Chapter 1220 Ancient Paintings (2/2)

Li Du knew all the steps. According to their local traditions, building a new house had an important step called ”beam.” That day, the master of the family would sprinkle sugar on the building site, as well as hand out snacks and small steamed bread loaves. When he was a child, they often didn't have quite enough to eat, and he loved to go and grab that stuff at new houses with his friends.

He told Sophie some interesting stories about what happened when they snatched those delicacies, and he recalled his childhood, thinking, Time sure does fly!

He could not help but set the little bug out, thinking that it was a pity that the little creature could not travel back in time. Otherwise, he would have liked to go back to his childhood for a little bit.

In a coincidence, he had just taken out the little bug for an airing when suddenly someone came towards them and asked, ”Hey, brother, do your foreigner friends want to buy antiques?”

”Do you have antiques?” asked Li Du.

The stranger looked suspiciously left and right, and said seriously, ”Right, this is something, you see…”

Then he took out a painting from his knapsack and showed it to Li Du. ”I found this when I was digging a basement for my house. This is definitely an antique. These are probably foreign pieces.”

When the roll was unraveled, an oil painting appeared, looking old due to oxidation. The red did not look bright anymore and green was faded, as was the gold, giving it an ancient look.

The painting was of a Chinese girl, dressed in a Qing dynasty costume, made of an upper part waistcoat decorated with small butterflies, and a phoenix tail skirt as the lower part. It looked like a real antique.

However, the little bug had no interest in this so-called ancient painting and was not excited by its appearance.

Li Du naturally understood the reason and said with a big smile, ”Elder brother, I believe you dug this out, but if it was ancient, it would have rotten underground, isn't that so?”

Unconvinced, the middle-aged man said, ”There was a box in there. It looked very old as well. Really, you might want you to let your foreigner friend see it, get their own impression, and seek an expert to examine it. It is definitely antique.”

Li Du shook his head and said, ”If this thing is truly antique, you can call in an expert appraiser. Once the authorities know it, you might get a reward of five hundred RMB and a silk banner in commendation.”

The middle-aged man looked disappointed and put away his painting, saying, ”Never mind if you don't believe me.”

The bystanders were laughing, and someone said, ”This young man is not stupid.”

”Who believes in such tricks now?”

”Yes, how interesting, he unexpectedly got a painting and said it is an antique. This is a foreign style, we Chinese have ink drawings.”

Listening to their taunts, the middle-aged man got angry and said, ”You know what? I really dug this out. You wait, I'll sell it sooner or later, I'm sure I can get a good price.”

Saying this, he turned his head to look at Li Du again. ”Young man, you spoke too rashly. You have kept your friend from making a profit. They'll blame you later.”

Li Du hated dishonest people, and the sentiment was especially strong now after the housekeeping company cheated him. When he heard the man's words, he decided to show him what he could do.

He quickly caught up with the man and sneered, ”You said your painting was an antique, didn't you? Let's take a good thorough look at it, then. Today I'll show you what a real expert is!”

After he finished speaking, he used the time reversal ability of the little bug.