136: I'm truly impressed by the old professor!
Chen Kai smiled faintly and pointed to the copper coin in the trash can.
"If you don't believe me, you can take it out and have an authoritative Appraisal expert examine it."
"Oh, right, since you've already thrown this copper coin into the trash, you must not want it anymore. So, I'd like to have someone verify the authenticity of this copper coin. That's not a problem, right?"
After he finished speaking, he silently opened the system.
Today's intelligence contained detailed explanations regarding the genuine copper coin.
"The style of this copper coin is cast using ancient methods, and what is called a flawed rust stain was actually formed later. It was the unique water rust formed when a great flood submerged the tomb, which is a method commonly used in modern imitations."
"But as long as you look closely, you can discover its aged rust—the sediment of time."
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Haoyu was shocked, and his expression turned bewildered.
"You... you can't spread rumors! You have to take responsibility for spreading rumors here!"
The members of the Judging Panel also looked grave. If things were as Chen Kai said, it would be a major mistake on their part.
To think that even after the competition ended, they hadn't detected that there was a problem with this copper coin!
Passing off a genuine copper coin as a fake one! No wonder the other four people in his group didn't get a single point from him.
"Thank you, sir, for providing the tip. We will verify it immediately."
The next moment, the person from the Judging Panel took a walkie-talkie out of their pocket and called for the contestants who had just been eliminated to return. With all five members of the group present, they called an antique professor to verify its authenticity.
Liu Yunshang also quietly patted Chen Kai's arm. "Little brother, you're too amazing, right? You determined it was genuine at a glance?"
He and Zhou Haoyu had met for less than a minute. No one else had realized it was genuine, or pointed out direct evidence that the copper coin was genuine.
Could little brother Chen Kai really tell that his item was a genuine one disguised as a fake in such a short time? That's just too amazing!
Chen Kai smiled. "I didn't intend to expose him at first. I saw that he was passing off a genuine item as a fake one during the competition below, but since he threw himself into the line of fire, he can't blame me."
"Those people in the Antique Trade are the same, blindly sucking up to him. Tong Sihai Pawnshop has almost become a god in their hearts. Blind trust."
"I don't know if their judgment is just poor, or if they saw it but were afraid of offending him. If they were afraid of offending him, they should have just made a statement and left the competition."
Facing those who had just echoed the mockery against him, Chen Kai mercilessly retorted to each of them.
The faces of the people sitting in the audience turned red and then green.
"This... you can't just conclude that it's fake, right? We're all in the same trade; we see each other all the time."
"My husband says he can conclude it, which means he is certain it is genuine. And who is in the same trade as you bunch of cowards?"
Liu Yunshang shouted indignantly, and this retort left everyone completely speechless.
They all lowered their heads to scroll through their phones, or started chatting about the weather.
Just then, all the contestants who had left were called back. The Judging Panel immediately made a video call to a professor who was a leading authority in the Antique Trade in front of everyone.
The video call was connected quickly, and an old voice came from the phone.
"Hello? How is the Appraisal competition going?"
The person from the Judging Panel stammered, "Professor, someone seems to be suspected of cheating. They used two genuine coins during the verification round."
"What?! This kind of situation happened? Where are the coins? Take them out and let me see!"
The person from the Judging Panel immediately turned the camera, having taken custody of both coins.
They repeated the doubts Chen Kai had raised earlier.
The old professor on the other end of the line fell silent immediately.
"Who raised the question? Give the phone to him."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present showed mocking expressions.
The old professor is probably getting ready to criticize him, right?
Zhou Haoyu's panicked expression relaxed slightly.
As long as he isn't criticizing him, that's fine.
Chen Kai took the phone and looked at the old man on the screen. The old man's serious expression instantly turned into shock.
"You? You saw that there was something wrong with this copper coin?"
"It was me."
Chen Kai spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly. He didn't know who this old man was, so naturally, there was no reason to be respectful.
"Hahahaha!"
The old man's serious expression suddenly turned into a loud laugh.
"The younger generation is truly formidable! The younger generation is truly formidable! At the first glance at these two copper coins, I thought they were fakes because the artificially aged rust stains were too obvious."
"But following the direction you pointed out, it really does have the natural rust of an antique, or you could say, the marks left by time."
"We were all blinded by appearances and completely failed to see that it had natural rust. Natural rust cannot be faked with current scientific levels!"
"That means this currency is genuine. I don't know why it has natural aging marks! Wonderful, the younger generation is truly formidable!"
The old professor said this while clapping, his eyes full of admiration for Chen Kai's judgment.
Chen Kai smiled faintly. Facing the old man's praise, he said calmly.
"Because the tomb was flooded, the floodwater was extremely corrosive, which caused the artificial-looking rust."
"Hahaha! So that's it! That explains it! Your judgment is too strong, kid. The younger generation is truly formidable!"
"Are you interested in joining our Antique Dealers Association? You can be the Director of the Appraisal Department directly, one rank below me, the second-highest in the entire Antique Dealers Association."
Everyone was stunned when they heard this.
These two pieces of information were too shocking for them.
"Sorry, I'm not interested. It's confirmed as genuine, right?"
Chen Kai smiled and refused.
"Alright... Yes, confirmed as genuine. Disqualify this person from the competition and ban him from participating in this year's tournament."
The old professor's face was filled with regret as he muttered.
The people from the Judging Panel nodded immediately, took the phone from Chen Kai, and handed the copper coin to Chen Kai.
"Thank you for your helpful report. Verification is complete. Tong Sihai Pawnshop is disqualified from the competition for cheating, and Sishui Pawnshop advances to second place with a 2-point lead."
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd was in an uproar.
Zhou Haoyu's face turned the color of liver; he was done for! Truly done for!
He was banned from the competition; how would others look at him in the future?
From this moment on, the status of Tong Sihai Pawnshop dropped from T0 to T2...
It's over! Why did he have to offend Chen Kai? He really has a sharp eye!!?
The people from Sishui Pawnshop were also excited and grabbed Chen Kai's hand.
"You are too amazing! Too awesome! You recognized it as a genuine item at a glance! Oh my god, in the future, if there are any benefits, our Sishui Pawnshop will stand on the same front as Yunshang Pavilion!"
Liu Yunshang was also shocked. When the video call was connected just now, she saw who the old professor was. He was a leading authority in the Antique Trade, a living fossil of a figure!