Chapter 65: Special Operations Group of Hu Yan

  The Xiao Ma Zi Hutong where the haunted house is located, is about ** kilometers away from the city, and it's only a little over three kilometers in a straight line to Yanjing University. The two sides of the hutong are mostly old siheyuan buildings, with an occasional small bungalow. Going out of Xiao Ma Zi Hutong is Huanggu Main Street, walking south along Huanggu Main Street will lead you to the main road that leads from Yiheyuan to the city.

  Gu Lianyun took Ouyang Yun and Chu Tiange to Yanda University, then went to Dongxi Liuli Factory with a few calligraphy and paintings.

  Luliu Factory was the main gathering place for antique calligraphy and painting during the Qing dynasty. After years of development, many antique dealers and collectors specializing in calligraphy and antiques gathered here, among which "Rongbao Zhai" is the most famous. Gu Lianyun originally wanted to sell all the antiques and paintings to an American named Joe, but due to the large quantity and other issues involved, she decided to come to Luliu Factory to try her luck first.

  Among these paintings, the most valuable one is a Song Dynasty Zhao Chang's "Cold Plum Blossom in Snow", she has no idea what its current market price is, and also fears that the owner will report to the police, so she takes a ink painting "Autumn Hunting Picture" and a meticulous mountain and water painting to a medium-sized shop "Extraordinary Pavilion" at Dong Liusi Factory, starting to test the waters.

  The owner of the "Qing Ge" shop, Ping Ya Shi, was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing glasses perched on the end of his nose. He looked quite amiable and, seeing a handsome young man carrying a book and painting enter the house, personally came forward to greet him: "Sir, please come in," he said, while instructing his assistant to pour tea, carefully sizing him up at the same time.

  Gu Lianyun dressed as a man, wearing a suit and new leather shoes, with sunglasses on, looking quite impressive.

  Ping Ya Shi's eyes lit up, thinking that this must be a prodigal son who has come to sell his ancestral property. Without asking the other party what they wanted, he smiled and invited her to sit down. When the shop assistant brought over tea, he said: "I am Ping Ya Shi, may I ask your surname?"

  Gu Lianyun placed the two paintings on the table, seeing the other party's gaze immediately shift to the paintings with a flicker, intentionally stiffening her face and saying: "Boss Ping, have I entered the wrong place? Are you changing professions to become a police officer?"

  Ping Ya's face turned slightly awkward, recalling some rules of the trade, he thought to himself that he had misjudged the situation, and the person in front of him seemed to have some background. He forced a smile and said: "Sir, you're joking, I also call myself Ya Shi for convenience. Haha, are you here to sell calligraphy and paintings?"

  Gu Lianyun didn't understand much about the rules of the trade, she was just going through the motions based on experience. She nodded and said: "These two paintings were left by my ancestors, recently I've been a bit tight on cash, so I brought them out to meet the emergency. You take a look first."

  "Alright," said Ping Ya-shi, picking up the first painting, a traditional Chinese landscape with a somewhat antique mounting. He carefully unrolled it, took a look, and his eyebrows suddenly jumped up. Then he asked his assistant to bring over a magnifying glass, examined the brushstrokes and signature, and his eyebrows twitched again, almost imperceptibly. After that, he casually rolled up the painting and put it back on the table, then picked up another one to look at. After a while, he put both paintings back in their original place, lifted his teacup and said: "These two paintings aren't very good, sir. The authors are not famous artists, and they're not from an early period either."

  During the process of him looking at the painting, Gu Lian Yun relied on her sunglasses to shield herself, keeping her eyes fixed on his face, taking in every expression without missing a single detail, otherwise she wouldn't believe his nonsense. Just by looking at the two strokes on his eyebrows, it was clear that this wasn't an ordinary piece of art. "I see, sorry for disturbing you!" Since she had already seen through his weakness, naturally she had a way to deal with him, so she put away the two paintings and prepared to leave.

  Ping Ya Shi couldn't see her expression clearly, thinking she really wanted to leave, and he became anxious. The "Autumn Hunting" painting is indeed not very good, but the meticulous mountain and water painting "Winter Mountain Water Leisure Sentiment" is actually a work by Ma Xianglan, one of the Eight Beauties of Jinling - Ma Xianglan was known for her paintings of flowers and grasses, and this single landscape painting isn't particularly impressive. However, the poem inscribed on it by Fang Yizhi is one of the Four Gentlemen of Jinling, so this painting has both Ma Xianglan's painting and Fang Yizhi's poetry, making its value immeasurable. "Sir, please stay a moment, I haven't finished speaking."

  "Oh?"

  Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Ping Ya Shi pulled Gu Lian Yun back to her seat and carefully chose his words: "Sir, could you show me that 'Winter Day Mountain Water Leisure' again?"

  " 'Winter Day Mountain Water Leisure Mood'?" Gu Lianyun was taken aback for a moment, only now realizing the name of that landscape painting, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed - this is the price of being uncultured, fortunately she came from an intelligence background, knew how to observe and listen, otherwise it would have been embarrassing. She handed the landscape painting to Ping Yashi, suddenly feeling that her knowledge of classical Chinese needed improvement.

  Holding a magnifying glass, Ping Ya-shi carefully and meticulously re-examined the "Winter Landscape with Idle Feelings" again, took a deep breath, and said: "Sir, how much do you plan to sell this painting for?"

  "Name your price, and if it's suitable, I'll sell."

  Ping Ya smiled wryly and said, "To be honest, I can't afford it." Seeing the other person's face change, he quickly added, "However, I can help introduce a buyer to you."

  "Tell me, what's your price for this?" Gu Lianyun had no idea who Ma Xianglan and Fang Yizhi were, nor did she know about the romantic story between them. The value of the painting lay in its history, so she decided to play a negotiating game.

  "This painting is worth at least 5,000 yuan, but I only have a little over 2,000 in cash right now."

  "5,000 yuan?" Gu Lianyun's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. She had originally thought it would sell for around 500 yuan at most.

  Ping Ya thought he was underestimating it, so he hurriedly explained: "Sir, forgive me for being old and selling old things. The value of this painting itself is not high. If it weren't for Fang Zhi's poem, it wouldn't be worth 500 yuan."

  "Oh," Gu Lianyun knew something about this, some paintings were worth more because they had been paired with poems by great masters. She pretended to be profound and said: "Then please trouble Ping Boss to help me find a buyer, hmm, how will the commission be calculated?"

  "5%, what do you think?"

  "Good," Gu Lianyun said with a pleased expression this time, Ou Yangyun's goods were really too many, if they could find a sales platform now, it would save a lot of trouble.

  "Do you have a phone? Once everything is settled, I will notify you."

  "Let me come find you instead, how long do you think it will take."

  "Within three days."

  "Alright, I'll come over again three days later at this time. Goodbye for now, Boss Ping!"

  "Go slowly, sir."

  In this way, Gu Lianyun sold "Winter Scenery and Leisurely Mood" for 5,000 yuan under the introduction of Ping Yashi, and at the same time sold "Autumn Hunting Picture" for 500 yuan. Then he began to put some calligraphy and painting antiques in the "Very Pavilion" for sale, which can be regarded as finding a channel for selling his works.

  Yan Da, Ouyang Yun and Chu Tian Ge had just walked to the gate when Liu Zhe Liang, who was waiting in the guard room, came up to greet them. He took the lecture notes from Yan Da's hand, looked at his face and asked: "Team leader, are you very tired?"

  Ouyang Yun furrowed his brow and said, "How many times have I told you, call me Lao Da in private!"

  "Hey, boss."

  "It's a bit tiring, I didn't think so when I listened to classes before, now I know how exhausting it is to give lectures. Zheliang, next time don't just stand idly at the door, go in with Tiange and listen to the class, having more knowledge is always good."

  "Ah, thank you, Boss - for caring."

  "Brother, Harvard is inviting you to give a lecture, it's Harvard!"

  Ouyang Yun smiled and asked Liu Zhe Liang: "Lianyun hasn't arrived yet."

  "Yes."

  "Then we can call a car to go back ourselves, anyway it's not late, and we can also buy some vegetables on the way."

  Three people walked out of Yanda University, Liu Zhe Liang was about to call a rickshaw when he saw the car at the street entrance and shouted: "Boss, Vice Officer Gu is back."

  The three of them got on the car, and Ouyang Yun smiled at Gu Lianyun saying: "You came just in time."

  Gu Lianyun smiled and glanced at him with a hint of teasing tone: "Professor Ouyang, what's your first impression of the class?"

  "One word: exhausted!"

  "No way, you look quite spirited."

  "Yes, I have some good news," he said, putting Conant's letter on the dashboard and saying, "The president of Harvard University in the United States has invited me to be a visiting professor."

  Gu Lianyun's eyes lit up and she said, "It's indeed a good thing. This way, you can also buy the equipment and instruments that need to be imported while you're in the United States."

  "Not only that, but also attract some foreign investment and technology, and maybe even introduce some talent - there are many Chinese Americans in the US, unfortunately, it's just that the travel time is too long, I don't think you can come back within two or three months. Lianyun, if this trip really happens, I want you to accompany me."

  "Well, I'd better get ready, after all, I have a triple identity now," she glanced at him and smiled with ulterior motives.

  Ouyang Yun smiled and didn't respond, but in her heart she began to plan a trip to America.

  After a while, Chu Tiangong saw the car heading towards the city and asked: "Deputy Gu, aren't we going home?"

  "Went to the hospital to pick up Liu Su, the doctor said she can be discharged, and the cast will be removed in a week."

  Ouyang Yun was delighted and said, "Liu Su can finally be discharged from the hospital. This girl has suffered a lot recently." Thinking of all the good deeds done by the Hei Long Hui Beijing Branch, his face turned cold and stern. He looked out the car window and asked Gu Lianyun, "Hasn't Beijing been too quiet lately?"

  Gu Lianyun knew what he was referring to as soon as she heard it, and joked: "Maybe the Japanese have found their conscience and can't bear to kill a great professor like you."

  "Ah," said Ouyang Yun, "I'm a professor who can hold both pen and gun in one hand!"

  Gu Lianyun suddenly thought of something and said: "Ouyang, I'm suddenly very curious about your parents."

  Ouyang Yun's parents passed away when he was very young, and he was raised by his grandparents from a young age. He had no memory of his parents at all. When he was little, his grandparents were most afraid that someone would mention his parents in front of him. It wasn't until he went to school that he realized other kids had parents, but he didn't. This used to be a knot in his heart, but as he grew up and his grandparents passed away one after another, he came to understand that even without parents, he was still the happiest child in the world. His grandparents had already taken on all the love that his parents should have given him - this was also why he was especially filial to the elderly. He smiled faintly and said, "What's wrong? Can't wait to meet your in-laws?"

  The Chu Tian Song in the back seat immediately laughed, Liu Zhe Liang "gulped" and a belly full of laughter was stuck in his throat.

  Gu Lianyun was now accustomed to Ouyang Yun's sudden sarcastic remarks and said, "I'm just curious, what kind of parents could raise a freak like you?"

  "Freak, only genius is right," said Ouyang Yun, recalling the university students' affairs, saying: "I don't know how Tian Ge and others arranged it, now my most precious thing is to press thirty-two university students."

  Gu Lianyun remembered what he had been entrusted with and said: "This afternoon I will start organizing the intelligence department, what do you think we should name it?"

  "Boss is 'Nine-Tailed Fox', let's call it 'Fox Eyes Special Operations Group' then, the scale will be a platoon first, and strive to become a company in the future."

  "Hu Tong? That's a good name."

  At this time, the car drove to the entrance of a firework shop. Gu Lianyun stopped the car and said to Liu Zhe Liang: "Zhe Liang, get off the bus and buy some fireworks."

  Ouyang Yun was puzzled and asked: "What's the use of buying firecrackers?"

  "Let's get out of here and set off some firecrackers to drive away the bad luck."

  "Haha, I didn't think you were still so superstitious."

  "It's not superstition, it's a custom, and when the time comes, we'll still put a fire pan at the door for her to step over."

  "Yun Lian, it seems like you and Liu Su have a deep relationship?"

  "We were like sisters, together for six years, she was like my tail when we were young..." Talking about childhood memories, Gu Lianyun's face glowed with a rosy light, looking very happy and feminine, Ouyang Yun couldn't help but reach out and gently touch her face.

  Gu Lianyun's body trembled slightly, but she didn't intend to dodge. She closed her mouth and turned to look at him, her lips biting lightly on her teeth, her face flushed with a bright red glow, and the autumn waves in her eyes sparkled, clearly an expression that only lovers would have. It made Ouyang Yun want to go up and kiss her. However, just as they were about to lose control of their emotions, Liu Zhe Liang and Chu Tian Ge walked out of the firecracker store with two bundles of firecrackers and two small whips, abruptly ruining the beautiful atmosphere in the car.

  Gu Lianyun's left thumb nail extended into her pocket, she wanted to give them some "soul-scattering powder" immediately.