Almighty painter

Chapter 662 Demon
"Mr. Xiao Gu, please don't think I'm exaggerating."

Brother Hao said in a deep voice.

"One million dollars? Of course it is a very large sum of money. But at this moment, as we are talking on the phone, perhaps there is still a small part of your heart saying to yourself - 'Oh, it's just one million dollars. I can pay it back if I grit my teeth, grit my teeth, and grit my teeth again. I want to be a great artist. When I become famous, maybe one million dollars will be enough for one of my paintings.'"

"Just this once, treat it as a lesson learned. No matter what, raise one million and bring Gu Lin back. From now on, cancel all her credit cards and let her family manage all her money. From now on, even if she wants to borrow money, she will have nowhere to borrow. It's like throwing a can of food back into the freezer. She will learn her lesson, and this kind of thing will not happen again. Turn the page, and you will still be a happy family."

The middle-aged man tilted his head, trying to guess the young man's thoughts on the phone.

"I spent so much money helping the children in the orphanage, but I chose not to help my own family at the critical moment. This is really too cold-blooded, isn't it?"

"The lesson bought with a million dollars should be enough for her to remember for a lifetime. Looking at the sunset in Yangon, the young artist seemed to have made up his mind, and he said this to himself in his heart." Brother Hao said firmly in a tone similar to the narration of the first voice-over in a biographical film.

Gu Weijing faced the mobile phone on the table, his hands hanging in his sleeves, listening silently.

No one spoke in the studio. Apart from Hao Ge's hoarse and feminine voice coming from the cell phone receiver, there was no other sound in the room.

It's so quiet that it makes people feel uneasy.

"The person on the other end of the phone seems to know everything" - this was not the first time that Gu Weijing had this thought in his mind tonight.

Every time it came up, his heart grew colder, until the blood and bone marrow in his entire body were frozen cold, and the year-round temperature in the tropical air could not bring him any warmth.

"Don't fool yourself there, Mr. Gu. If you think like that, you're doomed."

Brother Hao smiled gently.

"I'm not saying that I don't believe you can raise a million dollars, nor am I saying that I don't believe you can reach a high point and sell a painting for a million dollars one day. Oh, I have always been optimistic about you. Even now, I think that a million dollars is not such an unattainable number for you."

"Maybe our Miss Sakai is willing to pay for you. She is with you now, right?"

The female bodyguard's expression suddenly changed.

She stood up suddenly.

He walked to the window, pulled back a corner of the curtain, and glanced at the building across the street with a vigilant look.

The phone call took a few minutes.

The setting sun had almost completely sunk below the distant horizon.

On the streets and alleys, there were occasional workers who were finishing their day shift and walking slowly with umbrellas in their hands. Occasionally, one or two scooters would rumble by on the streets.

At the end of the sight, the big chimney in the factory was still slowly emitting white smoke.

The female bodyguard did not notice anything unusual, and everything seemed to be calm and peaceful almost as usual.

"Hey, don't be nervous, no one is watching you. I just made a random guess, it's not difficult to guess. Yangon is a beautiful city, welcome to visit."

Brother Hao shrugged and said, "There's no need to be so nervous about safety issues, Mr. Gu. Let me say it again. From the beginning to the end, I have always been very polite to you, right? Even if you have always been very cool and didn't give me face, I haven't done anything particularly excessive to the people around you because of this. Of course, in the case of Gu Lin, whether it is excessive or not, we may have some differences of opinion."

In Xihe Guild Hall, the middle-aged man raised his eyebrows.

"But besides, Sakai Kazunari's daughter is different from Gu Lin. If it is not necessary, I will not take action against someone like Miss Sakai. It is too sensitive and may lead to a lot of international disputes. There is no need for this."

"I just heard that her father might get rich recently. Given the financial situation of the Sakai family, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to give you one million dollars. And the Ma Shi Gallery—"

"A lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even though life has been tough these years, this continental gallery has assets worth hundreds of millions of euros. One million euros is not enough for Mas III to hold a large art exhibition. I think he will be happy to use half of the money from a personal exhibition to buy you a new buyout contract."

"Even Cao Xuan, the old man is very rich. Since he is willing to write for you the calligraphy that your grandfather shows off every day in his circle of friends, maybe... if you really ask for it and beg him, you may be able to get a million dollars. But compared with the first two options, it is not wise to ask for it from Mr. Cao."

Brother Hao raised his head and stroked his chin which was shaved smooth by a razor.

He seemed to be carefully considering the pros and cons of various options for Gu Weijing.

"Favors and goodwill accumulate and become less as they are used. The old man is almost 100 years old. It is not easy for him to have a young person who interests him at this age. To exchange such a precious thing for one million US dollars is really picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons."

"Don't say anything else."

"If a million dollars can buy this favor, or clear you from Mr. Cao's heart, then I think if our Ms. Tang Ning knew that there was such a good thing in the world, she would definitely run away, rush over from London overnight, hold the safe box, and give it to you."

Hao Ge held the cigarette between his fingers: "Money has never been the key to the problem. At least not a million dollars."

He tapped the cigarette butt against the ashtray.

The inch-long ash broke off and shattered into several pieces with scattered sparks at the bottom of the translucent cylinder.

"I could wait until the debt amount became two million dollars, three million dollars, or even five million dollars, and then take Gu Lin away. It wouldn't be difficult if I wanted to, but I didn't do it."

"I don't want this money to scare you away directly, but I also hope it's enough to make you think seriously and feel the weight of the decision. One million dollars is just the right amount, just above the limit of 'I think I can afford it'."

"So, what's the crux of the matter?"

The middle-aged man looked out the window at the deepening night with a calm expression.

"The key issue is never whether people deal with a can of spoiled food in one gulp, eat it with bread, or eat it with pasta. The key issue is whether you eat it with a frown. The key issue is also--"

Hao Ge paused. "Refrigerators can never kill bacteria. They can't reverse spoilage, they can only inhibit bacterial reproduction, but bacteria will always be there, forever. As long as they come into contact with the right soil at any time and any place, they will immediately regenerate."

"Leo Tolstoy suffered for half his life because of gambling. Why can Gu Lin quit just because she wants to? "

"Do you think that after you pay back the money, the matter will be over? Do you think that if you take away her cell phone, her credit card, make the loan overdue, and make the credit debt so bad that the bank loan manager will faint at the sight of it, then she will never be able to borrow money again? And that this matter will be over?"

"No no no."

Hao rapped the windowsill with his knuckles.

"Gu Weijing, I'm worried that you have such unrealistic ideas."

"Young people are ignorant and have never seen the dark side of society or the rules of the underground world. Therefore, they are often too naive. At times like this, they need experienced people to tell them what the real world looks like."

"Perhaps for ordinary people, this matter could end like this. But not for you, Gu Weijing. You want to be a great painter. You want to live in the spotlight."

The middle-aged man coughed lightly.

He breathed deeply.

"When you become successful and your net worth rises, the people who are eyeing you will not only be bank managers who want to drag you to buy financial products and insurance, or investment brokers who want to sell you millions of dollars of stocks."

"It's not necessarily that these people have good intentions. Maybe they approach you with the intention of defrauding artists who are 'stupid and rich and making money easily'. But at least, their methods are still relatively mild."

"The underground society has a different operating model. It has a completely different logic," Hao said. "Perhaps a gambler with a bad credit record cannot pay for a car in installments, cannot apply for a loan to buy a house, has some difficulty finding a job, and cannot borrow money through legal channels."

"But underground banks don't care about this. When they lend money, they never consider the repayment ability of the borrower. No one expects people who have lost money to pay back the money. When they lend money, they measure the repayment ability of those who are willing to pay them back."

Brother Hao clapped his hands.

"To Gu Lin, she herself is worthless. How much money can be squeezed out of her by selling her as a prostitute and letting her sell herself to death? Let's say $100,000. Then your cousin's credit limit is $100,000. People only lend her $100,000 at most, but the bank found out that she is your cousin and you are willing to pay her back, so her credit limit becomes $1 million."

"The bank was pleasantly surprised to find out that you are Miss Sakai's boyfriend. Sakai Katsuko may not care about Gu Lin's death, but if you ask for it, she will give you money. If your relationship is good enough, it can be valued at two million US dollars. Add up the money from the Ma Shi Gallery, Mr. Cao, and all your connections, and we can each value it at one million US dollars."

"At this moment, Gu Lin's value to the underground money house has gone from being a streetwalker to a big client with a credit rating of $600 million. She can be carried around and invited to the VIP lounge. There are delicious food and fine wine. If she wants, there are male models and aphrodisiac drugs. Everything is available to serve her like an emperor."

"Count Dolokhov, a character in Tolstoy's novel, lost an astronomical amount of debt in one night. The creditor did not come to him, but asked his father, the old count, to sell the family estate to pay off the debt. As long as the bank can find such a "old Count Dolokhov" among the gamblers, they will always be the glittering and distinguished customers."

Koko bit her lower lip lightly and looked at Gu Weijing.

She subconsciously wanted to reach out and hold him.

Glancing at Katsuko Sakai next to her, she paused again. To cover herself up, she leaned forward and lay on the table, with her chin resting on her forearm.

Koko was a little annoyed and sad.

When facing Miao Angwen, she could use a large iron umbrella to whip him until his whole body trembled.

Even on the stage of the bar, surrounded by people.

Even though Koko was upset, she could still raise her foot, kick the big fool off the piano, and then run away nimbly.

But now.

Koko really didn't know what she could do.

There are some things in this world that cannot be solved no matter how vigorously you wield an umbrella or how thin your waist and long your legs are.

You can neither hit nor kick the opponent.

Can't even run away.

It’s not just because Gu Weijing is facing a gangster boss like Brother Hao, who is hiding in the distant Xihe Club to talk to them.

That’s because, in fact, Brother Hao was right about one thing… No matter how tall the tree is, its leaves will return to its roots.

The person who hurt him is connected to his own roots.

What stood between him and Brother Hao, apart from the layers of walls and guards of the Xihe Guild Hall, were the difficult-to-distinguish natural laws and human ethics.

How can a visible iron sword pierce the invisible family affection?

Miss Koko rarely feels so powerless.

She was fearless, but at this moment, even opening her arms and holding the other person's hand seemed inappropriate.

"This is like a group of ghosts, one pulling another, and one dragging another. Everyone wants to pull the person they love out of the water, but they can only sink deeper and deeper together. The blood-sucking blood vessels sucked Gu Lin dry, and then connected to you, and through you to Miss Sakai. Maybe Miss Sakai will even ask her parents for money from her family for you. Then, it is connected to Sakai Kazunari, and it goes on and on."

"Mr. Gu, do you think I'm trying to scare you when I say that this one million dollar debt will eat up your life? No, those underground gambling games were aimed at you from the beginning. When they set up the game, they didn't evaluate Gu Lin's ability to bear it, but your ability to bear it, Gu Weijing, you, the 'great artist'."

"Every time you take a step forward on the road of art, you pay back Gu Lin. The next time she plays a bigger game, the higher her credit limit will be."

(End of this chapter)