Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
Feiyan Liu, I think you can go home now. You are far from being able to be my rival,
Qingfeng smiled and said confidently.
Honestly, he didn’t even see Feiyan as a threat, it was just that this chick jumping around like a clown was kind of annoying.
Qingfeng, we are going to start our game. Be careful, I’ll show you how good I am,
Feiyan gave a confident glare to Qingfeng and walked to the front.
Qingfeng shook his head. He had no clue how this woman could be this confident. She probably didn’t know how much she weighed yet compared to him.
The third round was the antique appraisal. Four antiques would be brought out and each contestant would have to identify the authenticity of it and write it on a piece of paper. Those who could identify all of them right would win the round.
The four antiques were an incense burner, a vase, a painting, and a dagger.
Fifty contestants wrote down their answers after precisely observing each of the four antiques and checking them on their hands.
Qingfeng started to check from the first one. This incense burner wasn’t too big; it was just a size of a bowl. The green surface was sculpted with some complicated floral patterns that were hard to be interpreted by anyone else but Qingfeng.
This incense burner looked really worn and outdated as if it was a real one. Yet, Qingfeng could tell it was fake since the floral patterns on the burner were artificial and it didn’t have any aged marks.
After the first one, Qingfeng continued to check the second antique—the vase. This was a white vase that was marked
Hong Wu
at the bottom. It should be made during the period of Hong Wu in Ming Dynasty.
Qingfeng immediately said it wasn’t authentic either after distinguishing it carefully. Even though it looked really real, the two words
Hong Wu
revealed it was a false product.
Hong Wu
was the emperor’s region title during the period of Yuanzhang Zhu in Ming Dynasty. Most of the porcelain weren’t for usage, only those special porcelains in the Chinese Royal Palace could be used. Nevertheless, special porcelains from the Royal Palace would have a royal seal on them, while this one didn’t.
Two of the antiques were fake. This raised Qingfeng’s concern since he was worried whether the rest of the two would also be fake.
Fortunately, Qingfeng was relieved when he picked up the third antique—a painting, since it was a real one. This painting was drawn by a master painter called Zidao Wu, who was a well-known painter in the Tang Dynasty.
It looked fake at first sight but once you checked carefully, you would find the authentic painting beneath the fake slip.
What a good dagger,
Qingfeng said in his mind when he picked the fourth antique. This dagger was simplistic but antiquated. It was marked
Madam Xu
with ancient Chinese characters at the back.
Qingfeng felt excited when he found out this dagger was not only authentic but also a treasure. He didn’t expect to see a treasure here.
Qingfeng wrote the answers down on the card after he finished examining the four antiques.
An hour later, fifty contestants have all examined all four antiques and has handed in their answer card.
These four antiques were unique and extraordinary. The incense burner came from the Qing Dynasty; the vase came from the Ming Dynasty; the painting came from the Tang Dynasty; and the dagger came from the Warring States, which made each of them hard to distinguish.
Only 3 out of 50 contestants got the answers right. They were Qingfeng, Feiyan Liu and an middle-age man. The rest of them got the wrong answers and were all eliminated.
Qingfeng got all the answers right since he knew what he was doing. Feiyan was basically cheating as she has obtained the answers from somebody else in advance. In terms of the middle-age man, he basically just guessed the answers right.
There would only be one winner in the Antique Competition and now there were three people. The only way to pick the winner was to get each three of them explain their own answer.
Lei Tang looked at the middle-age man and asked,
You said the first two antiques were fake and the last two were real. Could you explain why?
The middle-age man suddenly looked anxious when he heard this. He could explain for the first two fake ones, but the last two totally came from guessing, how could he explain that?
Yet, he had no choice but started to explain since he was asked by Lei Tang.
He did a decent explanation for the first two antiques, but when he needed to explain for the third one, he began to stutter. He obviously didn’t know why since he was just guessing.
Lei Tang could tell this dude was making things up as he didn’t even know what he was saying based on his facial expression.
You were just guessing, right?
Lei Tang asked.
The middle-age man flushed his face as he nodded since he really didn’t know the answer.
Lei Tang smiled vaguely and said,
You are eliminated. Next, Feiyan and Qingfeng, please explain each of the four antiques.
Feiyan had a decent understanding of antiques, but she got her answers from someone else, which meant she was basically cheating.
Feiyan did a decent job in explaining the first three items, but she paused when she moved to the last one-the dagger.
I thought the winner of the Antique Competition last year was so knowledgeable. Now, she can’t even explain her examination for a dagger? Honestly, did you cheat?
Qingfeng stared at Feiyan while laughing sarcastically.
Feiyan was pissed off and showed all her anger on her face once she heard what Qingfeng said,
Bullshit! I never cheat.
You never cheat? Alright, then explain to us why this dagger is authentic?
Qingfeng asked Feiyan while sneering
Feiyan tried to explain,
This dagger is obviously authentic, why would I need to explain?
Everyone was shocked after hearing Feiyan. They all knew she was trying to set herself free from this since she couldn’t provide any explanation.
Lei Tang could also see the awkwardness from Feiyan’s mannerisms. Actually, he knew she received the answers from an internal source, but he couldn’t do much to stop her since he knew she had an exceptional background.
Feiyan also won the competition by cheating last year, even though many people were complaining, they didn’t have any other options.
Qingfeng, then you explain why this dagger is authentic then. If you do, you are the winner,
Lei Tang smiled faintly and said to Qingfeng.
Qingfeng picked up the dagger and explained while pointed at the words on it,
Look, everybody.
Madam Xu
was marked at the bottom of the dagger, Madam Xu was a famous sword forger in Zhao Empire during the Warring States. This dagger was used by Jin Ke to assassinate Emperor Qin at that time.
Everyone was surprised after hearing what Qingfeng said. It was a priceless treasure if it was a dagger left from the Warring States. No wonder so many contestants failed to explain it.
It has been thousands of years since the Warring States has passed and how many people could identify the antiques from that period? Only Qingfeng did.
