Chapter 312: How Did Yusuf Zuck Know?
Meanwhile, within an alley in Hangzhou’s Old Street, Anna Cooke and Yu Xinxin had rested for the night and finally came to visit the folk craft master Malachi Hicks.
Malachi Hicks was over sixty years old, of unremarkable appearance, indistinguishable from any ordinary elderly person, yet within the collector’s circles, his name was legendary and resonated like thunder.
Malachi’s craft-making skills were rare in the country; it was said he inherited them from a certain school, which itself was founded single-handedly by a renowned artisan of the imperial court.
Malachi had a son, but the son was not involved in collecting nor did he inherit his father’s skills; he simply worked as an ordinary civil servant.
Many believed Malachi’s craft would be lost since his son did not pursue his art and he had not taken on any apprentices. Thus, discussions about him within the circle were filled with regret.
The reason why Anna Cooke and Yu Xinxin were here was to understand who Wren Hicks was, and in fact, she also wanted to understand how Yusuf Zuck had managed to recognize it, as well as the relationship between Yusuf Zuck and Wren Hicks.
As they had made an appointment by phone the day before, when Yu Xinxin and Anna Cooke arrived, Malachi Hicks welcomed Yu Xinxin with great respect.
He did not know Anna Cooke’s identity, but Yu Xinxin was considered a master of Sinology, a scholar of academia. Malachi, as a folk artist, had always admired such scholars, and since they had met before, he received Yu Xinxin with exceptional hospitality.
Meeting an old friend, they exchanged pleasantries, after which Yu Xinxin carefully unwrapped the layers surrounding a porcelain vase, and the Six-Ear Blue and White Porcelain was revealed before Malachi Hicks.
Without a word from Yu Xinxin, Malachi knew that Yu Xinxin was testing him. So, he put on his reading glasses and took a magnifying glass to examine it closely.