Chapter 26

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Qin Yanan’s mind was muddled at that moment.

Though she had already witnessed Tang Feng’s abilities in appraisal, she hadn’t expected them to be this strong.

She felt like she had stumbled upon a treasure.

So, she stealthily looked towards Mr. Zhang, trying to gauge his opinion.

Mr. Zhang also secretly nodded at her, indicating that Tang Feng’s abilities were sufficient to take over his position.

Only then did Qin Yanan breathe a sigh of relief.

Mr. Zhang had exceptionally high standards, and earning his approval was no easy feat.

Mr. Zhang turned back to Tang Feng, “As I’ve said before, as long as you can answer two out of the three questions correctly, you’ll have passed. Now that you’ve already passed two rounds, you can take over the position of Ya Garden’s chief appraiser…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Tang Feng suddenly raised his hand to interrupt, “I also said earlier that of the three questions, if even one is answered incorrectly, I wouldn’t have the face to take over the position. Isn’t there still one question left? Please, Mr. Zhang, pose the question.”

Now it was Mr. Zhang’s turn to be surprised, “You can pass now, is there really a need for this extra step?”

To know that being so young and becoming the chief appraiser of an antique shop was to have both fame and wealth.

A typical young person would probably be eager to agree, right?

But this young man before him wasn’t playing by the rules.

“Please, Mr. Zhang, pose the question.”

Tang Feng repeated firmly.

Seeing this, Mr. Zhang could only shake his head and chuckle bitterly, “It seems you are quite stubborn as well. Alright then, I will pose another question for you.”

With that, he fell into deep thought.

Tang Feng’s strength was truly too powerful, far beyond his expectations.

According to his original plan, that imitation from earlier was supposed to be the third and most difficult question.

But now, Tang Feng had easily solved it, which made things difficult for him.

He pondered unusually long this time, mulling over it for a few minutes before finally standing up.

He walked over to a large ceramic jar in the corner, which held many scrolls within.

He selected five scrolls from it and then turned back to Tang Feng, “Among these five scrolls, only one is genuine, and the four remaining are fakes. You have half an hour to pick out the genuine one.”

After receiving them, Tang Feng unrolled each of the five scrolls one by one.

To his own eyes, the paintings on the scrolls all appeared exquisitely beautiful, looking authentic.

But obviously, this couldn’t be possible.

So, he didn’t pretend to be an expert and hastily activated the scanning system.

Soon, detailed information about all five works presented itself before him.

When he saw the scan results, he first felt bewildered, then glanced at Mr. Zhang.

Mr. Zhang’s face bore a mysterious smile, seemingly waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

“Hmm, this time it’s indeed a bit challenging,” he muttered to himself.

He then shifted his gaze back to the five works, showing a troubled expression.

Mr. Zhang wanted to stroke his beard to convey his inscrutability but suddenly remembered that he had never been in the habit of growing one, which made him feel regretful.

Without stroking a beard, it seemed he was missing a bit of the sage’s air.

“It doesn’t matter, you’ve already passed the test, and it’s not important if you guess this wrong,” he said with a reassuring smile.

Qin Yanan stood to one side, watching the five works in complete bewilderment.

She believed that she would be able to discern the genuine one, given time.

Of course, she often overestimated her own abilities.

Like yesterday when she teased this lad, thinking she could easily handle him, but ended up being teased back by him.

Tang Feng put on a show of scrutinizing the paintings briefly before looking up at Mr. Zhang, “I have the answer now.”

In truth, if he weren’t afraid of shocking everyone too greatly, he wouldn’t even need to waste those few seconds to come up with an answer.

But even so, it still gave Mr. Zhang quite a start, “You still have plenty of time left, there’s no need to rush your answer.”

Tang Feng looked at him dolefully, “But I already have the answer, do I really have to wait until time is up to respond?”

Seeing that he was obstinate, Mr. Zhang shook his head, “Young man, I will give you a piece of advice. It’s good to be capable, but sometimes you need more patience. Your impetuous nature still needs polishing.”

“Thank you for the advice, Mr. Zhang,” Tang Feng replied, feigning earnestness, before asking again, “May I answer now?”

Mr. Zhang felt like he was preaching to the choir but reluctantly nodded, “Alright, go ahead with your answer.”

Tang Feng turned his attention back to the five works, “I’ll use the process of elimination then, and pick out what I believe to be the fakes first.”

As he spoke, he picked up one of the paintings, “This landscape painting by Zhu Da is obviously a fake, the brushwork is too erratic, lacking any artistic conception…”

“This meticulous brushwork and freehand painting by Wu Dan is also a fake, splendid yet lacks vigor…”

“This one…”

He began picking out the ones he deemed to be fakes, providing his reasoning as he did so.

Soon, he had selected four fakes.

Qin Yanan watched on with admiration.

She thought he was right.

She had felt that these four were fakes from the start; it seemed they somewhat shared the same views.

Hmm, this young Tang was indeed worth cultivating.

Meanwhile, Mr. Zhang was listening to Tang Feng’s assessments while subconsciously reaching for his beard.

Again, he found nothing.

It seemed he had to start growing a beard in the future; he lacked a prop when he wanted to appear wise at crucial moments.

Tang Feng set aside the four works and turned to Mr. Zhang, “Mr. Zhang, these four are fakes, am I right?”

Mr. Zhang nodded, “Yes, these four are indeed fakes.”

Qin Yanan immediately burst into laughter, “I thought the same just now, that these four were fakes. The remaining one obviously looks genuine; this round is far too easy.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than she noticed Tang Feng and Mr. Zhang looking at her strangely.

“Did I… say something wrong?” she asked, scratching her head.

Why were they looking at her like that?

Hadn’t they seen a beautiful woman before?