Chapter 508: One Hundred and Fifty Million

Huang Baifu felt a bit cheated and said, "If it doesn’t exceed one hundred million, what will you do?"

Xu Yang smiled and replied, "I’ll kneel down and call you Grandfather, how about that?"

"Good!" Huang Baifu nodded in satisfaction, "Kid, you just wait to kneel down and call me Grandfather."

Old Meng said, "Young man, can you please explain what’s so special about this painting?"

Xu Yang smiled, took the bottle of mineral water from the table, and walked up to the stage.

He asked the staff to unfold the painting and lay it out on a nearby table.

Then, he unscrewed the bottle cap and poured the mineral water over it.

Everyone was stunned.

"What’s this guy doing? Is he trying to ruin the painting?"

"By ruining the painting, can he prove he’s not an idiot?"

"I can’t figure out what he means, but I guess there must be a deeper reason."

"There’s no deeper reason; I think he’s just messing around!"

Old Meng frowned but didn’t speak.

Wang Xiaocong was taken aback and had no clue what Xu Yang was trying to do.

As for Zhao Yuxin, although she also had no idea why Xu Yang would do such a thing, she believed that there must be a reason for his actions.

She believed that Xu Yang would definitely prove the painting’s value to be over one hundred million.

Huang Baifu, however, burst into laughter, taunting loudly, "Kid, did you get water in your brain? Even if the painting was intact, it’s only worth five million. Now that you’ve wet it, even if it were worth a hundred million, it’s completely ruined. Calling you a big idiot is really no mistake!"

Although the crowd felt that Huang Baifu’s words were a bit crude, they agreed with the sentiment.

Let alone being a copy, even if it were an original worth over one hundred million,

it was completely destroyed now that Xu Yang had soaked it.

Xu Yang glanced at Huang Baifu without saying a word, then took out a pack of tissues and began to dry the water off the painting with them.

These tissues were carried by Zhao Yuxin; he had asked for them before getting up on stage.

After drying the water on the painting with tissues, he used his hands to peel off the top layer of paper from the painting.

Seeing this, Old Meng hurriedly stood up, ran to the stage, and exclaimed in shock, "This is the original, the genuine piece hidden under the imitation!"

What!

Everyone was shocked.

This piece by Li Xi, if genuine, was indeed worth well over one hundred million.

"How is it possible that this is the original? Are you seeing things?"

Huang Baifu’s face turned extremely unsightly, unwilling to believe it, and he quickly ran onto the stage.

"Hmph, how could I be mistaken? I’ve been in the antiques industry for more than thirty years, collected countless antiques; I can tell at a glance whether it’s genuine or not!"

Hearing Huang Baifu question him, Old Meng snorted coldly, expressing his dissatisfaction.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Is it really the original?" Huang Baifu’s head buzzed, and then he added, "Even if it is real, the painting can’t be worth one hundred million, right?"

This was his last hope.

He saw that the painting hadn’t been affected by the mineral water at all.

So that only left the issue of price.

"Li Xi only created five paintings in his lifetime; each time one appeared at an auction, the final price exceeded one hundred million. Moreover, this piece is Li Xi’s last work. Not long after completing this painting, he passed away, making its value far greater than his other works, at least one hundred fifty million or more!" Old Meng explained.

"What, one hundred fifty million?!"

Huang Baifu nearly passed out.

The auction hall exploded into an uproar.

"It seems we lacked discernment, unable to recognize the true value of this painting."

"This young brother is really impressive, to think he picked up such a great bargain." Explore more at NovelBin.Côm

"One hundred and fifty million, worth more than some of the people present here."

"I truly wonder how he figured it out."

"It’s baffling, has he possibly developed ’Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils’?"

"What ’Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils’, that’s all nonsense, he must have some special ability."

...

Old Master Meng asked curiously, "Young brother, how did you determine that this painting was authentic?"

He was genuinely curious about how Xu Yang had accomplished this.

After all, even he, a collector of great esteem, capable of serving as the president of the national antiques association, had been unable to see the truth.

"The protective paper that was covering it earlier is a special type meant to protect authentic pieces, so I concluded that the painting beneath was genuine." Xu Yang wasn’t entirely bluffing—such paper does exist—just very few people are aware of it.

There had indeed been genuine pieces that were covered with this type of paper in the past.

"I see," Old Master Meng had also heard of such paper.

"Brother, do you plan to hang this painting in your study? Could you sell it to me? I’ll pay one hundred and fifty million." Old Master Meng asked.

"It’s possible. Actually, when I decided to buy the painting, I had already determined it was authentic. As for hanging pictures in the study, it was just an excuse. For me, having a painting by a contemporary artist or an ancient master on the wall of my study means the same," Xu Yang said.

"Good, I’ll transfer the money to you right away!" Old Master Meng, keeping up with the times, took out his smartphone and used mobile banking to transfer the funds to Xu Yang.

He often purchased high-value antiques, so the spending limit set by his bank was very high, and the transfer was instantaneous.

"Thank you, the painting is mine now." After the transfer, Old Master Meng even thanked Xu Yang before happily tucking the painting away.

At this moment, when Xu Yang saw Huang Baifu about to leave the stage, he said, "Wait a moment, don’t rush off."

Huang Baifu turned around and said, "What for?"

Xu Yang smiled and said, "We had a deal just now, in the presence of everyone here. If the painting’s value exceeds one hundred million, you were to kneel down and call me grandpa. You haven’t forgotten so soon, have you?"

The crowd, always ready for excitement, began to speak up.

"Exactly, we are all witnesses!"

"Hurry up and kneel down to call him grandpa!"

"What’s it like to call someone much younger than you grandpa?"

"Ha-ha, we don’t know yet, but we can interview him afterwards!"

...

Huang Baifu’s face turned a livid shade of green: "You punk, don’t push people too far!"

Xu Yang said, "Am I pushing people too far? I’m merely reminding you to honor your promise."

Wang Xiaocong stood up and said, "Huang Baifu, if you don’t do it, your family’s ventures in China will be relentlessly attacked by the Wang Family from now on. Your family won’t have a foothold in the Chinese market. I wonder what your father would think if he knew about this. I have heard that he is very eager to enter the Chinese market.

If, because of you, our Wang Family causes your venture to fail, do you think he would break your legs? Would he replace you with your younger brother as his heir?"

Hearing this, Huang Baifu’s face turned even paler.

He was the eldest son, the heir to the family.

But this position wasn’t set in stone, as he had a younger brother.

If he made a significant mistake, his younger brother could replace him.

If his brother replaced him, his position in the family would become precarious.

Not to mention the prospects of marrying into a prestigious family with official state ties were at risk.

Put simply, if he did not kneel and call him grandpa, then everything he possessed could vanish into thin air, ultimately leaving him trampled under his younger brother’s feet and by the other second-generation heirs, dooming the marriage alliance with the official prestigious family.

But kneeling and calling someone grandpa would also mean losing face, risking a video being shared online, humiliating his family, and potentially being replaced by his younger brother as well.

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