Chapter 44: Winning Big, Losing Big!

Tang Lao laughed. Ha, so all eyes are really fixed on me!
"Young man, why do you think that?"
For the moment, he wouldn't comment on Sui Yi's words; he wanted to hear what this boy thought his credentials were.
Quan Ling narrowed his eyes and smiled. "I heard Tang Lao say he spent three hundred thousand to buy it. Now, if the seller didn't believe it was genuine, they wouldn't have asked for three hundred thousand, right? But if they did believe it was genuine, they wouldn't have sold it for just three hundred thousand."
Boss Quan laughed, while Boss Qian furrowed his brow.
This Quan Ling really was a bit clever—he'd even noticed this loophole.
Compared to his own daughter, who was utterly hopeless in her studies, this boy seemed much better...
Well, perhaps his daughter was only fit to sell jewelry after all.
Everyone turned their gaze toward Tang Lao in unison.
It seemed they all believed it was a fake?
Tang Lao chuckled, but looked to De Lao.
De Lao, whose inscrutable smile had never left his face, now glanced at Sui Yi, following the crowd's gaze.
"Sui Yi, you may continue."
Huh? Everyone was momentarily stunned—even Tang Hanyan unconsciously looked at Sui Yi a few times.
It seemed De Lao was especially interested in this young woman.
It was a little odd.
Sui Yi paused, glanced at Tang Lao, then calmly withdrew her gaze and picked up Yu Quan's Western-style dagger.
"Hitler was a man of immense desire for control. Even the marriages of his officers were dictated by his racial ideologies—how much more so the army's weapons? They would certainly have reflected his racial aesthetics. Yet the crafting style of this dagger is primarily Egyptian, no longer German in its directness and sharpness."
Then she picked up the long Tang sword, flicked the blade with her finger, and said, "The metallic resonance is off, and..."
She picked up the scabbard, showing everyone a tiny line of characters inside. "Master Lin is quite playful—he even carved his own name on it..."
When everyone took the sword to look, a collective awkwardness fell over their faces. Sure enough, in tiny, tiny letters, it said—"Lin Zhengdao’s Own Treasure Blade!"
Pfft—
Li Ling couldn't hold back her laughter, and Tang Hanyan also smiled. Who would have thought this unruly man had such childlike humor?
Master Lin simply grinned, giving Sui Yi a thumbs-up!
"You have sharp eyes, young lady! I hid my mark so well, yet you still found it!"
Moreover, it was carved on the interior of the scabbard—who but a truly meticulous person would check there? Most would simply examine the blade.
Clearly, Master Lin had done this on purpose! He wanted to test people's attention to detail and observational skills.
After Sui Yi's remarks, hardly anyone paid attention to what she'd said earlier about the metallic resonance...
As if she could really tell the difference in the metal by sound alone!

That would be far too absurd!
By then, Sui Yi had already picked up Master Han's book.
"Master Han, you said that this 'Ink Vegetable Painting' by Shen Zhou was something you acquired by chance thirty years ago, and treasured ever since, having it framed at the time. But the style of this frame is far too new... it's not what would have existed thirty years ago."
"And as for Boss Wang's earthenware jar... I'll trust my instincts here. Over the years helping out in Tang Lao's shop, I've seen quite a few jars of this vintage. Comparing those of similar size, this one's weight and clay color differ quite a bit. Even if the place of origin and clay quality varied, the design shouldn't be so similar yet have such a disparity in color. So I believe this was artificially imitated."
"As for Boss Qian's snuff bottle... the inner chamber has a trace of soot and residue, which seems convincingly old, but the mouth is exceptionally clean. That doesn't make sense—unless the user only lit tobacco but never smoked it... otherwise..."
Yan Qingwu watched Sui Yi speak on stage, her voice gentle and unhurried, her words clear, and found herself a little lost in thought. She glanced quietly at Boss Qian, noticing the gloom clouding his face.
At last, Sui Yi's fingers gently pinched the mouth of the celadon vase. "As for the Ming Dynasty celadon with scattered flowers, which Boss Quan claims is from Jingdezhen—the glaze is clear, the luster bright, it feels like water to the touch, cold to the bone—a genuine antique."
At this, Boss Quan sneered. "So by your reasoning, my piece is real? But earlier you said it was fake!"
Seeing Sui Yi's composure and poise as she addressed each item, suppressing both the old and young generations, had left many deeply impressed.
Among the younger generation, one was his nephew; with himself and Tang Lao abstaining, Boss Quan naturally wanted to take Sui Yi down a peg!
Yet his item was indeed authentic!
Tang Lao and the others' expressions grew inscrutable as they all looked to Sui Yi.
It was as if they were saying, Sui Yi, this time you really got it wrong!
Faced with the pressure in the room, De Lao smiled, looking at Sui Yi. "Sui Yi, do you have anything more to add?"
Sui Yi seemed entirely unfazed by their stares; she simply stroked the vase and spoke in a calm, indifferent tone, "A genuine piece is, of course, real. But to call it a fake is also correct."
What did she mean by that...? Boss Quan still sneered.
"It's because of the base..."
Everyone looked at the bottom of the celadon vase in Sui Yi's hand.
"The base? Isn't a base just a base? You're just spouting nonsense!" Qian Shuangyu looked down on Sui Yi, though inwardly shaken, her expression only grew more disdainful. How could the other possibly have guessed correctly?
Absolutely impossible!
She was just a novice!
"The base is wrong! Jingdezhen porcelain of this size rarely has a base higher than one-third of an inch, and for this kind of scattered-flower celadon, it should be even lower. The blue-and-white glaze should reach the foot—if it's too high, it's out of character."
Master Han spoke up, his voice aged and resonant yet confident, ending with a teasing note.
"And so, this base is too tall; it's not from Jingdezhen, so it's a fake. Xiao Quan, am I right?"
Boss Quan said nothing.
Suspicion flickered among the crowd.
Master Han stroked his beard, saying to Sui Yi, "Little friend Sui Yi, it seems of all these objects, you know the most about Jingdezhen porcelain. You even know the exact specifications for the bases; if you are not an expert steeped in this field, you must have studied it specially."
His words were full of praise, astonishing many present.
Everyone knew Master Han was the foremost authority in this area—if he said so, it must be true!
Lin Zhengdao twisted the Buddha bead bracelet on his wrist, squinting at Sui Yi for a moment before smiling.

A-A glanced at Zhou Ran, whose expression had grown unnatural, and chuckled quietly to himself. Clearly, the other lackey was feeling uncomfortable now.
Well, the contrast was too stark.
"Could it be..." Quan Ling looked at his uncle, only to see his face had darkened.
The room fell somewhat silent, the old foxes each revealing subtle expressions.
Li Ling sighed inwardly at these sly old men, then looked over at her own boss.
Well, that was another fox—an exceedingly beautiful one.
Tang Hanyan truly hadn't expected such an entertaining display today. To be honest, she hadn't set her expectations high, nor was this her main purpose in coming, yet she found herself pleasantly surprised.
That Sui Yi really was remarkable.
Tang Lao, too, was pleased, though he didn't show it on his face.
Moments later, De Lao coughed, took two of the eight answer sheets, and handed them to a maid. "These two sheets belong to two people: one who got the most wrong, and one who got the most right. You can see for yourselves."
The sheet on the left had average, somewhat messy handwriting; the one on the right was elegant, bold, with strokes like a dancing dragon—quite pleasing to the eye.
The answers on them—false, true, true, true, false, true, true.
—True, false, false, false, false, false, false.
Qian Shuangyu and Quan Ling both stared hard at the names at the bottom. When they saw them, they both smiled!
Qian Lin, Sui Yi!
"Sui Yi, looks like you got the most wrong!" Quan Ling smiled at Sui Yi, not unkindly, but with a faint air of pride.
His answers were close to Qian Lin's!
He was still a newcomer here, yet he had bested so many others—his reputation would surely soar if word got out!
Qian Shuangyu, too, was beaming with pride. Simple—her father had won, and she herself had gotten several correct as well!
Double happiness!
However, they were the only two in the entire room smiling.
The other was Zhou Ran, perhaps.
He let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Tang Lao noticed, glanced at him, and shook his head lightly, almost as if sighing.