Hearing her husband's words, Ye Xiaoer, who was cooking, poked her head out of the kitchen with an apron on, looking at her husband with suspicion:
"I don't know either. When I came back, everyone who usually never talked to me started talking, and I was just as confused about it."
Putting his briefcase on the shoe cabinet, Father Lin also squeezed into the kitchen, helping Mother Lin while chatting about this matter.
However, after talking for a while, neither of them could figure out what was going on.
As for our subject, Lin Yi, he was busy at his desk in his room at the moment.
On the desk, there was a big pile and several small piles of various broken porcelain pieces, and what Lin Yi was doing was trying to sort out the pieces from approximately the same period.
But since he got back, hours had passed, and all Lin Yi managed was to separate the blue and white fragments.
As for whether they're from the same period or the same type of porcelain, he didn't know.
Even so, Lin Yi was exhausted, mainly because some pieces were so blank you couldn't see any patterns on them.
So Lin Yi had no way to distinguish what those items were.
"Damn! This isn't human work!"
Especially after angrily tossing aside a grayish-white porcelain piece in frustration, Lin Yi couldn't help but halt his actions.
He rubbed his somewhat aching head, murmuring exasperatedly.
It was just then, with a squeak, that Lin Yi's door was pushed open from the outside, and his dad walked in:
"What are you doing? It's so quiet, your mom and I thought you were sleeping. Are you studying? Why are you cramming at the last minute like this? Hey, stop studying, come out and eat. Eh?? What's all this on your desk? Porcelain pieces? Where on earth did you get so many broken porcelain bits?"
At first glance, seeing Lin Yi at his desk, Father Lin thought the rascal was cramming, but when he got closer, he realized he was fiddling with porcelain, and Father Lin was speechless.
I knew it, how could this kid possibly be so diligent in studying? Turns out he's messing with this stuff.
"Hey? Wait a minute, weren't you the one who hated this stuff the most? Every time I asked you to go with me to Antique City, you were always so reluctant?"
Seeing his dad notice it, Lin Yi awkwardly chuckled:
"Well, I'm just thinking that my dad's hobby shouldn't be lost with me. Haha, since you're an 'expert' in this field, surely my dad won't be stumped by this."
What started as a joke suddenly enlightened Lin Yi. If he couldn't sort them out, it didn't matter. His dad, who had been studying porcelain shards for over ten years, was right here.
With dad's help, sorting these porcelain pieces should be a piece of cake, right?
Sure enough, after hearing Lin Yi's flattery, Father Lin, attracted to the porcelain shards, immediately walked over to the desk and looked down.
"Well, you have quite an eye for recognizing your dad's expertise in this area. Not to boast, but my level of expertise isn't that far off from those so-called experts!"
After a short pause, Father Lin sighed and said:
"Ah, but it's a pity, my carefully acquired box of Yuan Dynasty blue and white fragments was hidden by your mom again. Otherwise, I'd show you what a real treasure is!"
Saying this, Father Lin pulled out a pair of white gloves from his pajama pocket and put them on.
Just this level of dedication, keeping gloves in his pajamas, showed Father Lin's obsession with the matter.
However, listening to his words, Lin Yi couldn't help but snicker.
That box of Yuan Dynasty blue and white fragments wasn't hidden by his mom; it had been decomposed and reassembled by the system...
Of course, since his mom was taking the blame, Lin Yi was relieved.
As long as Lao Lin hasn't had too much to drink, he definitely wouldn't dare to bother Empress Dowager Ye.
Thunk~
While Lin Yi was secretly amused, he suddenly felt a knuckle flick on his forehead, making him wince in pain.
Before he could respond, he heard his dad's bitterly disappointed voice scolding:
"You little brat, can't you learn something useful for once? What are you doing here? Sorting?"
Seeing his dad's expression as if he was about to hit him, Lin Yi resisted the urge to call for Empress Dowager Ye's help, and, rubbing the back of his head in grievance, said:
"Ouch, Dad, I'm about to take the college entrance exam! If I don't score well, it'll be your fault! I put the pieces with the same color patterns together. Didn't I do a good job? There's nothing wrong, right?"
Hearing this, Father Lin was utterly speechless. He picked out five differently sized fragments from the pile Lin Yi had sorted as 'blue and white' and pointed them out:
"This is what you sorted out? It's nothing! Look, the colors and pattern styles don't match. This one and this one are clearly Qing Dynasty craftsmanship, and this one and these two are clearly from the Republic of China."
Continuing, Father Lin picked out three pieces from the Republic period and pointed to a slightly larger fragment, explaining:
"And look at this, from the curve of the fragment and the exposed part of the pattern, it's clearly from a large vase, while the other two are obviously small bowls or plates!"
Listening to his dad's explanation, Lin Yi was dumbfounded and internally regretted wasting an afternoon's time!
He should've just given these two bags of porcelain shards to his father to sort in the first place. What a blunder!
Despite his inner lament, he couldn't resist giving his father a thumbs-up, and with a face full of admiration, he said:
"Wow, you can tell immediately if someone's an expert. I knew my dad was an expert in this field; it truly lives up to the name! Looks like I have a lot to learn. I've decided to observe carefully how Dad distinguishes these porcelain pieces tonight!"
Knowing full well that his son was pulling his leg, Father Lin nonetheless found it flattering, chuckling as he patted Lin Yi's shoulder, laughingly saying:
"Well, you can teach a willing kid. Wait a minute! You little brat, are you tricking your old man into working for free?"
...
[To be continued...]