Chapter 46

Although Wu Di was eager to go to the house right away, he held back. The most urgent task was to raise funds, not only to pay off the debt on the house but also to prepare for the renovation, and most importantly, to have money to participate in the Ruili gemstone auction.

"What kind of house did you buy? It costs so much? I remember you being a billionaire, right? This piece of material is rare and hard to come by, so think carefully."

"The family bought a quadrangle courtyard on Zhaodengyu Road. After cleaning and renovation, over a hundred million yuan was spent and gone."

"Then... let's go, I'll go with you. If Money Fatty doesn't bring you a few powerful clients, I won't let him off!"

Money Fatty was drinking tea in the VIP room. It was too hot, and almost no one came to gamble on stones. The store business didn't need his management, so he was happy to be lazy.

"Fatty, I've brought you something good. If you don't handle it well this time, don't blame me for getting angry!"

"Hey, Brother Wen, what brings you here? Haha, the lucky little superhero has become a little black man!"

Wen Yaru closed the VIP room door, locked it, and sat next to Money Fatty. Money Fatty exaggeratedly moved to the side.

"What? Are you planning to rob me? Brother Fatty is only worth his body weight in meat."

"Hehe, I'll show you something good, Brother Fatty, sit tight!"

Wu Di placed the soft cloth package on the coffee table.

"What is it? So mysterious."

Money Fatty grumbled as he opened the soft cloth, then froze like a statue for half a minute before letting out a wail:

"Heaven! Pinch me, pinch me! Such a large piece of glass seed, and it even has color at the bottom! Heaven!"

Wu Di explained the origin of the item again. Money Fatty gave Wu Di a meaningful look and nodded.

"I said, who has such great power? It turns out it's the little superhero. I understand!"

Wen Yaru and Wu Di were both puzzled.

"Fatty, what do you understand?"

"You don't know what happened over there?"

"Where? You're talking nonsense, who knows what you're talking about?"

"Where you bought the stone! Seven gemstone store owners were arrested, and over a dozen people from a few villages were taken away, accused of being a criminal gang. A few unlucky ones were sentenced to over ten years for attempted robbery, all for a piece of glass seed!"

"Ah? I only knew someone tried to rob my glass seed, but I didn't know what happened after. But I think I know who did it."

"Who?"

"My old man. Forget about that, Brother Fatty, I urgently need money. Can you help me sell this stone? Don't reveal its origin or that it's mine."

Money Fatty glanced at Wu Di, a flash of fear in his eyes, then smiled.

"You've come to the right person at the right time. When do you need the money?"

"The sooner, the better!"

"No problem, do you know the jewelry and jade exhibition at the Guomao is happening now?"

"No idea!"

"Ah, if people knew you, an amateur, kept getting glass seed, they'd go crazy! Poor Brother Fatty, I can't even tell anyone. Brother, you have to compensate me!"

"No problem, I'll give you a five percent commission."

"Are you trying to embarrass me? You've gotten so many good pieces from me, who would dare question my status as the top raw stone dealer in Beijing now? Wait, I'll call them right now, the top ten in the country, and a couple from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Brother Fatty will organize a big auction."

Money Fatty secretly regretted not revealing Wu Di's identity, but not revealing the origin of the stone was crucial. If the powerful backer knew the stone was sold by Money Fatty, he would become the backer's man! Then, who would dare underestimate Money Fatty? But Wu Di didn't allow it, so he wouldn't let any information leak.

"Alright, Brother Fatty, do your thing, just don't reveal anything."

"How could I? I won't reveal anyone, not even you! Can I say this stone came from me? And I have a suggestion, to maximize the profit, give them time to raise funds. I think it's best to auction it off the day after tomorrow afternoon!"

"Alright, it's all up to Brother Fatty! Keep the stone, just give me the money when it's done!"

"Oh, my dear, I can't keep this. If it's lost, even if I'm skinned, I can't pay it back."

Wu Di agreed to bring the stone on the auction day and then drove straight to the quadrangle courtyard.

The gate of the quadrangle courtyard was open, and Director Qu was still supervising the workers clearing weeds and garbage. Seeing Wu Di, he hurried over. Wu Di glanced at the screen wall and noticed no changes, then asked:

"Director Qu, is everything in this house mine?"

Director Qu didn't react at first, but after Wu Di repeated the question with a smile, he answered:

"Of course, even if there are treasures buried in the yard, they belong to you, Mr. Wu."

"Call me Xiao Wu, it sounds better. Director Qu, can you have someone bring some wall demolition tools, like chisels and hammers, and then let the workers go home. They can come back tomorrow."

Director Qu, not even daring to wipe the sweat from his head, said:

"Sure, sure, I'll arrange it right away."

Wu Di called Zhong Qi.

"Fourth Brother, what are you doing?"

"Shopping, ah, Xiao Wu, why are women so troublesome? We've been shopping for almost the whole morning, and she hasn't bought anything, but she's still excited... Ah! She pinched me again!"

Wu Di laughed.

"I support Sister-in-law. It's not even eleven, what's a whole morning? Come to the quadrangle courtyard quickly, it's an emergency! By the way, did you bring bodyguards? Bring two with you."

"Brother, is there a fight? Hold on, your Fourth Brother is on his way! Quick, Linlin, have Xiao Li follow us."

Zhong Qi's imagination was indeed childlike. Wu Di smiled bitterly, hung up the phone, and saw that Director Qu had already let the workers leave. He thought for a moment and said:

"Director Qu, close the gate. When the tools arrive, you go out and get them yourself."

"Sure, Mr. Wu, did you find a treasure?"

"Hope so!"

Wu Di called Wu Dan and asked her to immediately look up the dimensions of the "Deer Hunting" by Giuseppe Castiglione.

A moment later, Wu Dan replied: 267.5 cm in height, 319 cm in width. Wu Di then asked her to look up Huang Shibao from the Qing Dynasty and call him with any news.

Wu Di examined the screen wall. It seemed right; a porcelain plate painting of the same size as the "Deer Hunting" by Giuseppe Castiglione was hidden here!

Wu Di started to remove the loofah-like material. Each time he cleared a spot, he tore a bit of the "Flowers and Wealth" painting. However, due to its age, some parts were tightly stuck to the glass and couldn't be torn off. In some places, water leakage had caused the painting to become a mess of ink.

Wu Di was puzzled when a loud knocking and Zhong Qi's shouts interrupted him. Director Qu opened the door, and two young men from the bar rushed in, followed by Zhong Qi. Seeing Wu Di was fine, he asked curiously:

"What? The fight is over?"

"What fight? Close the door quickly, there's a treasure here!"

"Treasure? This old, broken painting? If it were a treasure, it would have been taken long ago. Even if they were stupid, there were too many of them!"

Wu Di was stunned, indeed, the one involved is often the last to see the truth. He no longer hesitated, picked up a brick, and carefully started tapping along the edge of the glass.

Chang Linlin asked curiously:

"Wu Di, what are you doing?"

"Haha, I'm performing a magic trick, wait and see a big show!"

At this moment, the wall demolition tools arrived, and Director Qu brought them in. Wu Di picked up a chisel, and a large piece of glass fell off, along with a lot of loofah-like material.

Wu Di cleared the loofah-like material, revealing the wall behind. A polychrome porcelain plate painting appeared before everyone.

Zhong Qi exclaimed and rushed over, looking at it for a while before asking:

"Is it the 'Deer Hunting'?"

"Right, 267.5 cm in height, 319 cm in width, the same size porcelain plate painting!"

"Wow! An invaluable treasure! Heaven, how did it survive so well?"

Zhong Qi, dazed, picked up a chisel and started to help Wu Di, muttering:

"Once a huge treasure appeared before me, and I didn't cherish it, and now Xiao Wu has taken it..."

Wu Di pushed him away.

"Be careful, if you break it, you can't afford to replace it."

After more than four hours of hard work, they finally cleared the porcelain plate painting. The entire screen wall had only an outer layer of bricks, with the inside filled with loofah-like material.

When the entire porcelain plate painting was revealed, everyone was speechless, looking at the signature in the upper left corner and the imperial seal of Emperor Qianlong. What a miracle! A nearly nine-square-meter porcelain plate, flat and colorful, with vivid figures and horses. How did they achieve this?

Chang Linlin asked softly:

"Can they make such a large piece now?"

Wu Di came to his senses and said:

"Fourth Brother, I'll go buy sheets and ropes. You call for a van, and we'll take it to Old Chang's place."

When Wu Di returned with the supplies, the van was already there. They carefully wrapped the porcelain plate painting and loaded it into the van, eating the bread Wu Di had bought on the way, ignoring the dirt on their hands. Only then did they realize they hadn't eaten or even had a drink for hours!