Chronicle of Civilization: the Age of Fire

The early autumn rain soaked the bluestone road into a dark color. Chen Mo shrank his neck and lifted the zipper of his second-hand jacket. The crumpled Yu coins in his trouser pocket add up to no more than one hundred - this is his food money for the next half month. "Take a look at it, the blue and white flowers from the Ming Dynasty, the official kilns from the Qing Dynasty, the prices are skyrocketing!" "Hetian jade is a family tradition. It was passed down from the old man. I need money urgently today!" The shouting sounded a little muffled in the rain. Chen Mo walked through the stalls and glanced at the real or fake gadgets. After working in Liulichang for three months, he could tell a few things: the glaze of the "Ming Dynasty blue and white" piece was too bright and the distressing technique was rough; the "Hetian jade" piece had the wrong light transmission and was probably Afghan jade. But so what if you can see it? He couldn't afford even the cheapest fakes. Three months ago, he was a graduate student in the Archeology Department of Jiangcheng University. If the tutor hadn't suddenly been involved in that turmoil - he should be sitting in the library now, studying those rubbings, instead of thinking about how to survive fifteen days with fifty Yu coins.