"Let it be, it's no big deal. Old Butler, you don't need to worry about it." Ethan Clark gave a faint smile, not taking it to heart.

As he spoke, Ethan Clark sat down on a large, bright red pearwood armchair with armrests on both sides, and asked kindly, "Old Butler, does our family really not have 50 taels of silver to spare?"

"Young master, if we scrape together everything, we could barely manage it, but the porcelain kiln business still needs silver to keep running. If we..." Old Clark said in a low voice.

"Oh? Then is there nothing else in the house that could be used to pay the debt?" Ethan Clark sighed inwardly, lamenting his own bad luck for ending up in the body of such a wastrel.

"Young master... all the valuable antiques and calligraphy left by the old master have already been pawned by you for gambling. Now, aside from daily necessities, there's really nothing left to pawn. If anything, there's only a few acres of farmland in the countryside." Old Clark hesitated, glancing at Ethan Clark's expression as he spoke.

"Hurry and get ready, see if you can find a buyer, and sell the land to pay off Wu Kui's debt." Ethan Clark closed his eyes in anger, wishing he could take a knife to the previous owner of this body.

"That won't do, young master! That's the family property passed down from the ancestors, we can't squander it all away..." Old Clark was startled, his voice trembling with urgency.

"Right now, paying off the debt is the priority, Old Butler. The family fortune can be rebuilt in the future. Go on..." Ethan Clark suddenly opened his eyes, a cold and lonely look flashing as he gazed out the door, his thoughts drifting far away.

"Yes!" Old Clark wanted to say more, but turned and left.

……

After calming himself in the room for a while, Ethan Clark hurried out to the kiln.

Old Morgan and the craftsmen had already moved the clay bodies, which were about 80% dry, out into the courtyard, waiting for Ethan Clark to arrive. Ethan Clark took a sharp carving knife from Old Morgan, and began to carve patterns and designs onto the bodies with swirling strokes. On the front, he depicted a scene of pine and crane symbolizing longevity, and on the back, he inscribed two lines of poetry: "Green pines bring longevity as the old year departs, red-crowned cranes carry blessings as long as the heavens." Between the front and back, he cleverly connected and decorated the space with wave and auspicious cloud patterns.

The whole piece looked exquisitely lifelike and elegant, the calligraphy bold and ancient, the layout perfectly balanced—truly harmonious and refined. Old Morgan and the other craftsmen were entranced by the sight; such skill was truly divine! Fortunately, Ethan Clark had already amazed them endlessly yesterday, so today's surprise, though unexpected, was not entirely unforeseen.

Next came glazing and coloring. This step could be handled by Old Morgan and the others, while Ethan Clark supervised, giving pointers and chatting as he watched them finish spraying the glaze. He then used a brush to outline and edge the patterns and calligraphy with color. According to Old Morgan and the others' usual method, the glaze would be sprayed at most twice, but Ethan Clark still found it a bit rough, so he asked them to spray two more times. Moreover, he made slight "polishing" and "leveling" adjustments to many of the details.

By noon, the two three-foot-tall painted vases had finally completed all the steps outside the kiln and were ready to be fired.

Ethan Clark laughed heartily, "Old Morgan, it's time to load the kiln. Remember, you must control the heat carefully. You all need to take turns watching the fire—don't let the temperature inside get too low or too high, understand?"

At this moment, Old Morgan was utterly in awe of Ethan Clark, nodding repeatedly. "Young master, don't worry. For this day and night of firing, even if Old Morgan doesn't sleep at all, I'll make sure it's done right."

Ethan Clark patted Old Morgan's shoulder. "Very good. You all get to work. I'll head back for now and return tomorrow afternoon when the firing is done." With that, he strode away.

"Respectfully seeing off the young master." Old Morgan and the craftsmen watched Ethan Clark's departing figure, feeling not only excited but also a faint, immense sense of exhilaration. The young master of the Lin family turned out to be a porcelain expert— with him, the Lin family kiln might truly be revived!

Volume One: The World in a Pot

Chapter 5: Turns Out to Be a Scholar

Ethan Clark returned to the residence and had just washed his face when Henry Clark came in carrying a brass tea tray with a few small dishes, a bowl of thin porridge, and a pancake. "Young master, it's time for lunch!"

"Alright." Ethan Clark replied, the emptiness in his stomach surging up—he really was hungry, and after standing for so long, he even felt a bit dizzy.

He glanced at the rather simple Ming Dynasty meal, but didn't mind much. Picking up a piece of pickled radish with his bamboo chopsticks, just as he was about to taste it, he suddenly remembered something. After a moment's hesitation, he turned to Henry Clark, who was standing by, and asked, "Henry Clark, am I eating alone?"

Seeming to understand his meaning, Henry Clark cast a strange glance outside the room, then looked back at him with a hint of "sympathy" and said quietly, "Young master, have you really forgotten? After the young mistress married in, she urged you to walk the right path and study hard, but you wouldn't listen. The young mistress was so disappointed that she moved with her two maids to the inner courtyard and never comes out. Not only for meals... you and the young mistress still haven't, still haven't consummated the marriage..."

Ethan Clark was stunned again, shaking his head, feeling both amused and exasperated at this Lin fellow!