowl has two blue and white dragon patterns painted with five-color dragon and phoenix patterns, and the outside wall is painted with blue and white five-color human figures. The bottom is inscribed with six characters in regular script "Made in the Ming Wanli period".

  Judging from its glaze and some other characteristics, this should be a mid-Qing dynasty imitation of Wanli blue and white five-color figure bowl. This five-color figure bowl is in good condition, the figures on the painting are vivid and lifelike, well conveying the atmosphere of the bowl. The current market price should be between 20,000 to 30,000.

  This bowl was obtained by Wu Zhiping's guidance, Chu Chensheng's first pick-up, and it only cost 200 yuan at the time. It has a special meaning to him, although its value is not high, but it has been well collected by him.

  Looking at this colorful figure vase, Chu Chen let out a long sigh. If it weren't for the fact that he had no other choice, he definitely wouldn't have chosen to pass on this colorful figure vase. Now that it was still in his hands, he might as well take a good look at it.

  Chu Chen picked up the bowl with a hint of despair in his heart, using his left hand.

  At that moment, a wonderful feeling passed from his hand, and Chu Chen was surprised to find that a thread of breath had been sucked into his left hand from the bowl. The breath brought him a feeling as if he had eaten an ice stick on a hot summer day, refreshing his whole body, with an aftertaste that lingered on.

  After Chu Chen recovered from this state, he was immediately frightened by this sudden abnormality, and was so scared that he almost threw away the bowl in his hand. He thought to himself, "Could it be that I've encountered a ghost? Or were all those abnormalities just an illusion?"

  Chu Chen thought for a moment, although that state didn't last even half a second, all the feelings were clear and distinct, absolutely not an illusion. He raised his left hand to take another look, but didn't find anything unusual, his left hand was still his left hand, it hadn't turned into a golden hand. Then he looked at the bowl again from left to right, similarly, there wasn't any problem found.

  Chu Chen thought, Hey! This is really strange!

  After thinking for half a day, Chu Chen still couldn't figure out the reason. In the end, he guessed that maybe only the first contact would produce such an airflow. If so, then just find something to try and see if it works.

  Chu Chen hastily came to the living room where several bamboo baskets were placed, inside which were arranged various kinds of porcelain antiques, of course these were all handicrafts, and these were his eating utensils.

  He took a deep breath, and with his left hand slowly picked up a porcelain bottle, but the result was extremely disappointing, without any reaction at all. He then switched to several other porcelain items, but the results were the same.

  "What's going on?"

  Chu Chen furrowed his brow, pacing back and forth in the living room with a bewildered expression. Could it be that what happened earlier was just a fleeting illusion? After about an hour of pacing, he suddenly stopped abruptly.

  "Right! What I picked up earlier were just handicrafts, not real antiques. The ability I showed earlier may only appear on real antiques."

  It seems that Chu Chen has run into trouble again. He doesn't have any genuine antique porcelain around him, and without an object for the experiment, it would be pointless. It looks like he can only go to Wu Shu's place to try his luck.

  Thinking of this, Chu Chen excitedly prepared to go to Wu Shu's antique shop. Just a few steps away, he suddenly had an epiphany - wait a minute, I don't have any other antiques, but shouldn't I have some ancient copper coins? Although these things aren't worth much money, they can't be denied as being antiques too.

  Chu Chen immediately returned to the side of the bamboo basket, verifying what he had previously thought in his heart.

  "We must succeed, we must succeed!"

  Then, Chu Chen didn't hesitate either and directly picked up a Kangxi Tongbao from the basket. Instantly, a stream of energy that was much weaker than before, just like earlier, was absorbed into his left hand from the copper coin. However, that stream of energy was really too weak; if he hadn't concentrated his attention, it would have been impossible to notice.