Chapter 175: 【175】Don’t you dare let me down, kid! _1
 

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Qi Maocai’s two apprentices were not influenced by Tang Feng and continued to observe each antique at their own leisurely pace.

Of course, the two were not inflexible puppets who lacked adaptability.

There were far too many items on this stall, easily over a hundred, and if they were to look at each item one by one, even a week might not be enough to see them all.

But the competition had only one hour.

So, each person took charge of the domain they were good at.

The one skilled in calligraphy and painting, who seemed to be named Ma Zhenping, solely focused on selecting calligraphy and paintings.

While the other, Zhao Xingbo, who was skilled in porcelain appraisal, took charge of selecting porcelain.

The two had a clear division of labor, and their progress was indeed much faster.

It took them roughly forty minutes, and each selected an antique.

Then they selected jade pieces together.

Only in the second before the one-hour time limit expired did the two finally determine their targets.

Onlookers admired their well-organized and cooperative rhythm and couldn’t help but nod in approval.

“Look how in sync the two are, and how composed they remain. They’ve got the bearing of masters.”

“Yes, Mr. Qi has taught two good apprentices. It seems he has worthy successors.”

“On the other hand, Mr. Zhang’s apprentice only knows how to show off and court popularity, definitely not reliable.”

“Alas, it seems Mr. Zhang was desperately seeking a solution out of fear that his lineage would end, so he just picked any apprentice.”

“Mr. Zhang’s lifelong reputation is probably going to be ruined by his pupil…”

In the end, the painting selected by Ma and Zhao was priced at seventy-five thousand, the ceramic bowl cost sixty-one thousand, and the jade ring they chose last was thirty-two thousand.

They spent a total of one hundred sixty-eight thousand, far exceeding Tang Feng’s fifty-eight thousand.

Since the competition was about profit ratio, if they wanted to win, they could only hope that the value of the antiques they selected exceeded those of Tang Feng’s.

After both parties finished their selections, Zhang Jicheng turned his head towards Qi Maocai, “Mr. Qi, let’s start the mutual assessment then. You assess my apprentice’s items, and I’ll assess your apprentice’s. We’ll then integrate our opinions. If we have disagreements, we can ask the colleagues present to help make judgments. How about that?”

“Let’s proceed as Mr. Zhang suggested.”

Qi Maocai raised no objection, instead showing a magnanimous demeanor.

He had full confidence in his two apprentices.

He was sure to win this competition.

The two did not engage in further pleasantries and each went their own way to inspect the items.

“Mr. Qi, I’m at your service.”

Tang Feng greeted Qi Maocai as he saw him coming his way, taking the initiative to say hello.

Although he was greeting him, he did not leave his seat, which seemed a bit rude.

Qi Maocai snorted coldly and did not bother with him.

He just turned and walked to the three antiques Tang Feng had selected, picking up the painting and glancing over it casually.

Since Tang Feng didn’t spend much time selecting the painting, it looked somewhat like he was cutting corners.

Therefore, Qi Maocai didn’t take it too seriously, intending to give it a quick look and put it down.

But as his gaze fell on the painting, his expression suddenly changed.

“This… this is…”

It was a portrait of a person, and from the paper, it could be seen that it had some age.

The painting depicted a woman, holding an ancient qin under her arm.

In the upper right corner was inscribed a line of text, “Executed at the behest of Lord Lan Shiren, a portrait of the two Qiaos; written in autumn, year of Dingchou, by the recluse Geshan.”

The “two Qiaos” mentioned here was not the famed pair from the late Han dynasty in Eastern Wu.

Rather, it referred to the female poet from the late Ming dynasty, Zhang Qiao, with the literary name Qiao Jing, also known as Er Qiao, a woman of legendary character.

Despite having lived for only nineteen years, she left behind more than a hundred and thirty poems of exquisite and graceful verse.

Even more poignant was the story of her love affair.

“`

She, a courtesan by birth, fell in love with Peng Mengyang and had promised to marry him.

Unfortunately, she suddenly fell ill with a serious disease and soon passed away from this world.

But Peng Mengyang, valuing love and loyalty, insisted on redeeming her freedom.

After her death, the scholars, high monks, and elegant ladies of Yang City in South Yue Province came forth to her grave to plant flowers and burn poetry as a tribute to her.

That day, a total of 762 flowers were planted around her grave, which then became known as “The Tomb of Flowers.”

In later generations, many people painted portraits of her to commemorate her.

A few years ago, at an auction in Yang City, a portrait of her was sold.

The painting was by Tan Yuese, a female painter from the Republic of China period, and fetched a final auction price of 1.38 million.

“Ju Lian…”

When Qi Maocai saw this name, he was instantly taken aback.

This Ju Lian may not be well-known in the national antiques circle.

But in the antiques circle of South Yue Province, his reputation was not small.

For Ju Lian was indeed from Yang City in South Yue Province, a painter from the late Qing Dynasty.

The founders of the Lingnan School of Painting, Gao Jianfu and Chen Shuren, were both his disciples.

If this painting really was a genuine work by Ju Lian, its value would be at least 2 million.

Qi Maocai glanced at Tang Feng, but he could not read anything from his expression.

This youngster actually knew about Ju Lian?

Regardless of the authenticity of the painting, such knowledge alone was praiseworthy.

He put aside these distracting thoughts and began to appraise the painting for its authenticity.

Upon examination, he was increasingly astonished.

Whether from the aspects of paper, mounting, inscriptions, seals, or style, there was nothing amiss with the painting.

Could it be an authentic piece?

He suddenly felt somewhat panicked.

If this painting was genuine, then it seemed that his two apprentices would likely face a dire outcome in this round.

Unreconciled, he continued to check every detail, hoping to find something that could prove it to be a fake.

But five minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed.

Twenty minutes went by…

He was sweating profusely, yet he could not find a single point of doubt.

The truth was proved—this painting was indeed a genuine work by Ju Lian!

When he looked towards Tang Feng again, his eyes were filled with a different regard.

How could this guy have chosen such a fine piece without even examining it carefully?

Was it a fluke, or was he absolutely certain?

While he was still in shock, Zhang Jicheng also rose from his seat with a gloomy face.

He was in charge of examining the painting selected by Ma Zhenping, which was a landscape by the contemporary painter Xie Zhiliu.

It was undoubtedly a genuine piece.

The estimated value was around 600,000.

This painting had cost 75,000 at the time of purchase—an eightfold increase in value.

Qi Maocai’s apprentice indeed had some skills.

He couldn’t help but secretly worry for his own apprentice.

Feng, oh Feng, you must not let us down!

Otherwise, as your mentor, I would lose all face.