Chapter 167: Please Step Aside, 5000 Years of Culture, We Are the Best

Gu Shengsheng finally understood completely. This ancient painting wasn’t so much a famous Han Dynasty masterpiece as it was a print from that era that someone had later traced over.

Later, the artwork fell into the hands of Sima Xiangru, and it was he who personally inscribed these lines of poetry on it.

Gu Shengsheng carefully examined the characters on it.

She patiently studied them one by one, then wrote them down on a piece of paper.

"I hear you now have a divided heart, and so I’ve come to say farewell."

"A hundred thoughts, a thousand yearnings, in utter helplessness I resent my love."

As Gu Shengsheng muttered to herself, the research staff across from her were already starting to look disdainful.

"Miss Gu, what’s your take on this?" the blonde, blue-eyed female researcher across from her demanded aggressively. "Or do you not understand it at all and are just staring blankly?"

"I don’t know how you people in Huaxia hire, but in the United States, a rookie with no qualifications like you would never even get to stand opposite us."

They clearly felt that having such a young competitor was an insult to them.

Gu Shengsheng crossed her arms, tilting her head to mimic the other woman’s punchable expression. "Why can’t a young person have appraisal skills? I suppose it’s because you’re sheltered. Understandable."

"I’ve examined this artifact," Gu Shengsheng said. "I don’t believe the painting is by Sima Xiangru, but these two lines of poetry were indeed written by him."

Hearing Gu Shengsheng’s assessment, Qiu Xiaojun and the others began to examine it more intently.

Gu Shengsheng appraised things very quickly. With just a couple of casual glances, she could take in a great deal of information.

Qiu Xiaojun had seen this painting before, and it had taken him several days of study just to confirm the calligraphy was by Sima Xiangru.

But he suspected the poem and the painting were not. However, this was merely his own speculation, with no hard evidence.

Now, he looked at Gu Shengsheng with approval. "Shengsheng, on behalf of the Huaxia Appraisal Team, we support your conclusion."

"Because that’s what I was thinking as well."

Zhang Rulan was still examining the piece and had yet to state her opinion. As for Wang Yu and Zhang Zhengyi, they had stopped looking entirely.

They declared, "Whatever Shengsheng says is correct."

For Zhang Zhengyi, this was partly because he didn’t understand the artifact, and partly because after everything they had been through, he knew this young woman well enough to trust her. It seemed unbelievable, but he was sure she was right...

’It’s like she just has a special talent for this.’

The group of Appraisers on the other side found it even more incredible, watching these old veterans from Huaxia blindly trusting a young woman.

’Has the whole world gone mad, or just Huaxia?’

’How could something so absurd happen?’

Then the experts on the other side conferred for a moment. This time, they didn’t just rigidly insist on their data.

The man in the lead spoke. "We maintain that this is Sima Xiangru’s painting. We are absolutely certain. This time, we didn’t just use data testing; our director has also examined it."

"Our director also firmly believes that our appraisal result is correct."

After he finished, the woman chimed in smugly, "Miss Gu, I’ve been with my director since I was a Ph.D. student. When my director was studying abroad in Huaxia, he just happened to study under your Mr. Qiu Xiaojun and attend one of Teacher Zhang Rulan’s training workshops."

"We’ll show them the respect they’re due, naturally. But... who the hell do you think you are?"

She was incredibly cocky as she said this. "You just said you know something about me? What is there about me for you to talk about? Do you get a kick out of knowing all this gossip?"

"And our director is the head of the best appraisal laboratory in the world."

At this, Gu Shengsheng dropped all pretense of politeness. She had, after all, reviewed their files beforehand.

She said, "You, an ’academic Daji.’ And you have the nerve to question me? During your Ph.D. in the United States, just how many of your first-author SCI papers did you get by strong-arming other students with your advisor?"

"Ma’am," Gu Shengsheng couldn’t even be bothered to use her name, "just because people don’t talk about it doesn’t mean nothing happened. I even know the number of the hotel room you two shared."

With that, she casually wrote a string of numbers on the paper.

The woman panicked instantly. She no longer dared to run her mouth.

’This Gu Shengsheng... how does she know everything? Unbelievably, the hotel room number actually matched...’

Gu Shengsheng continued, "As for your reputation, that’s for you to worry about. We have no intention of getting involved in matters that don’t concern us."

By now, the researchers beside her had figured out what was going on. Their expressions were a mixture of shock and awkwardness.

Though the surface appeared calm, the blonde female researcher was actually drenched in sweat.

She even had the sinking feeling that her career was over.

Then, the lead male researcher pulled her aside, announcing that she wasn’t feeling well and would no longer be participating in the negotiation.

Gu Shengsheng never went after people unless they provoked her first.

’So what? Is calling out an ’academic Daji’ not allowed?’

At this point, Qiu Xiaojun spoke up. "If we can’t reach a conclusion today, we can always reconvene another day."

"Why don’t you state your reasons first!" He had just been through a heated argument and didn’t have much energy left.

The lead man said, "Here’s the thing. We’ve verified the calligraphy is Sima Xiangru’s. Your Huaxia doesn’t even have an original of this painting, so how can you refute our findings?"

"And why wouldn’t we dare?" Gu Shengsheng stepped forward. "We have our reasons for our conclusion."

He said, "Aside from the data tests, we also found that these two lines of poetry are from your own Huaxian history and were written by Sima Xiangru himself. The painting style is unrefined, but it doesn’t match anyone else in our database."

"How could it not be Sima Xiangru?"

Gu Shengsheng said, "May I see your database entries for the Western Han Dynasty period?"

After she spoke, they readily pulled up the data for her.

Gu Shengsheng took one look and understood immediately. "I know where the problem lies."

"Why are there no female poets in your database? Or anything at all related to women?"

The man on the other side looked puzzled. "How could Huaxia possibly have female poets?"

Gu Shengsheng sneered. "What about the most famous female lyricist, Li Qingzhao? What about Cai Wenji, daughter of the great Eastern Han writer Cai Yong, also a famously talented woman in Chinese history? What about Shangguan Wan’er and her unique poetic style, or Ban Jieyu, or Xie Daoyun..."

"There are so many talented women whose works have been read and appreciated by your own people countless times. And now, not a single one of you is willing to acknowledge them? You’re being ridiculous."

Although he was furious and hated Gu Shengsheng’s condescending tone, he wasn’t particularly eloquent. "So, you’re saying... these are lines from a female poet?" he asked.

"Of course. The first line is from the ’White Head Song,’ and the second is from the ’Resentful Poem.’"

"They are all works by Zhuo Wenjun, written to her husband, Sima Xiangru. And it’s precisely because of this that Sima Xiangru would inscribe these two lines on the painting."

At this, the researchers across from her all perked up with interest. It was obvious they wanted to hear Gu Shengsheng tell the inside story. Human nature, at its core, is to love gossip.