The Unorthodox Tomb Raider

If what Fang Yun said about "July 20th" is true, then this is indeed a huge loss of face.

"You say it's the Qin Dynasty, so it's the Qin Dynasty? You say it's the Han Dynasty, so it's the Han Dynasty? What evidence do you have, and how do you prove it?"

It was Zhou Weikang who broke the deadlock. Since he unconditionally trusted Liu Zhi, he directly refuted him.

Liu Zhi remained silent. He wasn't entirely sure about this matter either, and he decided to wait and see what Fang Yun would say next.

However, Fang Yun didn't say anything. Chen Xiaonan, who was standing next to him, suddenly pointed to a picture book in the store and said, "Come and take a look. Isn't everything that Fang Yun just mentioned described here?"

As she spoke, Chen Xiaona picked up the picture book and flipped to the pages introducing the Qin and Han dynasties.

As expected, the colors and shapes that Fang Yun just mentioned were only found in these two dynasties.

Liu Zhi's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant, and Zhou Weikang, who wanted to speak, could only manage a couple of dry laughs.

"Young Master Liu, the quality of your shop is really worrying. Even the obvious items here are wrong. I seriously doubt whether you can come up with anything else of good quality."

Li Jiaying wasn't about to miss this opportunity to mock someone, so she launched into a tirade, leaving Liu and Zhou on the other side with no chance to refute her.

After all, the evidence and facts are right in front of us.

"Where did the raw materials go?" At this, Liu Zhi asked a shop assistant next to him to call over a middle-aged man and berate him.

The implication was that the man was blind to have chosen such a thing.

After the man humbly admitted his mistake, Liu Zhi walked over, grabbed the object, and then smashed it to the ground, shattering it into pieces.

"Even if this is fake, it's still a very exquisite work of art, and it could fetch a good price on the market," Fang Yun said with a hint of regret.

"Hmph, what I, Liu Zhi, hate most in my life is counterfeit goods. What's the point of keeping something like this if I don't smash it?"

After Liu Zhi's sudden appearance, the others didn't say much. Anyway, there were still two items left, and everyone wanted to see how things would unfold.

"It was just a minor accident. I'll find another one now. The rest are all safe."

At this point, Liu Zhi looked around. This time, he dared not be careless and just pick one at random. He had to find one that he could completely approve of and that he couldn't tell was fake.

This saved them for a short while, and the others took the opportunity to chat, so it wasn't too boring.

"Found it! Mr. Fang, please take a look at this."

At this moment, Liu Zhi was holding a gourd-shaped vase with blue glaze, decorated with crane and deer patterns, which looked quite beautiful.

Liu Zhi went to great lengths to find this item.

First of all, Liu Zhi knows for certain that this vase is from the Qing Dynasty. Because it is from a relatively recent period, it is easier to identify.

This item was acquired by Liu Zhi from a village. Legend has it that it was dug up by the ancestors of that farming family in their cemetery and has been passed down ever since.

If Liu Zhi hadn't received many more items from the tomb later, this would almost have been one of the main exhibits.

"So, is there anything wrong with this Qing Dynasty porcelain vase?"

Liu Zhi confidently handed it to Fang Yun.

Fang Yun weighed the vase in his hand, then gently stroked it with his fingertips, saying, "This vase is indeed well-made; it even filled in the small pits that appeared during the firing process."

Hearing Fang Yun say that, Liu Zhizheng felt a little smug, but what Fang Yun said next left him dumbfounded.

　1.3 “The reason this piece is fake is because it is too exquisite. It is not difficult to fire such a porcelain vase with the technology of the Qing Dynasty, but it is impossible to fill in the small pits that are inherent in the raw material with the technology at that time.”

"So, this is just a modern replica. But it's worth mentioning that the forger was so meticulous that he went too far and it doesn't look real."

After listening to Fang Yun's words, Liu Zhi was speechless for a moment. Although he was very unwilling to believe it, he couldn't help but have doubts.

Therefore, he didn't dare to directly deny it.

Chapter 386 Breaking Through Three Elements

"Liu Zhi, you should close this shop. It's bad for your reputation."

Li Jiaying chimed in from the side.

Two items in a row were counterfeit, which makes it hard to believe in the quality and standards of this store.

If the first one was chosen casually because I wasn't prepared, then the fact that the second one was carefully selected can only mean two things.

First, this store is a substandard store, with many inferior products.

Secondly, the shop owner's appraisal skills are lacking. Despite putting in a lot of effort, he couldn't find anything of value.

At this moment, even if Liu Zhi was stubborn, his face was flushed red. Faced with the facts, he had no choice but to admit it.

"Hmph, I was just unlucky. It's normal to misjudge someone with this kind of skill."

"But I, Liu Zhi, can confidently say that if anything in my shop is counterfeit, I can take it back and I'll compensate you tenfold for any fake!"

Liu Zhihao said with great enthusiasm.

　19 Zhou Weikang, who was standing to the side, knew that he was making a fool of himself, so he could only chime in, "That's right. If you were to ask which antique shop in the world would dare to guarantee that everything in their shop is genuine, I'm afraid none of them would dare to do so."

"On the contrary, those stores that dare to guarantee that all the products in their stores are genuine are the ones that should be suspected."

"At least our young master Liu's shop can guarantee a refund if it's fake. Go out and ask around, how many shops can do that?"

As Zhou Weikang spoke, a hint of pride appeared on his face, as if he had gained some prestige.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhi's expression improved considerably.

“What this young master Liu said is right. The technology and cost of making counterfeits are indeed very high, and people are bound to make mistakes. This is not a rare thing.”

"In that case, let's not delay any longer and bring out the third item."

Liu Zhi initially thought Fang Yun was speaking up for him, but the next sentence made him hesitate.

"If the third item is also a fake, I won't say much more. I just want to advise Mr. Liu to have the entire store thoroughly inspected if possible."

"Or, let's change the rules we just discussed, otherwise I'm afraid Young Master Liu won't be able to afford to pay that much."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiaying and Chen Xiaonan couldn't help but burst out laughing. They hadn't expected that Fang Yun's words, though not containing a single swear word, would be so offensive to the ears.

Liu Zhi couldn't refute it, but just stared at the other collections with a gloomy expression.

At this moment, Zhou Weikang walked over to Liu Zhi and pulled him aside.

“Brother Liu, I think that kid seems to have some skills. If the next item is also a fake, wouldn’t we really become a laughing stock? It doesn’t matter whether that kid talks about it or not, but if Li Jiaying spreads this around, it will be very bad for you.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhi seemed to be deep in thought. Li Jiaying's influence was far greater than that of Fang Yun. If she went back and said that she had found several counterfeit items in his shop, then his shop would probably have to close down in Guangling.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

“I see you’re tired today, Brother Liu, and antiques are indeed difficult to authenticate. I think we should…”

Zhou Weikang whispered something in Liu Zhi's ear, and as Liu Zhi heard it, his brows gradually relaxed.

"Okay, let's do it your way!"

Seeing the two of them discussing so enthusiastically, Li Jiaying frowned and said, "What are you whispering about? Hurry up and don't waste our time."

Li Jiaying had given up all hope on the two of them. She had been almost fooled by the exquisite decorations when she first walked into the store, but it turned out to be all show and no substance.

"This third item is not in my shop right now; it's in the warehouse. I've already sent someone to get it, so it might be a little inconvenient to wait a bit."

Liu Zhi spoke up.

"You're not doing this on purpose, are you? Why are you going to the warehouse instead of taking all this stuff from your shop?"

Li Jiaying rolled her eyes.

　723 “Isn’t this also to prove myself? You say the products in my store are bad, and that’s out in the open. If the products in my warehouse are fine, wouldn’t that prove I’m not at fault?”

Liu Zhi explained.

Li Jiaying was too lazy to say anything more, and just looked at Fang Yun. Anyway, it was Fang Yun who was competing with him, so as long as Fang Yun agreed, that was fine.

"I'm fine with it. I'll wait a bit. We have to give people a chance."

After Fang Yun finished speaking, he stood to the side, looking like he was waiting to see something.

Then, Zhou Weikang suddenly said, "The warehouse is quite a distance from here, and the items are quite valuable, so it will take quite some time to set up protective measures."

"My suggestion is, how about we go sit at the K bar next door for a while? It's a newly opened upscale place, and I'll cover all the expenses."

Zhou Weikang spoke up.

Fang Yun frowned upon hearing this; he wasn't actually that interested in those places. But keeping people here waiting indefinitely wasn't a solution.

Chapter 387 Heading to K-Bar

Once inside the KTV, it was clear that this was Zhou Weikang's domain.

If he felt a little uncomfortable in the antique shop before because he didn't understand those things, then here, no one should know more about them than him.

As soon as he entered the door, he casually asked someone to open a super large private room for him. Although there were only a few people in the group, a medium-sized room would have been more than enough.

"Hello, do you still have any 1982 Lafite? I'd like two bottles."

After settling into his seat in the private room, Zhou Weikang slammed his bank card onto the table.

Fang Yun and Liu Jiaying didn't show any change in expression, only Chen Xiaonan covered her mouth in surprise.

Although her family could afford this kind of wine, she had only heard about it from others and had never actually tasted it herself.

The thought of drinking such a famous wine later filled Chen Xiaonan with anticipation.

"That wine isn't very expensive, is it?"

Chen Xiaonan whispered a question in Fang Yun's ear.