Tang Jingyuan smiled faintly and asked Lu Anning, "If you were in Pei Yongsheng's position, what would you do?"
Lu An Ning frowned and was silent for a while. Then he suddenly realized what was going on, but also found it a little unbelievable.
"You mean, Pei Yongsheng has been hiding his incompetence?"
But when she first met Pei Yongsheng and was sent to the hotel room, he didn't look like he was pretending at all.
"Half true, half false! He wanted to lie low, but unfortunately, he was too weak to do so. His mistress and illegitimate son took over, and the illegitimate son was more capable. He only had the title of eldest grandson, but he couldn't match a illegitimate son. He was desperate, hoping to let the other party down. Otherwise, he might not have survived until now."
Lu Anning took a deep breath: "He is your second brother's biological son."
"No one even cares about his mother's death. If he dies young, who will seek justice for him? Don't underestimate my second sister-in-law."
It's not easy to enter the Pei family. It's not easy for Shen Yizi to marry in as a mistress and get to where she is today.
Tonight's auction seemed intense, but if you think about it carefully, you'll find that Pei Yongsheng and Pei Chengyi didn't suffer any substantial losses. If Shan Ying hadn't been unable to resist raising the price in the end, it's hard to say who would have suffered the most tonight.
Lu Anning looked at Tang Jingyuan curiously: "When you were bidding on the Mountain and River Map, how did you know that the two brothers would bid? In the end, the price was raised so high. What if they didn't follow suit? Wouldn't we have lost a lot?"
Tang Jingyuan smiled mysteriously, "The bidding really started only after Smith stopped."
The Pei brothers, like Lu Anning and the others, had already found out that Smith was a great lover of Tang Yin's calligraphy and painting. The host's words just happened to induce everyone to think about Tang Yin's authentic works. They wanted to use this to win over Smith, and catering to his interests was the easiest way.
"My joining at that time undoubtedly made them more certain that the Mountain and River Map was what they wanted."
Tang Jingyuan bid without hesitation, his eyes full of urgency. Lu Anning's initial white marble vase was a sure win, and most importantly, they wanted to beat Tang Jingyuan too badly. Of course, there was also Shan Ying's impulsiveness, and none of them could be missing.
“Without this round of exciting bidding, we wouldn’t have been able to win the bid for this set of jewelry.”
Tang Jingyuan finally spoke the truth: "The imperial green jewelry that's the finale is my real goal tonight. They've been fooled before. If I bid again in the last round, no one will follow suit. Naturally, I can get what I want most at the lowest price."
Lu Anning was completely shocked, so from the beginning of the auction, Tang Jingyuan had already thought of the entire layout and could not make any mistakes.
"This set of jade is pretty good, just right for you to play with."
"Give it to me?" Lu Anning was stunned. He actually told her to play with the imperial green jadeite worth more than 10 million yuan.
"You should always have something you can show off. This one is okay. If you find something better in Kyoto, I'll give it to you."
Lu Anning accepted it generously without being pretentious. Her husband was rich, so he didn't need such a small gift.
But Shan Ying probably won’t be able to sleep tonight.
The next day, Lu Anning and Tang Jingyuan went to the teahouse together to meet Mr. and Mrs. Smith. This time, Tang Jingyuan brought a painting of spring trees and autumn frost as a gift to please them.
Lu Anning, not understanding ancient paintings, quietly sat beside Mrs. Smith while she sipped tea. The atmosphere in the private room was harmonious, with Mrs. Smith's laughter audible from time to time. The women chatted about nothing more than fashion. Lu Anning took the opportunity to recommend a good jade shop where she could choose the raw materials herself or buy the finished products directly.
Mrs. Smith prepared a lot of questions, and Lu Anning patiently answered them one by one.
At the same time, Tang Jingyuan handed the prepared painting to Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith was flattered. After opening it and looking at it, he was extremely surprised. He put it away and returned it to Tang Jingyuan.
"Mr. Tang, this painting is too valuable. I can't accept it. There's an old Chinese saying: 'No reward without merit.' If I accept your gift, I must agree to your request. However, I've already decided to sign a contract with Mr. Pei Yongsheng. I'm so sorry!"
Lu Anning paused. Mr. Smith didn't say that at the auction yesterday.
Tang Jingyuan raised an eyebrow. "That won't stop Mr. Smith from accepting this small gift! This painting isn't an authentic work by a famous artist. It's just a work I created when I was younger. Mr. Smith loves Tang Yin's paintings, so I'm showing it to you."
When Smith heard this, his jaw almost dropped.
"Mr. Tang, did you draw this yourself?"
Tang Jingyuan nodded and unfolded the painting. The seal in the corner was the Chinese character "Tang" in small seal script. Smith almost thought it was a painting by another famous artist.
After saying this, Smith looked at Tang Jingyuan with a gleam in his eyes: "Mr. Tang is really amazing. If possible, I really want you to teach me how to paint. What a pity! Actually, I really want to work with you, but I can't break my promise."
Smith poured Tang Jingyuan some tea and took the initiative to explain the reason. The reason this collaboration had dragged on for so long was that he wasn't entirely satisfied with some of Hongyue Group's conditions. His company's products were doing well in the international market, but now that he wanted to partner with Hongyue Group, they were unwilling to give him their prime booth and wouldn't compromise on profits.
"If I hadn't promised to repay a favor to an old friend, I wouldn't have cooperated with them. On the contrary, I'm more optimistic about the future development of No. 1 Academy. Perhaps we're not destined to be together!"
Tang Jingyuan smiled faintly. "That's exactly what I wanted to discuss with Mr. Smith. I'm not interested in being the agent for your company's previous products. As far as I know, your company is researching a new technology and has achieved some success, which will be launched in the Chinese market in the future. I'm interested in developing this project. If Mr. Smith is willing, we can discuss cooperation on new technologies."
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