Chapter 36

"Alright, alright, since Young Friend Tianyuan wants to treat us, we naturally won't refuse you!" Old Dong laughed heartily.

"That's right. Being able to meet a young talent like Young Friend Tianyuan is also a fortunate event for this old man. We should interact more in the future," Old Li also nodded and said.

Boss Xiao and Boss Murong had nothing more to say. Today's appraisal and stone gambling had shown them Zhang Tianyuan's terrifying talent that surpassed his age. Such a person must be befriended at all costs.

In fact, after listening to Liu Mengxun's words, they knew that Zhang Tianyuan's success in stone gambling was definitely not due to luck. Otherwise, no matter how bad his luck, it would be impossible to select all four fake rough stones. It must have been intentional.

Of course, through this matter, they also saw the terrifying side of Zhang Tianyuan. This kid couldn't be offended; otherwise, Jia Zhengjing was a good example.

Mou Ying, Liu Mengxun, and Xu Gang had even less reason to refuse. Having this meal here was absolutely no problem.

However, just as Boss Murong was about to instruct the waiter to prepare the food, Jia Zhengjing suddenly stood up and said, "Everyone seems to have forgotten something very important."

"Let's talk about it after the meal!" Boss Murong seemed to have guessed what Jia Zhengjing wanted to say, so he hinted that Jia Zhengjing shouldn't invite trouble. Unfortunately, at this moment, Jia Zhengjing was filled with hatred for Zhang Tianyuan. Since he couldn't outdo Zhang Tianyuan in stone gambling, he wanted to regain some face in the previous appraisal.

In fact, he was a bit reckless. Since he had already lost all his dignity, even if he lost again in the appraisal, it wouldn't be much worse. But if he could regain some face, it would be a gain. So he said this.

He didn't listen to Boss Murong's advice and continued, "Since the appraisal and stone gambling are over, there should be a result, right? Otherwise, everyone will have something on their minds and won't enjoy the meal."

Zhang Tianyuan smiled and said, "I think Young Master Jia is right. Since the food will take a while to arrive, we might as well use this time to announce the results."

He found it even more amusing. Since Jia Zhengjing had no shame, why should he give him any face? If Jia Zhengjing wasn't afraid of losing face, he wasn't afraid of knowing the results either.

Old Dong originally intended to give Boss Murong some face, after all, Jia Zhengjing was the son of Boss Murong's friend. But he didn't know that this young man was so reckless, so he got a bit angry and didn't waste any more words. He pointed to his string of prayer beads and said, "Young Jia said these prayer beads are genuine and valued at 500,000 yuan. I should thank him because these beads are made of artificial pearls. Although the craftsmanship is exquisite, they are still fake. I bought them for 2,000 yuan! But it's no wonder Young Jia made a mistake. The forger is a master who specializes in making fake pearls to deceive inexperienced young people. He made this string of prayer beads for me and even deliberately marked them! Oh, right, the evidence Young Friend Tianyuan mentioned to confirm that these prayer beads are fake is that mark, right?"

At this moment, Jia Zhengjing's face looked as if it had been slapped hard. As Old Dong spoke, his face turned redder and his body trembled violently, probably due to his emotional state.

Zhang Tianyuan ignored him and nodded in response to Old Dong's words, "If everyone looks closely with a magnifying glass, they will find very small engravings on one of the beads, which seem to be a person's name, 'Mantian Wang' (Deceiver of Heaven)."

"Mantian Wang! It's actually him! I didn't expect Old Dong to know such a remarkable person!" Boss Xiao exclaimed.

"Is this Mantian Wang famous?" Zhang Tianyuan asked in confusion.

"Ordinary people might not have heard of him, but in the industry, Mantian Wang is absolutely a legend! A legend in forgery!" Boss Xiao explained.

"Exactly!" Old Li also nodded and said, "His real name is Wang Manzi, but he later changed it to Wang Mantian because he thought the name was unappealing. People in the industry like to call him Mantian Wang, and he gradually adopted this title as his name, meaning 'deceiver of heaven and earth.' This person is definitely a genius, a genius in forgery. He has a wide range of expertise, from ceramics and calligraphy to pearls and jade, even including things like tianhuang, and he can forge them to the point of being indistinguishable from the real thing! What's even more terrifying is that no one has ever seen his true face!"

"Really? Does such a mysterious person still exist in modern society?" Xu Gang asked in surprise.

"Of course, and according to industry insiders, Mantian Wang is not just one person but several people sharing the same name! Otherwise, it would be too incredible for one person to have such a wide range of expertise," Boss Xiao added.

"But didn't Old Dong say he had met the person?" Zhang Tianyuan asked.

"No, I only said he forged these pearls for me, but I didn't say I had met him. His business is handled by agents who also collect the money," Old Dong shook his head and said.

"Hmph, one day, I will definitely find out the true identity of Mantian Wang!" Old Li suddenly said fiercely.

"Does Old Li have a grudge against him?" Zhang Tianyuan asked.

"Do you think his blindness is due to someone else? It's because of Mantian Wang's forgery! Alas, Old Li has been deceived by this person all his life," Old Dong sighed.

At this point, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became a bit sad. However, at this moment, Jia Zhengjing's words brought everyone out of the sad mood. He wasn't entirely useless.

"Let's not talk about this Mantian Wang. I made a mistake in appraising the prayer beads, so I'll buy them for 500,000 yuan. Let's talk about the other three items appraised by Zhang Tianyuan!" Jia Zhengjing had come back to life. He thought that since the pearls were so well-forged, he could buy them, make them into a necklace, and then sell them at a high price to recoup some of his losses. He now wanted to see Zhang Tianyuan fail even more.

"You're quite straightforward, but I won't sell these prayer beads. I don't want them to be used to harm others!" Old Dong glanced at Jia Zhengjing and put the prayer beads away. He knew that 500,000 yuan might hurt Jia Zhengjing, but it wouldn't teach him a lesson. If it harmed innocent people, it would be his fault.

Actually, think about it, if someone bought a fake pearl necklace for their wedding, how unlucky would that be? It might even ruin their entire life.

Jia Zhengjing didn't insist. After all, not spending 500,000 yuan, he didn't lose anything, so it wasn't bad.

Next, Old Li pointed to his two walnuts and said, "These are indeed old lion-head walnuts. When I bought them, I spent about 200,000 yuan. Young Friend Tianyuan's appraisal is basically accurate. His eyesight is excellent, far better than many young people today!"

"Hmph, you've escaped a disaster!" Jia Zhengjing gritted his teeth and looked at Boss Xiao, "Brother Xiao, is your gourd genuine?"

Boss Xiao shook his head and said, "To be honest, I bought this gourd for nearly 60,000 yuan."

"Is it really genuine?" Jia Zhengjing became excited. He was satisfied as long as he saw Zhang Tianyuan lose face. He seemed to have forgotten that Boss Xiao had already said the gourd was fake, probably because he had been too stimulated and forgot.

"Zhengjing, don't interrupt. Let Boss Xiao finish speaking, okay?" Boss Murong was a bit unhappy. Even though Jia Zhengjing was his friend's son, his performance today was really unacceptable, and even he found it hard to tolerate.

Boss Xiao smiled and said, "I spent 60,000 yuan, but this gourd is unfortunately a fake, worth at most a thousand yuan. I gave it to my grandson to play with. Losing 60,000 yuan, I consider it a lesson. In the world of collecting, it's almost impossible not to make mistakes. It's just that some people lose less, and some lose more. Some grow from their mistakes and become experts, while others jump off buildings and die."

People like Boss Xiao, who are straightforward, don't fear losing face even when they make mistakes. Even if they are laughed at, they treat it as nothing. This is probably why he has been successful.

"Damn, that kid escaped another disaster!" Jia Zhengjing gritted his teeth, losing confidence. Was Zhang Tianyuan really only 25 years old? How could he look like someone who has been deeply involved in antiques for years? His eyesight was just too sharp.