146: Chapter 146 is all fake.

Inside the car, the atmosphere was heavy.

After a long while, An Luoluo asked with a hint of embarrassment, "Lin Xiao, just now... are you okay?"

Okay?

How could he possibly be okay?

Lin Xiao was also on the verge of a breakdown.

He really wanted to demand where An Luoluo had learned such a vicious move that specifically targeted the lower body.

If it hadn't been for his quick reflexes to shift an inch, he might have truly been rendered sterile!

However, after roaring inwardly, he could only force himself to remain calm.

"I'm fine."

"That's good."

An Luoluo slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

She was also very nervous; if she had truly broken The Lin Family's precious darling, her career would have been over.

"By the way, Assistant An, why did you come to school to find me? Is something going on with Big Sister?"

Lin Xiao asked curiously.

"Yes, there is."

An Luoluo took a folder out of the briefcase beside her. "There's a charity Auction in a few days, and CEO Lin plans to take you along."

"An Auction?"

Lin Xiao took the folder and flipped through it.

In his memory, The Lin Family had always seemed to have little interest in Auctions.

Even for charity events, they usually just went through the motions.

Because The Lin Family members had no expertise in antiques or jewelry, and they already did plenty of charity work on a daily basis, missing out on this wouldn't matter.

Lin Xiao flipped through the materials curiously and saw The Jin Family among the participants.

Although he didn't know his big sister's exact purpose for attending this Auction, since there was a chance to come into contact with The Jin Family, it could be considered an opportunity.

At that moment, the car slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

"Wait for me a moment."

An Luoluo got out of the car, seemingly to buy something.

"Okay."

Lin Xiao didn't even look up.

After a short while, An Luoluo returned.

She didn't return to the passenger seat but sat in the back row next to Lin Xiao.

"Lin Xiao, your hand is injured. Let me treat it for you."

An Luoluo took out the disinfectant and band-aids she had just bought.

Lin Xiao then noticed that there were several cuts on the side of his palm.

They must have been abrasions from the fight earlier.

He originally wanted to refuse; it wasn't a big problem anyway, just some broken skin.

But seeing that An Luoluo had already prepared the disinfectant, he reached out his hand.

"It might hurt a bit, so bear with it."

"Okay."

Lin Xiao thought nothing of it.

But the next second, he jolted from the pain.

It turned out there was small grit embedded in the wound, and An Luoluo had used a bit of force to clean it thoroughly.

Lin Xiao endured the pain and adjusted his posture.

The car swayed slightly, which happened to be seen by a passerby.

"Morals are declining by the day!"

...

Lin Xiao followed An Luoluo to Lin Chuge's office.

Several exquisite and ancient-looking boxes were placed on the desk and the floor.

"These are some antiques I had people find. Pick one from them to take to the Auction."

Lin Chuge said, getting straight to the point.

Lin Xiao stepped forward, picked up an exquisite box at random, and sized it up.

An Luoluo quickly reminded him, "Lin Xiao, be careful not to drop it."

Lin Xiao didn't say anything. He put down the box in his hand and picked up another one next to it.

After a moment of silence, he said calmly, "No need to look further. They're all fakes."

"How can that be?"

An Luoluo was stunned and hurriedly looked at Lin Chuge. "CEO Lin, these are all..."

Lin Chuge waved her hand casually. "It's okay. I expected as much. The water in the antique business is very deep. We don't have any good experts, so it's normal to be treated like a sucker."

"True... Wait, that's not right."

An Luoluo seemed to have suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Lin Xiao. "Then how did he tell?"

This question also left Lin Chuge momentarily dazed.

That's right, they didn't even have a reliable expert.

But when Lin Xiao said it casually, she believed him immediately.

Regarding the matter of hearing his inner thoughts, she naturally wouldn't tell outsiders. Even if An Luoluo was her most trusted assistant, she couldn't say it.

In that case, she could only deflect the question back.

"A-Xiao, you say these are fakes. Can you be certain?"

Lin Chuge also acted curious.

Lin Xiao was certain, of course, because the system had told him.

But the system hadn't given him the reasons, so he had to bite the bullet and make them up on the spot.

"Sister, look at this Song Dynasty vase. The craftsmanship of the patterns isn't right; it's a bit too clear. The technology at that time couldn't achieve this."

"And this painting, although the imitation is very similar, the brushwork of the final signature gave it away."

"And this small bronze tripod is definitely fake. If it were real, I'm afraid we'd all be taken away for questioning."

...

After a bunch of nonsense, Lin Xiao claimed these were things he had been interested in since childhood and had taught himself in secret.

Worried about being questioned further, he quickly changed the subject. "Sister, return these if you can. If not, just let it go and learn from the experience. However, you'd better check who exactly sent this batch of junk. After all, if we really took these to the Auction as planned, our Lin Family would probably be turned into a laughingstock."

This matter was indeed serious, and An Luoluo could no longer afford to be curious about where Lin Xiao's skills came from.

Instead of worrying about how to solve the problem, it was better to directly deal with the person who created it.

"CEO Lin, then I'll go handle it first."

"Mhm."

Lin Chuge nodded.

After An Luoluo led people to carry the junk away, she looked at Lin Xiao. "A-Xiao, there are only two days left until the Auction. Time is tight. Do you have any good channels to buy genuine items?"

"That's easy to say!"

Lin Xiao patted his chest, looking quite confident.

Half an hour later, Lin Chuge looked at the noisy and chaotic market in front of her, and a hint of complexity appeared in her eyes as she looked at Lin Xiao.

She had thought Lin Xiao would take her to the homes of some collectors or some other reliable place.

At the very least, hiring a master at a high price to help would have worked too.

Unexpectedly, Lin Xiao had brought her directly to an Antique Market.

"A-Xiao, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just that they say out of a hundred items here, there might not even be one genuine piece..."