621: Chapter 616 Master Gao

Shen Yan got out of the car and walked in on the wet bluestone path.

The houses on both sides were very old, their gray brick walls covered in moss, and raindrops from last night still hung under the eaves.

The address Ning Ke gave was for a courtyard at the deepest part of the alley.

The courtyard gate was slightly ajar.

Shen Yan gently pushed it, and the hinge let out a creaking sound.

The courtyard was not large, but it was kept very clean.

Against the west wall, there was a small mountain of various clay materials covered with an oilcloth.

To the east was a row of shelves displaying various unglazed ware and failed porcelain pieces.

An old man with white hair and a thin build was squatting in the center of the courtyard. He held a cracked firebrick in his hand, his brow furrowed into a knot, muttering to himself.

He was wearing a faded blue work uniform, and his hands and face were covered in dried mud spots.

His eyes held an unresolvable sorrow and exhaustion.

This must be Gao Shou Zheng.

"Master Gao?" Shen Yan spoke up.

Gao Shou Zheng looked up, a hint of caution in his cloudy eyes as he sized up the unfamiliar young man.

"Who are you?" His voice was hoarse, as if scorched by kiln fire.

"My name is Shen Yan. Ning Ke introduced me."

Upon hearing the name "Ning Ke," Gao Shou Zheng's expression softened slightly, but he remained unenthusiastic.

"You're here to have me build a kiln?"

"Yes."

Gao Shou Zheng stood up, dusted off his hands, and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"Then you might have found the wrong person."

He pointed to a pile of bricks in the corner that had already been crushed into slag.

"See that? 'Diamond Bricks,' used for building kiln chambers. I, Gao Shou Zheng, have fired kilns my whole life, but now, in my old age, I can't even fire the most basic kiln bricks."

"I've ruined three kilns in a row. Tens of thousands worth of material has turned into this pile of trash."

"I can't deliver the order for the client, and now I have to pay breach of contract fees. This old house of mine will be repossessed by the Bank next month."

The old man spoke, then squatted down again, picking up a shard. His eyes were full of heartache and confusion.

"The formula is correct, the firing temperature is correct, and the clay is correct... Why won't it work?"

He seemed to be talking to Shen Yan, yet also talking to himself.

Shen Yan remained silent, simply walking over and squatting down as well.

He picked up a fragment of a 'Diamond Brick.'

The body of the brick was covered in web-like cracks, and the texture was loose. When he gently tried to break it with his hand, a layer of powder fell off.

Typical sintering failure.

The moment his fingertips touched the shard, the System's voice sounded in his mind without any warning.

[Ding!]

[Special environment detected, Random Mission triggered!]

[Mission Name: The Artisan's Dilemma]

[Mission Introduction: Ancient skills are facing the challenges of a new era. A stubborn Artisan is trapped in a predicament that his knowledge system cannot solve. Helping him will also clear obstacles for the 'Dragon Kiln Fire' mission.]

[Mission Objective: Within twenty-four hours, find the fundamental reason why Gao Shou Zheng failed to fire the 'Diamond Bricks' and provide a perfect solution.]

[Mission Reward: One piece of Intermediate Wealth Intelligence.]

[Mission Failure: Gao Shou Zheng will refuse to build the Dragon Kiln for you, and the 'Dragon Kiln Fire' mission chain will be broken.]

Shen Yan's gaze sharpened slightly.

A mission within a mission?

Moreover, it was a mission he absolutely had to complete.

He looked at the shard in his hand. In his mind, streams of data regarding material science, molecular structure, and chemical reactions surged out like a waterfall.

The world, in his eyes, instantly became different.

The composition, density, porosity, and crystal structure of this brick... everything was clearly presented in his mind in the form of data.

"Master Gao, where did you source this batch of clay?" Shen Yan asked.

His voice was not loud, but every word was exceptionally clear.

Gao Shou Zheng was stunned for a moment, surprised that this young man was actually interested in this question.

"Where else? The old mine pit in Jiulong Mountain. Our kiln workers in City C have used materials from there for hundreds of years."

"Hundreds of years?" Shen Yan's fingertip gently stroked the broken edge of the brick. "Have there been any changes near Jiulong Mountain in the last few years?"

"Changes?" Gao Shou Zheng frowned, thinking carefully. "If you talk about changes, a large chemical plant was built at the foot of the mountain a few years ago. I heard they discharged a lot of wastewater, dyeing the downstream river. It's several miles away from the mine pit where we dig our clay, so it shouldn't be related, right?"

"It is related."

Shen Yan stood up, his tone calm but carrying an unquestionable professionalism.

"It's not your formula that has a problem, nor is it the firing temperature."

"It's your raw materials; they have changed from the root."

He said this with absolute certainty.

Gao Shou Zheng also stood up, staring at Shen Yan.

"Young man, what do you know? I've played with mud my whole life. I know the quality of this Kaolin clay just by licking it with my tongue with my eyes closed!"

"Experience can sometimes deceive people," Shen Yan looked at him. "But data will not."

"The infiltration of acid rain and industrial wastewater has altered the soil's pH level in the Jiulong Mountain mining area. The activity of aluminum ions in the kaolin you use has greatly decreased, while there are many more sulfides and heavy metal impurities that weren't there before."

"These impurities, under high temperatures, destroy the molecular structure of the body, preventing the formation of a stable mullite crystal network during the sintering process. That's why your bricks crack and powder."

A string of terminology so professional it left Gao Shou Zheng dumbfounded came out of Shen Yan's mouth.

Gao Shou Zheng was completely bewildered.

He felt like he was listening to gibberish.

What ions, what molecular structure, what mullite crystal phase... What on earth were these things?

"You... you're talking nonsense! The craftsmanship passed down from my ancestors isn't as mysterious as you say!" The old man's face turned red with anger.

He felt that this young man was humiliating him, humiliating his lifelong efforts and pride.

Shen Yan did not argue with him.

He just asked lightly.

"Is there any wood ash in the courtyard? The common kind, the ash left over from burning firewood."

"Yes, what do you want that junk for?" Gao Shou Zheng was wary.

"Find me some more quartz sand, the finest kind."

Although Gao Shou Zheng was angry, he still pointed to a ceramic jar in the corner.

Shen Yan walked over, took half a basin of wood ash, and then took some quartz sand from another bag.

In front of Gao Shou Zheng, he used a small grinding stone to mix the two and grind them into an extremely fine powder.

Then, he grabbed a lump of mixed clay and, as if performing a magic trick, kneaded the powder into the clay using a peculiar rhythm and technique.

His movements were fluid, possessing an ineffable beauty and precision.

Gao Shou Zheng's eyes gradually became fixed.