Chapter 41

Logically speaking, this game should be a personal battle. So, once Boss Pang and the others left, some people hurriedly ran to the wall and began to study it carefully.

However, there were also those who felt that fighting alone was inefficient and naturally had certain thoughts.

For example, Xiao Ding suddenly walked up to Qi Xiang and whispered, "Boss Qi, let's team up?"

"Team up?" Qi Xiang was taken aback, not understanding what he meant: "What kind of team up?"

"We can cooperate," Xiao Ding suggested. "We can look for the forgeries together; this way, it will be faster. Think about it, if we team up, each of us can find five pieces, and the efficiency will at least double, definitely faster than the others, right?"

"After completing the task first and getting the prize, we can split it in half, how about that?"

Xiao Ding paused and added, "Of course, whoever finds more forgeries gets a higher share, very fair, right?"

It must be said that Xiao Ding's mind was very agile, faster than others. Although this approach might seem like taking a shortcut, the rules announced by Boss Pang did not explicitly prohibit teaming up.

In other words, working together to find forgeries was still within the rules and did not count as cheating.

However, after smiling, Qi Xiang directly shook his head: "I refuse..."

"Why?" Xiao Ding was stunned.

"I want to try on my own," Qi Xiang said calmly and strolled away leisurely.

"You..." Xiao Ding felt a surge of anger in his chest but managed to suppress it after a while, then muttered, "Not knowing the situation, do you really think you're an eagle that can see everything?"

After cursing a few times, Xiao Ding's eyes rolled around again, continuing to look for potential partners in the crowd.

The space on the second floor was large, and there were naturally many hanging calligraphy and paintings.

Qi Xiang scanned the area and roughly estimated that there should be over a hundred pieces. Among these, ten were forgeries, which was a one in ten chance.

A one in ten chance, logically speaking, was quite high.

However, many people carefully observed the paintings but remained inactive. Mainly, they were afraid of making mistakes, as there was only one chance, and if they were wrong, there would be no chance to make up for it.

However, Qi Xiang also noticed a phenomenon: behind some people, there were always four or five others following.

At first, he was amused and understood the reason.

Without saying more, the person leading the way was definitely an expert. Others knew the expert had skill and lacked confidence in themselves, so they followed the expert, hoping to get a bargain. Whenever the expert stopped to observe a painting, they would quickly take note...

Qi Xiang couldn't help but shake his head, knowing that these people were doing useless work.

After all, experts weren't fools and would certainly know what these people were thinking. Upon discovering someone following them, which expert would expose their target? The smart move would be to go along with it and deliberately mislead...

Qi Xiang was also relieved that he was a stranger, and no one recognized him or knew his capabilities, so no one paid attention to him. This allowed him to move freely and easily examine the paintings.

After a full circle, half an hour had passed.

During this time, some people went up to the third floor but didn't come back down.

This situation made some people happy and others worried. Those who were happy thought that the people who went up had been eliminated. But on the other hand, it also raised concerns: had someone already won the prize?

With different thoughts in mind, everyone saw Qi Xiang heading to the third floor.

Instantly, Xiao Ding frowned, not knowing why, but he suddenly had an ominous feeling.

"Overthinking, it must be a mistake. No matter how capable he is, it's impossible for him to find all ten forgeries at once. He's probably just going to try his luck," Xiao Ding consoled himself, then hurriedly called his new partner to continue observing the paintings.

Qi Xiang went up to the third floor and saw that the layout was different from the second floor.

The second floor was spacious and simply decorated. The third floor was smaller, mainly divided into several elegantly furnished rooms, specifically for entertaining VIP guests.

At this moment, Boss Pang and several appraisal masters were chatting in one of the tea rooms. There were also a few people who had come up earlier, either dejected or calm, sitting and drinking tea.

When Qi Xiang entered the tea room, everyone naturally fell silent.

Someone glanced at Qi Xiang and chuckled, "Hey, another one who's just guessing..."

The others agreed, laughing in unison. After all, seeing Qi Xiang's age, it wasn't hard to draw that conclusion. However, they weren't mocking him but rather feeling a bit of shared hardship.

Because they had also done the same, guessing a few pieces when they were unsure, hoping for a stroke of luck.

A few elderly people, probably thinking the same, glanced at Qi Xiang, then continued drinking tea and chatting, showing no particular reaction.

It was Boss Pang who stood up amicably and smiled, "Young man, which paintings do you think are forgeries?"

"The first one!" Qi Xiang said.

"Hmm!"

Including Boss Pang, everyone nodded unconsciously.

No one found it strange, as those who dared to take a chance weren't purely guessing but had some discernment, able to identify three to five forgeries.

If they couldn't spot a single forgery, they wouldn't have come up to embarrass themselves.

"Then, what do you think is wrong with the first painting?" Boss Pang asked, adding another layer of security to ensure Qi Xiang wasn't cheating by knowing the first painting was a forgery through other means but couldn't explain the specific reasons.

Knowing the result without the cause would also be a violation of the rules and grounds for disqualification.

"The author of the first painting is the famous Fu Baoshi's landscape painting."

Qi Xiang spoke confidently, "I won't comment on the composition, brushwork, or style. I'll just say that the paper used for this painting is a clear flaw."

"Oh?"

The others were taken aback, finding this a unique approach.

Because when others evaluated the first painting, they usually focused on the brushwork and style. The forgery's brushwork was somewhat skilled, but compared to a master like Fu Baoshi, it was far off.

Anyone familiar with Fu Baoshi's style could easily identify the forgery.

However, Qi Xiang's focus on the paper was somewhat unique.

Boss Pang was curious and couldn't help but ask, "You mean the paper is the problem?"

"Exactly, the paper is wrong," Qi Xiang nodded. "From what I know, Fu Baoshi preferred xuan paper for figure paintings and pi paper for landscape paintings. The forgery is a landscape painting, but the paper is clearly xuan paper. I knew it was wrong at first glance."

"This..." Boss Pang was taken aback, hesitating, "There are always exceptions, right? It can't be used as direct evidence."

"No, this is direct evidence," Qi Xiang was very certain. "Because the inscription on the forgery is from the spring of 1940, during which time Fu Baoshi was in Sichuan and would only use pi paper for his paintings."

"Why?" Boss Pang raised an eyebrow, indicating doubt.

At this moment, an elderly man put down his teacup, his eyes showing approval, and explained, "Because it was during the war, xuan paper was expensive and hard to obtain, while pi paper was cheap and readily available."

"Fu Baoshi lived a modest life at the time. Although he found pi paper rough, it had some advantages in ink absorption, so he often used pi paper from Duyun, Guizhou, for his landscapes and figure paintings. He only used high-quality xuan paper for his figure paintings..."

The elderly man continued slowly, "Even after the war, when Fu Baoshi returned to Nanjing, he brought back a large amount of this pi paper, so all his landscape paintings in Nanjing before 1950 were done on this pi paper."

"In the late 1950s, as his living conditions improved, he began to use handmade pi paper from Wenzhou or ancient pi paper from the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong period..."

The elderly man explained carefully, "So, the paper Fu Baoshi used in different periods, especially the pi paper from Guizhou, the xuan paper from the Qianlong period, and the pi paper from the Qianlong period, are impossible for modern forgers to obtain."

"The difference in paper is one of the important criteria for identifying the authenticity of Fu Baoshi's works."

The elderly man didn't hide his admiration, "Young man, you're quite good, you hit the point."

Qi Xiang smiled modestly and looked at Boss Pang.

"Ha, it turns out I was ignorant and made a fool of myself. Thank you all for your understanding," Boss Pang was straightforward, admitting his lack of knowledge, then laughed and asked, "What about the second forgery?"

"Number three, also a work by Fu Baoshi," Qi Xiang smiled.

"What?"

At this moment, the few people who had come up earlier couldn't sit still, as none of them had any doubts about the work numbered three.

Boss Pang's eyes flashed with surprise, then he asked calmly, "Why do you say that?"

Qi Xiang was very calm and said softly, "If the first work was wrong because of the paper, then number three is wrong because of the ink."

"What's wrong with the ink?" Boss Pang asked, eager to hear the explanation.

Qi Xiang didn't look at him but at the elderly man, smiling and explaining, "From what I know, Master Fu Baoshi was very particular about the ink he used for his paintings, especially the ink sticks."

"He collected a large number of famous ink sticks from the Ming and Qing dynasties, not as antiques but for painting. He always used old ink sticks made from lampblack or lacquer smoke, grinding them himself, and never used ready-made ink for convenience."

Qi Xiang spoke firmly, "So, in his genuine works, the areas with heavy ink are always black and shiny, with a purple luster, reflecting the quality of the ink."

"This is a significant characteristic of Fu Baoshi's genuine works. If high-quality ink sticks were not used, this effect would not be achieved. Therefore, the ink used in the painting can also be used to identify the authenticity of the work."

Qi Xiang smiled and asked, "Old sir, do you think I'm right?"

.................

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