135: Chapter 135 A Highly Profitable Business

"550,000!"

Someone raised their hand shortly after.

Among the many bosses present, quite a few were enthusiasts of painting and calligraphy.

For people in this age group, their common hobbies, apart from tea tasting, were basically collecting calligraphy and paintings.

Moreover, everyone could accept this starting price.

It was completely within their means.

"600,000!"

Tang Ruowei, who had been silent all this time, raised her hand to bid a slightly higher price.

Zhao Feier and Su Ming, sitting beside Tang Ruowei, were slightly taken aback, feeling inexplicably that the voice of this mysterious person wearing a mask and sunglasses seemed somewhat familiar.

It felt like they had heard it somewhere before, but they couldn't recall it for the moment.

Lin Yi's eyes flickered, and he immediately understood that this was the work by Tang Qigong that Tang Ruowei wanted to snatch up as a bargain.

Although Lin Yi didn't know much about painting and calligraphy, even as a layman, he could tell that the piece on stage was definitely not an ordinary item.

"700,000!"

Not far away, Qian Hongyuan also raised his hand.

He narrowed his eyes, quietly watching the reaction from Tang Ruowei's side.

Qian Hongyuan guessed that Tang Ruowei must have had another motive for coming to this banquet today.

If it were just to go on a date with Lin Yi, there would be no need to come to a place with so many people.

Doing so would make it easy to expose herself and could also bring unnecessary public opinion issues.

Furthermore, Tang Ruowei had been protecting her identity from being discovered and had been keeping quiet all along.

She only reacted after this painting was brought onto the stage.

Presumably, Tang Ruowei came specifically for this painting!

Qian Hongyuan knew that Tang Ruowei's grandfather was Tang Qigong.

Could it be... that this painting was by Tang Qigong?

But there was no signature on the painting, and Qian Hongyuan didn't know much about this aspect.

So, he didn't dare to jump to conclusions for the time being.

However, if this painting really was by Tang Qigong, then he, Qian Hongyuan, would have to win it no matter what.

It wasn't because of the value of the painting, but because the Qian Family patriarch's favorite thing to collect in his life was Tang Qigong's paintings.

There was a collection room in the old Qian Family mansion, which was almost filled with Tang Qigong's works.

Therefore, Qian Hongyuan was carefully watching Tang Ruowei's reaction at this moment.

He wanted to judge whether this painting was by Tang Qigong through Tang Ruowei's reaction.

Sure enough, Tang Ruowei couldn't contain herself and raised her hand again.

"1,000,000!"

Tang Ruowei thought to herself that this unsigned painting probably didn't have any special value in everyone else's eyes.

The starting price was 500,000, so she would directly call out a doubled price.

Just like Lin Yi did earlier.

To make others retreat in the face of difficulty.

This way, she could perfectly snatch it up as a bargain.

But this action, in Qian Hongyuan's eyes, only made him more certain of his guess.

Whatever could make Tang Ruowei so attentive must be a work by Tang Qigong, without a doubt!

Qian Hongyuan smiled slightly and raised his hand in turn.

"5,000,000!"

Hearing this bid, a thunderbolt flashed through Tang Ruowei's mind, and her heart instantly sank to rock bottom.

She hadn't expected Qian Hongyuan to call out such a high price.

She only had a little over 3,000,000 on her right now.

Even adding everything up, she couldn't compete with Qian Hongyuan.

Tang Ruowei became anxious.

This painting was drawn by Tang Qigong on Tang Ruowei's tenth birthday; it was a tenth birthday present for her.

It had extraordinary significance to Tang Ruowei.

Moreover, today happened to be Tang Ruowei's birthday.

It felt as if it were destined for Tang Ruowei to take back this painting that originally belonged to her today.

But who would have thought... it was actually snatched away by Qian Hongyuan.

Tang Ruowei subconsciously looked in Qian Hongyuan's direction and found Qian Hongyuan looking at her with a smug expression.

"He... could he have guessed it?"

Tang Ruowei associated this with the red wine that Qian Hongyuan's secretary, Joanna, spilled on her when she came to toast earlier.

She immediately realized what happened.

It was possible that when she went to the restroom to change her mask, her true identity was discovered...

That detestable Qian Hongyuan...

Too cunning!

Tang Ruowei was both angry and annoyed.

But at this moment, she was helpless.

The price of 5,000,000 was already far beyond her means.

Unless...

Unless she borrowed some money from Lin Yi? Lin Yi was so rich, and he even said he was her fan.

If he was willing to lend her some money, there might still be hope to buy this painting!

"Lin Yi..."

Tang Ruowei looked at Lin Yi as if asking for help.

But before she could say it, Lin Yi decisively raised his hand.

"50,000,000!"

Tang Ruowei had originally intended to ask to borrow money.

But after hearing Lin Yi's bid, the second half of the sentence that hadn't been spoken was stifled back inside her.

50,000,000...

Could it be that Lin Yi also had his eye on this painting?

That's right... Lin Yi knew her true identity.

He must have been able to guess whose hand this painting came from.

Her grandfather Tang Qigong's paintings were all of great collection value.

50,000,000 could be considered a normal price.

After Lin Yi finished bidding, he glanced at Qian Hongyuan provocatively.

From the moment Qian Hongyuan placed his bid, Lin Yi had decided to help Tang Ruowei win this painting.

He, of course, had no hobby of collecting calligraphy and paintings.

He was too busy collecting sports cars and mansions; Lin Yi really couldn't understand what was so good about collecting calligraphy and paintings.

However, having heard Tang Ruowei's inner thoughts through the system earlier, Lin Yi knew that this painting had extraordinary significance to Tang Ruowei.

Since that was the case, he would just do his favorite female celebrity a favor.

"60,000,000!"

Qian Hongyuan also followed up with a bid.

He was still counting on taking this calligraphy and painting back to coax his own patriarch into being happy.

Qian Hongyuan's achievements at home were far inferior to those of his two older brothers.

Even his eldest brother's son, Qian Xiuwen, had a bigger reputation in the Nanjing business world than him.

The Qian Family patriarch was advanced in age, and his health was getting worse by the day.

After the patriarch passed away, most of the family assets would probably be left to the first and second sons of the Qian Family.

Qian Hongyuan wanted to take this opportunity to please the patriarch, thinking that if he did, the patriarch might consider him more when the time came.

"70,000,000!"

Lin Yi continued to bid.

"80,000,000!"

Qian Hongyuan was also not to be outdone.

Both of them had reasons why they had to win this painting.

"100,000,000!"

At this moment, Li Runze, who had been silent all along, suddenly raised his hand to bid.

And he started with 100,000,000 right off the bat.

It was as if he wanted to win back the face he had lost earlier.

Through the bidding war between Lin Yi and Qian Hongyuan, Li Runze discovered a clue.

These two people could never be bidding for an obscure painting.

This painting must have something special about it!

So, Li Runze hurriedly took a photo and sent it to a friend who knew about calligraphy and paintings.

That friend analyzed that the brushwork of this painting was very similar to Tang Qigong's style.

Li Runze's eyes instantly lit up.

He decided to compete with Lin Yi and Qian Hongyuan.

The reason he didn't bid against Lin Yi for that necklace earlier was because the price of gemstones was fixed.

If the premium was too high, it wouldn't be worth the loss.

But calligraphy and painting works were different.

To those who truly liked such works, they were priceless treasures!

Moreover, Li Runze had also heard that the Qian Family patriarch had a special fondness for Tang Qigong's paintings!

He could completely win this work and then gift it to the Qian Family patriarch.

Given the Qian Family patriarch's style of doing things, he certainly wouldn't treat him poorly.

Perhaps the Qian Family would even provide better development resources to Li Group.

This was a lucrative deal!