Chapter 577: Painting of Red and White Wang Furong

A waiter walked over quickly: "Miss Yang, you've arrived."

Miss Yang nodded: "Three people. A small private room will do."

"Understood!" The waiter led them up to the second floor, then seated them at the innermost table by the window, which appeared very quiet.

Zhou Andong said: "This spot is not bad."

Miss Yang placed the menu in front of Zhou Andong: "You order!"

Zhou Andong pushed it back: "You order. We are carnivores; just order more meat, and it'll definitely be fine."

Miss Yang smiled and said: "Alright, I'll order a few more plates of meat."

Zhou Andong asked: "When will the program air?"

Miss Yang said: "Tomorrow night, at 7:40, on Channel 2."

Zhou Andong smiled and said: "I thought it would be Channel 1!"

Miss Yang rolled her eyes at him and handed the menu to the waiter: "That will be all."

"Understood!" The waiter took the menu and turned to leave.

Miss Yang said: "Channel 2 is the Economic and Comprehensive Channel. The people who invited you this time are actually the leaders of Channel 2. That article of yours has caused too much of a social reaction, and the debate is becoming increasingly intense."

"The leaders asked me to invite you for an exclusive interview. Besides, the content of the interview isn't suitable for Channel 1, and it wouldn't pass there anyway."

(On January 1, 1993, Channel 2 was named the Economic and Comprehensive Channel.)

The waiter brought over the charcoal hot pot, followed immediately by plates of food.

Miss Yang picked up her chopsticks: "Try it. Personally, I feel it tastes better than Donglaishun."

Zhou Andong picked up a slice of mutton, swished it in the pot, then dipped it in sauce and put it in his mouth.

"Hmm, it really is quite good."

Miss Yang looked at Wu Chao: "Eat quickly, what are you looking at?"

"Right!" Wu Chao picked up his chopsticks, eyes fixed straight ahead, and shoveled the food in with a slurping sound. In less than ten minutes, he put down his chopsticks: "I'm finished. I'm going outside to check on the car."

"Go ahead!" Zhou Andong felt helpless. This kid eating with him, especially with Miss Yang present, must feel uncomfortable.

Miss Yang said, stunned: "He's already finished?"

Zhou Andong smiled and said: "He was a soldier. Eating this fast must be a habit."

Miss Yang nodded: "When will the Iced Black Tea hit the market?"

Zhou Andong said: "The 16th, but it's already being stocked. In some places, you can buy it now."

The two chatted and ate until it was nearly two in the afternoon before finishing.

Zhou Andong drove Miss Yang back to the television station, then went to Seeing Jian Qiu Hutong.

This place had already become a large construction site. Excavators and dump trucks roared, and quite a few people were sitting not far away, watching the excitement and chatting about something.

Wu Chao parked the car to the side. As Zhou Andong stepped out, he heard someone in the crowd of onlookers shout.

"Oh, Brother Zhou. I saw the car pull up and wondered if it was you."

Zhou Andong looked up; it was actually Old Xishuai. (See Chapter 481 for details.)

"Brother, you didn't set up your stall today?"

Old Xishuai patted the dust off his backside and walked over: "Hey, it's nothing. Just idling around. I set up when I want, and stay home when I don't."

Zhou Andong took out a cigarette and handed one to Old Xishuai: "How about it, any good items lately?"

"Yes!" Old Xishuai lit the cigarette, then leaned toward Zhou Andong and whispered: "A few days ago, I dug up something good. I called Manager Tang, but couldn't get through. It's at my place; want to go take a look?"

Zhou Andong asked: "What is it?"

"Painting of Red and White Wang Furong!" Old Xishuai looked left and right, lowering his voice further: "These two paintings were once hidden treasures of the Old Summer Palace. After the Eight-Nation Alliance, these two paintings disappeared."

"A few days ago, an old friend notified me that these two paintings had been found. The holder was preparing to smuggle them to Japan to sell, but I intercepted them. Two paintings, cost me fifteen thousand."

"Painting of Red and White Wang Furong!" Zhou Andong felt like he had heard of it somewhere, but just couldn't recall.

"Let's go, let's take a look."

"Alright!" Old Xishuai turned and walked away: "My place is not far ahead."

Old Xishuai's home was only forty or fifty meters from Anqiu Hutong. Entering the hutong and walking to the third courtyard, it was actually a two-section courtyard.

Zhou Andong asked: "Are you the only one living here?"

"After the founding of the country, nineteen households lived in this courtyard." Old Xishuai led Zhou Andong and Wu Chao to the second section: "Later, some became officials, some got rich, some went abroad, and they moved out one after another. In the end, seven households remained."

"Originally, we lived in peace, and I didn't have many thoughts about it. After all, we were neighbors for decades, so if they wanted to live here, they could. But in '83, the state issued some housing management regulation, and everyone with a house had to register. They actually wanted to split my house, saying the house was theirs."

"Luckily, I kept the old house deed, as well as the documents issued by the government when they were settled here, which is why they didn't succeed. After I finished registering, I told them that if they wanted to live in my house now, they had to pay rent."

"They didn't agree, so they went to the district to report me. At first, the district talked to me, but I had read that regulation, and there was one clause I remembered very clearly."

"The state protects the private housing ownership of citizens according to the law; neither the government nor individuals can occupy or destroy it. So, I told the district leaders very directly that if they wanted to live here, they had to pay rent."

"The district leaders saw I was firm and compromised, so they made them pay rent. A few years later, they all moved out one after another."

Zhou Andong asked: "Do you still have any family?"

"Yes!" Old Xishuai entered the left side room: "I have three daughters, all married, and now I'm the only one living here."

As he spoke, Old Xishuai opened a cabinet, took out the clothes and miscellaneous items inside, and then pulled out two scrolls from the very bottom.

"Take a look!"

Zhou Andong took a scroll; it was silk. After opening it, the painting was of a white hibiscus.

Old Xishuai opened the other scroll: "This is the red hibiscus. Compared to the white hibiscus, the painting is slightly better. This is the work of Li Di, a painter from the end of the Northern Song and the beginning of the Southern Song."

"Look at the inscription on the top left: Painted by Li Di in the Ding Si year of the Qingyuan era. This is the number one masterpiece of Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting, universally recognized as the highest level of Southern Song Academy flower-and-bird painting."

Looking at these two paintings, Zhou Andong finally remembered; he had indeed seen them.

In his previous life, he had gone to Japan for tourism with friends and saw them at the Tokyo National Museum.

At the time, he even joked with his friends that he would steal the paintings back at night and donate them to the country.

"The paintings, there's no problem, right?"

Old Xishuai said: "There won't be any problems. Even if I misjudged, my old friend wouldn't have."

Zhou Andong nodded: "How much do you intend to ask for?"

Old Xishuai said: "If I had dug them up myself, two or three hundred would be enough for running-around money. But since they were found through my old friend, I have to give him an agency fee of at least eight hundred or a thousand."

Zhou Andong said: "I'll give you twenty thousand. How much you give him is none of my concern."

Old Xishuai smiled, rubbed his hands, and said: "That's a bit much, I'm embarrassed." ===== CHAPTER 578 =====