Chapter 164: Chapter 142 Who Would Believe Your Nonsense? (Subscribe please)_2

Another police officer echoed, “If this bronze ware is confirmed to be a counterfeit, we will apologize to you.”

Cooperating with the investigation is the duty of every citizen.

Old Bai curled his lips, “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

Both police officers were very polite.

“By the way, where did you find the appraisal expert?” Old Bai asked before leaving.

“The appraisal expert is from the Modu Museum, very authoritative, you can rest assured,” the police officer explained.

If the bronze ware is confirmed to be authentic, then it should be displayed in an exhibition at Modu’s museum.

Old Bai breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to himself.

To himself, he thought, the treasure experts from Modu Museum must be skilled, and it wouldn’t be hard for them to see the bronze ware is fake.

If push comes to shove, I still have my mentor.

Call upon the mentor!

No big deal, today I’ll just clock in at the police station. If possible, I’ll take a photo and post it to Lin Chuan’s reader group, so they know what it feels like to clock in at the police station.

Old Bai got into the police car without any fuss and arrived at the local police station.

Afterward.

He sat in the waiting room, awaiting the experts’ appraisal results.

The room was brightly lit, with sunlight streaming through the window and spilling onto the floor tiles beneath Old Bai’s feet, forming a large diamond shape that slowly moved, becoming squarer and moving away from Old Bai.

Old Bai watched the door listlessly.

Finally, after sitting dully for over an hour, a police officer entered and walked straight towards Old Bai.

“Officer, may I leave now?”

Old Bai’s eyes lit up, revealing a smile.

This police station check-in really isn’t pleasant.

Just sitting and waiting here is not as comfortable and relaxing as playing with my phone on my own couch at home.

Fortunately, it was all over, and I could go home soon.

The police officer looked at Old Bai and said, “Bai Yang, please come with me now. We are going to interrogate you.”

“Interrogation, what do you mean?”

Old Bai’s face turned pale, and he didn’t react immediately.

“Your bronze ware, after being appraised by the chief expert Gao Qinglin from Modu Museum and several other experts, has been confirmed as authentic. Now, we suspect you of illegal tomb robbing or illegal dealing of national treasures. Please cooperate with our investigation,” the officer said with a sharp gaze and an uncompromising tone.

“No, Officer, Master Gao is mistaken; it can’t possibly be genuine! Bring my mentor over, he will surely see that it’s a fake,” Old Bai protested, struck as if by lightning, suddenly flustered.

He cursed inwardly, wondering if these experts were serious or if it was actually because Lin Chuan’s ‘Antique Forgery Manual’ was too accurate, coupled with his solid foundation in cultural relic restoration, that led to this awkward situation?

“We also contacted your mentor just now. Without revealing your identity, he also believed that the bronze ware is authentic,” the officer replied with a smile.

“What?”

Old Bai was stunned on the spot.

Mentor, this is like cutting ties of loyalty.

“Please, go into the interrogation room and give a detailed account of the situation. We will ensure justice for you,” the officer extended a hand, signaling Old Bai to head to the interrogation room.

Old Bai’s face was a picture of misery.

It seemed like things had gone too far. When forging the ‘Taotie Pattern Wine Vessel,’ not creating a forgery mark, who could have anticipated that both his mentor and the museum’s chief expert would authenticate it as genuine!

Clang.

Old Bai entered the cold interrogation room, a place both familiar and strange to him.

Familiar, because he often saw related memes about interrogation rooms in Lin Chuan’s reader group, which were used to tease the suspected criminal, Mr. Lin.

Strange, because it was his first time entering the legendary interrogation room!

In this June weather, wearing only light clothes, Old Bai could clearly feel the cold from the tiger bench underneath him.

The interrogation room had no windows, and the walls were colored in a cold gray, adorned with slogans like “leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist.”

Old Bai looked like someone who had done something wrong, his eyes unconsciously moving downward.

There was also a slogan written on the floor.

——”Your family is waiting for you to come home.”

At this moment,

the two police officers sitting opposite Old Bai had organized their materials and were ready to begin the interrogation.

The one leading the examination was the officer who had summoned Old Bai, named Chen Hui, who was about the same age as Old Bai, Lin Chuan, with a handsome face and a hint of sharpness between his brows.

Chen Hui looked at Old Bai and after the routine inquiries about Old Bai’s age, profession, and other information, he started to ask, “How did you come by this ‘Taotie Pattern Wine Vessel’ bronze ware?”

“I forged it.”

Old Bai took a deep breath, curled his lips, and answered truthfully.

He had already learned a lot of ways to avoid pitfalls during interrogation in the reader’s group.

If he hadn’t committed a crime, he should answer truthfully, without any concealment; otherwise, the more he tried to explain, the deeper he would dig his hole. Of course, he also had to stick to the facts and choose his words carefully.

Chen Hui was slightly taken aback, “Several experts have identified that ‘Taotie Pattern Wine Vessel’ as authentic. Are you sure it’s a forgery?”

Old Bai frowned, thinking, “Officer Chen, even experts can make mistakes sometimes.”

“Comrade Bai Yang, perhaps the persuasive power of one expert is somewhat lacking, but for this ‘Taotie Pattern Wine Vessel’, the leading appraisers were the chief experts of the Modu Museum, as well as several other renowned and authoritative experts, including your mentor. Isn’t that convincing enough?”

The questioning Officer Chen, with a slight frown, retorted.

“Uh, officer, I’m not questioning the level of these experts, but this bronze ware is a bit special. It was forged using a secret technique that can deceive by appearing very authentic, so the experts might have been mistaken when they encountered it for the first time,” Old Bai said sullenly.

Chen Hui’s frown deepened, puzzled, “Comrade Bai Yang, do you have some secret technique that even your mentor has never seen?”

Huff——

Old Bai puffed up his cheeks and let out a heavy breath, saying earnestly, “Officer Chen, this secret technique actually starts with a novel.”

“A novel?”

Chen Hui and the police officer doing the transcription looked at each other.

He had heard some bizarre answers before.

But this answer, wasn’t it a bit too bizarre?

A secret technique for forging antiques linked to a novel?

“Right.”

Old Bai nodded earnestly.

“So you mean to say, you learned this secret technique from a novel, then forged a bronze ware, i.e., the ‘Taotie Pattern Wine Vessel’, participated in a live appraisal stream, and deceived not only the Ting Quan live stream appraiser but also several well-known experts?”

At that moment, Chen Hui leaned back slightly and smiled.

It was evident.

He might as well have said — would anyone believe such a tall tale?

Real cunning! Now they’re even using novels as shields!

“Yes, that’s exactly how it happened,” Old Bai admitted with a nod.

Chen Hui let out a laugh.

The police officer making the transcription also tightly pursed his lips, barely holding back his laughter as he recalled all the recent sad events in his mind.

We are professionally trained. No matter how funny the situation, we won’t laugh.

Unless… we can’t help it.

“Officers, please don’t laugh, that’s really how it happened!” Old Bai saw the laughter on the faces of the two officers and immediately defended himself with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“Cough!”

Chen Hui cleared his throat lightly, “Sorry, I was just reminded of something amusing. Let’s continue.”

“Sure.”

Old Bai curled his lip.

“Just now, you said you learned the… secret technique to create fake antiques from a novel. What’s the name of this novel?” Chen Hui continued, his smile tempered.

“‘Last Week’s Antique’, Sailing Novel, by Mr. Lin.”

Old Bai revealed Lin Chuan and his novel.

Now that the wine vessels had been identified as genuine by several experts, and the items were in his possession, he had no choice but to confess the truth.

Otherwise, he’d really end up in a police station.