Chapter 43

"Little brother, keep it up."

"Brother, we believe in you, you must win..."

The encouragement from Boss Pang seemed to have a counterproductive effect. The few people around him immediately felt a sense of shared grievance and began to cheer for Qi Xiang, hoping he would win the prize.

Since they were already out of the competition, who won the prize mattered little to them. In comparison, they hoped more that Qi Xiang would win and give Boss Pang a good lesson, which would be satisfying!

People, after all, have a bit of a grudge against the rich. Seeing Boss Pang in trouble and losing money, they were happy...

At the same time, Qi Xiang spoke, his expression somewhat serious: "Regarding the last fake item, to be honest, I'm also a bit uncertain. Because among all the works on the second floor, there are two paintings that are exactly the same."

"What?"

Hearing this, the few people around him were stunned. In contrast, the few appraisal masters smiled at each other, their admiration growing.

As for Boss Pang, he was both pleased and worried. He was pleased that Qi Xiang was finally in a bind. He was worried that Qi Xiang had at least a 50% accuracy rate. If he got lucky and guessed the right answer, Boss Pang would be in big trouble.

"There are two identical paintings?"

"Who noticed that?"

The few people were confused, asking each other, their faces blank.

It wasn't their fault for not being meticulous. Mainly, there were many works on the second floor, and after a quick tour, they had forgotten most of them. Plus, they were in a hurry, afraid that someone else would take the lead, so they rushed up to guess the answers, paying even less attention to this situation.

"There are..."

Qi Xiang explained: "Works number 59 and number 108 are completely identical, with only slight differences in some details."

"59, 108..." One person tried to recall but had no impression. He then asked urgently: "What were those two paintings?"

"They are New Year paintings!" Qi Xiang smiled.

"New Year paintings?" The few people were stunned, surprised by the answer.

Someone expressed doubt: "That's not right, are there New Year paintings on the second floor?"

"It shouldn't be..." Another person shook his head in confusion: "New Year paintings are very obvious and should be easy to spot. If there were any, I would definitely remember."

"Exactly." The others agreed.

What are New Year paintings? They were essentially a variant of door god paintings. As the New Year customs evolved, the relatively simple door god paintings became the content-rich New Year paintings.

Originally posted on the door, door god paintings also appeared indoors. Various types of martial door gods, kitchen gods, wealth gods, Guanyin, the Eight Immortals, the God of Longevity, opera characters, farming and weaving, folk legends, historical stories, flowers and animals, beauties, children, and landscapes, were all included.

Generally, New Year paintings are prints, similar to posters, making them easy to identify.

Of course, there are also hand-painted New Year paintings, which have more collection value.

However, whether printed or hand-painted, the essence remains the same.

The essence of New Year paintings is to convey auspicious meanings, so they often use bright and vivid colors like red and yellow, emphasizing fun and form, with lively and vibrant characters.

Such New Year paintings would definitely stand out from other artworks. The few people asked themselves, even if their appreciation level was not high, their eyesight was not bad, and they should have recognized the New Year paintings.

Notably, the few appraisal masters seemed to understand what Qi Xiang was saying and were chuckling.

"The New Year paintings I'm talking about are not the ones you put up during the New Year."

At this point, Qi Xiang smiled: "But the New Year paintings, Ren Bonian's paintings."

"Ren Bonian..." The others were stunned, then suddenly understood, rolling their eyes in annoyance. If he had just said Ren Bonian, they would have understood, no need to talk about New Year paintings.

"I remember now." Suddenly, someone slapped his forehead: "The 108th work seems to be a beauty painting."

"Right, right, a Qing Dynasty beauty painting." Another person recalled: "The beauty is holding a fan, leaning against the window, looking at the butterflies fluttering in the courtyard, with a sense of emptiness and loneliness."

"Beauty admiring butterflies!" Someone hesitated: "It looks pretty good, doesn't it?"

"You forgot, little brother said there are two identical beauty admiring butterflies paintings!" The others looked at Boss Pang, their eyes full of curiosity: "Boss Pang, is that right?"

Boss Pang smiled and said ambiguously: "I'm not quite sure about this. After all, I made it clear before that the fake item was not my arrangement but the work of the masters."

"That's true."

An old man nodded directly: "This can also be considered a test. Two identical works, one real and one fake. Anyone who observes the paintings carefully will definitely notice our arrangement."

Another old man agreed: "Those two works are very interesting and can be considered typical cases. It's normal for you to feel stuck. When we first saw the two paintings, we also pondered for a while."

The others couldn't help but be amazed.

They weren't stupid and could read between the lines. The last fake item was definitely the grand finale, with some tricky aspects, making it hard to determine the authenticity.

"Anyway, there's at least a 50% chance."

"Don't let it all go to waste."

"Think carefully before answering..."

The few people took a clear stance, choosing to continue supporting Qi Xiang.

The old men were pleased to see this but had no intention of letting him off. Given their status, they wouldn't cheat. On the contrary, they hoped Qi Xiang would solve the mystery of the two paintings with his own abilities and win fairly and justly.

"Young man, have you made up your mind?"

After a while, Old Sun smiled and asked: "What do you think, which of the two paintings is the fake?"

Qi Xiang pondered for a moment and then said: "Boss Pang, can you bring the two paintings up for me to compare and analyze?"

"No." Boss Pang refused without hesitation, his reason being: "Everyone is watching. Bringing the paintings up would be unfair to them."

"Alright..." Qi Xiang understood and then smiled, taking out his phone: "I took photos earlier. Can you have someone print them out?"

"You..." Boss Pang, being very smart, immediately understood that Qi Xiang was waiting for him. However, after refusing once, refusing again now seemed inhumane...

"Printing is fine, it's more intuitive." Old Sun also spoke up in support.

Out of consideration, Boss Pang compromised and immediately called a subordinate to handle it.

During this time, more people came up to the second floor to check their results. Qi Xiang stepped back a few steps and watched from the side.

It must be admitted that those with appreciation skills never pursue speed. Even if they came later than Qi Xiang, it didn't mean their abilities were lacking.

Qi Xiang watched from the side and was somewhat surprised. At least seven or eight people easily answered more than five questions correctly, identifying five or six fake items.

Some even answered eight fake items correctly, almost matching him.

At that moment, Qi Xiang was also nervous, and he sighed in relief when he saw someone fail with regret, then sighed deeply.

More notably, these latecomers also noticed that there were two identical paintings on the second floor and cleverly realized that one must be real and the other fake.

However, they weren't as cautious as Qi Xiang and chose to guess randomly.

When the old men asked them for their specific reasons, it was clear that their explanations were nonsense, not hitting the point, and were naturally rejected.

Over time, both the early and latecomers realized that the two paintings seemed to be a trap, a very tricky one.

Watching one person after another fail, some were regretful, while others were gleeful.

Soon, the entire teahouse was crowded with people.

Seeing this, Boss Pang understood and quickly invited everyone to a more spacious meeting room.

As the group moved, Xiao Ding appeared, walking to Qi Xiang's side and said with a smile: "Mr. Qi, congratulations, congratulations."

Xiao Ding didn't participate, but his partner did. However, their level was not high, and they only identified three or four fake items, so they were eliminated.

Xiao Ding was naturally frustrated but quickly adjusted. Then, hearing the discussions around him, he learned that Qi Xiang had answered nine fake items correctly, only missing the last one.

Hearing this, Xiao Ding was stunned, feeling both regret and anger. If he had known earlier, he would have begged on his knees to get Qi Xiang to join his team.

But thinking about it, Xiao Ding knew it wasn't realistic. If he were in Qi Xiang's position, he would definitely work alone and wouldn't want to share the benefits with others.

Of course, no matter how angry he was, Xiao Ding suppressed it and then smiled, trying to build a relationship with Qi Xiang. After all, it seemed that Qi Xiang had the highest chance of winning the prize, and he naturally wanted a share.

"It's too early to say..." Qi Xiang shook his head: "Whether I can succeed is still unknown."

"Mr. Qi, you're being modest." Xiao Ding smiled: "We all know you can do it. Here, I want to congratulate Mr. Qi on winning the grand prize in one go."

"Thank you, thank you." Qi Xiang smiled: "If I really win, I'll treat you to a meal."

"Then it's settled." Xiao Ding seized the opportunity.

Qi Xiang smiled and followed everyone to the spacious meeting room.

At the same time, Boss Pang's subordinate brought back the printed photos. The photos were large, like small paintings, with very clear resolution.

At Qi Xiang's indication, the photos were placed on the table for everyone to see.

"Little brother, the items are here. Can you now tell us which one is real and which one is fake?" Boss Pang pressed, sensing that this couldn't be delayed, or it would get worse...

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