Old Mrs. Song is reborn; get out of here, you scumbag husband and illegitimate child!

Fu Huanian went to the card room and irritably started playing mahjong.

The friends at the table exchanged glances.

These people had already received benefits from Gu Qingping and were waiting to set a trap.

"Huan Nian, I'm not trying to be mean, but your old man is incredibly biased." Fatty Wang across from him exhaled a puff of smoke. "You're the eldest son, and you even gave the Fu family two grandsons."

What does your second son, who lives off his wife, have? He's a bachelor, and hasn't even had a child in years. Why should he take all the family money to go into business?

Fu Huanian paused in his movements, his face darkening as he remained silent.

He's feeling really frustrated right now.

The skinny man next to him added fuel to the fire, "The second brother takes advantage of his few years of schooling to treat your family like beggars every day. This time, with this so-called 'internal shares,' he's clearly trying to take it all for himself. Once he makes money, will you still have any standing in this family? He doesn't treat you like a brother at all."

Someone won the hand.

Fu Huanian pushed the mahjong tiles away and rubbed his face in frustration.

That ingrate of a second son is indeed getting more and more arrogant.

He even dared to secretly replace the family's antiques, and the old man actually gave him all the remaining family wealth.

"If you want to turn things around, making a scene won't work," Fatty Wang said in a low voice. "You need to have money of your own. A new place just opened next door, and you're on a winning streak today. Let's go get some capital, and you won't have to put up with the second-in-command's temper."

Fu Huanian felt a lump in his throat from those words.

He slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "Let's go take a look."

Upon arriving at the casino, Fu Huanian's luck turned out to be incredibly bad.

You lose at everything you play.

In less than half an hour, he lost all the money in his pocket.

The dealer next to him glanced at him. "Want to continue?"

Fu Huanian's eyes reddened, and blood rushed to his forehead.

"Call me! Lend me some chips. I still have an old house at home, I'll pawn it to you. Today I'm going to win it all back."

Fu Qingnian was about to leave with the money he had scraped together.

Fu's father called him into the inner room and mysteriously pulled a long, rectangular iron box from under the bed.

"Take it." Father Fu handed the box to Fu Qingnian. "This is the most valuable Five Oxen painting in our family."

Fu Qingnian opened it, glanced at it, and frowned. "Dad, the eldest son said all of yours are fake. How much is this painting worth?"

"How could those things be fake? He must have lost money gambling and deliberately made them look fake."

"I personally acquired this painting back then. There was a physicist named Wei whose family had a long history of high-ranking officials. Because of this painting, I reported him for having anti-Eastern sentiments. I also claimed that they had relatives who had gone overseas."

Fu Qingnian was stunned.

"Later, that man was persecuted to death, and his entire family was sent to the countryside. I took advantage of the chaos to steal this painting and a batch of gold bars. Unfortunately, the gold bars were lost on the way, leaving only this painting."

Fu's father gripped Fu Qingnian's arm tightly with his withered hand. "This is absolutely genuine. No man is without ruthlessness. Your father-in-law is an overseas Chinese and has seen the world. Show this painting to him and find a way to sell it overseas. Our family's future depends on this."

Your older brother is a hopeless case; our family is counting on you from now on. Whatever you do, don't let him know.

Fu Qingnian's heart raced.

"I understand, Dad. I'll take care of it."

Fu Qingnian carried his bag and went to the five-star hotel where Yao Hong was staying.

Pushing open the suite door, you'll find a thick carpet on the floor and a dazzling crystal chandelier.

I heard that you can only book these suites if you have a certain status.

Yao Hong didn't let him see Shi Changrong, but took him to see Song Xianglan instead.

Song Xianglan sat on the sofa, holding a cup of red tea, and glanced at Fu Qingnian from head to toe.

He was polite on the surface, but the contempt in his eyes was unmistakable.

Fu Qingnian took out the iron box and told him about the Five Oxen Painting.

"It's a family heirloom." Song Xianglan raised an eyebrow. "We can't be careless about this; we need to find an expert to take a look. I'll make a call."

Song Xianglan went into the inner room and dialed Master Tan's number.

"Ninth Master, I have an ancient painting here that I would like you to take a look at. The other party, surnamed Fu, said that he has a painting of five oxen."

On the other end of the phone, Master Tan's hand holding the receiver trembled violently, and he almost couldn't suppress his voice.

"Five Oxen Painting? Surname Fu?"

"right."

"I'll be there in two hours." Master Tan almost choked up as he hung up the phone.

Song Xianglan returned to the living room and smiled as she nodded to Fu Qingnian.

"They'll be here soon."

While waiting, Song Xianglan chatted with Yao Hong about everyday things.

"Honghong, come with me to the mall later. This outfit needs to be matched with some nice jewelry." Song Xianglan said, putting on airs. "By the way, your cousin has a boyfriend in Beijing. I heard they always drive a Hongqi sedan when they go out. I really don't know what that girl is thinking, dating an official with so many rules."

Yao Hong echoed in agreement:

"My cousin is beautiful and comes from a well-off family. She'd be a good match for anyone. It's just that they're marrying above their station."

Fu Qingnian sat to the side, unable to get a word in edgewise.

I've been under a lot of stress these past two days, and with not sleeping well, my eyelids are getting heavier and heavier as I listen to the soothing music playing in the suite.

Not long after, he actually fell asleep on the sofa.

The doorbell didn't ring.

Two soft knocks came from outside the door.

Song Xianglan went over and opened the door. Master Tan was standing outside, with an old man wearing a baseball cap beside him.

Song Xianglan pointed to Fu Qingnian on the sofa.

Master Tan made a shushing gesture.

The two walked over very quietly.

The old man in the baseball cap pulled out an identical wooden box from his pocket and switched it with the one next to Fu Qingnian's.

The whole process took less than three minutes.

The old man, holding the real painting, quickly retreated to the doorway.

He lowered his voice, "I'll go get a room first."

"Go next door." Song Xianglan took out a key card and handed it to him. "That's Chen Zui's room. Go in and find him, but don't leave with the painting yet, lest something unexpected happens."

The old man nodded and slipped out the door.

Song Xianglan closed the door again.

Master Tan straightened his long gown, stepped outside, and rang the doorbell.

"Ding-dong—"

Yao Hong quickly nudged Fu Qingnian, "Qingnian, why are you asleep? People are here."

Fu Qingnian woke up with a start and instinctively reached for the bag beside him.

He breathed a sigh of relief that the items were still there.

Song Xianglan opened the door and welcomed Master Tan in.

"This is Master Tan, one of the top experts in the Shanghai antique market," Song Xianglan introduced the two.

Fu Qingnian quickly stood up and smiled apologetically.

He didn't know Master Tan, so naturally he didn't know that this was someone his elder brother had contacted.

Master Tan: "Open it and take a look."

Fu Qingnian carefully unfolded the painting.

Master Tan leaned closer, took out a magnifying glass, and examined it carefully from beginning to end.

"A fine painting." Master Tan's eyes gleamed with admiration. "The brushwork, the expression, the ox in the painting is truly superb. If this painting were on the market, it would be worth tens of millions."

"Ten million?!" Fu Qingnian gasped, his voice cracking.

What does tens of millions mean?

He had never seen so much money in his life.

Fu Qingnian's palms were sweaty, and his heart was pounding.

His mind immediately began to race. Since the painting was so valuable, why should he just give it away to the Shi family as a favor? The old man wanted him to sell it overseas, so he could simply go to the United States and find an auction house himself.

There are plenty of wealthy people abroad; they might be able to sell it for even more.

He even began to regret that he had transferred the house to Yao Hong in such a haste.

If he had known there were such valuable treasures at home, why would he have put up with this humiliation?

Song Xianglan caught the greed that flashed in Fu Qingnian's eyes.

He smiled calmly.

"Since it can be considered a family heirloom," Song Xianglan said, looking at Master Tan, "Master Tan, this painting is so good, what if we sent it directly to Hong Kong for auction..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Master Tan suddenly frowned.

He leaned close to the lower left corner of the painting and stared at it intently with a magnifying glass for a long time.

"Something's not right." Master Tan's expression changed. "This seal is a bit off."

Fu Qingnian's heart skipped a beat, and the ecstasy on his face instantly froze.

Master Tan straightened up and pointed to the eyes of the last cow. "These eyes are wrong too. This painting isn't genuine; it's been artificially aged."

Fu Qingnian panicked, "Impossible. My dad said this is... this is a genuine item that he went to great lengths to obtain back then."

Master Tan snorted coldly:

"I know a family surnamed Wei, and they are famous for producing many talented people. There is a Wei family member named Wei San, whose brother-in-law is the most skilled at this kind of antique-style painting. This painting of yours is most likely his work."

Master Tan turned and stared at Fu Qingnian with a sharp look in his eyes.

"The Wei family members died or went missing in recent years. How did this painting end up in your family's hands?"

Fu Qingnian felt uneasy under the stare and stammered, unable to speak.

Master Tan pointed to the seal on the painting with his finger, "Look at this private seal, it's clearly the Wei family's mark. Back then, the Wei family specifically left secret marks in the details to distinguish the aged paintings from the real ones. Yours matches them all perfectly."

Fu Qingnian felt a buzzing in his head.

The dream of ten million was shattered into dust in an instant.

He was unwilling to give up. "Ninth Master, take another look. Are you sure you're not mistaken? This is definitely the real deal!"

"It's the same no matter how many times you look at it. If you don't believe me, go to the antique market and have someone look at it yourself." Master Tan put away the magnifying glass, shook off his hand, and his tone turned cold. "Ms. Song, don't waste my time on this kind of thing."

After saying that, Master Tan turned and left the suite.

Song Xianglan spread her hands. "Honghong, don't waste my time on these fakes. I'm very busy."

"Honghong, it can't be a fake."

Yao Hong believed Fu Qingnian, "Why don't I go with you to the antique market? That Ninth Master might have made a mistake."

"Okay, let's go to the antique market."

Fu Qingnian, carrying the wooden box, went out with Yao Hong, looking flustered.

He emerged from a pawnshop in the antique market, his brow beaded with sweat.

Yao Hong followed behind, wearing high heels, her face full of impatience.

This is already the seventh store they've visited.

"Fake." The shopkeeper pushed the painting across the counter. "A copy by the Wei family. These past few days, people have brought in paintings from the Wei family asking if you're from the same batch."