Without saying a word, he strode to the long table, his sharp eyes first carefully scanning the base of the Xuande blue and white porcelain jar, then he picked up a magnifying glass and examined each bead of the string of nine-eyed dzi beads.
Zhou Yang and the others watched calmly and silently, and for a moment the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Xu Yao secretly squeezed Zhou Yang's hand, a hint of excitement, like watching a show, flashing in her beautiful eyes.
Zhou Yang responded with a look that said, "Don't be impatient, the best is yet to come."
The more Gu Zhongchen looked, the more his brows furrowed, and the more violently his chest heaved.
Finally, he slammed the magnifying glass on the table with a "bang," turned around abruptly, raised his large, fan-like hand, and slapped Gu Huaijin across the face without any mercy!
*Smack!!!*
Crisp and clear!
"You bastard!"
Gu Zhongchen was furious. He pointed at Gu Huaijin's nose, his voice like a thunderclap.
"Is this how you do business with me?! Trying to fool our customers with this obviously fake stuff? Are you trying to make the Gu family lose all face?!"
Gu Huaijin was so slapped that he saw stars, and half of his cheek swelled up at a visible speed, with a trace of blood even seeping from the corner of his mouth.
He covered his face, his eyes filled with disbelief and grievance. He felt guilty inside, but he was good at acting and put on a wronged face.
"Grandpa, I don't know! This is impossible! I personally examined them, and they're all genuine. How... how could they become fake?!"
He tried to explain himself, but out of the corner of his eye he caught Gu Huaiyue rolling her eyes at him almost imperceptibly.
There was a hint of mockery in his eyes.
This was like a spark igniting a powder keg!
Gu Huaijin instantly found the "culprit," and disregarding the pain on his face, he pointed sharply at Gu Huaiyue.
"Grandpa! It was her! It must have been her! It was Gu Huaiyue! She's jealous of me, she wants to harm me! She must have secretly switched the things!"
Zhou Yang watched with great interest.
Siblings turning against each other, shifting blame between themselves! Brilliant!
Faced with this sudden accusation, Gu Huaiyue didn't even flinch, only a cold smile playing on her lips.
She calmly retorted, "Cousin, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."
"You're saying I switched things? Fine, this entire floor, from the appraisal room to the vault and then to the auction hall, is under full surveillance with no blind spots."
"Then tell me, at which point, in front of so many eyes, did I manage to switch these two important artifacts without anyone noticing? Hmm?"
Every word she uttered was like an icicle, piercing Gu Huaijin's heart.
Gu Huaijin was speechless, opening his mouth but unable to utter a single word in rebuttal.
Surveillance? How could he forget about that!
But he was now in a bind, and could only stubbornly persist, acting like a mad dog.
"I don't care! It's you! You did it! There's no one else but you!"
"Enough!"
Gu Zhongchen was so angry that he trembled all over. Looking at his good-for-nothing grandson, he felt that he had almost completely lost face.
He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, turned around, and with a hint of shame, cupped his hands in greeting to Zhou Yang, Qin Yumo, and Du Zhe.
"Alas, my young friends, I'm sorry to have made you laugh at me. It's a misfortune for my family to have produced such a wretched child! I've failed to discipline him properly, I'm ashamed, truly ashamed!"
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly slapped Gu Huaijin hard across the other side of his face!
*Smack!!!*
Another crisp sound, and this time it was symmetrical.
"Shut up! Aren't you embarrassed enough already?! Get out of here!"
Gu Zhongchen pointed to the corner of the wall and shouted sternly.
Gu Huaijin was slapped so hard he was dizzy and his cheeks burned with pain, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.
At this moment, however, it was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and its resentment suddenly surged up!
He covered his swollen face, stiffened his neck, and spoke in a hoarse voice with a desperate madness.
"Grandpa, I don't believe it! Zhang Hou and I examined these two items carefully, and they were definitely genuine! Absolutely genuine! How could they turn into fakes in the blink of an eye?!"
Although he knew what was going on, he absolutely could not admit it!
Gu Huaijin, as if grasping at a lifeline, stared intently at the second-in-command appraiser standing behind Gu Zhongchen.
Dragged into the fray by Gu Huaijin's outburst, Zhang Hou, the second-in-command appraiser wearing gold-rimmed glasses, felt a jolt of unease and cursed his teammate as a complete liability!
That brat, he can die on his own, but he also wants to drag me down with him!
The cold sweat that was already on his forehead was now pouring down even more.
On ordinary days, he and Gu Huaijin would put their arms around each other's shoulders and often "study" some tricks together, and they had done quite a few wicked things together.
If you deny it outright at this time and say that you didn't see it clearly, wouldn't that be contradicting yourself and admitting that you are not good at your job?
How am I supposed to survive in this industry after this?
Moreover, if Gu Huaijin really has some backup plan and manages to exonerate himself, wouldn't Zhang Hou become the sole scapegoat?
In a flash, Zhang Hou had already made his decision—
Rather than trying to distance ourselves from the situation and getting picked off one by one, we might as well stick to one path and see if we can actually survive!
If you can't be convicted, then you're innocent!
Zhang Hou composed himself, his voice hoarse and aggrieved, and bowed to Gu Zhongchen.
“Old Master, Young Master is right. These two items were indeed appraised by Young Master and me together before they were put into storage, and there were absolutely no problems at the time!”
"As for which link in the chain went wrong, I have no idea!"
His eyes darted around, his gaze seemingly casually drifting towards Gu Huaiyue's aloof expression, his tone carrying a strong implication, sarcastic and unsettling.
“After we verified that there were no problems, we locked it in the highest-security vault. The key was kept by a special person, so there was absolutely no way there could be any problems. The auction process was also under the spotlight, so it was impossible for anyone to tamper with it.”
"But what if, between the end of the auction and our current inspection, the young lady... took these two important artifacts for some purpose, secretly tampered with them, and then pulled this 'discerning eye for fakes' act—a classic case of the thief crying 'stop thief!'"
"After all, this way, we can both severely punish the young master and demonstrate the young lady's... extraordinary ability to see through things?"
"I'll fuck you..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Huaiyue almost swore.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yang and the others were both amused and annoyed.
I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone this shameless and even turning the tables on others. This guy is wasting his talent by not acting in palace dramas!
Zhou Yang sneered, his tone like a poisoned blade, aimed precisely at Zhang Hou.
"Master, are you implying that you're questioning my judgment?"
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