I Become The Richest Man With A monthly Salary of Twenty Thousand Yuan-Chapter 530 - 435 Really!

But when Xia Liang spoke, Fang Youxue’s doubts vanished, and she cheered up.

"No, impossible." On the other side, Luo Bupan still wore a look of disbelief. "I already told you, Tang Yin never painted the ’Rain in Mountain Residence Painting.’ I was lying to you all! There might be a valuable painting underneath this one, but it can’t possibly be the ’Mountain Dwelling in the Rain.’ How can something that doesn’t exist be real?"

"Whether it’s real or not isn’t for you to decide," Xia Liang said with a smile. "There’s a senior painting expert on this Antique Street with an incredibly sharp eye. No painting can get past him."

With that, Xia Liang picked up the painting and walked out of Luo Bupan’s shop with Fang Youxue.

Watching them leave, Luo Bupan’s heart began to race. He knew just how valuable a genuine Tang Yin painting would be. Everything in his shop combined probably couldn’t match its worth!

"No, I have to go take a look. That kid must be bluffing. All that nonsense about protecting a real painting with a fake one, and about the ’Mountain Dwelling in the Rain’... it has to be a lie!" Muttering to himself, Luo Bupan quietly followed the two.

Meanwhile, Xia Liang and Fang Youxue headed deeper into the Antique Street.

"Mister Xia, have you been here before? How do you know about the senior painting expert?" Fang Youxue asked as they went.

"Do I have to have been here to know?"

Seeing Xia Liang’s confident smile, Fang Youxue was stunned for a moment. Then she remembered he was a fortune-telling master. Even if he had never been here, probably nothing could be hidden from him.

In truth, Xia Liang had learned of the painting expert on Antique Street when he read Luo Bupan’s trajectory of fate.

「A few minutes later.」

Xia Liang led Fang Youxue into an unassuming little shop within the Antique Street.

"New faces, I see," an ancient voice rose from inside the store. "Let me be upfront with you two: every painting in my shop is a high-quality forgery. I collect authentic pieces, but I don’t sell them. If you’re only here to buy a genuine painting, you can leave now."

An old man was lying back in a recliner with his eyes closed, not even bothering to open them as he spoke.

"Elder, we’re not here to buy or sell paintings," Xia Liang said with a smile.

"Then what are you here for...?" The old man opened his eyes and looked at them, confused.

"We have a painting we’d like you to take a look at for us."

"Oh?" the old man grunted, intrigued. He slowly rose from the recliner. Indeed, more people came to his shop asking for his appraisal than to buy anything. But how did these two youngsters, complete strangers, know he had a knack for appraising paintings? "What painting is it? Let me have a look."

"Xue’er, place the painting on that table and unroll it." After speaking to Fang Youxue, Xia Liang turned to the old man. "My name is Xia Liang. How should I address you, sir?"

"You come all the way here without even knowing my name?" the old man said, shaking his head. "Just call me Elder Mu." He walked toward the freshly unrolled scroll.

He had just put on his glasses, but before he could even get a closer look, he took them off again and glared at Xia Liang and Fang Youxue. "Are you two here to cause trouble? Bringing me such an obvious pasted-together forgery... Any shopkeeper on this street could spot it a mile away."

Elder Mu’s tone grew angry. In his eyes, these two youngsters were deliberately making trouble by bringing him such a blatant fake. "Show them out!" Shaking his head, Elder Mu turned to go back to his recliner.

Seeing this, Fang Youxue quickly shot Xia Liang a worried glance, but he appeared completely unconcerned.

"Elder Master Mu," he said, looking calmly at the old man, "you haven’t actually examined the painting. I’m not asking you to look at the fake layer on top, but the genuine painting underneath. My hands aren’t steady enough; I’m afraid I’d ruin it if I tried. I must ask you to peel back the top layer and take a look." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"It’s pointless." Elder Mu waved a dismissive hand. "With a spliced work, the genuine part is just a fragment. Peeling off the fake layer would destroy everything. Besides, the visible part of the ’real’ painting is supposedly the so-called ’Rain in Mountain Residence Painting’—a work that doesn’t even exist! That means the genuine part of this scroll is, at best, a piece by some unknown Tang Dynasty artist."

"Alas." Hearing Elder Master Mu’s words, Xia Liang let out a deliberate sigh. "I’d heard that Elder Master Mu loves paintings as if they were his own children, and that he would never pass over a potential masterpiece. Your reputation is known throughout the entire antiques world. But it seems you’re just an ordinary old man after all—making a final judgment without even lifting a finger. Perhaps... you’re not as skilled as they say."

Before Xia Liang could even finish, Elder Master Mu shot to his feet, picked up his scraping knife again, and strode to the painting. He began to slowly and deliberately shave away the top layer of the fake.

"Stubborn until the very end! Fine, I’ll show you myself that there’s nothing underneath this fake!"

"Then I’ll leave it in your hands, Elder Master Mu." Standing on the other side of the table, Xia Liang smiled. From the old man’s trajectory of fate, he knew Elder Master Mu couldn’t resist being goaded. Just a few well-placed words were enough to spur him into action.

As the fake layer was gradually scraped away, more and more of the genuine painting underneath was revealed. Elder Master Mu’s expression grew serious. He hadn’t expected to find so much of a complete, authentic painting hidden beneath the forgery.

Standing aside, Fang Youxue was extremely nervous, scarcely daring to breathe.