Chapter 267 Buying a Painting
"Is this comrade here to buy calligraphy and paintings?" The museum director spotted Lee Seung-ri standing in the crowd at a glance. Seeing that Lee Seung-ri was wearing a leather jacket and did not look like he was short of money, the director extended his hand to Lee Seung-ri and asked the staff member who followed him.

"It's him, the curator." The staff following behind him nodded at the curator.

"Comrade, I really have to thank you." The curator held Li Shengli's hand and his old face smiled like a flower.

Li Shengli awkwardly held the old man's hand in front of him, not knowing what to say, so he could only look at the staff behind the old man.

"This is our Director Wang." The staff behind the director introduced him to Li Shengli while holding back a smile.

"What's this person's name?" Director Wang asked the staff behind him while holding Li Shengli's hand and shaking it up and down.

This embarrassed the staff member behind the curator, as he was so busy happily calling the curator that he didn't even ask Li Shengli's name.

"Director Wang, my name is Li Shengli, and I run a small restaurant." When Li Shengli saw the embarrassed look on the staff behind the director's back, he quickly shook Director Wang's hands with both hands and began to introduce himself.

"Comrade Li, I heard from Xiao Liu that you want to buy calligraphy and paintings, and you want to buy a lot of them. Is that true?" Director Wang didn't care whether Xiao Liu behind him was embarrassed or not. The most important thing for him now was to sell the calligraphy and paintings and get some funds for maintenance.

"Yes, Director Wang, I heard that the museum lacks funds to repair and maintain cultural relics, so I plan to sell some of the calligraphy and paintings. I don't have any hobbies, and I have some spare money, so I just want to collect some things." Li Shengli began to speak politely. He couldn't say that he expected these things to appreciate in value in the future, so he seized this opportunity to buy them.

"Oh, Master Li, you are absolutely right." Li Shengli's words touched Director Wang's heart. This museum is so large, and there are so many cultural relics inside. The money allocated by the finance department now is not enough to cover the cost of repairs and maintenance. In addition, there are not many people visiting the museum now, so the museum is now a little out of pocket.

"Master Li, if you didn't buy these things, I was planning to pack them up and sell them to the foreign guests." Director Wang's tone was filled with a hint of relief. If there was really no other way, how could these paintings by famous domestic painters be sold to foreigners.

"Oh, Director Wang, you are planning to sell these things to foreigners." Li Shengli did not expect Director Wang to do this, but Li Shengli also did not expect that the museum would sell these painters' paintings, especially Mr. Qi's paintings. Even if Li Shengli was not particularly concerned about cultural matters in later lives, he had heard that the shrimps painted by Mr. Qi were famous.

"Alas, if there is no other way, who would want to sell these things to foreigners." Director Wang was also very embarrassed. Compared with other cultural relics from ancient times and dynasties such as Xia, Shang and Zhou, these modern and contemporary calligraphy and paintings are nothing.

Director Wang began to complain to Li Shengli, saying that the maintenance and replacement of some equipment in such a large museum all cost money.

Li Shengli agreed with Director Wang on the side. They both had their own needs.

In the end, it was really getting dark, so Director Wang ended his greetings with Lee Seung-ri. Director Wang learned from the conversation with Lee Seung-ri that Lee Seung-ri didn't know much about calligraphy and painting, and he just had a simple businessman's mindset and planned to collect these things for future appreciation.

Director Wang's interest faded a little, but he was not dissatisfied. Even businessmen would keep these things in good condition. He was afraid that these things would fall into the hands of those who did not know how to keep them properly. If there was any improper preservation, these paintings would be ruined. So Director Wang discussed with Li Shengli how many paintings and calligraphy he should buy.

Lee Seung-ri actually doesn't really understand these things. He can only say that this painting is beautiful or that calligraphy is beautiful, but if you really ask him to say what's beautiful about this calligraphy, he really can't say it.

But there is one good thing about Lee Seung-ri: he is very receptive to advice on things he doesn't understand.

"Master Li, you..." Director Wang seemed to be hesitant to speak. He wanted to ask how much money you had in your business. The prices of these calligraphy and paintings are different. The calligraphy and paintings of more famous painters are more expensive.

Li Shengli also knew that it was not possible to buy all these calligraphy and paintings with his savings, but Li Shengli had a simple and stupid way. He could not miss any of Mr. Qi's calligraphy and paintings. As for the rest, he would pick a few that Li Shengli had heard of in later generations. Those that could reach the ears of people who did not pay much attention to the cultural circle must be relatively famous.

Li Shengli thought about the numbers on his passbook, and then confirmed with Director Wang that he would buy more than 4,000 pieces of calligraphy and paintings, which emptied all his savings.

In fact, if possible, Lee Seung-ri wanted to borrow some money and buy all these things, but Lee Seung-ri thought that no matter what other business he did in the future, he would need money. These calligraphy and paintings would be very valuable in the future, but that would take decades, and Lee Seung-ri could not wait until then.

"Master Li, this has solved our urgent need for coal." Director Wang didn't care. To them, these calligraphy and paintings were not as precious as the cultural relics of previous generations.

Lee Seung-ri was also very satisfied. He didn't understand anything like antiques, and those things were easy to fake. From Lee Seung-ri's perspective, he couldn't tell the difference. Instead of investing in uncertain things, he chose to invest in the literati paintings and calligraphy sold in museums, which were all officially certified and none of them were fake.

Li Shengli made an appointment with Director Wang to come and pick up the painting in two days with the money. This was not a small amount of money, so he needed to make an appointment in advance at the bank.

Director Wang agreed readily. He and other staff members planned to pack the things that Li Shengli wanted to buy, and wait for Li Shengli to bring the money before packing them in front of him.

The two men ended their discussion after they had agreed on something. Han Qiuyun and the three children were waiting anxiously on the side.

After walking out of the museum, Li Shengli finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking that these things would appreciate thousands of times in value in ten or twenty years, Li Shengli couldn't help but laugh.

With these, I will not be afraid of losing a lot in business.

(End of this chapter)