Chapter 104: Elder Pan’s Painting

At 3:50 a.m., dawn was breaking, but Lin Jian didn’t return to the Green City High-rise. Instead, he drove to Donghu Imperial Garden—he was going home.

His mother, Lin Jing, always woke up early. By 4:30 a.m. every day, she would already be downstairs, heading out to the morning market. So, he arrived home before she could head down.

"Why are you back so early? And why are your clothes so dirty?"

Seeing him return at such an hour covered in dirt, Lin Jing’s heart skipped a beat, wondering if her son had gotten into trouble outside again.

"Mom, how’s the new place treating you?" Lin Jian asked with a grin. "I’m dirty because I helped my boss move last night."

"Who moves in the middle of the night?" Lin Jing clearly didn’t believe him. He had probably gone off and gotten into another fight somewhere.

"It really was a move. Mom, I have to leave again in a bit. Let’s make some dumplings! I’ve been craving them." Grinning, Lin Jian pulled off his short-sleeved shirt. He needed to pack a few changes of clothes, too.

"Did you get into some kind of trouble? Are you skipping town?" Lin Jing’s face paled.

Why the sudden craving for dumplings? Showing up dirty at the crack of dawn and immediately asking for dumplings—something was definitely wrong.

Lin Jian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Mom, where is your head at? I work and do overtime at the company every day. I don’t get into fights anymore. Do you still think I’m a kid? I’m busy with my career."

"Then you... then..." Lin Jing still felt something was off.

"Alright, I’m going to take a shower and change. You go knead the dough. Make a bit extra so I can pack some to go; my boss likes dumplings too." With that, Lin Jian grabbed two pieces of clothing and darted into the bathroom.

Lin Jing was still half in doubt. She glanced at the car keys and phone Lin Jian had left on the table. In truth, if she wanted to know whether he was skipping town, all she had to do was check his phone. However, her upbringing and principles never allowed her to pry into others’ privacy, not even her own son’s!

Just as she sighed and was about to go knead the dough, Lin Jian’s phone suddenly rang. Lin Jing’s eyes lit up. It seemed she would find out everything if she just answered this call!

Inside, Lin Jian also heard the ringtone and shouted, "Mom, answer that for me and ask who it is!"

"Oh, okay, okay!" Lin Jing hurriedly pressed the answer button.

"Lin, you really hid it well! You little dark horse, you’ve opened the eyes of us old guys once again!" Old Wang from Imperial Treasure Studio immediately began teasing over the phone.

Lin Jing’s heart leaped into her throat. The person on the line said Lin Jian hid it well. What did that mean? Her boy had definitely caused some trouble.

"Excuse me, who is this?" Lin Jing asked, forcing down her unease.

"Huh? Why is there a woman answering? Isn’t this Lin Jian’s phone?" Old Wang asked in surprise.

"Yes, I am Lin Jian’s mother. He is in the bathroom. May I ask who is calling?"

"Oh my, I’m so sorry! My last name is Wang. Just tell him that Uncle Wang from Imperial Treasure Studio is looking for him."

"Wait, what does Imperial Treasure Studio do?" Lin Jing hurriedly pressed.

"Uh..." Old Wang paused for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Imperial Treasure Studio is a shop I opened in the Wudaokou flea market. We mainly deal in antiques, calligraphy, and paintings. Madam Lin, if you’re ever interested, feel free to come by and take a look."

"Oh, alright. Lin Jian said he’ll call you back in a bit!"

"Sounds good." Old Wang hung up.

Meanwhile, Lin Jian had already used his Thought to listen in on the conversation, so he focused on finishing his shower without rushing to ask her about it.

Instead, Lin Jing called out, "He said he’s Uncle Wang from Imperial Treasure Studio and asked you to call him back. I’m going to make the dough now. What kind of filling do you want for the dumplings?"

"Whatever you think is best. Just use whatever we have in the house."

"Okay, we happen to have a cabbage left."

Lin Jing headed to the kitchen, planning to interrogate him properly while they made the dumplings. Her son knew someone who dealt in antiques and calligraphy? And they seemed quite familiar with each other, too. This was truly beyond her expectations. People in that trade were usually scholars and men of letters; one needed a certain level of cultural refinement to be involved in it. So, if Lin Jian was actually associating with such people, she was more than happy about it.

Five or six minutes later, Lin Jian emerged wearing a clean short-sleeved shirt and a large pair of shorts. He grabbed his phone and called Old Wang back. Naturally, he didn’t hide from Lin Jing. Instead, he leaned against the kitchen doorframe.

The call connected quickly, and Old Wang laughed. "I have to say, Lin, you’ve got eyes like a hawk! Where did you learn your skills? That tobacco pipe actually has quite a background!"

"Really?" Lin Jian asked in surprise.

"Of course! But hurry up and get over here. Us old guys haven’t dispersed yet. We’re all waiting for you. Come quickly so they can go back and catch up on some sleep."

"By the way, Uncle Wang, did you take a look at those four paintings?"

"I did. Why did you bring four useless paintings? Although one of them is slightly older, it’s still a modern piece. Plus, it doesn’t even have a signature seal, so it has no collection value."

"Oh, then I want to know, who is Da Yi?" Lin Jian suddenly asked.

"How should I know who your *da yi*—your eldest aunt—is?" Old Wang huffed in annoyance. "What kind of nonsense are you asking?"

"Don’t you deal in antiques and paintings? Have you really never heard the name Da Yi?" Lin Jian’s expression turned odd. It seemed this Da Yi wasn’t very famous after all!

"Your aunt? Wait... Da Yi?" Old Wang’s voice suddenly pitched up.

"Not *da yi* as in my aunt. Da Yi, with the ’Yi’ from Yihe Garden."

"What the hell? Are you saying this is... one of Elder Pan’s paintings?" Old Wang was finally shocked!

Among the top modern painters, Elder Pan held a prominent place. He was famous for his bird-and-flower as well as landscape paintings, making his works highly valuable to collectors.

"I don’t know who Da Yi is either, but find the bamboo leaves on the left. Take a magnifying glass to the third leaf on the bottom left. I shouldn’t be wrong. I won’t be coming over this morning. You guys help me appraise it, and whoever wants it can take it. Just transfer the money to my account."

With that, Lin Jian hung up the phone without waiting for Old Wang to respond.

Meanwhile, back at Imperial Treasure Studio, Old Gu and Old Ji had already found a magnifying glass and were zooming in on that specific bamboo leaf!

A seal embedded within the veins of the bamboo leaf revealed itself!

If one didn’t look closely, it would be impossible to spot even with a magnifying glass. This painting had truly captured a profound artistic conception and reached an incredible height of mastery!

The three of them drew sharp breaths. This kid was an absolute monster.

"He even managed to dig up a painting by Elder Pan. If you tell me he doesn’t have a master, I wouldn’t believe it!"

"I don’t believe it either."

"This kid is uncanny, truly uncanny."

"He’s not even coming over. He just told us to appraise it ourselves..." Old Wang smiled bitterly. This Little Demon, this dark horse, was truly becoming unfathomable to them.

"I’ll take both." Old Ji, the great collector, seemingly never lacked money. As long as it was an authentic piece, he would buy it no matter the cost.

"As for the tobacco pipe, even though the jade is nice and it has some history, it’s still just a small trinket. It’s worth around seven or eight hundred thousand!" Elder Gu began to price the items. "But there’s no way to put a price on Elder Pan’s painting. As you all know, there are only over twelve hundred of his paintings left in the world. There are virtually none circulating in the market. And you should all know that his painting *After Farming* auctioned for nearly 200 million, *Infinite Scenery* fetched a sky-high price of 287 million, and *Pine Stone and Four Eagles Painting* sold for 190 million. So, there is truly no way to estimate a price for this."

The three old men looked at each other. In the collecting circle, not even the paintings of Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian were as valuable as Elder Pan’s.

So... so... the three old men fell into a state of Petrification on the spot!