Do Not Speak Ill of My Mother!
Chapter 426: I should go see Jin Kai now.

Chapter 426: I should go see Jin Kai now.

Zhongxing has officially posted the finale announcement on Weibo, and the comments are filled with tears of farewell.

"I haven’t had enough! Really, I haven’t seen enough!"

"Do you know how it feels to finally have something to talk about with my dad who learns calligraphy because of this show?"

"I’m so envious of the artists from Zhongxing, they actually got to spend a whole half a month with national-level big shots!!"

"Please don’t go, big shots; where am I supposed to watch you if you leave!"

Besides reluctance, there were more comments hoping that Zhongxing would organize more similar activities.

"Zhongxing, you’ve made it, among so many entertainment companies, you’re the one who has won my heart!"

"I want to ask if Zhongxing could regularly organize educational live broadcasts in the future? I don’t care which big shot you can invite, I just purely love learning!"

"Last time Teacher Feng Shuzhen said she would stay in Hua Country to help Teacher Zhang Guowen rebuild the lost art school, you have no idea how hard I cried!"

"Yes, I really hope to often see Zhongxing inviting big shots to promote our disappearing heritage cultures, come on!"

Jun Yan glanced through the comments and propped up his little cheek, "Sigh, Mom, the netizens are still so..." He struggled to think of an adjective, "wanting something for nothing."

Tang Tang didn’t understand, her beautiful eyes twinkling, "Brother Yan, what does that mean?"

"It’s literal! The cultural heritage is disappearing, but they need to put in the effort too! Heritage isn’t the business of one or two people, should they leave it all to Zhongxing?"

"That makes sense." Tang Tang nodded obediently.

"Speaking of traditional culture..." Yan Wang put down his utensils with an air of maturity, "Zhongxing’s recent learning activity did indeed promote the development of quite a few traditional cultures."

"Really?" Jun Yan hadn’t paid attention to these.

"The most widespread has been Brush, Ink, Paper and Inkstone." Yan Wang explained, "Due to the live broadcasts, many people started learning from scratch, which in turn revitalized the circulation of these items..."

"I know!" Tang Tang suddenly raised her hand, "Dad said, after the rise of the retro literary trend, people started paying attention to Brush, Ink, Paper and Inkstone, and it even helped some of the surrounding small paper mills that were about to close down."

Yan Yueqing heard this and said, "Oh, is that so..."

After thinking for a while, she tentatively asked, "Then... should we use Brush, Ink, Paper and Inkstone as prizes for the grand finale of Zhongxing’s learning live broadcast?"

Jun Yan nodded, "I think it’s a good idea!"

"Sure~" said Tang Tang, "All those big brothers and sisters have been asking for recommendations in the barrage every day."

Only Yan Wang fell silent for two seconds, "Mom, are you suggesting an individual lottery draw?"

"It’s better in the name of the company," Yan Yueqing said. "After all, I have retired, it’s not very good to keep hosting lotteries on my account. How about this, I will supply the prizes to the company, and let them handle the lottery themselves."

Having said that, she started looking up valuable Brush, Ink, Paper and Inkstone on her smartphone.

"For brushes, a blue and multicolored phoenix pattern brush from the Ming Wanli Era was auctioned off not long ago. This kind of brush is mainly made of wool, elastic, soft without splitting... and then there’s the Hanzhen Brush..."

"As for the ink, the choices are numerous, with Hui ink, Yan Ink... almost all are representatives of heritage..."

"Gold-sprinkled Water-patterned Xuan Paper, which is different from the industrialized Watermark Paper produced nowadays, was made by the Paper-making Bureau during the Middle Qing Dynasty, and is now a lost art..."

Upon searching this, something vague came up in Yan Yueqing’s mind, "Gold-sprinkled Water-patterned Xuan Paper... that sounds so familiar."

Jun Yan tried to help her remember, "I feel it’s very familiar, too."

Yan Wang remarked indifferently, "At Uncle Kang’s auction, the guest in booth number six got into a bidding war with mom, and bought a piece of One Cut Gold-sprinkled Water-patterned Xuan Paper for 810,000."

Remembering this, Jun Yan got excited, "I remember now! No wonder it sounded so familiar! That time, he was competing with mom for the vase and the Xuan Paper! I told mom the price I figured he would reach, and as expected, he got caught up and shelled out 810,000 for that piece of Watermark Paper!"

Yan Yueqing nodded her head, "Later, Uncle Kang mentioned that the market price for that paper was at most 650,000..."

Jun Yan caught on, "Is mom thinking of buying the Watermark Paper from him?"

"Of course not," Yan Yueqing said with a smile and a shake of her head, "I don’t do charity work."

"Oh?"

"Even though this type of Watermark Paper stopped production, there are certainly still many circulating on the market." Yan Yueqing pondered, "Brush, Ink, Paper and Inkstone, if we’ve chosen the very best for the other three, there’s no need to skimp when it comes to the paper, especially since we saw the pictures of the Gold-sprinkled Water-patterned Xuan Paper before, and it was indeed excellent."

Tang Tang understood a bit: "So... Godmother wants to spread the news in the market to acquire Watermark Paper?"

"Yep." Yan Yueqing smiled, "The market’s highest price is 650,000. I’ll slowly buy it up at 600,000~"

Jun Yan curled his lips, "What if the person in private room six wants to sell to Mom?"

"Even if he sells, he’d be selling at a loss," Yan Yueqing said unconcernedly, "As long as he doesn’t make money off us, it’s all good~"

Unless, there’s no more Gold-sprinkled Water-patterned Xuan Paper on the market, and the person in private room six has the only piece!

Otherwise, he has no pricing power!

After the news that Yan Yueqing was buying Watermarked Xuan Paper spread, Boss Tao from private room six suddenly started receiving many calls from business friends.

Some were well-meaning, some were mocking.

"Old Tao, it’s your lucky break! The Yan family is buying Xuan Paper! There’s not much stock in C City, but you’re in luck! You bought a whole cut at the last auction!"

"No kidding, Old Tao, you really have a knack for business! Everyone was laughing at you for buying useless Xuan Paper back then, but did you already know Second Miss Yan from private room one? Bought the paper in advance, just waiting to sell it to her now?"

"Good on you, Old Tao, for getting connected with the Yan family through Xuan Paper. If you make it big later on, don’t forget to thank me for the tip I gave you today!"

Getting connected?

Connected my ass!

Boss Tao, hearing this news, was nearly driven mad with anger!

For the sake of face, he had reluctantly paid for the Watermark Paper at the auction house.

After getting home and looking at that One Cut Paper, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and he burned it all up in a fire!

Who would’ve thought that, months later, Second Miss Yan actually wanted it again?!

Dammit!

He really wanted to watch a day’s worth of ads in front of that pile of ashes!

Is there any way to revive his Watermarked Xuan Paper?!!!

After selecting the Brush, Ink, Paper and Inkstone, Director Tang naturally took over the purchasing matters.

He had a lot of connections, and besides the Gold-sprinkled Water-patterned Xuan Paper that needed Yan Yueqing to purchase personally, the other three were easy to buy.

After discussing this matter, Director Tang said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Yueqing, there’s no rush to collect things. There’s some fun to be had right now, are you interested in seeing it?"

"Huh? What kind of fun?"

It was rare for Director Tang to sound so delighted at another’s misfortune: "Jin Kai! He’s been caught too. I’ve got some connections and can go see him, do you want to go?"

"Jin Kai?" Yan Yueqing remembered who he was.

The buyer for Azure Dragon in Hua Country, the agent from Splendid Culture, the one who forced two artists from Zhongxing to inject drug D.

"It’s actually quite funny. After Azure Dragon was arrested, Jin Kai didn’t panic at all? Still strutted around as an agent in Magic Capital! Last night the police nabbed him at a KTV..."

Yan Yueqing understood the situation: "Okay, I’m free this afternoon. Let’s go have a look together."

She wasn’t about kicking someone while they were down, she just wanted to seek justice for Jia Hui.

After hanging up, Jiang Chuanning called.

Yan Yueqing was a bit surprised, Teacher Jiang hadn’t contacted her for several days.

She answered decisively: "What’s up?"

Jiang Chuanning’s voice was as steady as ever: "Yueqing, are you free this afternoon? I’d like to take you to meet someone."

"Who?"

Jiang Chuanning slowly uttered two words: "Jin Kai."