The Chinese delegation was speechless. Although they knew before coming that there were few delicious foods in the country, they were still shocked to see two pieces of pork belly floating on a few pickles. Several people were stunned.
Wen Qianqian pursed her lips and tried her best to restrain herself from laughing out loud. Fortunately, she had prepared well and brought a homemade hot pot in her bag before coming. Otherwise, she would have lost a few pounds by starving after this trip.
The thief delegation was completely oblivious, their faces beaming with pride as they continued to ramble on about the next dish: "This is our famous dish, stir-fried rice cakes with spicy sauce!"
Chinese delegation: ...
Everyone used all their life's willpower and tried hard to purse their lips to avoid laughing out loud at the banquet.
But since it was a state-level reception after all, everyone just took a few symbolic bites and finally got through the two-hour reception perfunctorily.
To prevent the Chinese delegation from staging any similar "receptions," the head of the Chinese delegation acted quickly and, before they could even begin, said, "We're here primarily to appraise national treasures. If there's nothing special going on, shall we begin now?"
He was very good at talking. He stared at the other team leader and said, "Start early, finish early, and don't delay your work."
The other party opened his mouth, as if he didn't expect the Chinese to be so pragmatic and hardworking. They didn't even take a break after arriving here, but went straight to the point of work. This attitude of being fully committed to work really surprised them.
Wen Qianqian couldn't help laughing when she saw the other person's eyes wide open and mouth gaping. It's true that Chinese people are hardworking, but the reason why the team leader was so anxious to go back this time was probably because of your kimchi fried pork belly.
She could even imagine the captain's inner monologue upon seeing this dish: ...What the hell...I can't stay in this damn place for even a moment...
Seeing that China insisted, the other party had nothing to say and directly arranged an identification room. Just as they set up all the identification tools, the Chinese delegation arrived.
As the delegation sat down, they saw a short, fat man walk in. The member of the stealing country delegation quickly introduced him: "This is the owner of the famous painting, Mr. Li Zaixin."
Wen Qianqian looked up and glanced at the other person. The other person just glanced at them hurriedly, his eyes a little timid and vague. When his eyes swept over Wen Qianqian's face, he showed surprise, but when he saw her eyes, he immediately dodged away.
She frowned calmly. This rich man was so strange. All the rich men she had met, whether it was Yi Sheng, Xie Yunjin, Bai Xinyu or Liu Kun, regardless of their abilities and personalities, all of them had more or less the arrogance of the upper class. They were not panicked even when they saw the police, especially Liu Kun. He was arrested with nothing in his hands, but he still dared to challenge the police. It was indeed rare to see a rich man like this one with a wandering look in his eyes and who didn't dare to look at people.
The two sides met and waited for a while. The United Nations representative also got off the plane and came straight here. With all the personnel present, the appraisal meeting of the famous paintings officially began.
The leader of the stealing group carefully took an extremely exquisite storage box made of crystal from Li Xinxin's hand, and then opened it carefully.
When Wen Qianqian took a glance at the storage box, she felt a very familiar feeling. After thinking about it carefully, it seemed that the painting was taken out of the same box at the auction that day.
It is not surprising that he claimed to own the painting. After all, the painting disappeared for 500 years. It is not surprising that someone occasionally saw it and remembered it and copied it. What is strange is why he used the same storage box as the one at the auction. Isn't this too much of a coincidence?
The head of the Chinese delegation noticed the strangeness in Wen Qianqian's expression, sat down next to her, and asked quietly, "Miss Wen, do you think there's something wrong?"
The head of the group was the president of the China Cultural Relics Protection Association and one of the most famous professors in the domestic archaeology community. Wen Qianqian thought for a moment, then whispered to him, "The storage box for this painting is the same one I saw at the auction."
As soon as he said this, the knowledgeable team leader next to him immediately realized the problem. If the storage boxes were the same, it meant that the two paintings might have been in the hands of the same person before. In this way, it would be possible to use the same box to store two paintings separately.
The leader of the thief group didn't know what they were discussing. He just put on gloves and very carefully unfolded the painting, then hung it in the middle of the room. Then he said to everyone in the room: "Okay, you can start the appraisal."
As soon as he finished speaking, the experts from the Chinese delegation immediately stood up and quickly surrounded the painting.
Wen Qianqian also stood up and followed the experts towards the painting.
As she got closer, she carefully examined the painting of the young general surrendering his horse. She remembered what the original looked like, and at first glance, it was no different from the original: the same size, the same color, the same brushstrokes, the same delicate painting style. No matter from which angle, it was exactly the same as the original. Wen Qianqian even thought, it was a good thing that the domestic painting appeared first, otherwise, if this one appeared first, would the world only recognize this one?
She didn't want to say anything more. The truth would be revealed at a glance, so while everyone was gathered in front to watch, she quietly withdrew from the front and went around to the back of the painting alone.
She stood there and suddenly recalled that on the day of the auction, she was standing behind the painting in the same position. Then, she took a look and discovered the miracles and secrets in the painting. The shock she felt at that time, the feeling of suddenly traveling through 1,500 years, has been unforgettable to her until now.
So this time, she stood at the same angle as last time, turned her head to look, and as expected, nothing appeared.
She thought about it, changed the angle, and looked again, but still saw nothing.
After watching it, she breathed a sigh of relief without showing any emotion, then went straight back to her seat without watching again.
Some of the Chinese experts were using magnifying glasses to carefully examine the details of the painting, while others were carefully flipping through a notebook. No one spoke at the scene, and it was so quiet that even the sound of flipping pages could be heard clearly.
Li Xinxin, the owner of the painting who was sitting in the corner, seemed to be aroused by her beauty and took another sneak peek with a lewd expression. Wen Qianqian noticed and glared back at him. Perhaps her gaze was too sharp, and Li Xinxin was so scared that he almost fell off his chair after just one look.
Wen Qianqian frowned silently, her mind racing as to how this seemingly cowardly and ignorant "rich man" got hold of the painting.
She had a vague guess in her mind that this person was probably acquainted with Xie Yunjin.
Nearly an hour passed, and the Chinese experts were still surrounding the painting, frowning, seemingly unable to make a decision.
The leader of the thief country delegation, who had been watching for a long time, saw their expressions and guessed that they couldn't make a judgment, so he said smugly: "Members of the Chinese delegation, a lot of time has passed. How are your appraisals?"
Several Chinese experts were stunned for a moment. When they heard his voice, they checked the time and found that it was indeed almost two hours.
Several people frowned even deeper.
The leader of the thief group was very proud of their reaction: "It seems that you haven't found any evidence that this painting is fake."
"In other words, since we can't find evidence to prove it's fake, can we declare the painting to be real?" After saying that, he gave Li Xintou a look of confidence.
His Chinese was already poorly spoken, and with that smug look on his face, he was particularly annoying.
The Chinese expert was somewhat displeased: "Those of you in this industry should know that authenticating a painting takes a considerable amount of time, sometimes even a month or two. We've only examined it for two hours, and it's normal that we can't come to a conclusion right now."
Unexpectedly, the leader of the thief group on the other side didn't buy it, but instead became more arrogant: "We have a preliminary judgment after two hours, smite."
"It's not that you Chinese can't identify it, because you also have a painting in your country, so you don't want to admit it's real. You are deliberately delaying time!"
He looked at Li Xinxin, his smile revealing the cunningness of a man who had succeeded in his scheme. "This painting comes from Mr. Li Xinxin of our country, so it belongs to our country. After the appraisal meeting is over, we will immediately hold a global press conference with Mr. Li Xinxin to announce that ours is the real thing and yours is fake!"
The Chinese experts then realized that the reason why the thieves agreed to the suggestion of Chinese experts to come for appraisal was actually because they wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Chinese experts could not reach a conclusion in a short period of time, make the experts feel embarrassed, and then declare to the outside world that the painting was real.
The experts can't find any flaws and have no way to refute them. Moreover, the press conference is being held in their own country, so won't they be able to speak for themselves then?
Several experts were so angry that their eyes widened, and they instantly realized the despicable act of stealing from their compatriots.
A professor at Huaguo Imperial University suddenly stood up and said, "Everyone in the archaeological community knows that if a painting is extremely realistic, it's impossible to reach a conclusion quickly. You've given us too little time. It's clearly a trap."
The other party, however, had a dead pig fearless expression: "We've given you time. In two hours we will be ready to hold a press conference."
After saying this, he smiled cunningly: "The Chinese side said that you are the most authoritative experts in the industry. If you can't find any problems, then this painting must be real."
"Your country doesn't follow the rules!" The professor of Imperial Capital University was obviously angry. He stood up and pointed directly at the representative of the thief country.
The representative of the stealing country curled his lips and looked at the time: "There are less than two hours left. If you want to prove it, you'd better hurry up!"
After saying that, regardless of what the Chinese experts thought, he took his team of thieves and drank tea leisurely on the opposite side.
"How ridiculous!" The Chinese experts are all big names in the industry. They usually study academics and are used to being straightforward. They have never been exposed to any calculations. They didn't expect to suffer a loss here today.
"Captain, what should we do now?" A professor, somewhat fed up with the thieving attitude of his compatriots, said, "We've been examining the painting for two hours. There are no obvious flaws, but if we examine it closely, two hours is definitely not enough."
The Chinese leader watched the thief gloat over the painting, clenched his fists, and said nothing as he continued to look carefully at the signature on the painting with a magnifying glass.
Wen Qianqian glanced at the delegation from the stealing country opposite, then looked at the experts from China who were a little anxious but trying hard to find flaws. She couldn't help but despise the stealing country again.
The professors in China are all top professors in the industry. She believes that as long as they are given enough time, they will be able to find the flaws no matter how sophisticated the fake is. But the problem now is that the time given is too little.
If it was an ordinary imitation, two hours would be enough for them to discover it. However, this painting was imitated extremely well. If she had not seen the original or knew the identification method of paintings from a book, she would have no way to do it.
At this moment, she couldn't help but feel fortunate to know the contents of the book. At the critical moment, she could not only identify the authenticity of the paintings, but also help the country maintain its reputation.
She thought about it and said directly to the leader of the thief group opposite: "It won't take that long. I have seen this painting. It is fake."
"What did you say?" someone on the other side looked incredulous. Li Zaixin, the painting's owner, was so startled that he knocked over his teacup.
At this time, not only the experts on the opposite side, but also the experts on the Chinese side were all surprised.
The Hua Guo team leader thought for a moment and then asked Wen Qianqian, "Officer Wen, have you spotted any flaws?"
Wen Qianqian nodded.
The man on the other side couldn't maintain his composure, revealing a treacherous look and full of disdain: "Impossible! I just noticed it, and you just came over to look for a few minutes. What can you find in a few minutes? Nonsense!"
The other party spoke very fast. At this time, he was too lazy to use broken Chinese, so he just used stolen Mandarin and talked a lot. The translator next to him translated while looking at him with an indescribable look.
The country's reputation for being stingy is well-deserved. As soon as others say they have found a flaw, the other side starts to disbelieve it and attacks them in various ways.
Wen Qianqian raised the corner of her mouth: "It does take time to carefully consider each stroke, but if you know the secret of the painting, you can tell the authenticity at a glance, and it only takes a few minutes."
"Impossible! You're just looking for trouble! Since you can't find any flaws, you're just saying the painting is fake!" The other team leader stared at Wen Qianqian intently, then pointed at the UN representative: "If you can't tell me how to identify it, don't blame me for saying that you Chinese are just talking nonsense!"
Wen Qianqian sneered, "Then who is talking nonsense and calling a horse a zebra?"
"China's five thousand years of history clearly records that Chongyi and the young general in the painting are both Chinese. You just got a fake, and yet you have the nerve to claim the painting is yours? How shameless!"
While Wen Qianqian was expressing her opinions, she was thinking to herself, no wonder no one sends official representatives to such occasions, because the possibility of stepping on landmines is too high. If an official team is sent, the two sides will quarrel uglyly. At this time, it is more conducive to expressing her opinions by joining non-governmental organizations.
Wen Qianqian looked him in the eye. "How many years of history does your country have? What does this painting have to do with you? All you do all day is steal and misappropriate other people's achievements, other people's history, other people's traditions, and insist on claiming them as your own."
Her voice was cold and disdainful: "The more you act like this, the more it shows that you are weak inside and have no confidence at all!"
The opponents' faces immediately darkened after being attacked by her. They were not confident in the first place, and when their weak points were exposed in public, they suddenly felt that all the blood in their bodies rushed to their heads, and every cell in their bodies was in a frenzy.
"Ms. Wen, this is Country H, not your China. You have no right to stir up trouble!" The person on the other side was so angry that he felt dizzy and began to warn.
Wen Qianqian wasn't afraid at all: "Weren't you the ones who went too far first, forcing us to come to a conclusion within a few hours? You were the ones who pushed us first."
After she finished speaking, she stood up and scanned the representatives from each of the thief nations present, finally settling on the face of the thief nation's leader. "Although we are not an official Chinese delegation, we are a legitimate expert group. If you harbor a grudge and do something to me just because I said a few words, I believe our superiors will not sit idly by and allow us to be bullied by a small country."
She looked at the man's face, which was almost green with anger. "So even though this is in your country, your warning to us is ineffective."
The corners of her mouth curled up slightly: "We don't buy into your tricks."
After that, several Chinese experts also stood up and said, "You're right. They were the ones who played dirty tricks first, and now they dare to warn us. It's really ridiculous."
The Chinese leader also stepped forward and looked at the other leader. "Excuse me, when you said 'This is Country H, not China, and you have no right to stir up trouble,' did you mean that, or did your superiors mean that?"
As soon as he was asked this question, the leader of the stealing country group suddenly felt guilty, because it is okay for civil organizations to fight with each other, but when it escalates to a certain level, the meaning changes.
He subconsciously covered his mouth, realizing that he had spoken out of turn.
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