"Boss, are you sure this painting is authentic?"
The young man was holding an ancient painting, his face alight with excitent.
"Absolutely." The shopkeeper nodded confidently, "Our shop is well-established, rest assured."
The young man believed him, "How much?"
The shopkeeper’s eyes darted, as he held up a finger, "Ten million."
"Ten million?"
The young man was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear. He had found a bargain!
Jiang Chen was startled by the shopkeeper’s price and took a closer look at the painting in the young man’s hand, pausing slightly in surprise.
It was an impressive Painting of Longevity, executed with strong and skillful brushwork, ticulously laid out, with thousands of longevity Buddhas gathered in one painting, majestic and awe-inspiring.
He looked at the signature.
Jiang Chen was secretly alard; in his ten years of dream mories, he had acquired countless skills, and appraising treasures was one of them.
And he knew, for such a piece of work, ten million was indeed a huge steal.
But upon closer inspection, Jiang Chen frowned. With his experience, he identified that this painting was a counterfeit, definitely a top-grade imitation from the previous dynasty.
Out of kindness, Jiang Chen whispered a warning, "Hey, that painting is fake."
The shopkeeper’s face changed, glaring fiercely at Jiang Chen, "What do you know?"
The young man was taken aback by the comnt and then displeased, "Do I need you to butt in when I’m shopping? What do you know? Look at you, judging the authenticity of ancient paintings? Stop showing off here."
Jiang Chen shook his head, determined to do good to the end, and pointed out the tell-tale signs of the forgery, "The brushwork of this painting is indeed exquisite, and the ink is delicate, but the quality, while appearing old, is clearly artificially aged. Especially if you look at the signature, ha, it’s definitely not an ancient script style, it’s too obvious."
With that, the corners of the shopkeeper’s mouth twitched.
The young man also paused, looked closely at the ancient painting, and found it was exactly as Jiang Chen had described. He beca angry, threw the painting on the ground, pointed at the shopkeeper, and said, "Hey, you’re good, deceiving with a fake painting, have courage, you just wait."
After speaking, he turned his head, saw Jiang Chen, but instead of thanking him, his face grew even darker as he cursed, "And you, kid, what do you know? I was just playing with the shopkeeper here. I saw through the forgery right away, you’re really a ddler!"
Having said that, the young man turned and left the shop.
Jiang Chen couldn’t believe it as he watched the young man’s retreating figure; not only did he not thank Jiang Chen, but he also cursed at him? What a piece of work!
At this mont, the shopkeeper, whose business had been disrupted, looked angrily at Jiang Chen, "Kid, do you have any idea about the rules? Do you know you’re not supposed to interfere with others’ dealings in antiques and paintings?"
Jiang Chen, feeling he had helped the wrong person, was also sowhat embarrassed, so he bent down to pick up the painting. Just as he was about to return it, he suddenly looked at the painting, furrowed his brow, and a thought struck him.
Could this painting be...
Suddenly, Jiang Chen’s gaze shifted, and he said apologetically to the shopkeeper, "I broke the rules. How about this, sell the painting to , but ten million is out of the question. For an imitation from the previous dynasty, I will offer you fifty thousand at most."
"Dream on! I’ll tell you, you broke the rules, so now you have to buy this painting for ten million, or you’re not leaving this shop!" The shopkeeper shouted, "You greenhorn, so bold to speak recklessly without seeing the world, do you think you’re the only one who knows? You know nothing!"
"What’s going on?" Just then, a call ca from the back of the shop, and a middle-aged man dressed in a suit walked out from the back room, "What’s all this noise? How can we do business with such a racket?"
The shopkeeper picked up the painting, hurried over to the middle-aged man, and pointing at Jiang Chen, he ranted, "Boss, this jerk wrecked our day’s business. A custor was just about to buy our painting for ten million, but this kid ssed it up. Now he wants to buy our painting for fifty thousand."
"Who dares to..."
The middle-aged man flew into a fury and looked up at Jiang Chen, about to spew harsh words. But as soon as he got a clear look at Jiang Chen’s face, he swallowed the rest of his words.
Jiang Chen also caught a clear glimpse of the man and smiled faintly. What a coincidence!
"Mr. Chen, my apologies, I did not know this was your store," Jiang Chen said with a light chuckle.
This middle-aged man was Chen Furong, whom he had seen at lunch that day at the banquet, the owner of Jinyu Full Hall Antique Auction Company and also the president of a company invested in by The Four Seas Company.
"Slap—"
"Are you blind?" Chen Furong recognized Jiang Chen and backhanded the shopkeeper across the face, "How dare you offend President Jiang, do you want to die? Go, apologize to President Jiang."
The shopkeeper was dumbstruck, having no idea that the unremarkable-looking young man was soone even the boss respected. He had no choice but to cover his face and go apologize to Jiang Chen.
After the shopkeeper had apologized, Chen Furong took the painting, ca before Jiang Chen, and bowed, "President Jiang, I am sorry. The staff didn’t recognize you and showed disrespect. If you like the painting, please accept it as a gift."
Jiang Chen hesitated, "How could I do that? You must have put a lot of effort into making this painting. I should buy it."
"No, no, no, please don’t say that, President Jiang. I am still hoping to make a fortune with you, and a re painting can’t possibly be sothing I’d charge you for. You must accept it as a gift," Chen Furong insisted, waving his hand and forcibly stuffing the painting into Jiang Chen’s hands.
But Jiang Chen still shook his head and smiled, "If this shop belonged to soone else, I would accept your gift. But it’s different with you, Mr. Chen. I can’t just swindle you like that."
Swindle ? Chen Furong was astounded. It was just a matter of fifty thousand yuan, how could that be called a swindle? This Jiang Chen is really being petty, he thought.
As if aware of his thoughts, Jiang Chen picked up the painting and pointed to a spot on it, "Mr. Chen, could you take a closer look here?"
Chen Furong leaned in, puzzled, and studied it for a long ti. Suddenly, he snapped to attention, "This..."
"Have you figured it out?" Jiang Chen smiled.
"Could it be that this is..." Chen Furong said, shocked, as he looked up.
"That’s right."
Jiang Chen nodded, knowing that Chen Furong had understood, and asked again, "So, Mr. Chen, do you still wish to give it away?"
Chen Furong’s expression imdiately beca complex, but then he set his jaw firmly, "Of course, I’ll give it away! If it weren’t for President Jiang, I would have been clueless about this. It’s all thanks to President Jiang’s discernnt and good fortune. I just hope to rely on President Jiang more in the future."
After saying this, Chen Furong bowed deeply to Jiang Chen again.
Jiang Chen blinked and was moved by Chen Furong’s forthright gesture. He then nodded, "All right, then I’ll accept it. If you ever need anything, Mr. Chen, just let know. If I can help, I certainly will."
Chen Furong laughed heartily, "Good, definitely, definitely."
Taking the Painting of Longevity, Jiang Chen exchanged a few more polite words and then turned to leave the calligraphy and painting shop.
"Boss, what riddle were you two playing just now?" The shopkeeper was completely confused and approached again.
"Slap—"
Chen Furong turned and smacked the shopkeeper with another slap, sneering, "You’re fired."
The shopkeeper stood there in shock, utterly stupefied.
But Chen Furong didn’t care for him anymore and turned to gaze at Jiang Chen’s retreating figure, inwardly marveling:
This Jiang Chen, at such a young age, not only possesses astonishing financial investnt acun but such an ability to appraise treasures too. Remarkable!
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