Chapter 1841

Soon, President Pei and Xiao Changkun drove their own cars back to the Calligraphy and Painting Association one after the other.

At this moment, Fei Kexin had already been waiting here for a long time.

As soon as President Pei returned, the secretary brought him and Xiao Changkun to the conference room and said to Fei Kexin, who was waiting there, "Ms. Zhan, these two are our Calligraphy and Painting Association's President Pei and Vice President Xiao!"

After saying that, she introduced them to the two men, "President Pei, Vice President Xiao, this is the French-Chinese Ms. Zhan Feier that I mentioned on the phone."

For the sake of safety, Fei Kexin did not use her true identity.

However, for her, she had completely legal and real identities in several countries; this French-Chinese identity of Zhan Feier was just one of her many identities.

Fei Kexin took an extra look at Xiao Changkun, and finally breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. As long as she made contact with Xiao Changkun, she would definitely have a chance to inquire about his son-in-law, Ye Chen.

Thus, she stood up very politely and said with a smile, "President, Vice President, I have long admired your names, and I am finally meeting you both."

President Pei did not expect that this overseas Chinese would be a young and beautiful girl. After being slightly stunned, he hurriedly smiled and said, "Ms. Zhan, you are too polite. I heard that an overseas Chinese wanted to donate calligraphy and paintings, but I didn't expect it to be a young lady. Was Ms. Zhan originally from Jin Ling?"

Fei Kexin smiled slightly, shook her head, and said, "Our family's ancestors were from Jin Ling. Although the recent generations have settled overseas, the elders in the family still have very deep feelings for Jin Ling. It's just that the elders are old and it's not very convenient for them to come over, so they entrusted me to contribute a little bit to the Jin Ling calligraphy and painting community."

As she spoke, she greeted Chen Yingshan beside her, "Shanshan, hurry and bring over the calligraphy and paintings prepared by the old master."

Chen Yingshan hurriedly stepped forward and brought over a wooden box made of golden nanmu. The wooden box was opened on the conference table, and eight scrolls were placed inside.

These eight pieces of calligraphy were bought by the Fei family last night from a collector in the United States and then sent to Jin Ling overnight.

The purpose was to match the story background fabricated by Fei Kexin so she could take the opportunity to connect with Xiao Changkun.

It was just that neither President Pei nor Xiao Changkun knew that Fei Kexin had put on such a big show just to find an opportunity to approach the live-in son-in-law of Xiao Changkun's family, Ye Chen.

Subsequently, Fei Kexin made a gesture of invitation to President Pei and Xiao Changkun and said respectfully, "President, Vice President, these eight pieces of calligraphy are the eight works of Zheng Fu that the elder in my family asked me to bring back. Please take a look."

President Pei was naturally very excited. He hurriedly took a pair of white gloves out of his pocket, stepped forward to carefully pick up one of the scrolls, and gently spread it out on the table. While looking at it, he praised, "This is indeed Zheng Fu's authentic work, and looking at the handwriting, it is a work left behind during Zheng Fu's peak golden period. It is preserved very well and is extremely precious!"

Fei Kexin nodded and said with a smile, "These eight works by Zheng Fu are a series that Zheng Fu specifically created. The eight pieces of calligraphy contain eight articles praising the four seasons and the customs of the four corners of Jin Ling. Moreover, all eight pieces are preserved perfectly, which is indeed very rare!"

President Pei said excitedly, "These eight pieces of calligraphy have a nickname called 'The Eight Sighs of Jin Ling'! They have very significant meaning for the local history and customs of Jin Ling! When I first came into contact with calligraphy, I had heard of these eight pieces, but I only heard that they had flowed overseas. I didn't expect that I would be lucky enough to see them in Jin Ling today!"

As he spoke, he said to Xiao Changkun, "Changkun, come and take a look! This can be said to be the most famous one among our local Jin Ling calligraphers. These eight pieces of calligraphy best represent our Jin Ling's cultural history! Look at these brushstrokes, they are vigorous and powerful, and the subtle details are incredibly smooth and full of charm. It is simply marvelous!"

How could Xiao Changkun understand any calligraphy? He only knew that this thing looked quite neat, but to say he could understand the essence of it, that was still a long way off.

Thus, he could only muddle through and praise repeatedly, "It really is good calligraphy! One look and you can tell it's a master's work, amazing!"

Xiao Changkun's one sentence made Fei Kexin firmly believe that this old man was a total fraud.

However, she still very seriously played along, "Vice President Xiao is right, this is indeed a master's work. Although it cannot compare to top calligraphy masters like Wang Xizhi, as far as the land of Jin Ling is concerned, it is definitely one of the best."

Xiao Changkun at this time leaned over to President Pei and asked casually, "President, how much are these eight pieces of calligraphy worth?"

President Pei said seriously, "Compared to many top masters, Zheng Fu's calligraphy is not considered expensive, but in recent years, the auction price for excellent works has been over a million. And you know in the collection industry, the more complete a set is, the more expensive it is, and the larger the set, the more expensive it gets! So if these eight pieces were really taken out for auction, tens of millions would still be needed!"

Xiao Changkun gasped secretly and couldn't help but size up Fei Kexin, thinking, "This girl's family must be incredibly rich, otherwise how could she donate something worth tens of millions just like that?"

President Pei had already opened and looked at all eight pieces of calligraphy one by one. The more he looked, the more delighted he was. He couldn't help but ask Fei Kexin, "Ms. Zhan, are these eight pieces of calligraphy really to be donated to the Jin Ling Calligraphy and Painting Association?"

Fei Kexin said without hesitation, "Of course! If President Pei has no objections, I can sign the donation letter at any time to confirm the donation in writing!"

President Pei was exceptionally excited and said with a trembling voice, "Oh my! Thank you so much, Ms. Zhan! The return of 'The Eight Sighs of Jin Ling' to Jin Ling must be a sensational event for the entire Jin Ling calligraphy and painting community! On behalf of the Jin Ling Calligraphy and Painting Association, as well as all the calligraphers and painting enthusiasts in Jin Ling, I thank you for your generous donation!"

Fei Kexin said with a smile, "President Pei, you overstate it. These eight pieces of calligraphy are a token of the elder in my family; I am just donating them on his behalf."

President Pei asked gratefully, "Ms. Zhan, may I ask how to address the elder in your family? I will promote it in the Jin Ling calligraphy and painting community later so that everyone can remember his contribution to Jin Ling's cultural cause!"

Fei Kexin said seriously, "President Pei, my grandfather is relatively low-key in his actions and does not wish to reveal too much about his identity. However, the elder in the family has always been concerned about the promotion and development of Jin Ling's history and culture, so this time he also instructed me to hold a local Jin Ling art exhibition in Jin Ling. For this matter, I have to trouble the two presidents to help organize it. As for the event funds, they will all be sponsored by our family. When the exhibition begins, he will definitely come to Jin Ling to participate, and at that time, there will be an opportunity to communicate with you two face-to-face."

President Pei nodded and said seriously, "Then we will wait until the exhibition starts to see the old gentleman's demeanor!"

After finishing, he tentatively asked, "Ms. Zhan, may I ask what your family's budget for the art exhibition is?"

Fei Kexin said casually, "Let's set it at 50 million RMB for now. If it's not enough, we can add more!"

President Pei felt a wave of dizziness upon hearing the figure of 50 million.

The vast majority of the Calligraphy and Painting Association's funding relied on financial allocations from superiors, but the annual allocation was only a few million to ten million. Every year when funds were insufficient, President Pei would lead everyone to generate income from various sources to ensure the good operation of the association.

Therefore, having lived a tight life, he couldn't adapt all of a sudden to hearing that an art exhibition had a budget of 50 million.

Xiao Changkun was very excited and couldn't help but say to President Pei, "President, with this 50 million, we can do something big! When the time comes, we'll make the scale grander, and let the other art associations in Jin Ling, including that group of people from the University for the Elderly, take a good look!"

Seeing that the time was ripe, Fei Kexin hurriedly said, "President, Vice President, how about I treat you two to a casual meal tonight? We can talk about the art exhibition while we eat?"

President Pei naturally agreed with incomparable excitement. Xiao Changkun had seen He Yuanjiang steal the spotlight at the exchange meeting today and was feeling somewhat stifled. Upon hearing that there was a chance to do something big, he was naturally very excited, so he also agreed to Fei Kexin's invitation without hesitation.

It was just that these two old men, who were over a hundred years old combined, failed to see that the young girl in front of them, who was in her early twenties, had an ulterior motive!