The Unfinished Original

Seeing Wu Ke's look of disgust, Chu Chen suddenly had an idea. He smiled and asked, "Keke, what do you think about changing the frame?"

"Uh... But this original nineteenth-century frame should be worth something too, right?"

There was a saying that beauty could hide a hundred flaws. Although "beauty" referred to inner beauty, it fit this painting quite well. For Wu Ke, replacing the frame with a brand-new one would definitely make her impression of the oil painting much better.

Chu Chen waved his hand. "Oil paintings are different from our traditional Chinese paintings. The mounting of a Chinese painting has a huge impact on its price. Oil paintings are affected too, but much less so. As for this frame, although it's from the nineteenth century, it isn't made of good wood. Besides, it's simply too old. Replacing it won't have much effect on the painting's value."

After hearing his explanation, Wu Ke asked, "Then why didn't Nan Nancai replace the frame? At least it would look better!"

"Businessmen always want to maximize their profits. Some people like their antiques and similar items to look older, and there are more of those people overseas. Nan Nancai probably did this because he wanted to use the old frame to raise the selling price."

Seeing Wu Ke nod to show that she understood, he said, "All right, I'll go get the tools and take the frame apart."

Seeing how swift and decisive Chu Chen was, Wu Ke said, "Isn't this a little too urgent?" Wu Ke

Chu Chen smiled. "It's still early. Let's get this taken care of first, so you won't feel upset every time you see it."

As he spoke, he went downstairs to ask the staff for some tools. After returning, he began working.

Speaking of which, considering