Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 194: Artifact Match (4)

Actually, considering the danger of it being fake, that kind of artifact was much safer than a western painting.

There are many people who know a lot about eastern paintings and sculptures in Korea, and as there has been a number of fakes coming out lately, there are a lot of good experts.

Yaerin must have been confident about the statue as well.

She must have hired all the appraisers the gallery could trust.

It may not have been the most valuable artifact Yuseong could get, but it was valuable enough.

She continued to explain, “Guanyin is bodhisattva of Sukhavati’s Western Pure Land. She appears in 33 different forms to save all people who are in despair because of various agonies. People have been praying to Guanyin statues for their prosperity and safety. This statue was made in China’s Yuan dynasty period. It is extremely valuable, as much as the Guanyin statue in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.”

Mat nodded and turned to Haejin.

He was asking him to appraise. He didn’t need to fully rely on Haejin with Modigliani’s painting, but this one was an eastern antique. He had to get Haejin’s help.

Bringing him along had been the right choice.

“Hmm…”

Haejin went to the statue and started to appraise while slowly stroking its clothing.

Scientific analysis on the period in which it was made was basically necessary to appraise such wooden statute. So, he couldn’t conclude on the period right away.

“There are traces of colors and gold, and some plaster mixture for the smoothing process has remained. It is extremely old. Scientific tests would be needed to be sure, but I think it is at least a thousand years old.”

Everyone including Mat smiled with satisfaction at this.

Yaerin, who had prepared it, smiled even brighter. She looked back and exchanged glances with those standing behind. They had to be the prime members of Yuseong-SG consortium.

But then, Mat said something that shattered the good mood.

“Thank you for showing me such a great artifact, but unfortunately, we cannot accept it.”

Yaerin thought he was refusing as part of the manners since the artifact was so expensive, and she smiled.

“Please, we have prepared this as a gift, so…”

“We cannot accept it,” Mat firmly replied.

“Excuse me?”

Yaerin realized that he really meant to refuse and frowned.

Mat then explained, “The prince is a servant of Allah. If His Highness accepts it and people find out about it, it can be a problem. It is not about the value of the artifact but its religious meaning. We cannot accept it, so please understand.”

“Oh…”

The mood, that was like a warm breeze, turned into a cold winter gust.

“It’s a shame. Really, it’s a precious artifact…”

Haejin felt sorry for Yaerin and lightly patted her shoulder.

She must have paid too much attention into finding a better and more expensive artifact and forgot how closed their religion was.

If she had known Hwajin-Nomura would show a fake, she would have taken her time, but she was feeling impatient and tried to find the best artifact. In the end, she made a mistake.

So, both sides had been denied, there had to be a rematch.

“I’m sorry. We didn’t consider it. Could you give us another chance?”

Yaerin quickly took a step forward, apologized, and asked for another chance.

Actually, her apologizing was a little funny. In a way, both consortiums were eager to bribe the prince.

Mat thought about it and started speaking.

“Then, what about this? Hwajin-Nomura consortium has asked for another chance as well, so I will give both of you a chance. I think both would be able to accept the consequences if we meet at the same time and at the same place. How is it?”

Yaerin dropped her head. She didn’t have a choice.

“Thank you for giving us another chance.”

“You don’t have to thank me, I’ve done nothing. Then I will see you at the hotel I’m staying at, two days later.”

Mat turned around after that, and Haejin followed him.

“Goodbye.”

Leaving the depressed people behind, they left the gallery and parted ways.

Mat left after saying he had a dinner date with a playful smile. Haejin guessed he had to be working on some kind of plan with Silvia.

Haejin returned to his museums and told Eunhae, who was eager to listen, what happened.

“Wow! So, one is a fake and the other is real but can’t be received? They both failed!”

“You look very excited,” Haejin commented.

“I would be lying if I say I’m not, especially about Hyoyeon. She really deserves it.”

Eunhae hummed in joy. Then, Haejin asked, “Then would one of the artifacts hidden in Saeyeon Gallery come out?”

“Probably not. Hwajin’s main office and Hyoyeon’s home have been searched. If they take out an artifact now, the gallery might get searched too,” Eunhae replied.

“Oh, you’re right. Then, where will they get another artifact from?” Haejin asked.

“Oh, there are many ways. Go to Insadong with 5 billion won in cash, and hundreds of artifacts will be brought to you in a few hours,” Eunhae explained.

“Wow… have you ever done that?”

Haejin had only followed his father when he robbed graves, so he didn’t know much about how rich people bought in Insadong.

Eunhae continued, “Of course. When I had to spend the funds immediately, or when I had to prepare for a special exhibition but had few artifacts to display. I went to the merchants I know and told them how much money I had, and they came rushing as if they had been waiting.”

“Ooh, it must be funny,” Haejin commented.

“Haha, it is. I’m the queen of the world that day. I just make my appraiser stand next to me and point with my finger. That’s what Hyoyeon will have to do. No, if there are still some paintings the prosecutors have failed to find, she might bring out one of them.”

“Like Lichtenstein’s painting?” Haejin asked.

“Yes, there must be at least dozens of paintings, and it’s unlikely all of them have been taken away… decent one of them must be worth ten billion won, so she will probably take it out.”

It made sense, and it made Haejin wonder even more about Hwajin’s next move.

Two days later, when Haejin went to the hotel Mat was staying at, a number of people were already going around in his room.

He wondered why there were so many people when it was just about showing a couple of artifacts, but there were some people from Abu Dhabi as well.

Mat was the only one who was sitting and drinking wine. Haejin went to him and asked, “You haven’t finished analyzing the two consortiums?”

He, however, just smiled and gestured at Haejin to sit down.

“Please, sit down. We have finished examining about the project. These people are busy on something else,” Mat explained.

“What is it about?” Haejin asked.

“They have been sent here for a group tour to Dubai. Yuseong-SG consortium is going to send their employees to Dubai on a tour,” Mat replied.

“Oh… they’re really doing a lot to win a project,” Haejin commented.

“It is because getting this business will make it easier for them to get other businesses later,” Mat replied.

“Then are you going to give additional points to this group tour?”

Mat calmly shook his head, “I’m only here to appraise the antiques. The royal family might give them some credit for them. But my guess is…”

“Your guess is?” Haejin curiously asked.

“It wouldn’t be in vain. It is also a gift to the Abu Dhabi family.”

“Oh… it’s complicated.”

Mat confirmed, “Yes, so this room is crowded. But it is not my concern, so why don’t we just spend time like this?”

“Drinking wine might be bad for my appraisal.”

Haejin waved his hand to refuse, and Mat seemed a little surprised at this.

“I heard Koreans like to drink, but I guess not all of you are like that.”

“I do like to drink, but I like to stay sharp while I work.”

“Well, I can understand that.”

Then, people from Hwajin-Nomura consortium with Hyoyeon at the front and the people of Yuseong-SG consortium with Yaerin at the front came in.

Anyone could see they were quite hostile toward each other, especially Hyoyeon and Yaerin. They were obviously glancing at each other’s artifact.

Hyoyeon was carrying a canvas covered with a black cloth, so Haejin couldn’t see which painting it was, but Yaerin was holding a small bowl, so he could see she had brought porcelain.

In a way, it looked like an ordinary glass bowl commonly seen at markets, but Haejin quietly exclaimed as soon as he saw it.

If it wasn’t an ordinary glass bowl, it must have been made at Jingdezhen during the reign of Qing dynasty’s Qianlong Emperor.

“Welcome. Thank you for coming with precious treasures.”

Mat and Haejin sat down. On their opposite, Hyoyeon, executive director Jeonggu, Yaerin, and another board member sat.

As Jeonggu sat down, he saw the Arabians working busily behind Mat and asked, “I thought you were alone, but I guess you have more businesses to attended to.”

“Haha, no. I came here alone, but then we got additional work. They are planning to send their employees on a regular group tour to Dubai, so we brought our personnel.”

Mat pointed at Yaerin, and Jeonggu frowned.

“Oh… I see,” he nodded and turned silent.

The man sitting next to Yaerin, instead, quietly smiled.

It probably meant they had given their competitor a proper blow, but Haejin really didn’t care about their war.

He just cared about the bowl Yaerin was carefully holding and the mysterious painting.

Mat first spoke to Hyoyeon, “Let’s see the gift you prepared first, shall we?”

However, Hyoyeon talked about the small bowl Yaerin was carrying instead of showing her canvas.

“Why don’t you appraise the bowl first? It has been shown already… wouldn’t it be more fun to reveal mine later?”

“Hmm… then let us start with mine.”

Yaerin was going to protest, but soon she agreed and carefully put down her artifact on the table.

Normally, they would have started to fight, but they both knew it wasn’t the right place to start arguing.

“This enamel bowl was made in the period of the Qing’s Qianlong Emperor at Jingdezhen, the center of China’s porcelain industry. The second layer of enamel of famille-rose color has been applied to it.”

In the Qing period, enamel porcelains with soft and lovely hue were made.

“Oh… it was made in the Qianlong Emperor’s time? Then it is about 3 centuries old! They could produce such porcelain three hundred years ago… I think this animal, drawn here, is a bird. What bird is it?” Mat asked.

“It’s a swallow. As it is a bringer of spring and fortune, this bowl will bring spring and fortune to the royal family.”

“Oh… it is good. It is very good.”

Mat was glad enough, and it worried Hyoyeon.

She then slowly uncovered her painting.