Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1107 SCHUNK, Wei's Treasured Collection (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

According to the dialect, the box is printed with the German brand logo "SCHUNK".

He asked Wei Ziyu:
"Can you open it and take a look?"

Wei Ziyu paused, then said:

"It's best to open it in a dust-free environment, otherwise it's more likely to break."

"Oh, right!" Fang Yan realized this as well. These instruments were indeed like that, with very high requirements for the operating environment, and the components inside were not very durable.

So the maintenance of this thing will probably be tough in the future. Of course, it's also a token of their goodwill, and Fang Yan has no reason to complain. Plus, they need this kind of thing right now. When Isabella, whom Li Chengzhu brought back, sees this, she will have even more faith in Fang Yan and his team's professionalism.

Fang Yan nodded and thanked Wei Ziyu:
"Thank you so much, Mr. Wei, for the gift. It has been a great help to us."

Wei Ziyu smiled and said to Fang Yan:

"Haha, it's nothing. I also brought technicians to debug the machines, who can teach the relevant personnel how to use them."

Fang Yan said to him:
“You’re thoughtful.”

Wei Ziyu said to Fang Yan:

"We also plan to invest in building a factory here in China. We will definitely need to deal with Dr. Fang again. Please take good care of us in the future."

After thinking for a moment, Fang Yan said:

"I am duty-bound to address issues related to traditional Chinese medicine."

The two chatted for a while longer before Xie Chunrong returned, this time bringing the dean with him.

After a brief exchange with Fang Yan and Wei Ziyu, the hospital director took the family to the rehabilitation department.

There are still relatively few people in the rehabilitation department, and there are still rooms available, so we arranged for them to stay not far from where Lao Hu and the others were staying, which can ensure their privacy.

With these arrangements made, Fang Yan's morning consultations with overseas Chinese businesspeople were considered complete.

The other clinics outside were also bustling with patients. Fang Yan made a phone call to Zeng Luquan to have someone take the equipment away, and then he could communicate with the technicians here.

When Zeng Luquan heard the brand SCHUNK on the phone, he said he would use it.

I used the older model of this machine when I was abroad before, so the new model shouldn't be much different.

He will come to pick up the machine in a little while. Fang Yan agreed as soon as he heard the news. As expected of someone who has lived abroad for so long, he is indeed in line with international standards in this regard.

After arranging things here, Fang Yan returned to his clinic, packed up the gifts, and found that there were quite a few gifts today since the equipment was first turned on.

Hao Shouchang gave me a Rolex Datejust two-tone watch in gold and steel, Shen Jiaju's cousin gave me a jade seated golden statue of the Medicine King Bodhisattva and a South Sea pearl necklace, and Mr. Wei, a car dealer from Hong Kong, gave me a box that he said was "a small token of my appreciation," but Fang Yan hasn't opened it yet.

Before Zeng Luquan arrived and before anyone outside came looking for him, Fang Yan placed the box on the table, then unlocked the clasp and opened the box.

Inside the opened box were a pair of blue and white porcelain vases.

Each bottle is about 30 centimeters tall, with an everted rim like a lotus petal. Two string patterns are faintly visible at the constricted neck. The body is round like a full moon, and the foot is slightly everted. Because of the golden sword on the roof beam at home, Fang Yan had read a lot about antiques in Le Miao's books for a while (see Chapter 168). This is a typical Kangxi period "Guanyin bottle" shape.

The bottle features the theme of "Lotus vines supporting the Eight Auspicious Symbols". The lotus vines meander like dragons, and each lotus leaf is dyed in different shades of blue using the "water-dividing method". The tips of the leaves are left white to form natural highlights, as if they are covered with morning dew.

The eight auspicious symbols, such as the Dharma wheel, conch shell, and parasol, are distributed among the lotus branches. The parasol's canopy has lines as fine as hair, and each parasol cord is painted with thick brushstrokes, forming recessed "rust spots" under the glaze.

Generally, identifying this kind of antique requires looking at various details. The broken branches of flowers inside the lotus petals, and the purplish-black crystalline spots that show through the tips of the petals are the unique cobalt material. This is the "five colors of ink" effect that was naturally formed when the "Zhejiang material" was used to paint, because the cobalt material has a high manganese and iron content.

Looking at the bottom of the bottle, Fang Yan touched the bottom and felt that the foot was neatly trimmed, with a smooth, rounded "loach back" shape. Fine "knife marks" could be seen where the body was exposed on the bottom of the foot. These were natural marks left by tools used during the trimming of the body in the Kangxi period.

The body is as hard as stone, and the exposed areas are slightly yellowish, which is the "firestone red" formed by long-term oxidation.

Within a double circle at the center of the base, the six-character inscription "Made in the Kangxi Reign of the Great Qing Dynasty" in regular script is written in cobalt blue. The strokes begin slightly heavier and end lightly, especially the "Guang" radical of the character "Kang," where the initial and final strokes are like iron nails driven into wood—a characteristic "iron-wire" brushwork of Kangxi imperial kiln marks. The glaze around the mark is slightly concave, creating a "sunken" effect, a natural result of the glaze melting and flowing at high temperatures.

The bottle was wrapped in yellowed cotton paper with a vermilion stamp of "Hong Kong Baochangxing" printed on it, the edges of which were worn into rough edges.

The velvet lining features a subtle lotus pattern, the color of which has faded from the original royal blue to a deep purple, revealing the linen lining underneath.

Fang Yan remembered the boxes in the Miao family's house, so he flipped through them again and found a yellowed note in a hidden compartment at the bottom of the box. It was written in traditional Chinese characters:

"A pair of Kangxi blue and white porcelain vases with lotus scrolls and eight auspicious symbols, purchased from Chen Ji Antique Shop in Guangzhou in 1934."

The inscription is stamped with an oval-shaped seal that reads "Wei Family Collection," the ink of which has oxidized to a dark brown.

It's a collection from Old Wei's warehouse.

In addition, next to the note was a horn magnifying glass, with the words "Made by Shanghai Jingyi Glasses Company" engraved on the edge of the lens. On the dark brown horn handle, two lines of vertical characters were engraved in tiny regular script: "Presented to my esteemed brother Huiqing for his elegant enjoyment, by your younger brother Wei Zhongfu in the early summer of the year Yichou."

"Early Summer of the Year of Yichou"?
According to Fang Yan's calculations, it should be May 1925, which was around the time of the Guangzhou Merchant Corps Incident.

In other words, this thing is also an old item.

"Knock knock knock!" Just then, there was a knock on the door.

A voice came from the doorway:
"Director! I'm here!"

Fang Yan snapped out of her daze, put down the magnifying glass and bottle, and replied:
"coming!"

When the door was opened, Zeng Luquan and Professor Jin Shiyuan were both at the door.

"Professor Jin is here too?!" Fang Yan was somewhat surprised.

Professor Jin Shiyuan said:
"I didn't have classes this morning, so I was at the research institute discussing process improvements with Lu Quan. Then I heard you had something good here, so I came over to check it out."

Dialect greetings:

"Alright, come in!"

Upon entering, Professor Jin noticed the porcelain vase on the table and exclaimed in surprise:

"Wow, a Guanyin vase!"

He asked in dialect:

"This was a gift from an overseas Chinese businessman today. Professor Jin plays with these too?"

Professor Jin Shiyuan said:
"No, no, no, when I was an apprentice, my master liked to collect these things. He had quite a collection at home, but unfortunately, they were all taken away later..."

He felt a little regretful about it.

At this moment, Zeng Luquan saw the instrument case on the ground and said:

"Senior brother, don't look at that one, this is the real good stuff."

"This is the instrument I told you about... the one that gives results shortly after you put the stuff in. Look, it's the latest model! It's less than two months old, it's incredibly new."

Professor Jin Shiyuan walked over, looked at it, nodded, and said:
"I don't know how to use this thing either, you'll have to operate it."

Zeng Luquan said excitedly:

"Okay, let's hurry up and take the things back. Let's try using them today. Maybe we can overcome the difficulties today."

PS: I've gained another 100 monthly votes, so I currently owe you 39000 words after finishing this chapter.

There will be more in the afternoon
(End of this chapter)