Artifact Reading Inspector

They thought this painting was only worth a million won?

It was ridiculous, but actually, they probably didn’t know the true value of this painting.

It had no writing and no signature.

Determining who the artist was only with the painting itself is the hardest type of appraisal, so probably only a few could recognize the painting’s true value.

“How big is your debt?” Haejin asked.

“What?” Saebom looked at Haejin with her wide eyes.

“How big is that debt for them to try to take the family treasure?” Haejin asked again.

“… my uncle told me it was over a billion won,” the girl replied.

“Hu…” Haejin couldn’t help sighing.

Saebom had a huge debt, and her parents, who were supposed to protect her, were gone. It couldn’t have been easy.

At least Haejin had had his father. Saebom was now an orphan and had a big debt. She could never get a decent life again.

“Please, wait,” Haejin then called Eunhae who was in her office.

She was surprised to be called so suddenly. When she came, Haejin explained what Saebom had told him.

“Please get her a lawyer first. She has no one to rely on, and it can be really dangerous if bad people approach her,” Haejin told her.

“Of course,” Eunhae also felt sorry for Saebom.

She took Saebom’s hand while saying, “I will introduce you to the lawyer of this museum. He is good at his job, so he will help you to find out if the debt has been calculated properly and exactly how much of it you are supposed to pay.”

Saebom’s eyes filled up with tears at this, “Thank you, thank you.”

Haejin then explained to her about the painting, “And as for the painting, it was made by Sim Sajeong. He is one of the famous artists of the Joseon period, but unfortunately, his paintings are not sold at a high price in the Korean art market. There are not that many paintings from the Joseon period that are worth more than a billion.”

Most people consider the Three Wons and the Three Jaes as the greatest artists of the later Joseon period.

The Three Wons are Danwon Kim Hongdo, Hyaewon Shin Yoonbok, and Owon Jang Seungeuop. The Three Jaes are Gyeomjae Jeong Seon, Gwanajae Jo Yeongseok, and Hyeonjae Sim Sajeong.

(What comes in front of the artists’ names is their art names or ‘ho’, which are professional names used by East Asian artists.)

The main three art styles that were popular in the 18th century are Jingyeongsansuhwa (realistic Joseon landscape painting), Pungsokhwa (genre painting), and Namjeonghwa (ink-and-wash paintings with light colors made by wise scholars. It was generally warm and simple but had deep philosophy.)

Jeong Seon established Jingyeongsansuhwa. Pungsokhwa was made by Jo Yeongseok, and Namjeonghwa, which used to be the Chinese style of painting, was localized by Sim Sajeong.

Now, Kim Hongdo and Shin Yoongok are thought to be the best artists of Joseon, but at the time, Sim Sajeong was as famed as Jeong Seon.

Kim Josun, a scholar of the late Joseon period, even said, ‘Gyeomjyae(Jeong Seon)’s paintings became even more mysterious in his later years, and his name was equal with that of Hyeonjae(Sim Sajeong)’s. Although the world calls them Gyeomhyeon (The Two Hyeons), his artistry is not as good as Hyeonjae’s.’

“But it is worth more than a million won, right?” Saebom asked.

Haejin replied, “Of course. If you want to sell this, there are two ways. You can either put it on auction or sell it to this museum.”

Saebom then looked at Eunhae in surprise, she didn’t know if Haejin could make that decision.

“He manages the purchase of artifacts, too. If he says we are buying it, we are,” Eunhae smiled.

Saebom nodded to Haejin, “Okay, please buy it.”

“Oh, but you must hear the rest of it. If you put it on auction, you will be able to get about 300~500 million won. That’s the reasonable price for it I think. But instead, you must pay at least 7~10% of the money to the auction agency as a fee,” Haejin explained.

“Wow… then if I get to sell it at 500 million, I should give at least 35 million won as the fee?” Saebom asked.

Haejin confirmed, “Yes, but if you sell it to us, we will give you 500 million won.”

It was the highest reasonable price he could pay for the painting.

Although he pitied Saebom, he thought he couldn’t give her more than the value of the painting.

It wasn’t like he would buy it with his own money. He would be spending the museum’s fund, so paying more just because Saebom was poor would be neglecting his duties.

However, he wasn’t sure about whether any auction agency would be capable of appraising the painting properly if Saebom put it on auction.

Haejin was sure that it was Sim Sajeong’s, but it had no writing and no signature. Would auctions agencies like Korea Auction acknowledge it as Sim Sajeong’s? Haejin didn’t know.

“Wow… really?” Saebom asked.

Haejin then replied, “For now, you should take the painting and think about it. When you decide to sell the painting, bring it back again, okay?”

Saebom hesitated, but soon she thanked Haejin, “Thank you, thank you so much.”

As she went out, her hand was tightly holding the lawyer’s business card which Eunhae had given her.

After she left, Eunhae looked at Haejin full of questions. She asked, “Isn’t 500 million for that painting too expensive?”

Haejin then explained, “No, that’s how much Sim Sajeong’s paintings are worth now. Plus, it is slightly different from his other paintings, even though it has no writing and no signature. That’s why I offered a higher price.”

“Hmm… okay, I guess you are right. Anyway, I feel so sorry for her. She is still young… she might end up somewhere bad if things go wrong. She will face even more danger because she is pretty,” Eunhae then said.

Haejin replied, “But we’ve found her a lawyer, so they will take care of it well. Plus, she said the debt was a billion, but that painting alone was worth half a billion. She must have more of them.”

Usually, families that have antiques as their family treasure, they have more than just one.

Having an antique family treasure means there was an ancestor who had discerning eyes, and it means in most cases, there are two or three good artifacts.

So, Haejin was sure there were at least a few valuable antiques in Saebom’s home, even though they might not be worth as much as the painting.

However, after a few days, he found that things were going in an unexpected direction.

Saebom came again, but she looked worried, and she was with a man in his 30s.

He was wearing a neat suit and seemed smart.

“He is…”

Saebom, explained, “My uncle. He works at Hwajin Electronics. This is Mr. Park Haejin. He appraised our painting.”

He was also the employee of a good company.

Haejin could see that Saebom relied on him even more because of it.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Gang Manseok,” he extended his hand but, but at the same time, he looked somewhat irritated.

Haejin shook hands with him and then brought them to seat at the corner of his appraisal room.

“Please, sit down.”

“No, it’s okay. I must leave immediately,” Manseok replied.

“What?” Haejin asked.

Manseok then continued, “I heard you told my niece to sell the painting?”

“Yes, I did…”

Manseok shrugged as if he didn’t like it, “I’m sorry, but we will sell it on our own. It would be better to make people compete through the auction than selling it right away.”

“Oh, really? Okay, then,” Haejin replied.

However, Manseok was surprised. He didn’t expect for Haejin to give up so easily.

“Would that be really okay? Haha, I was a little worried that you might insist on selling it to you,” Manseok said with his irritation now gone.

Haejin explained himself, “I would buy it if I can get it at a reasonable price, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to sell it to me.”

“However, you must know how people are these days. There are so many people trying to fool and rip off innocent children,” Manseok replied.

It sounded as if he thought Haejin was one of those frauds. Haejin didn’t like it, but Saebom poked at her uncle’s side.

She then apologized to Haejin, and his offended feelings melted right away.

“You are right,” Haejin then agreed with Manseok.

“And as for the fee… as you know, Saebom has huge debt… could you be generous and lower the fee just this once?”

“Okay,” Haejin didn’t like to be asked for a discount of the appraisal fee when he wasn’t even selling the painting, but he decided to accept it just for the poor Saebom.

“Haha, thank you.”

Haejin then warned him, “But you must know that you might get less than the price I offered even if you put it on auction.”

However, Manseok didn’t take it seriously, “Well, I guess so.”

“Additionally, if the auction agency’s appraisal is different from mine, I might not be able to buy the painting for the price I offered before as there can be a legal dispute,” Haejin continued to explain.

If Korea Auction appraised it as someone else’s painting, although Haejin had appraised it as Sim Sajeong, its value will still drop greatly.

Basically, it is the difference between a painting from Sim Sajeong and a painting that is assumed to be Sim Sajeong’s.

If the painting was in the middle of a controversy, Haejin wouldn’t have any reason to buy it at 500 million, even if it was Sim Sajeong’s.

It might look cold, as the change was not about the painting but the people’s perception about it, but that’s how things work with antiques.

Buying antiques well is very important but selling them is just as important.

The best way to sell an antique is to sell it to someone who can truly appreciate its true value. On the other hand, putting it on auction is always the second best method.

However, Manseok didn’t take it that way.

Haejin didn’t know if the man just didn’t like his advice or just thought he was trying to make him sell the painting, but still, Manseok frowned while saying, “I think you are getting a little childish.”

“What? Childish?” Haejin asked.

“If you keep insisting like that, I have no choice but to doubt your good will,” Manseok was now accusing Haejin.

Saebom quickly grabbed his sleeve and said, “Uncle! Please don’t say that.”

“You know nothing. I will take care of it, so be quiet!” Manseok shook off Saebom’s arm and raised his voice, “I know people like you very well. You try to take more profit than you should with the knowledge others don’t have… but you were wrong about me. Saebom might be naïve to be tricked by you, but I’m not.”

Haejin was shocked, but he still pitied Saebom as she was about to cry now. So, he just laughed while raising his hands to surrender, “Oh, okay, fine. Take the painting and sell it at a high price.”

Manseok’s lips curled up. It was the smile of victory.

Saebom kept apologizing instead, but Manseok dragged her out. Seeing them leave, Eunhae then exploded in anger, “Ah! I would have made him regret being born if it hadn’t been for his nice niece! Who did he think he was talking to? Oh!”

“It’s okay, there’s no need to be angry,” Haejin replied.

Eunhae then continued, “But don’t you feel offended? We wanted to be nice and help them, and all we got in return was accusation! He really should pay for ignoring other’s goodwill.”

“He will, even if you don’t make it happen,” Haejin calmly spoke.

Eunhae brightened up at this, “Like the warning you gave him?”

Haejin confirmed, “Yes. There isn’t enough evidence for it to be considered Sim Sajeon’s painting. I can be sure of it, but would the appraisers in Korea Auction be able to appraise it? They will probably say that it is from an unknown artist.”

“Hmm… I feel good about it, but I also feel sorry for Saebom… oh, that idiot!” Eunhae complained.

Haejin agreed, “That’s how life is. A family is not always helpful.”

Even though he felt bitter about it, he could do nothing.

And a few days later, it turned out that he hadn’t been wrong.

“Oppa, that Gang Manseok came again.”