China Entertainment 1981: Starting from Journey to the West

In the back room, Old Man Wang and Ma Weidu were lying in front of a desk, holding magnifying glasses in their hands, and carefully looking at the painting laid out on it.

Smith scratched his head anxiously. It had been more than an hour, but there was still no result. It was really worrying, but he didn't dare to make any sound. Just when he asked, he was directly criticized by the two people.

At the critical moment of spiritual communication with the ancients from hundreds of years ago, someone interrupted me. If it weren't for the sake of international friends, I would have scolded him.

Gu Bei was there, sitting aside and sipping tea. Old Man Wang really had some good stuff at home. He took a sip and his lips and teeth were filled with fragrance.

The two people were still communicating quietly while watching, but no one dared to speak out and make a conclusion.

"Boy, your painting...isn't right?"

Old Man Wang's eyes hurt from looking at it, and he lay hunched over for a long time, feeling that his body was going stiff.

"wrong?"

Gu Bei smiled, looking harmless.

"Can you please point out what's wrong? I'll thank you on behalf of my friend."

Old Man Wang originally wanted to lie, but saw the clues in the change in Gu Bei's expression. Unexpectedly, Gu Beifei didn't panic at all, but gave him a slight nod.

"I...can't tell, but I just think you are so weird."

Ha ha!

"What's weird? Old man Wang, you are also an old bug. You dare to say this openly. If you really see something is wrong and point it out to me, it will also give me some insights. Just one sentence of weirdness, and you plan to Determine authenticity?"

When Gu Bei said this, his smiling face instantly disappeared and his expression became stern.

"Old man, are you kidding me?"

Old Man Wang also knew that he had said the wrong thing and was scolded by Gu Bei, but he could not refute.

"Little Gu!"

At this time, Ma Weidu also raised his head.

"This painting of yours...how should I put it? The brushwork and ink are quite Song Dynasty, the charm is also sufficient, and the technique is definitely from the Northern Song Dynasty. Looking at the hemp and cracks on this painting, it is indeed the brushwork of Monk Ju Ran. I can't tell it's fake."

Gu Bei looked at Ma Weidu without saying anything, waiting for his next words.

"But it's just..."

Ma Weidu said, raising his hand to point to a seal painted on it.

"This is stamped with the seal of Shiqu Baoji, but I haven't seen any record of this painting on Shiqu Baoji."

As expected, he is indeed Ma Weidu.

Although he is still young now and his experience is not as good as in his previous life, his knowledge reserve is huge.

"exactly!"

Old Man Wang also shouted, looking at his excitement, he seemed to have picked up a big leak.

"Boy, how do you explain it? Since the seal of Shiqu Baoji was used, why is there no record of this painting?"

Gu Bei remained calm and picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

"Don't ask me this, ask Mr. Smith, what did his ancestors do?"

Uh……

After hearing this, Old Man Wang and Ma Weidu looked at Smith, suddenly thinking of something, their eyes full of evil.

Smith still doesn't understand what happened. What Gu Bei and the others just said were in Chinese. He didn't understand a word, but...

Why are you looking at me like this?
"What a bastard."

"It wasn't someone who beat me!"

Gu Bei laughed when he heard this. These two people were really interesting: "I don't need to tell you what happened back then. As long as you are Chinese, everyone knows about it. In that disaster, most of the Shiqu Baoji was burned. It is now spread What comes down is only a part of it.”

The two nodded repeatedly. This was a fact and there was no way to refute it.

"In addition, there are not many paintings by Monk Juran in our country. Most of them have been lost overseas. The one that is still in the country today is the painting of Pine Wind in Wanhe, which is also stamped with the seal of Shiqu Baoji. But Shiqu Baoji Is there any record in it?”

Ma Weidu nodded, then shook his head, looking down at the painting, his eyes suddenly became very tangled.

"Xiao Gu, is your friend really planning to sell this painting?"

As Gu Beicai said, there are not many authentic works of Monk Juran left in the mainland. There are quite a few across the strait, but if they are not displayed at the door of my home, I always feel empty.

What’s more, it’s really been lost overseas. There are some in the small house next door, and there’s also a collection in Smith’s hometown, the Old American Museum.

If this one is also sold...

Old Man Wang also wanted to speak, but he opened his mouth and finally held back.

Smith promised him that if today's deal is reached, he will give him a benefit fee.

It doesn't matter whether I sell my ancestors' goods or not. It's not what Uncle Wang sells. It doesn't bother me.

"Mr. Ma, is there any result?"

Smith was too impatient to wait and didn't bother to find out why Ma Weidu looked at him like that just now.

Despite his inner struggle, Ma Weidu finally nodded.

"Stuff is good stuff."

Hearing what Ma Weidu said, Smith's face immediately brightened up and he turned to look at Gu Bei.

"Gu, you... your friend, how much do you plan to sell this painting for?"

Pooh!
After hearing this, even Old Man Wang looked disgusted. Can a treasure that is hundreds of years old be sold?

Even the word "give" is disrespectful.

Gu Bei didn't say anything, he just raised two fingers and waved them in front of Smith's face.

Twenty thousand?

As soon as this idea crossed Smith's mind, he rejected it. The pile of junk he collected earlier cost more than 1 yuan.

This ancient painting has been appraised by two people. Although Smith doesn't understand it, seeing the greed in Old Man Wang's eyes and the reluctance on Ma Weidu's face, the value should be very high.

"20?" Smith just asked, and Old Man Wang exclaimed.

Before liberation, he had seen money when he was doing business in Liulichang, but now, the per capita salary is only 40 to [-] yuan.

20?
I dare to quote this price without fear of breaking my teeth.

As for Ma Weidu, he didn't say anything. In his opinion, the original work of Monk Juran should be a priceless treasure.

"Too expensive?"

Gu Bei smiled faintly, stood up and walked to the desk, then slowly rolled up the painting.

"For this price, and I really want it, I have to see the money today."

Smith did not respond immediately, but quickly calculated in his mind that 20 was not a big number to him.

He came to Beijing this time to follow a business delegation to inspect the investment environment. He also has a large-scale company in Laos and the United States.

At the current exchange rate, 20 RMB is only over 10 US dollars, and this is only the official exchange rate. In fact, the private exchange rate is much lower.

But now he doesn't have that much cash on him. He only came to travel in the name of inspection, and he doesn't want to invest immediately. The RMB he exchanged before has been almost spent.

"can."

In the end, it was hard for Smith to let go of the hundreds of years of ancient oriental art.

"But I don't have that much cash right now, so you have to wait."

"Is two hours enough?"

"enough!"

After Smith finished speaking, he turned around and went out, forgetting to call Ma Weidu.

"Boy, did your ancestors let you be sold like this?"

As soon as Smith left, Old Man Wang couldn't help but taunt him.

Sell ​​ancestors?
Gu Bei glanced at Old Man Wang provocatively: "Why didn't you say anything in front of Smith just now? Now you want to talk cheaply? What were you doing earlier?"

just said?
If he had messed up this deal by opening his mouth just now, who would give him any benefits?

"Looking at your age, you were working in Liulichang before liberation, right? At that time, did you sell your ancestors? Oh! By the way, you don't have anything real in your hands!"

you you……

Old Man Wang pointed at Gu Bei and glared angrily. He wanted to say a few upright words, but he ultimately lacked the confidence.

"Good boy, I congratulate you on getting rich."

After speaking, he raised his hand and it was obvious that he did not intend to keep anyone in this room.

Gu Bei didn't care, got up with the painting and went out.

Ma Weidu hesitated and chased after him.

"Xiao Gu, would you... think about this painting again? This is the only authentic work of Monk Juran that has been circulated among the people. I don't know if you are eager to use the money, but this painting If it can be kept in your hands for a few more years, the value will definitely double, just 20... what a pity."

Ma Weidu didn't believe what Gu Bei's friend said, but he just didn't want this authentic Juran painting to be lost overseas.

"20 is a lot, it's enough."

If it was really the original work of Monk Ju Ran, then Ma Weidu would have asked Gu Bei to find a golden nan box and enshrine the painting as if it were his ancestor.

Enough?

Ma Weidu smacked Gu Bei's words, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he laughed suddenly when he looked at Gu Bei.

"Xiao Gu, is there something in your words?"

Not only are there words in the words, there are also paintings in the paintings.

But Gu Bei pretended to be confused at this moment: "Oh? Did I say something?"

Seeing Gu Bei's reaction, Ma Weidu became more determined in his thoughts.

"No, of course not. You didn't say anything, and I didn't hear anything."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

Some things just need to be tacitly understood.

If it were anyone else, Gu Bei would definitely not be able to reveal anything, but if it were Ma Weidu, he would be willing to give it a try.

If Ma Weidu guessed the truth and turned around to tell Smith, Gu Bei would have just lost his first pot of gold, but he would have seen someone clearly.

As a reborn person, Gu Bei didn't believe that he couldn't make money elsewhere and had to resort to being old-fashioned.

No matter what the outcome was, he would not suffer.

Within two hours, Smith came back with two suitcases containing the money he had just withdrawn from the bank.

20 yuan is a huge amount of money nowadays. If you don't have the status of a foreign guest, if you want to withdraw so much money at once, the formalities alone will be annoying to death.

After going back to the house and counting everything, and after confirming that everything was correct, Gu Bei put the money away, and then pushed the rewrapped painting in front of Smith.

"The thing is yours."

Smith was overjoyed and became a good boy again, which was also what he had promised before. Sometimes foreigners are very contractual, but most of the time they are used to cheating.

Gu Bei, Ma Weitu, and Old Man Wang each received an envelope, which was the favor fee promised by Smith.

I felt the thickness and it was 500 yuan again.

Great harvest.

Without any polite words, Smith took the painting and left, as if he was afraid that Gu Bei would regret it if he was a second later.

Being fooled is like being reincarnated.

"Xiao Gu, are you going to save this money?"

Gu Bei picked up his suitcase and was about to leave when Ma Weidu stopped him again.