The young man's witty remark immediately triggered a burst of laughter. Many onlookers shared his view, believing that any bronze artifacts sold on street stalls were definitely fake.

Moreover, our batch of bronze artifacts was impressive in both variety and quantity. Where could a normal person get so many genuine bronze artifacts? Obviously, they were mass-produced fakes, specifically designed to deceive people.

However, the old gentleman with glasses did not agree. He was neither arrogant nor impatient, nor was he in a hurry to argue with the young man. Instead, he slowly picked up a bronze artifact and said in a steady voice, "Does anyone here know how to identify bronze artifacts?"

The old man's opening remarks revealed an extraordinary air.

Judging from his tone, it was clear that he knew his stuff.

In fact, I later learned that this old gentleman was indeed a figure in the local antique circle. He was quite famous in the Sichuan and Chongqing area, with a unique eye for identifying treasures.

It was just a pity that this time he had run into the matchless forgeries personally made by Xiaoling Guard, who had hired experts to create them. That's why he unfortunately made a mistake and faltered.

But this was not shameful. Jiang Guangyong had said long ago that the quality of this batch of fakes was enough to be mistaken for the real thing and sent to a provincial museum.

As for his esteemed name, allow me to skip mentioning it. After all, not many people know about this matter. If I were to rashly reveal his name, I'm afraid it would ruin his reputation instead.

Back to the main topic.

The old man asked around, but no one on the scene could say for sure. It was clear that most of the onlookers at the antique market were laymen, not experts.

The old man didn't say much when he saw this. Instead, he introduced in a calm tone:

"To identify bronze artifacts, there is a saying in the industry—grasp its shape, view its patterns, recognize its inscriptions, check its ground rust, and find its mold marks. Follow this saying, step by step, to identify it, and you can know the authenticity of the bronze artifact."

The young man who had made the witty remark initially thought that this old gentleman was just a bystander like him, but he didn't expect the old gentleman to have real skills. His words stunned him.

Other onlookers, seeing an expert, were piqued with curiosity and listened to the old man's explanation with great interest.

The old man pointed to the bronze artifacts on our stall and said, "These bronze artifacts have simple and unsophisticated shapes, but there are no patterns or inscriptions on them. Looking at their rust color, it is full and moist. These types of bronze artifacts are probably very old, at least from before the Warring States period!"

I couldn't help but marvel secretly.

Although these bronze artifacts were all fakes, they were indeed imitations of bronze artifacts from before the Warring States period.

It was quite a feat that the old man could see this.

The old man continued, "Although bronze artifacts from before the Warring States period are valuable, the cost of counterfeiting them is also extremely high, and if you are not careful, the flaws will be seen. Therefore, there are few fakes on the market."

As he spoke, he picked up two similar bronze masks and compared them, marveling, "Genuine! They are actually genuine! I never thought I could find such a large batch of rare treasures on a street stall in the antique market!"

At this time, someone in the crowd asked:

"How do you determine that they are genuine?"

"Just because of those few sayings?"

"Can you tell whether they are genuine with just one glance?"

The old man smiled faintly and explained patiently:

"Whether they are genuine, the key is to look at the mold marks on the bronze artifacts. Bronze artifacts before the Warring States period were generally made using the ceramic mold method. The so-called ceramic mold method refers to first making the inner core of the bronze artifact with pottery clay, and then making the outer cavity of the bronze artifact with another pottery clay. This outer cavity is technically called the 'mold'. Then, the inner core and outer cavity are combined, and the hollow part is cast with bronze..."

Not only the onlookers, but even Uncle Mei and I were listening attentively. Sure enough, there were experts among the people. The knowledge of an old man in the antique market could be so profound.

The old man continued:

"After the bronze artifact is cast, the outer mold must be broken to take out the bronze artifact inside. Bronze artifacts cast using the ceramic mold method will inevitably have mold marks on them. Any bronze artifact cast using this method is one mold for one artifact, corresponding one-to-one, and the mold marks are like human fingerprints. There will never be two identical mold marks in this world."

At this point, he held up two seemingly identical bronze masks from the stall and pointed to the small mold marks on them, saying:

"You see, although these two bronze artifacts look exactly the same, the mold marks are completely different. If they were fakes made by later generations, they would never have such different mold marks."

These words immediately convinced many people on the scene, and I also learned a lot of knowledge.

After determining the authenticity of the bronze artifacts, the old gentleman couldn't wait to ask, "You two, these treasures are priceless. What price do you want to part with them?"

I kept in mind what Jiang Guangyong had said and quickly replied:

"To be honest, the two of us are not in the antique business. We are corpse fishermen on the Tuo River. A few days ago, we encountered an undercurrent, and these bronze artifacts were fished out from the bottom of the water. We just brought them here to try our luck. We didn't expect these treasures to be genuine!"

As soon as these words came out, the onlookers immediately started discussing.

I pricked up my ears to listen, hearing them whispering to each other, their eyes filled with envy:

"What? These treasures were actually fished out of the Tuo River!"

"Isn't this a windfall?"

"Why don't I have such good luck!"

"Do you think there are still more in the Tuo River now? Otherwise, let's go fishing too!"

"..."

I couldn't help but feel secretly pleased. The more people discussed, the more likely the news would reach Shopkeeper Wang's ears. I was worried that he wouldn't come looking for me.

At this time, Uncle Mei asked the old gentleman, "I see that you are an expert and an honest man. What price do you think we can ask for this batch of treasures?"

In fact, if the old gentleman had been dishonest, there would have been no need for him to reveal the truth. He could have pretended to be ignorant and insisted that our batch of bronze artifacts were fakes, and then bought them at a low price.

But he was a gentleman, and Uncle Mei saw this, so he asked.

The old gentleman smiled and first said, "This batch of treasures can sell for a sky-high price!"

But he immediately changed his tone and lowered his voice, saying, "It's just that bronze artifacts from this dynasty are very hot to handle. I advise you two to sell them as soon as possible, otherwise, I'm afraid you will have to hand them over without compensation."

Uncle Mei and I nodded after hearing this.

The old gentleman, of course, would not miss this rare opportunity. He emptied all his pockets and gathered three thousand two hundred and fifty coins, picked up a bronze mask and said:

"To be honest, the value of this mask is far more than three thousand two hundred, and if it were to be appraised, it would probably be more than ten times that. But meeting is fate. I boldly ask you two to part with it. Can you two do me a favor for the sake of our acquaintance?"

I thought to myself with shame that this bronze mask was originally a fake, and it was probably not worth even three thousand two hundred, but this layer of paper couldn't be broken, otherwise, Shopkeeper Wang, this big fish, wouldn't be hooked.

Helpless, I could only pretend to be distressed and say, "Let's just make friends, deal!"

So, money and goods were exchanged, and the old gentleman left happily with the bronze mask, while Uncle Mei and I gained a lot of money.

Logically speaking, with the appraisal of this old gentleman, the business of Uncle Mei and I should be getting better and better, but after this deal was made, no one next to the onlookers came to patronize.

I was feeling puzzled when Uncle Mei whispered the reason to me.