"Sister Ying, my heart can't take it anymore!" He was already a bit stunned by the 280 million price tag of the villa, but what he hadn't expected was that any random painting on the wall would be worth four billion dollars. That's enough to buy ten of these villas!
"These are just some casual decorations in the living room!" In fact, Zhuang Ying had known about these assets being transferred to Fang Jueyu's name long ago. She had figured he would choose this villa as his residence, so everything was arranged a month in advance.
Honestly, when she first saw all these things, she was quite shocked too, but as she took on more and more assets, she gradually became numb to it.
Fang Jueyu walked into the living room. The room was huge, with the floor covered by the pelt of some unknown beast. The coffee table and leather sofas also seemed quite valuable. Not only that, there was a magnificent grand piano placed on one side.
Fang Jueyu had learned piano and violin since childhood, initially forced by his parents, but eventually, he fell in love with them. Wherever there was a piano, he couldn't resist playing a piece.
He approached the piano. It was a yellow-brown color, covered with dense signs of age. From the text on it, Fang Jueyu recognized the name of the piano—Pleyel.
"Ding!" The crisp sound carried an ancient charm. Judging from his experience, this piano was probably an antique, likely several decades old.
Suddenly, he found an inscription on the side of the piano. Although the writing was somewhat faded, Fang Jueyu could still make it out.
"A gift to my musician friend—Frédéric François Chopin!"
"This... you're not going to tell me this is Chopin's piano, are you?" Fang Jueyu's voice trembled, and he even instinctively lifted his hand from the keys, afraid he might accidentally damage it.
"Yes, this Pleyel piano is over 180 years old. It was Chopin's favorite because it was a gift from one of his Chinese friends!"
"You're not going to tell me that this Chinese friend was one of my ancestors, are you?" Though he already had an answer in mind, Fang Jueyu couldn't help but ask.
"What do you think?" Zhuang Ying shot him a charming glance. "Oh, and there's this!"
Zhuang Ying took a box from a nearby cabinet, and inside was a light brown violin.
"Just tell me who used this violin. I'm prepared!" Fang Jueyu took a deep breath, bracing himself.
"This violin was made by Giuseppe Guarneri in 1743. It's called 'Il Cannone,' also known as the 'Cannon!'"
"The one Paganini used?" Even though he was mentally prepared, Fang Jueyu still trembled.
As the most famous violin master, Paganini's position is unshakable. For many violinists, if they could play his violin just once, their life would be complete.
He just never expected that this violin, like Chopin's piano, would now be part of his collection.
"At least this violin wasn't gifted by one of my ancestors, right?" Fang Jueyu remembered that this violin had been gifted to Paganini by a wealthy patron after attending one of his performances, and that patron wasn't Chinese.
"No, but the museum that owned it was yours. Seventeen years ago, Mr. Fang Huai bought it directly!"
"Seventeen years ago? I had only just started learning the violin back then! My dad really went all out!" Fang Jueyu felt like his entire world was in disarray.
"Oh, and there are two other famous violins here. They were once used by the masters Kreisler and Heifetz. They've all been perfectly preserved, and we even had the descendants of renowned luthiers restore them. They have the best possible sound quality; you should try them out."
Fang Jueyu could hardly wait. He picked up Paganini's violin and immediately played one of his Caprices. Despite the violin's 200-year history, as soon as the first note sounded, it was as if Fang Jueyu's very soul had been elevated.
Although his skills, honed over more than a decade, were still not comparable to the great masters, he played the piece with remarkable perfection. Zhuang Ying even felt like she was watching Paganini himself perform!
When the piece ended, Fang Jueyu's hands were trembling. He carefully placed the violin back in its case, not because of its immense value, but because damaging it would be an affront to art itself!
"Would you like to see the study? There are still plenty of treasures, like famous calligraphy and ancient book manuscripts!" Zhuang Ying smiled.
"No thanks, I'll check it out another day. I'm afraid I might pass out!" Fang Jueyu felt like he was getting lightheaded. "Sister Ying, it's almost nine. Where are you staying tonight?"
"Oh, don't worry. When this villa was bought, the twenty closest villas were also purchased. I can stay in any of them. If you need anything, you can find me anytime."
Several black lines appeared on Fang Jueyu's forehead. "Those are all mine too?"
"That's right. Those twenty second-tier villas are all yours. Most of them are occupied, but three are still vacant. If you have any plans for them, just let me know."
"Wait, what do you mean most are occupied? Were they rented out?"
"No, the people living in those villas are your personal staff. There are housekeepers, chefs, drivers, medical personnel, and more—about 200 people in total!"
Cough, cough, cough! Fang Jueyu felt like he had just sustained internal injuries.
"Oh, if you're hungry, you can ask the chef to prepare something. Their numbers are all in the villa's phone. We have all kinds of cuisine, Western desserts, and other delicacies. Whatever you want, we have. Our chefs are the best!"
"Alright, I got it." Fang Jueyu felt that if he kept talking to Zhuang Ying, he would hear even more unbelievable things.
"Well then, I'll be off. You should rest early. Breakfast will be delivered to you tomorrow. From today, I'll be staying here long-term. If you need anything, just contact me!" After saying that, Zhuang Ying left the villa.
"Phew..." Fang Jueyu collapsed onto the sofa as if all the energy had been drained from his body. He had never been so overwhelmed in his entire life.
Slap! He gave himself a hard smack on the cheek. He had doubled the strength of his body, and without controlling it properly, left a bright red handprint on his face.
"Ouch!"
"Looks like I'm not dreaming after all..."