Old Harden, can you handle having your vision-shifting abilities on all the time?

As the two were chatting, a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue Chinese-style jacket walked over.

"Mr. Zhou, who is this?"

The man looked at Xu Xing with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Oh, Lao Liu, let me introduce you."

Zhou Zhihai quickly introduced, "This is Xu Xing, a master porcelain restorer at the Chengxinzhai Restoration Center, and the restorer of the Qianlong celestial globe vase I mentioned to you."

He then turned to Xu Xing: "Mr. Xu, this is Mr. Liu Jianguo, the chairman of Yanbei Henglong Group and a top porcelain collector in China."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jianguo's eyes flashed with surprise, and he immediately extended his hand: "Engineer Xu, I've heard so much about you! I've seen the video of your restoration of that Qianlong celestial globe vase; it was simply divine skill!"

"Mr. Liu, you flatter me."

Xu Xing shook hands with him.

"It's not a compliment, it's the truth."

Liu Jianguo said sincerely, "I have been in the porcelain collecting industry for more than 20 years and have seen many restoration masters, but I have never seen anyone who can restore doucai and famille rose porcelain to that level like Xu Gong."

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Mr. Xu, if I ever need any damaged equipment repaired in the future, I'll have to trouble you."

"Mr. Liu, you're too kind. Please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

Xu Xing smiled.

The three chatted for a while longer before Liu Jianguo took his leave to say goodbye to the other collectors.

Zhou Zhihai then pulled Xu Xing along and continued to stroll through the exhibition hall.

"XCMG, today's exchange meeting is divided into two parts."

As Zhou Zhihai walked, he introduced, "In the morning, there is an exhibition and exchange of collections. In the afternoon, there will be a small auction. The items for auction are all exquisite pieces collected from all over the country, and the quality is very good."

"Oh? What items are up for auction?"

Xu Xing became interested.

"I've already looked at the detailed list of auction items, and there are a few that are really good."

Zhou Zhihai lowered his voice and said, "There is a Ming Yongle blue and white plum vase with a sea dragon design, in excellent condition, with a starting bid of 30 million."

Another piece, a pair of enamel-painted Western-figure-decorated vases from the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, has a starting bid of 28 million.

There were also several other paintings and calligraphic works, all by renowned artists.

After listening, Xu Xing secretly made some calculations in his mind.

Each of these three lots is a top-tier masterpiece. Although acquiring even one of them would greatly enhance his collection, the competition at this level of auction is sure to be fierce.

With his current financial resources, it would be very difficult for him to compete with those big collectors with assets of billions.

Moreover, there's really no need to spend a high price to bid for such an important piece of equipment.

"Let's see how things go then."

Xu Xing made up his mind.

The two strolled around the exhibition hall for a while longer. Xu Xing saw many rare treasures that are not usually seen, and also got to know several well-known collectors and experts in the field.

The morning's exhibition and exchange session concluded in a harmonious atmosphere.

At noon, the organizers arranged a buffet lunch in the banquet hall of the convention center.

The dishes were exquisite and varied, and Xu Xing was very satisfied with his meal.

The auction officially began at 2 PM.

The auction hall is located on the second floor of the convention center and can accommodate more than 200 people.

Xu Xing and Zhou Zhihai sat down together in the front row.

The auctioneer was a seasoned auctioneer in his fifties, dressed in a navy blue suit, with a loud and magnetic voice.

"Distinguished guests, welcome to the auction session of this art exchange event. I am your auctioneer today, Ma Hui. I hope you all can successfully bid on your desired items."

After a brief opening, the first item was brought out for auction.

It is a Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period famille rose bowl with overglaze floral design, in excellent condition, with a starting bid of 1.8 million.

It was eventually acquired by a collector from Shanghai for 2.6 million yuan.

The following items also had their own highlights, with prices ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions.

Xu Xing remained silent, simply watching the spectacle.

About an hour later, the auctioneer's voice suddenly rose a few decibels.

"Next up is one of today's highlights: a Ming Yongle blue-and-white porcelain plum vase with a sea dragon design!"

When the plum vase was brought out, the atmosphere in the entire auction hall instantly became heavy.

All eyes were on the porcelain piece.

The vessel is dignified and elegant, with rich and deep blue-and-white glaze and a majestic dragon and sea pattern. Every detail showcases the pinnacle of Yongle imperial kiln craftsmanship.

"This plum vase is in excellent condition and has a clear provenance. It is a top-quality piece that is very rare on the market in recent years."

"The starting bid is 30 million, and each bid must be at least 100,000 higher."

"Please begin bidding!"

The first mini-climax of the auction has arrived.

Numerous collectors and business owners made bids, and the final transaction price was 53.9 million.

Although Xu Xing has a lot of money now, it still hurts a bit for him to spend more than 50 million yuan to buy an item at auction.

After this auction frenzy, a relatively calm period followed.

"The next item is a Qing Dynasty Jiaqing period imperial court-made Hetian white jade antique-style ewer cup, with a starting price of one million yuan and each bid increment of no less than 1 yuan."

"Please begin the bidding."

This antique-style ewer-shaped wine cup has an oval body, an open mouth with a spout, and a short foot.

It also features animal head handles and carved ring handles made from a single piece of material. The proportions of the vessel are dignified and graceful, and the lines are concise and smooth.

It retains the solemnity of bronze ritual vessels while also possessing the elegant texture of jade.

It uses a single-material, movable ring engraving technique, where the movable ring is integrally formed with the cup wall. The ring is round and the gaps are uniform, allowing it to move freely without any sticking.

Meanwhile, the inside of the cup is clean and smooth, and the wall thickness is uniform and regular. These two points are difficult to replicate in ordinary counterfeit products.

The material used is a high-quality Hetian white jade, with a delicate and warm texture and a rich, oily feel.

It also has a small amount of naturally formed reddish-brown staining, which penetrates along the surface and inside of the jade texture, with a smooth transition between light and dark shades and a rich, natural patina.

There are no obvious signs of artificial aging caused by chemicals.

It is indeed a rare and exquisite piece.

However, with Xu Xing's X-ray vision, he discovered something unusual.

This antique-style ewer cup is not a single piece; rather, the thick base was deliberately divided into two sections during the carving process, with a small cavity carved out inside.

The gluttonous texture on the surface is used to conceal the bonding lines and re-bond them into one piece.

Inside the cavity was a fine imperial green jade thumb ring!