Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 60: What is Hidden, What is Revealed (4)

“Ruyo? What is it?”

Haejin could understand why Haecheol was asking with a frown. Ruyo, or Rugwanyo, was the kiln for porcelain that existed in the late Northern Song period.

Even though it wasn’t that hot, Jaepil was sweating while explaining.

“It is the first government kiln ran by the imperial court in China, it is one of the top five kilns in China. It can produce great porcelains. It is said that Ruyo had all of Song’s philosophy and beauty.”

It was easy to think that the Song dynasty was weak as it was destroyed by the Yuan dynasty but, in fact, Song was a powerful country. It stood against Mongol for more than forty years.

Additionally, during the Song period, the houses and stores were combined while merchants sold their things whenever they wanted instead of following the designated hours. Therefore, the culture developed greatly.

Commoners could enjoy boating and flower viewing that were only available to the nobles before the Song period.

Moreover, as even commoners frequently ate out, cuisine and ingredients started developing, and this brought about the development of porcelains.

Ruyo was the place where this Song Culture was concentrated.

“Khmm… so, it was made in such a great place? Well, I have no choice, we missed it… your appraising skills are great.”

“No, I was just lucky.”

Haejin was not being humble, he truly was lucky. If it hadn’t been for Taeju, he wouldn’t have recognized it, and its true identity would have been revealed later.

And for where the dish would go, it would have depended entirely on luck.

“It is a shame, but there’s nothing we can do.”

Haechoel nodded. He lightly hit Jaepil’s shoulder since his face was still dark.

“Forget about it. We have gotten many good things.”

“Yes, sir, but… the porcelain from Ruyo is…”

Jaepil shook his head with misery. This time, Yaerin spoke.

“How good is it for you to be so disappointed?”

Jaepil hesitated for a while. He met Haejin’s eyes who could only look away embarrassed. Jaepil then managed to talk.

“A while ago, a dish from Ruyo, just like this one, was sold at about forty billion in Hong Kong’s Christie’s Auction.”

At that moment, everyone gaped in shock. Haecheol realized what was really going on and looked at Haejin.

“This is that great? Enough to be worth forty billion? I cannot understand!”

Getting it would not make Haejin rich immediately. He couldn’t sell it. However, he had gotten a windfall.

That was why explaining this while enduring Haecheol’s glare was very embarrassing and sorry.

“First, as Mr. Oh just explained, Ruyo’s porcelain making technique is thought to be remarkably good. Especially their glazing skill is outstanding. If you look here closer, you can see the glaze that was applied with great care has gotten tiny cracks in time.”

Haecheol and Yaerin came closer and stared at the dish.

“This is also found in other porcelains.”

“Yes. However, the cracks in the other porcelains are random and uneven. However, porcelains from Ruyo have thick and very even cracks. Only celadon makers in Japan can make this crack pattern now.”

“Hmm… then, the craftsmen from Ruyo had this technique a thousand years ago.”

“Yes. The glaze itself was also applied with great technique. Most importantly, Ruyo existed for only about two decades because of the war. So, porcelains from Ruyo are very hard to find. They are very rare.”

“Huh… it was right in front of me, but I couldn’t find it. Yes, that’s how it works. Treasures only appear to those who are ready. It was in front of my eyes, but I couldn’t see it and let it go. Congratulations, your museum will be one of world’s greatest now.”

Actually, even without this Ruyo dish, Haejin’s museum would still be one of world’s greatest thanks to Picasso’s painting; however, having the dish and not having it was a great difference, so Haejin couldn’t help but feel satisfied.

“Thank you.”

“Yaerin, you pick the rest. I am tired. I should go now.”

It was more because of the sense of loss and disappointment rather than of tiredness. People from Yuseong dropped their heads and stepped back as they all knew it.

Jaepil’s and Yaerin’s faces were also very dark. Yaerin felt responsible about this happening even though she had made Haejin back down yesterday. She bit her lips and swept her hair up.

“When did you know that it was from Ruyo?”

It was of no use now, but she couldn’t help but get curious.

“I didn’t know, either. Then, one of my employees happened to find it, but I couldn’t be sure then as it hadn’t been cleaned yet. I was only sure yesterday evening, so I wasn’t being humble when I said I got lucky.”

Haejin meant it and Yaerin laughed.

“Haha, this is unfair. So, I could have gotten it if I had been more careful… it makes me angrier.”

“We have more than five thousand porcelains here. It is impossible to examine all of them in such a short time. Plus, it hasn’t been restored properly. So, you don’t have to blame yourself like that. Let’s continue.”

After that, they divided up the artifacts for seven hours. After the artifacts good enough to be national treasures and the normal treasures, they did the ‘from here to here is ours, and from there to there is yours’.

After dividing, they moved the artifacts immediately. To prepare for the unfortunate events that could potentially happen, they lighted up the place as if it was still morning and sent the artifacts to Seoul in special non-vibration trucks.

[Exclusive. Park Haejin Art Museum that opens in three days will exhibit a Picasso]

Haejin showed the Picasso to his employees a few hours before he showed it to the reporters. They almost fainted in excitement.

They would be able to see that Picasso as much as they wanted and working at a museum with Picasso’s painting would add an impressing line to their resume.

Picasso’s painting had been exhibited as special exhibitions a few times in Korea, but no museum or gallery had owned a Picasso, so its impact was great.

Additionally, as the news of Haejin working with Yuseong to recover more than five thousand celadons had been reported already, that impact got even bigger.

“I’m sorry. Please read the press release for details.”

“The director doesn’t give any interviews. No, I cannot tell you his phone number.”

“I said no. You can write articles with the press release. Our director will explain about it after the opening.”

As reporters kept calling, Haejin brought with him a few of the employees he had hired to restore the celadons from Taean. However, the phones in the office still kept ringing.

The interior construction had just been finished, so they had to work with the windows open to circulate air, although it was cold.

What the reporters wanted to know the most was where the Picasso was from. How Haejin had gotten it? He hadn’t revealed that yet, and only released the photos of the painting, so they were right to be curious.

Anyway, they were getting great attention even before the opening, so the staff worked with a smile even though they were busy.

Although they were working for excavation, it would be much better to work for a famous art museum for their own career.

However, a black cat snuck in through the open window. Everyone was so busy answering the phones that no one saw the cat.

It went through the open door of the office and went to the exhibition room. It moved without making any sound, it was like a ghost.

It stood in front of Picasso’s painting. It looked up at it and, the next moment, it lunged at the painting.

However, it hit the bulletproof glass and was thrown back. The alarm rang.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A red lamp on the ceiling rotated to announce the emergency.

“What? What is going on?”

“Where? Where?”

“Huh? It’s a cat! How did it get in?”

The staff and guard, who heard the alarm, came quickly and looked around to end up finding a black cat.

It looked at the painting again, ran to the office and went out through the window.

“Wow… we lost it. It’s really fast.”

They just stared at the window. Jisu then crossed her arms.

“Let’s check the CCTV first and open the window only a little. The air conditioners and air cleaners are working, so let’s endure it for today. I’ll tell the director.”

Jisu checked with the security guard and found that the criminal who sounded the alarm was really a cat. She then called Haejin with an uncomfortable feeling.

“Sir. There was a problem here. A cat came in and lunged at a painting and sounded the alarm. The painting is fine and so are the other artifacts. Yes, yes, okay.”

Jisu hung up. She frowned and looked at Picasso’s painting.

“A black cat… that’s creepy.”

At that moment, the black cat went to a man who was looking at Park Haejin Art Museum on a bench and jumped into his arms.

“Did you succeed?”

His voice had some expectations. The cat looked away. The man tutted.

“Well… it was stupid of me to expect something. He has that kind of painting and I was hoping he would keep it unguarded. I was crazy. I wanted to give him a gift before we meet, but I failed… I should just meet him, right?”

He stroked the cat’s head, got up, and walked away.

Sujeong and Haejin were eating together when Haejin got the call. He looked serious.

Sujeong then asked, “Why? Something has happened?”

“Huh? No. An alarm sounded at the museum, and it was a cat. Nothing serious.”

“Did they check the CCTV?”

“Yes, there’s nothing wrong.”

“That is not good. You should be more careful with the security. Hire more guards. You said you have two guards?”

“Yes. I should probably hire more. I must do that even if it costs me more.”

Haejin spoke as if it were nothing to him, but he was thinking that what just happened wasn’t just an accident.

He didn’t have any proof, but he felt like it was the organization that had come after him in Hong Kong…

It was funny to link a cat to a break-in but, strangely, his guts told him so.

He wasn’t afraid. As he had magic, he thought he would be able to escape one or two crises.

He just wondered why they were coming after him.

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