Chapter 98 Human Relations

  The same two words "family" have different meanings on Tao Jingying and Hei Yunduan's bodies.

  For Tao Jingying, it means I can consider you as one of my own but only to that extent, just don't cause me any trouble. For Wei Dandan, it means I've long considered you a brother from my own family, so there's no need to differentiate between us.

  But with different meanings, a huge wave also rose in the hearts of both people.

  Half an hour later, Xia Junliang arrived at the venue on time and greeted many celebrities he met before arriving at Rui Lin Jewelry's booth. He carefully packed the Wugong Longwen flower-shaped vase that Qu Wen had just bought into a box. Without even attending the closing ceremony of the international exhibition, he returned home early.

  As soon as Xia Junliang returned home, he eagerly took out the Longwen flower pot and examined it carefully with a magnifying glass for half a day before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

  "Good stuff, the five-color and blue-and-white on top have faded a bit. At first glance, it looks like something from Kangxi or Yongzheng, but it's indeed a Ming Wanli official kiln piece. Ah Wen, how much did you buy this dragon-patterned flower vase for?"

  "Two hundred and twenty million, isn't that expensive?"

  "Not cheap, but absolutely not a bargain, can only say it's a good deal. Why don't you lower the price? If it was bought at Qing Wucai price, it would be 80% cheaper, that would be a real bargain."

  No matter whose money it is, it didn't fall from the sky. Qu Wen also had this thought before, maybe if he said something to the old man, he would really think that what he has in his hands is a Qing dynasty five-color glaze, and finally, he could buy it at a price of 50% to 60%.

  "The old man who sold this vase had taken it to the antique market before and everyone said it was a Qing dynasty five-color, but the price offered was not high, so he didn't sell it. And I do free appraisals for people at the jewelry exhibition, I don't want to cheat an old man out of his money, it wouldn't be right." Qu Wen scratched his head, with a very honest face, if you didn't know him well, you would be deceived by his appearance.

  As expected, Xia Junliang couldn't stop praising after hearing this: "Well done, you're absolutely right. As the saying goes, 'a man must make a name for himself and a tree must cast a shadow.' Your free appraisal at the jewelry exhibition over the past two days has already had some promotional effect. And now that you've correctly appraised this dragon-patterned flower-shaped seal, it will earn you a good reputation in the industry for being trustworthy. I'm sure your master would be proud of you if he heard about this."

  Qu Wen heard the pleased laughter and smiled: "Second Master, if you praise me again, I'll have to find a hole in the ground to hide. Why don't you tell me how much this dragon-patterned flower-shaped wine vessel can sell for at an auction?"

  Xia Junliang heard and looked at Qu Wen: "How, are you going to sell?"

  Qu Wen nodded slightly: "En, I didn't buy it to sell, what's the point? Now I'm most short of money to use. Today I also bought over 20 million worth of jewelry and accessories to take back and give to my mom and Ya Xin."

  The original price of the jewelry was over two million, one of which was bought for his sister. Qu Wen didn't say anything but Ruan Dun deeply remembered it in his heart. From initial suspicion to surprise, admiration to worship, Ruan Dun slowly placed Qu Wen's position second only to his sister in his heart.

  More than 20 million worth of jewelry, if Qu Wen is buying for fun, Xia Junliang might scold him for wasting money. However, buying it for Qu Wen's mother and Su Yaxin, Xia Junliang would increase his praise for him.

  Look at what my little brother is wearing, it's always just ordinary jeans and a T-shirt, which proves that he's not someone who likes to waste money. But when it comes to giving gifts to his mother and girlfriend, he doesn't hesitate to spend hundreds of thousands, which shows that his love for family and friends surpasses his own self-interest.

  Not to mention those who are far away, looking at those who are close by, Zhao Haifeng and Jian Du's attitude towards him, in addition to friendship, there is also a bit of loyalty.

  "If this dragon-patterned vase were to be auctioned, it should sell for over 40 million. Who knows, if someone really likes it, the price might go even higher. However... " Xia Junliang paused, seeming a bit embarrassed: "I also quite like this dragon-patterned vase, how about I offer 45 million to Second Master?"

  Qu Wen thought Xia Junliang was going to say something, but it turned out that he had taken a liking to the dragon-patterned flower-shaped wine vessel. With a very generous wave of his hand, he said: "Second Master Brother likes it, so just take it for the original price of 22 million. Among our own brothers, we don't mention those trifles about money."

  The magnanimity of Qu Wen is very much in line with Xia Junliang's taste, because he himself is also a generous person.

  "No way, if Master and Big Brother find out about this, they'll scold me to death. And Second Brother doesn't lack that bit of money, so don't be polite with me, otherwise I'd rather not have this dragon-patterned vase."

  Xia Junliang has already said so, what else can Qu Wen say, saying more would be pretentious. He scratched his head and chuckled: "Then I won't be polite, next time I'll invite Second Brother to the hotel for a good drink."

  Xia Junliang smiled happily and asked Qu Wen for his bank account number. He went into the study alone and completed the transfer procedure in no time. And Qu Wen made another two million yuan in just half a day, which was exactly the money he spent on buying jewelry in the afternoon.

  In the late afternoon, the last rays of sunlight faded away, and the lazy clouds rose with wisps of pink light. The twilight gradually deepened.

  After dinner, Qu Wen Zheng thought of taking a walk in the yard, when he suddenly heard the ringing of the phone. He opened it to find an unfamiliar number.

  "Hello, may I ask who you are?"

  "Didn't you say you were going to teach me something? You left in such a hurry this afternoon, without explaining anything clearly." The phone rang with Tao Jingying's melodious voice coming from the other end.

  If Tao Jingying hadn't called him, Qu Wen would have almost forgotten about it. After thinking for a moment, he replied over the phone: "Do you think this is hand-holding teaching? Do you want me to stay by your side 24 hours a day? If you're bored and have nothing better to do, go read up on Chinese history until you can recite it backwards."

  "You're the only one who wants to be with me for 24 hours, Qu Wen, you promised not to perfunctorily, what are you now? Let me go learn those superficial things?" The phone rang again with Tao Jingying's scolding voice, surprisingly this time she didn't call Qu Wen a "difficult citizen" but directly called out his name.

  Every time he hears this, Qu Wen gets a bit angry. Can't even understand the basic knowledge, what's the point of talking about antique appraisal?

  "Superficial, I think you're the superficial one. Apart from spending money, what else can you do? Why don't you tell me how many dynasties there have been from the Xia Dynasty to the present, how many emperors each dynasty had, what events occurred during that time, and what were the characteristics of that era?" Seeing Tao Jingying not responding for a long time, Qu Wen said again: "If you can't even figure these things out, what's the point of talking about antique appraisal? Tomorrow I have to accompany my senior brother to attend a charity dinner, so I don't have time to deal with you right now. After I'm busy, I'll personally test your historical knowledge."

  As soon as he finished speaking, he hung up the phone with a "click", but just after hanging up, the ringing sound started again.

  "This time Qu Wenlian didn't even look at the text and picked up the phone to scold: 'Are you done yet? Go back and memorize Huaxia history honestly, if you can't recite it fluently, don't expect me to teach you anything!'"

  The phone was quiet for a moment, then suddenly a bright and cheerful laughter came through: "Ah Wen, I want you to teach me something, but it's not general knowledge of history."

  The voice on the phone sounded somewhat familiar, but for a moment he couldn't think of who it was. Qu Wen awkwardly asked, "May I ask who this is?"

  "My surname is Lu, first name Jianjun. We met in Chengdu before. How could you forget your brother so quickly?" The phone was silent for a moment, then burst into loud curses.

  Upon hearing the name Lu Jianjun, Qu Wen quickly recalled a refined-looking yet hard-drinking young master.

  "It was you, the voice on the phone was a bit distorted, no wonder I couldn't tell. You suddenly called, what's up? Are you coming to Hong Kong to drink with me?" Qu Wen and Lu Jianjun had a great conversation that night, addressing each other as brothers, so they spoke very casually.

  "I know you're in Hong Kong, and I also know that you made a big splash in Hong Kong with your incredible shooting skills at the target range, which almost made my grandsons think of you as a godly grandfather to worship. Later on, when I mentioned knowing you, they wouldn't let me off without helping to introduce you."

  Qu Wen heard some movement and asked into the phone, "Where are you now?"

  "I just got off the plane and I'm at Hong Kong airport now. If you're free, come pick me up right away."