Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1780 Old Hu is here too

After delivering the items, Zhou Zhi and Lao Wang got on the museum’s minibus and headed to the Capital Airport with the main group.

Ma Chengyuan, the director of the Shanghai Museum, and Gao Zhixi and Xiong Chuanxin, the two former directors of the Hunan Museum, were already waiting here. When Gao Zhixi saw Mr. Wang coming, he quickly walked over and shook the old man's hand enthusiastically: "Recently, there have been many happy events in our cultural and museum circles! Mr. Wang, you still have to step in!"

"It has nothing to do with me. Come on, let me introduce you to the real sponsor." Old Master Wang said with a smile: "Zhou Zhi, consider him my half-apprentice, but his business is a bit diverse. He is an appraiser at Hanhai Auction House, a calligraphy and painting restorer, and a representative of the Yu Tang Cultural Heritage Foundation under AXA Fund."

"Fish Pond Cultural Heritage?" Ma Chengyuan felt that the name was strange and unfamiliar.

"It was the Three Gorges Cultural Heritage Protection Foundation in the past. Now their cultural heritage protection projects have been expanded to the Yangtze River Cultural Belt, Minjiang River Cultural Belt, Helan Mountain Cultural Corridor and the Yellow River Cultural Belt. So it is not appropriate to use the name of the Three Gorges Cultural Heritage Protection Foundation anymore."

"The first people to invent writing and wear clothes. The first people to give up their thrones and cede their country to the Yu, Tao and Tang dynasties." Gao Zhi smiled and said, "It must be the Yu and Tang dynasties, right? If that's the name, then it's appropriate."

As he spoke, he extended his hand to Zhou Zhi: "Mr. Zhou is really a young and promising man. We at Hunan Museum are extremely grateful for the return of the Fang Lei this time!"

"No! Don't go to Xiangbo!" Old Master Wang quickly stopped Zhou Zhi from reaching out: "We still have to discuss the final ownership. We can't just say that you have a lid in Xiang Province, so this thing belongs to you, right?"

"Which museum the Fang Lei belongs to is related to our country's cultural and museum management system." Zhou Zhi still reached out and shook hands with Gao Zhixi: "The foundation will not be involved in these things. Fortunately, the meat is rotten in the pot. We can discuss it slowly later."

"However, when our Shu University Museum accepted the ancient books, calligraphy and paintings such as Huajian Ji donated by Mr. Li Yimang, we said that the Palace Museum and the National Museum of China already have too many good things and may not be able to take care of them all. The donated items should be sent to places where they can be more valued."

"We can take care of it! Even if we can't take care of Hua Jian Ji, we can definitely take care of the Fang Lei!" Old Master Wang said quickly, "Wait, Elbow, you don't want to put it in the Shu University Museum, do you? The Shu University Museum is not a first-class museum, and it is not up to the level of collecting the Fang Lei."

"The conditions for us to be included in the museum are quite good in the first-class museum..."

"Old Ma, please stop making trouble..."

"It's out, it's out. Everyone, stop arguing. Don't let your international friends laugh at you..."

Xin Tiandong is not tall and does not need a translator when he speaks. He speaks fluent Mandarin with a standard Taiwanese accent. After all, he was actually a Taiwanese for the first twenty years of his life.

The reception provided by the Chinese side this time was of very high standard. The directors of several major museums were all present, and there were people from the department waiting at the National Museum. Although Zhou Zhi had spent money, under such circumstances, the fact that Nitta Dongyi was able to agree to transfer the Dish-shaped Lei, coupled with his background in the two islands, meant that he had secured his identity as an "international friend" even for publicity purposes.

Originally, he was reluctant to transfer the Fanglei, but when he heard that Zhou Zhi bought it not to own it but to donate it directly to the museum, even though he was a businessman, he couldn't help but be moved.

"Mr. Zhou, you are really young, just as Mr. Sakamoto said..." After Sakamoto's introduction, when Nitta extended his hand to Zhou Zhi, Nitta's eyes showed a look of disbelief.

Zhou Zhi just smiled and acted as his introducer, introducing Mr. Wang to him. As for the others, they had dealt with each other many times and were old acquaintances, so there was no need for introduction.

Mr. Wang's academic level in Ming and Qing furniture and ancient lacquerware is internationally renowned, and he is also well-known in the island country's collecting circles. In particular, the trend of lacquer art in the island country has been on the rise again recently, and more and more people have been studying Chinese lacquerware.

After the pleasantries were exchanged, everyone went together to participate in the customs clearance ceremony of the Dish-shaped Lei. Here Zhou Zhi met another acquaintance, Liang Pingyi from the General Administration's Protection Department.

As the main contributor to the triumphant return of the statue of the litigation king who went to the United States, Liang Pingyi has become a professional talent proficient in litigation recovery in the country after returning to China. In addition to commendations, his position and rank have been adjusted. He has been working in Hong Kong Island most of the time. This time, the task of escorting the return of the Dish Fang Lei seems to have fallen on him again.

What surprised Xin Tiandong secretly was that this Chinese official, who was serious and had a rigorous work attitude when he interacted with him, actually smiled when he saw Zhou Zhi. The two even hugged each other warmly, like long-lost friends.

Seeing Xin Tian's strangeness, Zhou Zhi quickly explained: "Director Liang and I are comrades-in-arms. We worked closely together when we brought the Dragon and Phoenix Heavenly King statue back to China."

"You are really good!" Liang Pingyi said to Zhou Zhi with a smile, "This time, in addition to the Fang Lei, we also have a batch of Buddha statues and Buddha heads!"

"Lu Lirong, this old guy, is really a piece of shit!"

Lu Lirong was the one who secretly sold the statue of the Heavenly King to An Siyuan, and then sent the other one to Christie's auction house for auction. After being exposed for losing the lawsuit, he became a stray dog ​​and his business plummeted.

After losing his reputation, he could no longer stay in this business. In addition, Lu Lirong was going to emigrate anyway, so Zhou Zhi told him through Lin Wanqiu that he was interested in buying his Xin Baozhai.

It is impossible to say that Lu Lirong does not hate Zhou Zhi, but his reputation in Hong Kong Island is bad and no one wants to deal with him. In addition, the real estate market in Hong Kong Island has plummeted, the wealth of the middle class and above has shrunk seriously, and the number of people planning to immigrate remains high. No one is willing to take over his business.

After all, Lu Lirong is still a businessman. When it comes to interests, face is not important. He finally agreed to Zhou Zhi's suggestion and transferred all his industries in Hong Kong Island to Zhou Zhi.

In addition to the Xinbaozhai store, these assets also include two port area warehouses with antiques, calligraphy and paintings inside, and a villa halfway up the mountain.

Real estate in Hong Kong Island is no longer valuable. House prices have fallen by 60% from their peak. A property that was previously worth more than 50 million Hong Kong dollars is now only worth 20 million.

Another example is the collection of Xin Bao Zhai. As a "whole-lot" purchase in the industry, the price certainly could not be based on the auction price. In the end, Lin Wanqiu asked several respected collectors in Hong Kong Island to act as guarantors and bought it for 50 million Hong Kong dollars.

Seventy million Hong Kong dollars sounds scary, but in fact it is equivalent to about ten million US dollars, which can be exchanged for only three Fang Lei vessels.

With this money, Lu Lirong flew to England with tears in his eyes and had a prosperous new year.