Fred said, "Well, let me have a look at this painting. After all, we have the most cooperation with the Li family's auction house. Since he was sent by the Li family, we have to show him some respect."
Sisay agreed and passed the scroll in his hand to Fred.
Fred took the scroll, removed the outer packaging, and spread it on the table. When he opened it halfway, Jacqueline's naked upper body was exposed.
As the butler of Sir Owen, Fred was also a knowledgeable person, especially in the field of antiques. Although he had only opened half of the painting, he had already recognized that it was Picasso's wife, Jacqueline.
Suddenly, his body felt as if it had been struck by lightning. His whole body began to tremble slightly, and his movements of opening the scroll became more cautious.
He opened the whole painting and saw a complete Jacqueline. After confirming that it was Picasso's painting, he shouted excitedly, "Perfect, it's really perfect!"
Sir Owen poured himself a glass of red wine and was sipping it slowly. After hearing Fred's words, he said with some dissatisfaction, "Dear Fred, it's just a painting. How can you lose your composure like this? There are all kinds of ancient paintings in our treasure room."
"No, we really don't have any here!" Fred cried excitedly, "Sir, this is Picasso's painting. Look, it's Jacqueline!"
After hearing Fred's words, Sir Owen immediately put down the wine glass in his hand and said with a look of disbelief, "Fred, are you kidding me? This is not what a gentleman should do."
"Sir Owen, how could I joke with you? Look, this is Picasso's wife, Jacqueline."
After confirming that Fred was not joking with him, Sir Owen walked over quickly. When he saw the painting in front of him, he became extremely excited.
"Oh my god, did my sincerity move God? He actually sent me Picasso's painting."
Sir Owen took a white glove from a servant and put it on. Then, he began to carefully examine the painting.
A few minutes later, he cried excitedly, "Dear Fred, I'm sure that this is the authentic painting of Picasso. It's really perfect."
Although he was not a professional appraiser, he had collected countless antiques and treasures over the years, so he had a certain level of attainment in the appraisal of ancient paintings.
Fred said, "Sir, just in case, let's get Appraiser Gerrard here."
"You're right. This is Picasso's painting. We can't be careless." Sir Owen took a deep breath to calm down and said to a servant next to him, "Invite Mr. Gerrard here as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir."
The servant answered and quickly walked out of the living room. A few minutes later, he came in with a blond white man. He was Sir Owen's personal treasure appraiser, Gerrard.
Although Gerrard was Owen's personal appraiser, he had a very high reputation in the field of international antique appraisal. So far, the works he had appraised had never been wrong.
After walking into the living room, Gerrard saw the excited Sir Owen and Fred. He asked in confusion, "Dear Sir, did you find any treasure?"
Sir Owen said excitedly, "Dear Gerrard, come and have a look. It's Picasso's painting. This is Picasso's painting!"
Hearing that there was a painting of Picasso, Gerrard was also excited. He quickly walked to the table, took out white gloves and a magnifying glass from his pocket, and looked at it carefully.
After a full five minutes, Sir Owen couldn't help but ask, "Dear Gerrard, tell me, is this the real Picasso?"
Gerrard stood up and said excitedly, "Dear Sir, I can swear to God that this is definitely Picasso's masterpiece."
Sir Owen cried excitedly, "Great, that's great. I finally have a painting of Picasso."
Fred was still relatively calm. He said, "Dear Sir, do you forget that this painting doesn't belong to you now? It belongs to Mr. Qin who is waiting outside the door."
Sir Owen patted his forehead and cried, "God, forgive me. I let the distinguished guest wait outside the door." "Dear Fred, let's go out together and invite the most distinguished guest in."
Outside the manor, Uncle Cheng said to Qin Haodong, "Mr. Qin, Sir Owen is very distinguished. Are you sure that he will meet us after seeing the painting?"
"Uncle Cheng, don't worry. I believe that Sir Owen will come out to welcome us soon."
According to the information that Qin Haodong got from Tian Ye, Sir Owen was very eager to get a painting of Picasso. He believed that he would definitely come out to welcome them after seeing his painting.
While they were talking, the door suddenly opened. Sir Owen hurried out with Fred and Gerrard, followed by four or five servants.
Sir Owen came to Qin Haodong, put one hand on his chest, slightly bowed, and made a standard gentleman's salute.
"Dear Mr. Qin, please forgive me for my neglect of you."
Qin Haodong said, "Sir Owen, nice to meet you."
"Dear sir, beautiful lady, please come with me."
Under the welcome of Sir Owen and a group of servants, Qin Haodong and Nalan Wushuang walked into the manor together.
Uncle Cheng was shocked. He was very clear about Sir Owen's status in Hong Kong. He did not understand what magic Qin Haodong had used to make him come out to welcome them in person.
As the butler of the Li family, he naturally knew that it was not appropriate for him to participate in this kind of occasion, so he did not follow them into Sir Owen's manor. Instead, he returned to the car and waited.
After entering the living room, Sir Owen warmly invited Qin Haodong and Nalan Wushuang to take a seat and gave each of them a glass of good red wine. Then he said with a smile, "Dear Qin, your painting is really perfect.
"I've always been eager to have a painting of Picasso. I want to ask how you can transfer this painting, or in your Huaxia language, it's called reluctantly giving it up."
Although Sir Owen was from the Empire where the sun never sets, he grew up in Hong Kong. Not only did he speak Chinese very well, but he also knew a lot about Huaxia culture. He even used idioms.
Qin Haodong said, "Of course. I've long heard that Sir Owen has collected a lot of Huaxia antiques, so I want to exchange some of Picasso's paintings with you."
Sir Owen said, "Mr. Qin, I'm very willing to be friends with you and exchange some of your collections. Do you have a target in mind?"
Qin Haodong spread out his hands and said, "I don't know yet, because I don't know what collections Sir Owen has."
According to Tian Ye, he did not directly tell him the purpose of his visit.
"It doesn't matter. I can let you choose. As long as the things are suitable, we can make an exchange that satisfies both of us."
Sir Owen said to Fred next to him, "Bring the catalogue of our collections and let Mr. Qin choose."
"Okay, Sir."
Fred turned around and went out. It didn't take long before he came back with a catalogue, which recorded the collections in Sir Owen's treasure house.
"Mr. Qin, please have a look."
Fred politely handed the catalogue to Qin Haodong.
"Thank you!"
Qin Haodong smiled at Fred, then opened the catalogue and quickly checked it.
Sir Owen's collection was indeed very rich. There were almost thousands of pieces, including almost all the antiques from all over the world.
The first part of the catalogue was European works of art. It could be seen that Sir Owen valued these collections more.
However, Qin Haodong did not care about these things at all. He quickly flipped through the catalogue and found the bronze head of the 12 zodiac animals, which he had been dreaming of, in the last few pages of the catalogue.
He suppressed his inner excitement and said, "Sir Owen, I was lucky enough to buy the snake head you auctioned at the auction yesterday. As a Huaxia man, I have special feelings for these bronze heads of the 12 zodiac animals. I want to bring all of them back to Huaxia in my lifetime."
"Just now, I saw a bronze head of the 12 zodiac animals in your catalogue. I've decided to exchange this painting of Picasso for this chicken head. What do you think?"
Sir Owen said, "Dear Qin, as a friend, I should fulfill your wish. This bronze head of the 12 zodiac animals is a treasure of Huaxia. I also like it very much, so I'm a little reluctant to give it up."
Qin Haodong smiled slightly. He knew very well that this foreigner was not reluctant to give it up at all. Just as Tian Ye had said, the antiques of Huaxia were not very important to him, which could be seen from the ranking of the bronze head of the 12 zodiac animals in the catalogue.
The reason why Sir Owen said this was that he was a little dissatisfied with the price he offered. It was true. If Picasso's painting and the bronze head of the 12 zodiac animals were exchanged for Huaxia dollars, a bronze head of the 12 zodiac animals would be worth about 50 million yuan, while this painting of Picasso would be worth at most 10 million yuan.
Although the exchange between collectors valued the reputation of the collection more, the difference in value should not be too big.
He said, "Sir Owen, I'm very sincere. How many paintings of Picasso do you think you can give up this bronze head of the 12 zodiac animals with? Two or three? "
After he finished speaking, Sir Owen's eyes instantly lit up and he said excitedly, "Dear Qin, do you still have Mr. Picasso's paintings in your hands?"
Qin Haodong smiled to show his acquiescence, but he did not say how many paintings of Picasso he still had. This was also a kind of negotiation. Of course, he would not expose his trump card in advance.
Sir Owen thought for a moment, stretched out a palm and said, "Five! As long as you have five sketches of Picasso, I'll exchange this bronze head of the 12 zodiac animals with you. "
Qin Haodong said, "Sir Owen, five is too much. You have to know that this is a painting of Picasso. If you can keep it in your treasure house, it will definitely help you become a first-class collector in the world."
Although he had 10 of these sketches in his hands and he could draw one in a few minutes, Sir Owen had many treasures in his hands. He did not mind exchanging for some more and taking them back to Huaxia.
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