Chapter 17: What Do You Know?

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“It’s actually fake?” Chen Jing could not help but mutter.

This man was song Yuchen’s fiancé. He actually used a fake painting as a real painting to make her happy?

How could you lie to such a beautiful woman?

Perhaps because he was not far away, Chen Jing’s muttering was heard by the man. He looked over with a straight face, “What did you say?”

Chen Jing felt indignant for Song Yuchen. He felt that a fake was a fake. If he dared to ask, of course he would dare to say it.

So, he said again, “I said that this painting is fake.”

The man said disdainfully, “What do you know? Do you know anything about paintings? Do you know how much money I spent to get this painting?”

“Wenbing, he was just joking. Don’t mind him.”

Song Yuchen saw that the man was angry and quickly tried to mediate.

“Joking? This is my hard work. Many people fought over this painting. In the end, I also spent twice the price to buy it. He is just a delivery man. How can he joke so casually? He is questioning my feelings for you.” The man was very concerned.

After saying that, he revealed a disgusted expression. “Get out. Once the goods are delivered, hurry up and get out. If you don’t understand, then don’t talk nonsense here.”

“Wenbing, don’t be like this. He’s just a child,” Song Yuchen advised the man as she gently said to Chen Jing, “Why don’t you go back first, Ah Jing?”

Chen Jing was a little annoyed. He had seen through the painting with his accuracy.

An accuracy rate of 0% proved that it was definitely fake.

He was definitely not making things up.

But that man had a ‘what do you know’ on the left and a ‘how much is it worth’ on the right.

He mocked and despised it.

Moreover, what made Chen Jing even more unwilling to accept was that Song Yuchen actually treated him like a child.

He was 19 years old and Song Yuchen was 26 years old. She was only seven years older than him.

He couldn’t help but want to refute.

As his heart moved, for some reason, when he looked at the painting again, he found that the red font had increased.

Xu Yang, a Suzhou native, was good at figures, world paintings, flowers, birds, grass, and insects. In the 16th year of Qianlong’s southern tour to Suzhou, he presented his paintings and was able to offer them to the internal court.

Apart from these simple introductions, there were also some densely packed words that appeared one after another, recording the detailed records of Xu Yang’s personal painting characteristics.

Chen Jing was surprised and overjoyed.

Seeing him like this, the man was a little impatient. “Why aren’t you leaving? Why are you standing there?”

After Chen Jing quickly read through the words, he said confidently to Song Yuchen, “Sister Yuchen, this painting is really fake.”

“Ah?” Song Yuchen was stunned. She did not expect Chen Jing to still say that.

The man seemed to laugh in anger. “You are a delivery man, and you dare to make irresponsible remarks? Let me tell you, even if your parents worked hard for ten years, they would not be able to earn the price of this painting. Do you understand?”

“That can only mean that you have been cheated. This is indeed a fake painting.”

“Pfft…” The man sneered. He wanted to say something, but he stopped himself.

It was as if he felt that it was too beneath his dignity to be calculative with a delivery man.

Who was this kid?

A single sentence of it being fake and he had to explain everything?

He walked to the door in a few steps and opened it. He pointed outside and said, “Get out.”

Song Yuchen had an apologetic look on her face. On one side was her fiancé, and on the other side, Chen Jing could be considered her friend.

In terms of intimacy, Chen Jing was definitely not as close as her fiancé.

So, when her fiancé was already angry, she bit her lip and gave Chen Jing a look, indicating that he should go back first.

But Chen Jing did not move. He only said, “Xu Yang, calligraphy pavilion. During the Qianlong period, he was worshiped by the internal court. He was good at figures, world paintings, flowers, birds, grass, and insects.”

“His representative works were ‘Qianlong’s Southern Tour’, ‘The Flourishing Era of Birth’, ‘The Capital’s Teachers and Students’ Poems of Spring’, and ‘Wang Xizhi’s Calligraphy For a Goose’.

“Influenced by Ai Qimeng (a bohemian) and He Qingtai (a Frenchman) in his early years, his realistic techniques were first revealed.”

“From middle age to old age, he was proficient in ‘scatter point perspective’, combining Western realistic techniques with Chinese ink painting techniques in greater depth. This was the reason why famous works like ‘The Flourishing Era of Birth’ were handed down to the world.”

“Among all the Qing Court Painters, he could be ranked in the top ten.”

“Who says I don’t understand?”

The moment these words left his mouth, both Song Yuchen and her fiancé revealed expressions of surprise.

Especially Song Yuchen. When she heard Chen Jing say that the painting was fake, she really thought that he was joking.

In order to not make her fiancé angry, she wanted him to hurry back.

But when Chen Jing said the rest of his words, besides surprise, there was a joy in her eyes as if she had met an old friend.

“Ah Jing, so you really know how to paint?” Song Yuchen said in surprise.

The man in the suit had a sullen face. “So what if you know Xu Yang? What makes you think that this painting is fake? This painting has an appraisal certificate, and it was bought at a price of more than two million yuan. Do you think that just because you say it’s fake, it’s fake?”

Chen Jing walked in front of the painting. What he had said just now was just following the script.

But since this pretentious person had already acted, he naturally had to act until the end and put on a good show.

“I said that it’s fake, so naturally, there is a basis for judgment. And this basis is most obvious on two points!”

He touched the paper and pretended to be silent for a moment before saying, “The first point is that the paper is wrong.”

Then, he tilted his head and looked at the thick ink on the painting a few times before chuckling, “The second point is that the technique is wrong.”

After saying these two sentences, he placed his hands behind his back and said, “Xu Yang, as a consecrator of the internal court, uses Qianlong Xuan paper for his paintings.”

“When it comes to Xuan paper, there are two types of Xuan paper. The first is used for painting while the second is used for writing. I don’t know if you understand these?”

“And the paper of your painting, from its color and texture, looked similar to Qianlong Xuan paper, but in fact, it is not the same.”

“However, antiques are antiques. If I didn’t see wrongly, this paper was probably from Guangxu years.”

“And the technique of this painting, although the realistic technique was very similar, you can see that between the transfer of ink, there was a slight hesitation. It didn’t have the clear feeling of a shooting star like Xu Yang’s original work.”

“This imitator only learned the shape, but not the meaning.”

“In my opinion, the value of this painting is indeed not cheap. It is probably worth around 2,000 yuan.”

“But if you were to say that my parents couldn’t earn this money even after ten years of hard work, heh, I wouldn’t dare agree.”

“You…”

Zheng Wenbing moved closer to the side of the painting in embarrassment and looked at it again.

But he could not see anything.

Paper?

Technique?

This kid, Chen Jing, could tell the difference between Qianlong Xuan paper and Guangxu Xuan paper with just a casual look?

He could even tell the hesitation between the brush and ink?

“Ah Jing, I didn’t expect you to know so much.” Song Yuchen’s face was full of joy. She was indeed a painting addict.

“I just know a little.”

Chen Jing smiled slightly. “Actually, I’ve liked Chinese paintings since I was young. I often go to museums to look at those authentic works. After seeing too much, I can naturally tell the difference between the real and fake.”

At this point… He politely said to Zheng Wenbing, “Mr. Zheng, in this day and age, anyone who believes in an appraisal certificate is a fool. If you doubt my judgment, you can find an expert to appraise it. In addition, let me make it clear that I’m not a delivery person.”

After saying this, Chen Jing felt that he was done pretending.

Without turning his head, he strode away..