"ah--?!"
Du Minghua felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, his legs went weak, and his eyes rolled back.
He fell straight backward, almost dying on the spot!
"dad!"
Du Zhe reacted quickly, rushing forward and managing to catch his father just before his head hit the hard ground.
Even so, Du Minghua was exhaling more than inhaling, and his face was even paler than the Xuan paper on the wall.
"Mr. Du!"
Gu Zhongchen and Jin Buhuan were also startled and quickly surrounded them.
Gu Huaiyue frowned slightly and took out a delicate silver box from her small bag.
He opened it, took out a dark brown pill, and gently placed it into Du Minghua's mouth.
"Uncle Du, this is a reassurance my father has been taking. Please take one first."
Du Minghua woke up slowly after Du Zhe pinched his philtrum and he smelled a cool medicinal fragrance.
He stared blankly at the ceiling, his lips trembling, and after a long while he managed to squeeze out a sentence, his voice hoarse like a broken gong.
“That…that painting, ‘Shrimp Fun’…I…I spent…a full two hundred million five years ago!”
"Bought from someone who claimed to be a descendant of the renowned artist Qi Baishi..."
Two hundred million! All the liquid assets that Du Minghua had saved up over half a lifetime, just went down the drain like that?
This hurts even more than cutting off his own flesh!
Gu Zhongchen, Jin Buhuan, and Gu Huaiyue exchanged glances and shook their heads helplessly.
Gu Zhongchen sighed, stepped forward, and carefully examined the painting "Shrimp Fun".
After a moment, he said in a deep voice, "Mr. Du, what young friend Zhou said is true. The ink in this painting is restless and the brushwork is indeed immature. Although it imitates the form of Qi Baishi, it lacks the charm of his late-life brushwork and the naturalness of returning to simplicity."
"The shrimp is stiff, the water is not lively, and the seal is also... sigh, it's a new imitation. This is indeed a modern imitation, and the level of imitation is rather average."
Jin Buhuan added: "Qi Baishi's shrimp paintings emphasize the five colors of ink, with endless variations in density, lightness, dryness, and wetness. The joints of the shrimp legs and the graceful movement of the shrimp whiskers are all due to his skill. This painting is similar in form but lacks the spirit; it is too much of a craftsman's work."
"It's over...it's all over..."
Du Minghua slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant, as if his soul had been ripped out.
Du Zhe, watching from the side, felt both distressed and annoyed, and stomped his foot.
"Dad! I told you long ago, with your limited judgment, you shouldn't touch these antiques and paintings!"
"You think you're finding a bargain? That's a professional team setting you up! You're not collecting, you're just giving scammers a free ride and becoming a sucker!"
"Two hundred million! Two hundred million! That's enough for me to open countless trendy restaurants and bubble tea shops! You might as well give me the money, and I guarantee I'll multiply it several times over!"
This old man is truly stubborn; he won't give up until he's faced with certain death, and he won't shed a tear until he sees the coffin!
Now look what's happened, your mentality has collapsed!
"You...you shut up!"
Du Minghua suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot, and pointed at Du Zhe.
"I'm not dead yet! It's none of your business to lecture me!"
He took a few deep breaths, as if he had made up his mind, struggled to get up from the ground, pointed at the collection all over the room, his voice hoarse but with a fierce edge.
"Keep going, keep looking! I want to see just how many of these things in my room are fake!"
I refuse to believe this nonsense!
Du Minghua has spent most of his life in the business world; has he really been taken for a fool and made a fool of all these years?!
Zhou Yang raised an eyebrow, secretly amused.
Is this a case of "what's the use of trying"?
Still want to make one last desperate attempt to save face? Fine, I'll grant your wish!
The subsequent assessment was nothing short of a disastrous "major disaster".
Zhou Yang strolled over to a display case dedicated to coins and picked up a gleaming silver "Zhang Zuolin in military uniform, Grand Marshal of the Army and Navy Commemorative Silver Coin Sample".
He weighed it in his hand, then looked at the teeth and dragon patterns against the light, and pursed his lips.
“Mr. Du, this commemorative coin has an overly bright luster, insufficient pressure, burrs on the edges, blurry dragon details, and the patina is chemically created. It’s fake.”
“A genuine one on the market would cost at least 20 million. Yours is at most a high-quality replica, worth no more than a few hundred yuan.”
"puff--"
Du Minghua almost spat out another mouthful of blood.
"This...this coin cost me eighteen million!"
Before he could catch his breath, Zhou Yang walked up to a fiery red coral ornament.
The coral was brightly colored and had a unique shape, standing more than half a meter tall.
Gu Huaiyue couldn't help but take a second look; this quality of Aka red coral was indeed rare.
Zhou Yang glanced at it and asserted, "Mr. Du, the color of this so-called 'Aka-grade red coral' is dyed, the white core is obvious, the growth pattern is wrong, and the density is a bit low."
"At most, it's just ordinary sardine red coral with dyeing treatment. As for its value... well, compared to your price range, it's negligible."
"Fifty...fifty million..."
Du Minghua muttered to himself, his voice trembling with sobs.
He pulled so many strings to get this back from an overseas auction!
Subsequently, there were various "Ming Dynasty Xuande incense burners", "Qing Dynasty Qianlong famille rose revolving vases", "Warring States period bronze tripods"...
One after another, these "national treasures" were exposed as fakes under Zhou Yang's eyes, which seemed to see through all illusions.
At first, the three experts, Gu Zhongchen, Jin Buhuan, and Gu Huaiyue, each took turns examining the items.
Later on, they could confirm almost any location Zhou Yang pointed to.
Zhou Yang's judgments were never wrong. His speed of identification and his keen eye left even these veterans who had been immersed in this field for decades in awe and somewhat ashamed.
After a thorough search, only four-fifths of the items in Du Minghua's private collection could be confirmed as genuine!
Roughly estimated, Du Minghua has spent more than two billion yuan on these counterfeits!
Zhou Yang couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Goodness, two billion!
Du Minghua is really rich, but he also has no taste!
Is this treating scammers like family and national treasures like cabbages?
What kind of "spendthrift" spirit must one possess to persistently allow oneself to be deceived for so many years?
Gu Zhongchen patted his chest, his eyes filled with complex emotions as he looked at Zhou Yang. There was shock, admiration, and a sense of awe at the potential of a younger generation.
He solemnly cupped his hands to Zhou Yang: "Young friend Zhou, I have truly broadened my horizons today! Your skill in appraising treasures is truly divine and consummate!"
"I am several decades older than you, but in this respect, I am far inferior to you!"
Jin Buhuan nodded repeatedly and sighed, "The new generation surpasses the old, and the new generation always surpasses the old! Young friend Zhou's insight has probably reached a state of perfection, which we can only look up to in awe!"
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