Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 200 Genuine or Fake?

The two people next to Du Anrao immediately perked up their ears, and the Qiu family mother and son sitting not far from Du Anrao also noticed Du Anrao's unusual behavior and looked over with concern.

"Miss Du, what happened?"

When Du Anrao heard Ms. Qiu's question, he suddenly remembered that she had a partnership with the auction house and that the Ocean Heart set he had just seen was made by them.

So I tentatively asked, "Does this auction also sell fakes?"

"A fake?" Ms. Qiu exclaimed in surprise, then realized she had shouted too loudly and quickly lowered her voice, saying, "Normally not, especially auction houses like Duobaoge have resident teams of appraisal experts. Under normal circumstances, such a major mistake as an item being a fake would not occur."

"Yes, if an auction house dared to bid on a fake as a genuine item, and it was discovered afterward, its reputation would be ruined. Such a blunder is generally unlikely to occur."

Du Anrao nodded and didn't say anything more, seemingly accepting the two's explanation.

Xi Jingyue thought differently. Firstly, he believed that Du Anrao wouldn't make baseless accusations. Secondly, Du Anrao's words just now reminded him of the time in Li Zhaoyang's office, where the public relations director had immediately recognized that the Qing Dynasty peacock blue glazed porcelain he displayed was a fake.

At the time, he didn't think much of it, assuming that Du An had foreseen the public relations minister's plan to switch the antiques.

Now that I think about it again, could it be that she originally had this kind of appreciation ability and was able to identify the authenticity of these antiques at a glance?
As Xi Jingyue was pondering this, the host on stage suddenly smiled and said, "Although this bottle is very beautiful, it is not the genuine article."

Ms. Qiu: "???"

Qiu Jichen: "???"

The guests, all seated, were bewildered.

Xi Jingyue: "..."

After a brief silence, a flurry of discussion suddenly broke out below.

"What's going on? A fake was auctioned? Was there a procedural error? Or did something go wrong with the appraisal experts? Shouldn't this be considered an auction mishap?"

"No matter what, it's unacceptable to put fakes up for auction. The auction house has to give us an explanation."

"Yes, what exactly happened? We need an explanation."

The host seemed to have anticipated this outcome, but remained completely calm, simply raising his hand with a faint smile to signal everyone to quiet down.

"Please calm down, everyone, and allow me to explain. This Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain vase with chrysanthemum scroll design is indeed a fake, or more accurately, a replica. The original was lost during the war a century ago, which is a great pity. To this day, no one knows the whereabouts of this treasure."

"The replica in front of you was made by the famous ceramic master Mr. Shao a hundred years ago. Mr. Shao loved this blue and white chrysanthemum pattern antique vase very much. He was heartbroken when he learned that the vase was lost and regretted that the world could no longer see its beautiful structure and texture. So he asked the museum that had the vase design at the time for a sample and spent three years making a replica of the vase in front of you."

The host had barely finished explaining when the audience erupted in another uproar.

"Mr. Shao? Is that the ceramic master Shao Youdian from a hundred years ago? That's Master Shao, who was considered one of the two outstanding figures of our time, alongside the great masters of traditional Chinese painting!"

“One of his early blue and white porcelain vases was recently auctioned overseas. The starting bid was 30 million, and the final price was as high as 120 million, which is no cheaper than a genuine antique!”

"So that's how it is." Listening to the discussions around them, the Qiu family mother and son finally understood why the auction house, knowing the bottle was a fake, still chose to add it to the auction list. But…

"How did Miss Du figure out that this bottle was a fake?"

In an instant, all eyes around him turned to Du Anrao. Du Anrao paused in his hand, which was holding something, and then chuckled, "Actually, it's because I happened to see a news report about this bottle being lost. I was wondering just now, wasn't it unfortunately lost? Could it have been found? I didn't expect there to be a master craftsman making a replica."

This reason was reasonable, but Ms. Qiu had a feeling that it wasn't that simple. However, since Du Anrao had already said so, she didn't want to delve any deeper, so she nodded in understanding and let it go.

Only the two people sitting next to Du Anrao knew the truth.

[Of course, it's because the real one is currently displayed on the incense table in the main hall of my dilapidated Taoist temple, used for flower arranging.]

Xi Jingyue: "???"

Jiang Changbin: "!!!"

What the heck? Your Taoist temple uses antiques as flower vases? What kind of wealth do you have to dare to do this?

Fortunately, Du Anrao was unaware of what the two were thinking, otherwise she would have definitely complained. Although it was an antique, wasn't it originally made to be used as a vase? Besides, her family's dilapidated Taoist temple itself was an antique. What's the big deal about using an antique vase to hold flowers?

While the group was still debating whether the bottle was real or fake, some guests who were already quite fond of its shape and texture began bidding.

Because it is a masterpiece and has the gimmick of being a lost antique, this item is unique since lost treasures cannot be found. With this claim, the starting bid for this vase is higher than the previous jade pendants and calligraphy and paintings.

"five million."

"Six million."

"Seven million."

"..."

It has to be said that the celebrity effect is really effective. In just a few minutes, this vase, a replica made by a famous master, was auctioned off for a high price of 35 million to a wealthy businessman who loves collecting antique objects.

The subsequent lots were fairly average, with the overall transaction price not falling below ten million, but there were no lots exceeding one hundred million.

Du Anrao waited for a long time and finally saw the big stone she had been longing for.

When the dusty, unremarkable rough stone, encased in a glass case, was pushed onto the stage, many people were taken aback, seemingly not expecting such a shabby item to be among the auction items.

"Next up is our Lot 18, a rough stone weighing eighteen pounds, provided by a mysterious tycoon..."

The host was still enthusiastically praising this unremarkable stone, but to the audience, all his words were less captivating than his initial mention of a "mysterious tycoon."

"What kind of mysterious tycoon would collect such a broken stone?"

"That's right. I'm afraid they were cheated by a stone dealer after their gambling attempt failed. The crack right in the middle of the stone means it's destined to be green. Buying it would be a complete waste of money."

"Mr. Zhou is an expert in this field. If you say so, it must be right."

The people below were buzzing with discussion, and the host's next words on stage only served to confirm this.

"The only requirement of this wealthy man is that the auctioneer must publicly cut the stone in front of him after winning the bid. So, guests interested in this rough stone, please note that its starting price is fifty thousand."

(End of this chapter)