Chapter 176: 【176】Impossible, this is absolutely impossible_1

“Hurry up and announce the price, who won this round in the end?”

“Yeah, we’re dying of anxiety here, just announce it already.”

“If you ask me, it must be Mr. Qi’s apprentice who won, he took over forty minutes to decide.”

“Right, Mr. Zhang’s apprentice only glanced at it twice before making a choice, he clearly wasn’t taking it seriously.”

“Quickly reveal the answer…”

The weather was somewhat hot, and the onlookers were getting increasingly impatient, urging them on.

Zhang Jicheng looked anxiously at his apprentice.

But Tang Feng sat there as if nothing mattered, his face void of expression, giving no clue as to whether he was confident.

Well, what’s done is done, he could only leave it up to fate now.

Zhang Jicheng sighed inwardly, then pointed to the landscape painting Ma Zhenping had chosen, “My appraisal result is that this landscape painting is an authentic work by the contemporary artist Xie Zhiliu, with an estimated value of six hundred thousand.”

As soon as he said this, the scene instantly erupted into a buzz of discussion.

“My God, it’s estimated at a staggering six hundred thousand? Isn’t that terrifying?”

“Yeah, he only spent seventy-five thousand on this painting, and it’s gone up by a whole eight times.”

“This is truly a major oversight, he really lives up to being Mr. Qi’s proud disciple, his eyesight is indeed extraordinary.”

“Is there even a need to continue the competition? Might as well declare Mr. Qi the winner right now.”

“From now on, when buying paintings, we have to stick with this little Mr. Ma…”

Everyone was shocked by the painting Ma Zhenping had picked.

Buying a painting worth six hundred thousand for seventy-five thousand is definitely considered a major oversight.

Even Ma Zhenping himself felt that he was certain to win this round.

He had performed above his usual level today, and was lucky enough to find a masterpiece.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Under these circumstances, the idea of the other side surpassing him was pure delusion.

However, just as everyone was immersed in their surprise, only Qi Maocai’s face turned sour.

Although his apprentice’s performance was exceptional, which would have been more than enough to make a name for himself on a regular day, he had unfortunately encountered an even more freakish opponent today.

Seeing his apprentice so happy, he didn’t even know how to begin speaking.

Zhang Jicheng himself had given up hope, but seeing that Qi Maocai remained silent for so long with such an ugly expression, a thought suddenly struck him.

Could it be… there was a twist?

“Mr. Qi, it’s your turn to announce the answer.”

“I…”

Qi Maocai opened his mouth several times, struggling to speak.

This immediately piqued everyone’s curiosity.

“What’s the matter with Mr. Qi? Could it be he couldn’t identify it?”

“That shouldn’t be the case, right? With Mr. Qi’s appraisal skills, is there any antique he can’t identify?”

“Maybe the painting that the young guy chose is a fake, and Mr. Qi wants to save him some face.”

“Ah, Mr. Qi is really too kind…”

The crowd misunderstood the situation, thinking Qi Maocai was trying to save face for Tang Feng and didn’t know how to speak.

Their respect for Qi Maocai’s character grew even more.

Hearing the crowd’s praise, even with his thick skin, Qi Maocai felt a bit overwhelmed.

“My appraisal result is that this portrait painting is an authentic work by the late Qing Dynasty artist Ju Lian, with an estimated value of… two million.”

“Shhh…”

When he announced the final estimate, the originally noisy scene suddenly went dead silent.

Everyone stared at him dumbfounded, unsure how to react.

But Zhang Jicheng jumped up excitedly, in disbelief, “You… are you sure it’s an authentic Ju Lian?”

Without waiting for Qi Maocai’s answer, he rushed over to inspect the portrait painting.

His appraisal skills were no less than Qi Maocai’s, even somewhat better.

Anything Qi Maocai could spot, he certainly could too.

After only a glance, he confirmed it was undoubtedly Ju Lian’s authentic work.

“Hahaha, good apprentice, such a good apprentice…”

Zhang Jicheng was so delighted he couldn’t stop smiling, happier than if he had found a huge bargain himself.

By then, the audience had also come to their senses, all starting to exclaim in amazement.

“My, the painting that young man bought is actually worth two million? How is this possible?”

“Do you think Mr. Qi is deliberately favoring him? Impossible! When does a master ever turn his elbow out?”

“That’s not what I mean, I think Mr. Qi might have made a mistake?”

“That’s even less likely, who is Mr. Qi? How could he possibly make a mistake?”

“I seem to remember that the young man spent twenty thousand on that painting, right? It went up by a hundredfold!”

“A hundredfold? My goodness, isn’t that a bit excessive…”

The scene became as noisy as a marketplace, utterly chaotic.

Everyone was dumbfounded by the result.

Ma Zhenping’s eightfold profit had already been shocking enough.

Tang Feng went even further, directly up a hundredfold.

Was there any quicker way to make money in this world?

They certainly couldn’t think of any.

As for Ma Zhenping, he was completely dumbstruck.

Having immersed himself in calligraphy and painting for decades and considering himself to be at expert level, perhaps even slightly better than his master,

today, in his area of expertise, he was utterly crushed by a much younger man.

“How is this possible? This can’t be, this simply can’t be…”

He muttered to himself, unwilling to give up, and went to check the painting.

He still harbored a sliver of hope, could it be that his master was wrong?

But after his own inspection, he had nothing more to say.

Without a doubt, he had lost this round.

He lost thoroughly, without any room for argument.

As everyone was in a state of shock, Tang Feng was still sitting in his chair, not even shifting in his seat.

It was as if the outcome had been within his expectations all along.

Everyone felt he was showing off a little, but he indeed had the credentials to do so, leaving no room for criticism.

If you could find a hundredfold bargain, you could show off too.

“Mr. Qi, you have conceded this round.”

Zhang Jicheng looked at Qi Maocai with a triumphant face.

Qi Maocai snorted coldly, “It was just a fluke that you won a round, aren’t you getting happy a bit too early?”

Zhang Jicheng shook his head with a smile and didn’t continue to provoke him.

They moved on to appraise the second antique.