Starting as the President of a Billionaire Group

Upon hearing the woman's words, there was a hush at the scene.

This woman had just sworn that her porcelain was genuine, and now she was backing down at the mention of expert authentication.

Ye Chen smiled faintly: "What's the method?"

"Let's each pick an item from the store for expert authentication. Whoever picks the most valuable item wins. If you lose, you owe me a million. If you win, you can keep the item you picked, and I won't need the million," the plump woman said.

Hearing the woman's words, the crowd erupted in uproar.

This plump woman is so shameless. In a competition to pick items from your store, of course you'd know which item is the most valuable. Isn't this cheating?

"Boss Hu, this is unjust. You are naturally most familiar with the price of items in your store!"

"Exactly, this is way too unfair."

"This is outright unfair."

The plump woman sneered: "If you don't dare to compete, then forget it. Anyway, I'm giving you the opportunity. If you don't dare to pick items, you'll pay full price for damages."

Ye Chen smiled faintly: "Since you like to compete, let's compete then."

Upon hearing Ye Chen's words, Meng Wanting quickly tugged at his sleeve.

"Ye Chen, are you crazy? Of course she knows the prices of the items in her own store."

"Don't worry, they won't win. If people voluntarily give us antiques, why shouldn't we take them?" Ye Chen said confidently.

Upon hearing Ye Chen's words, the plump woman sneered again.

"How foolish. 'Give you an antique,' are you worthy? When you lose, I'd like to see what you'll have to say." The plump woman thought coldly.

At this moment, everyone was worried for Ye Chen.

"This young man is too foolish, jumping into a trap laid for him."

"Exactly, when he loses, even if the porcelain is fake, there's no room to argue."

"Really don't understand where this young man gets his confidence from to think he will win."

The plump woman sneered: "Alright then, let's start picking right now."

Saying so, the plump woman walked straight to a counter in her store and pulled out a piece of porcelain from a hidden compartment.

"This piece of Ming Dynasty's blue and white porcelain is valued at eight million, and it's the treasure of our store."

Upon seeing this porcelain, everyone was amazed.

This piece of blue and white porcelain had beautifully colored glaze, and many connoisseurs could tell at a glance that it's genuine.

The plump woman sneered: "Now you can pick anything you want."

Most items in her store were fakes. Even if they were real, they were worth at most over ten thousand.

How could anything be more valuable than her blue and white porcelain?

Everyone shook their heads: "Ah, this young man is too naive, he is definitely going to lose."

"Exactly, why bet at all? How could this store have anything valued over eight million?"

Ye Chen, however, wasn't in a hurry. He wandered around the store before his gaze landed on a painting.

The painting was a landscape, signed by Zhang Xiaoqian.

Ye Chen pointed to the painting and said calmly: "I choose this."

Seeing the painting, the woman suddenly laughed out loud.

"You lost. Although it's signed by Zhang Xiaoqian, this is a reproduction and is worth, at most, ten thousand."

Upon hearing the woman's words, everyone sighed.

They had hoped Ye Chen had some skills to turn the situation around, but it turned out he still lost.

Ye Chen, however, firmly said: "If this painting's value exceeds your Ming Dynasty's blue and white porcelain, then it belongs to me, right?"

The plump woman sneered: "Of course, everyone is watching."

Ye Chen shook his head: "Words alone aren't sufficient; let's put it in writing."

The plump woman sneered: "I'd like to see what tricks you have up your sleeve. Even if it's in writing, what's there to fear? I paid a thousand to acquire this painting, which was later authenticated by experts as a reproduction. Hanging it here is merely for display."

After the agreement was set, the woman said: "On Taobao Street, the most knowledgeable expert in antique authentication is Elder Wei Dong. He is also the fairest. Do you have any objections to him authenticating the items?"

Ye Chen nodded: "No objection at all."

The crowd also nodded.

In Taobao Street, Elder Wei was a renowned expert in antique authentication. Under his examination, the authenticity of treasures could be determined with a single glance.

Half an hour later, Elder Wei was invited over.

Elder Wei, over seventy, had an upright posture and wore a set of Hua Mansion.

He glanced at the blue and white porcelain on the table and said: "This piece doesn't require authentication; I've appraised it before. It's worth eight million."

Saying so, Elder Wei turned his gaze to the painting.

"This painting is a reproduction, and even selling it for ten thousand is expensive."

Upon hearing Elder Wei's words, the crowd sighed.

They had hoped for a miracle, but one didn't occur.

Indeed, this painting was a reproduction.

Between the eight-million porcelain and a reproduction worth less than ten thousand, the value disparity was enormous.

The plump woman sneered: "Kid, you lost right?"

But Ye Chen remained calm.

"I haven't lost. Elder Wei, you made a misjudgment; the values of these two are reversed."

Upon hearing Ye Chen's words, everyone was stunned.

"What? The values of these two are reversed?"

Ye Chen said calmly: "This blue and white porcelain is a fake and not worth even ten thousand, while this painting is an authentic masterpiece worth eight million."

Upon hearing Ye Chen's words, the scene fell silent.

Soon after, laughter erupted.

This kid, is something wrong with his head?

Everyone knew that the blue and white porcelain was the store's treasure, yet that painting clearly appeared to be a reproduction to any discerning eye.

The plump woman sneered: "Young man, are you refusing to accept defeat and trying to cheat?"

Ye Chen, however, smiled faintly: "If I'd lost, I'd certainly admit it. But I haven't lost."

Elder Wei raised an eyebrow: "Young man, you say I made a misjudgment. What evidence do you have?"

Ye Chen smiled lightly: "Of course, there's evidence."

Saying this, Ye Chen asked a clerk: "Bring me a small knife, please."

The clerk handed over a small knife.

Ye Chen carefully sliced open the edge of the painting.

Inside, there was actually a concealed layer.

Elder Wei's eyes slightly squinted.

This is a painting within a painting!

During times of chaos, some collectors deliberately hid paintings within layers of reproduction paintings to protect them.

As the painting was peeled open, another painting emerged in front of everyone.

Upon seeing this painting, Elder Wei's expression slightly changed.

This… this is a painting by Tang Hu!

His hand trembled slightly as he held a magnifying glass.

"An original. This is an original! I never expected that I would see Tang Hu's original work again."

What?

An original.

The scene fell into dead silence.

No one had anticipated that within the reproduction painting lay an original work.

Ye Chen smiled faintly: "Elder Wei, how much is this painting worth?"

Elder Wei took a deep breath and said: "This painting is priceless, far exceeding the value of that blue and white porcelain."

The plump woman, upon hearing Elder Wei's words, slightly trembled.

She never in her wildest dreams imagined that a priceless treasure hung on her wall all this time.

The funniest thing was that she was completely unaware.

Elder Wei said: "Although I made a misjudgment about this painting, on what grounds do you claim that the blue and white porcelain is fake?"