178: Choosing a gift

On the way, Bai Li kept her fingers interlaced with Wang Chen's, her head resting on his shoulder: "Brother Chen, when do you plan to see Grandpa?"

"Tomorrow," Wang Chen said. "I'll go buy some gifts today first."

"Gifts?" Bai Li blinked. "No need to buy anything, Grandpa doesn't lack for anything."

"I still have to show some respect," Wang Chen smiled. "I can't go empty-handed the first time I meet an elder."

"Then what do you plan to buy?"

"I was just about to ask you. What does the old man like?"

Bai Li tilted her head and thought for a while: "Grandpa's study is full of antiques. I usually see him tinkering with those things. Antiques, calligraphy, and paintings should be his favorites."

"Antiques, calligraphy, and paintings? That's easy, I'll go buy a few in a bit."

Bai Li looked at Wang Chen suspiciously, "Brother Chen, do you really understand this? The Antique Market's waters are very deep, be careful not to be scammed."

Wang Chen gave a mysterious smile: "Don't worry, I have a way."

He was someone with a system, after all.

The "Falsehood Becomes Truth" function, when used in the Antique Market, was simply a cheat code.

They arrived at the hotel and checked in.

As per the usual rule, the entire top floor was booked.

Wang Chen stayed in the largest suite, and the four flight attendants stayed next door.

"A Li, where is the largest Antique Market in the Imperial Capital?" After putting down the luggage and tidying up briefly, Wang Chen asked.

"Panjiayuan."

"What, going now?"

"Yeah, let's go take a look before it gets dark."

"Then I'll go with you."

The two took Chenlong and Tiger and drove to Panjiayuan.

In the afternoon, the foot traffic at Panjiayuan was still very heavy.

Both sides of the street were lined with shops, and there were many stalls along the roadside.

Various porcelains, jades, calligraphy and paintings, copper coins... it was a dazzling array.

Wang Chen walked in front, Bai Li holding his arm, looking around curiously.

"Brother Chen, are you really going to buy here?" Bai Li whispered. "Even an outsider like me knows there are many fakes here."

"I know," Wang Chen nodded. "Let's look first. What if I find a hidden gem?"

The few walked and looked, Bai Li still didn't believe Wang Chen could find any hidden gems here.

Until they came to a stall selling porcelain, Wang Chen stopped.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man in his fifties; seeing Wang Chen and Bai Li's attire, he could tell at a glance they weren't ordinary people.

His eyes lit up instantly.

"Boss, want to look at some porcelain? These are all old items from the Qing Dynasty imperial kilns!" The stall owner greeted them enthusiastically, fearing the group would leave.

Wang Chen picked up a Blue and white porcelain vase and turned it over to look at the bottom mark.

The four characters "Made in the Reign of Qianlong" were written crookedly.

It was as fake as could be.

"Boss, how much for this?" He put down the vase in his hand and instead pointed to a vase that looked even older.

"Oh, Boss has a good eye!" The stall owner gave a thumbs up. "This is blue and white from the Ming Dynasty, a proper imperial kiln! If you like it, give me this much."

He held up five fingers.

"Five hundred?" Wang Chen asked intentionally.

The stall owner's face darkened: "Five thousand! Boss, this is something from the Ming Dynasty!"

Wang Chen picked up the vase and looked at it carefully, pretending to be serious.

There was a crack from top to bottom on the body of the vase, as well as traces of manual repair.

He shook his head and put down the vase.

Just then, a shouting voice came from the neighboring stall.

"Bosses, come take a look! Tang Dynasty Sancai! A genuine family heirloom!"

Wang Chen looked over at the sound.

Not far away, a man in his forties, holding a colored pottery figurine, was boasting to the surrounding crowd with spit flying everywhere.

"I'm telling you, this thing is a treasure passed down in my family for dozens of generations. Now that it's in my hands, if I weren't in urgent need of money, I wouldn't take it out to sell."

"One hundred thousand, no bargaining. If you like it, take it. If this were sent to an auction house, it would be worth at least a few million!"

There were quite a few onlookers, but no one really wanted to buy.

Most people thought it was fake, and some felt that even if it were real, they were worried about its illicit origin.

"Let's go, we'll go take a look too," Wang Chen called out.

Chenlong and Tiger immediately walked in front, clearing a path for Wang Chen and Bai Li through the crowd, causing many people to grumble.

Tiger turned his head and glared at those people, scaring them into immediately shutting their mouths and hiding back into the crowd.

Wang Chen easily reached the front of the stall and picked up that tang tri-color glaze pottery figurine to look at.

The figurine was shaped like a lady-in-waiting, with bright colors and relatively exquisite workmanship.

But Wang Chen also saw a few clues; it was likely a modern handicraft.

"Boss, is this thing really a family heirloom?" Wang Chen asked intentionally.

"Absolutely!" The stall owner patted his chest and gave a guarantee. "I guarantee it with my character! It's definitely a family heirloom! Tenfold compensation for fakes!"

Wang Chen smiled calmly.

He directly called out to Youyou in his mind, activating the system's "Falsehood Becomes Truth" function.

[Ding! Detected conditions meeting the trigger for "Falsehood Becomes Truth"!]

[Do you want to turn it into reality?]

"Boss, are you sure this is a Tang Dynasty family heirloom? Tenfold compensation for fakes?" He confirmed once more.

"Sure! One hundred percent sure!" The stall owner said solemnly. "If it's fake, I'll pay you ten times over!"

"Good," Wang Chen nodded. "I'll buy it."

He took his phone out of his pocket: "Scan the code."

The stall owner was stunned.

He had bought this thing from a farmer for 20,000 yuan. He originally just wanted to brag, but he didn't expect someone would actually buy it.

"Boss, you... you really want to buy it?" He was a bit uncertain.

"What, don't want to sell it anymore?" Wang Chen raised an eyebrow.

"Sell! Of course I'll sell!" The stall owner quickly took out the payment code.

One hundred thousand yuan arrived in the account.

The stall owner grinned from ear to ear and handed the figurine to Wang Chen: "Boss, here you go!"

Wang Chen took the figurine, and the system notification sounded in his mind.

[Ding! Falsehood Becomes Truth has taken effect! The modern imitation tang tri-color glaze pottery figurine has become a genuine Tang Dynasty artifact!]

[System Evaluation: This item is a tang tri-color glaze Lady-in-waiting figurine from the early to mid-Tang Dynasty. It is very well preserved, with a market value of approximately 12 million to 20 million RMB.]

Wang Chen smiled with satisfaction.

One hundred thousand directly turned into over ten million.

This deal was worth it.

Bai Li watched from the side, dumbfounded: "Brother Chen, you really bought it? This is clearly fake..."

"It's real now," Wang Chen gave a mysterious smile.

Holding the figurine, he walked over to a nearby appraisal stall that looked very professional.

"Teacher, help me take a look at this." He placed the figurine on the table.

The appraisal master was an old man in his sixties, wearing a finely crafted Zhongshan suit and reading glasses.

He picked up the figurine, looked at it carefully, and used a magnifying glass to observe the details.

After looking for a full ten minutes, the old man raised his head and looked at Wang Chen in surprise: "Young man, where did this thing... come from?"