Movie variety show soul travels between two worlds to become a rich man

Chapter 663 Old Thirteen's Insidious Gift
Liu Yiming stared at Xu Yuan, his eyebrows lowered, and said in a deep voice, "The rule of distinguishing the true from the false has never been taken lightly by our Five Families."

"I believe you," Xu Yuan said after a moment's hesitation.

Liu Yiming chuckled, then changed the subject: "Xiao Xu, your Xu family is in the field of epigraphy, but you're still lacking in the skills to appraise calligraphy and paintings. Your article questioning 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' seems sharp, but it's actually full of flaws."

"Since there are so many loopholes, why don't you step forward and clarify them?" Xu Yuan asked, frowning.

Liu Yiming chuckled and said, “You’ll inevitably be dealing with calligraphy and painting on this trip. Without some basic knowledge, you probably won’t be able to handle it. Alas, Chinese calligraphy and painting are so profound and extensive that you could never fully explore them even in a lifetime. Since time is limited, I’ll just pull out some knowledge related to ‘Along the River During the Qingming Festival’ and tell you some anecdotes and common sense about the Xuanhe era and Emperor Huizong of Song—it’s always better to cram at the last minute than not at all.”

So, in the ward, Liu Yiming sat in a chair and began to speak slowly and deliberately.

Gao Dongxu knew this was an extremely rare learning opportunity, so he listened attentively.

Liu Yiming discussed everything from Emperor Huizong of Song's "Slender Gold" calligraphy style to the perfect four-character rhyme scheme, and from the Hanlin Academy of Painting system to brushwork styles. Having immersed himself in this field for decades, Liu Yiming explained his knowledge in a clear and concise manner, making his instruction a true pleasure.

Unfortunately, the class only lasted an hour before Director Luo received the latest news from Hong Kong: Bairuilian Auction House announced that it had officially commissioned an internationally authoritative institution to conduct carbon-14 dating on the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival in its possession.

The opponent's relentless pressure, step by step, quickly pushed the Forbidden City and the Five Veins to the brink of collapse.

Without any hesitation, Xu Yuan decided to leave the hospital and fly to Shanghai to find Dai Haiyan and find strong evidence for the fragments of the Riverside Scene at the Upper River.

Director Luo and Liu Yiming decided to personally address the external doubts and buy Xu Yuan some time.

As for Gao Dongxu, he and Huang Yanyan escorted Huang Kewu back to the Huang family's old house.

"Are you really going to stand idly by?" In the main hall of the Huang family's old mansion, Huang Kewu frowned as he looked at Gao Dongxu, who was leisurely drinking tea, and asked.

"Xu Yuan will handle this matter. You should worry about your Huang family first," Gao Dongxu said, putting down his teacup and sneering at Huang Kewu.

"What do you mean?" Huang Kewu asked, his brows furrowed.

"Yanyan's experience in Jianye shows that the Huang family, and even the Five Families, have lost their influence in the area," Gao Dongxu said calmly. He glanced at Huang Yanyan, whose brows were slightly furrowed and who was tugging at his clothes, and continued helplessly, "Furthermore, the higher-ups have drawn a line for your Huang family, returning the Baimen's assets to the Xu family. The Huang family can only keep its core territory; the rest... you know."

"What?!" Upon hearing Gao Dongxu's words, Huang Yanyan was the first to explode, her pretty face flushed with anger. "How could they do this? Isn't this blatant robbery?!"

Huang Kewu looked directly at Gao Dongxu and said calmly, "Okay, tell Director Luo that the Huang family will sort things out as soon as possible and hand them over."

"Grandpa—" Huang Yanyan stamped her foot anxiously.

"Yanyan, those things never belonged to the Huang family to begin with. The best outcome is that they can simply be handed over and things can settle down peacefully." Gao Dongxu said helplessly, looking at Huang Yanyan, who was filled with resentment.

"But—" Huang Yanyan still wanted to argue, but Huang Kewu interrupted her directly, saying, "There are no buts. Dongxu is right. Without him, the Huang family probably wouldn't even have had the chance to land so smoothly. Look at the Yao family now; they are the best example."

Speaking of the Yao family, Huang Yanyan's face turned very ugly. Ever since the Buddha Head case, Yao Buran was wanted and on the run, and Yao Lao committed suicide by poison to atone for his sins, the Yao family has fallen into internal strife, with each branch fighting each other. If it weren't for Liu Yiming and Huang Kewu keeping things in check, the Yao family would have fallen apart long ago.

"Grandpa, you mean the Yao family's affairs, someone is behind it all..." Huang Yanyan said in a trembling voice, her face extremely pale, as if she had just realized something.

"Once this chaos is over, the Yao family's foundation will probably be almost gone..." Huang Kewu was very clear that what those people and forces who coveted the Five Families really wanted was the accumulation of the Five Families over the past few hundred years.

Huang Yanyan's face turned deathly pale, and she looked at Gao Dongxu with fear, saying in a trembling voice, "Their real target is the foundation of the Five Families?!"

Gao Dongxu nodded helplessly, reached out and grabbed Huang Yanyan's cold, trembling hand, and comforted her, saying, "With hundreds of years of continuous inheritance and the wealth accumulated by the five lineages, who wouldn't be tempted?"

If the Five Families behaved themselves and didn't give others an opportunity to take advantage, things would be better. But look at them, apart from the Xu family of the White Gate, aren't the other four families arrogant, domineering, and monopolistic? This is a knife you Five Families willingly handed over. There's nothing I can do; all I can do is help you protect the Huang family's core territory.

There are too many people and forces waiting to grab a piece of the Five Families' lucrative pie. No matter how powerful I am, I can't withstand it, nor should I. Blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents. Over the years, your Five Families have accumulated too many weaknesses…

Huang Yanyan opened her red lips, her face pale, and finally gave a helpless, bitter smile, on the verge of tears.

Huang Yanyan, who had already taken over the Huang family's businesses, naturally knew what Gao Dongxu meant by having too many "handles". She used to think that the Huang family's businesses were all clean, but after taking over and getting to know them better, she realized that while the Huang family's above-ground businesses were indeed clean, they also had underground businesses.

There's no way around it; the Huang family's core business is bronze ware. And what kind of bronze ware is most abundant? Of course, it's the newly unearthed pieces. There's no need to elaborate on the others.

"Alright, don't be sad about those bottles and jars. Not only will you be able to travel light, but you can also completely get rid of any future troubles. Once you've secured your base, you can start over from scratch. I'll help you," Gao Dongxu said softly, holding Huang Yanyan's delicate hand.

"Hmm." Huang Yanyan took a deep breath. She knew that the general trend was unchangeable. Just as Gao Dongxu said, being able to spend money to avoid disaster and wash away all the previous stains was indeed a good thing.

Huang Kewu looked at Gao Dongxu, then glanced at his granddaughter whose eyes were full of tenderness, and sighed softly. He knew that without Gao Dongxu this time, the Huang family would have been completely drained of its resources, reduced to almost nothing.

Thinking of Dai Hexuan again, Huang Kewu's gaze toward Gao Dongxu became bright and sharp.

Even the mentally unstable and ruthless Dai Hexuan was terrified and fled after being dealt with by him, which shows just how cruel and ruthless this guy is.

"Dongxu, without you this time, the Huang family would have been severely damaged. Saying thank you would be too formal, after all, everything the Huang family has belongs to Yanyan. Once you and Yanyan have a child, it will all belong to your child..."

Gao Dongxu rolled his eyes in annoyance as he listened to Huang Kewu's scathing remarks. This old fox really was stingy.

"Grandpa—" Huang Yanyan said coquettishly, her pretty face blushing.

"Hehe. I'm telling the truth. Don't look at me with that disdainful expression. Everything the Huang family owns will be yours in the future. If I give it to you now, it's just a matter of passing it from one hand to the other. How about this, I'll give you a big gift. How much of this gift you can get depends on your abilities..." Huang Kewu said to Gao Dongxu with a sly smile.

"What kind of big gift?" Gao Dongxu became interested, and Huang Yanyan also blinked her beautiful eyes and looked at Huang Kewu curiously.

"Do you still remember that Daqi Tongbao coin?" Huang Kewu asked Gao Dongxu with a hint of heartache.

"Hmm." Gao Dongxu raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Didn't you ask me where I got it? I'll tell you now, I bought it in Shanghai in the 1950s. I was in Shanghai on a business trip, and I happened to witness an acquisition while I was discussing business at an antique shop in Zhabei District..."

As Huang Kewu spoke, a look of reminiscence crossed his face. He squinted his eyes slightly and slowly said, "The seller was an old man, wearing small round glasses with tortoiseshell frames and a black mandarin jacket. He looked like an old antique dealer. He carried two large wooden boxes, which a young man carried on a shoulder pole. The old dealer's hands trembled as he placed the items on the counter one by one."

The old shopkeeper brought a good selection of goods: a Ming dynasty doucai porcelain vase, a Qing dynasty bronze incense burner and jade Buddha, a Han dynasty square seal, a Qin dynasty roof tile, and several paintings and calligraphies. The variety was quite diverse, and they could all fetch a good price on the market.

The person in charge of purchasing was a young man. The old shopkeeper was very careful with the boxes, but the young man didn't seem to care and just picked them up and looked at them casually. After the old shopkeeper finished arranging a box, the young man took a pen, pointed to it, and said, "Five yuan per box, twenty boxes in total, that's one hundred yuan."

The old shopkeeper immediately became agitated, saying, "Comrade, you can't do this! How can you price cultural relics like that?" The young man rolled his eyes and said, "That's just how my rules are."

The old shopkeeper unfolded a painting and said it was Sun Kehong's "Conversation by the Stream," which used to sell for more than eighty silver dollars. He then picked up a piece of ink and said it was pine ink with an inscription by Cha Shibiao himself. These two items alone would cost more than two hundred silver dollars.

The young man grew impatient and waved his hand dismissively: "That was the old society, where feudal landlords exploited the working people's hard-earned money. That's not how it works now. Four yuan a piece, or three yuan a piece if you keep arguing. You decide for yourself."

The old shopkeeper was furious. He stomped his foot and declared, "I'm not selling!" The young man sneered, "Where else can you sell it to if not an antique shop? I'll call other shops right now and tell them to pay this price. Let's see if your feet can outrun my phone."

The old shopkeeper stood at the shop entrance, bursting into tears. I couldn't bear to watch any longer, so I went over and gave the young man a good scolding. At the time, many of the employees in the antique shop were members of the Five Families, and when I spoke up, the young man immediately fell silent.

Finally, the old shopkeeper settled on a relatively fair price for his two large wooden boxes of artifacts. The old shopkeeper thanked me profusely and took out a red silk pouch from his pocket, inside which was a copper coin.

My eyes widened immediately upon seeing the coin; I recognized it as the legendary chipped Da Qi Tong Bao. The old shopkeeper placed the coin in my hand, saying, "This is our shop's prized possession, kept secret until now. Times have changed, and it's useless to keep it. You are a discerning person, you know its value, please accept it, and please treat these treasures well, don't waste them." After saying this, the old shopkeeper, supported by the young man, swayed and left the antique shop.

At this point, Huang Kewu couldn't help but sigh, while Gao Dongxu patiently waited for him to continue, without rushing to ask what the grand gift was.

"Which antique shop is this?" Huang Yanyan asked, her beautiful eyes shining.

Huang Kewu said, "I don't remember. But you can go ask that young man."

"What's your name?" Huang Yanyan asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"His name is Liu Zhandou. He is currently the deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Appreciation Association and the head of the Liu family in Shanghai."

Huang Kewu, with his cunning and shrewdness, looked at Gao Dongxu, who seemed to be deep in thought, and said with a smile, "As far as I know, this kid took advantage of the restructuring to empty the antique shop. The big gift I prepared for you is this kid."

"What's the leverage?" Gao Dongxu asked jokingly.

"Cough cough, I knew I couldn't hide it from you, kid..." Huang Kewu shook his head with a wry smile.

"This kid somehow got hold of an ancient formula for aging paintings, and it's almost indistinguishable from the real thing. He's been selling his aging paintings for years, and I only found out about it by chance. When the time comes, just buy an ounce of gardenia, a packet of black tea, and ten acorns and go to him. He'll definitely kneel down immediately. How much you can get from him depends on your skills!"

"Grandpa, you—" Huang Yanyan stared wide-eyed at Huang Kewu, her lips twitching in disbelief.

(End of this chapter)