Zhulan turned her head and saw Changzhi light a candle and took it closer to check, “What’s wrong?”

Changlian glared at Changzhi, “Hold the candle carefully, don’t let the wax drip and ruin the calligraphy and painting.”

Changzhi carefully moved away and said, “Brother, why do I feel that this calligraphy and painting is fake?”

Changlian, “.”

He really didn’t realize it. He knew that his father was proficient in finding authenticity, and he also hoped to have this skill. For this purpose, he went to the antique shop. As a result, he saw that all the antiques were real, so he gave up. He didn’t have this talent and was jealous of his younger brother. It seemed that Changzhi had become smart and had become like his father!

Zhulan looked at the calligraphy and painting, “Why do you think it’s fake?”

Changzhi scratched his head, “Mom, I’ve seen Master Xiheng’s calligraphy and I’ve copied it. Master Xiheng always used heavy force when he wrote. If you look closely at this calligraphy, you can see that the force of the points is not strong enough. Although the imitation is very similar, it is not Master Xiheng’s habit, so I guess it is fake.”

Changlian was stunned. He and Changzhi studied together. How could he not know that this boy had copied the original calligraphy?

“Where did you get the calligraphy?”

Changzhi exclaimed, “Didn’t I tell you?”

Changlian was upset, “What do you think!”

Changzhi laughed dryly, “Maybe I was too excited and forgot to tell you. Well, that calligraphy copybook was lent to me by Brother Chang An. He only lent it to me for two days.”

What he meant, he was busy copying and studying it before returning it, so it’s understandable that he forgot.

Zhulan was not surprised to hear about Chang’an. As the eldest son of Zheng and the grandson of old man Zheng, it was not surprising that Chang’an had authentic works. But she felt a little depressed when she saw the calligraphy and paintings. They turned out to be fake. The Qian family should not have known about this and would not have given it to her if they had known.

Changlian said regretfully: “If it’s fake, it’s worthless!”

If this was an authentic work, even though it was written by a calligrapher from the previous dynasty, it was still worth a lot of money!

Changzhi glared, “How vulgar, thinking only of money.”

“Haha, without money, how can you eat and drink? Without money, can you use good ink and paper?”

Changzhi said confidently: “I have my own father and mother.”

Changlian, “.”

Zhulan, “.”

Haha, Zhulan felt even more sympathetic towards her future daughter-in-law. If he fell in love with a girl in the future, she would be really unlucky!

When Zhou Shuren came back, he saw that the mother and her two children were silent. Zhulan looked speechless.

Zhou Shuren was amused. “What’s going on? What’s this?”

Zhulan waved her hand tiredly, “Let Changlian tell you.”

Changlian was choked by his annoying brother, “Dad, let Changzhi tell you for once, I’m going back to my room first.”

Changzhi, “.”

No, he didn’t want to tell. He wasn’t stupid. He always knew how difficult it was to mess with his father. He wasn’t really stupid like his elder brother!

Zhou Shuren sat down, and Changzhi immediately came to serve tea.

“Dad, have some tea.”

Zhou Shuren, “.”

He felt a little flattered. Thinking back carefully, this was the first time Changzhi had poured him tea since he had traveled through time. It was not easy!

Changzhi poured some tea and saw that his father looked normal, which meant he was in a good mood. Then he told him what he had told Changlian. He would never dare to repeat the last sentence he said to Changlian even if he was beaten to death.

Zhulan’s eyes were full of smiles. This kid didn’t like to be restrained and followed his heart. But if anyone really treated him as a fool and tricked him, they would be the ones to get hurt in the end.

Zhou Shuren knew that Changzhi hadn’t told him the whole story, so he paid more attention to the calligraphy and painting. “How different is this calligraphy and painting from the real thing?”

Changzhi with an air of confidence, pointed to the calligraphy and said, “There’s not much difference. I only noticed it because I carefully compared the force used. This isn’t about the degree of ink absorption; it’s all about the pressure applied. I was able to notice it because my copies never quite matched. Later, I realized I was using the wrong amount of pressure. Master Xi Heng’s characters give off a sharp feeling, and the pressure is crucial.”

Zhou Shuren narrowed his eyes, “So this calligraphy and painting is easy to recognize as real?”

Changzhi nodded, “Dad, Master Xiheng’s calligraphy is not popular among the public. People think it is too arrogant. Not many people practice it. In addition, it is difficult to copy the original, so it is even more difficult to tell the authenticity. In fact, if you ignore the strength of the dots, this painting is good enough to be mistaken for the real thing.”

Zhou Shuren smiled, “Okay, okay, it’s good to mix the fake with the real!”

Changzhi was a little confused, “Dad, are Master Xiheng’s calligraphy and paintings valuable?”

“Why do you ask?”

“If it’s not worth much, why do you say it’s good? Aren’t you going to sell it as a real painting?”

Zhou Shuren rolled up the calligraphy and painting, “Dad has another plan for using it. All right, you can go out too.”

Changzhi: “Oh.”

Zhulan waited for Changzhi to go out and asked, “Are you going to use it in the antique competition?”

Zhou Shuren nodded. “I’ve been visiting antique shops these past two days and I feel that jade bracelets are not particularly safe. I’ve discovered that many people study ancient jade, and I met two today. I was really lucky to find a bargain last time. This painting came at the right time. However, I still need to find the owner of the antique shop to take a look and appraise its value. By the way, where did the calligraphy and painting come from?”

Zhulan said,”The gift from the Qian family was quite a coincidence. The gift from Master Jiang was actually from the Yun family. As the chief steward, he handled the gifts and knew about our family’s marriage ties with Master Jiang. This is why the return gift was so generous.”

Zhou Shuren sighed, “You are kind-hearted. If you hadn’t brought out the decorations, there wouldn’t have been any calligraphy or painting in return. Luck is really amazing!”

Zhulan smiled and said, “Yes, I also think it’s magical. It shows that a person’s thoughts can change a lot of things.”

Zhou Shuren was delighted to receive the calligraphy and painting. He carefully put it away, smelled the aroma, and felt hungry. “Li Shi’s stewed mutton is really delicious. It’s a pity that there are no small green vegetables at home. If there were small green vegetables, it could also be used as a mutton hot pot.”

When Zhou Shuren said this, Zhulan also felt a little greedy, “It is true that there are no green vegetables, but there are radishes, cabbages, and potatoes. These are also fine. I will tell Li Shi right away.”

“Okay, heat a pot of wine.”

“Alright.”

In the evening, the Zhou family had a pot of lamb spine hotpot. Unfortunately, they ran out of wood ear mushrooms at home, otherwise, there could have been more side dishes. Even though the side dishes were simple, the whole family ate a lot. They thoroughly enjoyed a meal of lamb today. Fifteen pounds of meat and bones were gone, plus a big bowl of side dishes and noodles, and they were just barely full.

Boss Zhou sighed, “The life of a god is just like this.”

Changzhi, “That’s because Big Brother has little experience.”

Boss Zhou said, “Metaphor. Do you know what a metaphor is? I was just using a metaphor.”

Changzhi: “Oh.”

Boss Zhou, “.”

Talking to Little Brother was always frustrating for him. Anyone who took him seriously lost; it was so exasperating!

Zhou Shuren disliked too many annoying people. After eating and clearing the table, they still didn’t leave. He said expressionlessly, “You’ve finished eating and drinking, but you don’t even go back to your room. What? Do you want to talk to me?”

Second Zhou looked at his eldest brother in reproach, “Brother, if you have something to say, please tell us. You have kept us waiting for so long.”

Changlian, “It looks like Big Brother has nothing to say.”

Second Zhou, “Then let’s go back too!”

Boss Zhou, “.”

They are teaming up to screw him! He was quite touched before he heard Changzhi’s voice, but when I looked around, Zhou Changzhi was nowhere to be found in the hall. Everyone had left!

These were his brothers!

Boss Zhou snorted, pushed his two annoying brothers away, strode out of the door, and ran away as soon as he stepped out of the door!

Second Zhou, “.”

Changlian, “.”

So, they were the real fools!

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