At this time

All the lights on site went out with a "snap," and a soft beam of light shone down from above onto the exhibition stand.

Two hostesses slowly unrolled the scroll.

This is a horizontal painting that is about two meters long and one meter wide.

The scene depicts a starry sky, a vast night with twinkling stars. The wheat fields on the ground are almost ripe, and there is a melon field nearby. At the end of the melon field is a makeshift shack, inside which an old man is lying on his side.

The old man lay in the drafty shack on both sides, holding a fan in his hand and fanning himself idly.

In the vast night sky, the stars shimmered like a sea.

Just as everyone was marveling at the lifelike scene, a beam of light shone from close range behind the image, while the lights at the top suddenly went out.

In an instant, the scene began to change.

The stars in the night sky suddenly began to move rapidly, streaking across the horizon in a spectacular display.

"A shooting star! It's a shooting star!" someone exclaimed in admiration.

"The image can present different scenes from different angles, it's simply amazing!" someone in the audience exclaimed in admiration.

"As expected of Mr. Ye Bai's work, it always delivers such a powerful visual effect. When the beam of light shines down from above, the stars in the painting twinkle, and the old man in the melon field fans himself. The whole scene is silent yet vivid and natural. But when the beam of light shines up from behind the scroll, the previously silent starry sky is suddenly streaked with numerous shooting stars. The scene is truly magnificent and dazzling. The painting perfectly balances stillness and movement, almost to the extreme. It's divine! Absolutely divine!!"

"I have been studying Ye Bai's paintings for three whole years, but I still haven't figured out how he created this effect."

Someone explained, "I was fortunate enough to hear Mr. Tang talk about Ye Bai's paintings. He said that Ye Bai was proficient in parallel space perspectives and used blind spots in human vision to paint. Under the right conditions, the whole portrait would appear to come alive."

"Putting aside his bizarre painting style, just considering Ye Bai's painting skills, I'm afraid few painters can match his beauty. I'm really curious about what kind of person Mr. Ye Bai is?"

"People with such profound knowledge are probably elderly people in their twilight years, right?"

Just as everyone was enthusiastically discussing the work "Starry Sea".

Old Tang stormed into Director Zhou's office.

"Old Zhou, what's going on with you? When you asked me to help you buy the painting from the Bai family, you didn't mention anything like this."

Mr. Tang only learned about today's art exhibition half an hour ago, thanks to his grandson's reminder.

Why would Ye Bai appear at the event?

Old Tang gave a cold laugh.

If the Huadu Museum really knew who Ye Bai was, why would they go to such lengths to ask him to go to the Bai family to request a painting?

Director Zhou sighed, looking quite helpless.

"Mr. Tang, I apologize in advance. I only just found out about this. This painting was bought by the Huo family and donated to the museum for collection. So today's exhibition was actually organized entirely by the Huo family. As for why they said they invited Ye Bai to the event, I have no idea either."

"You really don't know?" Old Tang asked, his face full of suspicion.

“We’ve known each other for decades, would I lie to you about something like this? Now I also feel like I can’t explain this to Old Master Bai.” Director Zhou seemed very distressed.

Old Tang clasped his hands together and leaned on his dragon-head cane.

His wise eyes were quickly processing the ins and outs of the matter.

Upon closer examination, it seems that the Huo family's purchase and donation of the paintings was merely a publicity stunt.

The goal is to buy Ye Bai's work at a super low price, and also capitalize on this hype to launch a fake Ye Bai.

Because Ye Bai is very mysterious and never appears in public, the eldest daughter of the Huo family took advantage of this and wanted to usurp the position by creating a fake Ye Bai.

Thinking of this, Old Man Teng tapped his forehead.

"Old Zhou, you've really ruined me! Old Bai probably wants to kill me now!"

*

Bai family

"Clang!" The blue and white porcelain teacup shattered on the ground.

Old Bai's face was ashen, and he was breathing heavily with barely suppressed rage.

"That Tang Wanli, that old miser and swindler, actually dared to use his tricks on me? Haha, I sold Ye Bai's painting to him for a pittance, thinking it was a contribution to the country. But he turned around and sent the painting to a museum, and even found a fake Ye Bai to pass it off as the real thing. Haha, very well, you old swindler, you just wait, I'm coming to settle this score with you right now!"

Old Bai vented his anger, but it wasn't enough. He couldn't calm his rage, so he decided to personally tear Tang Wanli apart.

"Dad, calm down. The museum will decide how to display this painting once it enters the Huadu Museum. You and Grandpa Tang have known each other for so many years, you should know his character, right? I think he probably didn't know either," Xu Hualan comforted him gently, analyzing the matter rationally.

Old Bai frowned, his face turning ashen.

"That old miser is hard to say. If he couldn't get any benefit from it, would he have given me his white jade chessboard that he's collected for so many years? Haha, that old man must have gotten a treasure that's more valuable than that chessboard. He did this deal against his conscience. What kind of friend is that?"

Xu Hualan carefully analyzed Elder Bai's words and asked with some doubt.

"How can you be sure that the Night White that appeared in the exhibition hall today is fake?"

"It's 100% fake!" Old Bai said firmly.

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