42: Chapter 42 Huang Yimei's Little Thoughts

An Xin talked for nearly twenty minutes, and Zhao Yang's ears were burning from listening.

Hanging up the phone, he smiled. "Old Gao, business comes to us while we sit at home. Someone wants to buy one thousand hongdou phones from Hongdou Technology at once."

Gao Qiqiang was stunned. "Huh? They want that many?"

"Yeah, it's an order from Qingting. Part of it is for employee benefits, and part of it is for public relations gifts. However, they require all of them to be fitted with the Yaou Fenghua phone cases."

"Yaou Fenghua?" Gao Qiqiang paused for a moment. "The set of those really beautiful custom cases?"

"Yes." Zhao Yang thought for a moment. "You are the CEO of Hongdou Technology now, so you should go talk about this in person tomorrow. You can raise the price for the one thousand units; after all, they need different cases, and you can give them better configurations too. Discuss the specifics with A Sheng on the phone tonight. Also, prepare more stock for the exhibition. I have a feeling that this time, the hongdou phone will be an instant hit."

"Alright, I've noted that down. There's enough time; the flight to Ulan Country is in the afternoon."

"Thank you for your hard work this time."

Gao Qiqiang smiled knowingly. "Section Chief Zhao, I'm really proud to be able to participate in this kind of operation."

...

The next day, Zhao Yang and Gao Qiqiang arrived at Qingting together.

Su Gengsheng came out to greet them directly and led the two into President Jiang's office.

Jiang Xueqiong and Gao Qiqiang discussed the mobile phone purchase, while Zhao Yang had other arrangements.

He followed Su Gengsheng into a small exhibition room, where the walls were covered with oil paintings of various styles.

"Teacher Zhao, please take a look." Su Gengsheng's tone was polite.

Zhao Yang smiled. "Just call me Zhao Yang; I'm still a student."

"Don't be so modest," Su Gengsheng said. "President Jiang specifically instructed us that your artistic attainments are worthy of being a teacher to all of us at Qingting."

"Fine." Zhao Yang smiled. "But only within Qingting; let's skip it outside. I heard from An Xin that you want to commission a piece from me?"

"Yes," Su Gengsheng said. "Since you are still studying at Shuimu, we were embarrassed to ask directly, so we entrusted Mr. An to ask for your opinion first. We are very honored that you could come today."

Zhao Yang pointed to the paintings on the wall. "Are you not satisfied with these?"

Su Gengsheng nodded. "This is for an upcoming transnational oil painting exhibition we are hosting, featuring young artists from Europe and China. The overall quality of the works we have received domestically is relatively low, especially the lack of any particularly outstanding pieces. If we exhibit them like this... it really won't look very good."

"Why did you think of me?"

"Yaou Fenghua uses oil painting techniques, so your attainments in oil painting must certainly be high," Su Gengsheng said. "We hope you can help us. The gap between the two sides participating in the exhibition is too large. While it won't cause any financial loss for us as the organizers, it will inevitably invite criticism and affect the company's image. Teacher Zhao, we can purchase a few paintings from you at the standard of mainstream domestic artists."

Zhao Yang was silent for a moment. "President Su, my coursework is very busy, and my advisor is urging me to work on my thesis every day."

"I understand. Doctoral studies are demanding, but we will definitely not let you lose out."

"Painting takes a lot of energy, and I still have to ensure quality and creative direction. So..." Zhao Yang paused. "I'll need more money."

"Huh?" Su Gengsheng had already given up hope and didn't expect Zhao Yang to come out with that. She looked surprised, thinking she had misheard. "Teacher Zhao, are you agreeing?"

"I can help with this. But if I sell my paintings to you, I'm afraid you won't be able to name a price."

"Teacher Zhao, I don't quite understand what you mean."

"How about this: I'll bring a few works with a style consistent with Yaou Fenghua tomorrow, and we can talk about it then."

"Thank you so much!"

...

Over on Gao Qiqiang's side, his discussion with Jiang Xueqiong didn't end until nearly noon.

Zhao Yang took him for a quick lunch, and they rushed to the airport in the afternoon.

On the way, Gao Qiqiang gave a brief report: In addition to the sale of the one thousand custom mobile phones, the two sides also reached a strategic cooperation agreement in areas such as brand building and marketing.

After listening, Zhao Yang was silent for a while. "I really didn't expect such an unexpected gain. Old Gao, with your ability, you would be more than qualified to be a senior executive at a big company."

"Section Chief Zhao, I know my own limitations. My educational background is low, and I am already very content to be able to work for you. A year ago, I wouldn't have even dared to think about these things."

Zhao Yang laughed it off. "After the business in Ulan Country is finished, come to the Imperial Capital and enroll in the Imperial Capital University for further studies."

"Huh? Boss, I can't get in; I haven't really been to school."

"There is an entrepreneur training class there, about half a year long. You can get in by paying, and it's very suitable for you."

"Thank you, Boss, for giving me this opportunity."

"You can also expand your network there."

They chatted all the way. Zhao Yang saw Gao Qiqiang off onto his plane and then returned to his residence.

He set up his easel and canvas in his dorm and began to paint.

Qingting's artistic taste made it an essential partner for Hongdou Technology to pursue a high-end route in the future. The domestic economy was on the eve of taking off, and it wouldn't be long before a large number of wealthy people emerged—once people have money, they start to pay attention to taste. Hongdou Technology needed to lay the groundwork early.

After painting two pieces, Zhao Yang couldn't help but think of Liu Tianxian—Huang Yimei.

After giving her a painting that day, he had put the matter to the back of his mind once he got busy. He didn't know, however, that the painting had made Huang Yimei's recent days difficult to describe.

At this moment, she was sitting in her room counting money.

During this period, she had been working part-time desperately, intending to save up ten thousand yuan to go see Zhao Yang—counting it as the price for that painting.

After admiring the painting herself for a few days, she took it to school to show her advisor. The advisor looked at it with a serious expression for ten minutes and directly quoted a terrifying price—one hundred thousand.

Huang Yimei was so scared she almost collapsed on the floor. Yesterday, she had been eating a jianbing guozi while admiring it, and if she had accidentally dripped chili sauce on it, she would have felt like killing herself.

The advisor asked her who had painted it and casually mentioned the names of several famous domestic artists.

After Huang Yimei answered truthfully, the advisor was first surprised, then told her: for a painting of this high level but by an unknown artist, the price would shrink significantly, to about ten thousand yuan. The advisor also strongly suggested that she keep the painting as a treasure—given the level the artist had currently shown, he would soon make a name for himself and become a well-known painter.

By then, the price of this painting would multiply by at least several dozen times. If stretched over more than ten years, it could even multiply by a hundred times. The advisor even asked her if she would be willing to sell it for fifty thousand yuan.

Hearing the advisor say this, Huang Yimei was even more stunned, and the hand holding the painting was trembling.

"Sell it?"

"Impossible!"

"She wanted to keep this thing as a family heirloom!"

"She also didn't want to tell her parents, because they would definitely make her return the painting."

"She decided to earn ten thousand yuan as soon as possible, give the money to Zhao Yang, and must solemnly say to him—stop giving away paintings randomly! You are a great painter, hey! Have a little self-awareness, will you?"