Chapter 41 : worth teaching
The fair site stipulated that cars could only park in the parking lot outside. Of course, special circumstances could not be ruled out. As long as you had enough energy, it would be fine to drive tanks into the fair site.
The red flag opened and a square-faced middle-aged man walked out. He walked directly to Elder Xue and said," Dad, the car is here. I'll help you get your things."
Old Xue shook his head and said," I'll hold this treasure comfortably. Open the door and invite guests to get in."
The square-faced man frowned. He knew that the old man regarded jade as his life, so he did not try to persuade him. He turned around and opened the door." Everyone, please get in the car."
The group of six got into the car and exited the trade fair. Meng Shicheng called out for a stop. He retrieved his car and followed behind the red flag car. He felt that Old Xue's son looked familiar the moment he appeared. He tried hard to recall his identity for a while before he suddenly felt a trace of regret. He thought to himself, If I knew it was him, I wouldn't have driven my car. It would be more dignified for me to let him be the driver…
Fifteen minutes later, the car drove into a single-family courtyard. The layout of the courtyard was very similar to that of a courtyard in the capital. There were many flowers and trees planted in the large courtyard, and there was a small pavilion on the left. The surrounding environment was quiet and elegant. It was definitely a good place to spend one's life.
Walking into the main hall, a thick and ancient aura assaulted him. All the furniture was made of wood or stone, eight immortals table, rattan chair, green stone tea table... Other than a few chandeliers, there was not a single modern appliance. Even the light switches were set up in an extremely hidden way. It was as if time had gone back a hundred years.
" Don't be shy, sit wherever you want…" Old Xue said casually. Then, he said to his son," Guo Qiang, you accompany the guest." After saying that, he carried the yellow material and placed it gently on the coffee table. He carefully examined it and ignored everyone's existence.
Xu Qing and the others didn't know whether to laugh or cry. They had agreed to come for a free meal, but they didn't expect this old man to leave them alone like this. Let alone rice, he didn't even have a mouthful of cold air.
Fortunately, his son Xue Guoqiang saw everyone's embarrassment and introduced each other to chat with everyone warmly.
"My father has such a temper. He doesn't care about anything when he sees top-grade jade. Please don't take offense."
Meng Shicheng smiled and said," Mr. Xue, you're too polite. If it were four hundred years ago, Old Master would have been someone like Lu Zigang."
Xue Guoqiang suddenly said," Wrong. Even if he was born four hundred years ago, my father would not be able to compete with Lu Zigang unless he had two Kunwu Jade Breaking Blades."
Meng Shicheng was choked for a moment. He smiled and said nothing. In front of Xue Guoqiang, he felt an invisible pressure, as if it was a conversation between superiors and subordinates. This might have something to do with Xue Guoqiang's identity.
When Xu Qing heard the two mention Lu Zigang, he pulled out the pendant around his neck and said," Old Meng, is the person who gave this thing some relationship with Lu Zigang?"
Meng Shicheng smiled and nodded." If I'm not wrong, that person must also be surnamed Lu."
Xu Qing smiled disapprovingly: "Oh! No wonder he even gave a piece of Zi Gang Jade as a supplement for 300 million yuan. It seems that Lu is very rich."
"300 million? You even sent your son Gang Yu?" Elder Xue was also attracted by the conversation. He walked over with the piece of yellow jade in one hand and pointed at the pendant on Xu Qing's chest." Little Xu, take it down and show it to me."
Xu Qing rolled his eyes and said angrily," Don't be too busy looking at the items. I don't care about the food. I'll get someone to move everything away. Tell Old Meng to find someone to carve it."
"How dare you!" Old Xue's eyes widened, and his expression immediately darkened. He fumed and took out a pager and pressed it.
After a while, two clean middle-aged women walked into the hall quickly. Elder Xue instructed," Prepare a table of food. Make it sumptuous. Oh, and bring some drinks along!"
After saying that, he glared at Xu Qing and said," Kid, you only remember to take care of food. You don't even know how to appreciate the Golden Buddha Stepping on Clouds placed here. This is a priceless treasure!"
Xu Qing shook his head and said," No matter how valuable jade is, it's a product of nature. To put it bluntly, it's just some beautiful minerals. It's no different from coal. It's just that rare things are more expensive. The more people seek after them, the more valuable they are."
Xue Guoqiang smiled and said," That's right. It points to the essence of the matter. Because of this luxury product carved by nature, I don't know how many officials can't resist their temptation and thus lose their nature and degenerate into sinners of the people!"
Boss Xue said with a straight face,"What are you coaxing me for? I relied on these broken stones to feed you three brothers. What, now you want to cut off the tail of capitalism?"
Xue Guoqiang saw that Old Master Xu Qing couldn't argue with him and pointed the spearhead at him. He smiled bitterly and said," I didn't mean that. Let's just talk about it!"
Elder Xue snorted and changed the topic." You guys who have been rolling around in the system have already practiced your skills. When are you going to Jiang City?"
Xue Guoqiang said softly," We'll leave in two days. I'll stay at home to accompany you for the next two days. When we settle down, I'll pick you up."
Elder Xue nodded. He took out his checkbook and wrote a few notes. He placed it in front of Xu Qing and said seriously," This old man hasn't earned much these years. I'll give you 100 million yuan for this Golden Buddha Cloud Stepping. If you don't want to learn the craft of carving jade, this old man will make up this amount for you half a month later. If you're willing to learn this old man's craft, the remaining amount can only be used as tuition fees."
200 million? Xue Guoqiang frowned slightly. This figure made him, who was in a high position, slightly moved. The old man naturally knew how much he had saved over the years to be his son. One hundred million in cash had almost exhausted all his savings, excluding the objects and jade materials displayed in the old man's workshop.
Every single one of those items had been poured into Elder Xue's painstaking efforts. If they were converted into cash, they would be worth at least 200 million yuan. It was not as serious as what he said.
Xu Qing picked up the check and handed it to Meng Shicheng. He pondered for a moment and said indifferently," I still have to study. I'm afraid I don't have time to learn jade carving."
Xu Qing had already started to despise Old Xue in his heart. If he agreed to learn jade carving, there was no need to mention the other 100 million yuan. A jade carving craft cost 100 million yuan. Wasn't this a little too expensive?
Even Tang Guobin and Meng Shicheng's expressions became strange. Only Xue Guoqiang smiled and said nothing.
Elder Xue seemed to have expected this outcome. He said calmly," Don't push me. I'm not trying to take advantage of you. If it were someone else, I wouldn't teach them no matter how much money they pay. Unless they have extraordinary talent."
Xu Qing thought to himself,"What do you mean by extraordinary talent?"
Elder Xue pointed at the bottom of Huang Fei and said," It's very simple. Look at how many cloud patterns there are on this piece of material. It's limited to 15 minutes. If you're sure that you're my last disciple, according to the rules, you'll inherit the old man's sword seal. If you're wrong about this matter of becoming a disciple, then forget it. It's only your fault that we don't have the fate of master and disciple." Then he smiled and turned Huang Fei around in his arms and handed it to Xu Qing.
As soon as he said this, Xu Qing suddenly realized that Old Xue really wasn't trying to take advantage of him. If he really became his disciple, not only would he get a hundred million dollars for jade carving skills, but he would also get this finished product carved by yellow jade. It was a great thing to earn.
Xu Qing took Huang Fei and scanned it twice." There are a total of nine cloud patterns. Five are long and four are short. There are also two overlapping cloud patterns."
He had carefully counted the cloud patterns on this piece of chicken oil several times before it was still in the stone. Now, he was just looking at it for show.
Old Xue was stunned for a moment and suddenly raised his head to laugh: "Hahaha!" Children can be taught, children can be taught ah…"laughing, two lines of old tears burst out.