Divine Eye Appraisal: Starting with a Lucky Pickup of a Beautiful CEO's Family Heirloom

The head of the judging panel tapped on the table, stood up and was about to say "adjournment" when Wen Zhaoye did not move.

His hand was still on the canvas bag, and everyone thought he was about to pack up and leave. Then he slowly unzipped it, pulled out a document from the bottom, placed it face down on the long table, and moved it very gently, as if placing a fragile item.

"There's one more."

The air in the hall, which had just relaxed, tightened again. The head of the judging panel's hand froze in mid-air, not falling. Those in the audience who were about to stand up sat back down.

Qian Bohong stood at the door, his hand already on the doorknob, and stopped abruptly upon hearing those two words. He turned to look at Wen Zhaoye. Wen Zhaoye opened the cover; the first page was a copy of the original appraisal report issued by Sun Qiming five years prior. The second page contained the original dissenting opinion issued by Qian Bohong. The third page showed the final destination of the jade disc, which he had retrieved from the Lin Family Cultural Auction records—collection number M-017 in the Lin Family Private Museum, handled by Qian Bohong. He looked up, meeting Qian Bohong's eyes.

"Director Qian, five years ago you said Sun Qiming was mistaken. Today, I am applying for an independent third-party appraisal of this jade disc, to be jointly conducted by Lao Zhou and Lao Chen."

The hall was so quiet you could hear the clock ticking on the wall. Qian Bohong's fingers clenched tightly on the doorknob, his knuckles turning white. He stared into Wen Zhaoye's eyes, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back. A gasp escaped someone in the audience. The head of the judging panel took off his reading glasses, looked at the stack of documents in front of Wen Zhaoye, then at Qian Bohong standing in the doorway, and asked, "Director Qian, what's your statement?"

Qian Bohong remained silent.

He stood in the doorway like a stone statue, his expression still taut, but the composure was gone, as if he had been publicly skinned alive. He looked at the stack of documents in front of Wen Zhaoye, his lips twitched, and then he slowly lowered his right hand.

His voice was hoarse, as if it were being squeezed out of his throat: "I agree."

After saying those three words, he seemed to have all his strength drained away, leaning against the door frame and not moving again.

The head of the review panel tapped on the table: "Meeting adjourned." He stood up and walked towards the conference room. Review panel members A and B also stood up and quickly followed, neither of them glancing back at Qian Bohong.

The people in the audience began to leave, but slowly, glancing back as they went, wanting one last look. Wen Zhaoye didn't move. He stood opposite the long table, closed the application, and pushed the tabletop aside. Qian Bohong stood in the doorway, silently took it, pressed his finger on the cover, didn't open it, turned, pushed the door open, and walked out. The door slammed shut, echoing down the corridor.

Yu Tinglan stood beside him, her fingers loosened from her knees, remaining motionless. She looked at Wen Zhaoye and asked, "When did you prepare this?"

"Before coming to the provincial capital," Wen Zhaoye said, "it's always been in my bag." Yu Tinglan didn't speak, but just looked at him with something indescribable in her eyes—not surprise, but confirmation.

Most of the people in the lobby had left, leaving only a few staff members packing up. Wen Zhaoye bent down, slung his canvas bag over his shoulder, and walked towards the door.

Yu Tinglan followed beside him, remained silent for a few seconds, and then asked, "What are you planning to do next?"

"Go back and wait for the results," Wen Zhaoye said. "Old Zhou and Old Chen took over, and they investigated faster than I could."

He paused, walked to the door, and glanced back at the hall.

"Then, let's wait for Qian Bohong's next move." Yu Tinglan didn't say anything and followed him out of the hall.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the corridor, casting a warm glow on the floor tiles. Wen Zhaoye stood in the sunlight, took out his phone, and sent a message to Qin Fei: "The application for re-examination of the Warring States jade disc case has been submitted. Old Zhou and Old Chen have taken over."

After sending the message, he put his phone back in his pocket and headed for the stairs.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped and looked back at Yu Tinglan.

"You just said that you obtained Lao Zhou's original report?"

Yu Tinglan nodded: "Old Zhou called me last night, saying that it might be useful at today's hearing."

Wen Zhaoye looked at her, paused for two seconds, and then said, "Thank you."

Yu Tinglan didn't speak, she just stood in the sunlight and looked at him.

Wen Zhaoye turned around and continued walking down.

Stepping out of the antique association's gates, he stood in the provincial capital's sunlight, gazing at the bustling traffic in the distance. His phone vibrated, and Qin Fei replied with two words: "Received."

He closed his phone, put it back in his pocket, and then walked towards the train station.

The wind from the provincial capital blew against his face, carrying the smell of dust and exhaust fumes. He touched the family photo in the pocket of his wallet, pressing his finger along the edge of the picture. Then, he quickened his pace.

The matter is not over yet.