Chapter 74 - No Room for Negotiation

Once Ye Haochuan spoke, almost everyone thought of him as a madman.

Some even looked down on him with disdain, especially Boss Liang who was really irritated.

Shit, he thought, I spent a thousand to buy it, sold it to you for eighty thousand, and now you, even more ruthless, flip it for a billion?

Could you be any more shameless?

This time, Yu Cheng couldn’t hold back and yelled, “Ye Haochuan, what the hell do you mean?

Asking for the sky and expecting to be paid on the ground, right?

A billion?

Is such a counterfeit even worth a billion?”

He Yun seized the opportunity to taunt, “I think he’s gone mad from greed, what a scumbag!”

Xiao Ding’s face was extremely ugly, this Ye Haochuan was clearly doing this to oppose him on purpose.

It seemed that this man was truly loyal to that bitch Haimie.

If that’s the case, I can’t be blamed for the delight in taking him down after!

With this thought, Xiao Ding snorted coldly and said, “So you’re saying you’ve made up your mind not to sell the painting to me?”

“Not at all, not at all!” Ye Haochuan shook his head and smiled, “It’s not that I’m unwilling to sell, but the price is indeed as such.”

Ye Haochuan, don’t go too far, don’t think just because you have the backing of Li Tianwei from Tianwei Group that you can act all high and mighty,” Yu Cheng shouted loudly.

“Let me tell you, we don’t look up to you at all.

Who is he anyway?

The esteemed Eldest Young Master Xiao of Xiao Group, the future heir of the group.

What is Li Tianwei compared to him?

He isn’t even worthy to carry shoes for our Brother Ding!”

The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.

Boss Liang from the antiques shop had a sudden thought: although President Li of Tianwei Group was powerful, Eldest Young Master Xiao of Xiao Group was evidently more prominent.

If he could pick out a good painting for Eldest Young Master Xiao and get on good terms with the Xiao Family, he could make a fortune!

With this in mind, Boss Liang couldn’t help but say, “Eldest Young Master Xiao, this is just a counterfeit.

How about this, I have many famous paintings here, you can pick and choose, and we can negotiate the price.”

Xiao Ding gave him a disdainful look and said, “What’s the use of that, my old man only likes Gu Kaizhi’s paintings.”

“That…” Boss Liang was deflated and shrank back in vexation.

Xiao Ding turned his gaze back to Ye Haochuan and said in a mocking tone, “Ye Haochuan, don’t refuse the toast only to drink a forfeit.

Although I, Xiao Ding, have withdrawn from the Haishan University board of directors, I still have a say in this piece of Haishan’s land, and I have plenty of brothers from the underworld who depend on me.

With just one word from me, none of them would dare to mess with you.

But if I don’t protect you, I can’t guarantee they won’t come looking for trouble.”

Damn, isn’t this a barefaced threat?

Heh, I fear nothing but threats!

Ye Haochuan sneered inwardly, but tearing his face off at this moment was not what he wanted.

Otherwise, if the beautiful CEO found out and asked him to get lost, how would he continue his grand plan of chasing after rich and beautiful women in Building No.

“Eldest Young Master Xiao, you’ve misunderstood me.

To be honest, the reason why I’ve set such a high price for this painting is due to the fact that there’s more to the painting than meets the eye.”

Upon hearing this, everyone was somewhat surprised.

Especially Boss Liang from the antique shop, who wondered to himself how he could have missed something after decades in the antique circle.

Could there really be more to this painting?

Everyone’s interest was piqued.

Ye Haochuan let out a sly laugh, had an antiques shop employee bring over a basin of water, and immersed his right palm into the water.

Then he activated the Longevity Technique, infusing his right palm with Longevity True Qi.

After a while, mist started rising from his right palm, and the ancient painting’s paper began to moisten quickly.

“Qigong?”

Seeing this scene, everyone was stunned, and many secretly admired that such a young man possessed such a level of qigong cultivation, which was no simple feat.

What they didn’t know was that Ye Haochuan’s actual cultivation was not limited to the lower levels of qigong.

Instead, it was the Postnatal Early Stage that countless followers of the Martial Arts Path sought after.

What would they think if they knew?

Just then, Ye Haochuan suddenly spoke to Boss Liang from the antique shop, “Do you have tweezers?”

Boss Liang gave a subordinate a meaningful glance, who hurried to the back hall, and soon returned with a pair of tweezers in hand.

Ye Haochuan took the tweezers, carefully picked at the corner of the paper with its tip, and then slowly began to peel it back.

His movements were very gentle, extremely cautious to the utmost degree.

About five minutes later, the outer layer of the paper had been peeled away, revealing an interlayer that was hardly noticeable to the naked eye.

This interlayer paper obviously had some age; it was even older than the outer layer.

However, cleverly, because the imitator of the outer layer must have baked the paper, the colors were very similar.

It was precisely because of this that the deception had gone undetected.

Following that, Ye Haochuan continued to lift the paper with the tweezers, and as the interlayer became increasingly exposed, a mountain and water painting identical to the outer one came into everyone’s view.

Looking at the seal and the signature, it was in small seal script, the three big characters “Gu Kaizhi” leaping forth from the paper, clearer than the seal on the outer layer.

Many in the room were connoisseurs, and at this sight, all were crazed.

“Heavens, this is a genuine work by Gu Kaizhi.”

“This is incredible, what they call a ‘painting within a painting’, today I’ve truly witnessed it.”

“I never imagined that this unassuming copied painting would hide such a secret.”

“This kid has struck it rich now, this is an authentic Gu Kaizhi from the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Such an ancient era and a work by a master.”

“Damn it, I must have been blind, I said before it was a fake, if I had acquired it then, this painting would be mine now.”

At that moment, everyone was envious and jealous, many even regretted to the point of feeling sick.

The antique shop owner, Boss Liang’s face turned ashen, his entire body trembling uncontrollably, even harboring thoughts of suicide.

Damn it, how could I have been so stupid?

So foolish?

To miss such a world-renowned masterpiece, and not recognize it!

On the other side, Eldest Young Master Xiao Ding, amidst his shock, was also extremely excited.

The old master always appreciated works by masters of the Eastern Jin, be it Wang Xizhi or Gu Kaizhi, they were all among the old master’s favorites.

For this reason, the old master went so far as to spend a great deal of money to buy back a large number of cultural relics taken away by the British-French Coalition Forces during the Opium Wars from Great Britain, including Gu Kaizhi’s “Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies,” which he acquired for one billion yuan.

Xiao Ding was daydreaming optimistically; if he could buy this authentic piece by Gu Kaizhi and use it to please the old master, he would certainly win the old master’s heart, securing a more advanced and stable position on the group’s board of directors.

“Ye Haochuan, how about this, I’ll offer fifty million to buy your painting, what do you say?” Xiao Ding said, full of expectation.

Fifty million!

Everyone in the room was stirred up, and although this price was still some distance away from the one billion Ye Haochuan had decreed, fifty million was already a huge sum.

However, Ye Haochuan simply shook his head decisively: “Given the value of this painting, one billion is the most conservative price, there’s no room for negotiation.”