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Chapter 374 The Bored Emperor of the Qing Dynasty

Suning was forced to have a big meal before being allowed to leave by the little girl. The little girl got to invite Suning as she wished, and she seemed very happy.

"Ms. Zhou, thank you for the wonderful meal today!"

"You're welcome! Can I come directly to you next time?"

"Huh? What do you want from me?"

"I'll treat you to a meal!"

"Haha, Miss Zhou, thank you for your hospitality. I'm usually very busy, so I'll treat Miss Zhou when I have time."

"Hmph! What's there to be busy about? Why don't you just leave the work to your subordinates?" The little girl was not a business elite in later generations, so she didn't understand why adults were busy.

"Haha, some things have to be done by yourself." Suning said with a smile and left. "Okay, dinner is over, let's go home!"

"Humph! How boring!"

Seeing the little girl in front of him was a little witch, Suning smiled and left. It was obvious that the little girl's reminder to him at the seafood restaurant must have come from the instruction of her father, Mr. Zhou.

Some people may think that Suning is already so successful, so why can't it join Mr. Zhou's business circle? In fact, there are many people doing business in Hong Kong, and they are still divided into different levels invisibly. It is difficult for circles to cross each other, and it is also difficult for people outside the circle to integrate into them. You can compare it with the "Beijing circle" in later generations.

In their eyes, a "little guy" like Suning that has emerged suddenly is at most a rising star and has no foundation at all, so they think it is very dangerous. Anything can happen in the ever-changing Hong Kong business circle, so don't take yourself too seriously.

Recently, Suning received news that a down-and-out British aristocrat wanted to sell his property, which contained many precious antiques, so Suning was somewhat tempted.

"Brother Li, can you help me contact a few domestic cultural relics experts, preferably those who understand Egyptian history?"

"Oh? Why do you suddenly want to contact an antique expert?"

"I recently heard someone in the UK was selling antiques. I found out his ancestors had lived in Egypt, so I thought they might have some ancient Egyptian artifacts, so I wanted to get some experts in the field ready."

"Suning, it seems you really like playing with these things!" Li Pingan smiled bitterly and shook his head. "There's a saying that playing with things will ruin your ambition. That's what I want to remind you of."

"Haha, everyone has their own hobbies. Men in Beijing like antiques and other things."

"Hey! All right!" Li Ping'an was quite helpless, "I'll help you arrange it."

Li Ping'an acted quickly. Within two days, he brought two history professors from CUHK to Suning. In fact, Suning still preferred Hou Polan and Old Man Guan the most. However, Hou Polan was too selfish and it was not easy for him to form an employment relationship with Suning. Old Man Guan was too old, so he could only ask Li Ping'an to help him contact them.

"Suning, let me introduce you," Li Pingan said directly to the two history experts. "This is Professor Lin Penglin, majoring in ancient Egyptian history."

"Hello, Professor Li!"

"Hello, Boss Su!"

"This is Professor Yu Chengdong, majoring in Ming and Qing history."

"Hello, Professor Yu!"

"Hello, Boss Su!"

"I believe Director Li has already told you that we are going to the UK to purchase antiques. You only need to verify the authenticity of the antiques. You don't need to inquire about the price or the specific negotiations."

"Yes! Boss Su."

In England, there is a remote and dilapidated castle. Its dilapidated state and the moss covering its exterior all indicate the loneliness and decline of its owner.

Today the castle is unusually bustling with activity. Collectors from all over the world gather in the castle just to acquire the antiques collected by the castle owner.

"Gentlemen and ladies, welcome to Kings Castle in Owelton. Our Earl has prepared a sumptuous dinner for you all."

"Thank you!"

"It seems that this poor guy is still standing!" Su Ning whispered to the two professors with a smile.

"Haha, isn't this the same behavior as the Eight Banners descendants of the Qing Dynasty?" The two professors were also quite disdainful.

"Well, the worse they are, the better it is for us."

"Boss, I'm worried that today may not go smoothly because there are too many collectors here, and the competition will be very fierce." Professor Yu Chengdong said worriedly.

"It's alright! If I get it, I'm lucky. If I lose it, I'm dead.

If we really don't gain anything this time, we'll just treat it as a European tour for the three of us."

"Huh?" Professors Yu Chengdong and Lin Peng exchanged surprised glances. "This is so embarrassing."

"Professors, this is just like your research topic. Of course, it would be best if there are results." Seeing the two people's embarrassed expressions, Su Ning said disapprovingly, "If there are no results, we can change the topic and continue."

Suning’s meaning is very clear. If it fails this time, there will be next time. In any case, it will be carried out on a regular basis and it will never give up the opportunity to acquire.

In fact, everyone present was eager to appraise the treasure, but the host was particularly busy, so they could only suppress their restlessness and sit there eating without any appetite.

After finally waiting until the dinner was over, a blond, blue-eyed foreigner spoke up, "Mr. Count, we have finished the dinner and we appreciate your hospitality. Can we start appraising the treasures?"

"Haha, Wales, then I'll meet your requirements."

The Earl just clapped his hands, and then his butler came out and took everyone to the basement. Looking at the many antiques in the basement, everyone was almost suffocated with excitement.

Suning and the two professors walked in silently, and then began to roughly judge the authenticity of the collection. It was impossible to identify all of the tens of thousands of collections in a short period of time.

When the earl called everyone again, they finally woke up from their intoxication, returned to the hall, and began to negotiate with the earl.

"Everyone, these tens of thousands of pieces will only be sold together, so it only costs 100 million pounds!"

"Wow, the price is so high!" Many people were shocked.

Looking at the shocked guests in front of him, the count was not anxious at all. He thought he had these collectors in his grasp, but he soon found out that he had miscalculated.

"Mr. Earl, most of your tens of thousands of collections are modern handicrafts and have no value at all." American businessman Wales shook his head in disappointment, then got up and left. "You asked to sell them in a package and asked for such a high price. We cannot accept it." "Mr. Wales," the Earl wanted to stop him but he had no idea what to do. He could only watch the most powerful Wales leave.

Wales' departure quickly caused a chain reaction. Many businessmen who were not strong enough stood up and shook their heads and left. At this time, the impoverished earl was dumbfounded.

"Boss, that's great! At least two-thirds of the collections inside are authentic. One hundred million pounds is totally worth it." Lin Peng watched everyone leave and couldn't help but whisper excitedly.

"Hey! Professor Lin, do you know how much one hundred million pounds is?" Su Ning looked at Lin Peng speechlessly.

"Huh? Not much!"

"Huh? Consider the country's foreign exchange reserves this year, and you'll realize that 100 million pounds is an astronomical figure."

"But...but this opportunity is rare!" Lin Peng, an intellectual, still couldn't understand, "Didn't we come to the UK just to make an acquisition?
Why are you afraid of spending money instead? "

"Alright, Professor Lin!" Su Ning really lost interest in debating with intellectuals; it was truly too difficult. "You only need to be responsible for the appraisal. You don't need to worry about anything else."

"But" Lin Peng still wanted to continue insisting, but Yu Chengdong on the side hurriedly pulled the corner of Lin Peng's clothes because he found that Su Ning was a little impatient.

When almost everyone had left, Suning walked forward under the Earl's expectant gaze, took out a card and handed it to the confused Earl.

"Mr. Count, after our appraisal, less than one-third of your collection is authentic. The rest are modern artifacts and have absolutely no collectible value." Su Ning smiled at the down-and-out count in front of him, and then explained calmly, "If you, Mr. Count, can recognize the value of these collections instead of asking for too much, you can call me. We're flying to Paris at 6:00 PM tomorrow."

"This"

After Suning finished speaking, he took the two professors out of the castle and took a car directly back to the hotel where they were staying. Suning looked at the two professors and said, "You two professors have worked hard, you should go back to your room and rest first!
If no one contacts us by tomorrow afternoon, we will fly to Paris."

"Okay! Boss!" Yu Chengdong said with a smile.

Lin Peng, who was standing by, was still thinking about what had just happened. He kept muttering to himself, "Humph! No one must have contacted you."

Suning didn't care about Lin Peng, who was not in a very good mental state. He just shook his head and returned to his room, then sat there waiting for the call from the impoverished earl.

Suning knew that unless someone intercepted him, the impoverished earl would definitely contact him. No one was willing to offer 100 million pounds, not even the American businessman Wales.

As soon as Yu Chengdong and Lin Peng returned to their room, they heard Lin Peng complaining loudly, "This is unreasonable!
Why buy antiques if you don’t have the ability?

Could it be that these three grown men are really traveling?"

"Old Lin, didn't Boss Su say that at the beginning?" Yu Chengdong looked at Lin Peng speechlessly, "We only need to be responsible for the appraisal. We don't need to worry about anything else."

"Hmph! If you're not willing to spend money, then why are we out here?" Lin Peng still couldn't understand.

"Did Boss Su underpay our wages? Why did he hire us?" Yu Chengdong lost his patience as he watched Lin Peng continue to talk. "Is it just to hire two people to make decisions for him?"

"This"

"Old Lin, you were like this at CUHK, always looking cynical." Yu Chengdong tried to persuade Lin Peng earnestly, "Do you know that you are not sociable?

Since we don't understand business matters, why should we get involved?"

In the end, Suning's prediction was wrong. No one called him. Instead, that night, the Earl of Destitution appeared in person in Suning's hotel room, and then the two sat down calmly to negotiate.

"Mr. Su, if you are really interested in purchasing this collection, I can give you a discount."

"Mr. Count, to be honest, most of your collections are from ancient Egypt. There aren't many from China, only about one-third at most. And they're all imitations from later times, so they have no collectible value at all."

"Imitation?"

"Right! Just like if we were to imitate something from three hundred years ago, it would hardly be of any value a hundred years from now."

"Ah? How could this be?" The impoverished Earl was a little incredulous. "My grandfather said that many of them were brought out from your palace. How come they are all imitations?"

"Haha, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty were all idle. Their favorite thing was to imitate the items of their predecessors and then have fun with their ministers."

"Ah? They are so boring!" The impoverished Earl believed Suning's words, and then he couldn't help but get angry.

"Haha, yes! They are really boring." Su Ning almost couldn't help laughing, "However, many precious collections were lost in the war years.

The Qing emperors wanted to restore these damaged items, but they could only imagine.

I don't need to explain the final result, Mr. Count can also guess it!"

"Mr. Su, let's do this!

You only need to give me 80 million pounds." The impoverished earl realized that the value of the collection had been greatly reduced, so he began to bargain.

"I'm sorry, sir, I can only pay 20 million pounds."

"What? This is too low."

"Mr. Count, I have no interest in those ancient Egyptian collections, so they are worthless in my eyes. I bought them back to find a way to sell them."

"This"

"Mr. Earl, my price is very sincere. I don't believe anyone will bid higher than mine. Even Wales in the United States is in a difficult position."

Suning's words hit the earl's pain point. Before coming to Suning, he had already looked for Wales, but the result was very unsatisfactory. Wales was only willing to buy a few of the collections instead of buying them all as a package.

"Okay! Twenty million pounds, deal!"

Watching the antiques being packed into boxes and then shipped out of the castle, Lin Peng no longer felt unhappy, and his eyes looking at Su Ning became admiring.

Ignoring Lin Peng's thoughts, he watched as this batch of antiques, which cost two thousand pounds, were transported to a warehouse in Paris, France, waiting to be shipped back to Hong Kong via Charles de Gaulle Airport.

In the next few days, Suning took Yu Chengdong and Lin Peng to buy several antique shops in Paris and London, packed up all the authentic items and shipped them back to Hong Kong, and then instructed the store staff to continue purchasing antiques.

After finishing her work in Europe, Suning boarded a plane back to Hong Kong with her precious antiques. It was already June in Hong Kong, and the annual Miss Hong Kong pageant had begun. Suning also received an invitation letter from TVB.

(End of this chapter)