“This is a covered stone niche,” Shi Yun said.
Ah Long said, "It's not very big. Let's dig it out as a whole first."
Then the two dug out a square stone niche about 50 centimeters in diameter from the sand. Song Hao stepped forward and reached out, and the three of them lifted it out.
"What's inside?" Shi Yun asked, using a tool to pry open the stone cover by following a crack at the top of the niche.
Ah Long noticed the stone lid had moved. He reached out and moved it, revealing a pale blue, ordinary porcelain bowl.
"It's just a bowl! I thought it was some kind of treasure!" Ah Long shook his head in disappointment.
Song Hao was also quite surprised. He reached out and took it out, examining it closely. It was a celadon porcelain bowl with a simple and elegant design, devoid of any embellishment. It was 30 centimeters in diameter, larger than a typical rice bowl, and likely used for soup or dishes. The texture was extremely smooth and lustrous. What particularly struck Song Hao as odd was that, perhaps due to the dazzling light, the milky-white bowl seemed to contain something. Although it appeared empty, the air inside felt surprisingly dense.
"What's the purpose of burying a bowl in the ground of this main room?" Song Hao asked with slight surprise.
Shi Yun said, "It should be some kind of 'house-protecting' object, buried in the ground when this house was built. But I've heard of burying gold and silver, but never bowls. I once saw a tortoise used as a 'house-protecting' object at a construction site in Kunming. It must have been over a hundred years old, and it was still alive when it was dug out of the ground."
“A talisman to ward off evil spirits!” Song Hao nodded and said, “That makes sense, it must be for that purpose. But using a bowl seems a bit too light.”
"What, you've started digging up the floor of the main room?" Tang Yu walked in at this moment.
Song Hao held up the celadon bowl in his hand and laughed, "I've had a fruitful day; I dug up a porcelain bowl."
Upon seeing it, Tang Yu exclaimed in surprise, "It was dug out from here. Perhaps there were some special customs when this house was built hundreds of years ago, so they buried a bowl here. It should be considered an artifact."
Tang Yu then took it, examined it for a while, and smiled, "You know what, it looks ordinary, but the more you look at it, the more you like it. It has a special feeling. A Ming Dynasty celadon bowl should be worth some money. It would be a pity to sell it. Why don't we use it to serve soup for you?"
Song Hao laughed and said, "Forget it, you should just put it aside. Using something unearthed from the ground to serve food on the table will make people feel uncomfortable."
"Then let's use it to hold fruit. I just broke that fruit plate," Tang Yu said, taking the celadon bowl with her.
Song Hao, A Long, and Shi Yun filled the excavated sand and gravel back in, laid the stone bricks, and everything was back to normal. Their work for the day was now complete.
Several more days passed, and they dug up every place they thought might contain something, but still found nothing. The entire courtyard was left in a mess.
Disappointed, Song Hao returned to his room to rest. It was a pity that the old house had been designated as a cultural relic and was under protection; otherwise, they would have hired large excavation equipment to demolish the house and conduct a thorough search and excavation.
"Song Hao!" Tang Yu excitedly entered, carrying the celadon bowl.
"That's really strange! The grapes in this celadon bowl haven't spoiled or rotted even after three days. In this hot weather, most fruits would go bad overnight if left outside the refrigerator." Tang Yu said, placing the celadon bowl containing the bunch of grapes in front of Song Hao.
When Song Hao looked, the bunch of grapes in the celadon bowl looked as if they had just been washed, with water droplets still clinging to them. Knowing Tang Yu wouldn't joke like that, Song Hao exclaimed in surprise, "How could this be? Does this celadon bowl have a preservation function?!"
Tang Yu said, “The day you dug this bowl out of the ground, I washed it and prepared to use it to hold fruit. Then I remembered you said that eating things unearthed from the ground would make people feel uncomfortable, so I gave up on that idea. At that time, it already contained this bunch of grapes, which I casually put aside and forgot about. Now it's been three days, and the bunch of grapes haven't spoiled or rotted at all; they're still as fresh as ever. It's really strange, so I brought it to show you. This celadon bowl looks ordinary, but it has this special function, which is quite incredible. I think we should take it back to Kunming tomorrow and have an antique expert appraise it to see what kind of treasure it is.”
Song Hao nodded and said, "Alright, I think we can wrap up our work here for now. There's still a lot of work waiting for us at the Heavenly Medicine Hall, so we can't linger here too long. We've been out for too long, and we should head back. In the future, Ah Long and Shi Yun can continue searching here in their spare time. Since we can't find the 'Spirit Orchid Secret Manual' right now, let's not waste too much energy and time on it. We can do that work when we have time."
Tang Yu agreed, saying, "That's a good idea. Let's do it your way. I'll call Director Zhao now and ask him to find a cultural relics expert to appraise this celadon bowl for us when we return to Kunming."
Thirty-eight days to generate water
Song Hao then found Ah Long and Shi Yun and said to them, "It seems the search for those scriptures is proving difficult. I'm planning to go to Kunming with President Tang tomorrow and won't be coming back. We'll be heading back to Tianyi Hall afterwards. There's still a lot of work waiting for us there. So, let's not give up on the search here and keep going. This task is entrusted to you two, Ah Long and Shi Yun. Clean up first, and then go back to the Kunming office. When I get back to Kunming, I'll talk to Director Zhao and arrange for you two to take a few days off each month to continue the search and excavation. Consider this a major project, but I know it will be hard on you two. Tianyi Hall headquarters will allocate a special fund for you two to facilitate your search, which you can use as you see fit. Once you make any discoveries, please notify me immediately, and I'll come over shortly. So, are there any difficulties?"
“President Song, since you and President Tang trust Shi Yun and me, leave the follow-up work here to us. We’ll come over when we have free time. This time, we’ll start from the gate and dig inwards meter by meter. I refuse to believe we won’t find it,” Ah Long said.
Shi Yun said, "Don't worry, President Song, we'll turn this house upside down to find those scriptures."
Song Hao smiled and said, "Our target should be underground, so try not to damage the buildings on the surface. This is not something to rush; you can take your time searching. When I get back, I will set up a special line at Tianyi Hall to contact you two. No matter what progress you make, you must inform me in a timely manner. If your work is successful, it will be of great historical significance."
Ah Long said, "This is an important task entrusted to us by President Song and Tianyi Hall, and we will do our best to complete it. I've thought it over, and Shi Yun and I will relocate and search again, leaving no stone unturned. As long as those scriptures are indeed hidden in this house, we are confident that we will find them."
"Great!" Song Hao said happily, "If you encounter any difficulties, whether in your life or at work, please let me know in time, and Tianyitang will help you solve them. I am also happy that Tianyitang has such good employees as you."
Ah Long and Shi Yun exchanged a smile after hearing this.
The next morning, Song Hao and Tang Yu bid farewell to A Long and Shi Yun, took the celadon bowl, and drove back to Kunming.
"Director Zhao has already made arrangements. He's said to have invited a very famous old gentleman in the world of antique collecting, known as Old Master Dong. His collection is vast, enough to rival a nation's wealth. Moreover, he has extremely extensive knowledge of antiques; he can distinguish the authenticity and origin of anything he sees. This celadon bowl with its unique preservation function that we unearthed by chance will surely be known to Old Master Dong as well," Tang Yu said.
"It's just a strange porcelain bowl. Even if it has some cultural relic value, it's worth at most a few hundred thousand, or even a million or so," Song Hao said dismissively.
Tianyitang Kunming Office
In his office, Zhao Lida reported to Song Hao and Tang Yu: "This Mr. Dong is an extremely famous figure in the world of cultural relics collecting, especially in the field of cultural relic appraisal, where he is among the best in the country. However, in recent years he has intentionally faded out of the public eye and no longer conducts appraisals. Even when some high-ranking officials in the province and city asked Mr. Dong to appraise their collections, he politely declined. It's probably because there aren't many truly good items left, and he's afraid that common things would offend his eyes. Last night, after receiving a call from President Tang, I remembered that a friend had mentioned this person in the cultural relics world, so I asked a friend who knows Mr. Dong to introduce him to Mr. Dong to appraise an item for President Song. At first, he disagreed, but when he heard that it belonged to President Song of Tianyitang, he immediately agreed, saying that a long-standing ailment of his was cured by medicine produced by Tianyitang. He really gave President Song face. He'll be here soon; my friend has gone to pick him up."
Upon hearing this, Song Hao couldn't help but feel a little regretful, saying, "I didn't expect Director Zhao to invite such an authoritative expert for me. How can this be? We just dug up an ordinary porcelain bowl from the ground. We could have just asked any knowledgeable person to take a look. Now that we've invited Elder Dong, he'll laugh at us for making such a big fuss over a mere ordinary porcelain bowl. It would be disrespectful to him, which is very inappropriate. I think we should just let this matter drop."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Lida looked at Tang Yu with some difficulty.
Tang Yu smiled and said, "The person is already on their way. It would be impolite to refuse them now. Let Old Dong take a look. Tell him the truth: we accidentally dug up a celadon bowl from the ground, and out of curiosity, we invited him here. We have no other intentions."
Song Hao replied, "Alright!"
Just then, the sound of a car horn came from the courtyard outside the building. Zhao Lida looked out the window and exclaimed with delight, "They're here! Mr. Song, Mr. Tang, please wait a moment, I'll go greet them." With that, he hurried off.
Song Hao walked to the window and glanced downstairs. He saw a middle-aged woman get out of the car first, followed by a tall, thin elderly man in a Zhongshan suit. This elderly man must be Old Dong. Another middle-aged man got out of the car; he must be Zhao Lida's friend.
At this moment, Zhao Lida came out from inside the building to greet him, and his friend introduced them. Zhao Lida shook hands with Old Dong, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then welcomed him into the building.
Shortly after, footsteps sounded outside the door. Song Hao and Tang Yu opened the door to greet them.
"This is President Song and Vice President Tang from our Tianyitang clinic, and this is Elder Dong," Zhao Lida introduced them.
"Hello, Mr. Dong! I'm so sorry to have troubled you to come in person." Song Hao shook hands with Mr. Dong and said apologetically.
"Tianyitang uses medicine to help people and save lives, which is a virtuous act. I am also a beneficiary. Since President Song invited me, how could I dare not come?" Old Dong looked at Song Hao and nodded in agreement.
"Mr. Dong, you flatter me!" Song Hao said humbly. He then invited the group to sit down inside.