In the Ming Dynasty 1498, my restaurant connects two worlds.

It was just before 11 p.m. when I saw car headlights approaching the parking lot in the distance.

"Judging by the time, it's highly likely that they're arriving around this time."

Sure enough, Mr. Wu from Xun Gu Zhai in Beijing, accompanied by his secretary, the curator of the Suzhou Museum with his driver, and the director of the Jinling Museum, arrived at the Taoye Ferry East Parking Lot in two cars at the same time.

It was late at night, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, everyone got straight to the point.

The same question was troubling everyone: "Old Chen, you didn't say there were three!"

The implication is that if you say there are three paintings, we probably won't come.

"I only found out there were two more after I made the call. Don't blame me, since you're here, let's appraise them first. Personally, I think it's a pleasant surprise."

"Oh? Well, we'll have to see that."

Professionals should do professional things. After everyone entered the house, with Song Xiaoyi's consent, Wu, the old secretary of Xun Gu Zhai, first laid a pure white velvet cloth on the table, and then carefully took all three paintings out of their frames while wearing white gloves.

......

After the first round of viewings by several masters, Wang Fengqi, curator of the Suzhou Museum, was the first to speak.

"Oh dear! Such a precious painting is unframed! And it's been carelessly stuffed into a frame. Look at how badly it's weathered; it's such a waste!"

"Old Wang, are you so sure this is genuine?"

"Although there are no provenance stamps or mountings, I can guarantee they are genuine. If you have any doubts or are unsure, I'll take all three for ten million."

"Tch, you old Wang, you're a wicked old man. Old Wu hasn't even said anything yet, why are you in such a hurry?"

"Feng Qi, what's your opinion?"

"Alright, since Elder Wu is testing us, I'll start by offering my humble opinion."

"This is truly an eye-opener. This painting is historically rare. We're so glad we came, or we would have regretted it immensely."

Wang Fengqi started his speech by saying "opened my eyes".

"Teachers, please have some water." The clever Zhu'er ran home and brought back a large bag of purified water and drinks. Wang Fengqi quickly stepped back from the table, took a bottle of water, opened it, took a sip, and carefully checked that the cap was closed before continuing.

"On the way here, we had already consulted the 'Divine Bird Phoenix Painting' and historical materials about Tang Bohu, but we found no historical records. Information is shared online, and I'm sure you all feel the same way."

"There is no historical record, and more importantly, there is no record at all, but this scene appeared in a Hong Kong film from thirty years ago. At first, I thought it was just a fictional creation in Hong Kong cinema, but now it seems that Hong Kong may have come across similar records."

"Get to the point. It's the middle of the night, don't show off your knowledge," Old Wu urged impatiently.

Wang Fengqi didn't seem angry at all, and laughed it off, "Hehe, okay, let's get to the point. As everyone knows, Tang Bohu and Zhu Zhishan were both from Suzhou. Our Suzhou Museum's research on the Four Great Talents far surpasses that of the outside world."

"First, let's look at Tang Bohu's three seals. We have conducted a detailed comparative study of dozens of Tang Bohu's early paintings. The material and indentation of the seals, these details, are all confirmed in these three paintings."

"Secondly, there is Zhu Zhishan's seal. Historically, there are not many paintings with Zhu Zhishan and Tang Bohu jointly affixing their seals, but there are still some. Zhu Zhishan had a habit of affixing his seal to the right of Tang Bohu's seal."

"In ancient times, the left was considered the superior position. Zhu Zhishan was eleven years older than Tang Bohu, so he could be considered Tang Bohu's elder brother. Moreover, he became famous earlier than Tang Bohu, and they were both teacher and friend. Zhu Zhishan admired Tang Bohu's talent. He was unconventional in his actions, never argued with others, and always took care of his younger brother Tang Bohu and Wen Zhengming, among others."

Director Wang paused for a moment before continuing to explain his views.

"Therefore, he always stamped his seal to the right of Tang Bohu and Wen Zhengming, and slightly lower. This detail is also a result of our research on the Wu School of painting."

"That's exactly what these three paintings prove."

"Speaking of Wen Zhengming, there is an additional seal of Wen Bi on this second painting. Why would Wen Zhengming add his seal to this painting? You see, the second painting has two more chicks than the first one. The two new chicks are completely different in style from the original three because they were painted by Wen Bi! However, Wen Bi was not good at painting animals, so he painted these two very carefully, but they still have a bit of immaturity."

"However, as the main research base for the Wu School of painting, our Suzhou Museum needs paintings like these! This fills a gap in our research on Wen Zhengming's artistic achievements."

"Third, no, this is the fourth point. The third painting has an extra hen compared to the second! Who painted this hen? I can say for sure it wasn't Tang Bohu, Wen Bi, or Zhu Zhishan. This is precisely the key reason why I want to acquire these three paintings. Because I have a feeling this is an extraordinary new discovery!"

Wang Fengqi deliberately paused, keeping those who understood the riddle in suspense. Those who understood smiled silently, while Song Xiaoyi and Zhu'er, who didn't understand, dared not speak. Seeing that no one responded, Director Wang pretended to drink water and revealed the answer to himself, continuing, "The key lies in the hen's comb. There's a character on the comb—this traditional Chinese character for 'potential'!"

"Well said, I noticed that detail too."

"This Qian is no ordinary person. In the provincial examination of Yingtian Prefecture in the eleventh year of the Hongzhi reign, there was another person from Suzhou, Gu Lan, whose courtesy name was Qian, who participated in the provincial examination along with Tang Bohu and Wen Bi. This person was very low-key and almost none of his paintings have survived. However, he was a Juren in the eleventh year of the Hongzhi reign and later became an imperial censor. This person was a close friend of Wen Bi."

"As for the usual details such as paper, ink, and inkpad, we don't have electronic instruments here, so we won't go into details, but the Xuan paper from Jing County also conforms to the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty."

"Therefore, just for the word 'potential' alone, I, Wang Fengqi, am willing to pay ten million for these three paintings. As for the degree of ink bleeding and the degree of ink oxidation that you may not be able to judge, these are not problems for me. If someone can really imitate them to this extent, these paintings are worth ten million."

"Old Wang, you're wrong about that. Without the original artwork, how can you teach me how to forge it?"

"Haha, yes, that's exactly right."

Old Wu from Xun Gu Zhai in the capital was clearly the most respected among them. He stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "Well said. Feng Qi has basically analyzed the key points. In my opinion, it's not that complicated. There's no need to look closely at the brushstrokes of those chicks; they're definitely in Tang Bohu's style, which everyone is too familiar with. What's actually interesting here are the names, the signatures, and the stories they reveal."

Pointing to the five characters "Divine Bird Phoenix Picture" on the first painting, Mr. Wu said, "Look at the name first. It is obviously not Tang Bohu's calligraphy, but Zhu Zhishan's. Then look at the whole painting. It is very strange and uncoordinated. The painting only occupies a small part in the lower middle, and the rest is blank. It can be seen that it was just a play at the time. It should be that Zhu Zhishan wrote the name first according to someone else's custom requirements, and forced Tang Bohu to paint the chick."

"The signatures were all written by Zhu Zhishan in the style of Tang Bohu, which shows that Tang Bohu was very unwilling at the time, but Zhu Zhishan needed the painting, so he did the part that he could handle."

"As for the second painting, the name was written by Zhu Zhishan, and the three chicks were painted by Tang Bohu. The signature and seal were completed, but for some reason, perhaps the buyer had a problem with it, complaining that it wasn't a phoenix? And there were too few chicks. The next day, Zhu Zhishan forced Wen Bi to add two more chicks, which is why Wen Bi's seal is on the far right."

"This third one is even more interesting. The plot of the previous ones should be the same, but this Gu Qian should have taken the initiative to participate and added a hen to the blank space. However, just as Feng Qi said, he was very low-key and did not prepare a seal, so he habitually buried the character 'Qian' in the painting."