Jingdezhen porcelain is renowned for its White Porcelain, famously described as "white as jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, and sound as chime". It offers a comprehensive range of over three thousand types.

The porcelain quality is excellent, with lightweight designs and diverse decorations. In terms of decoration, there are blue and white, Underglaze Red, antique coloring, pastel, multicolored, new coloring, Underglaze Polychrome, blue and white Linglong, etc. Especially, blue and white and pastel products are dominant, with colored glazes being famous products.

There are many varieties of glaze colors, including green, blue, red, yellow, and black. Just in the red glaze system, there are Jun red, Langyao red, Sacrificial red, and Rose purple, all fired with "reducing flame". These products are world-famous, representing one of the outstanding examples of ancient ceramic art globally.

In ancient times, these Jingdezhen porcelains were typically afforded only by high-ranking officials, landlords, and wealthy merchants, with foreign traders importing them for sale, valued like gold.

In modern times, Jingdezhen porcelain still enjoys a good reputation, though the price has dropped significantly, with even basic items costing a few hundred or dozens of bucks.

Of course, expensive porcelain pieces still exist, but now large-scale production using machines and electric appliances, even kiln firing methods, differs from before, naturally causing prices to fall considerably.

Now the shop owner heard that Cao Ling wanted to purchase a porcelain tea set, and there are styles available here.

The ordinary ones indeed cost hundreds, while the expensive ones reach tens of thousands.

The shop owner took out a catalogue for her to review, and the pictures in the catalogue looked exactly alike, all photographed using a camera.

The shop owner introduced to Cao Ling.

"This set is the most basic, costing over two hundred, favored by common folks and tourists. Then there are mid-range ones starting from eight to nine hundred to several thousand, and the most expensive ones are bought for gifting."

The shop owner browsed through the tea set porcelain catalogue, showing it to Cao Ling. She found them quite impressive, very exquisite; just using them to drink tea or merely appreciating them would be delightful.

"Madam, will these break easily?"

"No, porcelain used to break easily before, but nowadays, even dropping them on the ground several times usually causes no harm, at most a bit of scuffing."

Indeed, ceramic technology has continuously improved; previously, it focused solely on aesthetics, now also pursuing hardness quality.

"Ye Qiu, do you think which set is suitable?"

Cao Ling asked Ye Qiu. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Given that this is a gift for the third granduncle in the Cao Family, something too cheap definitely wouldn’t do, but too expensive wouldn’t be right either.

"These few sets are all good."

These were just a few thousand per set, essentially equivalent to the price of a branded garment, but buying a thousand-worth porcelain tea set was truly worthwhile.

"Madam, we’ll go with this set!"

"This set is six thousand eight hundred eighty-eight."

The shop owner looked inside the store and quickly found that particular set. Upon opening, it proved to be extremely exquisite and beautiful, with genuinely beautiful patterns.

"This isn’t machine-processed, is it?"

"No, these are all handcrafted and then kiln-fired at high temperatures."

Actually, with current technology, machines could easily handle this, but now the manual aspect isn’t too expensive, besides providing the impression that handmade is more valuable than machine-made.

Because machine production is overly easy, whereas manual work is considerably more troublesome.

"We’ll take this set then."

Cao Ling decided to purchase that porcelain tea set.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiang wanted to purchase multiple sets for her family in Malaysia.

"Madam, can this store ship to Malaysia?"

"It should be possible; I’ll make a call to check with SF Express for you."

Nowadays many companies offer shipping and freight services abroad.

The shop owner went to the cashier to inquire and confirmed it was possible.

However, the shipping cost via airplane is quite expensive but quick, whereas using a steamboat for shipping back is cheaper but slower.

"Ye Qiu, I want to buy for my dad and some relatives and friends."

"Then go ahead and buy."

As Cao Ling was selecting, Ye Qiu noticed Liu Lingxiu and Xiaomai standing around, just looking everywhere.

The tea set in Ye Qiu’s home villa wasn’t cheap, bought when moving in, so he wasn’t very interested in these.

"Lingshow, not buying a set for your parents?"

"My parents don’t drink tea."

Liu Lingxiu’s parents used to work in a factory, with a combined monthly income barely reaching four to five thousand bucks, typically drinking water, plain boiled water at that, never really indulging in tea.

Even now that they have money, their habits remain unchanged.

Thus, seeing the tea sets, she felt inclined to gift them to her parents but feared they wouldn’t appreciate them.

She still wanted to look for other options suitable as a gift for her parents.

"Well, find what you like, I’ll buy it for you."

Xiaomai didn’t want anything; anyway, she’s currently eating and drinking at Ye Qiu’s place, with the pocket money and groceries allowance Ye Qiu gave sufficing.

As Liu Lingxiu pulled Xiaomai along to look, the shop owner already contacted the nearby SF Express for assisting with international shipment.

Lin Xiang kept choosing until she finally picked five tea sets, one for her parents, one for each of her brothers, and another for two relatives respectively.

All would be shipped to her home first, letting her parents distribute to the relatives later.

"Miss Lin, you’re really a Malaysian Chinese; it’s rare indeed, as there are usually quite a few Southeast Asian Chinese coming here to buy." The shop owner said.

Previously, she hadn’t imagined this young beauty was a Malaysian Chinese, speaking Mandarin so fluently she truly hadn’t suspected it.

"Yes, I grew up in Kuala Lumpur, but I’ve always loved Chinese culture."

While Lin Xiang chatted with the shop owner, Liu Lingxiu and Xiaomai picked out something, and Liu Lingxiu eventually settled on a set of tableware, primarily bowls, plates, chopsticks, fruit plates, all forming a set. They appeared exceptionally exquisite, fearing her parents would be reluctant to use them for serving food.

"Ye Qiu, I want this set."

"Sure, anything else?"

Liu Lingxiu didn’t want anything more.

Primarily it’s difficult to carry, even with this set, possibly needing shipment to send back.

As for Xiaomai, she didn’t buy anything; coming along this time was essentially to experience with Ye Qiu.

As the express company staff arrived to collect the shipments, Lin Xiang and Liu Lingxiu left detailed addresses, and after payment, Cao Ling took the tea set out.

However, it was quite heavy, unsuitable for carrying around while shopping.

After placing it in the car’s trunk, they continued exploring other stores.

Good tea sets accompany good famous tea, definitely a staple for the Cao Family; nonetheless, Cao Ling now planned to gift some fine tea to the third granduncle, since she only came back once a year.

Presenting these as gifts serves as her filial piety towards her elder in the family.