Although Lawrence really wanted to buy the Buddha statue, after hearing what Fujimoto said, he suddenly had a change of heart, slowly withdrew his hand, and instead sat down.
Fujimoto immediately realized that he had made a hasty mistake, as his actions and words had aroused Lawrence's suspicion. He couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Old fox!"
He meant it as if Lawrence was certain to buy the Buddha statue, waiting to collect the money together after the price was agreed upon, which immediately aroused Lawrence's suspicion.
After Lawrence sat down, he neither mentioned wanting to see the Buddha statue nor expressed any such intention.
Ito glanced at Fujimoto, but Fujimoto was expressionless and didn't look at him at all. Ito didn't know what Fujimoto meant. This was completely different from the scenario that the two of them had agreed on before they came.
It turns out that Fujimoto, working at the New York branch, misappropriated a sum of money to speculate in futures, but things didn't go as planned, and he lost over 30 million. Panicking, he met Ito, a fellow countryman who had fled back from Japan and sought his help. The two hit it off and conspired to swindle a large sum of money from Lawrence. Fujimoto was about to be transferred back to Japan, so at this point, even if he swindled Lawrence, it wouldn't matter much to him with his vast wealth. As long as he could get by for the time being, that was fine. Even if Lawrence found out he had been tricked after returning to Japan, he probably wouldn't seek revenge. There are plenty of people in the world who have been cheated in this kind of way.
But unexpectedly, Lawrence was a shrewd old man, and he suddenly became alert when he was about to be tricked.
Lawrence wasn't actually convinced the Buddha statue was fake, but given his personality, he tended to observe the slightest and most subtle trends he wanted to grasp. For example, in the international financial market, if you don't have strong insight and judgment, then venture capital is an extremely dangerous thing.
While they were at a stalemate, Zhou Xuan suddenly had an idea!
After thinking for a moment, he whispered in Wei Haihong's ear, "Brother Hong, buy this Buddha statue, but try to negotiate the price down to a maximum of less than one million!"
Wei Haihong remained an observer. At Lawrence's house, he certainly wouldn't step in to compete with Lawrence for the two items; that would only make the Japanese happy and profit. Even if Lawrence had only a casual relationship with him, let alone given him considerable face, he didn't want F to gain more profit.
But after Zhou Xuan said those words to him, he felt a little more at ease. Zhou Xuan had a very special aura about him, and Wei Haihong had always believed in this feeling. Besides, Zhou Xuan had indeed revealed some things that he found unbelievable, although he didn't say them out loud. Because he regarded Zhou Xuan as a brother, he didn't want to interfere too much in Zhou Xuan's personal life. However, Zhou Xuan never asked him for anything, so what he said just now was definitely not to trick him, and he must have had his reasons.
Even putting all that aside, to be fair, even if Wei Haihong suffered a loss, it was for Zhou's sake.
Wei Haihong barely glanced at the Buddha statue, regardless of its quality, and asked directly, "How much do you want for this wooden Buddha statue?"
It's a good thing that someone is competing with us!
Excitedly, Ito deliberately spoke to Fujimoto in English: "Fujimoto-kun, this gentleman says he wants to buy a Buddha statue. This is a renowned piece of sandalwood from our Japanese Warring States period, a national treasure-level Buddha statue of the god Asura King. How much do you want it for?"
Ito's timely and astute action surprised Fujimoto, who remained calm but was secretly overjoyed. He feared that if someone made a bid, Lawrence might suffer a significant financial loss.
Fujimoto thought for a moment, held up one finger, and was about to ask Ito to offer ten million US dollars when Wei Haihong interrupted, "One million US dollars at most. Sell if you want, otherwise let's hurry back. We need to catch our flight back to Beijing!"
Fujimoto didn't understand Chinese, but Ito understood perfectly. Wei Haihong's offer was good news, but it would only be successful if Lawrence also made a bid. However, Lawrence was already suspicious, and when he saw Wei Haihong also make a bid, he assumed that Wei Haihong also had his eye on the wooden Buddha statue, so he kept quiet. Lawrence had originally wanted to establish a relationship with Wei Haihong, and now that he saw Wei Haihong was willing to buy the statue, he was even more determined not to compete with him for it.
Lawrence also understood that Wei Haihong, a seasoned businessman, was not unreasonable. As the saying goes, a gentleman does not take what others cherish. Since Wei Haihong had asked for this item in front of him, he must really want it, so he naturally had to give him face.
Fujimoto was somewhat frustrated. Lawrence, that old guy, was sitting there without saying a word, clearly not going to bid. Um, what was he going to do with the Chinese asking such a low price? If he didn't sell, he wouldn't even make a million. Besides, he knew perfectly well that this was a fake he had hired an expert to make.
Fujimoto hesitated for a moment, then said to Ito Kinji, "Alright, one million it is, sell it to him!" It seems that Lawrence is not going to play this Buddha statue, so selling it to this unfamiliar Chinese man and making a million is a good thing!
In Buddhist legends, the Asura King is a warlike and malevolent deity. There are many versions of his story. According to Buddhist legends, the Asura King resides north of Mount Sumeru, at the bottom of the ocean. The seawater floats above his palace, and the winds on all sides protect the palace gates. Because there are many Asura Kings, their forms vary, and there are many descriptions of his appearance. Some say he has nine heads and a thousand eyes, breathes fire, has nine hundred and ninety hands, eight feet, and his body is four times the height of Mount Sumeru; others say he has a thousand heads and two thousand hands, his feet tread on the ocean, and his body is taller than Mount Sumeru; still others say he has three heads and six arms, three faces that are bluish-black, breathes fire, and has a wrathful appearance.
Ashura King holds a significant place in Japanese legends and has had a profound influence on modern Japanese film, television, and anime. In Japanese legends, Ashura King is depicted as having four arms, three eyes, and an ugly face.
The name Asura King comes from Sanskrit and means "without uprightness." Since it is without uprightness, it is ugly. Asura King is familiar to the Japanese people, F uses Asura King as a model for its fake Buddha statues.
Wei Haihong took out a check from his breast pocket, filled it out, and handed it to Fujimoto Tsuyoshi. He then had Wei Xiaoqing translate it and said, "This is a check from HSBC Hong Kong. It can be cashed at major banks in the United States. It's for one million US dollars!"
Fujimoto himself works in banking, so he naturally understands the authenticity of checks and the procedures. He flicked the check, glanced at it briefly, and handed it to Ito Kinji.
Zhou Xuan then stepped forward, picked up the wooden Buddha statue, and said, "Mr. Fujimoto, your wooden Asura King is a priceless treasure. We also have an Asura King Buddha statue that is exactly the same as yours, but it is made of pure gold. How much do you think it is worth?"
When Zhou Xuan said this, Ito was taken aback for a moment, then translated it for F, this time in Japanese.
Fujimoto said "Oh," and then said with some skepticism, "Really? I've never seen a pure gold Asura King. There are bronze Buddha statues and gilded Buddha statues in Japan, and there are pure gold Buddha statues of other figures, but I've never heard of an Asura King. Sir, may I ask where your Buddha statue is? I'd like to see it sometime!"
Zhou Xuan said calmly, "It's in the car outside the villa. Please wait a moment while I go and move it over." After saying that, he picked up the wooden Asura Buddha statue and walked out.
Fujimoto and Ito Kinji were quite confused by Zhou Xuan. Logically speaking, if it really was a pure gold Buddha statue, even if it wasn't an antique, being pure gold would still make it an extremely valuable item. How could he so carelessly leave it lying in the car outside? Could this guy also be planning to use it to fool Lawrence? However, they didn't spend a lot of money to fool him; they only collected some ancient sandalwood and spent money on the craftsmanship of hiring skilled artisans to forge it. But this Chinese man claimed it was pure gold, so that would be a much more expensive undertaking!
For a collector of Lawrence's caliber, it's impossible to hide a fake made of bronze or gold. He has plenty of testing equipment; a simple test will reveal the truth.
Of those present, only Lawrence didn't have much doubt about Zhou Xuan, because he was just observing and wouldn't take a single penny from him unless it was something that satisfied and tempted him.
However, Wei Haihong and his niece Wei Xiaoqing were extremely surprised. They had come together, so what Buddha statue did Zhou Xuan have? Besides, the car he was in belonged to David, and now that David had been driven away, where was he going to get it? Could he possibly be using this Buddha statue that he had just spent a million US dollars on as a substitute? But even if it were a substitute, it should at least look convincing, right? And everyone present was an expert. Could he just make one and fool everyone? And even if he wanted to make a fake, it would require a lot of professional equipment, right? Could he just pick up a lump of mud and stick it on?
There were many questions, but thinking about it this way wouldn't make sense. We could only wait and see what Zhou Wang would bring in from outside.
Although Wei Haihong was puzzled, he remained calm. Although he hadn't known this brother for very long, he knew his character very well. He was a bit rustic in his actions, but his manners were impeccable. If someone was genuinely good to him, he would reciprocate in kind. He couldn't understand it now, so he would just have to see what he did. Based on his own experience, Wei Haihong would never buy that wooden Buddha statue without testing it first. Moreover, he distrusted the Japanese, but he was dissatisfied with spending a million US dollars without getting any points. Even if Zhou Xuan asked him to burn the million dollars to ashes, he wouldn't even flinch. Of course, based on his understanding of Zhou Xuan, he knew that Zhou Xuan would never do such a thing.
Volume One: The First Signs of Growth, Chapter Fifty: The Golden Buddha Statue of the Asura King
Zhou Xuan carried the wooden Buddha statue out of the villa. The bodyguards at the gate had already been instructed to let him leave.
Zhou Xuan had planned to use ice energy to transform the wooden Buddha statue in a secluded spot outside the villa's gate, but as soon as he stepped outside, he saw David peeking around.
That guy hasn't left yet!
Zhou Xuan didn't care whether he understood or not, and said to him, "I'll get in the car!" He carried the wooden Buddha statue and walked towards David's BMW. He opened the car door, stuck his head inside, and blocked the outside with his body. His ice energy had already been activated, changing the molecular structure of the wooden Buddha statue. In an instant, the Buddha statue turned golden.
However, it took Zhou Xuan a lot of effort to pick it up again. The wooden Buddha statue probably only weighed two or three pounds, and that was because it was made of agarwood and other types of wood, which made it a few pounds heavier. If it were made of ordinary wood, it would weigh at most a pound. But if it were made of gold, there would be no comparison. This size wooden Buddha statue would weigh at least a hundred pounds if it were made of gold!
Zhou Xuan, panting, was carried out of the car. David didn't even look at him, his head constantly darting towards the villa through the gate, but he didn't dare to go in.
He still couldn't understand why Lawrence had suddenly turned on him. Was it because of that middle-aged man? Probably, Lawrence's attitude towards him wasn't like that of an ordinary person. But he had sat with him in the car for quite a while and hadn't noticed anything unusual about him.
Suddenly, I saw Zhou Xuan carrying a golden Buddha statue as he walked in. I wondered why he was carrying this. I don't think I saw it before.
Zhou Xuan, drenched in sweat, carried the extremely heavy Buddha statue into the living room. The people in the living room were quite surprised to see that he had actually brought in a golden Buddha statue.
Zhou Xuan struggled a bit. When he squatted down to place the golden Buddha statue on the glass coffee table, he couldn't bear the weight, and the statue smashed the table to pieces.
Zhou Xuan was still holding the golden Buddha statue when it fell to the ground along with the broken glass. Several bodyguards rushed over to help.
Fujimoto was close to the tea table. He immediately approached Zhou Xuan and carefully examined the Buddha statue. There were some scratches on the bottom of the statue caused by broken glass. They weren't deep, but they were clearly visible.