Chapter 174: [174] This kid is not professional at all_1

“Heh heh, if you’re too scared to do it, just forget about it,” Qi Maocai provocatively looked at Zhang Jicheng.

“I’m just afraid you’ll lose so badly that you’ll accuse us of bullying again,” Zhang Jicheng immediately retorted.

“Cut the crap, why don’t you set the rules for how we’ll compete?” Qi Maocai didn’t want to waste more words.

He knew the best way to counter was to let strength do the talking.

As long as his apprentice could easily crush Zhang Jicheng’s, that would be far more effective than any war of words.

“Since we’re here to look at goods, let’s compare our ability to spot the real deal,” Zhang Jicheng pointed at the stall, “We’ll compete in three rounds: one for calligraphy and paintings, one for jade, and one for porcelain. Best two out of three rounds wins.”

Qi Maocai frowned, “Then how do we determine the winner and loser?”

“It’s simple: whoever spends the least amount of money to pick up the biggest bargain wins based on their return on investment.”

“And what happens when one wins? And if one loses?”

“The winning party gets to take all six antiques picked out by both sides, with the losing party footing the bill.”

After hearing Zhang Jicheng’s proposal, Qi Maocai became mired in indecision.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

One of his apprentices was skilled in calligraphy and paintings while the other was proficient in porcelain; they were on an even keel when it came to jade.

This left him struggling to decide who to send into battle.

Zhang Jicheng seemed to read his mind and grandly gestured, “If it’s hard for you to choose, you can have both of your apprentices compete. My apprentice will take on both of them alone.”

“Whoa…”

A buzz of discussion arose around them again.

Everyone felt Zhang Jicheng was being overly arrogant.

He was actually planning to let his apprentice face two people at the same time—was he too conceited, or just exceedingly confident?

Qi Maocai’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Are you sure?”

If one apprentice competed, he wasn’t assured of victory.

But if both competed together, they were bound to win.

As long as each apprentice won one round, they would clinch victory in this competition.

Both apprentices would become famous in one battle and also gain enormous profit.

The deal was simply too good to pass up.

“Feng, are you confident?” Zhang Jicheng turned to look at Tang Feng, though he had great faith in his apprentice, he still needed to consult with him.

Tang Feng was dissatisfied with his master’s tone, “Master, please remove that ‘are you’ from your question. Don’t even mention two youngsters, even if the old man joined in as well, I could take them all in one fell swoop.”

“Wow…”

The onlookers rolling their eyes.

What peculiar master and apprentice they were, both boastful in their own right.

Indeed, like master, like apprentice when it came to bragging.

Qi Maocai, afraid that his opponent would change his mind, immediately shouted loudly, “Let everyone bear witness: Ya Garden’s Zhang Ji and Mo Xiang House’s Qi Maocai will have their apprentices engage in a friendly competition. The wager is set, and there shall be no going back. Whoever reneges, let all our colleagues spit upon them.”

“Okay…”

The crowd, eager for the show, clapped and cheered.

Word spread that there was excitement to be had, and people flooded in like a tide.

Soon, they completely packed the area.

“This competition is limited to one hour, starting now.”

At Zhang Jicheng’s command, Qi Maocai’s two apprentices sprang into action, squatting down at the stall, meticulously examining each antique.

Since the prices of these antiques were clearly marked, there was no worry of the sellers inflating prices on the spot.

Tang Feng couldn’t help but sneer when he saw them.

At this rate, how long would they take?

He wasn’t in a hurry, walking leisurely to the stall with hands behind his back, not even bothering to crouch down, merely giving a cursory glance over the items.

To the crowd, his strange behavior was baffling.

“He’s not inspecting them closely—what is he doing? Does he think he can assess the value of the antiques with just a glance from afar?”

“How is that possible? There are many details that can only be discerned by handling them—how could he understand just by looking from a distance?”

“Look at how meticulously Mr. Qi’s two apprentices are working. Now that’s professionalism.”

“This kid isn’t professional at all. He seems like he’s just playing around, doesn’t he?”

“Maybe he knows he can’t win, so he’s just giving up?”

“Does he think he looks cool like this?”

“Uh… he does look pretty cool. He could be considered a heartthrob of the antique world.”

“What use is being handsome? Can you eat it?”

While the crowd chattered, Tang Feng had already used a scanning system to review all items on the stall.

He then spent twenty thousand on a painting, eight thousand on a jade cup, and thirty thousand on a ceramic vase.

In total, he spent fifty-eight thousand—which the loser would ultimately pay.

He took these three antiques to the side, found a chair to sit on, and somehow produced a fan, casually fanning himself, the very picture of comfort.

The crowd, upon seeing his resigned demeanor, couldn’t hold back from muttering again.

“That’s it? He’s done choosing? No way, what sort of play is this?”

“Isn’t this too childish? He didn’t even look closely and just randomly picked three items?”

“Does he really think he’s some kind of divine being? Just a glance and he knows the value of these antiques?”

“If he wins this competition, I’ll, damn it, eat shit.”

Not only were the onlookers stunned by Tang Feng’s actions, even Zhang Jicheng, who had much confidence in Tang Feng, began to feel anxious.

His prized apprentice was truly being frivolous.

For such a serious competition, he was behaving so unreliably.

What exactly was he plotting?

Contrary to his worries, Qi Maocai, standing nearby, could not help laughing, “Mr. Zhang, your apprentice really is… unique. Has he already conceded defeat? Is there even a need to continue this match?”

He restrained himself from calling Tang Feng an ‘idiot’ and instead said ‘unique.’

Zhang Jicheng glared at him and replied irritably, “Who said my apprentice has given up? He… he just has a special appraisal technique. He doesn’t need to look closely to determine the value of the antiques…”

Alright, he couldn’t continue fabricating the story.

Whatever will be, will be.