Chapter 176 Peach
"Why... why? Do you know how much this peach is worth?"
Bai Qing still felt like dreaming with an incredulous face.
"I really don’t know how much it is worth. Since you call you buddy, it means that you have already treated me as a friend. It will hurt our friendship to talk about money between us."
Ding Ning originally intended to sell the peach to Bai Qing at a low price, but at the sight that Bai Qing was too fond of the peach to put it down when seeing it, Ding Ning suddenly changed his mind. It seemed to be a better deal to make this mysterious childe Bai owe him a favor than sell it. So Ding Ning directly gave it to him.
Fortunately, in the morning he cut a piece of jade, a very beautiful ink jade, out of a raw stone. Ling Fei went out early in the morning and he did not know how much it was worth, so he took a try to carve a bunch of black grapes with a half of the material.
"This peach has completely reached the level of a famous artwork that could be handed on from age to age. It is conservatively estimated that it could be sold for 500 million yuan at the auction. If someone likes it, he could probably offer 800 million yuan or even one billion yuan."
Bai Qing had been shocked by Ding Ning generosity. It was worth 500 million yuan, not 50 thousand yuan, not 500 thousand yuan, not 5 million yuan.
500 million yuan was not a small amount of money for him. After all, even he was rich, most of his assets were fixed, and his current funds that could be mobilized were just seven or eight hundred million yuan.
What was more, most of the industries under his name belonged to his family. Only Tiangong Entertainment completely belonged to him.
"It’s just 500 million... How... how much did you say?"
Ding Ning said calmly, and then realized that something was wrong. He opened his eyes wide and suddenly stuttered.
He felt so distressed that his face twitched. Fuck, 500 million yuan? He actually gave a present worth 500 million yuan to Bai Qing like this? God, he had suffered a big loss.
"500 million yuan, this is the most conservative price. If someone likes it, he could even offer one billion yuan. You really want to give it to me?"
Bai Qing seemingly found Ding Ning’s expression very interesting and teased with a faint smile.
"Yeah. A real man never goes back on his words. Since I have said that I’ll give it to you, I have no reason to repent. Fuck, this peach is now yours."
Ding Ning felt his heart bleeding, but since he had said that, it would be too petty to withdraw his words now. He could only brace himself to say that with clenched teeth.
Nevertheless, at the thought that with the superpower and incredible carving skills, he could carve the second, the third and even more peaches. 500 million yuan was no big deal.
When he thought of this, he soon got his breath again and became calm, because he really didn’t care about it. The most fearful thing for him was owing someone a favor. He considered it worthwhile to return the favor to Bai Qing with 500 million yuan.
Bai Qing was instantly moved with surprise flashing in his eyes. He thought that Ding Ning would regret it after knowing the price of the peach. After all, it was worth at least 500 million yuan. It was reasonable that Ding Ning wanted to withdraw his words. He had been ready for that.
Even if he had to mobilize all the current funds, he must buy this peach. Nevertheless, it would make him think much less of Ding Ning.
But he did not expect that Ding Ning still insisted on giving it to him despite of his distressed expression and then soon calmed down again, as if he had just given something only worth five hundred yuan to someone else without feeling distressed.
It made him think more of Ding Ning. In this world, all people bustled about for benefits. Those who could really treat money as dirt were real misters.
There was a scale in Bai Qing’s heart, which had a measure for everyone. On his balance, his friendship was worth more than 500 million yuan, and even worth billions of yuan.
However, among so many idiots in the world, very few of them could see through this. Even if someone spent billions of yuan to deliberately befriend him, he flattered him because of his identity, which was definitely no match for Ding Ning’s unpaid investment.
What impressed him the most was that Ding Ning did not know his identity at all and was still willing to exchange his friendship with 500 million yuan, which was also a recognition for him?
He had formidable connections. These people would become his enemies or his pawns, and some would become his subordinates, but there was still no one who could get his approval to become his friend.
A dragon with golden scales wouldn’t be stuck in the pool. When the wind and cloud came, it would transform into a real dragon. This guy was very promising.
Ding Ning had become a friend he truly recognized at this moment, not because of the present worth 500 million yuan from him, but because he felt Ding Ning’s sincerity. Ding Ning approached him without any utilitarianism, just because of considering him a friend.
Bai Qing didn’t refuse and directly accepted the peach. He patted Ding Ning by the shoulder and said with sincerity, "Buddy, to tell you the truth, I didn’t call you buddy out of sincerity, but now I call you buddy with absolute sincerity. From now on, you are my brother, and we will share bliss and misfortune together."
"Stop it. Only 500 million yuan can make me your brother. It cost a little to become your brother."
Ding Ning curled his lip, shook him off with a scornful face, and then looked at him vigilantly with his hands in front of his chest, "You won’t be gay? I tell you, I am a straight man who only likes beautiful women. You know."
Bai Qing became speechless, flushing with agitation and roaring, "Fuck, I am also a straight man, a standard straight man. I don’t like men."
"Good, I am relieved. You seem like taking liberties with me. I thought you were gay, and was so scared."
Ding Ning was relieved, but still patted his chest with lingering fear. His naughty look made Bai Qing so annoyed that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
Before Bai Qing got mad, Ding Ning took out a bunch of grapes from his carry-on bag and said with a wicked smile, "Do you want to eat grapes?"
Bai Qing breathed heavily and calmed down his amused and annoyed emotions, while glancing at the purple black grapes in the hands of Ding Ning, "Gee, what kind of grapes are they? They look like Pinot Noir, but seem to be a little bigger than that. They look very delicious."
Ding Ning said with a strange smile, "Take them. Take the entire bunch."
Bai Qing took them over. When he held them in his hand, with his face changing suddenly and his eyeballs almost coming out, he breathed heavily and stuttered, "This... is ink jade?"
"Probably, I’m not sure. How much is it worth?"
Ding Ning shrugged, with a face seemingly indicating to Bai Qing that he shouldn’t cheat his buddy.
"Fuck, where did you get so many best jades? This ink jade is a special jade which is absolutely not inferior to the jade of Glass Type. Although it’s not as transparent as the imperial green, because it is extremely rare, its price is only higher than the imperial green. In particular, the incredible carving skills make it look so natural and ingenious. If I didn’t hold in in my hand, I wouldn’t find out that this is jade and would consider it a bunch of grapes. Its value is immeasurable."
Bai Qing was shocked again. He appreciated the ink jade grapes with burning sparkle in his eyes. He enjoyed gambling on stones. At the sight of such a rare special ink jade, he was tempted at once and wished he could make it his own.
Ding Ning impatiently said, "Just tell me how much it is worth? But I should tell you first that I’m going to sell it because I’m in need of money. I can’t give it to you."
"The price......"
Bai Qing was also uncertain. The ink jade was different from black jade. It was an extremely rare type of jade. Even if it was not as transparent as the jade of Glass Type, its price was not inferior to that of the imperial green.
The rarest thing was that the great color and the outstanding carving skills enabled the ink jade to look like real grapes. It was difficult to estimate its price.
After thinking for a while, he said, "Like the peach, this bunch of grapes can be passed down from generation to generation as an heirloom. It is conservatively estimated that it’s worth more than 800 million yuan. If you sell it at the auction, it can be sold for between 1 billion and 1.2 billion yuan. "
Ding Ning’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if he saw numerous red notes in front of him. Fuck, he was about to get rich. A bunch of grapes could be sold for one billion yuan. There was still a large half of ink jade in his home. How much could it be sold?
People’s desires were endless. Ding Ning originally intended to sell it for only about 100 million yuan which would be enough to buy a house worth tens of millions of yuan for Ling Yun.
But now that the price of the ink jade grapes was far higher than he expected, his desire also began to upgrade. He now wanted to buy Ling Yun a best house which was a villa.
He would never be stingy to give the best thing to his girlfriend, and he could make Chu Yunxiu shut up by doing that.
"Buddy, to tell you the truth, I want to buy this bunch of ink jade grapes, but can’t offer so much cash now. You said that you are in need of money. I’m wondering how much you need. Can I mobilize part of it for you first, and give you the rest successively in a month?"
Bai Qing really wanted to buy it and said very sincerely.
Ding Ning hesitated for a moment, and said with a guilty and bitter smile, "Sorry, I want to buy a villa for my girlfriend, so I am in urgent need of money. If you really like this bunch of ink jade grapes, I have other..."
"Wait, you said you want to buy a villa?"
Before he finished talking, Bai Qing interrupted him with excitement, "Oh, I don’t have much cash, but have lots of villas. I have dozens of villas under my name. Just tell me where you want to buy a villa."
"I don’t care much about the specific location. It had better not be too far from the urban area, otherwise it will be too inconvenient."
Ding Ning’s eyes also lit up. Yeah, Bai Qing didn’t have much current funds, but had many fixed assets.
He thought that the ink jade which could be sold for one billion yuan enabled him to be a rich man. However, on hearing Bai Qing’s words, he immediately became depressed. Comparisons were odious.
While he was still struggling for buying a villa, there were dozens of villas under the name of Bai Qing.
Bai Qing did not care about his mood, and said after carefully thinking for a while, "How about the Banwan Villa?"
"Ah?" Ding Ning was shocked. The Banwan Villa was the most upscale villa area in Ninghai with first-class security, environment, afforestation and architectural style.
The smallest villa was worth no less than 800 or 900 million yuan. Since he had decided to buy a best villa for Ling Yun, he did not want to lose his face by buying the smallest villa. Besides, Shen Muqing also lived there.
"That settles it. I have three villas in the Banwan Villa. I live in one of them and the other two are empty. You can pick one of them, and this bunch of ink jade grapes belong to me."
Bai Qing left Ding Ning no room for opposition. He delightedly put away the ink jade grapes and anxiously said, "Let’s go. I will take you to the villa now. Rest assured. The two villas are not as good as the one where I live, but it is definitely among the best in the Banwan Villa area."
"No, no. Based on your statement, your villa is worth far more than one billion yuan. This bunch of ink jade grapes is not worth the price."
Ding Ning resolutely shook his head, because he did not want to take advantage of Bai Qing.
"Why are you so garrulous? Do you still consider me your brother? You don’t need to settle accounts clearly with me. I just accept the peach you gave me without saying anything, but you still reject me garrulously. I just paid more than 700 million yuan for the villa, which seemingly means that I take advantage of you. Hurry, I still have something else to do. Let’s settle it now."
Bai Qing said with some displeasure.
Ding Ning had no choice but to drive to the Banwan Villa area as he said.