Three world-famous paintings have been sold.

These three paintings alone brought 213 million US dollars to Ji Cheng!

The highest price of the contract to buy a yacht is only 120 million US dollars, and now these three paintings not only earn back the money to buy a yacht, but also have 93 million left!

Ji Cheng couldn't be happier.

Well, let's see how much the remaining world-famous paintings can sell for.

In addition to the "Portrait of Jacob III" that Xiao Li Zi had booked, there are two other paintings left, namely "The Just Judge" as part of the Ghent altarpiece, and Raphael's epic masterpiece "Portrait of a Young Man".

The appraisal of the painting "The Just Judge" is not too high, and he doesn't really care if he can sell it at a high price in the end, what he really cares about is the painting "Portrait of a Young Man", after all, the valuation is 850 million US dollars, if it is sold at a high price or even according to the appraisal, he will not have to fight for anything in this time and space this year.

"This conch bead necklace is good, Mr. Ji, sell it to me for three million, how about it?" MERRY. Zhu Xi said greedily.

Deborah. Blake is also a woman, although she is old, she still can't resist the beauty of the Victorian-style conch bead necklace, she opened her mouth to compete: "Now I can't confirm whether this necklace was worn by Queen Mary, but since it is Victorian, I personally think it's worth a little extra money, three million and three hundred thousand." ”

Well?

Aren't there still two oil paintings?

Why did the two of you switch from world famous paintings to conch bead necklaces?

Ji Cheng was a little puzzled, but considering that these two were women, it seemed normal that he couldn't resist good-looking jewelry, so he didn't think much about it and continued to listen to the quotations of the two.

Two women, you fight for me.

In the end, the price soared from the initial offer of $3 million to $4.1 million. Jushi managed to take it.

"I'm interested in this Constantine silver coin with a glossy edge." Leang. Blake said: "I don't think a few other people may be interested, because they don't have as much of a scope as me, Mr. Ji, I don't take advantage of you, and I offer you an offer of $2.8 million, what do you think?" ”

Ji Cheng remembers that in April 2021, at the Hong Kong auction, another Constantine ruble pattern was finally sold for $2.64 million. Blake's offer of $2.8 million was indeed very sincere, and he understood why the other party offered a price slightly higher than the transaction price, and the main reason was that the auction transaction still needs to pay a commission after the hammer falls, and the international practice is generally 10 percent, that is, the final payment of more than $2.9 million for 2.64 million transactions is more than 2.9 million dollars.

Auctions require commissions, taxes, and the risk of not being able to sell at a high price.

And Ang. Blake's $2.8 million offer was slightly less than the closing price after the commission, but it was equal to taking on all of these risks and other costs.

Ji Cheng didn't have a reason not to sell, he saw that others didn't mean to bid, and said with a smile: "Okay, thank you Mr. Blake." ”

"Eh, just call me to Ang."

Leang. Blaketau almost said: "Let's leave a contact information later, and if there are good things in the future, you can come to me directly." ”

The purpose of Ji Yuan's coming was to make friends with such a top big customer, and now that the other party took the initiative to put it forward, of course he was very happy in his heart, and said busily: "Okay, Laiang." ”

"Ji, let's exchange contact information later." Henry. Kravis said the same.

Ji Cheng looked sideways again and said, "Okay, Clavi ......"

"What? Do you look down on me by calling him Lyon and calling me Clavis? "Henry. Kravis pretended to be grim and jokingly said, "Just call me Henry, that's what my friends call me." ”

Ji Cheng was amused by him, "Okay, Henry." ”

Steve. Cohen laughed and said, "Everyone will be friends in the future, Ji, if you want to invest in stocks, you can find me, if you need to go public and raise funds, you can find Henry,"

Leang. Blake said dissatisfiedly: "Why don't you introduce me to private equity and other businesses?" ”

"Didn't you quit Apollo Global Management?" Steve. Cohen rolled his eyes.

Leang. Blake said, "But I'm still one of the founders and shareholders of the company." ”

Ji Cheng couldn't help but laugh when he watched them bickering, and at the same time, from the words of a few people, he also learned how successful the careers of these super-rich people were, and if he came to develop in this time and space in the future, maybe he really needed to ask them for help.

For example, one day when I open a subsidiary of my ancient and modern art company and need to go public in the United States, or if I am about to set up a pawn company in a beautiful country, if I need to expand my business and raise funds in the future, these three super-rich people will definitely be able to help at that time.

Ji Cheng said a few words of thanks, and took the opportunity to talk to Laiang. Blake, Henry. The two exchanged contact information.

In the end, when he saw that the people were slow to mention the sale of the two world-famous paintings, "The Just Judge" and "Portrait of a Young Man", he tentatively asked, "What do you think of the remaining two paintings?" ”

"I'm a little interested in the woodwork." Leang. Blake said very face-savingly, "If you want, I'll buy it for 150,000 dollars." ”

I gave 50,000 US dollars more than the estimate, which is a lot of face.

But Ji Cheng felt that there was something strange in this wood carving, and politely refused: "Thank you Laiang, I don't really want to sell this wood carving until I figure out the actual value." ”

"Well, that's fine."

Leang. Blake was originally polite, just to spend a small amount of money to have a good relationship with Ji Cheng, a person who can get so many top artworks, and he didn't really want to buy it.

In a few words, Ji Cheng's question was revealed.

It is clear that they are "not interested" in these two paintings.

But Ji Cheng is not right to think about it, obviously everyone was amazed by Raphael's "Portrait of a Young Man" just now, it stands to reason that it is impossible not to be interested, then there is only one possibility, that is, the valuation of this painting is too high, although these super-rich people can afford it, but it is still very stressful to come up with so much liquidity at once, after all, private trading is not like auctions, which can raise loans to share financial pressure.

And the valuation of 850 million US dollars is one thing, but whether the actual value is worth 85 million US dollars is another thing, these super-rich are not fools, if the auction price is 850 million, with their investment in art will definitely follow the price, because this is equivalent to the outside world really recognized the price, and there is only hope for appreciation after buying, and there will be no possibility of depreciation.

On the contrary, it was "The Just Judge" that no one cared about, which surprised Ji Cheng, and he decided to find Steve later. Cohen asked privately.

After a while, everything was bought, and everyone immediately signed a contract, agreeing that the money would be remitted to Ji Cheng's designated account within two working days, and then the two couples left here with their things first.

Ji Cheng and Steve. Cohen sent the two couples outside and watched them leave before returning to the living room.

Suddenly, Xiao Lizi's voice came from his ear, "Mr. Ji, do you remember that you promised to sell me this "Portrait of Jacob III" for 50 million dollars?" ”

Ji Cheng almost forgot about Xiao Lizi's existence, and was almost startled when he heard the sound at first glance, he looked sideways and saw that Xiao Lizi's face was full of smiles.

He didn't immediately answer whether to sell it or not, although he didn't have a very good impression of Xiao Lizi's slander that his things were fakes just now, but 50 million US dollars for others to buy his own things worth less than 5 million US dollars, whether it was for him personally or the company, the reputation was not very good.

But Xiao Lizi must buy this painting, otherwise his reputation in the collecting world will be completely stinky, no, he was very nervous when he saw Ji Cheng frowning and not answering, for fear that Ji Cheng would open his mouth to refuse.

Steve. Cohen also seemed to see Xiao Lizi's inner entanglement, and took the initiative to persuade him: "Ji, can you give me a face, this painting will be sold to Leonardo at the price of 50 million US dollars, okay?" ”

Xiao Lizi was afraid that Ji Cheng would refuse, so he quickly apologized: "Mr. Ji, I was not good before, and I shouldn't have questioned the artwork you brought before it was identified, I am here to say sorry to you, you have to be true to your word, I am willing to gamble and lose, since I said in advance that if the painting "Portrait of Jacob III" is genuine and bought at ten times the price, then now I will buy it for 50 million US dollars if I lose the gamble." ”

"Okay, since Mr. Cohen said it, I can't help but give face." Ji Cheng said and asked as if he pretended to be concerned, "You won't feel a loss if you buy this painting for 50 million dollars, right?" ”

"Nope! No! ”

Xiao Lizi replied with a smile, but he had already scolded in his heart, will you lose money if you step on the horse and say that you buy it at ten times the price?

It's just that Xiao Lizi knows that he can't say this kind of thing, otherwise he won't be able to mix in the circle in the future, and even his character will be questioned.

"Well, let's sign the contract, and the contract should indicate our VAM agreement."

Ji Cheng was still very careful and did not leave a handle for the other party.

"Okay."

Xiao Lizi agreed.

Subsequently, in Steve. With the help of Cohen's lawyer, the two parties signed a sale and purchase agreement.

Xiao Lizi's heart was dripping blood when he signed his name, but he still had to force a smile, as if he was willing.

After signing the contract, Xiao Lizi, who couldn't stand it, found an excuse to hold "Portrait of Jacob III" and ran away directly, he was afraid that if he stayed here any longer, he would vomit blood in anger if he didn't get vent.

As soon as Xiao Lizi left, Ji Cheng looked at Steve. Cohen, "Mr. Cohen, I understand that you are not interested in "Portrait of a Young Man", but this "Just Judge" ......"

Charlie. Professor Wayne was just packing up his instruments when he casually replied, "Whoever buys this painting is going to get in big trouble." ”

"Got in big trouble?" Ji Cheng was puzzled.

"Well, I was about to tell you about it." Steve. Cohen showed a serious look, "Professor Wayne said just now, this painting is part of the altarpiece of the Ghent Diocese of Belgium, and the Ghent Diocese is a Roman Catholic branch, your painting will either be auctioned, or find an opportunity to use this painting to establish a good relationship with the Catholic side, anyway, it is best not to buy and sell it privately." ”

The power of religion is very strong, and Ji Cheng realized the seriousness of the problem, "Thank you, Mr. Cohen, for reminding me, I know what to do." ”

"Hmm." Steve. Cohen smiled, "And the painting "Portrait of a Young Man", if you take it out for auction, I might go to it, and it's a bit risky to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in private." ”

Sure enough, this is the reason, Ji Cheng understood, "Okay, then if I plan to take out this painting for auction, I will notify you." ”

……

The four paintings, along with the conch bead necklace and the glossy version of the statue of Konstantin, sold for a whopping $269.9 million, and Ji Cheng returned to the hotel satisfied.

As soon as he returned to the hotel in New York City, he didn't look for anyone else, just locked himself in his room, and then took out the statue and studied it carefully.

in the room.

Ji Cheng stared at this wooden statue and was puzzled, and muttered to himself: "No, since this wooden statue can be sold for a super high price of 100,000 US dollars in 1900, then more than 100 years have passed, it stands to reason that it is normal to appreciate to 100 million US dollars, how can the appraisal experts still say that it is only worth 100,000 yuan?" ”

He knocked lightly on the wooden carving, wanting to see if there was a dark grid, but unfortunately, there was a very thick sound, and when he heard it, he knew that the wooden sculpture did not have any dark grid, because the sound was solid.

"What's going on?"

Ji Cheng stood there staring at the wood and pondered.

"By the way, turn on Perception Enhancement and take a look."

He really couldn't figure out what was going on, so he didn't bother to think about it anymore, it was better to directly use the perception enhancement to observe this wood carving inside and out, if he couldn't even find the clues with the perception enhancement, he had to spend some money to invite the wood carving identification experts over there to come and identify it.

Turn on Enhanced Perceptual Viewing.

Ji Cheng immediately saw this warrior wood carving clearly inside and out.

It's okay not to look at it, but when he saw it, he was shocked!

Because there is a short knife hidden in this natural wooden statue, and there is a line of traditional Chinese characters written on this short knife.

Although some traditional Chinese characters may not be recognized by Ji Cheng alone, he can understand them when they are connected together, and this line of words is impressively written "May 1st Guoguang" or "May 1st Guoguang", because the middle word is a little flat, and he can't tell whether it is "day" or "曰".

】

"I'll just take the words "May 1st" Guoguang."

Ji Cheng thought secretly: "What do these words mean?" What happened when the knife was hidden in an antique 17th-century wooden carve? ”

He was a little puzzled by what he thought about, but one thing was certain, that is, this straight short knife should be very valuable, otherwise it would not be possible to hide it in the wood carving, and it was also "inlay" in it, obviously not wanting to be discovered.

"A valuable dagger?" Ji Cheng carefully recalled what are the famous antique knives in the day, such as the Chidori knife known as "Rachel", and the demon knife Muramasa, these are all antique famous knives that Xiao Ri is proud of.

Originally, Ji Cheng didn't have a clue, but he suddenly thought of a famous knife, Guoguang short knife, that national treasure short knife that was lost in the day!

it!

This short knife can't be the Kunitsu short knife, right?

Ji Cheng's eyes widened suddenly, and his heart couldn't help but beat straight up, if this short knife was really a small day national treasure Guoguang short knife, then he really sent it this time!