Seeing Qiu Mengyun winking at him, Xia Tian immediately understood and stood up to get the gift.
He first placed the box containing the ancient painting on the coffee table in front of Qiu Liming: "Uncle Qiu, I heard from Mengyun that you like antiques, calligraphy and paintings. I just came to the store to find this painting for you after getting off the plane. I hope you like it."
Qiu Liming frowned and feigned disdain, saying, "Humph! What do you young people know about antiques? Could it be that someone tricked you into bringing in a fake?"
Qiu Mengyun said unconvincedly: "Who said this is a fake? This is..."
Xia Tian tugged at Qiu Mengyun's sleeve and interrupted her: "Uncle Qiu is telling us that we really don't know much about antiques, calligraphy and paintings. Please help us, Uncle Qiu, to see if we've been cheated."
"Well, considering your attitude is relatively sincere, I will reluctantly help you out!"
Qiu Liming was very satisfied with Xia Tian's attitude. He opened the box and began to slowly spread the ancient painting on the coffee table.
Qiu Mengyun complained in a low voice, "Why didn't you let me tell you? You found this painting from Wangyuanzhai. With the eyesight of Wangyuanzhai's boss, Li, there's no way this painting could be a fake. If it was a fake, he certainly wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to store it in such a secret basement."
Xia Tian explained in a low voice: "Why did we give this painting to your father? Have you forgotten?"
"The reason we went through so much trouble to find a gift is so that he'll be happy after receiving it and have a better impression of me!"
"If you start arguing with him about the authenticity of the painting now, then even if it's proven to be real later, he'll definitely be unhappy. Then we'll not only give him the painting, but also offend him. Wouldn't that be more trouble than it's worth?"
Qiu Mengyun nodded in understanding: "That makes sense. I didn't expect that you are so experienced in doing things despite your young age."
Xia Tian: "Being with someone as outstanding as you every day, I will definitely make some progress under your influence. It's understandable that I can think of this."
Qiu Mengyun was very pleased with Xia Tian's flattery.
"Hehe! You're not bad, it's only been a few days and even your words are much more pleasant to the ears."
Qiu Liming, who was sitting opposite, had already spread the ancient painting out on the coffee table. At first, he still had a nonchalant expression.
But as the scroll was slowly unfolded, the contempt on his face gradually disappeared.
"This, this is actually Tang Yin's painting of ladies?"
"But as far as I know, most of the Tang Yin paintings of ladies circulating are forgeries. It's said that the original was collected by Li Hongfei, the owner of Wangyuanzhai, some time ago. Your painting is probably a fake as well."
"However, this painting is a very realistic copy. I'll teach you how to distinguish the real thing from the fake."
Xia Tian cooperated very well and said, "Thank you very much for your teachings, Uncle Qiu."
Qiu Mengyun, who was standing beside him, said with admiration, "Dad, have you discovered the flaw in this painting? You're really amazing. You actually figured out it's a fake in such a short time."
"Hahaha! The most important things in the antique business are vision and experience. In fact, if you patiently learn from me from now on, maybe in twenty or thirty years, you will have the same strength as I do now." Qiu Liming enjoyed his daughter's admiring gaze very much, and boasted with a hearty laugh.
Qiu Mengyun urged with a sly smile, "Dad, don't just talk the talk! You're going to teach us a lesson, so let's get started! Tell us why this painting is a fake and what the flaws are."
"Okay, wait a moment! Let me tell you everything."
Qiu Liming calmly took out a magnifying glass and began to carefully examine the painting of the lady on the table.
Although he didn't find any so-called flaws just now, in order to enjoy his daughter's admiration, he still admitted it.
But in his opinion, this is not a big problem.
How could Xia Tian and Qiu Mengyun, two rookies, possibly buy a real painting?
Besides, with the little money they had in their pockets, they couldn't afford to buy a real painting even if they came across it, so this painting must be a fake without a doubt.
As long as it is confirmed to be a fake, no matter how sophisticated the counterfeiting method is, there will be flaws. With his experience and eyesight, it should not be difficult to find the problem.
Qiu Liming took a magnifying glass and looked from one end of the painting to the other.
After looking at the entire painting, he finally couldn't help but frown.
"Huh? This counterfeiter is quite skilled. I couldn't even find any flaws in his tricks after just a quick look. Looks like it's time to get serious."
After saying that, Qiu Liming picked up the magnifying glass again and started looking.
This time he looked very carefully, not missing any detail of the scroll, and examined the pen, ink, paper, and scroll very carefully.
Xia Tian believed that with Qiu Liming's seriousness and perseverance at the moment, if the painting in front of him was really a high-quality imitation, he would definitely be able to find the flaws.
However, what was placed in front of him was actually a painting of a lady painted by Tang Yin himself.
So even though Qiu Liming tried his best, he still got nothing.
Seeing Qiu Liming with a frown and sweat on his forehead, Qiu Mengyun not only did not tell the truth, but instead deliberately provoked him: "Dad, didn't you say you wanted to teach us a lesson and teach us how to distinguish the real from the fake?"
"We've both been waiting here for a long time. When are you going to start?"
Qiu Liming wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and said awkwardly, "Um, wait a moment, this painting is quite skilled, I need to analyze it more carefully."
Qiu Mengyun feigned surprise and said, "Ah? Dad, what did you just say? Didn't you tell me before that you'd already discovered the flaws in this painting? Why are you now saying that this painting is a highly skilled forgery that needs further analysis?"
"Could it be that you didn't notice the flaw before and were just bragging to us? I didn't expect that my dad, who always taught us to be honest, would actually like to brag."
"Mom, was my dad like this when he was young? Did he just brag and trick you into marrying him?"
Qiu's mother had already seen through the clues and knew that Qiu Mengyun was deliberately teasing Qiu Liming. She cooperated and said, "It's not that she's a liar, but she does like to brag and lie."
Xia Tian saw Qiu Liming's extremely embarrassed look and kindly told him the truth.
"Uncle Qiu, I don't think it's because you're weak or have poor eyesight. You haven't found the flaw in it for so long, so the problem must be with the painting. Do you think it's possible that this painting itself is the real thing?"
At this moment, Qiu Liming had already gotten stuck in a dead end and didn't take Xia Tian's kind reminder seriously at all.
He said with a fierce look in his eyes and a firm tone, "Impossible, this painting must be fake. I must find the flaw in this painting today."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
