A student standing beside Zhu Wenjie patted his shoulder and chimed in, “It’s just an ancient painting with an emperor seal. We all still think that it originated from the Qing Dynasty. Hurry up, Wenjie, it’s time for you to show her what you’ve got!”
“That’s right, Wenjie. Your parents are archeologists, while her parents were only researchers at a research institute. There’s no way she can know more about an ancient painting than you.”
Zhu Wenjie did not know what to say.
His parents were archeologists, but he was not. He did not follow his parents to every archeological site and he’d only learned a little bit from them.
As for Fu Zhi, he did not know if she had gotten this information from the internet or if she really knew it. One thing he knew for sure was that her statement was more convincing than his.
Even though his friends urged him to say something in return, he knew that he would only make himself look like a fool in front of absolute strength.
Then, a staff member emerged from the crowd. He put on gloves and took the ancient painting down, stunning the students from Hang Yuan.
When they all saw him roll the ancient painting up and put it in a wooden box, they bristled up and shouted, “What are you doing? Why are you taking the painting down? Are you on Fu Zhi’s side as well?”
The staff member was dumbfounded.
“On Fu Zhi’s side? Who is Fu Zhi?”
“The girl standing next to you!” They all pointed at Fu Zhi. “She said this painting is forged, and our friend here is debating with her!”
Zhu Wenjie, who had been forced to debate with Fu Zhi, felt speechless.
“Forged?” The staff member took a glance at Fu Zhi.
He’d only received an order from his superior to take the painting down. He did not know anything else, so the moment he heard the things the students from Hang Yuan said, he replied without any hesitation, “Yu City Museum is a well-established museum, and we have a team of professional archaeologists on board. Besides, the government attaches great importance to our museum, so we would never display any forged paintings for visitors to view.”
“See! Some people just love to pretend they know a lot, but in fact, they know nothing.”
“Hmph, serves her right!”
“The staff member already said that no forged paintings would be allowed to be displayed in the museum, yet she still claimed that this painting is forged. Does she think all of us are idiots?”
The faces of the students from No.1 High School were ugly.
“Sister Zhi is not a professional. Besides, even if this painting is not forged, the staff member didn’t say it came from the Qing Dynasty either. There’s nothing for you to be proud of!”
Just as they were about to get into a fight again, the staff member chimed in, “What are you guys doing? Don’t you know that you should keep quiet inside the museum? If you guys want to fight, fight outside!”
After saying that, he turned to the students from Hang Yuan and added, “Also, when did I say this painting is not forged? What I meant is that our museum will not display any fake artwork, so I have to take this painting away. Our manager is currently in discussions with a team of archaeologists, and they are going to relocate this painting, as it is of little to no value to our museum.”
The group from Hang Yuan was stunned.
‘Can you please not leave your sentence unfinished?’
As the staff member took the painting away, he mumbled, “I’ve already made it as clear as possible, yet they still act as if they don’t understand. Do they really want me to say that this painting is fake and the museum has displayed a forged painting for people to see? What the hell is wrong with them…”
The students from Hang Yuan did not know what to say anymore.
For a moment, they could only hear the mumbles of the staff member as he walked away.
A second later, the students from No.1 High School broke into laughter.
“Ahh! Sister Zhi even knows how to identify an ancient painting?”
“If anyone tells me that Sister Zhi doesn’t know anything about art, I will ask Baojuan to slap his face!”
“But I thought Fu Zhi was weak at liberal arts? How come her history is so good?”
“I assume it’s because she’s very good at calligraphy. That’s why she identified which dynasty the painting is from through an artistic perspective!”
While all of them were busy talking among themselves, Fu Zhi looked at Zhu Wenjie and said, “Now it’s time for you to keep your promise.”
Zhu Wenjie set his jaw tight.
He knew he had messed with the wrong person this time. Fu Zhi was an expert, and although Fan Gaoda had not been able to state clearly the painting style of the painting, the answer he had given was similar to Fu Zhi’s answer, which could only mean one thing: he knew more about the painting than Zhu Wenjie.
Were all the teachers that came from a small town incompetent?
Obviously, the answer was no. Those who thought so were the ones who did not have any real skills.
Zhu Wenjie began to look at them from a new perspective. Pressing his lips firmly, he took a deep bow and said, “I’m sorry.”
Then, he looked at Fu Zhi.
He had to admit that Fu Zhi was good. Not only was she good at sport, but she excelled at her studies as well.
However, Fu Zhi did not understand Zhu Wenjie’s gaze. She said, “Most of the artwork made by the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty is displayed in the museum in the capital. If you guys love to visit museums so much and your teachers are so highly educated, how come they didn’t teach you to tell the difference between Yuan Dynasty paintings and Qing Dynasty paintings?”
Zhu Wenjie did not have an answer to that question.
They did not like to visit museums at all. The reason they’d wanted to come to the museum was that they wanted to show the difference between them and No.1 High School.
As for their teachers… They were just bluffing as well. Although most of their teachers had graduated from prestigious universities, they were no better than the teachers of No.1 High School.
The students from Hang Yuan lowered their heads in embarrassment.
Looking at Fu Zhi, Nian Feiyuan frowned.
The situation was not in their favor. With Fu Zhi here, there was no way they could win, and he would not be able to answer if Ouyang Ya asked him anything.
Thus, he sent a message to Ouyang Ya and told her everything that had happened there.