62: Reciprocity

Led inside by Wan Bowen, Ye Su saw a middle-aged man sitting in the guest area who was similar in age to Wan Bowen and equally spirited.

"Hello, Uncle Cheng."

Since Wan Bowen said this was his friend, Ye Su simply addressed him as Uncle.

When out and about, being sweet-tongued is never a mistake.

Chen Xinyi naturally followed Ye Su's lead in how she addressed him.

"You've come a long way; have a cup of tea first."

Cheng Limin poured two cups of tea into the cups that had just been scalded.

"Thank you."

Ye Su and the other could not drink the hot tea right away, so they dawdled a bit before finishing it.

"The item is here. I suspect there is a hidden layer inside, but I'm not entirely sure, so I'll have to trouble Uncle Cheng to unmount the painting."

"Take it into the back room."

Led by Cheng Limin into the inner room, they saw a workbench filled with all sorts of tools: knives, brushes, tweezers, and more.

After putting on gloves, Cheng Limin took the scroll and spread it out on the workbench.

"It is indeed an authentic work by Master Wang of the Republic of China era."

After examining it, Cheng Limin and Wan Bowen gave the same opinion.

Ye Su had already known this answer and had no reaction to it, but Chen Xinyi was visibly relieved.

Being genuine was good; at least they wouldn't lose money.

Once confirmed as authentic, Cheng Limin began his work, using some unknown solution to gradually moisten the back of the ancient painting, then carefully separating the silk from the backing silk.

Although Cheng Limin looked to be in his fifties, his hands while unmounting were so steady that even a young man like Ye Su felt inferior; the entire process ensured absolute stillness, leaving the silk completely undamaged.

"There really is one! There is actually another painting underneath!"

Halfway through the unmounting, the hundred butterflies through flowers painting underneath was already revealed.

Having never seen such a scene before, Chen Xinyi immediately cried out in excitement.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly, knowing that Cheng Limin was performing delicate work and that people nearby shouldn't make noise, so she immediately covered her mouth, leaving only her eyes excitedly fixed on Cheng Limin's every move.

Ye Su had actually guessed correctly!

After seeing the painting underneath revealed, Wan Bowen also looked at Ye Su with a surprised gaze.

Compared to other items, paintings with hidden layers are certainly the hardest to discover.

In most cases, collectors acquire them unknowingly and only discover the mystery when they want to remount them.

Or it's like the "Lady by the Plum Blossom Bank," where the top layer, "Fishing Hermit in Stream and Mountains," becomes damaged, leading to the discovery of the authentic work underneath during unmounting.

Like this, to directly guess that the scroll had a hidden layer is enough to prove his astonishing eye!

Could it be that he was able to see the problem with the painting by using the differences in light transmission?

After Wan Yuanliang returned home, he naturally mentioned to Wan Bowen the incident where Ye Su had picked out a piece of chicken-fat yellow stone-wrapped jade in the jade market.

Now, Wan Bowen could only attribute the reason to Ye Su's ability to distinguish subtle light transmission rates, which was the only way to explain how he saw through this painting with a hidden layer.

It really is a case of the waves behind the Yangtze River pushing those in front, washing those old waves onto the beach!

Especially when seeing that Ye Su, aside from being a little excited, had no other reaction, Ye Su's status in the heart of this old hand, Wan Bowen, was raised another level.

The high-precision unmounting work caused sweat to seep from Cheng Limin's forehead, requiring him to constantly wipe it away with his sleeve.

After a long hour, the hundred butterflies through flowers painting was finally completely removed from the backing silk, and the golden beak holding pearl painting in the hidden layer was thoroughly exposed before the four of them.

"This?"

Wan Bowen and Cheng Limin carefully examined the golden beak holding pearl painting and finally concluded: "It is indeed an authentic work by Master Wang."

Hearing that the one revealed was also genuine, Chen Xinyi immediately grabbed Ye Su's arm in excitement, only then stopping herself from losing her composure again.

"Your eye is truly impressive. Not to mention Ah Liang, even I feel inferior. It seems it is now the era of you young people!"

Wan Bowen exclaimed while giving Ye Su a thumbs up.

In this line of work, experience and skills can be slowly honed, but what determines the upper limit is often talent and intuition.

Without a doubt, Ye Su had now been categorized by Wan Bowen into the [genius] category.

"Uncle Wen, you are giving me too much credit; this was purely luck." Ye Su also indulged in the thrill of being called [Lucky Brother].

"Capable and humble, much better than Ah Liang." Wan Bowen unceremoniously insulted his own son.

Ye Su didn't dare to pick up the topic and could only smile politely.

"You are looking to sell these two paintings, right?"

"Yes." Ye Su immediately perked up: "Are you buying, Uncle Wen?"

"I am." Wan Bowen glanced at Cheng Limin, and seeing him nod, he continued: "Let's go outside and talk."

"Alright." Ye Su also looked at Chen Xinyi: "What about you?"

Having agreed to give her a ten percent cut if they made money, Ye Su sought her opinion.

Chen Xinyi was sensible: "I don't understand this anyway, so I won't meddle."

"Then you should let go of me..."

"Oh!"

Chen Xinyi then embarrassedly let go, letting Ye Su follow Wan Bowen away.

Cheng Limin was clearly very interested in these two paintings with hidden layers and continued to examine them after the two men left.

With the two paintings still there, even though it was a connection introduced by Wan Bowen, Chen Xinyi stood cautiously to the side, fearing that something might happen to them.

...

On the other side, after arriving at the entrance, Wan Bowen took the initiative to ask for the price: "How much do you intend to sell the two paintings for as a package?"

"I acquired the top painting for 150,000, so I'll sell it to you at the original price. For the painting underneath, I was originally planning to ask for 120,000, but thanks to your help in introducing Master Cheng today, I was able to successfully remove the hidden layer, so I can knock off a bit and sell it to you for 110,000."

Since he helped with the introduction, Ye Su knew how to conduct himself and didn't choose to push the price to the limit.

"Haha." Wan Bowen was also very satisfied with Ye Su's quote.

When contacting Wan Yuanliang yesterday, Ye Su had already revealed the acquisition price of the hundred butterflies through flowers painting, so Wan Bowen was not surprised by the 150,000 price.

As for the golden beak holding pearl painting, when they were in the room just now, Wan Bowen's psychological price point was also 120,000; he didn't expect Ye Su's price to be so accurate.

If it were the items sold to the shop previously, Ye Su might have looked up auction prices for the same items online in advance to make such accurate quotes.

But for this painting, which was freshly opened in front of him, Ye Su could still name an accurate price of 120,000, which is enough to prove that Ye Su's eye is sharp, not inferior to his own.

Previously, Wan Bowen had some concerns, worrying that Ye Su finding Wan Yuanliang to sell items one after another was actually him helping gray-market brokers move goods.

But after the stone-wrapped jade last time and this painting with a hidden layer, Wan Bowen's concerns had been completely dispelled.

This young man is indeed relying purely on his own skills to make a living.

"Alright, 260,000 for the two paintings. I'll have Ah Liang transfer the money to you."

"How much does Master Cheng charge for unmounting? I'll transfer the money to him when I go back."

"I still need to have him remount your two paintings. I'll pay the fees later."

Wan Bowen was reciprocating, and Ye Su didn't stand on ceremony: "Then thank you, Uncle Wen."