Chapter 10

The verification of this statue, on the contrary, was faster than the appraisal of the paintings. Shashevski took photos from all angles and sent them back to the company. Then, he took a bit of copper dust and tested it with the carbon-14 dating device he brought along.

The machine's results showed that the statue was from the mid-16th century. Seeing this, Shashevski confidently said, "Congratulations, Mr. Qin, you might own the most valuable statue of the year!"

In fact, due to the forgery of "Sunflowers," Qin Shaopu had mentally prepared himself for the possibility that these paintings were not worth much. Even if the Picasso portrait turned out to be a fake, he could face it with a calm mind.

However, now with this result, he could not remain calm: the statue, which he thought could only fetch a few hundred dollars if sold for scrap copper, turned out to be an antique worth 30 million Canadian dollars!

Upon learning his thoughts, Shashevski's usually stern face broke into a smile. He said, "If this 'Perseus and Medusa' statue had not rusted due to poor preservation, its value could have been another 10 million. You may not know, but this statue is one of the greatest works by the famous 16th-century Italian sculptor, Cellini!"

Qin Shaopu indeed did not understand these matters; all he knew was that he had now truly become a wealthy man...

The appraisal was completed, but Shashevski and his team did not leave. The general manager of the Lisi Auction House, along with experts from the sculpture department, would arrive at the fishery the next day to confirm the authenticity of the statue.

Moreover, Shashevski told Qin Shaopu that their company hoped to cooperate with him and obtain the auction rights for the statue and the paintings.

Qin Shaopu was hesitant. Although the Lisi Auction House was well-known, it was more famous for mechanical auctions. In terms of cultural relics and artworks, Sotheby's and Christie's were more reliable.

Shashevski was not a salesperson. Seeing Qin Shaopu's hesitation, he smiled and did not press the matter further. Instead, he began to discuss the paintings and the statue.

According to Shashevski, the painting "Woman with a Golden Drum" was likely purchased by Pinaigre through a friend from Picasso, specifically for study. There was a period when Pinaigre's abstract painting skills improved dramatically, possibly due to the inspiration he gained from the original Picasso work.

What Shashevski was curious about was where Qin Shaopu had obtained the statue.

Qin Shaopu attributed the source of these items to his mysterious second grandfather. Albach spoke up for him, saying, "Qin Hongde was an extraordinary man. During World War II, he was in charge of the Allied naval transport fleet in Newfoundland. I think this might be something he obtained during that special period."

Qin Shaopu was stunned; his second grandfather had such a prestigious reputation?

In the evening, he treated Shashevski and his team to a meal at Hixon's Dad's Flavored Restaurant, enjoying a traditional Newfoundland feast and tasting the world-renowned ice wine.

Feeling a bit tipsy, Qin Shaopu returned to his bedroom and lay down, his consciousness shifting back to the ocean.

The underwater world was somewhat desolate. His consciousness moved through the flat sandy seabed, and for a long time, he saw no signs of life, which made him feel a sense of sorrow.

What had caused a once-thriving fishery to become a graveyard under the sea? Qin Shaopu vowed to use the money from the auction to improve the fishery and bring it back to life.

His consciousness shifted to the pink coral, where the cup sponge swayed gently. He felt that the cup sponge's vitality was no longer a problem, which brought him some comfort.

However, when he carefully examined the coral, he found that the situation was not good. Yesterday, he had not noticed, but the condition of the coral polyps was actually worse!

Now, among the surrounding corals, only a patch of about five to six square meters was still alive, half pink and the other half light yellow. The outer corals were all grayish-white coral stones.

These coral stones were formed from the dead bodies of coral polyps.

The further out from the center, the paler the color and the weaker the life force. If he only felt the center, the coral polyps were indeed vibrant. But if he felt the outer areas, the coral carried a sense of death.

Recalling his previous experience of rescuing the cup sponge, Qin Shaopu covered the coral with his consciousness and used the energy within it to nurture the coral's life.

A miracle occurred. As is well known, the formation of a coral reef takes years, as coral polyps are very small and constantly reproduce and die.

However, at this moment, the pink and light yellow coral polyps began to reproduce wildly. The coral spread visibly across the seabed, and in just two minutes, the area of living coral expanded from five to six square meters to about ten square meters!

Qin Shaopu was also unprecedentedly exhausted. He immediately withdrew his consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

Over the past two days, Qin Shaopu had always woken up at around six in the morning. This time, he slept until a little after eight, only waking up when the little squirrels tapped on the window.

His body was unprecedentedly tired, and Qin Shaopu felt helpless. It seemed that he could not misuse the energy of his consciousness, or he might be in danger.

Qin Shaopu opened the window and let the two little squirrels in. They looked at him, seeing his exhausted state, and then turned and ran out. When they returned, they brought him two pine nuts.

The actions of the little squirrels warmed Qin Shaopu's heart. He held them in his hands and kissed them, discovering that one of the squirrels was female. He laughed and said, "Come clean, are you in early love?"

Little Ming extended his pink tongue and licked his finger, then picked up the pine nut and chirped, offering it to him.

Qin Shaopu cracked the pine nut and laughed, "Bribery won't work. You're so young and already dating? Do you want to drive me crazy? I'm in my mid-twenties and don't even have a girlfriend yet."

The female squirrel watched him quietly. Qin Shaopu thought for a moment and said, "Alright, from now on, you'll be called Little Red. Little Ming and Little Red are a perfect match."

The female squirrel's fur was much redder than Little Ming's, making her a standard North American red squirrel.

He watched TV with the two little squirrels while they ate breakfast together. By noon, the expert team from the Lisi Auction House arrived in a grand procession.

Qin Shaopu carried the bronze statue down. Seeing him lift the statue as if it were a bucket, Shashevski's eyes nearly popped out. A man in his thirties with glasses, who looked refined, smiled and said, "Mr. Qin has great strength."

Hearing this, Qin Shaopu suddenly remembered a recent issue he had not noticed: his strength had increased significantly. The bronze statue was solid and weighed about 70 to 80 kilograms, but he felt it was as light as a few kilograms.

He guessed this was also related to the Heart of the Sea.

Albach introduced him to the refined man, who was Robert Black IV, the general manager of the Lisi Auction House.

Qin Shaopu had already learned that the Blacks were a famous family in eastern Canada, controlling one of the eight major financial groups in Canada, the Black Group, which had considerable influence.

"You can call me Little Black. My friends all call me that," Robert Black IV said, extending his hand and smiling. "Mr. Qin is truly a young and capable man, already managing such a large fishery. At your age, I was still spending my parents' money chasing pretty girls."

With a few words, Little Black had already bridged the gap with Qin Shaopu.

Qin Shaopu made coffee for everyone, and Little Black began chatting with him, starting with the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Upon learning that Qin Shaopu was from Dongshan Province, he began discussing Confucian and Mencian culture.

True to his role as the general manager of a well-known auction house, Little Black was skilled in conversation. He only indicated a basic understanding of these topics, mainly asking Qin Shaopu for advice, which quickly flattered him.

Albach smiled but said nothing, recognizing this as an opportunity for Qin Shaopu to experience the tactics of the upper-class capitalists.

Finally, the last appraisal report came out. Little Black looked at it and handed it to Qin Shaopu, confirming that the statue was indeed genuine.

Qin Shaopu still had some doubts and asked, "I looked it up online yesterday. The 'Perseus and Medusa' statue is supposed to be in the Piazza Michelangelo in Florence, Italy. How can there be another one here?"

Little Black laughed and said, "No, no, no, my friend, that one is a fake, a replica. You see, this statue was created by the sculptor Cellini in 1545 at the request of Duke Cosimo. It was lost two centuries later. Since then, people in various parts of Europe have claimed to have seen it, but no one has been able to bring it to the public. Now, you have done it."

Qin Shaopu quickly said that he was just lucky, but the people around him were not surprised. They had seen many auction items and knew that many people had even better luck.

Little Black cleared his throat, and Qin Shaopu knew the main topic was coming. He immediately sat up straight, preparing to reject the Lisi Auction House's request.

Undoubtedly, such valuable artworks would fetch a higher price at an auction house like Sotheby's.

"Mr. Qin, you know that our company has always specialized in mechanical auctions and has achieved average results in the art world. However, at the beginning of the year, our board of directors unanimously decided to transform the company towards the art market. Therefore, I hope you will grant us the honor of auctioning these artworks."

"I know that Sotheby's and Christie's are more suitable for these artworks, but the spring auction is only a little over two weeks away. You should understand that the value of artworks is proportional to the amount of publicity and investment. If you send them to the spring auction now, they won't fetch a good price."

"If our company gets the auction rights, I assure you that we will use all our resources to promote these artworks, including Mr. Pinaigre's paintings."

"Furthermore, the international standard commission for art auctions is 12%. If you agree to let us auction them, we will reduce the commission to 5%. Additionally, I believe you may urgently need funds to operate the fishery. Our company can advance you 10 million Canadian dollars in cash!"

Qin Shaopu thought for a moment and then agreed.

&&&& Dear readers, tomorrow is Monday. I hope you can support me by adding this book to your collection and recommending it. Let's start climbing the charts from next week. I am a new author, and the fishery is a new book. How far we can go depends on your support!

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