Chapter 2 Mutation

  As mentioned earlier, the mouth of this Tang Sancai camel was open, and when Chu Chen carefully examined it with a magnifying glass, he saw two tiny characters "fire mud" on the upper jaw of the camel's mouth. Suddenly, he was stunned, his face turned pale as snow.

  Huǒ Ní, was a master forger of the Republic of China era, his original surname was Zhang, and his specific name is no longer verifiable. He is generally referred to as Zhang Huo Ni, and he excelled at imitating various types of ceramics.

  His fake works are extremely realistic, and his level of forgery is among the best in history, not to mention that many ceramic appraisal masters were also deceived.

  Each of Zhang Huo Ni's works will be engraved with his name in some unexpected places, two characters that are not even as big as a grain of rice, which also shows the height of his level.

  Just like this Tang Sancai camel, it is carved on the upper jaw, and ordinary people will not notice that there are words carved there. Moreover, the characters are small and cannot be seen clearly without a magnifying glass, so no one will discover them.

  And this fake camel was buried in the ground again after it was successfully forged, and now the time of its excavation should not be too long either. Calculating that it has also been buried for 70 or 80 years, which further increases the difficulty of its identification.

  As for why the old men would have doubts about this piece of Tang Sancai, it is precisely because they have been in contact with antiques and cultural relics for many years, so they will more or less have a sense of the precipitation of time on antiques and cultural relics. Just like this piece of Tang Sancai, no matter how realistic it is, the precipitation of thousands of years cannot be faked.

  Like Liu and Qian, as soon as they felt that something was not right, they more or less made up their minds. Afterwards, it was just a matter of finding the problem from within. However, this piece of Tang Sancai was too realistic, and neither of the two elders could find any problems with it in a short period of time, so naturally, they couldn't make a judgment about it either.

  After all, the identification of antiques cannot tolerate even a little bit of falsehood. If you say that something is not right, you should point out the problem with it. You can't just say "I feel like this thing is not right", that would be ridiculous.

  The two words "Huò Ní" in the magnifying glass were so piercing to Chu Chen's eyes. Within three days, from joy to sorrow, his mood had plummeted, as if he had suddenly fallen into an ice cave, and his whole person began to become muddled and confused.

  Chu Chen's heart was as dead as ashes. All of this had to be blamed on herself. It really verified an old saying: "Not listening to the words of elders, suffering is right in front of you."

  Someone like Liu Lao, whatever he says must be measured, especially in the antique circle. A predecessor like him would not easily squander his own prestige. If he were to make a mistake and it spread to people's ears, it would have a great impact on his reputation. Would such a person not be able to identify an object without any problems?

  But he himself was blinded by his own pride, thinking that his eyesight was already extremely sharp, could it be that even if his eyesight was better, it couldn't compare to the rich experience of Liu Lao and Qian Lao?

  It's still the trouble caused by money, although I like this Tang Sancai, but there is a saying in the antique circle that after owning it for a while, it will definitely be sold. With the quality and charm of this Tang Sancai, it can easily reach over a million yuan at that time.

  If I weren't so greedy, would there be this disaster now? Five years of savings have all gone to waste!

  Since so many people have identified it and haven't found any problems with this Tang Sancai, it should be fine to pass it on, but Chu Chen would never think that way.

  Chu Chen's foster father had taught him since he was a child that in doing business and being a person, one must be honest with everyone, only then can the business last long. And when he came to Beijing five years ago to make a living, he also practiced this, which is why at such a young age, he has established himself on Antique Street.

  If Chu Chen didn't know that this Tang Sancai had a problem, he could still resell it with a clear conscience. But now that he knows it's a fake, he definitely won't resell it again; otherwise, the barrier in his heart can't be passed.

  Moreover, this Tang Sancai must be smashed in his hands, because it is too real. If it is sold as a high imitation and bought by someone who uses it with intention, who knows who will be harmed and whose family will be ruined? Wouldn't he also have a share of the guilt?

  Thinking of this, Chu Chen let out a long sigh, feeling somewhat like he was asking for trouble. He picked up the bottle of Erguotou and started drinking heavily, truly "using wine to drown sorrows only leads to more sorrow, the flavor is in the heart".

  Three 750ml bottles of Erguotou were downed in one gulp, even if Chu Chen's alcohol tolerance was good, the Tang Sancai camel in front of him had turned into several.

  Chu Chen pointed with his left hand at the camel, wanting to say something else. Before he could speak, a "bang" sound was heard, and he fell to the ground. Just before falling, his left hand pulled the camel down with him, and they both tumbled down together.

  With a "crash", the Tang Sancai camel fell off the tea table, although the tea table was not high, the camel still broke into more than ten pieces. One of the ceramic pieces scratched Chu Chen's wrist, just cutting open his vein, and fresh blood suddenly gushed out, instantly wetting the floor. Most of the ceramic pieces were stained with his fresh blood.

  Immediately, a faint white light floated up from the ceramic piece, following the blood and drilling into Chu Chen's wrist. Then, as if time was flowing backwards, the gushing blood flowed back from the ground to his wrist, and the wound scabbed over, leaving his skin smooth and new again.

  Apart from that broken camel, the whole process was as if nothing had happened.

  At this time, far away in Moscow, IOC President Samaranch announced:

  In an instant, the capital city was boiling over, the entire city seemed like a joyful ocean, fireworks sparkled, people thronged to the streets, reveling through the night, tonight no one sleeps!

  The next morning at six o'clock, Chu Chen woke up with his biological clock. He squinted and felt that his whole head was dull and heavy, the kind of swelling pain made him understand that last night's alcohol was still ravaging his nerves.

  He groaned and propped himself up with both hands, trying to get up from the ground, and inadvertently saw the broken Tang Sancai camel that had been shattered into more than a dozen pieces of pottery.

  "Oh! My baby!"

  Chu Chen immediately rushed to the front of those ceramic pieces, picking them up one by one while feeling heartbroken. Although this Tang Sancai was a fake, his affection for it hadn't decreased much. After all, its artistic level was evident, and as the saying goes, "art has no true or false distinction." Even among fakes, there can be masterpieces with their own unique qualities.

  It's completely broken now, and the possibility of repairing it is extremely slim. Chu Chen felt a wave of despair, staring at it for a long time before letting out a deep sigh in his heart. It's better this way, cutting off his own thoughts and avoiding getting hurt again.

  Alas, there's no two ways about it, life must go on. These past few days haven't been good for eating, especially last night's drunkenness. Chu Chen's stomach is particularly uncomfortable now. He swept those ceramic pieces to one side, changed his clothes and washed up with a dizzy head, then headed out the door, planning to buy some breakfast to fill his empty stomach.

  As soon as I stepped outside, it felt like a holiday, the streets and alleys were decorated with festive decorations, many houses had small red flags inserted in front of them, and the entire city's spirit was transformed.

  Chu Chen was puzzled in her heart, what good thing had happened? After asking people familiar with the matter, she finally knew that Beijing's bid for the Olympics had been successful.

  In recent days, the topic of bidding for the Olympics has been filled with streets and alleys in Beijing. Chu Chen also had a heated discussion with others, but he was completely immersed in the world of Tang Sancai these days, so he didn't have time to pay attention to such a big event again. Yesterday, he got drunk and missed this historic moment.

  This news of national celebration also lifted Chu Chen's spirits, but in his heart, he was not only cheering for the motherland. He was also happy that with the success of the Olympic bid, there would be more people coming to Beijing for business and tourism, and the antique business would definitely be better than it is now. This way, who knows, maybe in less than five years, he could buy a house in Beijing again.

  Can't help but say that this is a petty bourgeois mentality, but it's also understandable. Chu Chen just got punched in the eye and lost 400,000 yuan, now he's still in a state of being penniless and his mind is only filled with the two words "make money", such thinking is quite normal.

  With this good news, Chu Chen's depressed heart was revitalized again. After hastily eating breakfast, he rushed back to make a good plan for the days ahead in order to make a fortune.

  On his way back, he ran into his landlady Zhang Dama, who blocked his path.

  "Xiao Chen, next month is August already!"

  Chu Chen was still a bit confused when he heard this sentence, and when he finally understood it, he suddenly felt a sense of anxiety. Looking at Zhang's mother, he smiled and said to her:

  "Auntie, don't worry, I still have some things to take care of these few days. Let's re-sign the contract next Friday."

  Mrs. Zhang smiled and said to him, "Hehe, little Quan, you're also an old tenant now, can I not trust you? It's just that the housing prices have gone up again recently, shouldn't our rent go up a bit too? But don't worry, you're an old tenant, we'll only raise it by 50 yuan a month."

  Chu Chen was suddenly speechless in her heart. This big mom is good at everything, but she's a bit sensitive when it comes to money. To put it bluntly, she's greedy.

  But thinking about it, the house price rises, and the rent will definitely rise too. Chu Chen is currently renting a one-bedroom apartment, not far from Panjia Garden, with a very good geographical location, and having lived here for three years, he has also gotten used to it. Changing to another place, not to mention whether there is such a good house, but also need to re-adapt to the environment, which is really a bit of trouble.

  Chu Chen's current rent is 1,450 yuan per month. An increase of 50 yuan would be 1,500 yuan, which is also reasonable. However, they sign a contract once a year and need to add a deposit of 3,000 yuan. Fortunately, there was also a deposit of 3,000 yuan last year, so this fee can be waived. Still, it will cost 18,000 yuan.