Chapter 5 Going to America (2)

  I reached the downstairs, just in time when no one was using the phone. I inserted a coin into the telephone and dialed my senior brother's number: "Hello! Is this Liu Chao? This is Ju An, I've arrived in New York and am currently staying at the Red House Hotel in Queens. We have free time three days later."

  "Hmm! I knew it, I asked around and the authentication of one painting costs over a thousand dollars. Your three paintings would cost over 10,000 RMB. If there's any problem, all your savings from this year will be gone." The voice of his senior fellow apprentice came through the phone.

  "They also made it clear in the second email, more than 3,400 US dollars, no big deal, I'm mentally prepared, and I have the money with me. If this money is wasted, tonight I'll borrow a tricycle to sell fish, there are so many fish in the pond, it's worth at least tens of thousands of yuan, I've had plans for a long time, there's fish in the pond, no need to worry."

  "It's up to you, if it's real then don't be stingy, I'm working on a software project here, investing one or two million is no problem, haha" the senior brother teased.

  "My own brother doesn't need to say another word, if you have 2 million, just take it all." said with a comfortable and pleasant tone.

  "You're so generous, you've lost that much, and now your wife's dowry is all gone! You little scamp, aren't you afraid? I'm talking about US dollars!" The senior brother on the other end also chuckled.

  "I'm talking about pounds, I've lost my wife's money, take sister-in-law as compensation."

  A coughing sound came from the receiver: "I'm telling you, kid, you've got capitalist potential. How come I didn't see it in college?"

  "I've been hiding for so long and you still found out."

  "Stop it, I'll arrive the day after tomorrow night, you've also been on a plane for over ten hours, hurry up and wash up and sleep. When I arrive, I'll book a room, we can talk then." The senior brother hastily ended the conversation.

  "Alright, I'll hang up now, see you the day after tomorrow." With a smile all over his face, he hung up the phone. Ju'an and his senior fellow student were from the same hometown, coming from the same county. However, Ju'an was from the county town while his senior fellow student's family was from the countryside. If it weren't for the fact that universities in their country had abolished alumni associations, it would probably be because they feared these old classmates would gang up and become an unstable factor on campus.

  Offering help within one's capabilities is fine, but if it involves forming gangs and fighting in groups or creating cliques, the principal will probably have a headache.

  Hanging up the phone, I returned to the room and found that Wang Dongyu had already finished taking a bath, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, rummaging through his travel bag for something.

  Open luggage, take out your own change of clothes, undress yourself leaving only a pair of four-cornered pants and a shirt, then take a bath for over ten minutes.

  Took Wang Dongyu to the laundry room downstairs, washed the changed clothes. After a big circle, it was already over 10 o'clock at night, then turned off the lights and made an appointment with Lord Zhou. The lights were turned off for a while, and I could still hear Wang Dongyu tossing and turning on the bed. I guess the excitement hasn't passed yet.

  It was more than 5 o'clock in the morning, and Ju An woke up, feeling really bored. Getting up to see Wang Dongyu's head still covered with a quilt, snoring loudly. After changing into sportswear and sports shoes, she quietly closed the door and jogged slowly around the neighborhood for tens of minutes.

  Saw many people jogging or walking their dogs along the way. Breathing in the refreshing air, feeling exceptionally comfortable and relaxed.

  "Hey! You're running really well, are you an athlete?" Yu An turned around to see a short-haired white man. He was about 1.7 meters tall, wearing sports attire, with neatly combed hair, probably around 27 or 28 years old. To be honest, in Yu An's opinion, all white people looked the same between the ages of 20 and 30.

  "Sorry, I'm Nien." Looking at Ju An with a puzzled face, this white person enthusiastically stretched out his hand.

  "Hello, Nian. I'm Ju An." Ju An also stretched out his hand and lightly shook hands with Nian. "I'm not an athlete, but every day I wake up on time and go for a run."

  "Nice to meet you, I thought you were an athlete. I've been running behind you for a while now. Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before." Nian rubbed his knees with both hands and twisted them a few times.

  "I'm from China and came to New York for the toy exhibition. I just arrived yesterday and stayed here," replied Ju An.

  "Oh, from China! I went to Beijing in China a few years ago and saw the Imperial Palace, it was huge! And also visited the Great Wall, but didn't have much time, there were many places that weren't visited. Next time I'll go again and take a good look," Nian said.

  "Hehe, then you should go to the Summer Palace next time, and also the Ming Tombs, which are the mausoleums of ancient emperors." Ju An said to this enthusiastic white person.

  "Thanks for your suggestion, I'll go take a look next time. By the way, how many days will you stay in New York?" Nian asked.

  It's been about five or six days since I returned home safely.

  The two of them ran and chatted for another ten or so minutes before parting ways. After saying their goodbyes, Ju An exited the compound and bought three portions of breakfast.

  Back at home, the boss was already up. Looking at the breakfast in Ju An's hand, he smiled and said: "I was just thinking of going out to buy some, why are you so early this time?"

  "Can't sleep, went out for a run and bought breakfast on the way." Ju An handed a small bag in his hand to the boss.

  "Thanks, see if Wang Dongyu is up yet. We'll be leaving soon, wake him up if he's not," the boss said and went back into the house.

  Pushing open the door, I found that Wang Dongyu was indeed still fast asleep. Walking over to push Wang Dongyu, I shouted for him to get up and have breakfast before we set off.

  The next two days were spent running every morning and then going to the exhibition hall to collect some brochures. Every day, I didn't know how many roads I had to walk, but after two days, Wang Dongyu fell asleep as soon as he lay down, looking like nothing was wrong with him. Even the boss suspected that exercising every morning had such great benefits?

  On the third evening, Shixiong Liu Chao arrived in New York and Ju An opened a double room by himself. Before Shixiong arrived, he took out the painting from space and leaned it against the wall.

  As soon as he put down his luggage, Liu Chao gave Ju An a big bear hug: "Good kid, you're looking great, look at that spirit!"

  "Brother, you've lost so much weight, you're almost a skeleton now!" An Yu used force to pat his brother's back.

  Liu Chao let go of Ju An and asked: "The painting, let me take a look".

  Ju An pointed at the painting leaning against the wall.

  "Oh, and I also made a leather case. It's quite formal." Liu Chao picked up the one in front and placed it on the bed, unzipped the leather case, and looked at it carefully.

  Living in peace and quiet, it was that little girl again. She asked busily: "How is it? Do you recognize the following string of Russian?"

  "I don't know," Liu Chao shook his head.

  "Then do you think this painting is reliable?" Ju An asked again.

  "I don't understand painting at all, where did you get these few paintings?" Liu Chao shook his head.

  "I met an old man in Jiangnan a few years ago, and before he passed away, I often went to visit him, chatted with him, played chess and so on. Before his death, he gave me this, saying it had been in his hands for several decades." He said this to Shixiong, but felt a bit guilty and scratched his head.

  "Didn't the old man tell you who painted it?" Liu Chao looked at Ju An in surprise.

  "The old man didn't know either, he said it was left by his master, and we chatted quite well, so he left this thing to me," Ju An replied.

  "Oh, if this painting is discovered during this special period, you'll be skinned alive, and even the old master will be considered a strange person." The man-beast sighed and said.

  "What do you see in this painting of human and beast?" Ju An asked in surprise.

  "Wow, what a monster, this must be that European mythological story, this human body with sheep legs is a mythological figure." Liu Chao looked at Ju An, almost speechless.

  "I don't care about any legends, what I care most about is whether it's true or not, and how much money it can really sell for," said Ju An, sitting comfortably on the bed with a fart.

  "It's been nearly a hundred years since this painting was created, and if it's really the work of a famous artist, it'll be enough for you to live off of for the rest of your life. Think about it, these paintings are constantly appreciating in value, whereas money, whether it's dollars, euros or RMB, is constantly depreciating. This thing is even more valuable than gold." Liu Chao couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he hadn't become a great artist himself.

  "I've been thinking of doing something with my hands, I want to start a horse farm. I've looked into it, the horse farms I've visited in Jiangnan have over 2,000 mu of land and cost tens of millions. We can also raise some cows and sheep to be self-sufficient," Ju An said.

  "What you're talking about is a ranch, you idiot. If you really want to do ranching, I advise you not to do it domestically. Just in the suburbs of Jiangnan, over 2,000 mu (about 1,300 acres) costs tens of millions (of yuan). In America, with tens of millions of renminbi, you can buy a ranch of several thousand acres, and not only that, if oil is discovered underneath, it's all yours." Liu Chao said.

  "Ah, America is really this cheap?" Ju An was a bit disbelieving.

  "The company I'm working for now, one of the shareholders bought a 1,000-acre farm in Texas for $2 million, which is less than 15 million yuan. One thousand acres is equivalent to more than 6,000 mu of land domestically. And if you invest in agriculture in the US, the taxes are very low. Many rich people from our country have been buying farms abroad, just last time I saw a report in the newspaper about a domestic tycoon who bought a large farm in Canada." Liu Chao raised an eyebrow.

  "Then I'll buy a ranch in the US, can I get a green card? I've heard it's really difficult." Ju An scratched his head.

  Liu Chao was speechless and pointed at Ju An: "I really can't say anything, you want to bring in a few hundred million dollars to the US, you say I want an American nationality, the immigration office will come to see you immediately. I've only heard of poor immigrants being rejected, have you ever heard of any rich immigrant being rejected?"

  "Then I'll just dream for now, if it can make some money, brother will come and buy a ranch," Ju An said with a smile.

  Liu Chao packed up a few paintings, and he and his fellow apprentice ate their meal. They reminisced about the interesting things that had happened in school for a long time.

  The next day at 9 o'clock, Ju An and his senior brother went out together and found that the boss and Wang Dongyu were still sleeping soundly. Carrying a few paintings, they took a taxi to the auction house.

  In the lobby, a little girl explained something to the receptionist. The little girl made a phone call and soon a black-haired black girl came out, asked Jū ān and Liú chāo a few questions softly, then took herself and her teacher upstairs.

  Jū ān's first time entering such a large company, he felt somewhat curious, like a country bumpkin entering the city, and when he caught a spare moment, he looked around everywhere.

  The overall decoration, from the outside, is just a few materials, dark wood, glass, and copper. However, when these things are combined, they give people a feeling of being thick and atmospheric. The entire company is very quiet, without loud noise, even if you encounter two people talking and walking by, once you leave them behind, you can't hear their conversation anymore.

  As they walked to the door, the black girl gently pushed open the door, smiled and made a please gesture. After Liu Chao and Ju An entered, the black girl did not follow them in, but instead gently closed the door for the two of them.

  "Welcome to the auction house, I'm Mike from the oil painting department." As soon as he entered, a forty-year-old white man in a suit and tie walked over enthusiastically and extended his hand. Behind him were three old men.

  "Hello, I'm Ju An (Liu Chao), nice to meet you." Ju An and Liu Chao shook hands with Mike separately.

  "These are Professor Franck, Professor Havel and Mr. Brundy, they will be responsible for authenticating your painting" Mack introduced the old men behind him again.