Chapter 48

"Stop acting so improper!" Lin Ruxue couldn't help but scold slightly, her pretty face turning red, as Li Yi flirted with her in front of so many people.

"Alright, come over here!" Li Yi pointed at Xin Li.

"Mr. Li, Mrs. Li, I was wrong, I couldn't see the forest for the trees..." Xin Li, mimicking Chen Kai, apologized to Li Yi and Lin Ruxue, but a hint of viciousness flashed in his eyes.

"That's enough." Li Yi smiled faintly. "I'll give you four words: take care of yourself!"

"Yes, yes!" Xin Li nodded at Li Yi, but in his heart, he was planning to treat Zhao Da to a meal. He wanted to show Li Yi that in Tangshui City, money wasn't everything!

A smile appeared in Li Yi's eyes again as he turned to Pi Pengchi and said, "Captain Pi, I'm troubling you!"

"Mr. Li, you're too kind!"

After letting Xin Li go, only the Suo Wen Yue couple remained. At this moment, Suo Wen Yue, who had been so domineering before, was now completely like a wet dog. She trembled in front of Li Yi and Lin Ruxue, repeatedly admitting her faults.

Li Yi didn't talk much to Suo Wen Yue but turned to Weng Xingguo and said, "Some women can be pampered, even for a lifetime, like our Xue Xue. But some women can't be spoiled. The more you pamper them, the more they lose their sense of self. If you can't control your wife, your family will eventually have big problems."

Weng Xingguo immediately replied, "Mr. Li is right. I will definitely control this wasteful woman!"

Suo Wen Yue thought, "You're the wasteful woman!" but didn't dare to say it, only nodding along with her husband.

After letting the Suo Wen Yue couple go, the matter was settled. Li Yi chatted a bit more with Pi Pengchi, expressing his gratitude. Pi Pengchi knew that Li Yi was familiar with his bureau chief and had even heard that he was related to Commander Yun, so he was extremely enthusiastic.

When Li Yi and Lin Ruxue returned to their booth, most of the onlookers who had gathered out of curiosity had already dispersed. Some famous collectors began to crowd around, carefully examining Li Yi's exhibits. Most of them were participants in the exhibition, leaving their own booths to come and see Li Yi's items.

Some wealthy collectors started to talk to Li Yi, hoping to buy some of his exhibits. Upon learning that all of Li Yi's exhibits would be auctioned after the exhibition, some began to rub their hands in anticipation, raising funds, while others were hesitant, unsure whether to bid.

After all, each of Li Yi's exhibits was so expensive that even if they were all very wealthy, buying them would be a significant financial strain.

A little while later, the young celebrity also squeezed to the front of the booth. She didn't mind what had happened earlier and smiled sweetly at Li Yi, saying, "Mr. Li, when are you free? I want to treat you to a meal to apologize."

"Do you really think my Xue Xue is invisible? Even if I have time, I can't accept your invitation; she gets very jealous." Li Yi held Lin Ruxue's hand.

"You're the one who's jealous!" Lin Ruxue pinched Li Yi's waist hard; this guy was becoming more and more unrestrained in his speech.

"See, I told you. I only said one sentence, and I got punished!" Li Yi laughed.

The young celebrity still didn't give up, giving a flirtatious wink and saying in a soft voice, "Mr. Li, I didn't mean anything by it. I just want to treat you to a meal. Mrs. Li wouldn't mind. Men like you must have a lot of social obligations, right?"

"Haha, really no need." Li Yi shook his head and then pointed behind her, saying, "Chen Kai is here, he's looking for you, right?"

The young celebrity turned around, and her face immediately showed disgust. "Mr. Li, I'll take my leave for a moment. We'll talk another day!"

As soon as the young celebrity left, Chen Kai arrived. His face was pale, and he asked nervously, "Mr. Li, Mrs. Li, did you see Bing Bing just now? I clearly saw her come this way!"

Li Yi said, "Don't worry, haste makes waste. Finding her today won't help. Give her some time to think. After a while, she'll realize that she can't live without you."

"Mr. Li, thank you for your kind words." Chen Kai nodded with some excitement.

Seeing her old classmate's dejected look, Lin Ruxue also advised, "Aren't you planning to spend five million on antiques? Go pick some out!"

"Yes, yes!" Chen Kai agreed but didn't leave. Instead, he began to observe Li Yi's exhibits.

Observing them was one thing, but Chen Kai was secretly shocked. The cheapest item Li Yi had brought was appraised by experts at ten million.

Chen Kai knew that experts usually gave lower appraisals, and during auctions, items often sold for 2-3 times the appraised value. The cheapest item Li Yi had was appraised at ten million, so it seemed he really couldn't afford anything.

Among all of Li Yi's exhibits, the most highly appraised was the "Lanting Xu" (Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion).

Wang Xizhi's original work no longer exists, and collectors usually buy only high-quality Tang dynasty copies. A few years ago, a Wang Xizhi cursive script "Ping'an Tie" (Letter of Peace), whose age was undetermined but generally considered a Tang copy, sold for 308 million!

A copy of unknown origin, even one that couldn't be confirmed as a Tang or Song copy, sold for 300 million just because it was a copy of Wang Xizhi. The value of the original work was unimaginable.

Experts gave a conservative estimate of one billion!

A single exhibit worth one billion made Chen Kai no longer doubt what Li Yi had said at the class reunion. For such a person, an initial investment of one billion was not much at all.

Not at all!

The Yuxue Group was truly formidable!

As for another exhibit, a jade seal highly suspected to be the Imperial Seal, the experts didn't give it a price. But everyone knew that if it was genuine, its value would be even higher than the "Lanting Xu"!

"Mr. Li, I've really broadened my horizons today. At noon, I was blind to your greatness!" Chen Kai sighed sincerely.

"Oh, just some junk, I'm sorry to have embarrassed everyone." Li Yi said lightly.

Chen Kai was speechless. He had worked half his life to earn ten million, while the other party's "junk" was worth hundreds of millions. Comparing people really could drive one to despair!

After a long sigh, Chen Kai knew that everything on this exhibit stand was out of his reach. He could only leave dejectedly and look for something suitable for himself among the other exhibits.

But for some reason, even when he saw other exhibits he could afford, he didn't want to buy them, feeling only a deep sense of loss.

Time passed slowly.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Yun Haiyong and Zhang Hongjuan also arrived at the exhibition. As soon as Yun Haiyong arrived, he headed straight for the central exhibit stand and greeted Li Yi.

"Xiao Yi, I'm really sorry. The military had a sudden drill, and I couldn't get away. How has everything been going?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Brother Yong, you've already greeted Director Tan. How could things not go smoothly? Look at this central exhibit stand; it was arranged by Director Tan, putting everyone else to shame!"

"Ha ha, you brought such valuable treasures; this treatment is deserved. Even without me, Old Tan would have arranged it this way!" Yun Haiyong laughed and then greeted Lin Ruxue and Li Ting, "Auntie, Xiao Ting, you're here too?"

Lin Ruxue was at a loss when another middle-aged man called her auntie, while Li Ting said, "Brother Yong, this isn't my mom; it's my sister-in-law!"

"You little brat!" Lin Ruxue pulled Li Ting's ear.

"She's not my mom..." Li Yi was about to explain, but Lin Ruxue's other hand was already reaching out, "Dare you say it again?"

"I won't say it... I wasn't going to say she's my wife... Ouch!"

"It's like this, have you met my sister? My sister is their mom, and I'm their aunt. We're twins..."

Lin Ruxue explained to Yun Haiyong and Zhang Hongjuan, and they finally understood, calling her "auntie" together. Hearing Yun Haiyong's identity, Lin Ruxue finally understood why everyone gave Li Yi such respect.

After a brief chat, Li Yi introduced his exhibits to Yun Haiyong.

Seeing so many precious antiques, Yun Haiyong was very pleased, but he also felt that Li Yi was unfathomable. However, when he heard that Li Yi planned to auction all his collections, he immediately became serious and said, "Xiao Yi, it's fine for the others, but you can't sell these two. They must be handed over to the state!"