Chapter 451: Li Yi, the Prodigal Son
News that Li Yi had spent 200,000 yuan to snap up nearly 10,000 paintings from the National Museum quickly spread throughout the art world!
It started when Jiang Xue mentioned it to her mother-in-law, but somehow, before long, his eldest uncle, second uncle, grandfather, as well as Jiang Longcheng, Jiang Longyin, and others all found out.
Later still, members of the Ye and Lin families also got wind of it.
Even more outrageous was that within a few days, the newspapers had picked up the story.
Overnight, the whole of Beijing was abuzz with the story.
And most people labeled Li Yi’s behavior as “squandering the family fortune.”
What does 200,000 yuan even mean?
Reform and Opening-Up had just begun; even the trendy term “ten-thousand-yuan household” hadn’t emerged yet, and a family with a few hundred yuan in savings was considered well-off.
Put it this way: with 200,000 yuan, you could buy over thirty top-quality homes right now.
If used to buy grain, it could purchase 1.25 million catties of top-quality Fuqiang flour. To be generous, assuming a family of five eats 2 catties of flour per day, that would be enough to feed them for over 300 years.
Yet now, such a vast fortune has been spent on thousands of useless objects that can neither be eaten nor drunk—what else could this be but squandering one’s wealth?
Overnight, the person who bought this batch of paintings from the National Museum became the subject of nationwide discussion, labeled a “prodigal son” and a “sucker.”
Fortunately, the media, perhaps to protect privacy—or perhaps because the National Museum was completely unaware of Li Yi’s true identity—did not explicitly name him as the buyer of the paintings in their reports.
Nevertheless, everyone in the art world knew that the “sucker” everyone was talking about was none other than Li Yi.
Everyone found his “prodigal” behavior hard to fathom, saying that even if he made money easily, he shouldn’t be so reckless with it.
So, over the next few days, everyone flocked to Li Yi’s store to get the scoop.
They all had one question: “What were you thinking?”
Naturally, Li Yi wasn’t going to tell them what he was thinking—he couldn’t possibly say!
Could he possibly tell these people that he, Li Yi, had been reborn from decades in the future, and that he knew the value of this batch of paintings would skyrocket, reaching tens of billions in value decades from now?
Could he say that?
Even if he did, would they believe him?
Left with no choice, Li Yi could only pin it on a mysterious hobby.
That’s right, I don’t really have any hobbies—I just happen to like this…
Fine, you’ve got the money… you’re the boss… you call the shots!
Although this explanation was a bit far-fetched, fortunately, both the Jiang and Ye families knew Li Yi well.
They knew that although his background wasn’t the best, he possessed extraordinary insight and courage, and he also had some mysterious, unpredictable ways about him.
Therefore, they didn’t interfere with his decision, though they did occasionally discuss the matter behind closed doors!
……..
Before they knew it, it was already mid-April!
Temperatures in the capital were rising rapidly, and the day of the Old Master’s eightieth birthday had arrived.
On the day of the banquet, Li Yi got up early in the morning and first drove over to check on the shop.
He worked until past ten o’clock before returning home to pick up Jiang Xue and the two children, then headed straight for the Jiang family’s ancestral home.
In the car, Jiang Xue held Yunrui, while Juanzi held Yunjin.
As Li Yi drove, he turned to Juanzi in the back seat and asked, “Juanzi, have you been adjusting well to life in Beijing lately?”
“It’s been okay,” Juanzi replied softly.
“Are you keeping up with your studies?” Li Yi asked again.
“My foreign language isn’t great. I had a test a few days ago, and I only scored 63 points!” Juanzi said, blushing.
Jiang Xue, sitting beside her, hurried to comfort her: “63 is still a passing grade. Take it slow!”
“Sis, I… I came in last in foreign language!”
“Uh…”
Jiang Xue was instantly at a loss, not knowing how to comfort the boy.
“What was your total score? Where did you rank in the class?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
Hearing this, Juanzi immediately lifted her head and said with a hint of confidence, “I scored 689 in total and ranked 11th in the class!”
“Not bad. Keep up the good work, and you’ll definitely get into a great university!”
Li Yi wasn’t just trying to comfort Juanzi; he knew that in middle school today, besides Chinese, math, and English, there were also subjects like politics, history, and geography.
With a total exam score of around 900 points, 689 wasn’t particularly high, but it wasn’t bad either.
Considering that Juanzi had only scored 63 on the foreign language exam, it meant she had done quite well in the other subjects.
Never mind improvement or progress—if she could just maintain her current level and score 400 on the college entrance exam, she’d be able to get into a decent undergraduate program.
And these days, getting into a decent university means a respectable job and civil servant status.
After all, college graduates these days… get guaranteed job placements!
“Really? Can I really get into college?” Juanzi asked, a bit excitedly.
“Of course it’s true. And if you study hard enough, you might even get into college early!”
Li Yi continued, “Besides, my wife is about to take her college entrance exams. Just see how well she does this year, and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect!”
Hearing this, Jiang Xue blushed and said, “But what if I fail?”
“So what if you fail? We’ve always got next year. Besides, I’ll always be there to support you!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“I don’t want to wait until next year—I’m definitely going to get in this year!”
“Well, good luck then…”
As they chatted and laughed, the car arrived near the Jiang family’s old residence.
But just as the car entered the alley, it was stopped by a guard. Fortunately, the guard recognized Li Yi and knew he was the Jiang family’s son-in-law.
The guard told him that the alley inside was already full of cars and there was no space left, so he should park the car outside the alley.
Li Yi immediately had Jiang Xue and Juanzi get out here first to wait for him at the old family home; he’d join them after parking the car.
Just as he had finished parking and was about to get out of the car with the birthday gift he’d prepared for the old man,
Suddenly, he heard a series of urgent beeps from behind. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he saw to his surprise that it was Jiang Longcheng’s car.
Clearly, this guy’s direct grandson had been summoned here as well.
After getting out, Li Yi saw that Jiang Longcheng and Zhang Xinyao had also stepped out of their car. Zhang Xinyao was carrying a box in her hand—presumably a gift for the old man.
When he saw Li Yi approaching with a slender box in hand, Jiang Longcheng said with a hint of teasing, “Brother-in-law, you aren’t planning to give Grandpa a calligraphy or painting, are you?”
Li Yi shot him a look and said, “You know the answer already!”
“Hahaha, I knew it. You’re something else—with 200,000 yuan, you could do anything, but you had to go and buy that junk…”
Just as Jiang Longcheng was enjoying himself, Zhang Xinyao gave him a hard pinch on the arm.
In an instant, Jiang Longcheng’s smug voice turned into a cry of pain.
“Honey, there are guests here. Give me some face!” Jiang Longcheng said with a shameless grin.
Zhang Xinyao’s face flushed bright red instantly. She stamped her foot and said, “I’m not bothering with you two anymore!”
Then, leaving Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng behind, she walked toward the Jiang family’s old mansion.
“Aren’t you going to go soothe her?”
Watching Zhang Xinyao’s retreating figure, Li Yi couldn’t help but ask.
“No need. She’ll be waiting for me up ahead!”
“Huh, she’s pretty confident, isn’t she?”
“You bet. Don’t you know whose daughter-in-law she is?” Jiang Longcheng said smugly.
Seeing this, Li Yi couldn’t help but chuckle.
They say a married couple is like brine and tofu—one thing always counteracts the other.
Although these two weren’t married yet, they already seemed to have a great rapport.
Li Yi suddenly remembered the matter he’d asked Jiang Longcheng to handle a while back, and immediately asked, “How’s that going?”
“You mean the thing about spreading the word?”
“Right!”
“It’s already been released, but there hasn’t been much of a reaction from the higher-ups!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “No rush. It’s not quite ready yet. Once I stoke the fire a bit, those guys at the State-owned Assets Department will react!”
“Alright, I’ll wait for your good news!”
“Alright!”
Then, the two walked and talked as they made their way toward the Jiang family’s ancestral home!