Chapter 1222 Fixing Anthony (1/2)

Li Du and his people left with the oil painting. Liu Shan Yang had sent them off, all smiles, waving enthusiastically. ”Hey, if I manage to dig up more treasures, I'll look for you, haha.”

There were some neighbors who saw Li Du leaving with the oil painting. They said, ”Oi, oi, oi, Old Liu, you've been in the scam trade for so many years. Have you finally managed to coerce a foreigner?”

Liu Shan Yang said unhappily, ”Go to hell. What's a scam and who's coercing anyone? I told you guys that I dug these out when I was making a cellar.”

”Who'd believe that?” The neighbors sneered. ”Ah, that young chap has got insufficient life experience; he fell into your trap.”

Liu Shan Yang ignored this and said proudly, ”Think what you want. In any case, I made money. Hmm, I will get some good pork and wine. Today, I will have a good feast. Then, I will buy a house…”

”You cheated him of so much money?” The neighbors were shocked.

Liu Shan Yang glared at them and said impatiently, ”D*mn it, idiots, I said those were antiques.”

More neighbors came out and they laughed, ”Oh boy, when had you, Liu Shan Yang, ever done any honest business? That isn't like you.”

”It's not the Liu tradition either.”

Liu Shan Yang waved his hands. ”Scram away. I've no time to stoop to your level. I'm going to buy a house and move out. All you poor blokes can stay here. Also, let me tell you, the paintings I sold off today are real antiques!”

Not just the neighbors who knew Liu Shan Yang well doubted him. Sophie and her parents, too, had the same misgivings.

Mr. Martin could not understand. ”Why did you believe that man? He gave me a strange feeling that something's not right about him, Li. I think he is not a legit businessman.”

Hearing that evaluation, Li Du could not help but feel bad for Liu Shan Yang.

That man coerced people into doing business with him. He relied on earning people's trust to make money. However, it seemed like even Sophie's naive family had a poor impression of him. How much worse would the savvy city people think of him?

However, he knew that Liu Shan Yang had not lied. Those oil paintings were the real deal and were painted by a Qing dynasty artist.

That was a rare name and Li Du had never heard it before. Hence, he used the English version of the name to search on the net.

Shi Bei Lin, that was the Chinese name of the artist.

The artist was not very famous but his background was truly unlike others.

He was one of the earliest oil painters in the area along the Pearl River Port in the Qing Dynasty. According to the records, he had started out by creating oil paintings on glass. The earliest existing glass portraits had his autograph in English, with the art pseudonym Spoilum: 'Spoilum painted the pier in October 1774'.

With that background. Even though Li Du did not try to find out how much his work would be worth these days, he already knew that he would not suffer a loss buying those paintings.

The work of the earliest oil painter in China would not be cheap. He would definitely make a profit.

As Sophie and her family were still around, Li Du had to show them around the county town. He did not have much time to research further at the moment. Hence, he stashed away the oil paintings and continued driving around.

Ever since he left for America, he had never gone for a drive around the county town. Even though he had returned over last year's New Year, he had only gone to attend a couple of gatherings. Otherwise, he had mostly holed up at home to keep his parents company.