Hearing the old man's words, Jiang Shao narrowed his eyes, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips. "Since the old man says so, why should I refuse? However, since it's a competition, there naturally must be a stake."
As he spoke, he took out a thumb ring from his embrace. It was a jade emperor's thumb ring, intricately carved with a coiling dragon, its entire body a vibrant green, as if it could drip water.
The surrounding crowd's eyes lit up; this emperor's thumb ring was no ordinary item!
Seeing the envious and shocked gazes of the surrounding people, Jiang Shao smugly explained, "This emperor's thumb ring and the red agate pendant I'm wearing are a set. I bought them at a high price at an auction abroad. Kid, as long as you can win against the old man, this emperor's thumb ring will be yours. But if you lose..."
Before he could finish, Ye Fan slowly stood up, his face full of confidence, and chuckled, "I won't lose."
These words stunned everyone around him, their faces filled with shock as they looked at him.
In the antiques appraisal world, who dared to claim they would never make a mistake? Who was this young man, to be so arrogant?
Jiang Shao's heart skipped a beat, but then he burst into laughter. "Good, I like arrogant people, but arrogance needs a capital."
He then turned to the old man and said, "Next, it's up to you, old man."
"I shall not fail you."
With that, the old man stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the stall. Soon, he picked up a cloisonné vase while wearing gloves.
He took a magnifying glass from an assistant and began to examine it closely.
The surrounding onlookers followed the old man's actions, their gazes shifting. They whispered to each other intermittently, but none dared to speak.
It was most detrimental to an appraiser's judgment for someone to interrupt during an appraisal.
Only Ye Fan's brow twitched. With just one glance, he already knew the authenticity of the cloisonné vase.
After a full ten minutes, the old man's forehead was beaded with sweat. He finally put down the cloisonné vase and turned to Ye Fan, "Please."
This meant he had finished his appraisal, and it was now Ye Fan's turn.
It was considered quite graceful for the old man to appraise first. After all, during the ten minutes he was appraising, Ye Fan could also have been appraising. One had to admit that despite his arrogance, the old man possessed a certain bearing.
However, Ye Fan did not step forward, nor did he reach out. He calmly glanced at the old man and said, "A fake."
The moment these words were uttered, the scene erupted in an uproar. Even Jiang Shao frowned. "Kid, you dare to call this a fake without even touching it? Are you taking us all for fools?"
Jiang Shao's words resonated with the surrounding crowd, who began pointing at Ye Fan, ridiculing and mocking him.
But Ye Fan remained unfazed. Instead, the old man's brow furrowed. "This cloisonné copper enamel vase is exquisitely made, its texture is dense, and the patterns and inscriptions are all fine. How can it be a fake? Young man, you're probably just talking nonsense, aren't you?"
As one of the few Level 2 appraisers in Jiangcheng, the old man's eyesight was beyond doubt.
Ye Fan shook his head. "Everything you've said only proves that this item is an enamel vase, not its authenticity. Cloisonné, also known as 'Falan' or 'Enamel Inlay,' is named cloisonné because its craftsmanship reached its peak during the Jingtai reign of the Ming Dynasty. To discern its authenticity, there is only one method."
As he spoke, Ye Fan bent down, picked up the vase, glanced at the old man, and in the next moment, he raised his hands high and smashed the vase fiercely onto the ground.
"How dare you! You scoundrel, what are you doing?"
Jiang Shao lunged forward, grabbing Ye Fan by the collar, his eyes blazing with anger. "Seeing that you're about to lose, you want to destroy the appraised item? Kid, today I'll show you what it means to have no way to heaven and no door to earth!"
He raised his fist, ready to strike Ye Fan.
But at that very instant, Ye Fan struck first. He raised his left hand and sharply chopped at Jiang Shao's wrist, simultaneously pushing Jiang Shao's chest with his right hand. The force seemed small, but it sent Jiang Shao staggering back three or four steps.
Wiping his wrinkled clothes, Ye Fan's gaze was filled with coldness. "If you dare to make a move again, regardless of your identity, I will show no mercy."
As a tomb keeper, Ye Fan was naturally skilled. However, the body he had been reborn into was a bit frail, not yet enough to unleash his full strength.
Jiang Shao was stunned, his heart trembling. How could this young man's gaze be so terrifying?
But he was an arrogant young master, after all. Would he be intimidated by Ye Fan's few words?
"Kid, you're courting death!"
He then prepared to order his subordinates to attack Ye Fan again.
But at this moment, the old man raised his hand to stop them. The old man's face was grim, his eyes heavy. He slowly bent down, his hands trembling as he picked up a piece of porcelain from the ground.
The broken edge of the porcelain revealed the core. After a long moment, the old man sighed, "It was made by grinding with fine stone, coated with apricot kernel porridge, and after it rusted, the rust was wiped away. Such exquisite forgery, no wonder it was indistinguishable."
Boom~
The old man's words struck the crowd like a thunderclap, and they also exploded in Jiang Shao's heart.
"Old... Old man, are you saying this item is a fake?"
Unable to believe his ears, Jiang Shao quickly took two steps forward, grabbed the old man, and asked in a deep voice.
Despite his reluctance to admit it, the old man nodded heavily. "Yes, this item is a fake."
As a Level 2 appraiser, how could he willingly accept losing to a young man around twenty years old?
But antique appraisal was like this; if you made a mistake, you made a mistake, and there was no room for argument.
Moreover, at this moment, the old man had no time to consider the authenticity of the cloisonné. He was more concerned about how Ye Fan had identified it. Did he really have x-ray vision?
"Since you admit you've lost, then this emperor's thumb ring is mine."
Saying this, he raised his hand, grabbed Jiang Shao's wrist, and with a smooth motion, took off the thumb ring worn on his thumb.
Crystal clear and radiating warmth, it was indeed extraordinary. It should fetch a good price!
If Jiang Shao knew Ye Fan's thoughts, he would probably spit out a mouthful of blood.
This treasure that I painstakingly bought at a high price, you're thinking of selling it for cash?
However, although Jiang Shao was a scoundrel, he was also a man of his word. No matter how unwilling he was, a loss was a loss.
He shot Ye Fan a fierce glare before turning his head away, unable to bear looking.
Instead, the heavy expression on the old man's face gradually disappeared, replaced by a smile.
"Young man, since the winner has been decided, would you be so kind as to enlighten this old man? How exactly did you see that the cloisonné was a fake?"