Chapter 30

Old Mr. Dong was quite looking forward to what Zhang Tianyuan had in his hands. After all, he had seen the series of paintings in Zhang Tianyuan's possession yesterday, and he had already sensed that Zhang Tianyuan was someone with a special connection to treasures, a connection not everyone could have.

Even if your appraisal skills are superb, if you lack this connection, you might still miss out on treasures right in front of you. This connection is truly a very mysterious thing.

During the appraisal, the four experts appeared to be very serious and cautious. They did not touch the scroll with their bare hands but instead put on white gloves they had brought with them, which would neither damage the scroll nor leave fingerprints.

Seeing this, Zhang Tianyuan felt a bit embarrassed. He thought about how he had treated the treasures on the table earlier, realizing he was a complete novice. It seemed there were many subtleties and rules in the world of appraising treasures, and he would have to learn more to avoid making a fool of himself.

"Fortunately, I put this scroll in the safe and didn't throw it around. Otherwise, it might have ended up in Xugang's hands, and he might have used it to wipe his butt," Zhang Tianyuan thought, feeling a bit pleased with himself for making a wise decision.

The four experts carefully examined the scroll for a while, and their expressions changed from anticipation to disappointment and then to calmness. It seemed, as Zhang Tianyuan had expected, that while this was indeed a work by Mr. Qi Gong, it was not as valuable as the series of paintings from yesterday. It was probably worth only a few tens of thousands of yuan, which was naturally disappointing for the experts.

In fact, there was no need to use magnifying glasses or other tools for the appraisal. Experienced and skilled calligraphy appraisers could tell the result just by a careful look. However, Old Mr. Dong seemed unwilling to give up. After the other three had finished their appraisals, he took out a magnifying glass and carefully examined the scroll from top to bottom again.

This process took a long time, about half an hour, during which the surrounding people hardly dared to breathe, all focusing intently to see the final result.

Perhaps only Jia Zhengjing felt uncomfortable. He saw Old Mr. Dong paying so much attention to this "torn piece of paper" and inwardly cursed him for being inexperienced. He also cursed Zhang Tianyuan for his good luck, wondering where he had found another valuable piece of calligraphy.

Jia Zhengjing was very much hoping for Zhang Tianyuan to have bad luck. If Zhang Tianyuan had bad luck, he would be happy to buy this torn piece of paper and burn it in front of everyone.

Of course, with his financial background, he didn't care about spending a few tens of thousands of yuan. Burning it would be fine; if he could embarrass Zhang Tianyuan in front of everyone, he would be more than happy. It was just a loss of some money, which he could consider as burning paper money.

Xugang was probably the most nervous of all. He still remembered how he felt when he heard that the old comic book was worth several million yuan yesterday. Now, he was even more nervous, thinking that this might be an even more valuable treasure than yesterday's.

Mou Ying had been carefully observing the appraisal process. She was a diligent learner and worked in this field, so it was beneficial for her to observe more. Liu Mengxun, on the other hand, occasionally glanced at Zhang Tianyuan, seemingly very interested in his current expression, wanting to know what he was thinking.

Zhang Tianyuan was a bit disappointed. He had hoped that the four experts would see something different, but from their expressions, it was clear that this was unlikely. He should have been satisfied, but people are like that. If it weren't for the series of paintings from yesterday, he wouldn't have been so greedy. However, with such high expectations, he couldn't help but feel disappointed with the result.

Old Mr. Dong's forehead was already covered in a fine layer of sweat. He carefully wiped it with a tissue, as if afraid that the sweat would drop onto the scroll. After another twenty minutes, he still shook his head helplessly, sighed, and put the magnifying glass on the table, lying there with a disappointed look on his face.

"Old Mr. Dong, is this calligraphy fake?" Xugang asked, somewhat worried.

Old Mr. Dong didn't seem in the mood to speak, but Boss Xiao answered for him: "The calligraphy is indeed by Mr. Qi Gong, and it is a copy of Li Bai's 'Shangyangtai Post.' This is definitely correct."

"Then why does Old Mr. Dong look so disappointed?" Xugang was puzzled.

"What do you know? While Mr. Qi Gong's calligraphy has high collection value, it's only worth a few tens of thousands of yuan on the market. The key is that this is a contemporary work, and Old Mr. Dong prefers older items, understand?" Boss Xiao continued, "Moreover, after missing out on a treasure worth four million yuan, encountering one worth only a few tens of thousands wouldn't be exciting, would it?"

"No!" Xugang shook his head.

It was easy to understand that someone who owned a ten-thousand-year-old ginseng would not envy someone who owned a thousand-year-old ginseng.

"Little friend Tianyuan, if you're willing to sell, I'll buy it for eighty thousand yuan," Boss Xiao smiled. "It seems that Old Mr. Dong, Old Mr. Li, and Boss Murong are not interested."

"I'll offer one hundred thousand yuan, sell it to me," Jia Zhengjing suddenly blurted out.

"Really? Young Master Jia also wants this calligraphy?" Boss Xiao was a bit surprised. In his view, Jia Zhengjing had some knowledge of antiques and calligraphy, but it was superficial. He didn't need to buy this at all.

Jia Zhengjing smiled, "It's my father's birthday in a few days, and I thought I would buy this calligraphy to wish him a happy birthday."

He said this, but inwardly he was sneering. He planned to burn it immediately after buying it. It was just one hundred thousand yuan, which he didn't care about at all.

Just as Zhang Tianyuan was about to speak, Old Mr. Li suddenly shouted, "No! No, no, no!"

Everyone was surprised.

Old Mr. Dong turned and asked, "Old man, what's wrong?"

"I said this calligraphy is wrong!" Old Mr. Li said, looking at his cane. At the same time, he took off his gloves and wiped his hands several times with a tissue before gently touching the scroll.

"The gloves are too cumbersome and affect my sense of touch. I'm sorry, Little friend Tianyuan," Old Mr. Li explained as he touched the scroll.

"It's fine, Old Mr. Li, please go ahead," Zhang Tianyuan said, feeling rather pleased. What did "wrong" mean? It definitely didn't mean the calligraphy was fake, but rather that there was something unusual about it, suggesting that this scroll might be extremely valuable.

Old Mr. Dong also watched Old Mr. Li with great interest. While the eyes might not see, the hands could definitely feel the traces, so he paid close attention to Old Mr. Li's words.

At this point, no one cared about Jia Zhengjing's offer. Everyone wanted to know what was wrong with the calligraphy, why it was wrong, and exactly what was wrong with it.

Tension! Silence! Only the faint music from outside could be heard through the soundproofing, but it was very quiet.

They thought they would get a conclusion immediately, but it turned out to be another hour.

Jia Zhengjing became impatient and said, "It's just a piece of calligraphy by Mr. Qi Gong. I'll buy it for one hundred thousand yuan, and you can all take your time to look at it later. Let's announce the results of the other treasures first."

But no one paid attention to him except for Boss Murong, who only glared at him to shut up.

"Indeed, it's wrong! There's something unusual about this calligraphy!" Old Mr. Li finally spoke again, this time with unusual determination.

"Unusual? What do you mean? That sounds creepy!" Xugang shivered, a bit scared. This guy usually watched too many horror movies and always overthought things. Hearing Old Mr. Li's words, he was definitely thinking of something else.