Chapter 7: Kraak Porcelain (Part 2)

Wen Desi sold the gold, netting nearly 270,000 yuan—the purity had been lower than expected. He then found a small smelter to refine the silver into standard 925 industrial silver, which he sold for another 200,000 yuan.

The porcelain was a different matter. Leaving several large baskets of it in a hotel room was not a long-term solution, but moving it all at once would be impossible to explain. They were forced to extend their stay, the three of them taking turns transporting the porcelain, piece by piece, in their suitcases.

There were two hundred pieces in total, mostly plates, but also a good number of bowls and vases. They knew it was Kraak porcelain, but they were amateurs in the world of antiques.

Wen Desi remembered a Professor Ma he’d met at a dinner party. He taught in the history department at a local university and was a well-regarded collector. He found the professor’s number and arranged to meet for lunch.

“Yes, this is Kraak porcelain,” Professor Ma said, examining a plate. “A typical export piece. You can tell by the wide rim, the blue and white glaze, and the partitioned decorations of landscapes, figures, and flowers.”

Wen Desi feigned rapt attention.

“Kraak porcelain is divided into two periods: Wanli and Kangxi. This is from the Wanli period. See how the circles in the pattern are pieced together with two strokes? That’s a characteristic of late Ming and early Qing porcelain.”

It’s from the Tianqi era, Wen Desi thought, but said nothing.

“So this plate is valuable?”

“Don’t be so fixated on money,” the professor sniffed. “The value of a cultural relic is in its history, its cultural significance.”

He turned the plate over in his hands, a look of fondness in his eyes. Then he frowned. “This piece hasn’t lost its ‘fire’ yet. It couldn’t be a fake, could it? Where did you get it?”

I can’t very well tell him I got it fresh from the kiln in another dimension, Wen Desi thought. “I was on a business trip in the countryside and saw a villager selling it at a stall. The pattern was unusual, so I bought a few pieces.”

“A keen eye,” the professor said, nodding in appreciation. “Kraak porcelain was made to order, you see. The patterns were designed to appeal to European tastes. Some were even based on designs provided by the Europeans themselves.”

“So it’s authentic?” Wen Desi asked, his voice filled with feigned eagerness.

“It should be,” the professor mused. “But there aren’t many pieces of this quality in the country. Most of what you see on the market has been salvaged from shipwrecks. This plate has clearly never been in the water.”

“If it is authentic, what’s the market price?”

“The ceramics market is complicated, and it’s been sluggish lately. But Kraak porcelain is a hot item. A plate like this could probably sell for three or four thousand yuan.”

“Not bad,” Wen Desi said, a smug look on his face.

“It’s just that the authenticity is… questionable,” the professor said, a subtle smile playing on his lips. “This plate has all the right characteristics, but it still has that ‘fire’. High-quality fakes of Kraak porcelain are rare, but not unheard of.”

“Professor Ma,” Wen Desi said, his voice laced with anxiety, “do you think it’s real?”

The professor thought for a moment. “I have a friend who specializes in porcelain. He’s an expert. I’ll give you his number. If it’s real, he’ll definitely want it.”

The expert was also named Ma, though no relation. He was a big name in the collecting world. He took one look at Wen Desi’s porcelain and wanted all two hundred pieces. He suspected Wen Desi had stumbled upon a hidden porcelain cellar in Fujian; not only were the pieces in pristine condition, but Wen Desi had hinted that there were more to come. Kraak porcelain was a reliable seller, and a steady supply was a dream come true.

After selling the gold, silver, and porcelain, their profit from the trip was nearly three million yuan. With this seed money, the Executive Committee moved to the next phase of their plan.

A hotel room was no longer a suitable base of operations. Wen Desi decided to establish a company. He paid an agent twenty thousand yuan to handle the paperwork, and a trading company was born. Xiao Zishan, having been laid off from his old job, became the full-time Administrative Manager. Wen Desi wanted to resign as well, but his boss was a good man, and he couldn’t bring himself to leave so abruptly. He arranged to leave in three months. Wang Luobin, ever the free spirit, simply quit his job and came to Guangzhou. He took a job as a worker in a small machinery factory, wanting to “familiarize himself with the craft.”

The company started with nothing. But Xiao Zishan had been in sales in Guangzhou for years and had a wide network of contacts. With money, anything was possible. They rented a long-term business suite in the same hotel, a self-contained unit with a separate entrance and an underground parking space. Xiao Zishan converted a small warehouse inside into the wormhole’s new exit, complete with a reinforced security door. To facilitate the movement of goods, he bought a hydraulic hand truck.

The matter of a company car sparked the Executive Committee’s first major disagreement. Xiao Zishan wanted a cheap, fuel-efficient, seven-seater minivan. Wang Luobin argued that such a vehicle would be useless in the 17th century. The Ming Dynasty had no gasoline, and the roads were unsuitable for a small car. He proposed a four-wheel-drive, diesel-powered off-road vehicle; a substitute for diesel, he argued, would be easier to find.

After hours of debate, they settled on an SUV. The car saleswoman was baffled by their choice. They rejected the newer, more fuel-efficient models with electronic fuel injection and instead bought an old-model Cherokee Jeep: four-wheel drive, manual transmission, diesel engine, and a self-rescue winch.

They had a car. They had a source of income. What now? The three members of the Executive Committee sat around the conference table, plotting their next move.