Chapter Sixteen: The Abomination

  "Master Gu, am I wrong?"

  The expressions of both Gu Quan and Qu Yang shocked Qu Wen, who thought to himself: "It's all over, it's all over. I'm probably going to fail the exam. I've studied for 20 days in vain, and I didn't even get one thing right. It seems that this spiritual awareness of appraising treasures is not accurate after all."

  Chen Qifu walked up close, holding one of the high-quality replicas in admiration: "It's not that it's not right, but it's too right. Not to mention you're a beginner, even an experienced master wouldn't be able to accurately distinguish between real and fake in such a short time." Chen Qifu took a deep breath: "This makes me speechless. Either you've been hiding your academic background or you're a genius in archaeology, a genius among geniuses."

  "No way, I was just randomly guessing all of these!"

  Chen Qifu's words made Qu Wen excited, feeling like he had gone from hell to heaven in one circle. Originally having doubts about his own abilities, after hearing this, his confidence greatly increased, and indeed, he could distinguish the authenticity of ancient objects through intuition.

  "Awen, be honest with me, how did you tell the authenticity of these few things?" Gu Quanru was in a dream, and he couldn't believe it to the extreme. Appreciation of antiques is not a children's book, one can learn it quickly, even people with exceptional talent need at least two or three years to make some small achievements.

  "Well... I'm judging from the package and intuition."

  Qu Wen answered randomly, the meaning of Bao Jiang was just to listen to Fan Yongcheng roughly say it once, and to look at Bao Jiang carefully and thoroughly without certain experience accumulation is absolutely impossible.

  "Then tell me, what is baojiang!?" Regardless of whether it was true or false, Qu Wen took out three modern high-imitation pieces in front of the two people, and this couldn't be wrong.

  "Ridiculous......" Qu Wen hated himself for being so blind, why couldn't he just make a wild guess?

  "The patina is a layer of material that forms on the surface of an object over time, due to dust, sweat, and handling. It's a gradual accumulation of substances from the air, water, and soil, which can give an object a certain age. The patina is smooth and pleasant to the touch, with a subtle glow. Through the patina, you can tell that this thing has some history to it. Am I right, Master Gu?"

  He nodded in surprise: "You're right, but there are also genuine and fake packages, especially with modern people's counterfeiting technology being too powerful. No matter what it is, as soon as you get your hands on it, you can immediately make 7 or 8 knockoff versions. You've only learned for less than a month and you can already tell the difference between real and fake packaging, that's truly impressive!"

  "This... I can only say it's intuition."

  The text translates to:

  "It's hard to answer again, and it takes a lot of experience to tell whether the dough is genuine or not. Many people in this line, after a lifetime, only learn some superficial things, just like looking at a leopard through a tube, seeing only a little bit, so they can't become masters or experts."

  "Intuition!"

  The expression on Qu Wen's face didn't seem fake, leaving Gu and Quan unable to explain it for a moment, exchanging a meaningful glance. Intuition can already determine what's true or false, why bother with an appraiser, could this kid be a naturally gifted connoisseur taught by a senior in the field?

  "You go out first." Gu Quan waved his hand and let Qu Wen leave.

  As soon as the servant left and closed the door, Gu Quan immediately asked Chen Qifu: "Where did you find this child?"

  After a moment of contemplation, Chen Qifu said: "I told you about the bet I made with Weiwei, didn't I?"

  "I've said it before, but what does it have to do with Qu Wen?"

  "That girl has always liked to go against me since she was young. Next year, she will graduate, but she told me that she wants to be a teacher in the western region. She doesn't think about us parents who work hard to earn money just to give her a good living condition and a bright future. Because of this, she quarreled with me for three whole days, saying a lot of big and small reasons. Helpless, I had no choice but to make a bet with her. First, test her ability to be independent, let her survive the last year of university life with minimal financial help. Second, test her judgment, a girl outside, what if she encounters bad people? What if she gets cheated and helps count the money? Coincidentally, our company was holding a recruitment fair those days, I asked her to help find a talented appraiser to come back."

  Gu heard this and pointed at Chen Qifu, saying: "You're quite sinister. If you want to find someone, you can easily find an appraiser in related colleges or talent markets. Why do we need to do it? At least 99% of antique shops and appraisal centers would have to close down."

  Chen Qifu let out a helpless sigh: "That Weiwei really did find me such a freak from the talent market."

  "What? He's actually back from the talent market!"

  "Hmm!" Chen Qifu's face was bitter, let alone being comprehensive, even he himself couldn't believe that his own daughter could easily find a good appraiser in the talent market. "This can only be said to be fate, letting her experience life isn't a bad thing, but Qu Wen is too strange, even if she has exceptional talent, it's too powerful, such a great talent can't be let go of easily, should we change our training methods?"

  Gu Zhong thought for a moment: "Just now, when I saw him pick out three high-quality imitations, I had already thought of this. If he was properly taught, by the time he reached your age, he would definitely be one of the best in his field."

  "Hmm, then you'd better take charge of this matter." Although they both came from the antique appraisal industry, compared to Gu Quan, Chen Qifeng had a more business-like style and way of thinking, attaching too much importance to financial gain. This was also the reason why he could never become a first-rate appraiser.

  Back at the pawnshop, Qu Wen couldn't help but think about Gu Quan's intentions, but he had accurately identified three counterfeit items and passed the test again, so he shouldn't be fired.

  Not long after, Gu Quan followed him to the pawnshop and found Qu Wen Zheng, saying: "You go home and prepare today, and follow me on a business trip tomorrow."

  "Huh?" Isn't an apprentice pawnshop supposed to learn appraisal in the pawnshop, why do they still need to go outside to collect things, and what kind of things do they need to collect, Gu Quan didn't make it clear either.

  "Master Gu, where are we going on this business trip?"

  "Why are you asking so many questions, just follow me and that's it. These days of business trip have extra bonuses, do you want them or not." Gu Quan's words seemed like a question, but his tone was commanding, leaving no room for others to ask more questions or show any disobedience.

  "Oh, I see." After answering, he watched Gu Quan leave, with a puzzled expression on his face, clearly written with confusion.

  Fan Yongcheng and Zeng Hongwei immediately gathered around, Fan Yongcheng patted Qu Wen's shoulder with force: "Not bad, kid! You've already gained Old Gu's appreciation so quickly. And you said you didn't put in any effort on Su Yaxin that little girl. I heard you took her out to play for a night again yesterday. If you really can get together, don't forget to invite me to drink the matchmaker's wine!"

  Zeng Hongwei then said with envy: "I've been in the pawnshop for almost seven years, and Master Gu has taught me very little. You're great, you've only been here for twenty days and there's hope that you'll become his personal apprentice."

  What's all this about? Fan Yongcheng always plays the role of a matchmaker, and I don't know what Zeng Hongwei means by his words. Can one become a sworn brother just by going on an outing together?

  "You two stop teasing me, I don't have such good luck!" Qu Wenqiang laughed and said, but being able to make money was a good thing for him.

  "This is a good life, you'll know when you go, in the future when you become a great master, don't forget that Brother Zeng once took care of you." Zeng Hongwei secretly sighed, his heart filled with envy. If Gu Quan was willing to take him out, not only would he earn money, but even if he had to pay, it would be fine, and he could pay as much as needed.