Qi Ning said: "Uncle, can you figure out the origin of that person? Since the Goddess Picture is an unparalleled treasure, how could anyone take it to a pawn shop to pawn it? The person who can save such a treasure must have an extraordinary origin."
Gu Wenwen raised a hand, slapped himself in the face, and said angrily: "It's all my fault for being careless. I saw it was Han Shengzi's painting, and I became dizzy for a moment. I heard Qiao Yu mention it , such paintings are hard to find even for 10,000 taels of gold. He also joked that if one day I could receive a painting by a great master like Han Shengzi, he would pay at least 100,000 taels of silver for any one of them. Come."
"Qiao Yu's father is just a small official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, but he is so generous. It seems that the Qiao family's wealth is indescribable." Qi Ning said lightly.
Gu Wenwen said: "I have done business with him several times and earned several thousand taels of silver, so I felt that he would not lie to me." With an annoyed look on his face, "I was afraid that the man would run away with the picture of the goddess, so be polite I was so angry that I kept him here, and then let that old bastard, shopkeeper Jiang, look at the painting. Of course I knew that this picture of a goddess was an unparalleled treasure, and I was also worried that this person was passing it off as real, so I was very careful. Shopkeeper Jiang looked at it carefully. , make sure it’s the real thing.”
Qi Ning just looked at Gu Wenwen and listened to Gu Wenwen continue: "I trusted that old guy too much. He concluded that it was a genuine work, so I had no doubts. I immediately asked the man how much money he wanted." After a pause, He said: "That man is not as open as the lion. He said that he has something important to do and he is short of cash on hand. He only needs fifty thousand taels of silver and he will redeem it in half a month."
At this time, someone came in and brought new tea. After leaving, Gu Wenwen said: "I didn't have that much cash on hand at that time. It was not easy for me to come up with 50,000 taels of silver at once, but Han Shengzi's paintings are nearby. If you miss it, you will regret it for the rest of your life." He picked up the tea cup, sighed, and put it down without taking a sip: "I asked the man to wait and give me half a day to raise money."
"Fifty thousand taels of silver is not a small amount. It takes a long time to raise it, so it is not easy." Qining asked: "Is uncle looking for a banker?"
Gu Wenwen shook his head and said: "No. With my reputation, it is very easy to use several shops and goods to mortgage money at the bank, but the interest charged by the bank is not small, so I went to find Qiao Yu first and asked I asked him if he dared to accept Han Shengzi’s paintings, and I thought about borrowing some money from him.”
"He borrowed it?"
Gu Wenwen smiled bitterly and said: "Qiao Yu is quite generous. I only said that I found Han Shengzi's picture of the Goddess Chaolu outside. I didn't say that someone sent it to a pawn shop to pawn and asked him how much money the picture of the Goddess Chaolu was worth. He told me Said that this picture of the goddess is divided into two volumes. If only one volume of such a painting appears, it can only be regarded as a fragment. If there is a trace of flaw in this antique calligraphy and painting, the value will be greatly reduced, let alone a fragment. If only one volume appears, A picture of the goddess' morning appearance can only give me 60,000 taels of silver at most, but if he can find a picture of the goddess' return at dusk and put the two volumes together, he is willing to give me 300,000 taels of silver."
Qi Ning was stunned, thinking that although three hundred thousand taels of silver could not be said to be an astronomical figure, buying two paintings with three hundred thousand taels of silver was a truly astronomical figure.
"I was so obsessed at the time that I was determined to put away the two scrolls. I immediately returned to the pawn shop and asked the man if he had a picture of the goddess returning at dusk." Gu Wenwen said with an annoyed look on his face: "The man brought two scrolls and planned to pawn one. , the remaining painting was still in his hand, and he told me that it was the painting of the goddess returning at dusk. I begged him to open it and take a look at it. Shopkeeper Jiang looked at it and said that the painting of the goddess returning at dusk was authentic. So I asked the man to make a price and buy both pictures."
Qi Ning sighed softly, thinking that people say that money is all about money, but Gu Wenwen was really confused. There were many doubts in this matter, but he was not alert.
"That man only wanted the painting, but he was determined not to sell it." Gu Wenwen said: "I talked for a long time, but the man didn't change his mind at all, and he even changed his mind about the picture of the Goddess Chaolu. He hurried away, and I couldn't stop him. .”
Qi Ning sighed: "This is his trick. He deliberately caught my uncle's mind without taking any action."
"Yes." Gu Wenwen said: "In the next two days, I searched everywhere for traces of that person, but there was no news. At dusk on the third day, the person came again. I was very happy at the time. The person looked very anxious. , told me that he wanted to pawn both paintings, but he wanted 150,000 taels of silver, and needed it urgently. I asked shopkeeper Na Jiang to test it, and then I found out that this man had also gone to other pawnshops, but no one took it. If I can’t come up with 150,000 taels of silver, the man told me that it is indeed difficult to come up with 150,000 taels of silver at once, but as long as I can come up with it, he will redeem the pawn with 180,000 taels of silver in half a month. .”
Qi Ning said: "You can earn thirty thousand taels of silver for nothing in half a month. How can there be anything so cheap in this world?"
Gu Wenwen raised his hand and slapped himself, and said: "Looking back now, this is the truth. There is no such thing as pie in the sky. But I was obsessed at the time, thinking that if this person couldn't pay for the redemption in half a month, Damn, if I resell the two paintings to Qiao Yu, I can get 300,000 taels of silver. I can earn 150,000 taels of silver with just one hand. Even if this person can redeem the loan as scheduled, I can still earn 30,000 taels in vain. Silver, why not? I deliberately bargained with him, and in the end the man gave in 20,000 taels and asked for 130,000 taels of silver. He promised to bring 160,000 taels of silver as redemption."
"My uncle can't even get out his 60,000 taels of silver, so where did these 130,000 taels of silver come from?" Qining frowned.
Gu Wenwen said: "I asked the man to give me two days to raise money. The man refused at first. I persuaded him again and again and told him that no pawn shop could come up with so much money at once. Then he agreed and I arranged it myself. He stayed at the inn and had people keeping an eye on him, fearing that he would run away. In order to get the two paintings, I found a banker and pledged three of my shops. After all, I took out 50,000 taels of silver and worked hard here and there. I scraped together 30,000 taels of silver, but there was still 50,000 taels of silver left. It was naturally impossible to get the silver from Jiangling at once. I had to go to Qiao Yu and take the land deed of Jiangling as collateral and get it from him. Here comes fifty thousand taels of silver...!"
Qi Ning smiled bitterly and shook his head, thinking to himself that Gu Wenwen was really ambitious. He could do such a desperate thing. He knew that all these things must have been hidden from Gu Qinghan, otherwise as long as he had a little communication with Gu Qinghan, he wouldn't be able to do it. We ended up in this situation now.
"I finally collected 130,000 taels of silver and got two pictures of goddesses from that man." Gu Wenwen's face was extremely ugly. "After the man took the silver, he repeatedly said that he would redeem it within half a month. Let me take good care of it. If there is any damage, I will pay a heavy compensation. He also said that it was left by his ancestors. If it is damaged, I will give him three hundred thousand taels of silver."
Qi Ning asked: "Are those two paintings still in your hands?"
Gu Wenwen nodded and said: "Yes." He clenched his fists and said, "It's just two rolls of waste paper, useless. I got the painting. Ten days later, the guy who was the painter never showed up. It's still a few days away. Due to the time limit, I just hoped that he would not come over, and I couldn't bear it, so I brought two paintings to see Qiao Yu." At this point, his face turned a little pale, "Qiao Yu learned that I brought the pictures of the Goddess, and he did the same at the beginning. I was very excited, but after looking at the paintings, I immediately concluded that these two paintings are fakes...!"
Qi Ning had already guessed that they must be fakes. Gu Wenwen's voice was a little soft: "Qiao Yu also told me in detail why the two paintings were fakes, but I didn't listen at all."
"Whose end of the bank is the 60,000 taels of silver my uncle owes?" Qining asked.
Gu Wenwen sat softly on the chair, with cold sweat on his forehead: "The bank took out 50,000 taels of silver. According to the time limit, after half a month, it will become 60,000 taels of silver. The time limit is up in two days. Qiao Fortunately, Yu said that the deed and land deed of my house in Jiangling are mortgaged there. As long as I take 50,000 taels of silver there, I can get the house deed and land deed back at any time. He also advised me not to be anxious, and I can pick it up whenever I have money over there. . But the bank was naturally not accommodating. They didn't know where they knew that I spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to get two fake paintings of goddesses, and they were worried that I wouldn't be able to repay the 60,000 taels of silver. Not only did they send people to me several times to remind me, The time is coming, and people have been sent to keep an eye on my stores day and night, just waiting for the time to collect the debts and take over the stores."
Qi Ning scolded Gu Wenwen in his heart for being as stupid as a pig for falling into the trap designed by the other party so easily. No wonder Mrs. Gu was so angry that she almost died. Gu Qinghan was also extremely angry. If Gu Wenwen was not his uncle in name, Qi Ning wished he could go up and give him a severe beating.
"What are uncle going to do next?" Qining said, "If I'm not wrong, this house will probably be watched by the bank." He picked up the tea cup and said, "The floors and floors of your three shops, even if Including the goods, I'm afraid it's not worth 60,000 taels of silver, right? The people in the bank don't know how to be friends. If they don't pay by then, even this house will be taken away."
Gu Wenwen's eyes flashed, he raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and said with a bitter face: "Little Marquis, uncle, I really encountered a big problem this time. You are the Marquis of the imperial court. Can you help me think of a solution? At least Let the bank extend some grace."
"Even if we can really get them to forgive, can this debt be avoided?" Qining sighed: "Yes, where is Shopkeeper Jiang now? Also, can you send someone to find the person who was responsible for the painting?"
"Not two days after I collected the paintings, that old bastard Jiang said there was an emergency at home and hurried back to his hometown." Gu Wenwen said: "As for the dog who was selling paintings, he disappeared after taking the money. Since he intends to extort money from me, he will never show up again."
Qi Ning shook his head and said: "Uncle, take those two paintings with you and follow me to a place overnight. There are only two days left, so we have to hurry up."