Chapter 457

Having not returned to Beijing for half a year, Xu Xu Shufen had adapted quite well. She was more used to the weather in the north, and now that the heating was on, the house was very comfortable.

Old Mrs. Xiao Xiao Shufang next door also told her that a new supermarket had opened in Beijing. Xu Xu Shufen specifically took the bus to visit it. It wasn't big, only about 200 square meters, and it only sold vegetables and meat. It was more expensive than the vegetable market. There were prices on the packaging, but no names, weights, or unit prices.

Xu Xu Shufen just followed the crowd to experience something new, feeling that the gap with Hong Kong was still very large. She estimated she wouldn't come again next time.

Returning home and just about to prepare lunch, she glanced at the bedroom and suddenly found that a box had been opened.

Xu Xu Shufen's brain "buzzed." She immediately went to search, and sure enough, a passbook was missing!

The house had been robbed!

Xu Xu Shufen's first reaction was to hurry and call Wei Wei Jiefang back, but the phone at Beichizi wasn't answered. So she called the Peking University girls' dormitory. Fortunately, Wei Hong hadn't gone out and, upon receiving the call, said she would return immediately.

Sherlock Hong checked the crime scene: "Mom, you don't need to worry too much. It should be an inside job."

"Ah, an inside job?"

"Right. Look, these gold, silver, and jade jewelry, and this cash aren't lost; only one passbook is lost. An ordinary person can't withdraw money even if they take our passbook. So there is only one truth," Wei Hong took the non-existent pipe out of her mouth, "The passbook was taken by Dad!"

Xu Xu Shufen: "Your dad? Then it's fine. Since you're back, we can eat in a while."

"Mom, there's quite a bit of money in the passbook, right? What does Dad need so much money for? Aren't you worried?"

"Five, and it's Hong Kong dollars, so it's indeed a lot. But your dad is sharper than a monkey; he won't be cheated." Xu Xu Shufen was very reassured about this point. Her man had never suffered a loss, whether in the village or in the big city.

However, Wei Wei Jiefang was really a bit worried that he had been cheated now. Originally, he just wanted to buy a few paintings and calligraphy. How did it become buying everything as soon as he got carried away?

Lao Lao Wei looked at Director Wang, who was smiling all over his face, and Ma Ma Weidu, who had brought him here, and then looked at Xu Xu Huachi, who wanted to compete with him for this batch of paintings but lacked the financial resources and looked regretful. He thought to himself, had he been set up by them?

When Wei Wei Jiefang and Ma Ma Weidu saw this batch of paintings, Director Wang of the Foreign Guest Service Department, upon hearing that Wei Wei Jiefang was Wei Ming's father, suddenly had a bold idea: sell all these hard-to-sell paintings to this person.

For this, he didn't hesitate to shout out the proposal of taking them all for 300,000 Hong Kong dollars.

300,000 Hong Kong dollars was equivalent to more than 80,000 yuan. With over 9,000 pieces of calligraphy and paintings, that came to less than 10 yuan per piece!

Of course, this was the official exchange rate. In reality, the value of 300,000 Hong Kong dollars on the black market was no less than 300,000 yuan. If they weren't masterpieces, it fit the current market price. The key was that foreign exchange was too hard to get.

Lao Lao Wei wasn't tempted at all at first because he didn't have that much money. Betting on horses in Hong Kong, plus the pocket money his biological father and stepmother gave him, and what he finally won from those old guys, he only had a few tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars in total. He was still thinking about exchanging for foreign exchange certificates.

But Director Wang said, "It doesn't matter. Just pay a part of the deposit first, and then have Wei Laoshi settle the balance later. We'll keep the things for you, and not a single piece of calligraphy or painting on the list will be missing."

Everyone knew Wei Ming wasn't short of foreign exchange. It was said that those few songs of his brought in quite a lot of US dollars every month now.

Wei Ming was a name that preceded him; he was well-known in the industry.

At this time, Lao Lao Wei was only a little tempted. Thinking of owning 9,000 pieces of calligraphy and paintings by famous people at the same time, and putting Qi Bai Shi, Zhang Zhang Daqian, Li Li Keran, Wu Zuoren, Jiang Zhaohe, Xu Xu Beihong, Huang Huang Yongyu, Wu Luo Guanzhong, Li Li Kuchan, Huang Huang Binhong, Fu Fu Baoshi, Guan Shanyue, Fan Zeng, Pan Pan Tianshou, Zhang Boju, Qi Gong, Guo Guo Moruo, Xu Xu Linlu, and others into his pocket—if those pretentious old men in Hong Kong knew about this, wouldn't they be envious to death?

But he ultimately didn't take action, feeling that this consumption exceeded his strength.

Just then, a young man named Xu Xu Huachi was visiting with a few Hong Kong VIPs. When he learned that such a batch of paintings existed, he couldn't stay calm either. He even bargained with Director Wang, asking if it could be cheaper, saying 200,000 Hong Kong dollars.

If it were 200,000, he would work hard, sell his house, and borrow from his parents, brothers, and friends; he should be able to scrape it together.

Hearing this, Lao Lao Wei couldn't stay calm and asked clearly what this person's background was.

Ma Ma Weidu also knew this person and introduced him to Wei Wei Jiefang: "This is the youngest son of Mr. Xu Xu Linlu. In the circle, everyone calls him Ninth Master."

Xu Xu Linlu was a disciple of Qi Bai Shi and also a painter and collector. He had nine children in his life. Xu Xu Huachi was his youngest child, around 30 years old, and had already immigrated to Hong Kong.

Lao Lao Wei hurriedly asked again: "Then where are you planning to put these paintings after you buy them?"

The other party replied: Hong Kong.

It must be Hong Kong, because he came from Hong Kong, so he knew the potential value of these paintings. When ancient works were almost all collected by those Hong Kong tycoons, they would definitely start targeting modern and contemporary painters. Where would mainlanders be willing to pay high prices?

Hearing this, Lao Lao Wei suddenly got carried away and waved his hand: "Director Wang, just as we said before, 300,000 Hong Kong dollars. These 9,145 pieces of calligraphy and paintings belong to me. I'll give you a deposit of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars first!"

Looking back now, Lao Lao Wei felt he had been impulsive. At the time, he thought these paintings couldn't be allowed to flow overseas, but he forgot that Hong Kong would return sooner or later.

But 50,000 yuan had already reached the account of the History Museum, and the contract had been signed. If he didn't want them later, the deposit would not be refunded.

And he still had to pay the remaining 250,000 Hong Kong dollars or equivalent foreign exchange to take these calligraphy and painting works away.

Now the warehouse was resealed. Lao Lao Wei only got one key, and he would need the museum's other key to open the door.

After leaving, Wei Wei Jiefang treated Ma Ma Weidu to a meal. Ma Ma Weidu, who usually talked a lot, was silent at this moment.

It wasn't that he felt guilty; he really hadn't set Lao Lao Wei up. He was purely shocked by Lao Lao Wei's courage and financial strength.

Of course, there was mostly envy. If he had this financial strength, he would want to buy all the good things in the four-nine city.

Finally, Wei Wei Jiefang spoke up: "Little Ma, when the calligraphy and paintings are in hand later, you pick one yourself."

"Oh, thank you, Uncle Wei. Uncle, you really have great courage," Ma Ma Weidu said, "But this matter still needs to be notified to Wei Laoshi as soon as possible, settle the balance quickly, and it's best to get it into your pocket for peace of mind. You also know that these public units have many leaders. If one leader suddenly has a brainwave and says this matter doesn't count, that would be bad."

Lao Lao Wei thought to himself, it would be better if it didn't count. He always felt that he had been a prodigal father this time, buying a pile of paper for 300,000 Hong Kong dollars. Would his son blame him?

Returning home, Wei Hong had already gone back to school, and Xu Xu Shufen was waiting for him, asking about the Hong Kong dollars.

"Hmm, I took it. I bought something."

"Bought what? So expensive?" Xu Xu Shufen didn't understand.

"That money was just a deposit. It's 300,000 Hong Kong dollars in total."

"Ah?!" Now Xu Xu Shufen was also shocked. With Hong Kong's current housing prices, 300,000 could buy a two-bedroom apartment. This was a huge sum of money.

Afterward, Wei Wei Jiefang told his wife about buying over 9,000 pieces of calligraphy and paintings by famous people from the museum in one go.

Xu Xu Shufen worried: "Then you bought so many paintings, where are you going to put them? You don't have a museum."

Wei Wei Jiefang: "Is the point whether there's a museum? The point is how to open my mouth to ask my son for this money."

"You just say you bought them for him."

Wei Wei Jiefang slapped his thigh: "Right! I didn't intend to keep them for myself anyway; I'm not into this!"

"Good, very good. That's the feeling!"

After three days, the *Sheep-Herding Class* crew finally completed a beautiful shot of Teacher Zhong and Chen Pipi watching the sunset.

And this shot wasn't completed in Ya'an; they specifically ran to Mount Emei to find a satisfactory place.

The completion of this shot also meant that all location shooting was over. Next was returning to Chengdu to shoot a small amount of interior scenes.

Before leaving, they returned to Fanzhan Village, where the foundation for the new primary school had already begun to be laid. The foundation was very deep and firm. The county magistrate also came, holding a foundation-laying ceremony, and Wei Ming left the four-character ink treasure "Spring Primary School."

At this time, the effect of Wei Ming's hard practice of calligraphy came out. These four characters as the school's plaque didn't lose face at all.

Wei Ming also left a piece in Dagou Village, where his grandmother was. He also made an agreement with his grandmother: "After I finish filming the movie, I'll pick you up to Beijing. My father and mother should also be back from Hong Kong."

Not long after saying this, Mi Jiashan came over from Chengdu. He was responsible for the interior set design work there.

Now that the set design was completed, he came to meet up with the crew and brought Wei Ming a telegram from Beijing.

Seeing the content of the telegram, Wei Ming was happy. He actually had an impression of this matter, but he wasn't clear about which year it happened. It turned out to be this year!

It's just that the protagonist changed from the young master of Xu Xu Linlu's family to Wei Ming's old father.

300,000, 9,000 pieces—this was a huge bargain!

Although the rate of masterpieces wasn't high, there were really good things inside, and one couldn't encounter this kind of clearance sale just anytime.

Wei Ming wanted to take all the good things from Rongbaozhai, but they only brought out one piece every once in a while and wouldn't have such a clearance sale.

Lao Lao Wei was afraid Wei Ming wouldn't acknowledge it, saying it was all bought for his son.

For father and son to talk about this was being distant. He would just pick a few he liked later.

And Wei Ming also felt that he should get it into his pocket for peace of mind as soon as possible, so he returned to Chengdu and immediately made a long-distance call, telling his mother to open a certain place in his bedroom.

There were quite a few US dollars in his bedroom.

"If it's not enough, you can borrow temporarily from Gong Xue and Zhu Lin."

He had also put some US dollar cash with them for emergencies.

The US dollar reserves in the hands of the three were definitely enough.

Wei Ming spoke subtly, but he actually implicitly admitted his intimate relationship with them.

Anyway, his parents should have guessed it. Continuing to let them stay invisible in front of his parents was a bit heartless, so Wei Ming didn't mind letting his parents meet his two prospective daughters-in-law.

As he grew older, Wei Ming's skin was also getting thicker.

After receiving his son's reply, the old couple first dug out 20,000 US dollars from Wei Ming's bedroom, still short more than 10,000.

Lao Lao Wei looked troubled: "Do I really have to go borrow from those two little girls?"

Xu Xu Shufen: "Then you can only wait for your son to come back."

Lao Lao Wei's mind turned: "You can go borrow it. You are both women, so it's easy to talk. That's it!"

Lao Lao Wei was really worried about those complicated relationships between men and women. The relationship between his son and Gong Xue and Zhu Lin was so complicated, and there was also a little Ah Min. He got a headache just thinking about it, so he simply pushed it to Xu Xu Shufen.

So the next day, Wei Wei Jiefang went to the Forbidden City to play with his old friends, and by the way, showed off his feat of taking over the History Museum for 300,000 Hong Kong dollars.

And Xu Xu Shufen went to Mei Mei Wenhua's house to see her sister-in-law and niece, and then waited for Zhu Lin to return.

Today, Zhu Lin and Gong Xue returned from outside together. When Wei Ming wasn't there, they were more used to living in Tuanjiehu. Although the house was small, the sense of security was greater.