Chapter 152

And Lin Mo had already done his homework on the forums yesterday, consulting with qualified experts regarding the price, and they all agreed it had to be at least this much.

Knowledge is wealth!

If the “Yellow Sparrow Painting” turns out well, 1’11 give Mr. Hai Dong a big red envelope!

Soon,

Hai Dong replied to the message but didn’t accept the transfer.

[Brother, don’t just throw money at the problem without any discussion, man…]

Lin Mo sent a message back: [Can you do a video call?]

[Sure, I can do that, but let’s get one thing straight, stripping is not included in this price.]

Maybe it’s because he’s been live streaming for a long time, or perhaps it’s just his personality, but he’s pretty entertaining when he talks. 1 bet even Guo at Deyun Society would have to reserve a cloud character for him.

Before Lin Mo could respond, Hai Dong had already sent the video call invite.

Once the video was connected, Lin Mo turned the camera around, aimed at the “Five Horse Painting” on the table, and said, “It’s this painting, please take a look for me.”

“Alright, big brother, keep your camera steady, don’t shake it; let me take a look for you,” Hai Dong responded.

Oh?

Is he asking someone for help?

That voice sounds a bit like Hai Dong from TikTok who’s quite popular, isn’t it?

Xiang Wenfei, who worked in the antique industry, had of course watched Hai Dong’s live streams. He had even thought about trying his hand at live streaming appraisals, but never had enough viewers and eventually gave it up.

He glanced at Lin Mo’s phone screen.

Is that really Hai Dong?

Does Lin Mo have that kind of connection?

Xiang Wenfei was skeptical and wanted to get a closer look.

But before he could move, the nearly six-foot-tall Zhang Yihua stepped in front of him and said with a cold face, “Lin is busy right now. It’s best not to disturb him. Otherwise, if you cause any trouble, tell me, should we refund our money or not?”

His height indeed had an intimidating effect, especially standing in front of the monkey-skinny Xiang Wenfei.

“Fine, fine, I won’t look. I’m not looking; do whatever you want,” Xiang Wenfei pursed his lips and stepped back, saying, “I’ll just stand here. You do your thing.”

“Agreed then, anything that goes wrong is none of my business. I didn’t even come close.”

Hmph,

even if you brought in Ma Weidu, Liu Yiqian, and Liu Luanxiong, this 500,000 is already in my pocket.

Thinking of spitting it back out? Not a chance!

At that moment, Lin Mo couldn’t be bothered with Xiang Feiwen and continued discussing the details with Mr. Hai Dong, but the rarity of paintings hidden within other paintings made it a complicated issue.

The craftsmen skilled enough to do this are extremely rare.

And now with the added pressure of being on a live broadcast, Hai Dong could only offer guidance from the sidelines, trying to prevent Lin Mo from making catastrophic mistakes.

“Zhang, come over here and hold the phone for me,” Lin Mo said.

Zhang Yihua took the phone from him, “Got it!”

Then, under Hai Dong’s instructions, Lin Mo started the process he had learned the night before.

There are two methods for uncovering a painting,

One is the soaking method, which involves wetting the entire painting with a solution and then peeling off the layers of paper, separating several paintings from one.

However, this can cause the ink to fade and some colors to be lost.

And this is the more difficult method,

First of all, the composition of the solution and how to mix it…

Lin Mo doesn’t know, neither does Hai Dong.

So they had to choose the second method, water infiltration.

Using the finest sprayer to moisten the ancient painting little by little, then using tweezers and other tools to slowly destroy the original painting and look for the object hidden within.

This method is relatively simple but also risky.

And the main risk is that no one knows if there is another painting hidden inside until it’s unveiled.

If there isn’t, it’s a case of lost effort and no return on the investment.

But that wasn’t a risk for Lin Mo.

All he needed to do was to locate the specific position of the hidden smaller painting and then just cut it out.

The biggest issue for Lin Mo right now was figuring out the exact location of the smaller painting.

He wasn’t worried about destroying the larger “Five Horse Painting” at all.

It was a task requiring utmost delicacy, with Lin Mo’s head bowed, repeating the process of spraying water, scraping, drying, brushing to smooth out, and nicking with a hoof knife.

After about ten minutes, the top left corner of the “Five Horse Painting” had become badly damaged, with several small holes.

Zhang Yihua’s heart clenched at the sight.

What’s going on? Even he, who knew nothing about antiques, was aware that damage is the last thing you want with ancient paintings—as even the slightest flaw can drastically reduce their value.

This piece is worth over a million! How could it be so carelessly damaged?

That’s enough money to buy a Porsche Panamera!

The Hai Dong from TikTok, hailed as a master, doesn’t seem all that impressive after all?

Why would he instruct Lin Mo to do such a thing!

Xiang Wenfei tried several times to approach but was stopped by Zhang Yihua each time.

However, seeing Lin Mo destroy the “Five Florse Painting” made him practically giddy with joy.

He even started planning his next business deal,

During this lengthy process, several customers who came into the store, as well as the proprietors of neighboring shops, were drawn over by Lin Mo’s actions.

They were all baffled after witnessing Lin Mo’s method.

Tourists found it amusing,

but the other shop owners knew the value of the “Five Horse Painting.”

Worth at least several hundred thousand, why would anyone destroy it for fun?

Many went to ask Xiang Wenfei what exactly was going on..