129: Chapter 129 makes it sound like you've done something incredibly great.

The items on the shelves were not placed densely; enough distance was left between each piece to allow every single one to breathe and be seen.

Hu Tian first placed that ming dynasty Double Dragon Jade Pendant into a shallow brocade box. The box was deep blue, contrasting with the greenish-white of the jade pendant; the colors looked very authentic.

He placed the brocade box on the left side of the second level of the Curio Shelf, stepped back, took a look, and once he felt it was appropriate, turned around to handle the other two items.

The second item was a xuande incense burner.

He placed the xuande incense burner onto a specialized wooden stand. The stand was made of rosewood; once the xuande incense burner was placed on it, it sat steady and firm, without moving a hair.

The third item was a she inkstone. The stone material was genuine old pit inkstone; the stone eyes were clear, and it felt warm and smooth to the touch.

Hu Tian placed the inkstone on the bottom level of the Curio Shelf, leaving a single compartment just for it.

With the three items in their respective places, Hu Tian stood in the collection room for a while, his gaze sweeping over the items on the shelves one by one with a calm expression, as if greeting old friends.

At that moment, a faint sound of footsteps came from upstairs—light, quick little steps. It was his Cousin Zhang Fei's pace. Then came the sound of a bedroom door closing, a crisp and decisive 'click'.

Hu Tian heard it, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but he said nothing. He turned and left the collection room, pulling the door shut behind him.

What he didn't know was that in the bedroom upstairs, Cousin Zhang Fei had already kicked her shoes aside and collapsed onto the bed. Holding her phone in front of her face, she pulled up her aunt Li Meina's WeChat and her fingers began to swipe rapidly.

"Auntie! Do you know what!"

"Cousin has a girlfriend!!!"

"I saw it with my own eyes yesterday!!!"

After sending the three messages, Cousin Zhang Fei stared at the screen, waiting for a response, her eyes shining like a cat's.

Before long, a voice message came back. Cousin Zhang Fei quickly pressed the phone to her ear and heard her aunt's voice coming through the speaker, her tone carrying obvious surprise. "What? For real? Since when? Where is the girl from?"

Cousin Zhang Fei recounted the incident of accidentally seeing her cousin on a call with Sister Waner yesterday from beginning to end. She described Zhou Waner's appearance, the expressions they had while talking, and the way Zhou Waner bickered with her cousin. She spoke vividly, not leaving out a single detail.

Li Meina listened very intently on the other end, interjecting several times. "Is the girl pretty?"

"What was Xiao Tian's attitude like?"

"Did he introduce her to you?"

Cousin Zhang Fei answered them one by one, finally concluding, "Auntie, I think that Sister Waner is quite nice. She doesn't look like those messy types of people. And Cousin's attitude toward her is different from how he treats others. Do you understand? It's that kind of... I can't explain it, but it's just different anyway."

Li Meina was silent for a moment, then said, "That's good, then. That's good. Your cousin has been alone all these years, and his father and I have both been worried. If he really has found someone suitable, that's a good thing."

"Right!"

Cousin Zhang Fei rolled over. "That's why I said I had to tell you."

"You child, you're talking as if you've accomplished something great."

Cousin Zhang Fei giggled twice. "Auntie, then don't tell Cousin that I was the one who told you. If he finds out I'm reporting on him, he'll definitely be unhappy."

"I know, I know. You, just focus on your university studies and don't worry about family matters all day long."

The call ended, and Cousin Zhang Fei tossed her phone onto the pillow. Lying on her back and looking at the ceiling with a smile on her face, her eyelids began to droop after a while. The afternoon sunlight slanted in through a gap in the curtains, a thin beam falling onto the floor. It was extremely quiet.

Drowsily, she thought that her cousin's girlfriend looked quite pleasing to the eye, and hoped she was a reliable person.

Then she fell asleep.

The basement.

Hu Tian had already walked into the workshop.

Even though the workshop was on the first basement level of the villa, the ceiling was made of a full set of special UV-resistant, shatter-proof thick glass. The lighting was good, allowing the afternoon sun to shine in. The light was scattered, soft, and not blinding—perfect for fine work.

The workbench was custom-made, with a wide surface and a ring of anti-slip rubber strips around the edges. A dark velvet cloth was spread over the surface, and tools were arranged neatly on one side, varying in size and each with its own use.

The unfinished restoration work from yesterday was placed in the center of the workbench: twelve organized damaged vessels and about a dozen piles of porcelain shards.

Hu Tian sat down at the workbench and adjusted the angle of the desk lamp so the light fell right on the twelve damaged vessels, illuminating the details clearly.

He first put on thin cotton gloves and gently turned one of the damaged Prunus Vases. He carefully inspected the area he had treated yesterday under the light, confirming that the filling material had completely solidified and that the transition between the color and the porcelain body was natural with no obvious color difference before he felt at ease.

The second crack was longer than the first, extending from the shoulder of the vase all the way to the belly. The path was curved and required more care to handle.

Hu Tian took an extremely fine brush from the tool rack, dipped it in a small amount of prepared filler, and followed the path of the crack, filling it in bit by bit. His movements were extremely slow and steady, and his breathing was very light, as if he were afraid that a heavy breath would disturb something.

The room was very quiet, with only the occasional sound of leaves outside being moved by the wind—soft and intermittent.

In this silence, Hu Tian performed his task stroke by stroke. His expression was focused, his gaze steady, and his whole being seemed to merge with the surrounding air. There were no redundant movements and no unnecessary sounds.

He was very familiar with this state and liked it very much.

Restoration was different from treasure hunting.

Treasure hunting was outward-facing; it was about going out, discovering, and acquiring.

Restoration was inward-facing; it was about sitting down, having patience, and bit by bit, restoring a damaged item to its original appearance.

He liked both.

After completing the filling work on the second crack, Hu Tian put down the brush, stretched his fingers, and looked out the window. The angle of the sunlight had shifted; time had passed faster than he felt.

He stood up, walked to the window, poured a glass of water, took two sips, and then returned to the workbench to start handling the third crack.

The third one was the most troublesome. It was located on the bottom of the vase near the foot ring. The crack wasn't long, but it was deep, and a small piece of porcelain had fallen off during a previous collision, leaving a gap. It needed to be reshaped first, then colored, and finally aged. This part had the most steps and tested his patience the most.

Hu Tian took out the palette and began to mix colors bit by bit. He compared it repeatedly against the greenish-white of the porcelain body, making subtle adjustments until the mixed color was almost indistinguishable from the base color of the porcelain.

While doing this, he didn't think about anything else, focusing entirely on the task at hand and performing every step to the best of his ability.

The sunlight outside moved slowly, retreating from the eastern window. The light in the room gradually turned into an even, scattered glow—soft and quiet.

Under the light of the desk lamp, the greenish-white body of the Prunus Vase shimmered with a warm luster. Two of the three cracks had been treated, and the third was in progress. Bit by bit, it was being pulled back from its damaged state by Hu Tian's hands.

Time passed quickly.

Hu Tian looked back down at the Prunus Vase on the table.

As the lamp light shone down, the glaze of the vase shimmered with a warm luster. The three repaired cracks and gaps were now almost invisible. The filling material blended naturally with the original porcelain body, the lines were smooth, and there was no jarring sense of disconnection.

Just then, a familiar notification sound rang softly in his mind.

The system interface emerged, and the information bar updated automatically. Next to the entry for the Prunus Vase, the word "Damaged" quietly changed to "Restored."

Immediately following that, detailed information unfolded line by line—[Item Name: Qing Dynasty Imitation Qingbai Glazed Prunus Vase with Intertwining Lotus Pattern] [Era: Yongzheng Emperor Reign] [Kiln: Jingdezhen Kiln] [Shape: Prunus Vase, Mouth Diameter 3.2cm, Belly Diameter 18.7cm, Height 34.5cm]

[Glaze: Qingbai Glaze, lustrous glaze quality, strong glass-like texture, fine crackling in parts, restored]

[Decoration: Intertwining Lotus Pattern, smooth lines, spacious layout]

[Origin: Shipwreck Porcelain] [Restoration Rate: 99%] [Remarks: Due to long-term immersion in seawater, the glaze color is slightly paler than heirloom pieces from the same period and kiln; the tone is slightly less deep and heavy. Otherwise, no obvious defects; does not affect the overall condition or value assessment of the item.]

[Valuation: 1 million to 1.5 million range] After Hu Tian finished reading, he let out a soft breath.

99% was already the limit this item could currently reach.

That 1% was what the seawater had taken away, what hundreds of years of time had taken away—something that no restoration technology could ever fully compensate for.

He had already predicted the issue of the pale glaze when he first saw this Prunus Vase. Almost all Shipwreck Porcelain had this problem. Being immersed at the bottom of the sea for years caused the glaze surface to be eroded. That unique warm feeling of Southern Song Qingbai Glaze would be somewhat compromised, appearing slightly thinner and paler, lacking the heavy texture that heirloom pieces acquired after being tempered by time.

But that was all.

The shape was complete, the patterns were clear, and the two repaired cracks were no longer visible. Its overall condition among Shipwreck Porcelain made it a quite rare piece.

Hu Tian gently rotated the Prunus Vase once, finally glancing at the ring of Intertwining Lotus Patterns on the belly under the light. The lines stretched out around the body of the vase with well-spaced density. When the craftsman over two hundred years ago painted these strokes, they probably never imagined that this item would later sink to the bottom of the sea, and then later be recovered from the seabed by him to see the light once again in front of this workbench in a basement.

He placed the Prunus Vase back onto the velvet cloth, took off his gloves, turned to the page for this vase in his logbook, and neatly wrote today's date in the restoration progress column along with one word—Completed.

The clock on the desk pointed to 4:20 PM. It wasn't even 2:00 PM when he entered the workshop; in this one sitting, over two hours had passed.

Hu Tian flexed his wrists, stood up, carefully spread the velvet cloth over a tray, picked up the Prunus Vase steadily, and carried the tray toward the adjacent collection room.

The collection room had a faint scent of camphor wood mixed with the smell of desiccant. The room was kept at a constant temperature and humidity year-round, specifically prepared for these items.

One whole wall was lined with curio shelves, divided into layers and zones, arranged in an orderly fashion.

The zone on the far right was the Shipwreck Porcelain section he had just organized yesterday. Several cleaned vessels stood quietly on the shelf, their glaze colors all bearing that unique matte feel from seawater erosion. Placed next to heirloom pieces, the difference could be seen at a glance.