Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 443: Chapter 439: Make a Bet

”To judge that a painting is fake based solely on a seal, isn’t that a bit too arbitrary? Since you’re so confident, why don’t we make a bet?”

A chilly gleam flashed through Huo Sining’s eyes. It wasn’t that she wanted to bully anyone, but Ma Liwen was just too shameless.

”Hmph, if I say this thing is fake, then it indeed can’t be real. No matter the bet, it’s still a fake!”

Ma Liwen sneered, clearly not planning to fall for Huo Sining’s trap.

Was this person determined not to stop until he had driven Elder Wu into a corner, or what? Did he really think he was the authority? To insist that the item was fake without any room for negotiation—it seemed that if she didn’t teach Ma Liwen a lesson, he wouldn’t understand why the flowers are so red!

”What’s the matter, Professor Ma? You’re so confident, yet afraid to bet against a junior like me? Or is it that Professor Ma isn’t actually confident in his own conclusion?”

Elder Qin and the others exchanged glances, somewhat astonished. They had thought Huo Sining was just trying to help Elder Wu out of a tight spot, but now, seeing her relentless determination to bet with Ma Liwen, the others in the room sensed something was amiss.

Doubt appeared in everyone’s eyes. For some reason, seeing Huo Sining so earnest, as if she was absolutely sure of herself, they all had an inkling—could there be more to this painting?

After all, Elder Qin was wiser than the rest, his mind working faster. Seeing Ma Liwen refusing to take the bait, he couldn’t help but laugh, ”Young people are impulsive. Words once spoken cannot be taken back. You’re so sure this painting is real; do you have concrete evidence?”

Huo Sining nodded slightly, and a gleam of sharpness appeared in Elder Qin’s eyes, his face breaking into a smile, ”In that case, speak your mind. The new waves of the Yangtze River push on those ahead of them. We old men are no longer as sharp-eyed and can’t see the issue with this painting. With your energy, you young people could also enlighten us.”

Just as Huo Sining was about to agree, Ma Liwen, seeing Elder Qin speak in such a manner, suddenly felt discontent.

Although he looked down on Elder Wu, he dared not offend Elder Qin. Fearing that Elder Qin might think less of him, that he lacked both skill and courage, he couldn’t help but snort coldly at Huo Sining:

”If you want to bet, then I will bet with you. What would you like to bet on, young lady?”

Elder Wu saw that Ma Liwen had bullied him enough and was even trying to bully a young girl, his expression immediately turned cold as he rebuked sternly:

”Ma Liwen, I advise you to stop while you can! You’re well on in years. Aren’t you afraid of becoming the laughingstock for bullying a younger generation?”

Ma Liwen remained unconcerned, laughing, ”When did I bully her? She brought this upon herself! Since she doesn’t know her own weight, I’ll just have to educate her properly on behalf of her master, the virtue of humility, to prevent her from tarnishing her master’s reputation by parading her half-baked knowledge around the world!”

A fierce light flashed in Huo Sining’s eyes, her anger turning into a sarcastic laugh, ”Fine, I’ll bet with you. I can’t wait to see who will tarnish their master’s reputation!”

With those words, Huo Sining pulled out a check from her bag and signed a bank draft for one million:

”This is a one million check. If I lose, this one million is yours. If you lose, you’ll pay for Elder Wu’s granddaughter’s surgery. How about that?”

Ma Liwen hesitated upon hearing this, but when he looked up and saw everyone in the room looking at him with scornful eyes, a fire lit within him, and he immediately raised his chin and declared:

”Why wouldn’t I dare? Not just one million—I would even accept five million! But can you cash this check?”

”I’ll match your five million, but saying such big talk,” Ma Liwen’s eyes clearly showed his unease. However, after glancing skeptically at Huo Sining, he suspected that the cheque Huo Sining had made out was a worthless promissory note that couldn’t be cashed.

”If you doubt that her cheque can’t be cashed, how about using mine?!”

Just at that moment, a hearty and magnetic voice suddenly rang from outside the door. Everyone turned their heads and saw Gu Xu walking in from outside.

A smile immediately appeared on Huo Sining’s face. Gu Xu looked at Ma Liwen with cold eyes and, without a word, pulled out a cheque from the chest pocket of his suit and quickly wrote out another cheque.

”This is a cashier’s cheque for one million from Huaxia Bank, drawn by Shengtang Group. Professor Ma surely wouldn’t have any doubts about this one, would you?”

Ma Liwen didn’t know Huo Sining, and he thought that a young girl like her couldn’t easily mobilize a million yuan, but Gu Xu he recognized and was well aware of Gu Xu’s position in Shengtang Group; thus, he had no doubts about Gu Xu’s cheque.

However, Ma Liwen was surprised to see Gu Xu step in on behalf of Huo Sining. He subconsciously looked at Huo Sining, guessing secretly about the relationship between the two.

Elder Qin was also somewhat taken aback by Gu Xu’s sudden initiative. He looked at Gu Xu, then at Huo Sining, and suddenly thought of something, looking at Gu Xu to ask, ”This young lady, could she possibly be the one from a while back that...”

Before he could finish, Ouyang Jun interjected, ”She is Huo Sining.”

Elder Qin swallowed back what he was about to say, looked at Ouyang Jun who was hinting at him, and smiled knowingly, deciding not to say anything more.

Ma Liwen hadn’t heard of the name Huo Sining before, so he didn’t know what background this young lady came from.

But he felt he had absolute evidence in his grasp, so he wasn’t worried about Huo Sining playing any tricks. He picked up Gu Xu’s cheque for examination, nodded, and said, ”I have no objections!”

Gu Xu had voluntarily written a cheque to help her out, and Huo Sining didn’t refuse because she knew that soon Gu Xu would be able to take the cheque back.

”Brother Ouyang, could you please fetch me a small knife?”

Huo Sining turned to Ouyang Jun and gave her instructions, then looked towards Elder Wu with a smile and asked, ”Elder Wu, since you intend to destroy this painting, why not let me handle it? I hope you won’t stop me from what I’m about to do.”

Although Elder Wu didn’t know what Huo Sining was going to do, he knew she wanted to help him and naturally had no objections. He hurriedly nodded and said, ”Don’t worry about anything, girl. Just handle it.”

With the owner’s permission, Huo Sining no longer had concerns. She took the small knife from Ouyang Jun, removed the rods from the top and bottom scrolls of the painting, and began to grind the edge of the painting with the knife.

Seeing Huo Sining’s actions, everyone was momentarily stunned.

The others might not understand what Huo Sining was doing, but that didn’t mean Elder Qin and Ma Liwen were clueless.

Especially Ma Liwen, who specifically studied ancient calligraphy and painting, was very familiar with such art. So when he saw Huo Sining’s actions, he immediately understood her intention, and his face went pale in an instant.