Chapter 028: A Wolf's Ambition?
Zhou Zhongdang laughed heartily, “Good!”
“I like young people like you who are both low-key and talented. You truly please me!”
“Come, come, come!”
“Mr. Lin, please follow me to the study. I’ve prepared a few rare antique treasures to test your discernment. Let’s exchange appraisal techniques and learn from each other.”
“Uncle Zhou, you are a Master of Appraisal. To say you’re exchanging appraisal techniques with a junior like me is too flattering. Please give me more guidance.”
Lin Lang followed Zhou Zhongdang’s steps, moving towards Zhou Zhongdang’s exclusive study on the first floor of the Zhou Residence Villa.
Zhou Mengyao went with them, following behind her father and Lin Lang, wanting to go to her father Zhou Zhongdang’s study together, but her mother Zhuang Jingxue quietly held her back.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
Zhuang Jingxue whispered, “Mengyao, your father has never admired a junior in the antique appraisal industry so much. It seems he’s considering taking Lin Lang as a disciple.”
“Isn’t it a good thing that my father has finally found a beloved disciple and taken Lin Lang as a teaching apprentice, ensuring the Zhenbao Pavilion has a successor?”
Zhuang Jingxue, however, sighed and replied with a hint of worry, “Mengyao, don’t think Mom can’t see your little thoughts. When you were in high school, you had a crush on Lin Lang, your deskmate and the school heartthrob.”
“Now that Lin Lang is surrounded by wealth, transforming from a dashing young man into a refined, handsome, and talented individual, I’m afraid your long-buried feelings for Lin Lang are rekindling, aren’t they?”
Zhou Mengyao replied with a flushed face, “Mom, I know you secretly read my high school diary. I did secretly like Lin Lang back then, but that was just a girl’s first stirrings of love.”
“What’s the point of bringing up old memories of your daughter’s blossoming affections now?”
Zhuang Jingxue replied bluntly, “Lin Lang’s dark eyes are very clear, but when I looked directly at him, I saw that his cunning was unfathomable. He is a deeply hidden, ambitious man.”
“If this person walks the righteous path, his future will certainly be bright and promising.”
“But if Lin Lang goes astray and takes the wrong path, then with his cunning, scheming, and emotional intelligence, if your father takes him as a teaching apprentice, and you fall in love with this kid and insist on marrying him, the consequences would be unimaginable!”
Zhou Mengyao frowned slightly upon hearing this and weakly said, “Mom, you’re not afraid that our Zhou Family’s generations of accumulated family fortune and assets will be taken over by Lin Lang, are you?”
In traditional thinking, only sons could pass on the lineage, so families without sons were called “extinct households.”
AI generated beautiful image of Zhou Mengyao
What Zhou Mengyao meant by ‘taking over an extinct household’ here refers to the act of possessing or dividing the property of a family without a son, because Zhou Mengyao is the only daughter of the Zhou Family.
Zhuang Jingxue nodded with a solemn expression, sighing, “Daughter, you are too kind and lack cunning and depth, so naturally, you don’t understand the stakes involved.”
“If your father truly takes Lin Lang as a disciple, imparting all his appraisal skills is fine, and it’s also harmless if Lin Lang borrows our Zhou Family’s social connections in Shanghai.”
“What I’m afraid of is that you and Lin Lang will develop feelings over time, but he isn’t genuinely fond of you. Instead, he’s meticulously planning to marry you, this silly girl, to gain control of our Zhou Family’s vast fortune. At that time, wouldn’t our esteemed Zhou Family’s billions in assets fall into other hands and change their surname to Lin?!”
Zhou Mengyao laughed upon hearing this, “Mom, Lin Lang and I haven’t even gotten started yet! You’re thinking too far ahead, aren’t you?”
Zhuang Jingxue replied, “Your mother is the third-generation eldest daughter-in-law of the esteemed Zhou Family in Shanghai. What kind of world hasn’t your mother seen?”
“Your mother is also the Vice President of the Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai. I’ve met countless people and have unique insight. If I didn’t have the ability to discern people and situations, could I have married into an esteemed family back then and won your father’s favor?”
Zhou Mengyao smiled sweetly, “Mom, I think I understand now!”
“You’re not an ordinary person. You meticulously planned to marry into the esteemed Zhou Family back then, and after giving birth to me, you had my father wrapped around your finger. So, you’re judging a gentleman by your own standards and guarding against Lin Lang doing the same, scamming for wealth and beauty and taking over the family, right?”
Zhuang Jingxue glared, angered by this, and said sternly in a low voice, “How dare you speak like that, you wretched girl?!”
“Back then, so many women surrounded your father, all trying their best to marry into the esteemed Zhou Family. If your mother didn’t have some charm and tactics, could you have been born a fourth-generation rich kid, born with a silver spoon in your mouth?”
“You haven’t even gotten together with Lin Lang yet, and you’re already siding with him. I see you still have lingering feelings for Lin Lang, so my worries are not unfounded.”
Zhou Mengyao smiled as she linked her arm with her mother Zhuang Jingxue, and said coquettishly, “Mom! Alright! Alright! I get it, okay?”
“I’ll be more careful and guard against Lin Lang scamming for wealth and beauty, that’s all!”
“Lin Lang is visiting our home for the first time, and it was my father who hosted the family banquet and personally invited Lin Lang to dinner. Yet you are so wary and constantly on guard against him. It’s a bit of an overreaction, being overly suspicious.”
Zhuang Jingxue looked at her daughter Zhou Mengyao dotingly and admonished her, “One should not harbor intentions to harm others, but one must be on guard against others.”
“Your mother calls this preparing for a rainy day. If things develop to an irreversible point, wouldn’t everything be too late?”
“Your high school deskmate and school heartthrob, Lin Lang, is no ordinary person.”
“Your mother can only secretly pray now that Lin Lang will uphold righteous thoughts, walk the righteous path, do righteous deeds, cultivate slowly, be willing to endure hardships, strive diligently, cherish what he has, be grateful, and be honest and kind. Only then can he achieve positive results and have a bright future!”
“Mom, my dad hasn’t even taken Lin Lang as a disciple yet! You, his future mistress, are already worrying about him?”
“You silly girl, Mom is worrying about you, alright?”
“Originally, you ran a motorcycle racing club and always personally participated in various racing competitions, which was already enough to worry your mother. Now I’m starting to worry about your love life. Having a daughter truly doesn’t allow one to rest easy!”
Zhou Mengyao smiled sweetly and coquettishly, “Alright, Mom!”
“Your daughter isn’t a child anymore. I know how to protect myself. I know you’re doing all this for my own good, okay?”
Zhuang Jingxue sighed, shaking her head, and replied, “Alright, alright, alright!”
“Your mother won’t nag you anymore, okay?”
“Let’s go!”
“Let’s go to your dad’s study and see if Lin Lang can appraise the rare antique treasures and pass the test your father has carefully prepared for him.”
“Okay!”
Zhou Mengyao smiled sweetly, affectionately linking her arm with her mother Zhuang Jingxue, and the mother and daughter walked into the study on the first floor of the Zhou Residence Villa.
AI generated beautiful image of Zhou Mengyao
Zhou Zhongdang took out a small earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid. It looked about the size of a fist, was gray in color, and had a very natural patina, clearly an ancient folk item.
“Mr. Lin, please take a look. What’s so special about this small earthenware pot I’ve collected?” Zhou Zhongdang posed the first challenge to Lin Lang.
Zhou Mengyao, with her arm linked with her mother Zhuang Jingxue, stood quietly to the side, blinking her beautiful large eyes, her gaze fixed on the composed and very confident Lin Lang.
“Then I shall make a fool of myself. If anything I say is incorrect, please Uncle Zhou, guide me.”
Through the virtual system light screen in front of him, after reading the appraisal tip pop-up, Lin Lang picked up the small earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid on the table, opened the lid, and poured the seven pitch-black ancient lotus seeds inside onto the tabletop.
“My virtuous nephew, there’s no need to be modest. We are merely exchanging and learning from each other,” Zhou Zhongdang said, speaking politely.
Lin Lang looked at the gray earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid and explained, “This gray earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid is a new type of ceramic created in the song dynasty, popular from the Southern Song to the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and declined in the Ming Dynasty.”
“This type of pot comes in different sizes, named for its lid resembling a lotus leaf, and its production sites are distributed in Longquan, Xicun in Guangdong, Jingdezhen, and other places.”
“This gray earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid is relatively small, with a lotus stem-shaped knob on the lid, a wide mouth, sloping shoulders, a bulging belly, and gradually tapering towards the bottom. It is glazed inside and out with celadon, the glaze is thick and moist like jade, and the entire body is plain without patterns.”
“The lotus-leaf-lidded pot was a significant type of pot during the Song and Yuan dynasties. These pots varied in size, but all served as storage vessels. Smaller ones could hold tea, while larger ones were used for wine, water, or other items.”
“Evidently, this gray earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid was used to hold lotus seeds.”
“What’s even more commendable is that these seven song dynasty lotus seeds, along with the gray earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid, have been passed down together, making them extremely precious and possessing significant collection and artistic value.”
Zhou Mengyao looked at her father Zhou Zhongdang after hearing this and asked tentatively, “Dad, was what Lin Lang just said correct?”
Zhou Zhongdang replied with great satisfaction, “Absolutely correct!”
“For an appraisal expert to discern that the gray earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid is from the song dynasty isn’t very difficult, but for Mr. Lin to also see that these seven lotus seeds were also passed down from the song dynasty, such discernment is truly extraordinary!”
Zhou Mengyao couldn’t help but exclaim, “It seems, Old classmate, you really are something else!”
Lin Lang smiled slightly, both gentle and appropriate, exuding great amiability.
It’s no exaggeration, even Lin Lang’s smile was perfectly measured, as if meticulously calculated. His perfectly timed smile made Zhou Mengyao’s heart flutter.
Zhuang Jingxue exclaimed upon hearing this, “Husband, are the lotus seeds poured from the gray earthenware pot with a lotus-leaf-shaped lid onto the table really from the song dynasty?”