Chapter 1422 The Spare Tire
“The Qin family truly prepared a masterpiece, it’s truly exceptional!”
Ma Erdao immediately applauded, a cold smile on his face.
“Indeed, a good painting!”
Many others chimed in with sarcasm.
The Qin family’s faces darkened to the extreme. Qin Xuelan, a member of the Qin family, standing on the stage, felt utterly humiliated, her face flushing red. She looked at Chen Xuan and said, “Chen Xuan, you set me up!”
Chen Xuan’s brows furrowed, utterly bewildered.
They had examined the painting moments ago, and it had been perfectly fine. How had it suddenly turned into a blank piece of paper?
Wei Linlin and the others were also stunned. How had a national treasure of a painting become blank paper?
At this moment, Chen Xuan suddenly recalled the foreign woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Could that woman have tampered with it? But when could she have done it?
“Is the Qin family really competing with a blank piece of paper?” someone inquired.
“Uh…”
Qin Xuelan was speechless.
Now that the painting had suddenly become blank paper, they no longer had a scroll for the treasure competition.
What should they do?
“In that case, the Qin family must forfeit!”
Just then, a loud shout suddenly echoed, “Wait! Who said we didn’t prepare a painting?”
Qin Xuelan was taken aback. Chen Xuan rushed over, holding a scroll in his hand, seemingly prepared.
“I am truly sorry, we were too hasty just now and grabbed the wrong one.”
Chen Xuan then handed the scroll in his hand to Qin Xuelan and winked at her.
Qin Xuelan looked at the scroll in her hand, momentarily speechless. Could this also be a blank piece of paper?
She gritted her teeth, thinking she would trust Chen Xuan this one last time. If it was still blank paper, she would strangle him!
Chen Xuan didn’t expect that after his good intentions, this woman would threaten to strangle him!
Qin Xuelan closed her beautiful eyes and slowly unrolled the scroll!
The surroundings instantly fell silent!
Qin Xuelan thought it was over, completely over. This scene was almost identical to what had just happened. Could this also be a blank piece of paper?
But then, a commotion erupted.
“What kind of painting is this? It’s so beautiful!”
“Could this be Tang Bohu’s ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’?”
“No way! Wasn’t it said that Tang Bohu’s ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’ had disappeared? How can it be here?”
“Wow, this is too exciting! We just saw a lost painting, and now we’re seeing another lost painting. It’s like gods battling, I don’t have the words to describe it!”
Everyone cheered with excitement. This was more thrilling than admiring masterpieces in a museum.
The Qin family members were instantly ecstatic.
This ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’ was even more precious than the ‘Sunset Goose’ painting. Qin Xuelan was surprised to find this painting; it exceeded expectations.
It wasn’t just them who were surprised; even Qin Xuelan was greatly astonished. Wasn’t it supposed to be ‘Sunset Goose’? How did it become ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’?
But little did she know, this painting was the one they received as a buy-one-get-one-free deal yesterday. If she had known, she would have been so angry she might have vomited blood!
“What ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’? This is a joke! Even the masters haven’t seen it, how can they confirm it’s real? I think it’s fake!”
Ma Erdao was unconvinced and said mockingly.
If the ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’ was real, it could threaten the status of the ‘Sunset Goose’.
“May I trouble the masters to examine this painting as well to see if it’s real!”
Master Tian and the others stepped forward to examine the ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’, each taking out a magnifying glass.
“If I’m not mistaken, this painting might have had a thin piece of paper pasted over it. A pearl hidden in the dust, fortunately discovered by someone with keen insight, allowing it to reappear in the world.”
“I agree. There are traces of glue on the painting, and it hasn’t even been cleaned properly.”
These masters, in their words, admitted that the painting was real, and it seemed to have a story behind it.
Ma Erdao’s expression shifted.
He didn’t expect this painting to be real.
The Qin family members couldn't help but clench their fists.
Qin Xuelan couldn’t help but glance at Chen Xuan. Was this painting discovered by Chen Xuan? Why was there a thin layer of paper pasted on it?
Just then, she recalled their encounter with Chen Xuan earlier. They had met Chen Xuan in an antique shop, whose owner was a renowned antique restoration master in the capital. The painting he was restoring was the ‘Sunset Goose’.
However, the ‘Sunset Goose’ painting was from the Qin family. All antiques sold by the Qin family were already framed and did not require restoration.
She suddenly thought of a possibility: the ‘Sunset Goose’ painting had been peeled off from this ‘Peach Blossom Cottage’ painting, which was why it needed re-framing!
Heavens!
One painting’s price bought two paintings, and both were lost treasures!
The Qin family had suffered a huge loss!
“Miss Qin, this painting is yours, isn’t it? Does it have any story? We know this painting has been lost to time,” someone asked curiously.
The other judges also looked over, wanting to know if the painting had indeed been pasted over.
Qin Xuelan hesitated for a moment and truthfully replied, “This painting is not mine, but my friend’s.”
Saying that, she looked at Chen Xuan.
Then everyone else looked at Chen Xuan, their eyes filled with curiosity.
“Mr. Chen?”
Master Tian was slightly taken aback.
He remembered that Chen Xuan had discovered the Cyan Glaze Tripod.
“Master Tian, do you happen to know this young man?” someone asked.
Master Tian smiled, “To be honest, the Cyan Glaze Tripod was discovered by this young man through a lucky find.”
“So that’s how it is. It seems this young man has a very good eye.”
If it were just one lucky antique find, it might be attributed to chance. But if he continuously discovered several treasures that others had missed, it could be imagined that this person possessed a unique insight.
Master Tian gazed intently at Chen Xuan and said, “Chen Xuan, do you have a story about this painting? Could you share it with everyone?”
Chen Xuan hesitated.
Qin Xuelan was also nervously expectant, fearing Chen Xuan might refuse to speak. Her big eyes showed a pleading look.
She knew clearly that the value of this painting was actually not as high as the Ma family’s painting, but to compete with it, Chen Xuan needed to tell a good story.
Chen Xuan naturally noticed Qin Xuelan’s gaze and showed a hint of smugness.
Little brat, now you’re coming to me for help?
He didn’t make it too difficult for Qin Xuelan and immediately recounted how he obtained the painting, adding some artistic embellishments to make Tang Bohu’s painting legendary.
He began, “Tang Bohu was favored by Prince Ning, who wanted him to serve. However, Prince Ning was tyrannical, and Tang Bohu was unwilling to serve him, so he feigned madness and was then released.”
“But after Tang Bohu was released, Prince Ning had him watched. Prince Ning then discovered that Tang Bohu was feigning madness, so he ordered all of Tang Bohu’s scrolls to be burned!”
“To preserve Tang Bohu’s authentic works, someone processed this painting specially, pasting a film over it and then painting a different picture, thus preserving it and preventing it from being destroyed.”