The study room on the third floor was very quiet. Whether it was Zhan Huafeng, Carl Smith, or even Zong Yu, they were staring closely at Xue Chen's back, waiting.
After about five minutes passed, Xue Chen suddenly turned around, glanced at Carl Smith, a bearded white man, and said, "You want evidence that this painting is a fake? Well, I'll give it to you now."
Carl Smith's eyelids twitched and he remained silent. He just made a sound through his nasal cavity as a response.
Zhan Huafeng also clenched his fist subconsciously and asked: "Xue Chen, have you found the evidence?"
"Well, don't worry, Mr. Zhan, your piece of land will not be taken away." Xue Chen smiled lightly, and then said to Zong Yu, "Mr. Zong, do me a favor, please open a curtain."
This study has three windows, but they are all blocked by tan floor-to-ceiling curtains and are completely illuminated by lights.
Zong Yu didn't pay attention to Xue Chen's order. He strode to the window and opened the curtains of one of the windows. The sunlight immediately shone in again.
"I want to see what evidence you have!" Carl Smith whispered.
Xue Chen walked to the window with the painting in his hand and said in English: "Counterfeiting has always existed since ancient times. Each era has its own characteristics. There are high and low methods of counterfeiting, just like pickpockets. Ordinary ones are just like pickpockets."
Some can sneak into the streets, but some can sneak into the upper class, and the benefits they steal are extraordinary, and the same goes for counterfeiting."
"In China, there have always been three people who are the most skilled in counterfeiting antiques, and they have even continued for one or even several dynasties. To be more precise, there are three surnames, that is, Zhu, Jia, Lin, and the three surnames, collectively known as Zhu Fang and Jia Fang.
,Lin Fang.”
The three people on the side followed suit and listened carefully.
"Zhu is good at imitating porcelain, Jia is good at forging bronzes, and Lin is unrivaled in calligraphy forgery. Zhu's porcelain, Jia's bronze, and Lin's calligraphy and painting are all the most brilliant imitations. The fakes are confused with the real ones.
It has been mixed with authentic antiques throughout the ages.”
Xue Chen paused for a moment.
"Because the top people in every industry are proud, so are counterfeiters. These three surnames have gradually developed a hobby, which is to leave traces on counterfeit products.
The most common way to prove that this object was forged by three families is to leave the last names of the three families on it."
Both Carl Smith and Zhan Huafeng had limited knowledge of Chinese antiques, so when they heard Xue Chen telling some information that no one in the general antique business had access to or understood, they both listened very carefully.
Zhan Huafeng's mind moved and he blurted out: "Could this painting be that of Lin Fang? There are also marks on it?"
"That's right. This painting is indeed imitated by Lin. There are also traces of Lin's forgery intentionally left on it, which is exactly the word 'Lin'." Xue Chen said.
Carl Smith immediately denied it: "Impossible, this calligraphy and painting is here, clearly visible. If the mark was left, how could the appraisers I hired not find it? They are not blind, and I
I don’t think Mr. Zhan noticed any special handwriting.”
"Hmm..." Zhan Huafeng did take a quick and detailed look at the painting Xue Chen held in one hand, and indeed did not see the suspicious word "Lin".
Carl Smith raised the corner of his mouth proudly and looked at Xue Chen: "I have to say, you told a lot of stories and almost made me believe them. But, where is the evidence you said? I haven't seen it yet.
Well, I think if I were you, I should..."
"You want evidence? Keep your eyes open, it's right here!" Xue Chen suddenly said, cutting off Carl Smith's words like a sharp knife. At the same time, he lifted the painting in his hand and pointed it towards the window.
Sunshine coming in!
The three people on the opposite side all raised their heads. They were still a little dazed for a moment. They didn't know what Xue Chen meant by this move. But soon, the expressions of the three people changed drastically.
Zong Yu exclaimed: "This is... the word "Lin"? Ah, it actually exists. This... is so amazing, so unbelievable. How is it possible? It's like this!"
Zhan Huafeng's pupils also condensed, looking very surprised, while Carl Smith's face also changed color instantly, becoming ugly.
On the calligraphy and painting paper, there is a very eye-catching word "Lin", which almost occupies the entire painting!
Xue Chen turned around and looked around. From his angle, he could just see a tilted word "Lin". This word "Lin" was indeed clearly written on the paper. The reason why no one discovered it was because the word "Lin" was painted on it.
Made up of some branches of plum blossoms!
What's even more clever is that the ink used for the plum blossom branches contained in the word "Lin" is different from other inks. When facing the sun, ordinary ink will be penetrated, but some inks will not be penetrated, so,
When the painting faces the sun, the ink depicting the word "Lin" will be particularly clear, so the word will be completely highlighted.
Xue Chen had to praise him in his heart, it was so clever and so courageous!
Ordinary counterfeiters hate to leave some clues, but Lin's counterfeiting openly leaves the imprint of the family on the fake works. This is the power of Lin Fang, and it also shows the kind of person Lin Fang is.
He is proud to be different from the ordinary imitators.
"It's unbelievable that there are such exquisite imitations in the world. I, Zhan, have finally seen it today." Zhan Huafeng looked at the word "Lin" that appeared in the sunlight, and murmured slightly absentmindedly.
Zong Yu looked at Xue Chen with eyes full of admiration, without the hidden dissatisfaction he had before.
"Mr. Carl Smith, open your eyes and take a look. Now that the evidence is here, do you have anything else to say?" Xue Chen asked loudly, holding the axis of the painting in one hand and holding the other behind his back.
road.
Carl Smith's eyes almost bulged out of his sockets as he stared at the painting. The blood vessels on his forehead bulged and jumped up and down, and his face became a little grayer. He heard Xue Chen's loud questioning.
, his lips trembled slightly a few times, his eyes were full of unwillingness, and he kept his head silent.
Seeing Carl Smith speechless, Zhan Huafeng said in a deep voice: "I think the matter is very clear now. What Xue Chen said is correct. This painting is undoubtedly a fake."
Carl Smith gritted his teeth and suddenly solemnly held the certificate signed by three appraisers in his hand. He used both hands to exert 40% force while cursing in English: "Fake, idiots, they are all idiots!"
After tearing the identification certificate into dozens of pieces and throwing it to the ground hard, the expression on Carl Smith's face changed a few times. He walked a few steps forward to Xue Chen and said with regret: "Oh,
Sir, I'm really sorry. I wronged you, and you were right, but I really didn't do it unintentionally. It was the incompetence of those appraisers who deceived me."
Seeing Carl Smith's apology, Xue Chen nodded: "Mr. Carl, I accept your apology. I think it's time to fulfill your promise. Please take me to the storage room."
Carl Smith's face froze.
"Yes, Karl, you will not forget the bet between us. Now that Xue Chen has produced conclusive evidence, it is time for you to keep your promise. I think you will not break the agreement." Zhan Huafeng said with sharp eyes,
"As long as you fulfill your promise, I can tolerate and forget the unpleasantness just now."
Carl Smith lowered his head slightly, his face flashed quickly, and he gritted his teeth hard, as if he was struggling, thinking about gains and losses. After more than ten seconds, he nodded with difficulty, and pretended to be relaxed and said:
"I, Carl Smith, am a well-known gentleman and a man of integrity. How could I not keep my promise? Please follow me."
The next room on the same floor is the warehouse where treasures are stored as mentioned by Carl Smith. It is such an important place, so it is naturally very tight. The doors used are very high-tech, like a safe, with dual fingerprints and passwords.
Lock.
Xue Chen stood next to Zhan Huafeng, watching Carl Smith with his back to them, secretly inputting his fingerprints and numeric password.
laugh!
There was a sound like steam, and the heavy iron door opened automatically.
Xue Chen subconsciously looked inside and saw a windowless warehouse with two iron shelves placed against the left and right walls. On the shelves were placed boxes of different sizes, the big ones were waist high, the small ones were
They are only about the size of a palm, and there are nearly a hundred of them, and each box has a number on it.
Looking at this warehouse, Carl Smith was like looking at his own child, full of pride and satisfaction.
It was also the first time that Zhan Huafeng saw Carl Smith's collection warehouse. When he saw that there were so many collections, his eyes fluctuated and he sighed secretly, thinking that most of them might have been lost from China.
Carl Smith turned around, a sly light flashed in his eyes, and said to Xue Chen: "Mr. Xue, you can go in and choose, but because I have something urgent to deal with, I will leave in five minutes, so you only have five minutes
I think five minutes is enough for Your Excellency, who has extraordinary vision, isn’t it?"
"Five minutes, so short!" Zhan Huafeng blurted out. Five minutes is too little. You can only open one or two boxes and take a look. In other words, it is impossible to choose the ones with higher value.
Just try your luck.
Seeing Zhan Huafeng wanting to argue with Carl Smith, Xue Chen reached out to stop him and said in a calm tone: "Five minutes? Okay, that's it, Mr. Carl Smith, you can start the timer."
Xue Chen stepped into the warehouse.
Carl Smith glanced down at his watch and then looked up at Xue Chen who walked in. He snorted coldly in his heart. Since he couldn't break his promise, he could only find a way to reduce the loss. In five minutes, he didn't believe that Xue Chen could choose from them.
One of the few masterpieces in his collection.
If he only picked ordinary items worth tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, he would feel distressed, but he could bear it. (To be continued)