Chapter 18

I didn't expect to get the Construction Department sorted out so quickly. Wu Di began to consider whether to leave immediately or stay for a while longer. Thinking about another project that was almost ready, he decided to stay for another month. Without the help of the Heavenly Book, he wanted to see if he could get things done just by his presence, so he wouldn't be dependent on the Heavenly Book in the future.

In early July, Wu Di received 7.8 million yuan in cash from the dual-core company. He gave 800,000 yuan to Zhao Haoran, who was seeing him off downstairs, and then, with an excited heart, he clutched the bulging handbag and sat in the bank to queue for a deposit. Facing the sweet counter clerk, he pushed most of the money into the counter and said confidently:

"Deposit 4 million, in a savings account."

Suddenly, he remembered he needed to buy an inkstone and thought about taking back 800,000 yuan, but then realized he could use a credit card. How silly of him to be so flustered.

Wu Di gave 3 million yuan to Old Yuan, called Wen Yajiu on his phone, and demanded that he leave some food for him. Then he took a taxi straight to Panjiayuan.

"Are you really sure you want it? You can't return it if you regret it later."

"Stop talking nonsense and give me the item so I can leave."

"Are you not going to haggle?"

"Damn, are you trying to give me a fake? Now you feel guilty and want to give me a better deal?"

"Get lost, Xiao Gangzi, bring a contract over, this is your order."

Wen Yajiu affectionately caressed the inkstone, as if caressing his lover, and hesitated:

"Wu Di, I'm entrusting it to you. If you can't give it away, return it to me, and I'll buy it back at the original price."

Seeing Wen Yajiu's genuine reluctance, Wu Di hesitated:

"Brother Wen, why don't you take me out to find another one?"

"Ah, collecting, collecting, you must use your collection to sustain your collection. Besides, I'm just a commoner. I'll do this business."

Wu Di grabbed the brick inkstone and ran off, sitting in the car, he thought to himself:

"Eighty thousand yuan for this broken brick?"

Back at his rental apartment, Wu Di carefully took out the 800,000 yuan in cash, pulled over an open notebook from the side, placed it on the table, and put the inkstone on it, examining it carefully.

The inkstone sat quietly on the table. As Wu Di looked at it, he seemed to see it emit a layer of dark black light. He couldn't help but pick it up, and the smooth, moist, and greasy feel made him instantly like this inkstone. Caressing the thick patina, he couldn't help but understand Wen Yajiu's feelings. He murmured:

"I was wrong, this isn't a broken brick, it's a real good thing, a real treasure."

Thinking about giving it away, he felt a bit reluctant. Suddenly, he shouted:

"Bad!"

It turned out that he had only thought about buying it and forgot to give it away! The district chief, after all, if he went to his door unannounced, he might not even see him, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to give the item away. What could he do? Should he find Ou Changqing again? But what would he give? Probably a phone call would do it! Find Zhong Qi? That would be the same as finding Ou Changqing.

Beijing is really strange. Just as Wu Di was at a loss, his phone rang, and Zhong Qi's mischievous voice came through:

"Little Wu, miss me? I'm back! I'll pick you up for dinner later and tell you about the thrilling events at the Myanmar gem auction! If I had known it was so fun, I would have taken you along. See you in the afternoon."

Gemstones? Are gemstones really that fun? I've gambled before too!

Distracted, Wu Di forgot his troubles, put the inkstone away, and thought, if he really couldn't give it away, he would keep it. After all, he had already made 3 million yuan.

Looking at his watch, it was not yet two o'clock. He had no heart to run around for projects in the afternoon. People really shouldn't slack off; the more they slack, the more they want to slack. But considering he had to go to the old man's house for dinner, he forgave himself this one time.

Wu Di prepared to go online and moved the notebook he had used to pad the inkstone. Seeing it, he quickly patted it, wondering if the old man would be angry for using the Heavenly Book as a pad. Suddenly, he froze. The Heavenly Book had two new lines of elegant regular script!

Qing Dynasty Zhang Tingji's Jin Yuan Kang brick inkstone, damaged, genuine.

Qing Dynasty Shi Tao, "Landscape Painting." Genuine.

What's going on? The Heavenly Book recognizes Zhang Tingji's brick inkstone? It can identify the dynasty, the author, and even determine authenticity. If I go into antiques, wouldn't I be able to spot every fake?

Calm down, Wu Di told himself to stay calm. Based on his experience, the Heavenly Book makes these judgments under certain conditions. It would be best to try a few more cheap items at Wen Yajiu's store.

Wu Di read the prompt again. What does the second sentence mean? This is clearly a brick inkstone, how could there be a "Landscape Painting"? Who is Shi Tao? Is he famous?

Wu Di put his mind at ease and searched online. Soon, he understood Shi Tao's status in the art world. Good heavens, this is a man whose paintings are worth tens of millions! If I had one, wouldn't I be rich? What does the second sentence mean?

Wu Di had already guessed the answer, but he couldn't believe it. The Heavenly Book said the brick inkstone was damaged, but it is now intact, which means it has been repaired. When it was repaired, could the painting have been hidden inside the brick inkstone? This thick, heavy stone could easily hide a few pieces of paper!

If it was repaired, there must be a flaw! Wu Di picked up the inkstone, moved the lamp over, and examined it carefully. The entire inkstone had a thick patina with no cracks. Wu Di was not satisfied and felt it inch by inch, but still found nothing. He used the magnifying glass Wen Yajiu gave him and examined it several times, but still found no seams. Could it be the patina? The patina is thick and has been there for a long time, blocking the seams?

After the success of two projects, Wu Di had complete faith in the Heavenly Book. If the Heavenly Book says there's a problem, there must be a problem! Wu Di decided to search again. If he still couldn't find it, he would scrape off all the patina, even if it meant breaking the brick inkstone into pieces, he would find the "Landscape Painting" that could change his fate!

Wu Di took the magnifying glass and moved it millimeter by millimeter. Finally, he found a horizontal seam about one centimeter long, thinner than a hair. No wonder, he had always thought it would be a vertical seam, but it turned out to be a horizontal one!

Open it!

Wu Di used a knife to scratch around the horizontal seam, damaging a lot of the patina, but the seam didn't widen at all. What to do? Ask for help? No, even Li Qinglong said, "There are not many gossipy things in the world, but there are always gossipy people." Could he make that mistake?

Since there is a seam, something must have been used to seal it. What? Ask Google!

But this time, Google disappointed Wu Di. There was very little information on this topic. A few forums mentioned modern methods—502 glue! What did the ancients use? Paste? Or rice water? It couldn't be some chemical thing, right? Soaking it in water must work!

Wu Di brought a basin of cold water and put the inkstone in it. After five minutes, he picked it up and put it back. After ten minutes, he picked it up and put it back. After half an hour, he picked it up and put it back...

Just as he was fussing, his phone rang. Looking at the time, he was shocked—it was past four o'clock! He had been struggling with the brick inkstone for more than two hours! It was probably Zhong Qi picking him up. He put the brick inkstone in the water basin, packed his things, and went downstairs.

Zhong Qi had gotten much darker, looking more like a brother to Wu Di. It seemed the sun in Myanmar was quite fierce. On the way, he talked non-stop about his gemstone experiences. Wu Di was initially listless but gradually became more interested. The extravagant bets at the open auction, the anxious bets at the secret auction, and the thrilling moment of cutting the stone—these were things that every man with restless blood could not resist! How could Wu Di be an exception?

Zhong Qi talked while secretly observing Wu Di. It seemed Little Wu was easy to fool. This time, he went to Myanmar without telling his family and didn't dare to go home directly after returning. He first confirmed that his sister and Ou Doudou were at home, then brought Wu Di along. This way, the old man wouldn't take direct action, right?

"The Myanmar gem auction usually has three sessions a year, with two major ones. One is the jewelry fair held in March, where about 2/5 of the annual jade rough from Myanmar is auctioned. The other is the Myanmar mid-year jewelry fair held in November, where about 2/5 of the annual jade rough from Myanmar is auctioned. The third is the Myanmar special jewelry fair, organized by the state-owned large jewelry company, held irregularly in January or June. The government oversees the auction. The jade rough auctioned at this fair accounts for about 1/5 of the annual jade rough from Myanmar. I participated in this fair in November. When it comes, we'll go together. Do you have a passport? If not, I'll get one for you."

Wu Di happily agreed. He had already thought that if the painting inside the brick was real, the Heavenly Book could see through the rough stone! Even the gods can't judge a piece of jade? Ha! Then he, Wu Di, would be a god! A jade god? A jade fairy? Pfft, no way! How could he be a transvestite? A foolish smile appeared on Wu Di's lips. He suddenly remembered a piece of rough stone he had at home for over a month and wished Zhong Qi would turn around immediately so he could go home and experiment.

"Hey, I said, hey, kid, daydreaming? Get out of the car, we're here!"

The old man didn't give Wu Di any face, wielding his cane to chase Zhong Qi around the room. Finally, Zhong Qi stood still and took a few hits. Zhong Qing had long been used to it and chatted with Wu Di on the side. Ou Doudou, who had been clinging to Wu Di, saw the family's full-scale battle and quickly stood in the middle to support her uncle. Seeing the three generations in a heated battle, Zhong's grandmother quietly wiped away tears, but they were tears of happiness.

"Little Wu, I have a house in Xicheng, bought with my sister's savings. You can take it and live there, no need to rent a place with poor conditions."

"No need, Sister Qing, I just made some money, haven't received it yet, but once I do, I can pay the down payment."

"Is it the one from your third brother's company? Come on, how much can you make, give me a hint?"

Zhong Qing's face was full of curiosity.

"Where, the one from my third brother's company is a contract with the company, or a collaboration with others, 100,000 yuan would be good."

"Only 100,000? Why don't you take a bigger cut, a million or so, it's not his money! I'll go talk to him, what's his face worth?"

"Hey, Sister, my dear sister, I didn't raise the price because it's the company's money, I can't take it, that would be taking advantage of my third brother."

"Let him off so easily? How about this, take out the red envelope you got last time, I'll add some more, and we'll buy a place ourselves."

"That won't work, it's for my wedding."

"Money grubber! Do you know, it's all that old man's fault. Mom was going to give you a few million, but the old man said it would harm you, so he only gave you 10,000. Mom got angry, and they each gave you 100,000. Everyone else got a maximum of 10,000. If you just count the money you got from recognizing your godmother, it would be enough to buy a villa."

Wu Di made a fierce face and laughed:

"Hehe, I'm already very satisfied that Doudou's issue was resolved. How much is enough? I don't want to spend the family's money."

"Hmm, that makes the godmother happy, our Little Wu has ambition."

"Godmother."

The old lady had quietly come over to listen.

"But Little Wu has no place to live! Old Ou gave him a project but won't let him make money, no way, I'll go talk to Old Ou."

"Sister, this has nothing to do with my third brother, don't go..."

Zhong Qing's eyes twinkled and she said:

"I won't go if you let me. I have a car I don't want to drive anymore. You can take it, and I'll let Old Ou off."

Wu Di shook his head like a rattle drum:

"I can't drive, what do I need a car for, besides, the traffic is so bad."

"How can you do business without a car? Don't you have a license? Big Brother will teach you, you'll learn in a day."

Zhong Qi also joined in, leaving the old man to play with his grandson.

"But I don't like small cars, I like SUVs."

"Ha, what can you say? Sister was known as a female hero in Beijing, she loves big cars. No more talk, the Range Rover is yours."

"Ah?"

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