Chapter 441: Do you dare to raise the stakes a bit more?_1
Chapter 441: Do you dare to raise the stakes a bit more?_1
The jeers around him entered his ears, driving Zhao Quande to the brink of rage.
They had come today with the intention of suppressing the Elegant Pavilion and incidentally winning over the hearts of these consumers.
Unexpectedly, Tang Feng, with just a few sentences, had seized the moral high ground.
Moreover, they couldn’t refute him.
At least on the surface, it really did look like they had gone too far.
A large group of senior appraisers had come to smash up someone else’s event, engaging in a war of attrition, eighteen of them taking turns to gang up on one junior.
This kind of thing couldn’t be cleared up with just words.
The only way now was to win the last round and to strike at Tang Feng’s face hard.
Only in this way could they overturn their image in the minds of the consumers.
With this in mind, he didn’t hesitate any longer and quickly stepped into the crowd to select an antique.
Soon, he returned with a palm-sized wooden box.
The surrounding jeers gradually subsided, everyone craned their necks curiously, wanting to see what antique Li Quande had picked.
Li Quande placed the wooden box on the table and slowly lifted the lid.
He took out a wine cup from inside.
The wine cup was rather small, about five centimeters tall, with a diameter at the opening of approximately eight or nine centimeters.
The design of the wine cup was delicate and exquisite, pure white jade in color, with only a ring of deep blue intertwined patterns at the bottom. Although simple, it exuded a profound and classic elegance.
Li Quande placed the wine cup on the table and smiled at Tang Feng, “Mr. Tang, shall we begin?”
“We can.”
Tang Feng nodded, showing no objection.
Thus, the crucial round that would determine the winner of today’s contest began.
Zhao Quande, unruffled, took a magnifying glass and carefully observed it in front of the porcelain cup.
Zhong Pan’er, too, observed secretly from the side. Judging by this porcelain cup’s shape, decoration, and glaze, it should be from the Qing Dynasty imperial kilns.
However, when Zhao Quande turned the cup upside down, revealing the bottom mark, it immediately made her overturn her previous judgment.
The bottom inscription on this cup simply read – “Ming Dynasty, Kangxi period made.”
“Ming Dynasty?”
“Kangxi?”
“What’s going on here?”
This confused her. Had she seen incorrectly? Was this porcelain cup a counterfeit?
Even those further away in the crowd started inquiring about the writing on it.
When they heard it was “Ming Dynasty, Kangxi period made,” they too voiced the same query as Zhong Pan’er.
“What’s this situation? How did Kangxi manage to get to the Ming Dynasty? Isn’t this a joke?”
“Hahaha, the person who made this fake really didn’t care, actually putting Kangxi in the Ming Dynasty. If Kangxi knew from beneath his grave, wouldn’t he rise from his tomb to find him?”
“Even a person ignorant of history knows Kangxi was from the Qing Dynasty; it’s totally nonsensical.”
“This is definitely a fake; if it isn’t, I’ll eat the cup…”
Tang Feng was also examining the porcelain cup and, hearing the people’s discussion, couldn’t help but nod slightly, “You make sense. Nowadays, anyone can forge a fake. Such an obvious mistake is both pitiful and lamentable.”
After expressing his sentiments, he turned around to pick up paper and pen and began writing his answer.
The surrounding crowd’s endorsement only served to heighten their excitement and glee.
“Listen, even Mr. Tang has said so. It seems I guessed right; this is indeed a fake.”
“What do you mean you guessed right? Such an obvious fake, even a fool could guess it, right?”
“What are you trying to say with that? Are you calling Mr. Tang a fool?”
“I didn’t say that at all; can you not blow things out of proportion?”
“But you clearly said a fool could guess it right, so if Mr. Tang guesses it right, doesn’t that make him a fool?”
“…”
From their conversation, it was evident that they had full trust in Tang Feng.
Tang Feng had proven his abilities with seventeen contests, establishing an unshakeable authoritative image in everyone’s hearts.
Since even he thought it was a fake, naturally, nobody had any doubts left.
However, a subtle sneer curled the corners of Zhao Quande’s mouth.
Hmph, no matter how cunning you are, kid, you’re bound to slip up eventually.
This time, I’m going to make you lose utterly and completely.
He glanced down at the item again for a while, then stood up, wrote his answer on a piece of paper, and turned to hand it to Zhong Pan’er.
As Zhong Pan’er was about to reveal the answers from both parties, Zhao Quande suddenly raised his hand to stop her.
“Do you have anything else to say?” Zhong Pan’er looked at him, puzzled.
“I’d like to have a few words with Mr. Tang,” Zhao Quande said, looking toward Tang Feng. “Do you dare to raise the stakes a bit more?”
Tang Feng looked at him impassively, “How do you want to raise them?”
Zhao Quande pointed at their answer sheets, “Let’s decide the winner in this single round. If you win this round, I, Zhao Quande will leave the antique world starting today…”
“Wow…”
Before he could finish, the venue instantly erupted into an uproar.
This was especially shocking to the peers in the antique world.
Zhao Quande was considered the number one appraiser of Antique Street, and at sixty-something years old, he was at the golden age for an appraiser.
Yet here he was, proposing a bet that would stake his entire career and future.
As everyone was still in shock, Zhao Quande continued, “If you lose, I won’t ask you to leave the antique world forever. You just have to exit for ten years. How about it, do you dare to bet?”
The venue suddenly fell silent, all eyes focused on Tang Feng, waiting for his response.
This was a bet with their futures at stake.
If accepted, one of them would have to leave the antique world.
Although Zhao Quande seemed to be generous, only asking Tang Feng to step out for ten years.
But in the ever-changing world of antiques, where new talents constantly emerge, leaving for ten years and trying to come back would likely not be so easy.
Confronted with Zhao Quande’s provocative expression, Tang Feng couldn’t help but sneer.
“Your scheming is quite shrewd. You’re practically buried up to your neck in yellow earth, and you’ve earned enough to live luxuriously for a lifetime. Exiting the antique world now wouldn’t be a great loss for you. But I have just made a name for myself, and you want me to gamble my promising future with you? That is truly shameless.”
The surrounding people nodded in agreement, feeling that Zhao Quande was being too oppressive.
Only a fool would agree to such a wager.
But then, they heard Tang Feng change his tone, “However, I agree.”
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