The assistant principal asked cautiously, "Then I'll go see them in 15 minutes?"
The old man said, "Half an hour! Then see how they react. If they're honest and give in, you can call me. "
The assistant principal agreed and walked out of the room.
The old man looked at the door and sneered. He muttered to himself, "You're here to ask for help, yet you still have a temper? Hmph, I'll teach you the etiquette of asking for help today! "
Time flew. In the blink of an eye, more than 20 minutes had passed.
In the living room, Li Rui was already impatient. He thought for a while and whispered to Li Jing, "I'll go out and take a look." Without waiting for her reply, he got up and walked out.
Li Rui went to the car outside and took out the box containing the painting. The driver had been smoking in the shade beside the car, so it was easy for Li Rui to get the painting from him.
Li Rui went back to the corridor where the living room was. He easily found the principal's office, but he didn't have the guts to barge in. He glanced at the room opposite and saw the sign "Assistant Principal's Office". He pondered for a while and knocked on the door.
The door wasn't actually closed. It was half-open, but Li Rui didn't want to enter directly, so he knocked first.
"Please come in!"
When Li Rui heard the voice of the assistant principal, he stepped into the room.
The assistant was busy at the desk. He looked up and recognized Li Jing's entourage. He didn't get up and just sat there. He smiled and asked, "Is there something you need? The principal is still on the phone. It's a very important call. You might have to wait a little longer. But don't worry, the principal will give you a chance to meet him today. "
Li Rui was secretly angry. "Give you a chance to meet him?" He made it sound like he was a provincial leader. In fact, provincial leaders were very approachable. No one was as powerful as him. He was dissatisfied, but he put on a smile on his face. He put the painting box on the assistant's desk and said, "Don't misunderstand. I'm not here to rush the principal. This is a gift from Mayor Li from Qingyang. It's a gift for your principal. It's a gift from us! It's not a heavy gift, but it's a token of my respect. Please accept it. "
The assistant did not have the authority to decide for the principal whether to accept or reject the gift. He stood up with a smile and said, "Is that so? You even brought a gift? This was too polite. However, I can't make the decision on this matter. The principal has to make the decision. You go back and wait for a while. I'll wait for the principal to finish the call and ask him if he'll accept it or not. "
Li Rui nodded, smiled and said okay, then went back to the living room.
The assistant opened the box and saw that it was a scroll. He curled his lips and said, "These people have done their homework in advance. They know that the principal likes this kind of thing, so they came up with the right medicine. But I don't know if this painting suits the principal's taste. If they fail to curry favor, they will be despised even more. That will be fun." He said with a laugh, picked up the box, and walked to the principal's office.
"Hua 'er? What painting? Let's take a look! "
When the principal heard from his assistant that Li Jing had given him a painting as a gift, he immediately became curious and asked his assistant to open it.
The assistant took out the scroll, untied the ribbon, and slowly unfolded it. He held it high in his hand and showed it to the principal.
The principal stared at the scroll, and his face changed at a glance. He stood up, approached the painting, and looked at it carefully with shining eyes. After looking at it carefully, he was amazed and praised, "Tsk, tsk, this painting is of high quality." After that, he looked at the details in the painting and murmured, "Good mountain, good tree, good temple, good bridge, good old temple painting in the mountain! The color is deep and dignified, but not greasy, clear and bright, but not thin. The mood is reclusive and leisurely, but not lacking in simplicity and elegance. The drawing is graceful and light, graceful and flowing. It's really a wonderful painting. Oh, the whole painting is elegant, refreshing, and simple. It makes people feel intoxicated and forget where they are. It's really a wonderful painting! "
The assistant's expression became lively when he heard that. He smiled and said, "Is that so? Then congratulations, principal, you have received a famous painting!"
The principal nodded repeatedly and praised excitedly, "This painting is almost as good as Mr. Zhang Daqian's Song Shishan Temple Painting! This painting is definitely not made by an ordinary person. Let me see the signature … Ah! "Suddenly, he exclaimed, and then he was stunned.
Seeing that he was staring at the only seal on the painting without saying anything, the assistant was very curious and asked, "Principal, what's wrong?"
The principal suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed in disbelief, "I was wondering why this painting was so good. It turned out to be Mr. Wen Xing's painting."
The assistant frowned and said, "Who is Wen Xing? Is he very famous? "
The principal stared at him and scolded, "You don't even know Wen Xing? Why do you study paintings with me all day long? Let me tell you, remember it clearly. Wen Xing is the disciple of Mr. Zhang Daqian, a member of the Guofeng Hall, a national first-class artist, a contemporary landscape painter, and the current vice president of the National Academy of Painting and Calligraphy. He is one of the eight national landscape painters. "
Hearing that Wen Xing had so many titles, the assistant was a little dazzled and said, "Is he so good?"
The principal said, "Of course, this person is Mr. Zhang Daqian's disciple's grandson. Don't you think he's good? He has very few paintings, and all of them have been given to his relatives and friends. There are almost only a few on the market, and each of them is a treasure. A few years ago at the Sotheby's auction, one of his works was auctioned off. The painting was only three feet long, but it was sold for 26 million. You can imagine his level. "
The assistant exclaimed, "Oh my god! Then this painting is so long, almost two meters, that means it's worth 50 million yuan? It can't be, right? "
When the principal heard this, he couldn't believe it. He frowned and said, "Even if Qingyang City gave me a gift, it wouldn't be too expensive. Even if they knew that I like painting and calligraphy, they wouldn't spend 50 million yuan to buy a painting of Wen Xing for me. Am I wrong? Is this not Mr. Wen Xing's seal? " After that, he stared at it for a while and said, "That's right, it's Wen Xing's seal. Uh … by the way, is it a fake?"
He took the painting from the assistant and laid it flat on the large office table. First, he looked at it as a whole, then carefully looked at every inch from top to bottom. After looking at it for a while, he shook his head and said, "No, I'm not good enough. I can't tell if it's real or fake. I have to ask an expert to appraise it." After that, he ordered, "I'll make a call. You keep the painting for me … Forget it, I'll keep it myself. There's nothing for you to do here. You can go out first!"
The assistant asked, "What about Mayor Li?"
The principal waved his hand casually, "Ignore them. I suspect that this is a fake. They won't buy a real painting for me. And Mr. Wen is in Beijing, so he can't specially paint for them. Let me appraise it first … It better not be a fake. Otherwise, if I find out that they dared to fool me with a fake, I won't let them go."
In the living room, Li Jing and the others waited and waited. They waited for almost forty minutes, but the principal still hadn't come. They were already impatient to a certain extent.
Li Jing couldn't hold his temper anymore. He said to Li Rui angrily, "This is too much. Even if he wants to show us who's in charge, he doesn't have to go this far. I can't stand it anymore. I'm going to find him now. I have to see if he's on the phone. "
Li Rui also felt that the other party was too much. It was bad enough that he gave them the cold shoulder as soon as they arrived. He had even given them a gift. Why didn't he show up? Even if the painting was worthless, it represented their sincerity. He should at least show up and say hello, right? Was he going to ignore them for the whole morning? That would be too immoral. He whispered, "It's good that you go and find him. But I'm afraid that if you, as the leader of the team, meet him, things will turn sour. There will be no room for reconciliation. Should I ask Secretary-General Jiang to go and ask for you first?"
Li Jing was about to say something when the door opened. The principal's assistant walked in. There was no one behind him. The principal was still not there.
Li Jing's face darkened. He said, "Is the principal still on the phone?"
The assistant smiled apologetically at her and said, "He just finished, but he's making another call. You'll have to wait a little longer."
Li Jing was furious. He stood up abruptly and pointed at the watch on his wrist. He said, "Please take a look. We've been at your school for more than an hour. Let alone the principal, we haven't even seen the first vice-principal. Is this how your school treats its guests?"
The assistant smiled and said, "I'm really sorry. Today's situation is a little special. Our principal didn't mean to neglect you …"
Li Jing interrupted, "Okay, I can understand that the principal is busy with work. Can you ask your school's construction assistance team to come out and discuss the details of the connection with us?"
The assistant nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, but the leader of the team is the principal. The team can only start the connection process with your city with his approval. Mayor Li, please don't be impatient. I promise that the principal will come to see you after he finishes his call. Before that, can I ask this friend of mine to go out and ask him something? "He looked at Li Rui after he finished speaking.
Li Rui was a little surprised. He asked, "What do you want me to ask?"
The assistant just smiled. There was a deep meaning in his eyes.
Li Rui suddenly guessed that the assistant might want to ask about the painting. Otherwise, why would he ask him to go out? He gave Li Jing a look, indicating that it wouldn't hurt to wait a little longer. He stood up and said, "Okay."
The assistant led him to the corridor outside. He walked a few steps further and stood in the middle of the principal's office and the assistant's office. He smiled and asked, "I haven't asked your name and position."
Li Rui saw the smile on his face and felt a little more confident. He told him his name and position.
The assistant asked again, "Chief Li, I would like to ask, where did you buy that painting? How much did you spend? "
Li Rui frowned and said, "Why? Is there a problem with the painting? "
The assistant smiled and shook his head. "No, there's no problem. Haha, I'm just following the principal's instructions and asking you about it."
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