Chapter 651: Chapter 651

Upon hearing Xia Lao's words, Kuri's complexion changed.

"How could Xia Lao possibly think that? I bought this painting from an auction house in America for twenty million. How could it be a fake?" Kuri said, his face pale.

Xia Lao unfolded the piece of paper that Lin Chen had torn up and then said, "Take a look at this line of small characters."

As he spoke, Xia Lao took out a magnifying glass and placed it over the small characters.

When Kuri saw the small characters, he was stunned; the characters read "Zhu Yeqing."

Xia Lao continued, "Zhu Yeqing is a famous master of forgery in China. His forgeries are hard to distinguish from the originals. However, he has a habit of writing his own name on the inner layers of his imitations, so this painting is definitely a fake."

Listening to Xia Lao's words, Kuri turned pale, never expecting that he had spent so much money on a fake painting. Since it was a fake, it didn't matter anymore that Lin Chen had destroyed it.

Xia Qingtian sighed, "What a pity. I have been looking for this Peach Blossom Spring painting, thinking it was an original, but it turned out not to be. Ah..."

At this moment, Lin Chen smiled and said, "Xia Lao, don't be sad. I also have a Peach Blossom Spring painting in my collection. I don't know if it's real or fake. Wait a moment, and I will retrieve it so that you can appraise it."

"What? You have the Peach Blossom Spring painting?" Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, Xia Qingtian was stunned, his eyes revealing an ecstatic expression.

After all, the Peach Blossom Spring painting is considered Master Tang's most proud work. It was said to have been kept in the imperial palace and was lost after the fall of the Qing dynasty; there were even rumors that it had been destroyed when the Eight-Nation Alliance burned Yuanmingyuan.

Since then, the original of this painting has never appeared in the world. Although a few copies have surfaced, they were all identified as imitations after authentication.

Kuri snorted coldly, "How could a nobody like you have the original? It must be a counterfeit you picked up from some roadside stall!"

Lin Chen laughed and ignored Kuri, then turned and left the living room.

At this moment, behind Lin Chen, Ekas also came out: "Lin Chen, do you really have the Peach Blossom Spring painting?"

Lin Chen smiled faintly, "How could I have such a collection?"

Ekas said, "You dare to deceive Xia Lao even without having it? Don't you know? Xia Lao hates being deceived the most."

As he spoke, Lin Chen entered a room filled with tables and calligraphy treasures and then locked the door behind him.

"It doesn't matter if I don't have it; I can paint it! But you must keep it a secret for me," Lin Chen said with a faint smile.

"What? You paint, and you think Xia Lao is a fool? How could you possibly recreate Master Tang's essence in your painting, are you dreaming?" Ekas stomped her foot in anger.

"You have to try to achieve a dream; what if it really comes true?" Lin Chen laughed and picked up the brush immediately.

"Popularity System, I want Master Tang's true lineage," Lin Chen said with a laugh.

At this moment, Lin Chen had accumulated tens of millions of popularity points, so he didn't need to worry about how many he would deduct and could spend freely.

"Ding dong, exchange for Master Tang's true lineage successful, deducting ten thousand popularity points," the system's voice soon resounded in his mind.

Streams of information from Master Tang's true lineage flowed into Lin Chen's mind.

Lin Chen picked up the brush, and with a flick of his wrist, numerous peach blossoms and peach trees soon appeared on the Xuan paper.

Ekas was almost stunned watching, as the painting Lin Chen created was identical to the one she had just seen, and she felt that the Peach Blossom Spring painting Lin Chen was crafting had an awe-inspiring charm of its own.

In just over ten minutes, a Peach Blossom Spring painting appeared on the Xuan paper.

"How beautiful!" Looking at the Peach Blossom Spring painting Lin Chen had drawn, Ekas could hardly believe it was real.

"Oh my, Lin Chen, your painting is simply gorgeous," Ekas exclaimed as she looked at the painting.

Lin Chen smiled faintly, took a cup of water from the side, pulled some powder from his pocket, stirred it, and sprayed it onto the canvas before finally drying it under the light.

By now, the painting in Lin Chen's hands resembled an ancient painting that had been passed down for ages.

Lin Chen clapped his hands, rolled up the scroll, "All done, job's finished."

"Can this really work?" Eka still couldn't believe it.

Lin Chen smiled, "Don't worry, there'll be no problem."

The two of them opened the door and returned to the living room.

At that moment, looking at his watch in the living room, Xu frowned, "What do you mean 'going back to the room to get the painting'? It's been half an hour and they still haven't come back, is there really no painting, and they're too embarrassed to return after boasting?"

"Humph, Brother Lin is not like that," Xia Qingqing said unhappily.

Just then, Lin Chen walked back in from outside, "Damn, I was just using the restroom, what are you nagging about?"

Seeing Lin Chen enter with the painting, everyone's gaze gathered on the painting in his hands.

However, seeing the painting Lin Chen was holding, everyone's faces turned odd.

Such renowned paintings are generally mounted, yet Lin Chen's painting was simply rolled up.

"Is this guy's painting really from Master Tang? It couldn't be something he bought from a street vendor, could it?"

"It must be; no famous painting would be brought over unmounted ."

Seeing the painting in Lin Chen's hands, Xu started laughing, "Lin Chen, what kind of joke is this? You wouldn't really bring a piece of street market junk to trick Mr. Xia, would you?"

Lin Chen gave Xu a disdainful glance, speaking faintly, "Do you think I'm as foolish as you? Spending twenty million on a fake painting."

When Xia Qingtian saw the painting in Lin Chen's hands, his face also showed slight disappointment. However, when Lin Chen unfolded the scroll, Mr. Xia's eyes suddenly lit up.

He meticulously scanned the painting with a magnifying glass, not missing any detail.

"How can this be, this indeed is a genuine work of Master Tang," Xia Qingtian now had absolute confidence.

Just before, when Mr. Xia was looking at that painting, he always felt something was missing, but after seeing Lin Chen's painting, he finally understood; what was missing was the essence. This is also the difference between real and fake paintings.

Lin Chen secretly chuckled to himself, this painting indeed inherited the essence of Master Tang's artistry, akin to Master Tang painting live; how could it be fake?

"Mr. Xia, you couldn't be mistaken, could you? How could this guy possibly have a real piece by Master Tang?" Xu said reluctantly by the side.

Xia Qingtian frowned, "Xu, are you questioning my judgment?"

Xu's face turned pale as he hurriedly said, "Not at all, not at all, I am just worried about you being deceived."

At that moment, a few other masters also examined the painting with magnifying glasses for a long while, and the final unanimous conclusion was that the painting was authentic.

The entire hall was in an uproar, people marveled that Lin Chen actually possessed a genuine work by Master Tang.

However, the most shocked person in the crowd was Eka, who stared at Lin Chen, almost dumbfounded.

"Could this guy be the reincarnation of Master Tang, how could his painting be indistinguishable from the real thing?"

Mr. Xia carefully touched the painting, his expression one of sheer adoration, staring at Lin Chen, "Mr. Lin, are you selling this painting? I'm willing to offer one billion for it."

"Boom!" Hearing Mr. Xia's offer, everyone was stunned.