Chapter 722: Fake Paintings to Seek Wealth and Remember Old Favors

The tall foreigner frowned, his tone impatient: "Mr. Xu, I can give you thirteen thousand at most, no more. Otherwise, I'm leaving."

Xu Damao scratched his head vigorously for a long time, then gritted his teeth: "Alright! Thirteen thousand it is, I'll give it to you!"

After seeing the two foreigners off, Xu Damao returned to the counter with a grin.

Liu Sanmei leaned over and asked in a low voice: "Damao, how much did that painting sell for?"

Xu Damao held his head high, looking smug: "Thirteen thousand. Your man is capable, right? I've already sold several Zheng Banqiao paintings recently. These people would never dream that the paintings they got are all exactly the same."

Liu Sanmei jumped for joy: "Damao, this fake painting business is really fucking profitable! You've made nearly two hundred thousand in these few months, haven't you?"

Xu Damao chuckled: "I still have to split half with Lao Sun, Lao Zhang, and Qi; it's not all ours."

Liu Sanmei's face suddenly fell: "Even if we've made this much money, it's still far from enough to pay back your Siqiang. Your Siqiang originally said that one hundred and fifty thousand was for you, why do you still want to pay it back?"

Xu Damao sighed: "The old man said he didn't want it, but that was to test me! If I really didn't pay it back, that would be all I could ever get from him in the future; if I pay it back, he'll think I have the ability to make a comeback, and I might get ten times that one hundred and fifty thousand or more."

"Does your Siqiang really have that much money?"

"Of course, he had hundreds of thousands of Big Ocean back in the fifties, buried in several courtyards."

"Then we must go visit him often!" Liu Sanmei said excitedly.

"Thinking about it now, he must have known about me cheating him out of money back then; he just didn't hold it against me because I saved his life twice. Siqiang is a good man..." As Xu Damao spoke, his eyes turned red and he shed tears.

Liu Sanmei scolded: "Why have you been so sissy lately, crying at the drop of a hat?"

Xu Damao wiped his tears: "I only understand now that the person who is willing to look after you all the time is your greatest benefactor. You have to treat them well while they are still alive... but I haven't done enough!"

Liu Sanmei kicked him: "You, you aren't completely rotten yet."

Xu Damao wiped his tears and said: "My senior fellow apprentice Cui Dazhi is very calculating. He lives with Siqiang every day now, taking care of him; what do you think he's after? It's just coveting Siqiang's things. Siqiang is in poor health now, he only has these two or three years left. We have to maintain a good relationship during these two or three years, and we'll definitely get a share in the future... You don't know, Siqiang has a Bronze Sword that someone offered one hundred thousand Big Ocean for back in the forties. He has plenty of such good things; just imagine how much money he has now?"

Liu Sanmei's eyes lit up: "Then let's hurry up and pay the money back to your Siqiang."

Three months later, the case of Xu Xinghai was sentenced.

Xu Xinghai, death penalty, to be executed immediately. The other participants were sentenced to twenty years in prison. Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, the brothers, were sentenced to two years in prison.

Nanluoguxiang 95 Siheyuan, the Liu family.

Second Uncle's wife watched Second Uncle sunbathing in the courtyard.

Liu Haizhong heard that his two sons had been sentenced to two years and laughed happily: "Those two bastards, they got what they deserved, they got what they deserved... they got what they deserved..."

Second Uncle's wife was unhappy: "Old Liu, they are our sons after all, how can a father curse his own children like that?"

Liu Haizhong stiffened his neck: "When they emptied the place out, why didn't they remember I was their father? They deserve it."

Second Uncle's wife sighed: "But our eldest, ever since he took the money to buy a courtyard, he doesn't come to see us anymore."

Liu Haizhong shook his head and sighed: "His wife is a high-ranking official's child after all, she looks down on us a bit, which is understandable. Doesn't he still give us some pocket money every month?"

Second Uncle's wife muttered: "If you ask me, he should have taken us to live with him."

Liu Haizhong waved his hand: "If he really asked me to go, I wouldn't want to go anyway. Those high-ranking official's children, they have too many demands."

Zhang Shuying stood in front of Nanluoguxiang 95, a thousand emotions welling up in her heart.

Back then, she had fled from here. Now that she was back, decades had passed in a flash.

She wore a Burberry trench coat, sunglasses, carried a Chanel bag, and was followed by two Bodyguards in black suits, each carrying a suitcase.

Yan Bugui, who was sitting at the entrance sunbathing, spotted her at a glance.

"Comrade, who are you looking for?" Yan Bugui asked, squinting his eyes.

Zhang Shuying took off her sunglasses and said with a smile: "May I ask if He Yuzhu lives here?"

Yan Bugui looked at her, then at the two burly Bodyguards behind her, feeling a bit intimidated, his voice dropping a few notches: "Who are you?"

Zhang Shuying said with a smile: "I am a friend of He Yuzhu."

Yan Bugui was quite persistent and continued to press: "A friend from where? How come I've never seen or heard of you!"

Zhang Shuying said unhurriedly: "Actually, I have been to your courtyard. I used to be the music teacher for He Yushui, Xiaomi, Dahua, and Xiaoqi. But that was over twenty years ago."

Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses, frowning and thinking for a long time: "It seems there really was such a thing. There used to be a young and pretty piano teacher, said she was from the Children's Palace, and even helped them win awards..."

Zhang Shuying immediately beamed: "That's right, that person was me."

Yan Bugui's small eyes darted around, sizing up the suitcases in the Bodyguards' hands.

Zhang Shuying took an electronic watch from one of the Bodyguards and stuffed it into Yan Bugui's hand: "You are the uncle of the Yan family, right? It's been many years, this little gift is just a token of my respect."

Yan Bugui hurriedly took it, his eyes squinting into a slit from smiling: "Is this really for me? This must be worth quite a lot!"

"It's for you. I brought little things for everyone else in the courtyard too, please don't mind."

Without a second word, Yan Bugui immediately tucked the watch into his pocket, then trotted forward, shouting at the top of his lungs as he ran: "He Yuzhu! He Yuzhu! You have a friend here! You have a friend here!"

He Yuzhu was eating in the East Cross Courtyard with his parents, Chen Xueru, He Yulu, He Zheng, He Jia, and Fang Deng.

Hearing the shouts, he hurried out to greet her. Seeing it was Zhang Shuying, he was stunned on the spot: "Shuying, why... why are you back?"

Zhang Shuying said with a smile: "Didn't expect me to come back, did you? To tell you the truth, I was invited here to discuss a collaboration."

He Yuzhu smiled, a smile filled with emotion: "I really didn't expect it, I really didn't."

Yan Bugui said from the side as if claiming credit: "Zhuzi, I've brought the person to you! I'm leaving now!" Although he said he was leaving, his feet didn't move.

He Yuzhu understood and handed him a pack of cigarettes: "Thank you, thank you Third Master."

Only then did Yan Bugui leave, fully satisfied.

He Yuzhu let Zhang Shuying into the courtyard and then quickly called Xiaomi, Dahua, Xiaoqi, and He Yushui.

Not long after, the few of them rushed back in a flurry.

Teacher and students reunited, the five of them immediately hugged together, crying and laughing, making a scene; the courtyard was lively indeed.

When their emotions finally calmed down, He Yuzhu waved his hand and said with a smile: "Let's go, let's go to He Ji Restaurant to eat!"