Imposter Young Master
Chapter 369 - 372: A Bold Guess!_1

Chapter 369: Chapter 372: A Bold Guess!_1

This move baffled everyone present, leaving them unsure of Qin Yang’s intentions.

"Old Qin, although I’m not as proficient in ancient paintings as you are, I still have a discerning eye. This painting is definitely not from the Ming and Qing Dynasties; at most, it is a present-day work with a rather rough touch; it can’t be considered a superior work," said a relatively young expert.

Qin Yang shook his head again and lightly looked at Yang Gang, "Young man, where did this painting come from? If it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to say."

Seeing the turn of events, Yang Gang’s heart stirred. His eyes flickered with uncertainty, leaving everyone wondering what he was thinking.

He composed himself, smiled and said, "I just bought it off somebody for ten thousand Yuan."

"Ten thousand Yuan..." Qin Yang smirked, "I didn’t expect such a young man to have such a keen eye, truly a young man to be reckoned with."

Although Qin Yang didn’t spell it out, the meaning of his words was clear.

Yang Gang had scored a bargain on this ancient painting!

The whole room immediately started buzzing, especially the young man with a dragon tattoo and Luo Saihu.

This painting had been in both of their hands, but both of them missed the mark. If it was truly authentic, then they must be feeling regret and frustration. Especially the young man with the dragon tattoo, he had just sold his painting to Yang Gang.

Luo Saihu, the stallowner, also felt a bit regretful. Despite understanding it was commonplace in this line of business, he was still a human with feelings.

At this moment, Luo Saihu was feeling a bit regretful, but he quickly suppressed these emotions.

"Damn it! What was that subtle sense of loss just now?"

---

"Old Qin, what’s going on?" Although the other four experts didn’t dare to doubt Qin Yang’s judgment, they were utterly perplexed.

"Many of us easily fall into the trap of fixed thinking. There’s a classic riddle that goes like this – ’A policeman has a brother, but the brother denies having a brother, why is that?’ Many people get stuck thinking that the policeman must be male, hence, they can’t find the answer. The real answer is simple – the policeman is female, so the brother can’t have a brother."

He paused a bit then continued, "You all are making the same mistake. Subconsciously, you all believe that this kind of painting style didn’t exist in ancient times, so you hastily concluded this painting to be an inferior imitation. However, your thinking is narrow. Your judgment is based on Chinese history, but you are forgetting there’s also world history. Every country has its history, even the newly independent South Sudan. China’s history showcases many classic calligraphy and painting works, and so do other countries, especially those deeply influenced by the Chinese culture like Japan, Korea, Southeast Asian countries. This particular painting is an ancient Japanese painting."

"But, Old Qin, the style of this painting is reminiscent of the Ming and Qing Dynasties," the younger expert reminded in a soft voice.

Qin Yang glanced at him and proceeded to explain the origins of the painting in a relaxed way.

In the 16th and 17th centuries AD, China was transitioning from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, a time of dynastic change. At the same period, there were also significant social transformations occurring in Japan, China’s close neighbor. The renowned Tokugawa Clan in history seized the throne of Shogun, begun the era of Tokugawa shogunate’s long dominion over Japan. After several wars, the Tokugawa Clan ultimately unified Japan Island, hence entering the Edo Period, a time of significant change in Japanese history.

At this time, many Japanese artists who were intrigued by Chinese landscape paintings came to China to study and introduced these paintings to Japan, forming Nanga (Southern School paintings). And this painting here is a Nanga created by a Japanese artist.

After Qin Yang finished speaking, everyone wore enlightened expressions. When they looked at Yang Gang again, their gazes held a varying degree of envy.

After a long silence, a voice suddenly broke the quietness, "So, how much is this painting worth?"

Yang Gang glanced at the source of the question, it was the young man with the dragon tattoo. He was looking complicatedly at the painting, his facial expressions were rich and humorous.

Qin Yang lowered his gaze again to the painting, thinking for a moment before saying, "I don’t have much contact with Nanga, so the estimate may not be very accurate, but it should start at least five hundred thousand Yuan. Similar to the overseas Chinese’s trend of collecting lost Chinese antiquities abroad, Japanese collectors also have a strong interest in Nanga. If a Japanese buyer is found, the minimum price can potentially start at one million Yuan."

After those words, the room fell silent. Everyone was speechless.

Everyone heard it loud and clear: Yang Gang bought this painting for ten thousand Yuan, and now the expert’s assessment is one million Yuan, and that’s still the minimum, meaning, Yang Gang had almost made a hundred times profit in a blink of an eye!

The people who had just ridiculed Yang Gang were all silent. Many even turned red, feeling embarrassed. They were mocking him just now, and in the end, he managed to acquire a major bargain. Ten thousand Yuan, in less than an hour, turned into a million.

Such a slap to the face!

The young man with dragon tattoo was almost stupefied.

One million...just a short while ago, this painting with a minimum value of one million Yuan was his.

He subconsciously reached for his wallet that held the ten thousand Yuan, the irony was palpable.

If, if only, he wasn’t that anxious...

Unfortunately, there are no ifs in this world.

The young man was extremely regretful. He left the antique market with a sullen face.

..

There are generally two kinds of people in the antique-commodity market:

One type is those who aspire to get rich overnight, low-end players who make up the vast majority of the people in the antique circle.

The other type is high-end players who appreciate elegance and sentiment. They are not short of money nor do they want to make a fortune out of it. They pursue the character ’Ya’ (refinement) in the act of collecting antiques, and what they enjoy is the sense of achievement that comes with a successful bargain. They seek enjoyment on a spiritual level. These high-end players are very few in number, like Sister Miao.

As for the old con-man, it appears that he belongs to the high-end players, but he is actually quite vulgar. He wants to ’strike a fortune’ through antiques, behaves just like a typical low-end player.

For Yang Gang, whether this painting is worth one million or ten million does not matter. He does not need the money.

As for sentiment and refinement, they are too high-end for Young Master Yang to appreciate.

However, this appraisal result is extremely, extremely, extremely important to Yang Gang.

Because, if this painting is genuine, then the dream he had last night was a prediction of the future!

Only diviners can predict the future.

And the one who predicts through dreams is only Xiaorou!

And yesterday, he accidentally ingested Xiaorou’s blood by mistake..

On further reasoning, a bold and absurd conclusion surfaced in Yang Gang’s mind!!