Chapter 126 Warning

While collecting the boxes, Wang Xiuyuan keenly noticed a problem.

Although these wooden crates for the oil paintings varied in size, their widths were consistent. Each crate could hold fifteen paintings; the only difference was the dimensions of the paintings inside.

Furthermore, the number of boxes far exceeded Wang Xiuyuan's estimates. He collected a total of 217 wooden crates from this storage room.

Each crate held fifteen paintings, meaning there were 3,255 oil paintings in total—far surpassing the 1,400-plus reported in the news.

However, this was quite normal, as it was 2010 when Cornelius Gurlitt's home was searched by German Customs and the German Tax Office.

In other words, under normal circumstances, Cornelius Gurlitt wouldn't be arrested for another thirty years.

And this guy had never gone out to work for money. All his living expenses had to be maintained by selling these paintings. Heaven knows how many he had sold over the decades.

Gold in times of chaos, antiques in times of prosperity.

In the years immediately following World War II, the European economy was in terrible shape. Most of Europe had basically been destroyed, and the people were struggling just to eat. No one had spare cash to invest in antiques or art that couldn't be eaten or drunk.

Consequently, for a considerable period, the market for antiques and art was very sluggish.

With aid from America's Marshall Plan, European nations quickly regained their strength. From the early 1950s to the early 1970s—a full twenty years—the entire European economy entered a period of rapid development.

The European populace gradually became wealthier, and the prices of antiques and art slowly began to rise.

Yet, compared to the early 21st century, the value of antiques and art in the early 1980s was still at a historical low.

Over thirty years, the 3,255 oil paintings were sold by Cornelius Gurlitt until only 1,400-plus remained. While startling, this number was within the realm of reason.

Before 1980, the market prices for antiques and art were even lower.

From Germany's surrender in 1945 to 1980—a full thirty-five years—who knows how many oil paintings Cornelius Gurlitt had sold during that time.

The mere thought of it made Wang Xiuyuan's heart ache so much he could hardly breathe.

This is all damn money!

Coming out of the storage room, with the mindset of "since I'm already here, I might as well check thoroughly," Wang Xiuyuan prepared to look in the bedroom and study. Perhaps some world-renowned masterpiece was hidden there.

After a careful search, the master bedroom and study yielded nothing; he found no valuable items. However, surprises often arrive unexpectedly.

Wang Xiuyuan had given up hope, but a surprise quietly arrived when he pushed open the door to the second bedroom.

To his surprise, he found the four walls of this bedroom lined with climate-controlled wine cellars and cigar humidors, filled with various expensive wines and cigars.

As a nouveau riche, Wang Xiuyuan's ability to appreciate wine and cigars hadn't quite developed yet, but he had been spending money to cultivate these hobbies lately.

Even without great connoisseurship, he could at least distinguish which wines and cigars were valuable collectibles and which were average "daily rations."

Although Cornelius Gurlitt lived in mediocre conditions and wore very ordinary clothes, his way of spending money was truly "high-profile."

He actually spent all the money from selling paintings on fine wine and cigars. Although there were no exceptionally rare or prestigious top-tier red wines or limited-edition cigars...

...the red wines and cigars in this bedroom were, without exception, high-end goods—things ordinary people couldn't afford. Any single wine cabinet or cigar humidor would have a market price starting at ten or twenty thousand dollars.

Calculating at a rate of one bottle of high-end red wine every two days and three cigars a day, Cornelius Gurlitt must have spent at least two to three hundred thousand dollars a year just on wine and cigars.

And that was assuming he was being frugal. If his daily consumption was slightly higher, or if the quality of the red wine and Graycliff cigars was a bit better, the rate of burning through money would definitely skyrocket.

Perhaps this was why Cornelius Gurlitt had sold 1,800 oil paintings over thirty years.

This rate of burning through money was truly impressive.

But then again, Cornelius Gurlitt had the capital for it; after all, his father had left him all those valuable oil paintings.

Whether the source of these oil paintings was legal was hard to say for now, but it was true that they were incredibly valuable.

From 1945 to 2010, Cornelius Gurlitt lived a comfortable life for sixty-five years just by selling the oil paintings his father left behind.

If it hadn't been for the bad luck of being thoroughly investigated by German Customs and the German Tax Office, he really could have lived comfortably until he died. After all, he was already eighty-one years old when he was arrested in 2010.

At that time, the remaining 1,400-plus famous paintings were valued at 1.1 billion dollars. As long as he didn't gamble, Cornelius Gurlitt could never have spent all that money before he died.

Wang Xiuyuan didn't take the expensive climate-controlled wine cellars and cigar humidors directly; he only emptied the fine wines and cigars inside.

He planned to leave these expensive cabinets for Cornelius Gurlitt, who had never worked a day in his life.

With all the valuable paintings, red wine, and cigars swept away by Wang Xiuyuan, he wasn't sure how much money Cornelius Gurlitt still had in his Swiss Bank account.

By leaving these expensive appliances, Wang Xiuyuan ensured that Cornelius Gurlitt could sell them for money if he ever ran short.

While he couldn't hide at home drinking fine wine and smoking cigars every day like before, he could at least live without worrying about food and clothing. This was Wang Xiuyuan's way of leaving a lifeline for Cornelius Gurlitt.

After all, Cornelius Gurlitt himself hadn't done anything heinous. Although his father, Hildebrand Gurlitt, had done some business with the Nazi Party, he hadn't done anything truly evil either.

Otherwise, after Germany's surrender in World War II, Hildebrand Gurlitt would have been thrown into prison by the Allies long ago. Why would they have let the father and son live freely?

One must know that the vengeful squid people established a specific squid people revenge organization after World War II to hunt Nazis all over the world, and they didn't stop until 1955.

If the Gurlitt father and son were truly bad people, Cornelius wouldn't have lived this long.

Although Wang Xiuyuan left a lifeline for Cornelius Gurlitt, he prepared to leave a warning before departing.

(Brothers, please add to collection, follow, give recommendation votes, and monthly tickets! Thank you, brothers.)