Chapter 68 - 68 A Strange Painting
68 A Strange Painting
Vivian was holding and looking carefully at a porcelain rouge and powder box with a dragon and phoenix carving. The porcelain box was cold to the touch, but Vivian thought the carving was exquisite, so she held it and studied it for a long time. When she heard Fred calling her, she quickly returned to her senses.
Vivian reached out and took the bottle. “Let me see.”
It was still cold to the touch, but Vivian still held the porcelain and looked at it for a few minutes, then whispered, “Mr. Fred, this is a fake.”
Fred’s eyes widened when he heard this. He whispered to confirm, “Are you sure?”
Vivian nodded and put the porcelain back on the ground. The one-eyed vendor saw their expressions and knew Vivian must have said something to make him lose his business.
However, the people who could appear here were either rich or noble, and he didn’t know the other party’s background, so he didn’t dare to be rash. He could only hold his breath and say, “Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t understand. If you’re not buying it, then give it back to me!”
As the one-eyed vendor spoke, he reached out and pulled the bottle back. He was a little regretful for bidding so high.
It had been less than two hours since he opened the stall, and five or six people had already come to ask about it. This counterfeit was too real, and he suffered the same loss when he went to H Country to buy it. He had spent 2.55 million Yuan at that time, so he would definitely be able to find a spendthrift. Thinking about it, he did not want to deal with this woman who had seen through the truth.
But Fred had been in contact with porcelain since he entered the industry and had been in contact with it for at least 20 years. No matter how he looked at it, he felt it was real, and he couldn’t let it go. Moreover, the secret-colored porcelain was the kind of porcelain he had always wanted to buy, so he asked, “How do you know that it’s fake?”
This question caught Vivian by surprise. Fred was quite an expert in this area. If he was so sure that this counterfeit was authentic, it meant that the craftsmanship of this counterfeit must be very similar, and it also meant that it was not a conspicuous problem to be able to see the fake parts.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Vivian replied in a low voice. “But it feels the same as when I looked at the jade ring. The only difference is that the entire bottle is fake. It’s a fake.”
Fred was dumbfounded. He said Vivian didn’t understand, but she was sure of her judgment. But when she said that she understood, she couldn’t tell what was wrong with it.
After all, it was 3.15 million, and Vivian looked so confident. Fred thought of Vivian’s appraisal of the jade ring and decided to think about it again. The two continued walking.
“They’re appraising an ancient painting from Country H next door. Let’s go there and take a look.” A middle-aged man pulled a younger man and said excitedly.
The young man frowned. “What’s the rush? It’ll take some time to come to a conclusion. There’s still a little left here. We’ll talk after we’re done.”
The middle-aged man said impatiently, “We’ll continue watching later. There’s a bet over there! Don’t miss a good show!”
The young man was finally convinced and followed.
At this moment, a man who was passing by saw that there was someone he knew and shouted into the room, “Jimmy, hurry to the fourth room.”
Upon seeing this, Vivian and Fred also began to wonder about what was happening next door, and they followed him to the fourth room.
“This painting is really strange. The paper is right, the overall style is right, and even the seal is right. But if you look closely, you feel that the strokes are a little stiff.”
“Could it be one of Xu Hu’s earlier works?”
“That’s not impossible.”
“Something’s wrong! I’ve studied Xu Hu’s paintings for more than 30 years. This inscription and inscription are clearly a calligraphy style that he developed after he was 30 years old. It can’t be an early piece of work.”
Vivian did not know much about porcelain, but she had a certain level of knowledge about calligraphy and painting.
Just as she was about to step forward to take a closer look, she found George in the crowd. Vivian’s eyes lit up, and she turned to Fred and whispered, “Mr. Fred, I saw a Senior. I’m going to say hello.”
Fred nodded. “Alright, you can go now.”
Vivian quickly weaved through the crowd and pretended to approach George inadvertently. She pretended to have noticed George’s presence. “Mr. George? What a coincidence. I didn’t expect to meet you here.”