Debuted right after graduating from high school

Many itineraries were arranged in advance and it was inconvenient to make changes at the last minute.

The next day.

It was the same familiar van and the same familiar bodyguards, who were responsible for taking Gong Lingyue to a clothing and styling studio in Causeway Bay, where she was going to have a photoshoot for a magazine.

As Gong Lingyue slowly walked away from the gate, her brows slightly furrowed, and she struggled to get into the car while holding onto the seat, the bodyguard couldn't help but chuckle, thinking to himself, "That's more like it!"

What I abandoned halfway through last night was finally finished this morning.

Fan Wumian was in a great mood. He didn't know what Gong Lingyue thought, but his experience was simply wonderful.

So excited that I couldn't take a nap, I got up and went to my study, sat in front of the computer and checked the recent stock price trends of companies like Tencent, Apple, and Amazon, as well as the index trends of major global markets.
While browsing the news, Fan Wumian unexpectedly discovered that a tabloid article about "the gloomy atmosphere of Tai Kwun in Mid-Levels, Hong Kong" was being widely circulated and commented on today.

Some netizens mentioned that Victoria Prison had executed a large number of death row inmates and contained remains of torture instruments such as gallows, making its feng shui extremely bad. They also said that if Fan Wumian moved his company to Daguan, it might experience a decline after reaching its peak.

Some netizens also said that Tai Kwun is gloomy and no matter how much it is renovated, they would definitely not dare to go there.

After reading it, Fan Wumian stroked his chin, feeling that the whole matter could be a big deal or a small deal, and needed to be treated with caution. If they were to be smeared like this, it would definitely have an impact on their business and housing prices if it escalated.

After carefully reading through several pages of comments, he found that the vast majority of people had a negative impression of Tai Kwun, which made him feel a bit troubled, since the earliest prison there was built in 1862 and would be difficult to demolish and rebuild.

Since we promised the Hong Kong government that we would try our best to maintain the original appearance, after thinking it over, we can only start with the feng shui layout and create the concept of "warding off evil" and "gathering wealth" to the outside world.

Don't underestimate the impact of just a few comments from netizens. If these comments leave a stereotype in people's minds, Fan Wumian might lose hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars when selling houses and collecting rent in the future.

Feeling it was absolutely necessary to nip the risk in the bud before things escalated, Fan Wumian made another rare phone call to Feng Shui master Li Mingfo, asking him to come forward and clarify the situation, publicly accept interviews from several media outlets, and say some good things about the situation.

Because Fan Wumian was always very generous with his money, and because he could also gain popularity by associating with him, Li Mingfo didn't hesitate after hearing this and patted his chest to promise that he would do his best to help get it done.

Afterwards, he called the secretary's office to give a few instructions and quickly contacted reporters from several newspapers, including the Financial Morning Post, the Hui Man Pao, and the Tai Kwong Pao, to meet Master Li Mingfo at Tai Kwun on Hollywood Road in Mid-Levels.

Master Li, holding a feng shui compass, looked around inside and out for a while, spitting as he spoke, puffing out his beard and glaring as he shouted:
"Who said the feng shui here is bad? That's utterly absurd, they're just pretending to know what they don't!"

“Look at the tall buildings all around, and then look at this low-lying area. With just a few modifications, it could become a treasure trove. Mr. Fan would definitely become very wealthy if he opened a company here.”

"As for the malevolent energy, after so many years, there is indeed a little bit left, but it doesn't matter at all."

"It would be best to build a fountain to turn water into wealth, find a good spot to plant more lucky bamboo, and set up a seven-star feng shui array in the square. Place a Pixiu in front with its head facing outwards and a Golden Toad in the back with its head facing inwards. At that time, the Golden Toad will spit money into the treasure basin, and the Pixiu will absorb wealth outwards. It will be difficult for Mr. Fan not to become very rich and powerful. I guarantee that he will reach a higher level."

"Oh, right, Mr. Fan has a very strong birth chart and amazing fortune; he's practically a once-in-a-century living god of wealth. We could also add a Four Symbols House-Protecting Array: the Black Tortoise bows its head, the Vermilion Bird soars, the Azure Dragon meanders, and the White Tiger submits, drawing in the great northern dragon vein to dispel evil energy—it's absolutely brilliant!"

Now almost everyone outside knows that Fan Wumian's fortune is like a dragon's, having gained great luck by buying properties in Yanjing and Gangcheng.

In Master Li's eyes, it was relatively easy to reverse the negative impression of Tai Kwun. He simply needed to find some gimmicks to guide the public. As long as there were enough media reports, it would naturally be recognized and accepted by countless people. This trick had never failed him.

The former prison cells will be used as galleries, art museums, souvenir shops, and restaurants in the future. Since no one lives there at night, we just need to make sure we don't scare away customers.

The architectural firm responsible for redesigning the grand hall was also notified in advance and sent a representative to take notes on what Li Mingfo said, and asked questions during the visit:

"Lucky bamboo, Pixiu, and golden toad are easy to find. But what kind of sculptures should Master Li use in the fountain pool? Human figures? Flowers? Mythological creatures?"

Master Li received the task hastily and hadn't had time to think it through. In front of so many reporters, he was worried that he would lose face if he didn't answer well.

After pondering for a moment, he suddenly remembered the news that Fan Wumian had heavily invested in hundreds of tons of gold, and his eyes lit up:
"Use gold! Forge a dragon egg. The egg must be wet to absorb dragon energy. It will surely prosper when it's wet!"

"It would be best if the golden toad and the Pixiu were also made of gold, so that customers could touch them and get some good fortune."

"The Seven Star Feng Shui Array for attracting wealth will be even easier to handle. We'll just bury a few crystals in the ground. We can discuss these details in more detail when we have time. I guarantee it will look beautiful."

Master Li's idea was simple: if more gold sculptures were used to attract attention, even just to look at them, it would attract many tourists to come and visit.

For example, the soon-to-open Grand Lisboa Casino in Macau had previously consulted Master Li and others about feng shui, and has already placed many treasures in the lobby, immediately distinguishing it from other casinos.

The designer continued to jot down the key points and asked again, "So, what are the requirements for the exterior and interior layout of the two buildings we're going to build next?"

Master Li went to take another look and said that one building should be carved with five emperor coins from stones found in the Five Sacred Mountains, and another building should have a feng shui gourd placed there. Everything else was fine.

That night.

Articles about the feng shui of the Tai Kwun project have appeared on major news pages, and platforms such as Tencent Weibo, Tudou short video, and Tencent News have also collectively taken the opportunity to promote the Tai Kwun project in advance.

Let people know about it now; who knows, it might attract wealthy people to buy houses and tourists to visit and spend money in the future. Fan Wumian also cooperated with the promotion, only forwarding articles about the Golden Dragon Egg and writing a sentence.

"Is two tons of gold enough?"

Currently, the price of gold in mainland China is only around 145 yuan per gram. This means that even if Fan Wumian does nothing but cash out all his assets and buy gold, his net worth could increase five or six times in more than ten years, reaching the threshold of 3000 billion yuan.

With such a large investment required for the Tai Kwun project, Fan Wumian was naturally happy to add a budget to create some gimmicks to attract tourists to take photos. As long as the project is completed, the revenue will be at least HK$10 billion.

On the surface, the investment amount is very high, but in reality, it is using bank money to generate more money, with limited actual expenditures and no impact on other businesses.

Countless mainlanders learned about Tai Kwun in Hong Kong for the first time because of this hot topic, but Fan Wumian didn't take this small matter to heart. He turned around and led the film crew to Shenzhen to continue filming. They filmed some content about Tencent and Land Rover, and also treated all the members of the Alluring Girls Group to a barbecue.

A few more days passed like this.

21st Century Fox suddenly announced just before Christmas that the Dragon Ball movie would begin filming in mid-January next year.

After learning the news, Fan Wumian was very curious about what kind of mess those Americans would make of this hugely popular IP.

Fortunately, he had so many projects on hand that he couldn't finish filming them all, so he wasn't in a hurry. He was still waiting for 21st Century Fox to completely mess things up before trying to find a way to buy the scraps.

Meanwhile, after discussing with his friends, Boss Cai announced that Fan Wumian was browsing Taobao, which quickly attracted the attention of many top collectors. They brought their treasures that they wanted to sell to the port city, and the number of people was much larger than expected.

To this end, Fan Wumian's side also paid for a venue in the hotel and entrusted Zhongxin Auction House to help maintain order, including security, appraisal, and providing storage space, making the event look very professional.

Several senior experts from the Yanjing Museum also came. They were all leading figures in the field. Two of them had dealt with Fan Wumian before, and at first they thought he had found some rare treasure.

On December 28th, Fan Wumian got up early and went to the Peninsula Hotel to have breakfast in the restaurant. He specifically took three fried eggs to supplement his nutrition.

I've spent the last few nights with Gong Lingyue, watching her go from knowing nothing to handling things with a smile and composure. It just goes to show that men are indeed at a disadvantage in certain situations.

Fearing that their relationship was rapidly escalating, he had already sent a car to take Gong Lingyue to the airport that morning, so that she could go to Yanjing for a period of training, ostensibly to "hone her acting skills," "learn how to be a star," and "practice her interviewing skills."

now.

As Fan Wumian drank his seafood porridge, he said to the person in charge of Zhongxin Auction House sitting across the table:
"I thought it would be a small event, but it turned out to be much bigger and bigger, with seventy or eighty people signing up. It was almost like a collection exchange event."

Sitting across from him was Manager Chen, the vice president of Zhongxin Auction House. Although he was a senior executive, his actual position was not high. He felt that he had made something of himself by having breakfast with Fan Wumian.

After listening, Manager Chen smiled and said:
"That's normal. After all, it's you who's choosing the items you want. Many people try every means to pull strings to get an entry spot, but we only want truly exquisite pieces, so we didn't let them participate."

"Some people have collections that are worth hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan, and they like to use auction prices as a reference price. In fact, they have no way to sell them to the public. They can only sell them at a 60% or 50% discount, or they are simply stuck with them with no market."

"It's true that auction houses charge high fees, but there's a reason for that. At least we have sales channels, and our clients are willing to spend money at auctions. Mr. Fan, you're different. Several renowned collectors are here today, and they've even brought treasures like Ru ware and Yuan blue-and-white porcelain."

The spring auctions this year were very popular, but with the outbreak of the subprime mortgage crisis, the autumn auctions quickly cooled down.

The phrase "having prices but no market" perfectly describes the antique market.

It's rare to encounter a truly powerful buyer, so countless sellers eager to sell their collections are naturally willing to come and try their luck, while also broadening their horizons and making some new friends.

Although fine antiques make up a small percentage, thousands of years of civilization have continued to this day, and our ancestors have left behind countless treasures. If it weren't for museums that only accept items and don't allow them to leave, helping to stabilize the market, the entire antique industry would have collapsed long ago.

If he were to buy antiques on a whim, like acquiring film and television rights, even if Fan Wumian were to spend two or three hundred billion Hong Kong dollars, he could spend it all in a short time.

Leaving aside the mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, there are many wealthy collectors abroad who are trying to gradually exchange items that their ancestors robbed or bought at bargain prices for huge sums of real money from the Chinese people.

Therefore, Fan Wumian has always felt that spending money to buy back cultural relics is not very meaningful. He only buys collectibles based on his personal taste. He will only buy them if he likes them and they have investment value. If he doesn't like them, he will give up.

Considering that both a future private museum and a new house under renovation or construction will need some treasures to decorate, the idea of ​​buying some items will arise.

After breakfast, in Fan Wumian's small banquet hall, long tables were arranged in a "口" shape, and various collections were displayed on the tabletops.

After speaking with several senior experts at the museum, Fan Wumian learned that the deal a few days ago on the Qing Dynasty Yongzheng imperial blue and white underglaze red cloud and dragon large celestial globe vase was in order, and the price of HK$2550 million was not too expensive. Fan Wumian immediately contacted Mr. Cai and said that he would ask a lawyer to draft a contract and transfer the money as soon as possible.

Next, we looked at the two gilded chime bells, "Wu She" and "Jia Zhong". The pieces were in excellent condition. With the help of a team of experts to negotiate the price, we quickly reached an agreement on a price of HK$2600 million, a reduction of HK$3500 million from the initial offer of HK$900 million.

As for the pair of Ming Jiajing polychrome fish and algae pattern covered jars owned by another friend of Mr. Cai, the asking price was HK$6000 million, and after the starting price was negotiated down to HK$5000 million, the price could not be lowered no matter what.

Fan Wumian hesitated for a short time, but still decided to buy the pair of Ming Jiajing polychrome fish and algae pattern covered jars, simply because it would be more pleasing to the eye to display them together at home.

The visit lasted less than half an hour, during which hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars were spent, before they even had the time to look at other items.

Paintings and calligraphy by Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian are inconspicuous on a table today; Ru ware, Yuan blue and white porcelain, and Ding ware are the rarer pieces.

On a whim, he then acquired a Qianlong yellow-ground blue-and-white dragon-and-flower celestial globe vase and a Qianlong famille rose nine-peach celestial globe vase, spending a total of HK$5300 million.

After much searching and picking, and occasionally encountering buyers who boasted about their wares, Fan Wumian soon bought a Ru ware celadon tea bowl. It was also from the Ru ware kiln, and because the tea bowl was small, the collector was happy to sell it for HK$1000 million.

There were countless treasures to be had, but his wallet was starting to feel the strain. After spending another HK$2800 million to acquire a Yongzheng underglaze red plum vase with a design of a dragon teaching its son amidst waves, Fan Wumian bowed helplessly and said:
"Everyone, I'm really sorry, I'm short of money and have used up my budget. That's all for today. If anyone else wants to make a purchase, please discuss it among yourselves."

Upon hearing this, one of the wealthy elderly men in the room looked helpless and quickly asked:
"Mr. Fan likes celestial globe vases? I have a Yongzheng Nine Dragons Playing in the Sea Celestial Globe Vase at home, but I didn't bring it with me today. I'll sell it for 2000 million! Others can also want it, but they need to pay the full amount as soon as possible."

Fan Wumian turned his head and asked an old expert from the museum:

"Is this celestial globe bottle rare? Is 2000 million expensive?"

The experienced expert replied:

"It depends on the condition. If the condition is good, it is extremely rare. 2000 million is the market price. It is slightly inferior to the famille rose nine peaches and yellow ground blue and white porcelain."

Fan Wumian decisively said:

"Okay, bring it over so I can take a look when you have time. If it looks good and there are no problems, I'll buy it."

After calculating, Fan Wumian realized that if all the deals went smoothly, the total cost would be HK$2.1 million. He gasped and smiled wryly at the camera:

"I'll probably get a lot of flak after this episode airs, but buying antiques is actually an investment, I don't know if everyone can understand that. That's all for today. The treasures I bought will be displayed in a special exhibition hall in Yanjing for you to see."

Before I could finish speaking, I unexpectedly received a call from the family office.

He then learned that the US stock market had plummeted the previous night, and his personal investment account had seen a surge in unrealized profits of approximately $2.49 million.

After a moment of silence, I felt instantly relieved.

Facing the camera again, Fan Wumian smiled broadly and said:
"I was too busy this morning to pay attention, but I suddenly found out that I made a lot of money shorting US stocks. Maybe I should go back and buy a few more? I don't know if this part can be broadcast. I might get even more criticism. I need to think about it some more. Remember to let me know when you're editing."

(End of this chapter)