As soon as they heard that Liu Lili's father was a cultural relics appraiser, the classmates present all looked at Ye Chen with a mixture of contempt and sympathy.
They thought Ye Chen was really out of luck!
He had tried to show off, only to find an expert on the scene. Wasn't he slapping himself in the face?
If Liu Lili's father, Liu Yuesheng, came downstairs in a moment, wouldn't he be utterly humiliated?
Xiao Churan was a little embarrassed too. She whispered to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, so many of our classmates are watching. Stop being so stubborn, or you'll really embarrass yourself!"
Before they came, Ye Chen had mentioned buying a painting, but he had said it wasn't worth much. Now he was saying it was worth tens of thousands. Xiao Churan suddenly felt unsure, thinking he might have lied to save face.
But Ye Chen didn't mind at all. "Since none of you believe me, let's have a professional appraise it."
Then he added, "Oh, right. Don't forget, everyone, Wang Tengfei refused to learn his lesson and made another bet. This time, he has to eat the table."
At the thought of his car being burned earlier, Wang Tengfei cursed through gritted teeth, "Ye Chen, quit being so fucking cocky! You tricked me in that race! I was willing to accept my loss! And I'll accept the result of this bet too! If that painting you gave him is really worth tens of thousands, I'll eat the table right here! If it isn't, will you eat it?"
Ye Chen nodded. "Sure. If it isn't worth that much, I'll eat it."
Although it wasn't a famous painting, it really was the work of Huang Shen, a Qing dynasty painter. The antique shop was also part of a nationwide chain that guaranteed its goods were genuine and offered ten times the price in compensation for a fake, so the painting couldn't possibly be counterfeit.
Xiao Churan wanted to stop Ye Chen, but before she could react, he had already agreed. Helpless, she could only sigh inwardly to herself.
Dong Ruolin was also a little surprised. How could Ye Chen be so sure?
On closer thought, he really was a mysterious person. That day at the Heavenly Fragrance House, the renowned Master Hong Wu had actually bowed and scraped before him. She still hadn't figured out why.
But she was certain of one thing: Ye Chen had to have a secret!
Wang Tengfei felt that he finally had a chance to turn the tables and immediately blurted out, "All right, everyone here can be a witness. Let's have Liu Lili ask her father to come down and appraise it for us!"
In front of everyone, Liu Lili called her father directly. "Dad, could you come down for a moment? One of Daokun's classmates gave him a painting and wants you to appraise it."
A minute later, an elderly man slowly descended the stairs from the second floor.
He was Liu Yuesheng, a well-known cultural relics appraiser in Jinling.
Today was the opening celebration for Liu Yuesheng's daughter and future son-in-law's restaurant. He had invited an old friend for a small get-together in a private room upstairs. When he heard there was an ancient painting to appraise, professional habit kicked in, and he hurried down to take a look.
Liu Yuesheng walked over and stepped onto the stage. Liu Lili hurriedly handed him the gift box containing the painting. "Dad, please appraise this painting. Someone says it's worth tens of thousands!"
As she spoke, she looked at Ye Chen with a face full of contempt.
A loser who lived off a woman giving someone an ancient painting worth tens of thousands? Who would believe that?
There was no need to guess. The painting had to be fake!
Everyone else thought the same as she did.
No one believed Ye Chen could really give someone a painting worth tens of thousands.
Liu Yuesheng took the gift box and, under everyone's watchful eyes, removed the scroll and carefully unrolled it.
The painting was old and a little yellowed, and it really did look unremarkable. Many of his classmates, who liked to judge by appearances, spoke up. "Oh, that doesn't look like anything good!"
"Yeah, I'd say it's worth fifty yuan at most."
"I bet it's not even worth as much as the box. The box could probably fetch seventy or eighty yuan!"
Liu Yuesheng studied the painting carefully for several minutes before smiling and asking, "Did one of Daokun's classmates give him this painting?"
"Yes," Liu Lili said. "He was even one of Daokun's good buddies in college!"
As she said this, Liu Lili thought, Ye Chen, you're Wang Daokun's good buddy, yet you gave him a piece of junk that isn't even worth a hundred yuan. My dad is about to expose you in front of everyone!
But to everyone's surprise, Liu Yuesheng exclaimed, "Looks like you really are good buddies! If you weren't, who would be willing to give something so valuable?"
Everyone froze when they heard that!
What was going on? Valuable? This piece of junk was valuable?
Wang Tengfei thought, Valuable, my ass! I could buy a fake painting on Antique Street and piss on it to make it look old, and it would still look more genuine than this one!
Just then, Liu Yuesheng said seriously, "This is a genuine work by Huang Shen, a Qing dynasty painter. Although Huang Shen wasn't an especially famous painter, he was still one of the most outstanding. He was one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou!"
Liu Yuesheng continued, "I estimate that this painting would sell for somewhere over two hundred thousand on the market."
"Over two hundred thousand?!" Liu Lili was dumbfounded. She had thought it wasn't worth a hundred yuan. Who could have imagined it was worth more than two hundred thousand?
Wang Daokun was dumbfounded too. He blurted out, "Oh, Ye Chen, how could you give me something so valuable? It's far too expensive..."
Ye Chen said calmly, "Daokun, it's just a token of my regard. Don't worry too much about the price."
Wang Daokun was deeply moved. He had never imagined that his good buddy from college would be so generous!
Wang Tengfei looked utterly bewildered.
What was going on? This piece of junk was actually worth over two hundred thousand?
Looking like that, it was worth over two hundred thousand? Fuck, wasn't this a fucking rip-off?
The classmates were stunned too.
This time, none of them dared look down on Ye Chen again!
After all, he was someone who could casually give an ancient painting worth over two hundred thousand as a gift!
Everyone was practically dying of envy over Wang Daokun's good fortune!
That was incredible! Receiving such an expensive gift for the opening was a huge windfall!
Liu Lili was also deeply shocked at this point, and she immediately changed her opinion of Ye Chen.
She knew her father's abilities very well. Since he said the painting was worth over two hundred thousand, it had to be worth that much!
Heavens! One of Wang Daokun's classmates had given them such a valuable gift. That was generosity on a truly grand scale!
At that thought, her eyes sparkled as she looked at Ye Chen.
Xiao Churan asked, puzzled, "Ye Chen, how much did you actually pay for this painting?"
Ye Chen smiled faintly and whispered, "Actually, I really didn't spend much. The main thing was that the person who sold it to me was an acquaintance. He got it for a steal, so he let me have it cheap."
Xiao Churan couldn't help saying, "A painting worth over two hundred thousand, sold to you for just a few thousand? Is there really such a good deal?"
Ye Chen said mildly, "A lot of people don't actually care that much about money. Aren't I the same? Otherwise, I wouldn't have given the painting to Daokun."
Xiao Churan nodded gently. Ye Chen was right. If someone cared deeply about money, they wouldn't give away something so expensive. It seemed that although her husband hadn't accomplished much, his generosity was beyond that of ordinary people!
At that moment, Ye Chen stood up and looked at the panicked Wang Tengfei. With a smile, he asked, "Wang Tengfei, how are you going to eat this table? Are you going to bite straight into it, or should I get a knife and chop it into pieces for you to eat one by one?"