"Thank you so much, Miss Gu." On the way back, Yan Ming obviously relaxed a lot and even took the initiative to talk to Gu Cang.

  "No need to be polite, I'm just taking a look." Gu Ming said casually.

  Qin Sheng handed over the task to Yan Ling, sending her back to the hotel first, and then followed Xiao Zhang and others to leave. Gu Mei didn't know what Qin Sheng was going to do, but looking at their appearance, this matter must be very important.

  "How long have Miss Gu and Qin Sheng known each other?" Yan Ling continued to ask.

  "Not too long." Gu Mian replied briefly.

  For some reason, she felt a little flustered in her heart and was also somewhat absent-minded when facing the stern questioning.

  Yan Ling looked at Gu Mian through the rearview mirror and noticed that something was off about him. He chuckled and said to Gu Mian, "Don't worry about Qin Sheng, he'll be back soon, definitely won't miss your appointment tomorrow."

  "Do you know what we're going to do tomorrow?" asked Gu Mian curiously.

  "Qin Sheng mentioned it to me." Yan Ling nodded and continued, "This Qin Sheng is really something, if it were in the past, I wouldn't have believed he'd be into antiques, but he's always liked this sort of thing, so it's not too unexpected."

  Gu Xiang's heart moved slightly, from Yan Ling's words, it seemed that Qin Sheng was not originally in the antique business.

  Yan Ling seemed to have realized that he had said too much and casually made up a few sentences before shutting his mouth and focusing on driving.

  What is called "knowing when to stop" Qin Sheng knew, and since he didn't say anything, she naturally wouldn't ask either. If one day Qin Sheng himself was willing to talk about it, then she could listen. But if others weren't willing to talk about it, that was their own secret, and she had no need to pry.

  It was already very late when they returned to the hotel, Gu Mei glanced at the time and it was almost 4 am. Thinking that she still had to gather at 9 am in the morning, she quickly went back to her room, casually washed up and got into bed to rest. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she was still thinking, wondering if Qin Sheng had returned or not.

  "Gu Mian. Were you nervous last night?" Professor Wang asked, looking at the two large dark circles under Gu Mian's eyes during the gathering the next day.

  "No way!" Gu Mei shook her head, she didn't feel nervous about the competition at all.

  "Look at your dark circles, and you say there aren't any?" Professor Wang chuckled and shook his head. He reminisced: "The first time is always like this. I remember when I first encountered something similar, I was so excited that I didn't sleep all night. Later on, you can take a look, there will definitely be many people with dark circles under their eyes just like yours."

  Regarding Professor Wang's misunderstanding, Gu Mei also found it inconvenient to make further explanations and could only echo: "Then I really need to take a good look."

  When Gu Mian was talking to Professor Wang, Wang Juan also arrived. Gu Mian took a glance at Wang Juan's face and found that under her eyes were two big black eye circles, which was quite pleasing.

  Professor He saw Wang Juan like this and also expressed concern for a few words, but Wang Juan might have been sleepy due to lack of sleep, and the whole person was dazed, and there was no spirit in answering.

  "By the way, where's Qin Sheng?" Professor Wang's gaze swept around in a circle, but he didn't see Qin Sheng's figure anywhere, and couldn't help but wonder.

  Gu Meng hesitated for a moment before saying, "Maybe something's holding her up, she'll be here soon."

  "Hmm, if he still hasn't arrived later on, you can give him a call and ask." Professor Wang reminded.

  "Yes." Gu Mian nodded.

  She had gone to Qin Sheng's room and knocked on the door when she left in the morning, but no one came to open it. It seemed that Qin Sheng didn't come back last night. She also called him, but his phone was always unreachable.

  The match starts at 10 am. Hopefully Qin Sheng can make it back by then.

  At 9:30, everyone gathered at the competition venue, and the organizer began to arrange for everyone to draw lots. Qin Sheng had not returned yet, so Gu Mei went to draw the number by herself. They were No. 8, while Xia Jun and Wang Juan were No. 5.

  There were 8 teams that signed up this time, and Gu Mei drew the last number. It's unclear whether this is good luck or bad luck.

  However, there were only 8 teams participating in the competition, which was beyond Gu Mei's expectations. She had thought that at least a dozen or so teams would participate, but it seemed she had miscalculated.

  "Gu Ming, why hasn't Qin Sheng arrived yet?" Professor Wang frowned tightly, and Professor Guan beside him also looked worried.

  "I don't know, it should be soon, just a little while longer." Gu Mian glanced at the time and felt a bit annoyed.

  Professor Wang originally wanted to go find Mr. Qiao to ask about the situation, but he looked around and didn't see Mr. Qiao anywhere. In the end, he had no choice but to discuss with Gu Xiang that if Qin Sheng still hadn't arrived by the time, they would simply let Professor Guan's assistant join her team, so as not to be directly defaulted.

  Unfortunately, imagination is beautiful, but reality is cruel. Professor Wang's proposal was opposed by the organizers, who did not allow temporary substitutions. If Qin Sheng still had not arrived by the start of the competition, then Gu Cang and his team would have to forfeit.

  This has made Professor Wang anxious, constantly dialing Qin Sheng's phone number.

  Five minutes before the start of the competition, Wang Juan also learned that Qin Sheng had not arrived yet. She walked to Gu Mian's side with a hypocritical expression and said: "Gu Mian, what can we do? This opportunity is hard to come by, it would be such a waste if we forfeit. If we really have to forfeit, it would be better to not sign up in the first place. Forfeiting in front of so many people, tsk tsk tsk..."

  "Are you done?" Gu Mei glanced at Wang Juan, feeling that this person was like a annoying fly, buzzing around and bothering people.

  The match is about to start, and Gu Mei's anxiety in her heart has not increased, but instead decreased a lot. It's just a game anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities later, if Qin Sheng can't make it today, then so be it, she'll just watch as an audience member.

  It doesn't matter who gets first place, as long as it's not Xia Jun and Wang Juan!

  "Hey, the game is about to start, I won't talk to you anymore. There will be plenty of opportunities later, don't worry." Wang Juan didn't get angry because of Gu Mian's attitude, but instead was delighted that Gu Mian couldn't participate in the competition.

  Although she was confident that she could win against Gu Mei, having one less competitor is always a good thing. Moreover, if the humiliating act of forfeiting were to happen to Gu Mei, she would be even more delighted.

  "Miss, are you going to forfeit?" The host asked after the final roll call, discovering that Gu Mian's side was missing one person.

  "We were just about to give up," Gu Meng was going to say, but was interrupted by someone.

  "We will not abandon our rights!" Before he knew it, Qin Sheng had appeared behind Gu Mei.

  Gu Mei heard Qin Sheng's voice and suddenly turned her head, looking towards him.

  Qin Sheng was already wearing a completely different set of clothes from yesterday, and his hair ends were still dripping with water. He seemed to have just come out of the shower.

  The organizer confirmed Qin Sheng's identity and then no longer mentioned giving up, turning around to prepare for other things.

  "You're back." Gu Mian's eyes revealed surprise, she had already given up, not expecting Qin Sheng to rush back at the last moment.

  "Sorry, something happened and my phone is broken." Qin Sheng said apologetically to Gu Mian.

  "It doesn't matter, you're here now." Gu Ming said with a smile.

  At this time, Robert and Tang Ming had already arrived at the audience seat. When Tang Ming heard the organizer announce the names of the contestants in this competition, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  "This Qin Sheng is really something. I don't know where he ran off to, and now he's finally here." Tang Ming let out a breath of air, his body slightly leaning back against the chair.

  "Are you nervous?" Robert glanced at Tang Ming.

  Tang Ming snapped his fingers and said bluntly, "I'm indeed very nervous. I made a special effort to rush back and deal with domestic matters in time for the match. If Gu Miao and Qin Sheng forfeit, wouldn't this trip be in vain?"

  "I hope neither of them disappoints you," Robert said quietly.

  "Robert, I trust my own judgment. Even if you're not willing to admit it, sometimes my intuition about people is stronger than yours." Tang Ming said with a lazy smile.

  "I hope your intuition remains accurate all the time." Robert glanced at Tang Ming, then fell silent and shifted his gaze to the competition venue.

  Tang Ming shrugged and slightly leaned his body in Robert's direction: "Aren't you anxious? I heard that Bill was booked by your rival."

  "What's mine will run away from me if it shouldn't be. What isn't mine will also run away from me if I want it." Robert replied lightly.

  Tang Ming couldn't help but give Robert a thumbs up: "Indeed. I didn't misjudge you."

  Robert gave a faint, noncommittal smile.

  Since there were not many participants this time, everyone proceeded together. The middle part of the venue had already been cleared and eight large tables were set up.

  There were many things on the table, and Gu Ming was secretly guessing their meaning when he glanced at the judges' table and found Xue Lao sitting in the middle, whispering to a foreigner beside him.

  In order to embody fairness, the first item of the competition was surprisingly a written test. Each team was given a test paper with both Chinese and English versions, requiring everyone to answer.

  When Gu Meng saw this test paper, he immediately felt a headache. The test paper was not difficult, with only 20 questions in total, and they were all multiple-choice questions. However, the content of these questions was complex, covering both Chinese and Western cultural topics, historical backgrounds, and more. It could be said that it covered everything, with various complexities.

  What's even more frustrating is that this multiple-choice question, if answered correctly, scores points, if not answered, loses points, and if answered incorrectly, deducts double the points. So those who want to try their luck with a random guess should be careful, or they might end up with negative points.

  It's not just Gu Meng who feels a headache, others are not doing well either. Most people are familiar with either Eastern or Western culture, and those who have studied both are in the minority. This has made everyone feel somewhat struggling.

  Gu Meng had previously discussed with Professor Wang what kind of competition it might be, but neither of them expected the first round to be a written test.

  "Qin Sheng, how much do you know about Western antiques?" Gu Ming looked at the test paper in her hand and asked Qin Sheng.

  Qin Sheng first nodded, then shook his head again, and said to Gu Mian: "In terms of actual identification, I may know a bit more, but theoretical things depend on luck."

  "I'm more practical than theoretical when it comes to Western antiques..." Gu Ming felt a slight twinge of guilt.

  She is indeed more practical than theoretical. If you take something out and ask her to distinguish between true and false, she can do it with her left hand without any problem. However, if you ask her to recite one, two, three, she will only know what she knows, but not what she doesn't know...

  Seeing this first game project, many participants' first reaction is that they should have formed a Sino-foreign joint team if they had known earlier!

  Unfortunately, among the 8 teams present, 7 of them were clearly divided into Chinese and Western groups, with only one team having one person from each group for some reason. Everyone secretly admired this while ultimately just looking at each other before lowering their heads to answer questions.

  Gu Mengxian first focused on the topics related to Oriental antiques, her foundation was still relatively solid, and Professor Wang's small stove wasn't opened in vain. Out of the ten questions, at least eight could be answered with certainty. The remaining two were a bit uncertain.

  She naturally had to discuss with Qin Sheng about the two uncertain questions, and after reaching a consensus with Qin Sheng, she decided on the final answer.

  It was the turn of Western antiques. Gu Ming and Qin Sheng exchanged a glance, both slightly disappointed. Gu Ming had confirmed the answers to two questions, and Qin Sheng had also confirmed the answers to two questions. The remaining six questions left both people somewhat uncertain.

  After all, this rule stipulates that wrong answers will be deducted points. The two of them didn't dare to make random guesses either.

  "If I'm really not sure, I think it's better not to answer. We can make up for the lost points in the practical session. I don't believe the competition will always test our theoretical knowledge." Gu Mian thought for a moment and made a decision before saying this to Qin Sheng.

  Qin Sheng's idea was the same as Gu Mei's. It was better to be stable than to take risks with uncertain answers.

  The two people reached a unified opinion again and put aside the uncertain questions, carefully reviewing the questions that had already been answered.

  This is an on-site scoring system, and after the time is up, a dedicated person will collect the test papers.

  As expected. The team that combined Chinese and Western styles got the highest score, only getting 2 questions wrong, with a total of 18 points. Gu Xiang and his teammates answered all their questions correctly, but didn't get any points for the ones they didn't answer. They scored a total of 14 points.

  Unexpectedly, Xia Jun and Wang Juan's team really had two brushes. They got 4 questions wrong and scored 16 points, while the big favorite Bill Green's team got 3 questions wrong and scored 17 points.

  There were two other teams with the same score as Gu Mian, and after ranking, Xia Jun and Wang Juan came in third. Gu Mian tied with Qin Sheng and the other two teams for fourth place, and the rest followed in sequence.

  For such a result, both Gu Mian and Qin Sheng are relatively satisfied. After all, they did not lose points and were deducted to the last place in the team with only 10 points, which was the penalty for answering incorrectly.

  So it's also beneficial for two people to team up. If Gu Miao came alone to answer these questions, I don't know how many points she would get.

  Professor Wang, sitting in the audience, was clearly sweating for Gu Mian. He knew his student best and how much ink he had in his belly. As for Dongfang, let alone the Westerners... Cough, cough, he wasn't too good at being a teacher either.

  After the scores were announced, the judges also gave out the correct answers and made a brief explanation to enhance the knowledge of the contestants.

  The competition didn't give everyone time to rest, after the first event ended, it immediately entered the second event.

  What delighted Gu Meng was that the second item was no longer a test of theoretical knowledge, but rather an identification of physical objects.

  The 8 participating teams went to their respective tables according to their own numbers, and then the organizer arranged a draw to determine the number of items that needed to be identified.

  This time it was still Gu Mei who drew the number, this time Gu Mei drew No. 6, and immediately someone brought over a box marked with the number six and carefully placed it on the table.

  The rules of this round are still the same, there are real and fake things in this box, all participating teams need to pick out the real ones, wrong picks and missed picks will be penalized, just like during the written test, if you pick incorrectly, double points will be deducted, if you miss a pick, only normal points will be deducted.

  Upon hearing this rule, Gu Mei immediately felt relaxed and happy. This second item of the competition was tailor-made for her, and it was not difficult for her at all.

  There are eight items in box No. 6, including porcelain, jade, gold and silver utensils, miscellaneous items, etc., with half from the East and half from the West.

  "Your specialty has arrived." Qin Sheng said with a slight relaxation.

  "We are a team, you can't slack off. You choose one first from the east and west sides, then we'll swap after taking a look." Gu Mei looked at it briefly. The time given for this project was relatively ample, so she didn't need to rush.

  Qin Sheng shook his head and replied, "No need to make it so complicated, let's watch together, if there are different opinions, we can discuss them later."

  Since Qin Sheng insisted, Gu Mei didn't force him either.

  Out of habit, she naturally looked at the objects from the East first.

  What is referred to as an oriental object is not limited to Chinese antiques, the East has many countries and antiques also have many types. When Gu Ming saw the first ceramic piece, it was a single-glazed ceramic bowl from Korea's Li Dynasty. This type of ceramic bowl differs significantly from China, especially during the Qing Dynasty when China's ceramics reached their peak, producing many exquisite and timeless pieces that were well-received in both the East and West.

  However, there are some differences. The price of this thing is different, in R country, the ceramic of the stick is more expensive than the same type of Chinese ceramics. A big reason is that Chinese ceramics have too much fame, and counterfeit products are as numerous as cow hair, so when buying ceramics, 8 or 9 out of 10 are fake, so some places prefer to like things with a smaller range. They also don't want to buy things that are easy to be cheated on.

  The ceramic bowl in front of me, after being touched by my left hand, can be determined to be genuine. After my left hand comes into contact with it, I feel a warmth and a sense of joy rising up in my heart. However, unlike the crisp and pleasant sound of fine ceramics that Gu Zhenping usually hears when he touches them, this bowl does not produce such a clear and crisp sound, and the repetition of the sound is also slower.

  Upon hearing this voice, Gu Mei suddenly thought of the dance in H country. The dance had both fast and slow parts, but she felt that the slow and elegant dance was more beautiful than the fast one.

  After confirming that the porcelain bowl was genuine, Gu Xiang took it aside. Then he continued to look down and saw that the second item was also a porcelain piece, which seemed to be a small porcelain bottle from the Qing dynasty. Unfortunately, after touching it with his left hand, Gu Xiang didn't feel any heat coming from it, indicating that this thing was a fake.

  This thing imitates the Fencai of the Qianlong period. It's hard to distinguish between Fencai and enamel, and the peony pattern depicted on this small porcelain bottle.

  The peony is often seen as a symbol of wealth and honor, its prototype is often depicted on various objects by craftsmen. Gu Mian carefully observed that the flat bottom signature was not quite right, and although the peonies on this vase looked very luxurious and beautiful, upon closer inspection, there were subtle differences in the details, it didn't look like it was done in one breath, but rather as if someone had carefully painted them on.

  The next one is a very common flower and bird-shaped jade pendant, and the other one is a Maitreya Buddha bamboo carving.

  The two things inside, the flower and bird-shaped jade pendant is a modern imitation, while the Arhat bamboo carving is genuine. After touching the Arhat bamboo carving with her left hand, Gu Mei's hand transmitted heat at the same time, and joy rose in her heart, and the thick laughter of Maitreya Buddha echoed in her heart, which was very consistent with the appearance of the bamboo carving. Maitreya Buddha had a big smile on his face and a big belly, as if he was very happy.

  Having finished looking at the four things in the East, two of which were real and two fake, Gu Ming shifted his gaze to the things in the West.

  Western antiques are mainly gold and silver utensils and antique furniture. Since furniture takes up too much space and is not easy to move, the Western cultural relics that were brought out for everyone to appreciate this time are mostly gold and silver utensils.

  Other people's concerns are not related, they drew four things, two gold and two silver.

  Gu Mei didn't know much about Western antiques, last time that gemstone snuff bottle was also identified by Old Man Huang, so this time she didn't think too much and directly touched it.

  After feeling each one, Gu Meng found the organizer to be quite interesting. None of the four items made her left hand feel hot, they were all fakes.

  Judging from appearance alone, if Gu Meng didn't have the super cheat of her left hand, she would definitely think that small silver carriage was genuine.

  This small horse carriage is missing a wheel, although it looks somewhat incomplete, but also very pleasing to the eye. The style of the carriage is similar to a Russian one that I saw with Gu Xiang in a museum. The craftsmanship of the carriage is exquisite, and the horses pulling it are lifelike, with the proportions of their bodies and limbs almost perfect.

  It's clear that Qin Sheng is one of those people who were deceived by the horse carriage. When he saw Gu Mei categorize the horse carriage as a fake, although he didn't raise any objections, he did express his own doubts about it.

  (Oh no, kitty's time is running out, and with today's massive update, I got dizzy and copied the wrong thing. Luckily, I thought of checking before bed, or else I wouldn't have known my mistake. Sorry to everyone 55555... it's already been fixed~~~ Oh my god, today was a total disaster! Updated 18,000 words, breaking kitty's record 55555555~~~ Thanks to nunu the sleepy pig for sending me gratitude candies, thanks to "I am a cloud in the sky" for voting with pink tickets, and thank you all for your support~~~~~~~~~~~~)

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