Exciting 1979!

Chapter 456: 30, 9000 paintings, hundreds of billions!
Xu Shufen hadn't been back to Yanjing for half a year, but she had adapted very well. She was more used to the weather in the north, and now that the heating was on, her home was very comfortable.

The old lady next door, Xiao Shufang, told her that a new supermarket had opened in Yanjing. Xu Shufen took the bus to visit it. It was not big, only about 200 square meters, and it only sold vegetables and meat. It was more expensive than the vegetable market. The packaging had prices on it, but no name, weight, or unit price.

Xu Shufen just went with the flow and experienced the new things, but felt that there was still a big difference between it and Hong Kong, and she probably wouldn't come again next time.

When I got home and was about to prepare lunch, I glanced into the bedroom and suddenly noticed that a box had been opened.

Xu Shufen's mind went blank for a moment. She immediately searched for the missing passbook and, sure enough, it was gone!

It looks like a thief has broken into the house!

Xu Shufen's first reaction was to call Wei Jiefang back immediately, but no one answered the phone at Beichizi. So she called the girls' dormitory at Peking University. Fortunately, Wei Hong was not out and said she would come back immediately after receiving the call.

Holmes examined the crime scene: "Mother, don't worry too much, it was probably an inside job."

"Ah, a thief within the family?"

“That’s right. Look at all this gold, silver, and jade jewelry, and all this cash. Only a bankbook is missing. Even if someone took our bankbook, they wouldn’t be able to withdraw the money. So there’s only one truth,” Wei Hong took a non-existent pipe out of her mouth. “Dad took the bankbook!”

Xu Shufen: "Your dad? It's alright now. It's good that you're back. We can have dinner soon."

"Mom, there's a lot of money in the savings account, isn't there? What does Dad need so much money for? Aren't you worried?"

"Fifty or sixty thousand, in Hong Kong dollars, that's a lot, but your dad's smarter than a monkey, he won't be fooled." Xu Shufen was very confident about this; her man had never been cheated, whether in the village or the big city.

~
However, Wei Jiefang is now a little worried that he has been scammed. He originally just wanted to buy a few paintings and calligraphy works, but as they talked, he got carried away and ended up buying them all.

Old Wei looked at Director Wang, who was all smiles, and Ma Weidu, who had brought him here. Then he looked at Xu Huachi, who wanted to compete with him for the calligraphy and paintings but was disappointed because he didn't have enough money. He wondered if he had been set up by them.

When Wei Jiefang and Ma Wei both saw the paintings, Director Wang of the Foreign Guests Service Department, upon hearing that Wei Jiefang was Wei Ming's father, immediately had a bold idea: to sell all the hard-to-sell paintings to him.

For this reason, he even suggested taking all of HK$30 worth of goods with him.

HK$300,000 is equivalent to more than RMB 80,000. With more than 9000 paintings and calligraphy works, each piece costs less than RMB 10!

Of course, this is the official exchange rate. In reality, HKD 30 is worth no less than RMB 30 on the black market. Unless it's a rare item, it's in line with the current market price. The key is that foreign exchange is too difficult to obtain.

At first, Lao Wei wasn't tempted at all because he didn't have that much money. His gambling on horse races in Hong Kong, plus the allowance his parents gave him, and the money he won from those old guys, only amounted to tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars. He was even thinking of exchanging it for foreign exchange certificates.

But Director Wang said, "It's okay. Just pay a deposit first, and Teacher Wei will settle the balance later. We'll keep the items safe for you, and none of the paintings and calligraphy on the list will be missing."

Everyone knows Wei Ming has no shortage of foreign exchange; it's said that his songs bring in a considerable amount of US dollars every month.

Wei Ming is a well-known figure in the industry, with a reputation that is widely praised.

At this point, Lao Wei was only slightly tempted. Just imagine owning nine thousand paintings and calligraphies by famous artists such as Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Li Keran, Wu Zuoren, Jiang Zhaohe, Xu Beihong, Huang Yongyu, Wu Guanzhong, Li Kuchan, Huang Binhong, Fu Baoshi, Guan Shanyue, Fan Zeng, Pan Tianshou, Zhang Boju, Qi Gong, Guo Moruo, and Xu Linlu. If those pretentious old men in Hong Kong knew about this, they would be green with envy.

But he ultimately didn't take action, feeling that the expense was beyond his means.

Just then, a young man named Xu Huachi was leading several Hong Kong VIPs on a tour. When he learned that such a batch of paintings existed, he became quite agitated and even tried to bargain with Director Wang, asking if he could get a discount, saying that 20 Hong Kong dollars would be acceptable.

If he works hard, sells the house, and borrows from his parents, siblings, and friends, he should be able to raise 20.

Upon hearing this, Lao Wei became agitated and asked who this person was.

Ma Weidu also recognized this person and introduced him to Wei Jiefang: "This is the young master of Mr. Xu Linlu. Everyone in the circle calls him Ninth Master."

Xu Linlu was a disciple of Qi Baishi, as well as a painter and collector. He had nine children, the youngest of whom was Xu Huachi, who was around 30 years old and had now immigrated to Hong Kong.

Old Wei quickly asked, "So where do you plan to put these paintings after you buy them?"

The other party replied: Hong Kong.

It must be Hong Kong, because he comes from Hong Kong and knows the potential value of these paintings. Once the ancient works have been collected by those Hong Kong tycoons, they will definitely start to target modern and contemporary painters. Mainlanders are not willing to pay high prices.

Upon hearing this, Old Wei got carried away and waved his hand, saying, "Director Wang, it's as we just agreed, 300,000 Hong Kong dollars. These 9145 paintings and calligraphies are mine. I'll give you a deposit of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars first!"

Looking back now, Lao Wei realizes he acted impulsively. At the time, he was thinking about how these paintings shouldn't end up overseas, but he forgot that Hong Kong would eventually return to China.

However, the 50,000 yuan has already been deposited into the history museum's account, and the contract has been signed. If they no longer want the property, the deposit will not be refunded.

Moreover, the remaining HKD 25 or equivalent foreign currency must be paid before these paintings and calligraphy works can be taken away.

The warehouse has now been resealed, and Lao Wei only has one key. He needs another key from the museum to open the door.

After leaving, Wei Jiefang treated Ma Weidu to a meal. Ma Weidu, who was usually very talkative, was silent at this moment.

It wasn't that he felt guilty; he really didn't set up a trap for Lao Wei. He was simply stunned by Lao Wei's boldness and wealth.

Of course, most of all he felt was envy. If he had that kind of wealth, he would want to buy up all the good things in Beijing.

Finally, Wei Jiefang spoke up: "Xiao Ma, once you get those paintings and calligraphy, you can choose one for yourself."

“Oh, thank you, Uncle Wei. You have such great courage,” Ma Wei said. “But we still need to inform Teacher Wei about this as soon as possible and settle the final payment quickly. It’s best to get the money in our pocket as soon as possible. You know there are many leaders in these government units. If one of them suddenly decides that this matter is off, that would be bad.”

Old Wei thought to himself, "It would be better if we could just let it go. I feel like I've been a spendthrift father this time. I spent 30 Hong Kong dollars on a bunch of paper. Will my son blame me?"
When he got home, Wei Hong had already gone back to school. Xu Shufen was waiting for him and asked about the Hong Kong dollars.

"Yes, I took it. I bought some things."

"What are you buying? It's so expensive!" Xu Shufen asked, puzzled.

"That money was just a deposit, totaling HK$30."

"Huh?!" Xu Shufen was shocked. With Hong Kong's current housing prices, 30 could buy a two-bedroom apartment, which was a huge sum of money.

Afterwards, Wei Jiefang told his wife about buying more than 9000 pieces of calligraphy and paintings by famous people from the museum.

Xu Shufen worriedly said, "Where are you going to put all those paintings you bought? You don't have a museum."

Wei Jiefang: "The key question is whether there is a museum or not, and the key question is how to ask my son for the money."

"Just say it was bought for him."

Wei Jiefang slapped his thigh: "That's right, I didn't intend to keep it for myself anyway, and I'm not into that kind of thing!"

~
"Good, very good, that's the feeling!"

After three days, the crew of "The Shepherd's Class" finally completed a beautiful scene of Teacher Zhong and Pipi watching the sunset.

Moreover, this scene wasn't filmed in Ya'an; they specifically went to Mount Emei to find a satisfactory location.

The completion of this shot also means that all the exterior scenes are finished, and the next step is to return to Chengdu to shoot a few interior scenes.

Before leaving, they returned to Fanshan Village, where the foundation of a new primary school had already been laid. The foundation was deep and solid. The county magistrate also came and held a foundation-laying ceremony. Wei Ming left behind the four characters "Spring Primary School" in his calligraphy.

At this point, Wei Ming's hard work in calligraphy paid off, and these four characters were perfectly acceptable as a plaque for the school.

Wei Ming also left a copy of the same calligraphy in Dagou Village, where his maternal grandmother lived. He also made a promise to his grandmother: "After I finish filming the movie, I will take you to Yanjing. My parents should also be back from Hong Kong by then."

Not long after he said that, Mi Jiashan came from Chengdu. He was in charge of the interior set design there.

Now that the set is complete, he came to meet up with the film crew and brought Wei Ming a telegram from Yanjing.

Upon seeing the contents of the telegram, Wei Ming was delighted. He actually remembered this incident, but he didn't know exactly which year it happened. It turned out to be this year!

The only difference is that the protagonist has changed from the young master of Xu Linlu's family to the old father of Wei Ming's family.

30 for 9000 pieces – that's a huge bargain!

Although the quality rate isn't high, there are genuinely good items inside, and you don't always get to find such clearance sales.

Wei Ming wanted to take all the good stuff from Rongbaozhai, but they only release one item every now and then, and they wouldn't do such a big clearance sale.

Old Wei was worried that Wei Ming wouldn't want to acknowledge it, so he said they were all bought for his son.

The father and son were being presumptuous; they said they would let him choose a few he liked when the time came.

Moreover, Wei Ming felt he should secure the money as soon as possible, so upon returning to Chengdu, he immediately made a long-distance call and told his mother to open a certain spot in his bedroom.

He keeps a lot of US dollars in his bedroom.

"If that's not enough, we can borrow some from Gong Xue and Zhu Lin temporarily."

He also left some US dollars in cash with them, just in case.

The three of them have more than enough dollar reserves.

Wei Ming spoke subtly, but he implicitly acknowledged his close relationship with them.

Anyway, his parents probably guessed it already. It would be a bit heartless to keep them hidden from their parents, so Wei Ming didn't mind letting his parents meet his two prospective daughters-in-law.

As Wei Ming gets older, his skin also gets thicker.

After receiving their son's reply, the elderly couple first found $20,000 in Wei Ming's bedroom, but were still short by more than $10,000.

Old Wei looked troubled: "Do I really have to go ask those two girls to borrow it?"

Xu Shufen: "Then you can only wait for your son to come back."

Old Wei's mind raced: "You can go borrow it. You're all women, so it'll be easier to talk to you. It's settled then!"

Old Wei was genuinely troubled by those complicated relationships between men and women. His son's relationship with Gong Xue and Zhu Lin was so complicated, and there was also Xiao Amin. Just thinking about it gave him a headache, so he simply pushed it all onto Xu Shufen.

So the next day, Wei Jiefang went to the Forbidden City to visit old friends and, incidentally, show off his feat of buying up the entire history museum for 30 Hong Kong dollars.

Xu Shufen went to Mei Wenhua's house to visit her sister-in-law and niece, and then waited for Zhu Lin to return.

Zhu Lin and Gong Xue returned from outside together today. When Wei Ming wasn't around, they preferred staying near Tuanjiehu; the house was small, but they felt safer there. These past few days, they'd both been studying vocal music with Gu Jianfen. Gong Xue was preparing for her singing performance for the Spring Festival Gala, and the Gala director had already approved it.

Zhu Lin sang "I Want You" for the female lead in the play "Mr. Donkey".

This song is considered a typical decadent tune by today's standards, reminiscent of the style of old Shanghai in the 1930s. However, it was a short song used in a play to create characters. The director said it was okay to sing, so Zhu Lin practiced diligently and even sang it for Gong Xue when she got home at night.

Gong Xue said that after listening to this song, her body felt weak.

When Xu Shufen upstairs saw that it was the two of them who had returned together, she realized that she no longer needed to pursue them one by one.

"Sister-in-law, Yunyun, I'm leaving now."

"Second Aunt, why don't you eat before you leave?" Yunyun advised.

"No, no, your uncle is waiting for me at home." Xu Shufen hurried downstairs and then went up to the building next door.

The two people from Zhu Lin's family heard the doorbell ring as soon as they entered the house.

Zhu Lin: "Who is it?"

"Xiao Zhu, it's me, Aunt Xu."

Zhu Lin and Gong Xue looked at each other and immediately helped each other tidy up their appearance.

Then he flashed his standard smile again, and Zhu Lin opened the door.

"Auntie, what brings you here? Come in, come in quickly." Zhu Lin ushered Xu Shufen in.

Gong Xue had already poured her some hot water: "Auntie, Lin and I have been learning to sing together recently, and we often stay at her place at night."

Xu Shufen was somewhat hesitant to look at the two ethereal female celebrities, but she could roughly guess that they probably knew about each other's relationship with their son.

But they still don't care, which shows how outstanding my son is!

So she got straight to the point: "It's like this, your uncle..."

She recounted how Wei Jiefang bought the painting, explaining that he had consulted his son about the lack of foreign exchange, and that his son had asked her to come to them.

Gong Xue and Zhu Lin were also a little shy. Although the aunt said it was a "loan" and that Wei Ming would pay it back to them later, she would definitely understand why they had so much foreign exchange.

"Auntie, please wait a moment." Zhu Lin took out the ten thousand US dollars that Wei Ming had left with her, but now she only had a little over nine thousand left, which she had also spent at the Friendship Store.

That's still not enough. Gong Xue said, "I have some too, Auntie. Would you like to come with me now?"

"It's getting late, so we'll have to stop here," Xu Shufen asked. "Are you free tomorrow?"

"Yes, yes!" the two women replied hastily.

So Xu Shufen suggested that they take the money directly to the History Museum the next day, pay the money, take the items, and then the couple would treat the two of them to a meal.

Except for the absence of Wei Ming, the person involved, this is basically equivalent to meeting the parents.

Gong Xue and Zhu Lin were so excited that they didn't go to sleep until late that night.

The two engaged in a heated debate over "Guess who Auntie likes more," which escalated from verbal to physical, and then back to verbal.

Xu Shufen is an absolute master of balancing things. Old Wei asked her the same question that evening, and she said she liked them all: Xiao Gong liked them, Xiao Zhu liked them, and Amin liked them too.

“If I could meet Melinda, I think I would definitely like her too,” she said.

Old Wei sighed, "You're quite philanthropic. I'm different from you; I only like you."

Xu Shufen: "..."

The Overseas Chinese Apartment was also restless tonight, with quite a commotion.

~
The next day, at the National Museum of Chinese History, Gong Xue and Zhu Lin bought tickets and entered as tourists. Then, in a secluded place, they handed nearly 20,000 US dollars in cash to Xu Shufen. Xu Shufen then met up with Lao Wei and Ma Wei in the warehouse.

After calculating the exchange rate and settling the final payment, these 9000-plus paintings now belong to Wei Jiefang.

Old Wei immediately let Xiao Ma choose a painting.

Ma Wei was very discreet; he didn't choose the finest pieces, but instead picked a small shrimp painting by Qi Baishi.

Although Qi Baishi's works are so numerous that their prices are low, he still quite liked them because of their quality and the fun they contained.

These paintings and calligraphy works are mostly by Qi Baishi, and there are nearly ten boxes specifically for storing Qi Baishi's paintings and calligraphy works.

Looking at the piles and piles of calligraphy and paintings, Lao Wei was faced with another dilemma.

Where am I supposed to put them? Let alone unfolding and hanging them, there's nowhere to put them even when they're just folded up like scrolls.

Even though Wei Ming gave him the entire Beichizi courtyard house, leaving him only a bedroom, it was still just a small courtyard with a lot of furniture and porcelain that Old Wei had collected.

At most, we can clean out one more room.

But one room simply couldn't hold all 9000 paintings and dozens of large boxes.

Therefore, these collections will be temporarily stored in the history museum's warehouse, and the keys to the chain have been entrusted to Wei Jiefang for safekeeping.

Having made such a large deal, Director Wang generously said, "Brother Wei, you can leave it for as long as you want. We'll do a formal count when you pick it up."

Old Wei didn't want to leave it even for a day. How could he let something he spent so much money on be left at someone else's house?

~
While they were making the transaction, Gong Xue and Zhu Lin had already left the museum and booked a private room at a nearby restaurant, anxiously waiting for the elderly couple.

When they arrived, the two of them stood up at the same time and called out "Uncle and Aunt".

Old Wei laughed and said, "Thanks to you all today, please sit down. If it weren't so late, I would have invited you to my home for dinner."

Xu Shufen returned the remaining money to them: "Let's have a meal here today. Come to Auntie's house for Laba porridge in a few days."

Old Wei: "Yes, yes, yes, I'll also give you two jars of Laba garlic."

Xia Ke Dao has already extended an invitation for Laba porridge, and the two heroines absolutely must go.

"Uncle, have those paintings and calligraphy been sent home yet?" Gong Xue asked curiously. She was interested in calligraphy and painting and wanted to admire them. Those were paintings worth 30 Hong Kong dollars.

"Oh, don't even mention it. There are over 9000 paintings in total, dozens of boxes. I'm really worried about it now. There's simply not enough room at home, and we can't just leave them out in the yard, especially since it snowed a while ago." Old Wei explained his predicament, and it seems he'll have to wait until his son comes back to solve the problem.

Gong Xue and Zhu Lin exchanged a glance; they could actually handle this themselves.

Gong Xue asked, "Uncle, do you trust me?"

"What kind of talk is that? How could your uncle not trust you?" Old Wei said. If Gong Xue could add a son to the Wei family, wouldn't all these paintings and calligraphy be prepared for his grandson?

Gong Xue said, "Actually, I have quite a few empty rooms where I can temporarily store these paintings and calligraphy."

Her two-courtyard house is not being used very often. Several empty rooms were used to store Wei Ming's letters, and they have all been treated to prevent moisture and insects. Now, only one room is in use.

Seeing the two elders' confusion, Zhu Lin scratched his head and said, "Actually, my place has more space, but I haven't tidied it up yet."

The two were too embarrassed to be too explicit, but to put it bluntly, it was a large house that your son bought for us, and you didn't even know it.

It took Wei Jiefang and Xu Shufen a while to figure it out. "Good lad, how many burrows does he have?"

Once you understand, of course you'll pretend to be confused.

"Oh, that's great! We'll move it this afternoon!" Old Wei was also impatient.

This matter needed to be handled by someone trustworthy, so a phone call brought Mei Wenhua to the rescue with a convoy of cars. Each driver received a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes and a 10,000-yuan note, all provided by Lao Wei.

Finally, I had to trouble my brothers to help me move the boxes inside the house.

Once everything was settled and the transport team had left, it was getting dark. Old Wei pulled Xiao Mei aside, said goodbye to Gong Xue and Zhu Lin, and went out for drinks.

Seeing how familiar Xiaomei seemed with the place, Lao Wei had to question her about when these three people started their relationship.

However, he left Xu Shufen behind, asking his wife to cook a cozy dinner for the two girls and stay there to keep them company so they wouldn't be scared.

Such a big courtyard, and I heard there's an even bigger one. Is the son going to be a landlord?
Although Xu Shufen was the best cook among the three women, and by a significant margin, Gong Xue and Zhu Lin dared not let their aunt work alone. Regardless of whether they could help or not, the two of them were never idle in the kitchen, each trying to outdo the other in showing off their skills.

After a happy meal, once the aunt had fallen asleep, Gong Xue took Zhu Lin to look at paintings.

Looking at these boxes, Gong Xue got excited: "Let's pick two to hang in the bedroom."

Zhu Lin: "I've been craving shrimp lately, let's hang a Qi Baishi statue."

The boxes all had names on them. They then opened a box belonging to Qi Baishi and took out a large painting that was a meter wide.

What you see when you open it isn't a shrimp, but a very large painting, about 2.6 meters tall, depicts an eagle standing among pine and cypress trees.

Although Gong Xue was not as knowledgeable about this as Wei Ming, he could tell at a glance that this was a masterpiece, definitely not something that could be bought for an average of 10 yuan.

“This painting looks so familiar. I think I’ve seen it in one of my dad’s old magazines,” Gong Xue said confidently.

This painting is called "Pine and Eagle". It was once featured in the magazine "Chinese Painting", but it was a different version. That version was collected by the third daughter of the Le family of Tongrentang.

Although this painting has the same content and composition as the one Gong Xue saw when he was a child, it is painted with greater refinement and sophistication.

In his previous life, Xu Huachi paired the painting with a couplet of the same size in Qi Baishi's seal script, "May you live a long and healthy life, and may the world be at peace," and named it "Pine and Cypress Standing Tall - Four-Character Couplet in Seal Script," which sold for 4.2 million at auction!

……

(Today's guaranteed minimum)
(End of this chapter)