ps: From this morning until now, I've been watching, and we finally hit two hundred votes. No more talk, I'm adding an extra chapter now. The next goal is two hundred and fifty. Asking for votes, we need that two-hundred-and-fifty spirit—please, everyone, don't stop; keep voting. Cough. Also, I've created a group: JianBao [Treasure Picking]: 289808623. Please join and communicate more.

"Brother Feng, you can ask me to paint, but asking me to appraise calligraphy and paintings—isn't that making things difficult for me?"

Old Ren said self-deprecatingly, "If you brought out works by modern masters, perhaps I could offer one or two opinions. But Su Dongpo's pieces? I truly can't see hide nor hair of what makes them special."

However, Old Ren soon smiled again, pointing at Wang Guan and saying, "Luckily, we have a true connoisseur and appraiser here. He should be able to spot some clues."

"Then we were right to invite this gentleman as our guest," Old Feng chuckled.

"Indeed."

Old Ren smiled warmly, patted Wang Guan's shoulder, and entrusted him, "Young man, it’s all up to you now."

"Old Ren, I've said it before, I'm only a beginner," Wang Guan sighed, feeling somewhat helpless.

"Old Ren, don't believe him; he's just habitually being modest."

At this moment, Yu Feibai took charge expansively, "Leave this matter to us. I've seen quite a few original calligraphies by Su Dongpo; I can certainly determine if this is real or fake."

Ding Yang glanced over upon hearing this, moved his lips, and seemed to mouth the words braggart based on lip-reading.

Yu Feibai clearly saw the unspoken critique, yet surprisingly, he wasn't angered. Instead, he drawled lazily, "Don't assume I'm just talking nonsense. Actually, compared to Su Dongpo's other calligraphic works, this Chen Qing Biao piece is much easier to authenticate."

"How so?" Old Feng asked curiously.

"There's a reason for that, of course. Compared to his other works, the Chen Qing Biao is a specific text. Therefore, it would likely only have been written during a particular period," Yu Feibai said with a confident smile. "Furthermore, we can examine the inscription, the seals, and the brushwork. By coordinating these points, we can pretty much verify the authenticity of the calligraphy."

"That makes sense."

Old Feng sighed lightly, praising him, "Truly, great minds think alike. Actually, I was also suspecting this calligraphy might have been penned when Su Dongpo’s mother passed away, when he was deeply sorrowful and distressed. Because, in our Meishan hometown, there's an old saying: 'He who reads the Chen Qing Biao without weeping is unfilial.' Su Dongpo was heartbroken by his mother’s death, which is why he wrote the Chen Qing Biao to express the grief in his heart."

Pleased with the praise, Yu Feibai naturally showed joy, but he didn't get carried away. Instead, he calmed down, "Old Feng, that's just a possibility; it's not certain yet. After all, forgers nowadays are too good at playing on people's psychology. One slip, and we might fall into their trap."

"You think so?" Old Feng hesitated.

"I do, very much so," Yu Feibai sighed with deep feeling. "Right now, in the antiques market—optimistically calculated—the proportion of genuine articles doesn't exceed five percent. Whether it's antiques, paintings, or artworks, if it's the work of a famous artist, there are countless counterfeits circulating in the market."

"You admire the famous masters, so they forge the famous masters. You think the lesser-known masters are safe from forgery? So they start mass-producing works by minor celebrities. If you think ceramics have too many fakes and calligraphy is hard to imitate, thus having fewer fakes, they start manufacturing high-quality calligraphy pieces. Whatever is hot in the market, they produce it."

Yu Feibai shook his head. "Take this Chen Qing Biao calligraphy, for example. If we assume the possibility of it being Su Dongpo's original is high, we might just be stepping into a meticulously laid trap."

"Brother Feng, this young man is absolutely not crying wolf."

Old Ren sighed from the side, "Over the years, some auction houses and friends have invited me to appraise Master Daqian's works. But I've seen many, and very few were genuine. It's regrettable and lamentable."

"It's gotten to this point?" Old Feng frowned.

"Brother Feng, tell me honestly," Old Ren asked with concern, "how did you acquire this calligraphy?"

Old Feng hesitated. "I bought it not long ago."

"How much?" Old Ren asked quickly.

Old Feng didn't answer, just held up three fingers.

"Three hundred thousand?" Old Ren was surprised.

"Not that much, it was thirty thousand yuan."

Old Feng quickly explained, "The seller was about my age. He claimed this calligraphy had been passed down through his family, and because his child fell ill and desperately needed money, he had no choice but to sell it. It sounded quite honest and believable, and his asking price wasn't high. Seeing his pitiable state, I took pity on him and bought it outright."

"Well, now I'm ninety-nine percent sure this calligraphy isn't real," Yu Feibai said with a wry smile. "Stories like that are heard everywhere in Beijing's Panjiayuan and Liulichang, and even in every major antique market. They're practically clichés; hardly anyone believes them anymore."

Hearing this, Old Feng's brow twitched incessantly. After a long pause, he sighed lightly and managed a bitter smile, "Speaking in hindsight, you might not believe me. Actually, after buying the piece, I realized something was off; I felt I might have been tricked. That's why I never asked an expert to appraise it all this time. Ignorance is bliss!"

Seeing the situation, everyone didn't know what to say.

After a silence, Wang Guan suddenly smiled, "Old Feng, we shouldn't be so pessimistic. I see this calligraphy is filled with an air of antique simplicity; it might not be a modern fake. Perhaps it's an antiquity."

"That's right. Even if it’s not Su Dongpo's original, if it's an ancient piece, it's still quite valuable," Yu Feibai quickly nodded in agreement. "Replicas are also divided into new forgeries and old forgeries. If this is a copy from the Ming or Qing dynasties, thirty thousand yuan is absolutely worth more than the price."

While speaking, Yu Feibai repeatedly examined the calligraphy and suddenly asked strangely, "By the way, Old Feng, this piece seems to lack Su Dongpo's signature and seal. How could you be certain it was his work?"

"Who said there was no signature?" Old Feng pointed a finger at a blurred character in the lower left corner of the calligraphy, speaking uncertainly, "Look, doesn't this character resemble Po ()?"

Everyone quickly looked over. Indeed, in the lower left corner, there were jagged holes from decay. The character Po was sandwiched between two ragged holes, making it extremely indistinct. If one insisted it was Po, it looked similar, but with damaged strokes, it made one hesitant to be absolutely certain.

"Old Feng, although I don't wish to dampen your spirits, seeing this condition almost seals half the fate of this calligraphy," Yu Feibai said with a bitter smile, scratching his head. "You say these holes appeared right where the signature should be. It makes one suspect this damage might have been done intentionally."

"Don't be so quick to judge," Wang Guan frowned. "The signature position is exactly at the end of the roll. When the scroll is rolled up, the end is on the outside and the most susceptible to insect bites. Some breakage is very normal. Furthermore, although the calligraphy lacks Su Dongpo's signature and seal, there are a few collector's seals present."

"These seals were likely added by people who appreciated the calligraphy over time," Wang Guan mused. "If we knew the provenance of these seals, it could also indirectly help us trace the historical context of this piece through its chain of ownership."

"The problem is, most of these are leisure seals—something like 'Layman' or 'Mr.' In any case, none of them are figures I'm familiar with. Finding out their background would require digging through who knows how much material."

Yu Feibai's face turned somewhat pale, and he shuddered slightly. "The scariest part is, if these are people who left no mark in official history, they won't be searchable online. We’d have to pull out local gazettes or regional annals, flipping through page after page, checking character by character. That amount of work would take who knows how much time and effort. Frankly, I don't have the leisure for that."

"Is authenticating calligraphy and paintings really that difficult?" Old Feng couldn't help asking. "But I often see experts on television authenticate pieces in a very short time."

"That's why there are frequently news reports saying their appraisals were mistaken," Yu Feibai responded.

"Heh, Old Feng, that's not strange," Wang Guan added with a smile. "There are actually two reasons. First, television programs are recorded and can be edited. You see those experts on TV looking at something for only a few glances. In reality, they might have looked at it for half an hour. Or perhaps they had already examined the collection thoroughly downstairs, understood everything, and were just going through the motions on camera."

"Second, we are still young and naturally lack experience. We can't compare to those old experts who have spent decades researching and accumulating knowledge. For any item, once they get their hands on it, they already have a sense of it."

Wang Guan paused, took a breath, and maintained his humble and cautious demeanor, smiling, "We don't possess that ability, so we dare not jump to conclusions. Therefore, we must examine it slowly, compare carefully, before making even a tentative judgment."

"Ahem..."

Although he didn't quite approve of Wang Guan undermining himself while elevating others, this was the reality, and Yu Feibai couldn't argue against it.

"Young man, you are absolutely right," Old Ren said, his eyes full of approval. "One shouldn't belittle oneself, but one also shouldn't be arrogant and look down on everyone else. Knowing yourself and remaining grounded is the way to go farther."

"Thank you for your guidance, Old Ren," Wang Guan smiled.

"You are clear-sighted; you hardly need my guidance," Old Ren shook his head, his peripheral vision catching Ding Yang standing motionless in the corner, intensifying the disappointment he felt.

"Heh, we've strayed a bit," Wang Guan said, smiling. "The signature and seals of the calligraphy are secondary supporting evidence. The true basis for authentication still lies in the handwriting. Feibai, didn't you say you've seen original works by Su Dongpo? Then compare them—are there any obvious differences between these characters and Su Dongpo's authentic writing?"

"Su Dongpo's calligraphy ranks first among the Four Great Masters of the Song Dynasty: Su, Huang, Mi, and Cai."

Hearing that it was his turn to step forward, Yu Feibai's spirits immediately lifted, and he spoke fluently, "Although this ranking still sparks some debate even now, those are minor details that don't need attention. After all, no one can deny that Su Dongpo's calligraphy has been favored by the world from ancient times to the present..." (To be continued)