I Become The Richest Man With A monthly Salary of Twenty Thousand Yuan-Chapter 529 - 434 - Not Believing_2

This was precisely why he was not afraid to sell Fang Youxue counterfeit goods. After all, even if she discovered the fakes, she would never be able to find him. With a new name and a new city, he could continue to run his shop.

That was also why he had told the two to come back in a couple of days. By then, he would be long gone.

But he hadn’t anticipated that in Xia Liang’s eyes, his plans were no secret at all. Even though Xia Liang maintained a kind smile, Luo Bupan trembled all over. To him, Xia Liang’s face might as well have belonged to a devil.

At that moment, Xia Liang was still staring at Luo Bupan, a smile curling the corners of his mouth. His eyes seemed to say, *You can’t escape my grasp.*

"Boss Luo, why the sudden kneel? So, should we still come looking for you in a couple of days?" Xia Liang asked with a light chuckle, watching Luo Bupan collapse to his knees.

"No," Luo Bupan said, shaking his head frantically. "There’s no need! I was blind not to recognize my superiors, that’s why I said those things. I’ll have someone bring out the five Yuan immediately to return to Miss Fang."

Luo Bupan didn’t dare try to deceive them any longer. Not only had Xia Liang seen through his scheme, but he even knew the location of his new shop in Fang City. Now, even if he wanted to run, there was nowhere to go.

Luo Bupan looked up at Xia Liang, his eyes filled with wariness. How on earth does he know all this? He even knows the exact location of my new shop!

But now, he didn’t even dare to ask.

Fang Youxue was still fuming. "I don’t care about the five Yuan! Today, I’m going to teach this guy a lesson!"

Hearing this, Luo Bupan’s face turned ghastly pale. If Fang Youxue really uses the Fang Family’s power against me, I’ll be dead before I even know what hit me. After all, I have nowhere left to hide now.

"Miss Fang, I’ll give you anything I can to compensate you!" Luo Bupan pleaded. "Please, look around. Whatever you see in this room, you two can take it!"

He was prepared to suffer a heavy loss.

Fang Youxue was about to refuse when Xia Liang patted her on the shoulder.

"Let’s just leave it at that. Come on, I’ll pick something good for you."

Xia Liang headed toward a certain spot in the store. Watching him, Fang Youxue couldn’t stay angry anymore and quickly followed. They stopped at the center of the shop, where a Golden Buddha head was on display.

As they approached the Buddha head, Luo Bupan’s heart clenched. It was the most expensive item in his shop, worth nearly ten Yuan.

Luo Bupan, who had been clinging to a sliver of hope, felt his face pale again. He couldn’t object. If they really choose the Buddha head, I’ll have to let them take it. Still, if it calms Miss Fang’s anger, it’ll be worth it.

Strangely, although Xia Liang paused for a moment by the Buddha head, he didn’t stop. Instead, he walked over to the wall and took down a painting.

"Is this painting the ’good thing’ you were talking about? Whose work is it?" Fang Youxue asked.

Xia Liang nodded and turned to Luo Bupan. "Boss Luo, we’re taking this. You won’t feel the sting, will you?"

Seeing that Xia Liang had chosen this painting, Luo Bupan almost jumped for joy. On the surface, however, he put on a pained expression. I got this thing from out of town years ago. I could tell at a glance it was a patched-up painting, worth a few dimes at most. A so-called ’patched painting’ is made by cutting up a good painting and supplementing each piece with forged additions to pass it off as genuine. It’s similar to patched porcelain, meant to fool amateurs. To a discerning eye, this thing is worthless. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have hung on this wall for years without anyone taking an interest.

"This is a masterpiece by Tang Yin, ’Mountain Dwelling in the Rain’!" he proclaimed. "It’s worth at least seven or eight Yuan. If you two like it, then I’ll give it to you as my apology!"

Because of all this, Luo Bupan was ecstatic that Xia Liang had chosen the painting. The trepidation he felt towards him lessened slightly. Looks like Xia Liang finally misjudged something.

Xia Liang smiled faintly. "Then it’s a deal." He handed the painting to Fang Youxue and extended his right hand to Luo Bupan.

"Deal, deal," Luo Bupan repeated, quickly shaking Xia Liang’s hand, afraid he might go back on his word. With the handshake, the transaction was complete.

At this moment, Luo Bupan was so thrilled he nearly giggled with delight. Although he tried to restrain himself, his pathetic attempt to hide his glee was not lost on Xia Liang.

Seeing this, Xia Liang withdrew his hand with a curious smile. "It seems Boss Luo is very happy that I’ve taken a spliced fake off your hands."

His words stunned not only Luo Bupan but Fang Youxue as well.

"Mister Xia? You’re saying this painting is a fake? Then why did you choose it?" Fang Youxue asked, completely perplexed.

Luo Bupan was also puzzled. So Xia Liang didn’t misjudge after all. He knew it was a fake. But why did he choose it?

Xia Liang slowly unfolded the painting, placing it on a nearby table. "Some paintings are forgeries meant to pass as real, while others are real paintings protected by a forgery!"

"What do you mean by that?" Luo Bupan and Fang Youxue asked in unison.

’Protected by a forgery’? I’ve been in the antique business for years, and I’ve never heard of such a thing. What does it even mean?

Xia Liang just chuckled lightly, checking the painting once more with his System to confirm before he continued. "To pass a fake off as real, one might splice part of a genuine work with forgeries to create a counterfeit that’s difficult even for experts to identify. But this painting is different. Do you know its origin?" he asked, glancing at the two of them.

Fang Youxue immediately shook her head, while Luo Bupan grew apprehensive. What other origin could it have? Isn’t it just a patched-up fake I bought from out of town?

Xia Liang continued his explanation. "During the invasion of the Dragon Country by the Eight-Nation Alliance, they looted the antiques and treasures from Yuanming Park. To protect these national treasures, some people tampered with them in advance."

At this, both Fang Youxue and Luo Bupan nodded, as they were aware of these historical events.

"One of those items was this painting: Tang Yin’s ’Mountain Dwelling in the Rain’!"

"No, that’s impossible," Luo Bupan interrupted before Xia Liang could finish. "Tang Yin never created ’Mountain Dwelling in the Rain’! That’s just a rumor; the painting doesn’t actually exist!"

Facing Luo Bupan’s objection, Xia Liang just chuckled and continued. "Back then, a eunuch took this painting. To prevent it from falling into foreign hands, he commissioned the most famous painter of the time to create a perfect copy on the softest, thinnest Xuan paper. He then used this fake copy to cover the real painting but deliberately left one corner of the original exposed. This was done to make people think it was just a worthless and unremarkable spliced counterfeit."

Seeing that his words had stunned them both, Xia Liang added, "That is what is meant by ’protecting the genuine with a fake’!"

Even Xia Liang himself was astonished by the ingenuity of the person back then. If it weren’t for his System, which could reveal the painting’s entire history and destiny, even he would never have imagined such a technique existed.

"Brother Xia, are you saying there’s a real Tang Yin painting inside this one?" Fang Youxue’s voice trembled with excitement.

Of all antiques, she loved paintings the most, and Tang Yin’s works were the crown jewels. But his paintings were priceless and had no market; to this day, she had never managed to collect a single one. Even when Luo Bupan had claimed the painting was by Tang Yin, she hadn’t been this excited. I knew how rare his works are, so I never believed it was authentic.