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

"Old Wu is back."

"Mr. Wu, what do you mean?"

"Mr. Wu, the five international experts have completed their authentication and confirmed that this 'Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties' is an authentic work by Tang Yin of the Ming Dynasty."

"A bunch of foreigners, in front of the artworks of my great China, actually have the nerve to call themselves experts."

"Shameless! They claim it's a genuine antique, but I think it's a fake! They just can't tell the difference."

"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me," Old Wu cleared his throat and said loudly, "Since the other side's experts have already completed their assessment, I believe that our experts no longer need to come forward for assessment."

Why?

"You're admitting defeat?"

"Where's your face? Still admitting defeat?" Old Wu said with a chuckle, "I can now declare that Xiao Rizi's 'Ode to the Six Dynasties' is an outright fake!"

"really!"

"See, I was right!"

"Impossible! You haven't even seen it!" Yamamoto retorted loudly. "What makes you so sure it's a fake?!"

"My grandfather never took it out after bringing it home from Suzhou!"

"Look, look, everyone listen to this! How shameless this guy is! He steals, and yet he has the audacity to call it taking!"

Old Wu raised his hand to suppress his voice, "I'll make you admit defeat. Young Wu, bring in the candles!"

Old Wu lit the candle, holding it in his right hand and protecting the flame with his left, and slowly walked towards the painting "Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties" on Xiao Rizi's desk.

"Wait! Mr. Wu! This is against the rules! What if you accidentally burn this calligraphy?"

"If you burn it, I'll pay you back."

"This calligraphy piece is estimated to be very expensive!"

"I can afford to pay for it. Name your price."

"Two hundred million!"

"Two hundred million yen? Don't insult our national treasure, 'Ode to the Gold Powder of the Six Dynasties,' with your pitiful little knowledge of antiques. The original 'Ode to the Gold Powder of the Six Dynasties' is valued at at least two hundred million Chinese yuan."

"I meant two hundred million dollars!"

Are you sure?

"I'm certain! 'Ode to the Splendor of the Six Dynasties' is worth two hundred million US dollars!"

"Alright! I agree. If I accidentally burn the original copy of 'Ode to the Gold Powder of the Six Dynasties,' this old man is willing to pay two hundred million US dollars out of my own pocket."

"Wow! Old Wu is so generous!"

"Do you have any other opinions? If not, I'm going to begin."

Old Wu turned back halfway.

"I almost forgot, look, I only have one candle in my hand, and I'm only wearing a T-shirt, there's nothing to hide underneath! Don't try to cheat later."

"Mr. Yamamoto, would you like the old man to wash his hands?"

"Mr. Wu! I have some disinfectant wipes!"

"How about disinfectant wipes?" Old Wu looked at Yamamoto. "Here, my friend, please give me a disinfectant wipe to clean my hands."

Holding a candle, Old Wu walked over to Xiao Rizi's "Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties" again. "Here, why don't you hold it yourself? I won't touch it, so you won't say that I colluded with that friend and that the disinfectant wipes have magic on them."

"Hahaha!~"

"Mr. Wu, you're so humorous!"

"Put it up yourself and show the back of this inscription to the experts and the audience."

"Okay, everyone, look carefully."

Mr. Wu held the candle flame close to the back of the inscription's mounting; under the high temperature, the characters written with a special invisible ink gradually became visible.

"This is a fake! Tang Yin of Wu County!"

"This is a fake! Tang Yin from Wu County! Hahaha~~"

"How is that possible?!"

"This is impossible!!!"

"My goodness! Tang Yin of Wujun! You are my idol!!"

The audience erupted in cheers and applause, as if hot oil had been poured over them!

Yamamoto's face was ashen, his five fingers digging deeply into his palms; the five foreign experts stood frozen in place, their Adam's apples bobbing but no sound coming out!

"What a slap in the face! Hahaha~~"

Tian Si stared wide-eyed at the smiling Old Wu, who winked at him, a sly smile flashing across his face...

That brat, he's made me so uneasy...

The five foreign experts stared at those eight characters and felt the mockery emanating from them.

Mr. Wu and a group of domestic experts found these eight characters increasingly pleasing and fascinating to look at, didn't they?

Once the noise from the audience subsided a bit, Old Wu called out, "Everyone, please be quiet, I have another surprise for you!"

"There's another surprise!?"

This time, Mr. Wu personally located the signature, turned it over, held it up with one hand, and brought the candlelight close. The back of the signature gradually became clearer, and the characters written with specially made hidden ink gradually appeared again.

"The Japanese pirates are thieves! Let them live!"

A moment of deathly silence fell over the hall, followed by a deafening roar like a tsunami: "The Japanese pirates are thieves! Keep Zhizhi alive!"

"Hahaha!!!"

"A branch finger grows!!"

"Zhu Zhishan! You are our god! Old Wu! You are our god!"

A foreign expert slumped in his chair, muttering, "God... what did I see? What did I do?"

"Old Wu is brilliant!"

With unwavering resolve, Mr. Wu held up the counterfeit "Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties," his piercing gaze sweeping across the entire room, his chest heaving with an air of triumph.

"Xiao Yi, you are the god in my heart!" Old Wu murmured to himself.

Fantastic!

Does it matter how you got up there?

It's enough to give those who live a simple life a good slap in the face!

This is a live broadcast.

Those netizens who couldn't make it to Beijing or couldn't be there in person were all live-streaming...

Almost the entire world has seen those two markings. The first one, "This is a fake," is alright, but the second one, "Japanese pirates are thieves," is simply too surreal!

Tencent News immediately used these four words as its headline, and the news quickly gained popularity, soaring to the top of the trending list.

I thought I could easily and thoroughly slap them in the face, but instead I was slapped in the opposite way!

Inside the National Museum of China.

Mr. Wu put down his copy of "Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties," blew out the candle, and set it aside. "Mr. Yamamoto, distinguished international experts, may I ask, is this a genuine work or a forgery? Does it need to be re-authenticated?"

"You must have used some kind of magic! You're playing a trick on me!"

"Hey! Let me remind you, Mr. Yamamoto, this is a live broadcast. Before this, your 'Ode to the Golden Powder of the Six Dynasties' was always in that box you were carrying."

"There's live video evidence, on-site surveillance footage, and so many spectators present. Since your painting 'Ode to the Six Dynasties' was brought out, only you and five experts have had contact with it!"

"The experts from China were at least ten meters away!"

Tian Si and Dean Shan exchanged a shocked glance. No wonder Old Wu repeatedly emphasized that our experts should not go near his calligraphy scroll!

"And another thing, this old man doesn't know magic. If I did, would I need to gamble with you for artwork? I'd just conjure up the Chinese art pieces you little devils stole back!"

"Hahaha! ~~"

"Mr. Wu is absolutely right!"

"Old Wu is awesome!"

"I'll just say one thing: the most awesome word to describe Zhu Zhishan, that Japanese pirate, is 'thief'!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Zhu Zhishan is the best!"

"Baka!" Yamamoto's eyes widened in fury. "Even with these magical characters, that doesn't mean it's a fake!"

"This little brat is truly shameless!"

"Luckily, Old Wu had the foresight, otherwise we really would have been scammed!"

……