CHAPTER 773: CHAPTER 773

"What, what did you say, you think the woman in this painting is beautiful and want to buy it to spice things up at home?"

The woman couldn’t help but exclaim, like a dog stepped on its tail, suddenly bristling, and quickly jumped in front of the painting, spreading her arms.

"Hmph, I won’t let you buy it!"

"This painting is a piece of art, meant for those who appreciate art, not for filthy men like you to use for filthy deeds! If you want a painting for that, choose another, I won’t let you lay a hand on this one!"

The woman was furious, locking horns with Xu Qianli. The man in front of her was so shameless, totally unworthy of owning this artwork!

Xu Qianli was not one to be cowed, "Why not, this isn’t your place, can you mind your own business? Get lost, don’t hinder me from admiring my own painting. Speaking of which, the woman in this painting is really something, her figure is truly outstanding, just looking at her makes one impulsive. If she were real, I’d definitely snatch her up to warm my bed, have her bear me a bunch of chubby babies."

Warm the bed?

Bear a bunch of chubby babies?

The woman’s cheeks were already flushed red with rage, furiously poking Xu Qianli’s chest, "And you think you’re worthy of her? with your sort, do you think such a woman would match you? You want her to warm your bed, have children with you, are you worthy?"

"Whether I’m worthy or not is none of your business, why are you poking your nose into this? Ah, by the way, who are you anyway? I want to buy a painting, how does that trouble you, why must you come here to cause trouble?"

Xu Qianli reexamined the woman in front of him, dressed in a very loose T-shirt, baggy jeans, face covered with a mask and sunglasses, really hard to tell what her figure or face looked like.

Who exactly is this person, so idle that they have nothing better to do than interfere with my painting purchase?

Speaking of which, this painting, Xiao Wu must buy it for himself, what’s the deeper meaning, could there be a secret hidden within this painting?

Challenged by Xu Qianli, the woman, hands on hips and head raised, declared forcefully, "It’s none of your business who I am, just focus on this painting, it’s full of artistic flair, a rare masterpiece, not something a vulgar person like you could appreciate. I advise you to drop the idea of buying it, scram!"

Xu Qianli retorted, "Right, I’m a vulgar person, so you’re not vulgar, stop pretending to be classy. We’re all living beings with two nostrils and a mouth, who are you trying to impress by acting high and mighty? And what’s with the disguise? Such loose clothes, covering your face, could it be you’re some kind of ugly freak?"

Ugly freak?

The woman pointed at her cheek, "You bastard, daring to call me an ugly freak, I can’t believe you said that! In the entire Wangdong Province, I haven’t seen many women more beautiful than me. I tell you, I..."

She suddenly stopped mid-sentence, closed her mouth and went silent.

Not getting a response, Xu Qianli was encouraged, "What now, you’re saying you’re a celestial being? Then I really must see what you look like."

Xu Qianli was about to remove the woman’s mask when she, terrified, quickly covered her face and ran off, yelling, "You jerk, I can’t be bothered with you. I’ll let you off today, but just you wait!"

"If you say ’just you wait,’ then just you wait! Am I, a grown man, supposed to be afraid of a woman?"

Xu Qianli, no longer interested in that nonsense, instructed the staff to quickly handle the paperwork and effortlessly bought the painting.

Soon, the artwork belonged to Xu Qianli. It was tagged ’sold’ and would be delivered to his designated address after the three-day art exhibition ended.

The incident of Xu Qianli quarreling with the woman and then splurging a million to buy a painting from an unknown artist quickly spread throughout the exhibition.

The painting, which had initially attracted no attention, now drew many onlookers, even more than those in front of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at one point.

These so-called connoisseurs started observing that there indeed was an "artistic aura" about it, lavishing praise on the painting, conjuring verbose and baseless compliments, essentially showing off their appreciation skills—or simply showing off.

Xu Qianli had no interest in listening to these guys spouting nonsense. After purchasing the painting, he immediately went to find Bai Muqing.

Bai Muqing was admiring Sunflowers when Xu Qianli arrived. She preemptively spoke up, "I just heard that some idiot spent a million on a painting by some no-name artist. Son-in-law, tell me, who could be so foolish?"

Xu Qianli swore that Bai Muqing knew it was him who had bought the painting and that she had said this just to mock him.

Forcing a laugh, Xu Qianli replied, "Who cares who bought it, let them be. More importantly, you’ve been staring at this painting for a while now. Is it really that great?"

Hearing such a foolish question, Bai Muqing couldn’t help but roll her eyes, "Do you even understand appreciation? Do you know the value of this painting? Decades ago, it already auctioned for tens of millions of U.S. dollars, and adjusting for purchasing power back then, it would be worth at least a billion U.S. dollars today. How could such an expensive artwork not be great?"

"Then let me ask you this," Xu Qianli continued, "if this painting is really that great, why was Van Gogh so poor during his lifetime?"

Bai Muqing fell silent; she had indeed never considered that question.

After pondering for a moment, Bai Muqing said, "Perhaps the people of Van Gogh’s time just didn’t appreciate it?"

Xu Qianli argued, "If something is truly great and good, how can there be no one to appreciate it? I admit, some artworks are exquisitely made and have a real sense of art, but that doesn’t mean every valuable painting is a masterpiece."

"Say what you want, it doesn’t change the fact that this painting is priceless, far better than that Fruit Woman painting you just bought! Hmph, don’t think I don’t know you bought that painting. With all those beauties around you, you play the bridegroom daily and still aren’t satisfied, even paying a high price for such an expensive painting, you really have your ways. What, are you tired of real people, wanting to check out the women in the paintings?"

"Wow, son-in-law, your tastes are really diverse. Real people and those in paintings alike, impressive! Should I admire that? No way, I must tell Miss Xiao about this immediately, let her understand what kind of person you really are."

Bai Muqing teased Xu Qianli deliberately, already aware of his extravagant expenditure on the painting. She couldn’t fathom why he would do it. Was he simply burning through too much money?

Xu Qianli retorted, "You don’t know anything, this is called investing. Even Sunflowers wasn’t sought after initially—who knows, maybe in a hundred years, the painting I bought could also be worth tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or even billions."