Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1319: Chapter 1315: Half Genuine, Half Fake

After Ma Liwen stepped down, it was Huo Sining’s turn.

Huo Sining didn’t waste any words, ignoring Ma Liwen’s subtle provocations and explorations from the audience. Calmly, she approached the wooden box.

The staff member nearby carefully lifted the velvet covering on the box slightly, revealing a fist-sized opening on the top.

Huo Sining extended her hand inside, first encountering the second layer of velvet within the box, a secondary precaution by the organizers to prevent candidates from peeping.

Passing through the second layer of velvet, Huo Sining’s right hand touched something icy cold.

Before Huo Sining could react, the Heavenly Eye suddenly opened before her eyes. In an instant, the chill quickly faded away, replaced by a gentle warmth accompanied by a faint purple spiritual energy that entered her vision.

The object revealed its true form under Huo Sining’s gaze.

It was an oak artifact shaped like a trumpet, with rippled edges and flower motifs carved into the exterior.

The entire trumpet was crafted using gold plating, precisely 14K pure gold. A design featuring a dog sitting in front of a phonograph was attached to it, with a logo engraved below.

VICTORTALNINGMACHINE!

Upon seeing this trumpet-shaped object, a knowing realization dawned in Huo Sining’s mind.

This was a phonograph trumpet. At the tip of the trumpet, there was a nickel-plated copper component, with the fulcrum and sleeve integrated, and a pivot made of purple copper.

The component bore a production date labeled 1905, indicating it was a part of an antique phonograph over a century old.

However, such a component wouldn’t be independently presented for appraisal; there must be more items nearby.

As Huo Sining reached her right hand toward the side of the box, she indeed found other parts of the phonograph.

The turntable, stylus, and all the internal components of the phonograph had been disassembled and placed aside, each exuding faint spiritual energy, confirming their authenticity.

This was a hand-cranked box-type phonograph manufactured in Columbia, a classic brand from America during the Xuantong era.

Centuries-old upright phonographs typically had a large box as the base.

This phonograph’s classic appeal was that its case was adorned with gilding, elegant and noble.

However, when Huo Sining’s hand touched the wooden box of the player, she discovered a problem.

Logically, the box of this phonograph should have been made from peach wood, typically showing red tones with gold. Peche wood varnish, after enduring the test of time, would develop natural cracks known as snake skin patterns.

But the box Huo Sining touched lacked these characteristics; its surface was plain in color and extremely smooth, devoid of any age-induced cracks.

Generally, new varnish differs significantly from old patina; old patina has restrained gloss with distinct oak wood grains, while new varnish looks shiny with vague wood grains.

Therefore, considering these features, it’s apparent this box has been aged artificially, with the entire base lacking any spiritual energy or warmth, making it a complete imitation.

Having discerned the objects, Huo Sining maintained a consistent expression as she stepped down, though her mind began to wander.

It’s evident these components were removed from a complete phonograph. It’s one thing to dismantle a perfectly good item into parts, but some parts are genuine while others are fake.

This isn’t an assessment; it’s clearly a prank.

As before, Huo Sining remained behind Ma Liwen, waiting to touch the items in the second box.

Probably because he was familiar with the first object, Ma Liwen exuded a confident, victorious expression, looking down on the crowd with disdain.

Seeing Ma Liwen’s smile, Huo Sining’s face showed a peculiar expression.

The more familiar something is, the more likely it is to have issues. Such confidence is premature for Ma Liwen.

At least Huo Sining was certain of one thing: if she hadn’t used the Heavenly Eye for insight, just guessing these components were from a phonograph would be commendable, but she would never have guessed that some of these parts were genuine while others were fake.

The organizers clearly set up a series of traps involving these items, and anyone foolish enough to fall into them is doomed.

Having determined the objects in the previous box were from a Western phonograph, as she glanced at the second box before her, Huo Sining felt the contents here would likely be Eastern artifacts.

When it was Huo Sining’s turn to reach her hand inside, her right hand instinctively lifted and probed the contents, only to find empty space.

Huo Sining paused, surprised by the discovery.

She knew full well the items inside the box couldn’t have vanished, yet her right hand indeed hadn’t encountered anything.

This could only mean one thing: either the item was very small or very flat.

Calming herself down, Huo Sining felt along the bottom of the box.

Soon, she touched a round, flat metallic object. As soon as she touched it, she was surrounded by intense purple spiritual energy.

A bronze mirror appeared before Huo Sining’s eyes.

Judging by the spiritual energy and heat, this bronze mirror was unmistakably older than the phonograph she had just examined.

”Use copper as a mirror to correct appearance and attire.”

Before silver mirrors were invented, ancient people often used polished, reflective bronze mirrors for grooming.

Moreover, in earlier times, bronze mirrors were not common household items.

The touch of a bronze mirror is entirely different from other objects; any experienced appraiser can identify it by touch.

Since determining the items in the Western box wasn’t easy, based on this logic, the Eastern task shouldn’t reasonably be so simple either.

Initially feeling the task was too easy, the simplicity itself made Huo Sining feel uneasy, suspecting a hidden trick, prompting her to rub over the entire surface of the mirror.

As expected, upon feeling the back of the mirror, she discovered a discrepancy.

The side of the bronze mirror with engraved patterns was enveloped in dense spiritual energy, but when flipped to the side meant for reflection, she realized her hand felt icy and devoid of spiritual energy where the Heavenly Eye scanned.

Just like the previous phonograph, this bronze mirror wasn’t entirely genuine; the patterned side was authentic, while the reflective side had been artificially altered with different materials.