Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 30: Artifact of the Treasure Ship (4)

The pieces of the porcelain flew in every direction.

Haecheol and Gangmin looked at Haejin with rage and shock.

“Oh, oh no…”

Sujeong didn’t know what to do, she just stood there awkwardly. Haejin showed Haecheol the mouth of the porcelain.

“Look here.”

“Khmm…”

Haecheol was heated up as if he was going to start yelling at any moment, but he studied the porcelain piece Haejin showed him. He was mad, but he also wanted to know why Haejin had done that first.

“Can you see it? There has to be a letter written there…”

“A letter… huh? What is this? Is it Zhang(长)?”

“Let me see, too.”

Haejin turned the porcelain piece and looked at the inner side. Just as he thought, the past he had seen through the magic was right. There was a letter, Zhang, written on the inner side of the mouth of the bottle.

“Hmm… it is there. Can you now see why it is fake?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a fake because there is a letter written inside?”

“If it was just a letter, it wouldn’t be a problem. However, this letter is simplified Chinese.”

Haecheol saw it now. He turned to Gangmin like a flash.

“Simplified Chinese… why is simplified Chinese engraved here?”

Simplified Chinese was made by the Communist Party of China. It wouldn’t be on a porcelain of the Song period.

“I-I…”

Gangmin was also shocked. He hurried to get the mouth part of the broken porcelain and looked at the inner side. Then, he staggered back. He had found the letter.

“You saw it, right?”

“I-I didn’t know! I am so sorry. But, but I didn’t know, I swear. I was fooled, too!”

Gangmin knelt down on that spot.

Haecheol didn’t say anything, he just stared at Gangmin for a long time. Then, he picked up a piece of the porcelain and opened his mouth.

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“It was a fake… I never got to see my wife’s hair turn white and her face get wrinkles. And it was a fake…”

His voice was full of grief.

“You should send it to England, just in case. The results would come out in a month.”

“No. It’s not like the letter was written by a pen. It was engraved on the inside, so it was etched when the porcelain was made. But how did you know that? Even Oh Jaepil couldn’t tell me it was a fake.”

It was a delicate forgery that would have fooled Haejin if he didn’t have magic, so he could understand why Oh Jaepil was fooled.

“Yes. It is a truly delicate forgery. I almost believed that it was real.”

Making fake porcelain is nothing like imitating a painting. The locations of the kilns like Gyeongdukjinyo, Yongcheonyo, and Giljuyo were important because each kiln had a different cultural uniqueness, but more importantly, the soil was different.

The soil of each region has different elements like iron, manganese, phosphorus and magnesium, so the porcelains made in each kiln were different, even if they were baked at the same temperature.

Some soil melt at 1000°C, some melt at 1200°C, some had iron, some have a good color. The shape and the color depended on how these soils were mixed.

Recreating a porcelain of Giljuyo so perfectly, that even experts got confused, meant the forger had used the exact mixture of soil and glaze that was used at Giljuyo all those years ago. The forger also had to know the exact shape of the heel of a Song porcelain and the exact temperature to bake that porcelain.

In conclusion, forging porcelains of great quality required an enormous amount of time and effort that no individual would dare to try.

“And?”

“I saw the trace of the maker of Giljuyo forgeries with the shape of the heel.”

He was lying. He had been sure it was a fake because he saw a man making that forgery through magic, and he saw him engraving his last name. From that, he got the only way to convince Haecheol that it was a fake.

You might wonder why would anyone leave a trace when making a fake, but making fakes is something that only extremely skilled craftsman could do. It was craftsman’s desire to leave one’s trace, even though on a fake.

However, Haejin suddenly wondered. How many fake porcelains did the man he saw through magic made? Probably more than one, and all those would be in museums and galleries as reals now.

Haejin had a feeling that he was not done with that Zhang and his porcelains.

“I guess his last name is Zhang?”

“I don’t know his first name, either. Only his last name. Breaking the porcelain revealed his mark.”

“What would you have done if it wasn’t there?”

“Look at the pieces. If the porcelain was really made in the Song period and used as a water bottle, it should have dark water marks.”

Haecheol took another look at the piece in his hand. His eyes widened.

“I see. There is no mark, as if it was made as an ornament. It also has no trace of time, unlike the outer side.”

“Well, in case you didn’t accept it, there was one last way. You said you were going to send it to England, anyway. The results will come out in a month, so I was going to wait.”

“Huh… you are bold. Good. I shall finish with you first and take care of the rest.”

Haejin didn’t bother to ask what that rest was. He didn’t want to get involved in a troublesome event, and he thought Haecheol would not kill a man like in the movies.

He would probably send Gangmin to jail for fraud.

“I will judge it as a bottle made at Giljuyo of the Song period. As you know, there are few artifacts of Giljuyo left now. As it is not a common teacup but a flower pattern bottle with a unique pattern, its value is special.”

“So, how much is it?”

“If it were real, I think it would be worth a billion.”

“A billion… not as expensive as I thought.”

“Although there are only a few of them, ceramics of Giljuyo are not that preferred. Most people like celadons and white porcelains.”

“I see. Okay. Then go. My employee will give you the money.”

“Thank you. It has been a pleasant experience.”

“Me too… it is a little expensive, but I am satisfied to know a talented man like you. And…”

“Yes?”

Haecheol straightened his index, hesitated, and added.

“When you see my granddaughter later, be nice to her. Think of it as included in today’s fee.”

“Haha, I will.”

Haecheol didn’t mean as a man and woman relationship. He meant not to humiliate Yaerin too much when Haejin met her with Eunhae.

They left the hotel. Yang Jeongjin, who had been waiting, came after them.

“The chairman told me. Please come with me, the car is waiting.”

“To where?”

“Haha, you should get your money. We just heard how much it is, so we need time to prepare. I will take you somewhere quiet. Please wait there a little and I will get you the cash.”

“Oh… okay. Let’s go.”

They followed Yang to a small building. Yang then told them to wait at the parking lot. Soon after, he brought a small suitcase and gave it to Haejin.

“For last, please forget what happened today.”

“Please tell him it has been my pleasure.”

“I will.”

They left the parking lot. Sujeong, who was sitting in the passenger seat, yelled, “Wow! Three hundred million! Look here, there are so many fifty thousand notes!”

“If I had known this. I should have worked as an appraiser instead of working as a construction worker to convince my father. I would have earned a lot and told him that he didn’t have to rob graves. I was too stupid.”

“How could anyone think that antique appraiser could earn so much? Appraisers usually don’t earn this much, even in Europe. You are special.”

To think about it, if Haejin had become an appraiser then, he wouldn’t have earned like now. He didn’t have his magic back then.

“You are right.”

Haejin drove with a smile on his face. Sujeong then asked seriously, “What are you going to do with all this money? My dream is to become the best artifact restorer in Korea, but judging from the fee, you are already the best appraiser in Korea.”

At first, Haejin just thought about earning a lot. Although he used to see countless artifacts abroad, when he came back, he had to live in a small home and had to often move around lest someone find him or his father.

He once won a beautiful lady in Hongdae while driving a construction truck, but he still envied others who drove sports cars and he sometimes couldn’t date a girl because of his not-so-bright future.

However, since he started to earn a lot in just a few days, he couldn’t stop thinking about what he should do with that money. Become the best appraiser in the world, get wealth and honor, then what should he do?

“I am going to do something wonderful.”

“Something wonderful?”

“I want to build an art museum named after myself. A big art museum.”

“Oho… well, you grew up watching artifacts, so you must think differently. Hmm… do you want to be like Jeon Hyeongpil?”

Jeon Hyeongpil sold everything he had to collect artifacts and keep them so that they wouldn’t be taken to Japan during the Japanese colonial era.

Most of the artifacts he collected were national treasures, including paintings of Kim Hongdo, Kim Jeonghui, Shin Yoonbok and Kim Jeonghui.

“Similar, but a little different. I want to be like Anna Maria Luisa.”

Sujeong was surprised. She widened her eyes and raised her voice.

“Wow! You are going to make Uffizi? Wow… well, a man should have that kind of dream. You will have to earn a lot, Haejin.”

Anna Maria Luisa was the heiress of Medici family who made the Uffizi Gallery, the best gallery in the world during the Renaissance period. Strictly speaking, Haejin wasn’t going to be like her since she was just born rich. Haejin, however, had great abilities.

“Yes. I am going to earn a lot. I am also going to build an art museum and name it after me, just like Anna Maria Luisa built the Uffizi. The best art museum in Korea. I am, however, not going to donate like Anna Maria. She could do that because she was the heiress of a great family, but I started empty- handed. Everything I buy is mine.”

“Then, the three hundred million you just earned is not that big. If you earn like this, building a museum would be hard, even if you try hard till you die.”

That might really happen. So, Haejin couldn’t build an art museum by earning money. Unless he excavated himself…

“Yeah…”

Ziiiiing…

When Haejin was about to reply, he got a call. He put in the earphones and answered. He heard Eunhae’s bright voice.

“Mr. Haejin! Are you busy now?”

“No, I finished a case and going back now.”

“Oh, then could you stop by at my gallery? I bought the painting from your uncle, and I think that was an excellent choice. The exhibition will be great! I also have something to show you before the exhibition starts tomorrow, so…”

“Okay. I am free now, so I’ll be there.”

It wasn’t about money. It was a natural instinct, the desire of watching a good exhibition. They stopped at a bank to deposit the money and went to the galley. People were going around in a hurry for the exhibition.

“You’re here!”

Eunhae greeted Haejin in a white blouse and a silk long skirt with colorful patterns.

“I can feel the exhibition tomorrow. This is exactly how the mood was before the inspection when I was in army…”

“Hahaha! Right? This way, please…”

Haejin was about to follow her to her office when he saw two employees carefully moving a painting.

However, that painting caught Haejin’s eyes.

“How much is that?”

“Huh?”