An Anomaly

As mentioned earlier, this Tang Sancai Camel had its mouth open. When Chu Chen carefully examined it with a magnifying glass, he saw two minuscule characters, "Huo Ni," on the upper palate of the camel's mouth. He was instantly stunned, and his face turned deathly pale with shock.

Huo Ni was the alias of a master counterfeiter from the Republic of China era. His surname had been Zhang, but his exact given name was impossible to verify. He was generally known as Zhang Huo Ni, and he excelled at imitating all kinds of ceramics.

His imitations were incredibly lifelike. In terms of skill, he might not have been the best throughout history, but he was certainly among the top few. Never mind that Chu Chen possessed only modest appraisal ability—even many master ceramic appraisers had been fooled by his work.

Every piece Zhang Huo Ni made bore his alias in some unexpected place. The two characters together were smaller than a grain of rice, which also showed just how superb his skill was.

Just like this Tang Sancai Camel, the characters had been carved onto its upper palate. Ordinary people would never think to look there for writing. On top of that, the characters were so tiny that they were completely illegible without a magnifying glass, making it even less likely that anyone would discover them.

Moreover, after successfully imitating the camel, he had buried it in the ground again. It had probably only been unearthed recently. Even if it had been buried for seventy or eighty years, that had made identifying it even more difficult.

As for why Old Xiang and the others had been suspicious of this Tang Sancai, it was precisely because they had dealt with antiques and cultural relics for so many years. As a result, they could more or less sense the accumulation of time on such objects. No matter how lifelike this Tang Sancai was, the accumulation of a thousand years could not be faked.

As for Old Liu and Old Qian, once they sensed that something was off, they would more or less reach a conclusion in their minds. After that, they would look for the flaw. It was just that this Tang Sancai was too lifelike, and the two elders had not found anything wrong with it in such a short time. Naturally, they could not yet determine its true nature.

After all, there was no room for the slightest falsehood when appraising antiques. If someone said that an object was wrong, they had to point out the problem. Saying, "I feel that something is wrong with it," would only make them a laughingstock.

The two characters "Huo Ni" in the magnifying glass were painfully glaring in Chu Chen's eyes. In the space of three days, he had gone from the greatest joy to the deepest despair. His mood plummeted, as if he had suddenly fallen into an icy cavern, and his entire mind began to grow muddled.

Chu Chen's heart turned to ashes. He could only blame himself for all of this. It truly proved the old saying: "If you refuse to heed your elders' advice, you'll suffer for it."

Someone like Old Liu certainly carried weight when he spoke. Especially in the antiques world, how could a senior like him not cherish his reputation? If he made a mistake in appraisal and word got out, it would greatly damage his reputation. How could an object that even someone like him had failed to judge correctly have no problem at all?

Yet Chu Chen had been bewitched by greed, arrogantly believing that his own appraisal skills were already formidable. Could his eyesight really be better than the experience of Old Liu and Old Qian?

In the end, though, money was still the root of the trouble. Although Chu Chen liked this Tang Sancai, there was also a saying in the antiques world: once you had seen something, it was as good as possessing it. After enjoying it for a while, he would definitely sell it. Given the camel's condition and charm, it could easily fetch more than a million yuan by then.

If he had not been so greedy, how could this disaster have happened? Five years of savings had vanished just like that!

Since so many people had appraised this Tang Sancai without discovering what exactly was wrong with it, perhaps selling it onward would not cause any problems. However, Chu Chen absolutely could not think that way.

Chu Chen's adoptive father had taught him from childhood that both business and personal conduct required honesty toward everyone, young or old. Only then could a business last. After coming to the capital to make a living five years ago, Chu Chen had practiced this principle himself. That was precisely why he had managed to establish himself on Antique Street at such a young age.

If Chu Chen had not known that this Tang Sancai was flawed, he could have sold it with a clear conscience. But now that he knew it was a counterfeit, he certainly would not sell it. Otherwise, he could never get past that obstacle in his heart.

Moreover, this Tang Sancai was destined to remain in his hands, because it was simply too convincing. If it were sold as a high-grade imitation and someone with malicious intent bought it, who knew whose family might be ruined because of it? Wouldn't he share some responsibility as the culprit?

Thinking of this, Chu Chen let out a long sigh. He truly felt that he had brought this upon himself. He grabbed the bottle of Erguotou beside him and began gulping it down. It was just as the saying went: "Borrowing wine to drown sorrow only makes sorrow deeper; its bitterness lies in the heart."

After downing three 750-milliliter bottles of Erguotou, even with Chu Chen's excellent tolerance, the Tang Sancai Camel before him had multiplied into several camels.

Pointing at the camel with his left hand, Chu Chen still wanted to say something. But before he could speak, there was a loud bang, and he collapsed onto the floor. Before falling, however, his left hand dragged the camel with him, and the camel tumbled down right after him.

With a sharp crack, the Tang Sancai Camel fell from the coffee table. Although the table was not high, the camel shattered into more than a dozen pieces. One of the pottery shards sliced across Chu Chen's wrist, cutting his vein. Blood gushed out at once, instantly soaking the floor, and most of the shards became stained with his blood.

Immediately afterward, a faint white radiance floated up from the pottery shards. Following the blood, it burrowed into Chu Chen's wrist. Then, as if time were reversing, the blood that had flowed out began streaming back from the floor into his wrist. The wound scabbed over, the scab fell away, and his skin became smooth and flawless as before.

Aside from the shattered camel, the entire process seemed as if nothing had happened.

At that moment, far away in Moscow, Samaranch, the president of the International Olympic Committee, announced:

"thegamesofthe29tholympiadin2008areawardedtothecityofbeijing!"

In an instant, the capital erupted. The entire city became an ocean of joy. Fireworks blazed brilliantly, and people flooded into the streets, celebrating throughout the night. No one slept that night!

****************************************

At six the next morning, Chu Chen woke with his biological clock. He blinked and felt his mind swimming in a daze. The swollen, throbbing pain made him realize that last night's alcohol was still tormenting his nerves.

He groaned, braced himself with both hands, and tried to rise from the floor. Without meaning to, he saw the Tang Sancai Camel, shattered into more than a dozen pottery shards.

"Ah! My treasure!"

Chu Chen immediately threw himself before the shards. He picked them up while wincing with pain. Although this Tang Sancai was a counterfeit, his affection for it had not diminished much. After all, its artistic quality was right there. As the saying went, art had no distinction between genuine and fake, and even masterpieces among counterfeits possessed their own unique qualities.

But now the camel had been completely broken into pieces, and the possibility of restoring it was negligible. Chu Chen slumped in despair and stared at it for a long time. At last, he sighed inwardly. Perhaps this was for the best. It would sever his attachment and spare him the pain of being reminded of it.

Sighing, he knew that excessive thought would change nothing, and life still had to go on. He had not eaten properly these past few days, especially after getting drunk the night before, so his stomach was extremely uncomfortable. He swept the shards to one side, changed clothes with his head spinning, washed up, and went out to buy some breakfast to fill his stomach.

The moment he stepped outside, it looked as festive as a holiday. The streets and alleyways were decorated cheerfully, small red flags hung in front of many buildings, and the entire city seemed to have taken on a different spirit.

Chu Chen was puzzled. What happy event had happened? Only after asking some acquaintances did he learn that the capital had successfully won the bid to host the Olympics.

For the past few days, the Olympic bid had filled the capital's streets and alleyways. Chu Chen had enthusiastically discussed it with others as well. It was just that he had been completely immersed in the world of Tang Sancai these past few days, leaving him no time to pay attention to such a major event. Then he had gotten drunk the night before, causing him to miss this historic moment.

The news of the entire nation celebrating lifted Chu Chen's spirits. But he was not merely cheering for his country. He was also happy that, with the successful Olympic bid, more people would come to the capital for business and tourism. The antique trade would certainly be much better than it was now. Perhaps he would not even need five years to buy a house in the capital.

There was no denying that this was the mentality of a petty urbanite. Still, it was understandable. Chu Chen had just been fooled in an appraisal and lost four hundred thousand yuan. He was now at the stage of having nothing at all, so his mind was filled with thoughts of making money. Such thinking was perfectly normal.

With this good news, Chu Chen's despondent spirits revived. After hurriedly eating breakfast, he rushed back. For the sake of his grand money-making plan, he needed to carefully plan out his future.

However, on the way back, he ran into his landlady, Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang blocked his path in one swift move.

"Xiao Chen, next month will be August!"

When Chu Chen first heard this, he was still somewhat confused. Once he understood, he immediately felt overwhelmed. Looking at Aunt Zhang, he smiled and said:

"Auntie, don't worry. I still have a few things to deal with these days. We'll renew the contract next Friday."

Aunt Zhang smiled brightly and said, "Hehe, Xiao Chen, you've been a longtime tenant. How could I not trust you? But look, housing prices have gone up again recently. Shouldn't we raise the rent a little too? Don't worry, you're a longtime tenant, so I'll only raise it by fifty yuan a month."

Chu Chen was instantly speechless. Aunt Zhang was a good person in every way, but she was overly sensitive about money. Put more bluntly, she was obsessed with making money.

But thinking about it, that was only reasonable. When housing prices rose, rents naturally had to rise as well. Chu Chen was currently renting a one-bedroom apartment not far from Panjiayuan. Its location was excellent, and he had lived there for three years and grown accustomed to it. If he moved, there was no guarantee he would find a place this good, and he would also have to readjust to a new environment. It was a considerable hassle.

Chu Chen's current rent was 1,450 yuan a month. Raising it by fifty yuan to 1,500 was quite reasonable. However, their contract was renewed annually, and he also had to pay a 3,000-yuan deposit. Fortunately, he had paid the same deposit the previous year, so that expense could be waived. Even so, he still needed 18,000 yuan.

That would have been manageable before, but where could he find so much money now? (New book release—please bookmark and recommend it! I'm counting on all you fellow readers!)