When I heard Jiang Man point out the flaws in this kiln-fired glaze bottle, I looked at her with some skepticism: "Are you sure this porcelain bottle is a fake?"
"This is a very important matter. I'm just giving you a suggestion; I can't guarantee I can do it."
Jiang Man paused for a moment: "You call yourself the Judge with Ghost Eyes, can't you see the problem with this porcelain?"
I wasn't being pretentious; I told the truth: "This kiln-fired glaze bottle is well-made, but not of high quality. If I were to buy it, I could offer up to 30,000 yuan. This isn't a popular type of porcelain in the industry, and this is the first time I've seen one in person."
As of now, I have not been able to distinguish the authenticity of these two porcelain pieces. Although I am certain that one of them is a fake, that fake must also be the work of a master craftsman, and one from the early Republic of China period.
There is even a possibility that after the collapse of the Qing government, the workers at the imperial kilns, in order to make a living, secretly opened the kilns to fire porcelain and sold it as treasures stolen from the palace.
Among antiques, the more popular the collectible, the more counterfeiters there are.
As the number of counterfeit goods increases, people's experience in identifying fakes naturally spreads.
Ironically, it is these inexpensive little items that are the most perplexing.
If you're outside, this kind of porcelain can produce results in just a few hours once it's put on an instrument.
However, if you look at it with the naked eye, it is indeed a huge test for people.
Despite Jiang Man's reminder, I still didn't dare to gamble. Instead, I focused my attention on the small bottle and gently scratched the gold paint inside the bottle's mouth with my fingernail.
The paint is hard and was not applied recently.
Although it is from the Qing Dynasty, this bottle is too recent. Apart from the bloated gold lacquer that Jiang Man mentioned, I really can't find any other faults.
Or rather, Wei Shengnan and her team were simply looking for loopholes in the competition rules.
The Xuantong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, also known as Puyi, reigned for only a few years before the country became a republic, and he was expelled from the Forbidden City.
There are very few imitations of official kiln porcelain from the Xuantong period of the Qing Dynasty, because the Xuantong period is too close to the present day, and the items themselves are not valuable, so there is no point in imitating them.
If I had to say there were any, it would be the kind that the official kiln craftsmen fired privately, as I just mentioned.
Once the Qing Dynasty fell, the items made by those craftsmen naturally became Republic of China products. This bottle, with its Qing Dynasty design and quilted seams, was thus classified as an antique imitation.
The people in Fengmen Village can use technical means to determine that they did not cheat, but I can only see it with my naked eye.
Having determined that I could not distinguish the authenticity of these two items, I made a decision in less than a second.
Let's take a gamble!
Song Laosan is an expert after all. If I continue to delay, I am only giving him an opportunity and wasting my own time.
If Jiang Man's memory is correct, I can eliminate them.
If I made a mistake and ended the game earlier, I'd have more time to catch up with them.
"bite!"
Thinking of this, I slammed the handbell on the table, and almost at the same time, the bell behind me rang.
I picked up the floral-patterned plate and turned around to look, and I found that Song Laosan was also holding the Tang tri-color multi-legged inkstone.
Seeing that we had all turned around, the referee said, "Red 4 rang the bell first and found the genuine item. Red wins this round!"
"pretty!!"
Upon hearing the referee's words, the monkey immediately cheered loudly, while also taunting, "I told you long ago, Young Master Duan is one of the top figures in the domestic appraisal circle! He's not some nobody who can defeat us just by bringing in a heartless bastard!"
This bet, which was just a second away from being turned around, had already filled Qu Ruilin with rage. Hearing Monkey's words, the veins on his neck stood out: "Kid, who the hell are you cursing?"
"Huh? I was just making a comment, why did you go and walk right into the line of fire?"
The monkey looked at Qu Ruilin smugly: "So, do you consider yourself a nobody, or a heartless wolf?"
"You fucking..."
Enraged by the monkey, Qu Ruilin actually charged over.
"Bang!"
Manjing stepped forward and pushed Qu Ruilin away with a palm strike. Seeing this, the other side's men were all ready to make their move.
The referee merely observed coldly and said indifferently, "I remind you all that if you start fighting here, you will all be disqualified! Also, while you are arguing, the matches in other rooms are still going on as scheduled. You are wasting extremely valuable match time."
"Brother Lin! Forget it!"
Upon hearing the referee's words, Wei Shengnan stepped forward and grasped Qu Ruilin's wrist: "We've already lost a game and are behind in time; we can't afford to get entangled with them."
"snort!"
Qu Ruilin glared at me coldly, then pushed Manjing's arm away and walked towards the room's exit.
Wei Shengnan looked at me, her lips moved, but in the end she didn't say anything.
After Qu Ruilin and the others left, a group of people came in and started moving our things. A man also put a stack of hoods on the table: "Your opponents are ready. Put on your hoods and come out with me. If anyone needs to go to the restroom, you can ask now, but the time wasted will be added to the match time."
Without hesitation, the monkey said, "Oh dear, what time is it? Why go to the toilet? I'd rather wet my pants than waste time!"
I glared at the monkey: "Don't talk nonsense, there are girls here!"
"The monkey is right, time is of the essence, I'm fine."
As Jiang Man spoke, she picked up a headgear first and said to me, "As long as we win the next round, we'll have passed the first hurdle. Stay calm and try to make it in one go!"
I gave a forced, relaxed smile and picked up a hood: "I'll do my best."
After we lined up, we were led away from the cave.
As I walked, I vaguely heard two bells ringing. It must have been when we passed other caves that the competition had ended.
About three minutes later, the man who was leading me spoke up: "You can get ready now."
Following the middle-aged man's instructions, I removed the hood and discovered that we were in a cave similar to the one before, with a curtain separating us again.
After the referee finished announcing the same rules, he immediately opened the curtain.
Although Fengmen Village stipulates that each team can send six people, there was only one elderly man in his sixties and two young men in their twenties on the other side of us.
The two nodded to each other and walked to each other's tables to begin their inspection.
Before us are ten identical jade cups, exquisitely carved, and they look like they date back to the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty.
Just then, a young voice came from behind me: "Master Zhou, where do you think we should start?"
The aged voice replied, "Young Master, the Master sent you out this time for training and to broaden your horizons. I cannot interrupt."
The young man pleaded, "I've already lost once. If I lose again, wouldn't I be utterly disgracing the Hong family? If you help me this time, who will know?"
The old man remained unmoved: "If I make a move now, I'll only be harming you. If you can't even get past this 'Fishing for the Moon in the Sea,' then entering Fengmen Village will only be suicide."
Hearing their conversation, I immediately felt relieved.
Unexpectedly, my opponent in the second round was a scion of a prestigious family who had come out to gain experience. Judging from the old man's attitude, I was confident of victory in this first round.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com