Chapter 803: Wang Youjun's Portrait Is Unveiled

People who are old enough always have many friends.

Being old enough means living long enough, and generally speaking, you will know more people than young people.

When we were young, we were harmless and innocent, and we got along as happily as we could, and every person of the same age was a friend.

But as we get older, we have fewer and fewer friends. We are busy with work, life, calculations, precautions, or... not paying attention. So the friends around us gradually drift away, and we only maintain polite interactions. Being with friends is often not as good as being able to communicate with a drinker who meets by chance in a random pub.

But we get older and older, until one day, there is less utilitarianism, less ambition, less calculation and precaution, and only the emotion and aftertaste of time are left. Those friends who have not had time to tear each other apart in the long years have become true friends again.

Miyamoto Genichi is like this.

Ten years ago, he often felt lonely. For him, the greatest relaxation was to find a small izakaya near Shinsaibashi after get off work and before dinner, walk in with his head down and say sorry for disturbing you, then order four or five pieces of sashimi, a glass of shochu, add some ice cubes, and chat with other drinkers casually. Sometimes, sashimi would be replaced by a small dish of grilled meat.

But starting in his sixties, he became a loner because he no longer had the enterprising spirit of his youth.

When they found that their old friends were also like this, they began to visit each other frequently again.

That day, when Shi Lei exchanged paintings with him, the people he invited to help with the appraisal were his friends.

Miyamoto Xuanyi wanted to play some tricks to deceive everyone so that his reputation would not fall at the last minute. He had to get the support of those people. Because only they knew the truth.

After thinking for a long time, Miyamoto Xuanyi felt more and more that this was a hurdle he could not cross, so he had to call the mobile phones of those people separately.

With the news already overwhelming, Miyamoto Genichi's old friends were also worried at home, because they knew very well how Miyamoto Genichi gave up the painting, and they were also afraid that this matter would implicate them. They have retired and are enjoying their old age. They don't want to bear the bad reputation of selling national treasures before they die.

After receiving Miyamoto Genichi's call, they all knew what was going on. Miyamoto Genichi said he had something to discuss with them, and they rushed to the small apartment near Shinsaibashi without hesitation.

The apartment is not big, only 11 tsubo, and the Japanese area measurement unit still retains the ancient style.

One tsubo refers to the size of two standard tatami mats, which is 3.3 square meters.

Eleven tsubo is more than 30 square meters. Even if this is the usable area within the suite, this apartment seems particularly cramped and small, and it is not even as big as a pavilion in Miyamoto Genichi's big house.

Seeing that their old friends who have been together for many years can only live in such a small house, the elderly who came can't help but feel a little sympathetic.

The topic of course revolved around the True Shape of the Five Stars and the Twenty-Eight Mansions. Miyamoto Genichi sighed and said, "Who could have known that it was a young work of the Saint of Painting? Am I the only one who misjudged it? The whole of Japan misjudged it."

Everyone agreed at this moment.

"Fortunately, I got the original work of Yan Liben. This is a portrait of Wang Youjun." Miyamoto Genichi emphasized how precious his acquisition was.

An old man whispered, "But that is the work of the painting saint."

Miyamoto Genichi looked at the old man named Watanabe, and he said seriously, "To be precise, it is a practice work of the painting saint."

Everyone was puzzled, and Miyamoto Genichi said, "No one has ever really seen the complete version of the true form of the five stars and twenty-eight constellations. What everyone has seen is just the upper volume of my previous work. For a long time, the world has regarded that work as a copy of Liang Lingzan, and then it was determined that there was a lower volume, but it was lost. But now that it has been proven that it was a work of the painting saint when he was about 20 years old, it is very questionable whether there is a lower volume. What if it was just a practice work for the painting saint to practice? He was just feeling the sparse style and the style of the Zhang family. He felt bored halfway through copying and ended it hastily. It was also a work that was far from mature. What does it count as?"

Everyone looked at each other, still puzzled by what Miyamoto Genichi meant.

The old man Watanabe insisted in a low voice: "But it is a masterpiece handed down by the painting saint after all."

"Is Yan Liben so much worse than Wu Daozi? Du Fu is the poet saint, but who can say that young Du is not as good as him? Old Du is more solemn, but young Du is romantic. Why can't Yan Liben's artistic value even compare to a study of Wu Daozi when he was young?"

Everyone looked at each other again, and Watanabe seemed to begin to understand Miyamoto Genichi's intention. He said: "Miyamoto, what do you think? Just say it directly. We are all close friends for many years, and we will definitely stand on your side."

Miyamoto Genichi looked around and added some shochu to everyone's cup, and then said: "The Chinese can use an auction to prove the value of Wu Daozi, why can't we follow his example and use an auction to prove the value of Yan Liben? This is a statue of Wang Youjun!"

These are all fox demons who have practiced for thousands of years. When the words are said to this extent, a group of old ghosts naturally understand.

Genichi Miyamoto picked up the wine glass, raised his hands high, and said respectfully: "We are all people who are about to die, and our reputations cannot be ruined here. I learned that someone is interested in selling Yan Liben's authentic portrait of Wang Youjun, but I have almost no savings in my life. I had no choice but to reluctantly sell the Five Stars and Twenty-Eight Mansions True Shape Map, which was then identified as a copy by Liang Lingzan. In exchange for capital, it is only for the authentic work. A study of Wu Daozi can be auctioned for 163 million, why can't Yan Liben's authentic work reach 180 million?"

After a pause, Genichi Miyamoto said again: "This glass of wine, I toast to you, please take care of it."

Everyone looked at each other for a few times, and picked up the wine glasses one after another. A group of old men drank heroically.

Sotheby's was rejected. The cost was too high. Sotheby's will definitely insist on the commission ratio. Since it is a show, why pay such a high price?

An old man named Tanaka said that he knew there was a small auction house in South Korea that had been insisting on auctioning artworks for many years and did not ask for high commissions. If they could sell Yan Liben's authentic works, they might agree to it without paying any commission.

Tanaka immediately contacted the auction house, and they agreed that the seller could not pay any commission, and only had to pay a commission of $100,000.

Miyamoto Genichi asked that the list of participants in the auction be provided by the seller.

The two parties hit it off, and Miyamoto Genichi found a way to send the portrait of Wang Youjun to South Korea and handed it over to the auction house that day.

That night, the auction was held among a group of old men. In the end, Miyamoto Genichi bought back the painting that he had sold and bought for himself at a price of $180 million, and paid a commission of $100,000.

Watanabe and Tanaka took action, publicizing the auction, and claimed that Miyamoto Genichi would reluctantly sell the True Shape of the Five Stars and Twenty-Eight Mansions for a true authentic work, and at that time, he had no way of knowing that the painting was made by the painting saint.

But no matter what, the Osaka City Museum of Art has brought back a new national treasure-level Chinese ancient painting, Yan Liben's long-lost portrait of Wang Youjun, which has seen the light of day again.

Supplement 9.