Chapter 27 I Sent a Painting

  In the bathtub, Guo Yu was surrounded by two beauties serving him, but his mind was preoccupied with how to please another woman. Mr. Huang's birthday is coming up, what gift should he give? Xiao Ni didn't know, so she asked Hu Yunyan.

  "Xiao Yun, what gift is good to give when someone has a birthday?"

  "Is it a girl?"

  "How is it possible? He's an old man." Gu Yu chuckled twice.

  "Giving gifts is troublesome if you say it's troublesome, and it's simple if you say it's simple. The trouble lies in the etiquette, taboos, weight, and subtlety, all of which need to be grasped well. If you say it's simple, then just give what he likes. As long as you know his preferences, you can tailor your gift accordingly."

  Upon hearing this, Guo Yu suddenly understood, yes, treating the symptoms is most effective.

  He pulled Hu Yunyuan over and kissed her, praising "My little cloud is the smartest", making Hu Yunyuan a bit shy and red-faced. She turned her head to see where Xiaonizi was, wrinkled her nose slightly, then pulled Xiaonizi over and spanked her twice on the butt. Xiaonizi let out a soft cry, then snuggled into Gu Yu's arms, making Gu Yu laugh out loud.

  Actually, women don't always need to be coaxed. Sometimes she just feels that you're neglecting her or not paying attention to her. No coaxing is needed, a little quarrel and teasing can also work, and it's also less likely to spoil her.

  In 1915, after three days, he returned to modern times because Old Man Huang's birthday was approaching and Gu Yu had to attend.

  At six o'clock in the evening, Guo Yu dressed up neatly, took a look at himself in the mirror and said to his reflection, "You are the most handsome." Then he got into his Bentley, brought some gifts, and headed straight for the Huang's house.

  The Huang family has a villa in Tongluowan, which is quite old. The Huang family developed in Hong Kong very early, but it never made much of an impact, however this house was purchased many years ago, otherwise with the Huang family's current financial resources, they would not be able to afford it.

  After all, it's an old Hong Kong family with many acquaintances. When Guo Yu arrived, it was almost seven o'clock, and there were many cars parked on this street, apparently all here to attend the birthday celebration.

  Guo Yu took his gift and walked into the Huang's house with big strides.

  Huang Jiaqiang stood at the door, welcoming guests. Seeing Guo Yu arrive, he hurriedly stepped forward to shake hands: "Mr. Guo's arrival is a great honor for the Huang family, thank you so much! I'll definitely toast you with a cup later."

  After exchanging a few pleasantries, Guo Yu entered the Huang family's gate and saw that there were many people chatting in the hall. He looked around and spotted Huang Wenjing talking to a man, but her face didn't look good, apparently she wasn't very happy.

  Guo Yu called the house servant to help put away the gifts first, then went to Huang Wenjing and said, "Miss Huang, you're also attending Mr. Huang's birthday celebration today, we're truly honored." Guo Yu greeted Huang Wenjing.

  "Hello Mr. Guo, how are you today? Ah, are you a friend of my brother?" Huang Wenjing saw that Guo Yu was somewhat surprised.

  "Your brother? You're saying Mr. Huang is your brother? I'm in business with him, what a coincidence!" Guo Yu also looked surprised.

  The two of them were chatting happily, while the man beside them suddenly looked gloomy and said: "Ah Jing, won't you introduce this gentleman to me?" His tone was intentionally very familiar. Then he turned his head to Guo Yu and said: "Hello, my name is Yang Sen, my father is Yang Shoucheng, I haven't had a chance to ask for your advice yet." After finishing speaking, he looked at Guo Yu.

  "Guo Yu" Guo Yu only said two words and then ignored him, leaving Yang Sen's face dark for a moment.

  "Miss Huang, let's go over there and chat, I was just about to ask about Xiao Tian's situation." Guo Yu extended the invitation.

  "Alright, let's sit over there." Huang Wenjing immediately replied, seemingly eager to avoid Yang Sen.

  After the two walked away, Yang Sen's face became even more gloomy, and he was resentful in his heart, but he didn't understand Guo Yu's true nature, so for the time being, he didn't dare to make a move.

  The younger generation of a large family is not as imagined by people, although some spoiled children are not successful but not stupid, the stupid ones are in the minority. After all, the education of a large family is more complete, resources are richer, competition is fiercer, making these people mature earlier.

  The guests arrived on time, and the birthday celebration began. The Huang family was not a big clan to begin with, so there were only twenty or thirty guests, just enough to fill two tables. However, abalone and sea cucumber dishes were still a must-have, and the banquet was very sumptuous.

  Everyone toasted and celebrated Huang Lao's birthday, someone took out gifts and started presenting them, there were health supplements, bird's nest, shark fin, calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, as well as jade plaques and golden Buddhas.

  Yang Sen took out his own gift, opened it and looked at everyone before saying: "This is a piece of jade jewelry that my father acquired on the mainland last year while doing business. The water quality is perfect, and the carved mountains, trees, ancient temples are vividly depicted. Today is Uncle Huang's birthday, so I naturally present this to him as a token of my sincerity." After finishing speaking, he glanced at Huang Wenjing again. Although his words were not many and the language was ordinary, they gave people a sense of superiority and made others feel uncomfortable.

  Everyone understands what he means, expressing his intention is of course his admiration for Huang Wenjing.

  At this time, a stout businessman who was close to the Yang family chimed in from the side: "I've seen this jade before, it's said that it cost 500,000 Hong Kong dollars, now it might be even more valuable, Young Master Yang really has a big hand."

  Guo Yu was two people away from Yang Sen, looking very clearly, and somehow felt a familiar feeling, where did this familiarity come from? Suddenly thought of it, how did the fake jade he had made with Zhu Guirong give off a similar aura to what Guo Yu had? Wasn't his own counterfeit goods emitting this kind of thief-like glow?

  Actually, in antique shops, when Master Fu examines antiques, the more he looks at them and the more he comes into contact with them, it's not just about looking at the style, pattern, and signature. He can also develop a feeling. As soon as he picks one up and takes a glance, he gets a feeling, whether it's right or wrong, it's settled in an instant.

  Now this thing gives Guo Yu a feeling that something is wrong, possibly because he has sold too many jade.

  Many guests discussed and said that Mr. Yang had a big hand, some people even said that when Mr. Yang bought it at the time, he got a good deal, such a high-quality jade decoration should be worth over one million Hong Kong dollars.

  Guo Yu looked at the box and said, "If it's genuine, then you've really struck gold. But be careful, there are many counterfeit jade products out there, don't get cheated."

  "Mr. Guo says what I have is fake." Yang Sen heard this and became angry.

  "Haven't seen it, can't tell if it's fake or not. But there is one type of fake that is easy to identify: after washing the stone and putting it in the box, there will be a certain amount of evaporation, which will cause the plush fabric inside the box to turn black. Take a look at yours and see if it has this situation, hopefully not."

  Guo Yu finished speaking, and everyone looked up. Yang Sen himself also looked up and saw that the velvet in the box had indeed changed color. Yang Sen quickly picked up the entire jade stone and found that the bottom of the velvet was even blacker. At that moment, Yang Sen's face turned ugly, as ugly as it could be.

  That fat merchant came out to make excuses again, saying that it might be because of the dust that made it turn black, after all, it has been placed for so long.

  Everyone didn't want to lose face in front of Yang Sen, so they stopped mentioning the matter. However, Yang Sen felt that he had lost face and sat for a while before saying: "What gift did Mr. Guo give to Old Man Huang? Take it out and let us take a look."

  Guo Yu thought to himself, you really are a good comrade, I was just waiting for someone to ask about it, and then you yourself delivered it right up, otherwise how could I have the nerve to bring it up myself.

  Guo Yu let the servant bring up his own gift, a square flat paper box. After opening it, there was a layer of plastic wrap inside, which was indeed tightly wrapped, and then there was another layer of paper packaging.

  After layer by layer peeling, the true face is finally revealed. An oil painting, not very big, about 40 cm long and 30 cm wide, a small work, with still life such as apples and bottles on it.

  Most of the people present didn't recognize it and remained silent. Yang Sen, seeing that no one was speaking, sneered: "Is this painted by Mr. Guo himself? It's really sincere, bringing a few apples over, who knows if they're worth anything or not."

  Yang Sen had just finished speaking and hadn't waited for Guo Yu to respond when a sixty-year-old man walked up, his hands grasping the frame, his face pressed close, staring intently at the oil painting.

  Huang Wenjing hastily stepped forward and said: "What's wrong, teacher?"

  "Look at this style, whose style is this? This is the style of Henri Matisse!" The old man was somewhat excited.

  "Is that Henri Matisse, the French painter and founder of Fauvism? How is this possible." Huang Wenjing was also shocked.

  "It can't be wrong, there's his signature below, the style, canvas, oil painting, and signature all match up, it shouldn't be mistaken. It's 40 cm long."

  Some guests also stood up to watch, but more people didn't know who that Martis was.

  Yang Sen said: "Is it very famous? Is this painting worth a lot of money?"

  When he heard this, Guo Yu laughed in his heart. This remark fully exposed his ignorance and shallowness. Although many things were only memorized by Guo Yu last night, it didn't stop him from showing off: "Henri Matisse and Picasso are considered the two most important painters of the 20th century, so they must be very valuable. This painting has never appeared before and has not been bought or sold, so I don't know its price. But at last year's Sotheby's auction, a Matisse painting was sold for ￡9 million, which is equivalent to HK$140 million. I think it should be considered quite valuable."

  The price was not mentioned by Guo Yu, so naturally this painting is not that valuable, after all it's a small piece of work, but several hundred thousand dollars can still be sold.

  Guo Yu's words were all directed at Yang Sen, obviously saying that Yang Sen was ignorant, and Yang Sen's face turned green with anger.