Chapter Thirty-Seven: Deception

  Gentlemen of the Vatican, having seen many Western nobles, but today's scene still surprises them greatly.

  Only to see the curious Chinese nobles, in groups, surrounding their noble pillars, spinning around them. Some even suspect that if they don't pay attention, someone might stick their fingers, or even the legs of their glasses into their nostrils, using their glasses to pry, just to try to prove a conclusion that has nothing to do with them.

  The priest could not allow the Chinese to pry open the Samoan pillar, Alphonse stood in the center of the hall like a fierce mother hen, staring viciously at Chen Yi - the first person who asked to pry open the Pope's collection.

  Chen Yi's classmate looked at him with a calm and fearless gaze, his sincere eyes fixed on the other person. It was just a stone pillar, it would be fine if he could pry it open. He thought so, but didn't say it out loud.

  He really doesn't think that prying open a cultural relic is anything special. As for what art treasures, or even evaluations of being worth a city, none of these can make him feel intimidated.

  Han Jie gazed at Chen Yi with an incredible gaze and said in a low voice: "When did you learn to identify antiques?"

  "Recently bored, just take a look at some idle books." Chen Yi shrugged his shoulders.

  Han Jie habitually narrowed her eyes and said: "But isn't the college entrance exam coming up soon?"

  "Uh... I'm tired of looking at textbooks, let's just read some leisure books." Chen Yi muttered.

  Professor Lang, who had just finished the phone call, turned around and smiled: "It's not easy to have such skills after the college entrance examination, but it still depends on whether your guess is correct or not."

  "It's definitely accurate."

  Chen Yi and others chatted and laughed, while the others also started drinking champagne. The dinner party continued, seemingly with a better topic, but not necessarily in line with the church's expectations.

  About an hour later, several professors and students from Jiangning University appeared in the hall, while the experts invited by Father also arrived at the same time. Both sides set up their equipment in the room, waiting to start.

  Chen Yi secretly took a cup of wine, hiding behind the crowd, watching the foreign handsome guys and professors with great interest, scratching their heads and discussing how to detect the problem.

  Han Jie followed beside him and asked, "This time Stanik, you failed to steal the chicken but ended up losing the rice instead. You ruined the dinner party and Father is furious with you."

  A subtle and profound smile beyond measurement.

  There were some people in the crowd, and it was Professor Lang and others who started the inspection work.

  "Why don't you go and take a look?"

  "Grandpa said, be high-profile in doing things, but be low-key as a person..." Chen Yi said halfway, suddenly feeling that something was off, such a coarse voice, obviously belonged to a man.

  As expected, it was Liang Yu speaking, one of his bosom friends in Jiangning Middle School.

  Although she was talking to Chen Yi, her eyes were fixed on Han Jie. The evening gown seemed to be designed for her, with her tall figure and snow-white shoulders slightly exposed, undoubtedly attracting the attention of countless men.

  Although she may seem a bit awkward compared to some of the other ladies present, Han Jie's pure and innocent aura, as well as her youthful appearance, make her stand out even more.

  "Doesn't Han Jie recognize him?" Chen Yi took advantage of the situation and punched Liang Yu, who was also completely absorbed in the scene.

  Liáng Yù chuckled twice, adjusted his tie with a twist of his neck and said: "The old man received an invitation letter, so my dad is taking me along to see the world. Who knew we'd really encounter something interesting."

  "Just arrived?" Chen Yi and he were not in the same class, indeed it had been some days since they last saw each other.

  "It's been 20 minutes." Liang Yu continued to twist the tie and said, "I heard that this stone pillar is a collection of the Pope, some people say it's fake?"

  Chen Yi nodded slightly.

  "They can measure density with an instrument the size of a notebook?"

  Chen Yi nodded slightly.

  Liáng Yú said helplessly: "You've just arrived too."

  Chen Yi shook his head.

  "Don't be silly." Liang Yu didn't take it to heart and burst out laughing, taking the opportunity to ask Han Jie, "Chen Yi got such a high score on his third mock exam, did you two study together?"

  Han Jie just smiled with her mouth closed, her big eyes sparkling brightly, shining so that Liang Yu felt embarrassed.

  Just then, the whispering voices of the people suddenly subsided. It turned out that the experts from both sides had completed the instrument inspection and issued their respective reports.

  In a very formal tone, but Father's face didn't look good. He was so obviously glaring at Ben that it wasn't necessary to announce the result.

  "Hurry up and say it." Someone was intentionally causing trouble.

  Those who come to the banquet, although they are the kind of people the church hopes to recruit, do not necessarily mean that they all have good feelings towards the church. Especially in this land of China, decades of anti-religious education have made the new generation of upper-class elites maintain a basic vigilance against them, and sometimes even hidden resentment.

  The priest's mood was terrible, but he didn't deny it. He read the first half of the two identification books in a routine tone, then repeated the conclusion: "Samo stone pillar, with a diameter of 1.2 meters as the boundary, the density is different inside and outside..."

  Many people burst out laughing, and the scene of quietly listening with ears perked up came to an end. More people began searching for Chen Yi's presence. After all, two Germans and Professor Lang, who was as round as a ball, were all in the center of the scene, but only Chen Yi, who had appeared suddenly, hid behind the crowd.

  Liang Yu also turned around and exclaimed: "Just by looking at it, you can see that it's different from the gap, this is a very abnormal animal."

  Chen Yi's mouth twitched, thinking to himself, why did it feel like he was being scolded.

  Han Jie couldn't help but laugh out loud, her pointed fingers hinting at something.

  Far away, Professor Lang squeezed over with effort, and the gentlemen and ladies nearby holding red wine and champagne sincerely congratulated him, who responded calmly.

  Some people didn't leave directly. Chen Yiqing coughed and said, "Liang Yu, among these different kinds of animals that can be seen from the cracks, one of them might be me."

  Liang Yu thought for 10 seconds before understanding what he said, and suddenly shouted: "Really? Is Fatso telling the truth?"

  "Porcelain?"

  "Nonsense," said Liang Yu, lowering her voice and saying, "I thought you stole a bottle from home, could it be that you really dug up 30 million?"

  For a wealthy family's children, an amount of one million is nothing, it's just that the way they got it was too strange. Chen Yi shrugged and said frankly: "I bought 800,000 from a pawnshop and sold it for 3 million."

  "Is that when the pawnshop looked away? What are you... a blood-sucking vampire who sucks the blood of vampires? A cloud magpie that specializes in catching yellow sparrows? Or should I call you a dung beetle eater?" Liang Yu started naming.

  "You don't have a good word." Chen Yi glared at him and saw Professor Lang coming up, hastily shouting: "Professor."

  This title still has some deterrent power for students. Liang Yu shut her mouth and looked around restlessly in all directions.

  "Let me introduce you, this is Karl, Carl Schmidt, and this is Andre Weber. They wanted to thank you in person." Professor Lang smiled at Liang Yu and Han Jie.

  "There's no need to thank me." Chen Yi immediately became polite and asked at the same time: "Are you also professors of archaeology?"

  "Germany's archaeological research is second to none," Professor Lang said, and then translated for the two.

  Although they were quite different in age, Chen Yi received enthusiastic praise from two foreign friends under the light of the sensory scroll. It wasn't just them; soon after, gentlemen who enjoyed socializing arrived at this small circle with wine and water.

  Chen Yi and others, from a young age, had all received basic etiquette education and often accompanied their elders to various public occasions. With the help of Professor Lang, they were even praised as "young talents".

  Soon, Liang Yu's father also walked over with a glass of red wine in his hand. He was one of the influential figures in Jiangning, with connections to both the legitimate and illegitimate worlds, having businesses at home and abroad, and had met Chen Yi two or three times before.

  With him present, just a few words were enough to greatly reduce Chen's pressure. Many adults who liked or disliked the Chen family also stopped coming over and just looked from afar.

  On the other hand, several fathers' expressions became increasingly serious.

  Unlike ordinary people's leisure, they are well aware of the impact of this matter - although not to the extent of a scandal, but for conservative Catholics, it is enough.

  Stanick also regretted his invitation, he originally just wanted to get close to Han Jie and enter the high-level families in China, thereby indirectly influencing their religious views. This is a predetermined strategy of the Vatican, not a new idea, and there are countless successful precedents. However, the result was that he messed it up.

  Throughout the dinner party, he didn't even get a chance to speak, and was busy to the point of being flustered. It's likely that Han Jie's impression wasn't good either.

  In the midst of silence, the foreign gentleman gritted his teeth and said: "Among the Chinese who spoke today, two relatively young people from Jiangning's upper class probably cannot make an accurate judgment about the Samoan column. Perhaps it is because China's upper-class people do not like our grand banquets."

  He proposed a solution in an indirect way.

  The priest nodded calmly, they all liked this young man Stanik and valued his suggestions, so he said: "If that's the case, we need to provide more information. Moreover, it's really unexpected that the Samo cylinder is filled with something."

  "Maybe it's a good thing, not a bad one." Alphonse, who had been in a foul mood, suddenly spoke up slowly.

  "Oh?" The priest knew Alphonse's inquiring mind and had to take his words seriously: "What kind of good thing?"

  "Do you remember what that young man said, Chen?" Alphonse recalled: "He said the Samnite column was hollowed out and filled with other things after it was collected by Saint Marcellus I. Without asking how he made such a judgment, in my impression, Saint Marcellus I reigned for only one year, so in history, there are several Vatican documents that were lost because of this..."

  Without letting him continue, the priest's eyes lit up and he restrained himself from ordering an immediate inspection. Instead, he commanded: "Notify the guards that after dinner, immediately lock the Samo cylinder in a safe, and also notify the Vatican..."

  A storm is slowly taking shape.

  ……