Chapter 117 - 96 Rubbing Paintings_2

Words : 1493 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 117: Chapter 96 Rubbing Paintings_2Then Chen Feng directly asked about the price of "Autumn Sky", and the other party didn’t beat around the bush, quoting $1.2 million. Chen Feng was speechless at the price, which would be more than eight million domestically according to the current exchange rate. This was way too expensive! Chen Feng shook his head three times: no! no! no! Then, awkwardly bargained in English, offered up to 3 million RMB at most. The other party also kept shaking their head and said no, then stated their lowest price was $1 million. There was no way to continue negotiating. Wu Mengting helped to bargain fluently in English beside him, but it wasn’t very effective. Seeing this, Chen Feng had no choice but to give up on buying and regretfully said, "Your price is too high, I can’t afford it." Such honest words rendered the other party speechless too. "Thank you for your time. Sorry about this. We can exchange contact information. In the future, if I have the money or you’re willing to lower the price, we can contact each other." The old Western man saw this and could only exchange contact information with Chen Feng, then left with a disappointed face. "Director Huang, I’ve troubled you again, really sorry. I should have quoted a price over the phone first, sorry to make you come here for nothing." Chen Feng expressed his apologies to Director Huang, the middleman, somewhat embarrassed. Director Huang waved his hand and smiled, "It’s nothing. It was just a short walk. Mr. Chen, your frequent visits to our museum and your purchases are an affirmation of our work. It seems you quite love calligraphy and painting." Chen Feng nodded, "Yes, I am very interested in these artworks. Like last time Wang Yi’s ’Lanting Preface,’ and this time Song Yi’s ’Autumn Sky’, these are personal favorites of mine." "Mr. Chen, you are truly a connoisseur. I wonder which aspects of calligraphy and painting specifically interest you? I know quite a few calligraphers and painters, and I could introduce some to you." When Chen Feng heard this, his eyes lit up. Director Huang was specifically responsible for connecting with artists for exhibitions at the art museum, so he definitely knew many artists. Chen Feng could definitely look at the works of those calligraphers and painters through him. Hence, Chen Feng quickly thanked him, "That would be wonderful, I’d be very grateful. I’m interested in almost all types of calligraphy and painting, but the prerequisite is that they must catch my eye. If it’s convenient for you, Director Huang, you could introduce me to a few capable calligraphers and painters. I would like to visit them." Director Huang readily agreed, "Sure. Let’s add each other on WeChat first, and I’ll get back to you after I sort everything out." Chen Feng quickly took out his phone, opened WeChat, added him as a friend and once again expressed his gratitude, "Really appreciate your help this time, Director Huang. Do you have time tonight, perhaps we could have dinner together?" Director Huang gestured, "I’m somewhat busy these days, let’s plan for dinner some other time." Chen Feng nodded smilingly, "Alright, I owe you one then." Director Huang also smiled, "No worries. We’ll be in touch." Director Huang didn’t stay and chat too long with Chen Feng, nodding his head towards him before leaving. "Brother Feng, when did you suddenly become interested in collecting art pieces?" Wu Mengting was quite puzzled. Chen Feng didn’t seem to have any connection to art. The last time he came to a painting exhibition was just because of her. "I am only interested in those paintings that catch my eye, collecting them is just incidental." Chen Feng spoke frankly. Wu Mengting still looked doubtful and kindly advised, "The art world can be very murky, and since you don’t know much, you could be duped. This ’Autumn Sky,’ for instance, I don’t think it’s anything special. And the painter, Song Yi, only has minor fame in Europe and is hardly known in our country. To think they quoted $1.2 million is really outrageous. They clearly wanted to rip you off." "Okay, I’ll keep that in mind," Chen Feng responded politely, seemingly appreciative of Wu Mengting’s advice, but thinking to himself: If I just had more money, I would have bought it when the price dropped to $1 million. He didn’t know the specific commercial price of the painting, nor its true artistic value, but he knew the painting would bring great enjoyment and change to his mind and soul. That was enough! He now had tens of millions of dollars, and if he was destined to have only a few months to live, he wanted to spend most of it. It wasn’t to engage in meaningless splurging or meaningful charitable giving. He just didn’t want to pass away in his prime without having enjoyed anything. Purchasing "Lanting Preface" and "Autumn Sky" could bring him great pleasure in both body and mind, and could even improve his mental and physical health. He certainly could afford to spend the money. As for not wanting to spend 1 million US Dollars on "Autumn Sky" this time, it was mainly because the price the other party offered seemed a bit outrageous to him. Moreover, even if he didn’t spend money on it, he could still enjoy the benefits "Autumn Sky" brought to his body and mind. Song Yi’s exhibition was going to last for five days, and today was only the first day of his personal exhibition. At worst, starting today, Chen Feng could come every day to "freeload" the viewing. "Let’s continue inside to look at the paintings." Chen Feng said, and rushed to lead the way inside. Song Yi had over fifty paintings on display this time, and Chen Feng hoped there would be other works that could surprise him among these paintings. Regrettably, Chen Feng’s hope was destined to be dashed. Among the fifty-two works, after viewing them all, only "Autumn Sky" brought him any surprise; the other paintings did not. Though somewhat disappointed, Chen Feng was still content; he immediately went back in front of the painting "Autumn Sky." However, before "meditating," he had told Wu Mengting in advance that he would be entranced by the painting, asking her not to wake him so he could look at the painting in peace. Although Wu Mengting was puzzled, she still agreed. Thus, Chen Feng stood in front of the oil painting "Autumn Sky," focusing intently, and soon entered a trance-like "meditative" state. When he came out of this state, he suddenly realized that more than a dozen people had gathered around him, all staring at "Autumn Sky" like he was. Chen Feng guessed that perhaps his intense concentration and obsession with the painting had attracted these onlookers. But obviously, apart from Chen Feng, no one else noticed anything special. However, there were a few who pretended to understand and whispered that this "Autumn Sky" was incredibly impressive, some even whispering about its resemblance to Van Gogh’s "Starry Night." Chen Feng didn’t want to view the painting with these pretenders; he immediately pulled Wu Mengting, who had been accompanying him all along, away from the crowd. "How long did I spend looking at the painting just now?" Once out of the crowd, Chen Feng asked worriedly about the time. After thinking for a bit, Wu Mengting said, "Probably about half an hour." After speaking, she curiously asked, "Does this painting really mesmerize you that much? You stared at it without moving for half an hour. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a paid actor hired by Song Yi." When Chen Feng heard it was only half an hour, he felt somewhat disappointed but thinking of the fact that he’d been freeloading, he immediately cheered up again, laughing, "Like that saying goes, ’a fish can’t know the joy of fish,’ that’s exactly my situation. I feel extremely relaxed and comfortable just looking at this painting. Otherwise, why do you think I spent so much money buying Wang Yi’s ’Lanting Preface’?" "Really?" Wu Mengting still seemed doubtful. Chen Feng earnestly said, "I’m not lying to you. There’s no need for that." Finally, Wu Mengting nodded hesitantly, "Okay. I believe you." Chen Feng smiled, "Speaking of which, I owe it all to you. If you hadn’t taken me to the art museum that time, I wouldn’t have known that I was destined to connect with these two pieces of calligraphy and painting." Wu Mengting spoke with some concern, "I’m just afraid that you’ll recklessly spend money on calligraphy and paintings and get scammed. If that happens, it would be my fault." Chen Feng quickly replied, "Don’t worry about that. The other party wanted to sell to me for 1 million US Dollars this time, and I didn’t buy it, did I?"

Chapter 117 - 96 Rubbing Paintings_2

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