CHAPTER 1050: CHAPTER 1047: THE TRUTH ABOUT RU WARE

The exquisite Pixiu porcelain crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces, with thin porcelain fragments scattered everywhere. The businessmen’s hearts seemed to break as well, staring in shock at the debris on the ground.

The Shen family was bewildered, watching helplessly as Miss shattered the Pixiu porcelain, which was a Song Dynasty Ru Kiln piece worth over one hundred million yuan.

Yun Hongxi and Ning Weirong were also taken aback, as neither of the elders expected Miss to act out in such a manner.

"Lin Tian, Manxue, you both really surprised me." Wang Wanxi shook her head with a wry smile.

"Miss, did breaking it feel good?" Lin Tian ignored the crowd’s reaction and whispered quietly in Miss’s ear.

Miss’s face flushed, coquettishly replying, "I won’t tell you."

The little girl, though unwilling to admit it, had laughter in her eyes that betrayed her. Lin Tian chuckled but didn’t expose her.

Shen Yuankui finally came to his senses, stood up, and pointed tremblingly at Miss, saying, "You... You dared to break my porcelain!"

"Mr. Shen, I was the one who told Miss to break the porcelain. If you want to blame someone, blame me." Lin Tian stepped forward, blocking Miss, and spoke coldly.

Shen Yuankui squinted his eyes, looked at Lin Tian, suppressing his anger, and said, "Lin Tian, you better give me an explanation, or else... hmph!"

Though Shen Yuankui didn’t say what "or else" constituted, the businessmen understood—otherwise pay for it. Even though the Shen family was wealthy, breaking a piece valued at over a hundred million without feeling heartache was unthinkable.

"Lin Tian, I don’t believe you need to explain anything, just pay for it. I’ve never seen such a joke—an appraiser breaking the antique he’s appraising." Li Wenrong sneered.

Lin Tian glanced at him dismissively and said, "Never seen it? That just shows your limited knowledge and ignorance. Moreover, what evidence do you have to prove it’s an antique? Did you appraise it yourself?"

"You... You’re just arguing. This Pixiu porcelain was worth one hundred million when Elder Shen acquired it. What makes you say it’s not an antique?" Li Wenrong faltered, stuttering.

Lin Tian remained calm, saying, "Buying it for one hundred million doesn’t make it an antique, does it? Didn’t the last time you spent millions on a Thousand-year-old ginseng turn out to be just a Hundred-Year-Old Ginseng? Who taught you to judge an antique by its price?"

"You..." Li Wenrong was speechless. Last time, he gifted fake Thousand-year-old ginseng to the elder and lost face; hearing it mentioned now made him want to tear Lin Tian’s mouth apart.

Lin Tian didn’t plan to show him leniency and continued, "Spending vast amounts on a fake merely shows you’re lacking discernment. A fake remains a fake, whether you spend one hundred million or ten billion; it doesn’t change its nature."

Even if Shen Yuankui had a thick skin, he couldn’t maintain his composure, looking visibly upset.

"You say the Pixiu porcelain is fake?" Mr. Yun asked suspiciously.

"Certainly. If it weren’t a fake, I wouldn’t have the heart to destroy such a fine piece." Lin Tian affirmed.

Shen Yuankui’s face darkened as he spoke, "Do you have any evidence?"

"Evidence? It’s right here..." Lin Tian smiled faintly, bending down to pick up a fragment of porcelain.

This fragment was from the head of the Pixiu porcelain, where Lin Tian noticed some black dots.

He handed the porcelain fragment to Mr. Yun, who examined it for a while and discovered black dots on the inner wall. The dots were quite small, and due to Mr. Yun’s age and poor eyesight, he couldn’t clearly discern them.

Several people, including Shen Yuankui, couldn’t resist coming closer to observe, and finally, Mr. Ning shouted, "Does anyone have a magnifying glass? Bring it over."

"I have one." A middle-aged businessman stood up and pulled from his pocket a palm-sized magnifying glass, handing it to Mr. Yun, who began inspecting the black dots closely.

"Lin Tian, what exactly is on the fragment?" Miss asked curiously.

"Nothing much, just a few characters that help prove the origin of the Pixiu porcelain." Lin Tian smiled as the surrounding businessmen craned their necks to see what was on the fragment.

After carefully studying the black dots on the porcelain fragment, Mr. Yun displayed an enlightened expression, his eyes filled with astonishment. Shen Yuankui also saw them, but his expression was far from pleased.

"Mr. Yun, what exactly did you see? Could you tell us?" A businessman, unable to contain his curiosity, asked urgently.

After handing back the magnifying glass, Mr. Yun chuckled and said, "You might find it unbelievable when you hear this, but there are extremely small characters on the inner wall of the porcelain fragment. The text includes two elements: a date and perhaps a signature indicating a surname. The date is August 2001, accompanied by a single character ’Ma’."

"But Mr. Yun, it’s not uncommon for ancient craftsmen to sign their work, right?" Another businessman, not recognizing the era indicated by the date, hastily asked.

"If it were only that, there would be no surprise. What is strange is that all of these letters are in simplified characters. Furthermore, the date is written using Arabic numerals. Simplified characters and a modern date appearing on a Song Dynasty porcelain? The eeriest part is that the date is 2001." Mr. Yun explained.

"How could this be possible? A modern person time-traveling to ancient times?" A businessman expressed disbelief.

Mr. Yun shook his head and said, "Time travel is, of course, impossible. These texts reveal one truth—the Pixiu porcelain is a fake, crafted by modern people, with the forgery date being 2001."

"No way, it’s actually a fake."

"Yes, unbelievable—how did those appraisers not see it?"

A group of businessmen began whispering. The realization that the porcelain valued at one hundred million was indeed a fake was hard for them to accept.

The ones feeling most conflicted were certainly the Shen family, especially Shen Yuankui, who personally purchased the porcelain, only to realize he’d been deceived and lost one hundred million needlessly.

Fortunately, the Shen family was large and could endure such a loss. A smaller family or typical wealthy individual losing one hundred million yuan might cough up blood in agony.

"Li Wenrong, what do you think? Do you still want me to pay one hundred million?" Lin Tian asked with a subtle smile.

Li Wenrong was embarrassed; he could hardly bring up compensation for an amount like that. The value of an antique lies precisely in the ’antique’ aspect. If it’s a modern creation, no matter how exquisite, its value depreciates significantly.

Still, the businessmen were left pondering one question—how did Lin Tian know there was a flaw inside the porcelain? It’s vital to realize the porcelain was completely sealed.

"Lin Tian, how did you know there would be words inside?" Shen Yuankui stared at Lin Tian, seemingly trying to unravel all of Lin Tian’s secrets.