Chapter 549 Playing at Expertise
The young lady was startled and hastily stepped back several times, repeatedly bowing and apologizing.

“I’m sorry, Professor Wang, I was just too excited! This object has been with us for many years and now that it’s finally being deciphered, I wanted to take a picture of the inscription to study it closely.”

“What’s all this nonsense?” Professor Wang looked coldly at the young lady, then turned his head toward Chen Yu.

“Where did you come from, you greenhorn? Do you know that dozens of experts have been studying this jar for decades without figuring out its use? Do you think you can see through it at a glance? Or do you believe your experience surpasses that of all of us seasoned experts?”

Chen Yu didn’t want to waste words with this guy and simply took out a metallic card.

“I’m just here for a visit, and what I said was merely a suggestion!”

Professor Wang looked at the card in Chen Yu’s hand with disdain.

“Although Lin Chuhe is one of the heads of Core Tower, he doesn’t have the authority to manage our affairs on this floor! You may visit here, but don’t spout nonsense, or I have the right to kick you out.”

Chen Yu raised an eyebrow, scanned the other’s brain information, and discovered that the fellow didn’t have much in his head; moreover, his abilities were among the lower echelons within the entire Core Tower.

He wasn’t even a natural-born superpower user.

He was merely bossing people around by virtue of his status as one of the senior members.

Any of the young people on this floor could outdo this old man in terms of appraisal ability by a factor of several times.

Not wanting to argue with him further, Chen Yu put away his card and walked toward another counter.

Professor Wang didn’t say much else, snorted coldly, and left on his own.

The young lady from before pursed her lips at Professor Wang’s retreating back, then quickly caught up to Chen Yu.

“Mister, did you notice anything else about that jar?”

Chen Yu immediately cast an approving glance her way. This young lady had a deep, soulful passion for antiques.

“Your name is Wu Aiai, right?”

The young lady looked up, full of confusion.

“I don’t think I’ve told you my name!”

Chen Yu raised a finger to his temple.

“I’m also a born superpower user who can hear the voices in people’s minds.”

Wu Aiai wasn’t the slightest bit surprised; after all, Core Tower was filled with natural-born superpower users.

“So that’s it. No wonder Mr. Lin handed you his card!”

Chen Yu turned around and took a small incense burner from a nearby shelf.

“I took a quick look earlier, and there are a total of a dozen or so items that match up with that jar, but they’ve been dispersed across different shelves. By researching these objects together, we can determine their exact age and the historical events they’re associated with.”

Wu Aiai quickly took the incense burner from Chen Yu’s hands.

“This little thing is related to that jar?”

Chen Yu nodded.

“If I’m not mistaken, this should be an incense burner used to worship the heavens during Yue Fei’s northern campaigns, and the main object for the ceremony was that jar!”

Being a genius in this field, Wu Aiai immediately understood as soon as Chen Yu explained.

“So, it means the original altar was used by An Lushan when he staged his rebellion as a sacrificial object to Heaven, and for some reason, it reappeared during the Southern Song Dynasty and was then used in high school history classes to teach the tadpole script for Northern Expedition sacrificial ceremonies.”

Chen Yu’s face showed even more appreciation; this young girl really got it with just a little hint.

While they were speaking, Professor Wang came over from the shelves next door.

“Sir, why are you confusing our researchers again?”

An additional layer of disgust appeared on Chen Yu’s face; this old man was the type who had no real talent of his own yet was jealous of those who did.

He had more than once claimed others’ research reports as his own, and he also restricted the researchers here from conducting their projects independently.

“Professor Wang, I have a question. This jade ring should date back to the Yuan Dynasty, so why does it say here it was made during the Yongle era, crafted by the imperial jade workshop?”

Professor Wang glanced sideways and noticed that he was the researcher for this finger ring, and all the information had been personally written by him.

“Nonsense! Whether it’s the era or the crafting style of the jade, this piece is clearly from the Ming Dynasty, how could it possibly have been made during the Mongol Yuan period?”

Wu Aiai by his side immediately pouted.

“Professor, we’ve already discussed this with you several times that the date for this ring is wrong, but you just wouldn’t listen.”

Professor Wang suddenly felt embarrassed; even he didn’t know the exact dating of the ring, but he insisted on perpetuating his mistake to maintain his credibility on this floor.

When Chen Yu perceived Professor Wang’s psychological state, he almost wanted to laugh; wasn’t this a typical case of calling a deer a horse?

“Core Tower really lives up to its reputation! Even someone like Professor Wang could be recruited. It’s hard to tell how many impostors there are here.”

Chen Yu might have done it on purpose; he raised his voice so high while speaking that it nearly reached every corner of the floor.

Not long after, several older experts came storming over with great momentum.

“Who was talking just now? What do you mean by ‘impostors’? We’re officially recognized experts and professors, validated by the relevant departments outside!”

Just as they were about to confront the speaker, they noticed Professor Wang standing there, and their anger subsided significantly, a flush of embarrassment appearing almost simultaneously on their faces.

For the moment, no one pursued Chen Yu any further, instead preparing to return to their respective workstations.

“Wait a minute!” Professor Wang shouted, “What’s the matter with you all? Didn’t you hear that guy insulting you?”

Your journey continues at

The crowd turned away, not uttering a word.

If it wasn’t for Professor Wang’s status, they would have probably spoken their minds by now.

Seeing the silence of the crowd, a surge of nameless anger welled up in Professor Wang, and he walked straight over to Chen Yu.

“Little brat, since you claim that what I’ve verified is incorrect, I’m going to test you! There are dozens of unappraised items on that shelf over there. If you can identify all of them, I’ll accept defeat.”

Chen Yu chuckled and walked directly to the nearby shelf without saying much else.

It must be said that the collection of treasures on the first floor of Core Tower was indeed of high quality–the items whose value hadn’t been determined were all rare treasures, hard to come by in a thousand years.

Chen Yu inwardly marveled for a moment before picking up an object carved from yellow and white jade.

Both its material and the patina on the outside reached the standard of fine jade ware.

Just as he was about to take a closer look, Professor Wang suddenly came over.

“Then tell us, what’s the provenance of this item?”