Before starting the lecture, Li Yang had anticipated that his class might face resistance, so he wasn't surprised or taken aback when someone stood up to challenge him.
The graduate who had raised his hand immediately smiled and said, "Then listen closely, my name is Li..."
"You don't need to tell me your name, nor do you need to leave your seat. I've already seen the item," Li Yang interrupted him.
Li Jiong was stunned and asked in disbelief, "You've already seen it? Are you sure? I'm about seven or eight meters away from you."
"Exactly, don't brag! Otherwise, you'll be the one embarrassed!" Many people in the audience also expressed their disbelief and did not think highly of Li Yang.
Even some who had heard of him couldn't help but frown. Even if you were skilled, you shouldn't be so arrogant.
Li Yang smiled faintly, "I don't have much time to waste with everyone. How about this, anyone who is unconvinced, bring out an item, and I'll appraise them all at once."
"That way, we won't have to go one by one, and the time will be up before I even start the lecture."
"What do you mean? A battle of wits?"
"That's too arrogant!"
"Do you think you're Zhuge Liang?"
Many people stood up and brought out their items. It was clear that they had come to the lecture with the intention of causing trouble from the start.
Li Yang, however, was not afraid. He glanced at the items they had brought out and said, "Let me start with the first student who was unconvinced. The item you're holding looks like a Qing Dynasty jade pendant, but the carving on the pattern is incorrect. It has signs of machine carving followed by manual touch-ups. Therefore, your item is a modern handicraft."
"You say it is, so it is?" Li Jiong said with a cold face.
Li Yang replied, "Don't you have eyes? Look for yourself, aren't the carved lines too uniform, with traces of deliberate human intervention?"
"Hmph, I'll naturally see," Li Jiong grunted. He looked at the jade pendant and indeed found the problem, his expression changing slightly.
Sometimes, things are like this: true transmission is a single word, while false transmission requires ten thousand words and still isn't enough. If it's explained clearly, it can be resolved instantly. If it's not explained clearly, you might ponder for ten days and a half a month without understanding.
Li Yang asked with a smile, "Did I get it right?"
"You, you're lucky," Li Jiong stammered, covered his face, and sat down.
Seeing him like this, everyone immediately knew that Li Yang must have been correct.
Li Yang swept his gaze and pointed to the first person on the right, "Next, starting with you. This small porcelain bottle in your hand is a replica, imitating the official kilns of the Song Dynasty. There should be a similar one in the Jiangcheng Museum. You can compare it later."
"Without comparison, there is no harm. Once you compare, you'll immediately see that yours is a replica."
"Hmph," the person grunted and sat down. Before bringing this item, he already had some idea, he just didn't want to admit it was fake, after all, he had spent hundreds of thousands on it!
If it was fake, it would be worth at most three to five hundred yuan, a huge loss!
Li Yang continued, "This piece of yours is a replica of a Qing Dynasty meiping vase. The problem is that the base is too thick. Yours is a genuine item, but it's not very old. It's a snuff bottle from a brand in Shanghai during the Republic of China period, and its current value is probably between three hundred and eight hundred."
"As for this one of yours, I really don't know what you were thinking, bringing me a 'Piggy Man' to appraise! It's genuine, worth twenty yuan!"
"Hahaha!" The venue erupted in laughter. Some of the more rigid lecturers glared at the student who brought out the Piggy Man. How mischievous!
What kind of appraisal is this? Are they here to make a joke?
After the laughter subsided, almost no one dared to challenge Li Yang anymore. Some people who were waiting for him to appraise their items quickly put them away and sat down without waiting for him to speak.
Now, the only person standing in the auditorium was Li Yang.
The corner of his mouth curled into a smile, and he said, "It seems everyone is willing to listen to me speak. Then I will say a few words. But since you are all sitting, shouldn't I also sit? Otherwise, if you are accused of mistreating the lecturer, it might be very detrimental to your reputation, wouldn't it?"
"Hahaha!" The venue burst into laughter.
Professor Zhuang's old face also showed a hint of a smile, and he announced loudly, "All teachers and students, please stand up!"
"Yes!" Everyone immediately stopped laughing and stood up.
"Repeat after me, 'Hello, teacher!'"
"Hello, teacher!"
"Very good, very good. Hello to all the students and teachers attending the lecture." Li Yang smiled and waved his hand, then stood up again and said, "To be honest, when Professor Zhuang suddenly asked me to lecture at Jiang University last night, I refused. Because in my opinion, the students of Jiang University are all exceptionally talented and lovely, and I really didn't know what to lecture about."
"After much thought, I decided it would be better to talk about jade. I believe students have seen jade in their textbooks, and some students have even seen real jade in private."
"However, for good jade, no matter how many times you look at it, you won't get tired of it. So I specifically asked my friend, the owner of the rich jade gambling field, Ms. Shui Xiang, to send some jade, from raw stones to finished products, covering everything, so that everyone can experience it firsthand, rather than just looking at pictures in textbooks!"
"Li Yang." Shui Xiang suddenly walked in.
As such a beautiful woman entered, she immediately attracted countless gazes. Wow, what kind of owner is this!
Are movie actresses not this beautiful or have this much charisma?
Li Yang smiled and asked, "Did you bring everything?"
"I brought it." Shui Xiang nodded and clapped her hands towards the entrance, "Bring it all in."
"Okay, Boss Shui." Manager Fang also responded from outside, and then led a group of employees from the jade gambling field, each holding a delicate wooden box with multi-layered drawers, slowly walked onto the podium, arranged them, and took out the items for all the teachers and students to see.
Li Yang said with a smile, "This is a batch of jade ornaments, ranging from glutinous to glutinous-ice, ice, to high-ice, glass, and finally to imperial green. Please observe carefully the specific differences between these different grades of jade and what they resemble."
"The glutinous grade is like a mass of jelly, while the glutinous-ice grade is like frozen jelly. The surface of the ice grade looks like it's covered with a layer of ice. The transparency and purity of the high-ice grade are even higher, like polished ice blocks. The glass grade is like not-so-transparent glass. As for imperial green jade, sigh, it's like spring with a hundred flowers blooming!"
"So beautiful!"