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

Chapter 873 Hidden Cards and Chips: The True Colors Revealed
Huang Lide looked at his precious daughter with doting eyes, patted her hand, and smiled at Gao Dongxu, saying, "Please—"

"Thank you." Gao Dongxu didn't stand on ceremony. Huang Yanyan affectionately linked arms with him, and he walked into the mansion side by side with Huang Lide and his daughter.

In the brightly lit restaurant, Gao Dongxu looked at the sumptuous dishes that looked and smelled delicious, and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

The dishes were excellent, and all were classic dishes, which shows that Huang Lide put his heart into it and wasn't just going through the motions.

"Come on, everyone, sit down. Mr. Gao, shall we have some baijiu?" Huang Lide smiled and gestured for the three to sit down, then picked up a bottle of Feitian baijiu and asked.

"Okay." Gao Dongxu smiled as he looked at Huang Lide's Yunlong face, but he still felt a little uncomfortable. After all, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, it was easy for him to subconsciously overlook the fact that Huang Lide was a bad person.

"Just call me Dongxu, and I'll call you Uncle like Yanyan does."

"Haha, that's great." Huang Lide was very happy to hear that Gao Dongxu was willing to call him uncle, and he personally poured wine for Gao Dongxu.

Huang Yijiang, sitting opposite Gao Dongxu, looked at him with a sweet and charming smile, so happy that she couldn't stop grinning, looking like she was glad she hadn't wasted her time.

The word "Uncle" made Huang Lide very happy. He frequently raised his glass to drink with Gao Dongxu. A bottle of Feitian liquor was quickly emptied, and another bottle was opened.

After drinking two bottles, Huang Lide took out a photo of Zhu Boqin and handed it to Gao Dongxu. At the same time, he began to reminisce about the past with Zhu Boqin with a look of nostalgia.

"...It was unprecedented and unparalleled, a masterpiece of craftsmanship. He was a genius, a great genius, a genius that only appears once every few centuries... And I was the discerning eye who discovered this exceptional talent... What a pity..."

As the alcohol took effect, Huang Lide was filled with mixed emotions, sometimes sighing, sometimes lamenting, which eventually turned into sadness and disappointment.

"Back then, did Zhu Boqin imitate it out of hobby, or was it for the purpose of forgery?" Gao Dongxu asked with a sharp glint in his eyes as he smiled and picked up some food.

"Uh?!"

Huang Lide first looked surprised, then looked at Gao Dongxu and shook his head with a bitter smile: "Hobbies, that's why he and I had a huge disagreement and conflict. He set fire to the workshop. The fire was huge, so big that I thought he died in it. Now it seems that the fire was just a pre-planned way for him to fake his death and escape..."

To be honest, when I learned he might not be dead, I was truly surprised and delighted, but mostly I felt lost and sad. We had been friends for over a decade; because of him, I was expelled from the Huang family. I don't understand why he viewed me as an enemy. Sigh—"

After saying that, Huang Lide picked up the wine cup, drank it all in one gulp, and looked dejected.

Huang Yanyan and Huang Yijiang remained silent throughout, listening with varying degrees of emotion. It was the first time they had truly understood the whole story of Huang Lide's expulsion from the Huang family.

"Our philosophies are different. He pursues his hobby and strives to achieve the ultimate skill of making counterfeits that are indistinguishable from the real thing. You, on the other hand, are after profit and seek huge profits with his imitations. People like Zhu Boqin have their own pride and bottom line."

Your biggest mistake was treating him like a goose that lays golden eggs, ignoring the goose's true thoughts and assuming that selling the golden eggs for money and giving it to the goose would make it happy.

"But you've forgotten that chickens know very well they're laying golden eggs, and at the same time, they don't want to be controlled or manipulated." Gao Dongxu said with a faint smile, looking at Huang Lide, whose face was pale and who was deep in thought.

Huang Yijiang and Huang Yanyan were extremely shocked. They realized that the biggest counterfeiter back then was Huang Lide.

Huang Lide has always had two faces. Within the industry, he is a respected authority and expert, outwardly appearing indifferent to fame and fortune, without desires, and extremely approachable. However, deep down, he is filled with a fanatical worship of power and money, insatiable and willing to do anything to achieve his goals.

The reason Huang Lide could openly discuss these past events with Gao Dongxu was because Huang Lide knew that Gao Dongxu's secrets were not secrets at all. He believed that Gao Dongxu had long known his true colors and everything about his past.

As expected, Gao Dongxu really did know everything.

However, Huang Lide is not afraid that Gao Dongxu will know his true identity, because he wants to take a gamble and bet everything on the fact that Gao Dongxu is the same kind of person as him: greedy, fanatical about power and money, insatiable, with flexible moral bottom lines, and no sense of good or evil, only self-interest.

Well, I have to say, Huang Lide has a good eye for people.

"pat-"

After a hearty meal and drinks, a slightly tipsy Huang Lide led Gao Dongxu to the treasure chamber. He turned on the lights and, with a touch of pride, pointed to the dazzling array of official kiln artifacts, saying, "These dozens of official kiln artifacts are all masterpieces by Zhu Boqin, flawless and indistinguishable from the real thing..."

Gao Dongxu raised an eyebrow slightly, smiled, stepped forward, picked up one of the items to examine it, and found that the temperature fluctuated between hot and cold, indeed reaching a level of realism that could be mistaken for a genuine article.

Huang Lide took out a box of cigars from the cigar cabinet next to him and gestured for Gao Dongxu to sit down. The two sat on the sofa, lit their cigars, and looked at the dozens of imperial kiln artifacts gleaming with precious light in front of them.

"Why did you reveal your secrets to me?" Gao Dongxu exhaled a puff of smoke, looking at Huang Lide with a half-smile.

"To be honest, if the new Zhu-style imitations hadn't appeared, I would have packaged these dozens of important artifacts and sold them slowly, which would have maximized my profits."

"But now, there's no other way. If I don't want these dozens of porcelain pieces to be stuck with me, I have to find a strong partner to get them out of business as quickly as possible." Huang Lide didn't beat around the bush and said frankly.

"Why did you choose me?" "First, you have power, influence, money, and ability. Second, I can see that Yijiang likes you very much. Third, I think we are the same kind of people."

"Oh? Which kind of person?"

"A person who loves money."

"Hahaha, you have a good eye for people." Gao Dongxu laughed out loud.

Huang Lide smiled, a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. He knew that the cooperation was basically on track.

"Tell me, how do you plan to operate this?"

Huang Lide laughed and said, "I've already made the arrangements. I'll send this batch of porcelain abroad to a small auction house in France, and then I'll buy it. That way, they'll have identification, and then I'll transport them back to China as repatriated cultural relics and have them auctioned off at an auction house..."

Gao Dongxu smiled and nodded. This was a standard practice in the later stages of cultural relic repatriation scams, and at present, it was still a very niche and high-end method.

"Have you considered the possibility that this batch of porcelain might be identified as a Zhu-style imitation?"

“Right now, besides me, you are the only person who can authenticate Zhu’s imitations,” Huang Lide said confidently.

"Hehe, no, besides you and me, there is another person who can authenticate Zhu Fang." Gao Dongxu shook his head and chuckled.

"Who?!" Huang Lide's expression immediately changed, and he stared sharply at Gao Dongxu, asking in a trembling voice.

"Zheng Yan," Gao Dongxu said with a faint smile, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"Zheng Yan?!" Huang Lide was taken aback at first, then frowned and said, "Tong Ziqing's apprentice? How could that be..."

“Nothing is impossible, because he is Zhu Boqin’s son, and Zhu Boqin left him a notebook for forgery.”

"What?!" Huang Lide suddenly stood up, his eyes wide, and exclaimed in disbelief.

Seeing Gao Dongxu smiling, Huang Lide frowned and slowly sat down again, recalling all his memories of Zheng Yan. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he murmured, "No wonder, no wonder I felt he looked familiar when I first saw him. His eyebrows and eyes are so similar to Zhu Boqin's..."

"Therefore, there are risks in auctioning this batch of Zhu-style imitations domestically. After all, the amount of money involved is too large, and if there are too many victims, the cover-up will not be able to be maintained, and something bad will happen sooner or later," Gao Dongxu said calmly.

"Then do you have a better way?" Huang Lide panicked a little, not expecting that besides Gao Dongxu, there was someone else who could authenticate the Zhu Fang.

“Change the details of your repatriated cultural relics, don’t auction them domestically, but auction them directly abroad, and swindle money from foreigners, wouldn’t that be better?” Gao Dongxu raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

Huang Lide shook his head and smiled wryly, "It's not that simple to put items up for auction overseas. Once there are objections, those big auction houses won't accept the commission."

"Hehe, that's because the identification you gave these porcelain pieces wasn't strong enough. What if the provenance of these porcelain pieces was well-documented?" Gao Dongxu raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"This..." Huang Lide's eyes lit up as he stared intently at Gao Dongxu, who was smiling and confident, and asked in a trembling voice, "You have a way?"

“That’s right, I did prepare a shell that can turn fakes into real ones. As long as these Zhu imitations are put into this shell, they will all be undoubtedly genuine and will face no obstacles when auctioned overseas,” Gao Dongxu said with a faint smile.

"Can you tell me?" Huang Lide asked eagerly.

"No." Gao Dongxu refused directly, looking at the somewhat embarrassed Huang Lide, and said, "I will not reveal my hand until things are completely settled."

Your batch of Zhu-style imitations is indeed so realistic that it's indistinguishable from the real thing. Therefore, I can cooperate with you; however, I want 60% of the proceeds from the auction.

"This..." Huang Lide's face turned extremely ugly. He originally wanted to use this opportunity to silence Gao Dongxu and give him 20-30% of the profits, but he did not expect the other party to have such a big appetite.

"Don't think I'm greedy. If I weren't sincere, I could have asked for 70% or 80%. Don't forget, you're the one begging me, and you've already revealed your hand. There's no turning back."

"If it weren't for Yi Jiang's sake, I would definitely take 70%. Moreover, if I really ended up with Yi Jiang, I would give her half of that 60% as personal money," Gao Dongxu said calmly.

"You—" Huang Lide's expression changed again, and he glared at Gao Dongxu angrily, asking, "What about Yi Jiang..."

"Don't misunderstand, she and I are just a little ambiguous, nothing has happened yet, but I think it will happen soon. After all, it's easier for a woman than a man to pursue a man. She took the initiative, so naturally I won't push her away." Gao Dongxu said shamelessly.

"You really are a bastard!" Huang Lide was so angry that he laughed, and said through gritted teeth.

(End of this chapter)