Treasure Sense

The seal blank and the jade pendant had one thing in common: both were genuine antiques. Could it be that he now possessed the ability to sense antiques from a distance? No! If that were the case, why hadn't he been drawn to the genuine antiques on the other side? Could all of those be imitations? That was definitely impossible.

What exactly was the reason? Chu Chen began to ponder carefully.

Right!

A flash of insight struck Chu Chen. It should be a matter of distance. When he had encountered that old man just now, he had only sensed that something was wrong with the seal blank when he was about half a meter away. And when he discovered the jade pendant, he had also been about half a meter away.

To verify whether that was really the case, Chu Chen walked toward the area on the other side where the genuine antiques were displayed.

"Xiao Chen, are you planning to take some old pieces today as well?" Chen Dewang set down the seal blank in his hand and asked when he saw Chu Chen's movement.

Chu Chen gave a simple-minded smile and said, "I might. I haven't decided yet. I'm just taking a look."

"All right, make your own decision. But don't worry about the price. I definitely won't let you get the short end of the deal."

After seeing Chu Chen nod, Chen Dewang turned back and resumed reading.

During their conversation just now, Chu Chen's mind had been filled with thoughts about his supernatural ability. Chen Dewang's sudden question had scared him half to death. He had thought Chen Dewang had noticed something unusual, and for a moment he had become suspicious of everything around him. When Chen Dewang turned his attention away again, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense mood immediately relaxed.

After thinking about it, Chu Chen felt that he was rather amusing. Ever since he had gained his supernatural ability, his way of handling things had changed to some extent. Generally speaking, he had become somewhat timid. This was especially true after he had found the Zigang plaque. He always felt that if he wasn't careful, someone might discover his supernatural ability.

Thinking about it now, there was actually no need to act this way. He hadn't written the words "I have a supernatural ability" on his face. As long as he behaved like a normal person, no one would discover that he was different.

On the contrary, if he suddenly behaved differently from before, others would find it strange and pay attention to his actions, greatly increasing the chance that his supernatural ability would be discovered.

After realizing this, Chu Chen immediately relaxed. He only needed to return to his former self. Even if he often found bargains or won at stone gambling, as long as he could justify his conclusions, people would not only fail to suspect him but would admire his knowledge and discerning eye and envy his luck. That way, his reputation would also grow.

In the antiques world, reputation and collections complemented each other. A great reputation also meant having more collections, which would make it easier to conceal his supernatural ability.

At that moment, Chen Dewang suddenly felt that Chu Chen had become confident and radiant again. Although he didn't understand why, he still sighed inwardly, This is how a young man should look. Then he devoted himself to his book.

Chu Chen knew nothing about this scene. If he had, he might have felt relieved yet apprehensive at the same time.

When he reached a point about half a meter from the antique display cabinet holding the genuine pieces, Chu Chen was somewhat astonished. He hadn't sensed that strange feeling at all. This made him wonder whether the conclusion he had just reached was wrong.

"Huh!"

Just as Chu Chen was staring at a gilt bowl and pondering, that strange feeling slowly emerged from his mind. It grew from weak to strong, and in the end it was exactly the same as the feeling he had experienced with the seal blank and the jade pendant. This immediately gave him some new ideas. After careful study, he finally understood what was happening.

His ability to sense antiques was controlled by his consciousness to a certain extent. If he subconsciously believed that an antique was genuine, the feeling would not appear. Conversely, if he hadn't paid attention to an antique, the feeling would promptly emerge and remind him.

However, even with antiques he believed to be genuine, that feeling would still appear when he deliberately controlled it. In short, this feeling was an excellent tool for finding bargains and authenticating antiques. After thinking about it, he decided it should be called Treasure Sense.

Without Treasure Sense, if Chu Chen wanted to find a bargain, he would not only need a discerning eye but would also have to handle the item before confirming his judgment. Moreover, stalls were filled with numerous, miscellaneous objects. If he overlooked something by accident, he would miss the opportunity for nothing. Now that he had Treasure Sense, such regrets would no longer exist.

As for authentication, it wasn't possible to handle objects everywhere. Museum pieces, for example, could not be handled. Some might say, "Could museum pieces possibly be fake?" But that really wasn't certain. There had been cases of museum artifacts being switched out.

There were also preview exhibitions before auctions. Although most of the items could be handled, some could not for special reasons. In those cases, collectors had to rely on their own judgment. There were other similar situations as well, and with Treasure Sense, he could avoid such awkward predicaments.

Of course, Treasure Sense was not omnipotent. It merely served as an aid. Chu Chen had just experimented with it, and like his supernatural ability's sensing function, Treasure Sense could detect anything dating back to the Republic of China period. Therefore, it wasn't as if everything Treasure Sense detected was necessarily a masterpiece among antiques.

Furthermore, Treasure Sense had a range limit. As mentioned earlier, its maximum sensing distance was half a meter. Beyond that, he could not sense anything.

As for how Treasure Sense had formed, Chu Chen guessed that it might be a change brought about by absorbing too much spiritual energy. Otherwise, why hadn't he sensed Treasure Sense when he had found the Zigang plaque earlier? From this, he could conclude that his supernatural ability could level up. He now looked forward immensely to what new function its next upgrade would bring.

Excited and delighted, Chu Chen selected one genuine piece, then casually picked out several imitations. After that, he went to Chen Dewang and said:

"Old Chen, I've chosen everything and put it over there. Sorry for the trouble, but could you go take a look?"

"All right."

Chen Dewang put down the book in his hand and went with Chu Chen to the pile of selected objects. After taking only a casual glance, he said to Chu Chen:

"Xiao Chen, is this everything?"

At that moment, Chu Chen was far from as calm inside as he appeared on the surface. Chen Dewang had not realized that the jade pendant was not an imitation. He was struggling inwardly over whether he should keep it for himself. The profit could be as much as tenfold or even more.

In the end, however, Chu Chen gave up that temptation. Chen Dewang had taken great care of him over the past several years. Once, for example, Chu Chen had misjudged an item and had not even had enough money to pay for the merchandise. Chen Dewang had lent it to him on credit without a second thought. Considering all this, if he kept the jade pendant for himself, he would not be able to get past his own conscience.

Chu Chen did not answer Chen Dewang's question immediately. Instead, he picked out the jade pendant, handed it to him, and said:

"Old Chen, what do you think of this jade pendant?"

Chen Dewang took the jade pendant and examined it briefly before smiling. "All right, Xiao Chen. I can see I didn't misjudge you. This jade pendant should have been accidentally placed in here by my grandson when I asked him to organize the objects the day before yesterday. That boy—he never does anything carefully. Just wait until I get home and teach him a lesson."

Chu Chen smiled. "Young people are all like that. I wasn't much better back then, either. Old Chen, I also selected a bird-feeding jar just now. Sorry for the trouble, but could you take it out and let me have a look?"

"Oh, you mean that blue-and-white bird-feeding jar? All right, I'll get it for you." After saying this, Chen Dewang went over, took out the bird-feeding jar, and placed it on the table.

Chu Chen had carefully examined this bird-feeding jar earlier as well. It was a T-shaped bird-feeding jar with a smooth outer wall. Its interior was painted with blue-and-white scrolling floral patterns. The brushwork was bold and rough, while the blue-and-white coloring was rich and vivid, displaying the distinctive characteristics of Wanli-period blue-and-white porcelain.

The bird-feeding jar bore a six-character, single-line regular-script mark reading "Made during the Great Ming Wanli reign." At a glance, it was clear that it was an item from the Wanli period itself. Its body, patina, pigment, shape, and other aspects further proved that it was an authentic period piece, making it well worth collecting.

After placing the bird-feeding jar back on the table, Chu Chen said, "Old Chen, that's enough. I'll take these."

Chen Dewang put the jade pendant, which had been set aside, back with the others and said, "All right, let's call all of this twenty thousand yuan."

Chu Chen froze, then said in surprise, "Old Chen, you must have miscalculated. How could this possibly be worth only twenty thousand yuan?"

Although the modern imitations Chu Chen had selected were all high-quality pieces, their wholesale cost alone was nearly ten thousand yuan. Adding the bird-feeding jar, which was worth roughly another ten thousand, was the jade pendant being given to him for free?

Chen Dewang smiled. "Xiao Chen, you've been in our trade for quite some time. You should know that our line of work is all about making a living through one's discerning eye. If you hadn't pointed it out just now, I wouldn't have noticed it at all. If I recalculated the price, wouldn't that violate the rules of the antiques trade?"

Chu Chen waved his hands hurriedly. "This actually had nothing to do with you."

"Isn't my grandson representing me?"

Chen Dewang glared and waved his hand. "All right, it's settled at this price. If you really feel embarrassed, just come by often and do some business with me. Besides, this is also a reward for your honesty."

Seeing that Chu Chen was still hesitant, he angrily said, "What? You still don't want it? If you keep refusing, I'll take it back! And don't come here to buy goods again."

"All right, all right, all right! I accept, okay?" Seeing this, Chu Chen could only agree at once.

"That's more like it." Chen Dewang beamed.

Next, the two of them packed up all the goods Chu Chen had bought. Since they were all fragile items, they couldn't be placed carelessly. After everything was packed, Chen Dewang called for delivery workers. Chu Chen then said goodbye to him, boarded the delivery truck, and headed home with them.

As Chu Chen sat in the vehicle, he sighed inwardly. A person really ought to have a conscience. If things had turned out differently today and he had not told Chen Dewang about the jade pendant, then once Chen Dewang learned the truth, a barrier would have formed between them. How could their relationship have grown closer as it had now?