chapter 10 Works of Bada Shanren

Diana Neil smiled: "Uncle, then you can ask Wu Dong for a similar price."

Ignatius Neil smiled and said: "Okay. But these porcelain pieces are priceless, so I can only say that I will do my best."

Apep Marks thanked you quickly: "uncle Ignatius! It's too troublesome for you."

"Haha, it's a trivial matter. You are Diana's friend, so you don't need to see anyone outside."Ignatius Neil said. Then he saw that there was a painting placed on Apep Marks right side.

He then asked: "Is this your painting?"

Apep Marks quickly picked up the painting, spread out his hands, and said, "uncle Ignatius, I bought this painting a few days ago. I always feel that it is very unusual. Can you also help me take a look?"

Ignatius Neil came closer, glanced at it, and said, "It's a very ordinary painting, full of craftsmanship, but it's framed well with three-fold propaganda."

After getting this painting, Apep Marks only recognized the big rooster on it, but he didn't understand the other parts. At this time, when he took a closer look, his eyes penetrated through the top few layers of rice paper, and unexpectedly found an interlayer with a thin piece of paper inside.

His heart skipped a beat and he asked, "uncle Ignatius, do you have a utility knife here?"

Ignatius Neil was stunned. He didn't understand what Apep Marks was going to do. Diana Neil had already walked into the study and took a utility knife and handed it to him.

Under the gaze of the two men, Apep Marks looked at the direction and used a utility knife to make a cut from top to bottom three centimeters from the edge of the painting. He put down the art knife, twisted his fingers at the incision, and saw that there was a sandwich inside.

Then he carefully pulled out a thin piece of paper from the interlayer and handed it to Ignatius Neil.

Ignatius Neil was stunned. He never expected that there was actually a painting hidden in this painting! Although such a thing had happened before in history, he was still surprised when he encountered it.

This is a cicada-winged document, very thin, with a poem, a fish, and several seals on it.

Ignatius Neil quickly took a closer look. After a moment, he said in surprise: "It is actually an authentic work of Bada Shanren!"

Diana Neil was also surprised, and she couldn't help but take a deep look at Apep Marks. First it was silver coins, then porcelain pieces, and now I have found an authentic piece of Bada Shanren. Is it all down to luck?

Ignatius Neil put down the painting at this time and asked with a smile: "Apep Marks, how do you know there is a mezzanine inside?"

Apep Marks scratched his head: "I have seen the story of a painting hidden in a painting before in a TV series. I felt that the painting was too thick, so I wanted to cut it open and take a look."

As he spoke, he took out a second piece of rice paper from the slot. There are dozens of words written on it, left by the original owner of the calligraphy and painting.

The general idea is that in turbulent times, his home was ransacked. In order to prevent Bada Shanren's paintings from being destroyed, he asked someone to frame the paintings into ordinary paintings so that they could be preserved.

Presumably, he failed to tell his descendants about this matter, which caused it to be regarded as an ordinary work, wandering among the people, and finally ended up in the hands of Apep Marks.

After reading the simple statement from the owner of the painting, Ignatius Neil sighed softly. That era was very turbulent, and a large number of cultural relics were indeed destroyed. It is sad to think about it.

Diana Neil patted Apep Marks on the shoulder and said, "Apep Marks, sell this painting to me."

Apep Marks was startled and said, "Diana, if you like it, I will give it to you."

Diana Neil rolled her eyes: "If you give me something worth millions, don't come!"

She thought for a while and said: "I remember that the auction price of Bada Shanren's painting of similar size was 3.2 million last year. Let's do this, I will give you 3 million."

Apep Marks was a little embarrassed and felt that the price at the auction was probably exaggerated, so he said: "Diana, if you really want it, just give me two million, or I won't sell it to you."

Diana Neil glared at him and wanted to say something, but suddenly smiled and said, "Okay, two million is just two million. Thank you, sister."

Apep Marks smiled "hehe" and gave the painting to Diana Neil with both hands. After Diana Neil took over the painting, he actually handed it over to Ignatius Neil.

"Uncle, next week is your business. This is the birthday gift I prepared for you. Are you touched?"Diana Neil said with a smile.

Ignatius Neil was stunned and waved his hands repeatedly: "It's too expensive..."

Diana Neil just put the painting into his study and said, "Uncle, I have given the painting to you anyway, and there is no way I can take it back."

Ignatius Neil had no choice but to accept her. His wife died young and had no children, so he regarded Diana Neil as his own and loved her very much. In fact, when she was a child, Diana Neil's father didn't care much about her, but this uncle doted on her in every possible way.

One time Diana Neil's father beat her, and Ignatius Neil was so angry that he scolded his second brother for the whole morning. After that, Diana Neil had a backer, and she always walked sideways in the Yun family.

It was not until later that Diana Neil learned from her grandfather that Uncle Ignatius once had a daughter, but she disappeared when she was three years old. The Uncle Ignatius's daughter is 40-50% similar to Diana Neil when she was young. This is probably the reason why the Uncle Ignatius dotes on her.

After she became wise, Diana Neil felt that Uncle Ignatius was very pitiful, so she was very filial to him. Knowing that he loved tea, she bought tens of thousands of pounds of tea leaves. Knowing that he liked suet-fat jade, she went to the west and spent millions to buy it. Send him the best seeds.

Diana Neil was very happy that Ignatius Neil could come, and said that he would cook the meal himself and leave the two of them to have dinner. He asked the two of them to sit while he went out to buy groceries.

Ignatius Neil's hobbies, apart from archaeology, are cooking. When Diana Neil was a child, she was naughty and didn't like to eat. In order to coax her to eat, Ignatius Neil's cooking skills improved by leaps and bounds. Later, cooking became one of his hobbies.

Ignatius Neil went out, while Jean Oliver was busy in the kitchen, leaving the two of them chatting in the living room.

Apep Marks envied Diana Neil very much and said, "Diana, uncle Ignatius is so kind to you. He looks at you like a father looking at his daughter."

Diana Neil eyes turned slightly red when he heard what he said. She sighed softly and said, "Yes, everyone says so. In fact, the Uncle Ignatius is very pitiful. He didn't get married until he was thirty-five because of his academic studies. After the marriage, he gave birth to a daughter. Named Dreamy Neil, she is one year older than me. When she was three years old, Dreamy went missing. My uncle and parents tried every means to search, but still found nothing. My aunt could not accept the reality and committed suicide a year later. My uncle was so sad that he wanted to live. I haven’t taken another wife yet.”

She glanced at the kitchen and whispered: "Jean Oliver pursued my uncle during the heavy era, and my uncle didn't live with her until last year. Alas, my uncle's life has been too hard, and I feel relieved that Jean is with him."

Apep Marks didn't expect that there was such a sad story in it. He asked: "Diana, how did that Dreamy disappear?"

"I heard from grandpa that there was a temple fair in my hometown that year, and my aunt took Sister Dreamy to play. Dreamy wanted to eat a candy man, so my aunt bought her one. When my aunt turned around to pay, she couldn't find Dreamy."

As she spoke, she took out a photo from her wallet. This is a photo of a three-year-old girl with thin braids and a dress. She is pure and cute. Between her eyebrows and eyes, she really looks like Diana Neil.

He took a look and felt that Dreamy Neil must also be a beautiful woman when she grows up.

Suddenly, an idea came into his mind. With his own eyesight, could he recognize Dreamy Neil more than twenty years later?

He carefully observed the appearance of the little girl in the photo and discovered two characteristics. First, there is a small black mole above and behind her left eyebrow. Second, there was a scar on her left ear. It was very slight, but he still saw it.

"So, Dreamy Neil should be twenty-five years old this year?" he asked suddenly.

Diana Neil nodded: "Yes, Dreamy is one year older than me."