As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 60

Scarlett watched the scene with curiosity.

“Excuse me, what’s going on here…?”

She couldn’t help but ask a patrol officer who was also watching the spectacle with keen interest.

“Can’t you see? Appraising a treasure,” the officer replied, his eyes not leaving the center of the commotion as he tilted his head slightly to explain.

“That old man insists that Carl, the white kid over there, broke his precious artifact.”

“Now Carl has brought in Mr. Su Fan from the antique shop to appraise the item’s value.”

“Su Fan? The one sitting down?”

“Who else could it be?”

So this is Master Su Fan, Scarlett thought, her gaze fixed on the young man at the center.

He remained perfectly calm, a stark contrast to the old man facing him.

The screaming, wiry old man held a jade Buddha statue in one hand, veins bulging, spewing spittle as he yelled at Su Fan.

“Listen here, if you don’t know what you’re talking about, keep your mouth shut! This is a cultural relic from the Republic of Korea! A cultural relic, do you understand?!”

“Korean? Then it’s even less valuable. Your country’s only about four or five decades old. How can something forty or fifty years old be considered a cultural relic?”

Su Fan raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise.

“Ya! Si-bal…!”

The old man immediately started cursing, but before he could get more than two profanities out, a detective clamped a hand on his shoulder.

“This is a police station! Watch your language!”

Confronted with the detective’s fierce expression, the old man shrank back, cleared his throat, and launched into a passionate explanation of the jade Buddha’s origins.

“Although it’s a cultural relic of the Republic of Korea, its origin is from China.”

“In your Chinese history, there was a dynasty where Buddhism was extremely prosperous. Nobility and royalty were often buried with Buddha statues among their grave goods.”

“This jade Buddha statue was passed down from that era and eventually came to the Republic of Korea.”

One of the listening officers couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up sarcastically.

“So, by your own words, this should be a Chinese cultural relic. How did it become a Korean item?”

Hearing this, the old man adopted an expression of disdainful refusal to argue.

“A treasure belongs to the virtuous. Whoever possesses it, owns it. Didn’t Britain also plunder many cultural relics from other countries and put them in their museums?”

At least those bandits clearly label where their loot came from. They’re not as shameless as you, claiming it outright as their own.

Hearing this, many of the onlookers looked at the old man with contempt.

He paid them no mind and continued.

“Young man, since you’re in the antique business, you should know how precious relics from that era are.”

“Now I’m giving you another chance. Open your eyes wide and take a good look. Tell me how much this jade Buddha statue is really worth.”

As he spoke, his eyes held a distinct threat.

After the ‘Roof Koreans’ incident, both Blacks and Whites showed them a certain wary respect. He didn’t believe this young man would dare not cooperate with him.

“Worthless. Completely new.”

To his astonishment, Su Fan didn’t bite, simply repeating his previous statement.

“Are you sure?”

“Sure. It’s new.”

“…Young man, you’re inexperienced and haven’t seen much. It’s normal to misjudge things. I advise you to think carefully before you speak.”

“No need to think, no need to look. It’s purely new.”

As if worried he wasn’t clear enough, he added after a pause.

“Indisputably new.”

Watching from the periphery, Scarlett saw the situation clearly.

Every time the old man forcibly suppressed his rage, Su Fan’s simple “new” would ignite it all over again.

This back-and-forth tug-of-war seemed like the latter was intentionally controlling the temperature.

One person was furious, the other utterly calm. The contrast made it hard for Scarlett to suppress a smile.

This Master Su Fan is really quite mischievous.

It wasn’t just her; the other watching police officers were also struggling to keep straight faces.

Faced with Su Fan repeatedly ignoring his hints, the old man finally lost his composure, his fury boiling over as he roared again.

“You damn brat! Spouting nonsense!”

“Confess! Did you take a bribe from that white kid to lie for him?!”

His words made the faces of the surrounding patrol officers darken.

“Are you suggesting we police officers, who know the law, are breaking it? That we’re oppressing you through bribery and other means?”

The detective’s voice was low, filled with clear anger.

Although furious, the Korean old man still had some sense left; he hadn’t completely lost his ability to read the room. He immediately realized he had misspoken, and his attitude lost its previous firmness.

“Hmph… Regardless, he must give me an explanation.”

“Otherwise, this matter isn’t over today!”

Seeing that the other party wouldn’t let it go so easily, Carl could only shrug helplessly and look at Su Fan.

Receiving the unspoken plea, Su Fan finally spoke up slowly.

“You claim this jade Guanyin comes from the Chinese dynasty where Buddhism was most prosperous, meaning it dates from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, correct?”

“You’re bragging without even preparing your draft. The Northern and Southern Dynasties span from the earliest founding of the Liu Song dynasty to the final fall of the Northern Zhou, from 420 AD to 581 AD.”

“Your ‘Great Korean’ ancestors were from Goryeo. When was Goryeo founded? Tell me.”

Su Fan’s question seemed to choke the previously aggressive old man, leaving him unable to utter a word.

“Too scared to say? I’ll say it. Goryeo was founded in 918 AD. Tell me, how exactly did this item ‘flow’ into Goryeo?”

“You can’t even get the dates right, and you dare spout such nonsense here?”

The old man’s eyes shifted evasively as he started making excuses.

“I… I remembered wrong… This jade Buddha was passed down from the Tang Dynasty.”

“Heh…”

Su Fan let out a mocking laugh.

“The relief carving technique on this jade Guanyin is exquisite; it’s simply not something achievable in the Tang Dynasty. The ‘qiao se diao’ or ‘clever color carving’ technique used, while it originated in the Warring States period, became highly popular only during the Ming and Qing dynasties.”

“Between the Tang Dynasty and the Ming/Qing dynasties, there’s a gap of at least 460 years.”

“Are you saying Tang Dynasty jade craftsmen could carve a jade Guanyin in Ming/Qing style?”

“Did they invent a time machine or something?”

Hearing this, the surrounding crowd burst into laughter.

As for the old man, he was now sweating profusely.

He knew he was defeated this time and immediately reached out to grab the jade Buddha, but Su Fan slapped his hand away.

Su Fan’s eyes seemed to pierce right through him, sharp and intense.

“What’s the hurry? I’m not finished.”

“Now look at the quality of the jade itself. Any natural jade, no matter how good, will have areas of uneven texture. Under light, you can see the jade’s internal structure.”

“But this one?”

Su Fan turned on the flashlight on the table, its strong beam passing through the jade Guanyin statue.

“It’s so uniform it has no flaws whatsoever. It’s simply a glass product.”

“This kind of thing, found everywhere in street markets, and you have the nerve to ask for three million dollars?”

The old man’s face turned deathly pale. He pulled out a certificate, still trying to argue.

Su Fan didn’t even look at it, snatching it and throwing it to the ground.

“Third-rate appraisal institutions are just that—third-rate. You can get a fake certificate just by paying.”

“Were you counting on Carl not knowing better and not knowing any real appraisal experts?”

“Trying a scam on a police officer? Your guts are really something else.”

With these final words, the old man finally couldn’t hold on any longer. His legs trembled, and he collapsed to his knees.

He didn’t stay kneeling long before the detective stepped forward and hauled him up.

“To the interrogation room with me! And behave!”