Chapter 27 of 100

Chapter 27

15 min read3,786 words

When Jia Zhengjing finished his seemingly reasonable argument, Xu Gang couldn't sit still anymore. This guy was so confident and spoke so convincingly; could he really know what he was talking about?

In fact, Jia Zhengjing was a successful person and it was normal for him to know a bit about his own field. However, when it came to appraising antiques, the most dangerous thing was to know just a little. If you didn't know anything at all, that would be better. But if you showed off a little bit of knowledge and felt particularly proud of it, you would be digging your own grave.

If Xu Gang knew this, he wouldn't be nervous.

After Jia Zhengjing finished speaking, he smiled and said, "It's a pity to use this pearl to make court beads. If it were made into a necklace and worn by Miss Liu, it would certainly be dazzling."

"Is that so? I don't think so. With Liu Mengxun's beauty, no matter how precious the pearl, it can't enhance her. Wearing it would be worse than not wearing it, as it would make her look vulgar." Zhang Tianyuan was clearly trying to contradict Jia Zhengjing.

Of course, in a sense, this was also a sincere compliment.

Both were praising her, one saying the pearl necklace would make Liu Mengxun more beautiful, and the other saying it would make her look vulgar. There was a clear difference in their opinions.

Liu Mengxun usually didn't like to wear jewelry, not rings, necklaces, bracelets, or even watches. Zhang Tianyuan understood Liu Mengxun's thoughts, so his words naturally won her favor. Jia Zhengjing was different.

Not all women would stop in their tracks at the sight of jewelry.

Seeing that Jia Zhengjing was about to retort, Liu Mengxun quickly said, "Don't stray from the main point. Today's focus is on appraising antiques, not on admiring people. Next, let Tianyuan analyze this string of court beads."

Liu Mengxun had always called Zhang Tianyuan "Mr. Zhang" or "Boss Zhang," but this time she called him "Tianyuan," clearly indicating a closer relationship.

Jia Zhengjing watched this with a look of intense jealousy, hating it but unable to do anything. He could only curse in his heart, "Hmph, I'll see how you get out of this today. If you say that Old Dong's court beads are fake and can't explain it, you'll be humiliated. I'll make sure you're thoroughly embarrassed!"

Zhang Tianyuan noticed Jia Zhengjing's gaze and couldn't help but smile inwardly.

Before he obtained the six-character true incantation, he might have lacked confidence in appraising antiques, and he would have been wrong seven or eight times out of ten. After all, he lacked experience.

But now, he was different. With such a powerful tool, it would be a waste not to use it properly. The prosperity of the antique market naturally led to the flourishing of the counterfeit market.

There was no way around it; with high profits, people were willing to take risks.

Counterfeit money, fake phones, and various high-end luxury goods were everywhere! When the French brand Pierre Cardin first entered our country, it had a very good reputation and was a symbol of high-end goods.

But as it developed and spread, more people knew about it, and the number of counterfeits and imitations increased. Now, it's not easy to find a genuine French-made Pierre Cardin.

If this was the case with ordinary goods, it was even more so with antiques.

Antiques are non-renewable resources. Once they are lost, they are gone forever, so many items are extremely valuable and highly profitable.

As a result, some people began to mass-produce counterfeits and imitations to deceive those who didn't know better.

Of course, some imitations were made to pay tribute to the ancients, but unfortunately, they were also used by criminals to make money.

At the beginning, most appraisers had suffered losses. Without the accumulation of failures, they couldn't have achieved their current success.

Old Dong's keen eyes and Old Li's golden hands, even Boss Xiao and Boss Murong, had gained their knowledge and experience at great cost.

The difficulty of appraising antiques can be seen in Old Li's eyes, which he lost due to past failures.

Because some people suffered losses, appraisers are now highly respected. The higher your appraisal skills and the more accurate your judgment, the greater your reputation in the field and the more respect you receive.

Some are even invited to appear on TV shows, write books, and give lectures, becoming true experts in the field of appraisal.

Compared to these people, Zhang Tianyuan was definitely not on the same level. In terms of knowledge, he might be okay, as he had read a lot of books on the subject since childhood. But in terms of experience, he was far behind. It would be difficult for him to appraise something based solely on his own skills and judgment. However, with the six-character true incantation from the Feng Shui Treasure Mirror, things were very different.

Jia Zhengjing's desire to see him make a fool of himself was purely self-deception.

Zhang Tianyuan picked up the string of court beads and activated the "Appraisal" incantation to begin the appraisal. Although he had already determined that it was definitely a fake, there were always exceptions in the world. To be safe, he decided to examine it carefully.

After observing for a while, before anyone else could say anything, Jia Zhengjing became impatient, "You've already determined it's fake, why waste so much time?"

Zhang Tianyuan ignored him and looked at Old Dong, saying, "Old Dong, this court bead is well-made. Did you make it yourself?"

Old Dong didn't answer, just smiled at Zhang Tianyuan, neither confirming nor denying, but his eyes clearly showed approval.

Others might not have noticed the change in his expression, but Zhang Tianyuan could. He had already activated the "Appraisal" incantation, and his eyesight was much better than others. He could see details that others couldn't.

"Court beads are like prayer beads, with 108 beads."

"Rubbish!" Jia Zhengjing glared at Zhang Tianyuan.

"Zhengjing, don't interrupt. Let Little Friend Tianyuan finish speaking!" Boss Murong said, a bit angry.

Zhang Tianyuan smiled and continued, "The beads are made of pearls, coral, jade, amber, and honey wax, decorated with bright yellow, golden yellow, and stone blue silk threads, hanging from the neck to the chest. Only officials of the fifth rank and above in the civil service, the fourth rank and above in the military, and officials of the Military Affairs Office, the Imperial Guard, the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial College, the Temple of Heaven, and the Ministry of Ceremonies, as well as women of the fifth rank and above, are allowed to wear them. Only the emperor, empress, and empress dowager can use pearls and bright yellow silk threads."

"What are pearls?" Xu Gang asked.

"East pearls are pearls," Zhang Tianyuan answered. "Actually, from the first glance, I felt something was off. It uses pearls, but the silk threads are stone blue, which is clearly a mistake."

"Oh, I see! Using pearls with stone blue silk threads doesn't match. It should be bright yellow!" Murong Ying exclaimed.

"Exactly, that's the point!" Zhang Tianyuan nodded.

"Since you determined it from the start, why did you take so long to examine it?" Old Dong asked with a smile.

Zhang Tianyuan replied, "In this world, nothing is absolute. If I had judged it to be fake just because of that, it would have been too hasty. So, I examined it carefully and found a piece of evidence that proves it is definitely a fake."

"Oh? What evidence?" At this point, even Old Li, Boss Xiao, and Boss Murong were interested.

They hadn't noticed this evidence, so it was no wonder they were excited.

Zhang Tianyuan was about to answer when Old Dong stopped him.

"Little Friend Tianyuan, don't rush to reveal it. Why don't you appraise the other treasures as well? Old Li, Boss Xiao, Boss Murong, let's not argue anymore. Today, let's see Little Friend Tianyuan's skills."

In fact, everyone had already understood Old Dong's meaning. This old man was clearly very satisfied with Zhang Tianyuan, even admiring him, which was why he made this decision. The three experts, being astute, couldn't miss this. They all nodded in agreement.

Only Jia Zhengjing, the layman, didn't understand what was happening and looked quite不服气 (unconvinced).

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