Chapter 149: [149] Eight thousand yuan, actually picked up a genuine piece by Zhang Daqian?_1

“This painting of yours is just an ordinary imitation, and the craftsmanship is pretty average. I can offer you three thousand, which is already quite fair,”

Tang Feng looked at the stall owner with an expressionless face.

“I’ve already sold this painting; a customer offered eighty thousand for it. Here’s what we’ll do, I won’t ask you for more, just give me eighty thousand, and we’re settled,” the stall owner said, his face wincing as he took a step back.

“Eighty thousand? Why don’t you go rob someone? I’ll add another thousand at most, four thousand, no more.”

“How can four thousand be enough? Look, I think you’re an honest guy, I’ll take seventy thousand from you, really can’t do less than that.”

The two went back and forth in a verbal tug-of-war.

In the end, Tang Feng offered eight thousand and, despite the other party’s persuasion, refused to budge any further.

The stall owner hesitated for a while but finally agreed to the price.

Tang Feng transferred eight thousand on the spot, and the deal was completed.

A sly smile finally appeared on the stall owner’s face.

This time, he had tearfully made a profit of seven thousand five hundred.

He couldn’t believe he had encountered such a fool… oh no, such a cutie.

He almost wanted to hug Tang Feng and give him a kiss.

Even the onlookers showed strange smiles on their faces.

“This young man got ripped off; I think this painting isn’t even worth three hundred, and he actually spent eight thousand?”

“This boss obviously schemed against him. Alas, the young man just paid some tuition,”

“Isn’t this young man an appraiser from Ya Garden? I think I saw him at Ya Garden a few days ago.”

“No way? An appraiser from Ya Garden has this standard? No wonder their business isn’t so hot.”

“What was Mr. Qin thinking, hiring such a mediocrity as an appraiser?”

“Can’t help it, who makes the guy good-looking?”

“Are you saying that this kid climbed up by being a gigolo?”

“Ahem, you said that, not me…”

The whispers of the crowd reached Tang Feng’s ears, but they did not provoke his anger.

They laugh at me for being insane; I laugh at them for being blind.

Nevertheless, this was a good opportunity to generate interest for Ya Garden, and he had no intention of letting it slip away.

He immediately turned to the stall owner, “Could I borrow a knife from you?”

The stall owner stepped back hastily, “What… what do you want to do? This was a fair deal, there’s no need to get upset.”

Seeing his misunderstanding, Tang Feng couldn’t help but give a bitter smile, “Rest assured, I’m not about to resort to knives and guns over eight thousand yuan.”

“I just think there’s something wrong with the mounting of this painting, so I want to cut it a bit.”

After hearing this, the stall owner breathed a sigh of relief and handed him a paper cutter.

Tang Feng took it and lifted a corner of the painting with the tip of the knife, then gently slid it across.

“Rip…”

The painting he had bought for eight thousand was slashed with a big cut.

“Uh…”

A gasp went up from the crowd immediately.

“No need to get so mad, so what if you got scammed once? Angry enough to tear it apart?”

“Sigh, young people are too impulsive; just consider the eight thousand a tuition fee. No point in getting angry.”

“It’s understandable, after all, anyone who gets conned out of eight thousand wouldn’t be happy.”

“If you don’t want it, give it to me. I could use it to wallpaper my wall, haha…”

The crowd watched Tang Feng’s “helpless rage,” their words tinged with schadenfreude.

But soon, they stopped laughing.

When Tang Feng tore off the outer painting, there was actually a piece of calligraphy inside.

This piece of writing was about two square feet, filled with closely packed characters.

The style of the characters, with their edged strokes, resembled the “knife strokes” of the Northern Stele calligraphy.

And the characters’ steeply angled and towering right shoulders were an exaggerated interpretation of what’s known as “tight horizontal bindings” in Northern Stele works.

All in all, the writing possessed an air of grace and rhythm as if it were about to take flight.

At the signature area, there were four large characters that read “Zhang Daqian’s Work,” followed by two large red seals.

When the crowd saw the calligraphy clearly, they were all struck dumb with amazement.

“This… is this Zhang Daqian’s writing?”

“A painting within a painting? Gosh, my scalp is tingling.”

“If this is a genuine piece by Zhang Daqian, wouldn’t its value be in the millions?”

“I’ve specifically studied Zhang Daqian’s calligraphy; there’s no mistake, the rows of characters like fluttering banners, it is indeed a genuine work by Zhang Daqian!”

“My gosh, is this hitting the jackpot? For eight thousand, he picked up a genuine Zhang Daqian?”

This surprise find instantly sent a shockwave through the entire antique street, and more people surged towards the area.

Soon, the stall was surrounded to bursting.

By this time, Tang Feng had removed the calligraphy and spoke with a surprised look on his face, “I didn’t expect to pick up such a treasure.”

The surrounding crowd all jostled to have a look at the calligraphy.

Finding bargains at the antiques market wasn’t rare and happened all the time.

But Tang Feng’s method of finding a painting within a painting was rather unusual.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The stall owner, on the other hand, had gone completely pale.

As someone dealing in calligraphy and paintings, he knew the value of Zhang Daqian’s work.

He was nearly green with regret.

“That… young man, that customer called and said they want it even if it’s trampled on. I’ll give you a refund, I can’t sell you this painting,”

The stall owner pretended to receive a phone call, then turned to Tang Feng with a forced smile.

Tang Feng pushed away the hand that was reaching out to him, “Boss, that’s not how you do business.”

“It was you who insisted I buy it just now, and now seeing I’ve found a bargain, you want it back? You surely know the rules of the antiques trade, right?”

The stall owner immediately became displeased, “Why don’t you understand, young man? This painting has already been sold, and now the customer wants it; there’s nothing I can do.”

Tang Feng took down Zhang Daqian’s calligraphy, then handed the stall owner back the painting, “You want this painting, right? Here you go.”

The stall owner was so angry he gnashed his teeth; what he wanted was Zhang Daqian’s calligraphy, who the hell wants this worthless painting?

However, faced with so many people on the antique street, he didn’t want to tear his face off openly, so he thought carefully about his tone before speaking again.

“How about this: I give you one hundred thousand yuan, and you give me the calligraphy back, how about that?”