Chapter 84
Gu Shaoyu remembered who this person was. However he didn’t respond but asked Shen You, “What happened?”
“Nothing much. I met Xiao Wang who is neither young nor sensible, which delayed us for a bit.”
Shen You ignored Wang Sheng’s face, which had turned as black as the bottom of a pot, along with the embarrassed expression of the person beside him.
She imitated the other party’s tone and continued with the words she hadn’t finished saying earlier, “Xiao Wang, I’m not criticizing you, but you’re not young anymore. When you’re out and about, you should conduct yourself properly. What kind of behavior is this!”
Wang Sheng had lived for most of his life and had never been lectured like a grandson before, especially in front of Vice President Qian from the company headquarters. His anger made his temples throb with needle-like pain.
Then he thought about the attitude of the vice president from the head office toward this young man and said nothing, only watched the two people walk out of the restaurant.
No wonder she spoke so boldly. She had found herself a powerful backer!
“Who is that person?” He asked through gritted teeth.
Vice President Qian reminded him, “The third son of the Gu family. His family is no ordinary household. Even our boss has to show them some respect.”
The meaning was clear: don’t invite trouble by offending people when life is good.
After leaving, Gu Shaoyu heard about Shen You’s former supervisor’s conduct and nearly rolled up his sleeves to go back and settle accounts with him. Shen You stopped him, saying, “There’s a pile of work at the studio. There’s no need to waste time. I don’t work at that company anymore, so we won’t have much interaction in the future.”
Besides feeling disgusted, she had not suffered any real loss. Making a big fuss wouldn’t bring any benefits.
In the afternoon, workers came to renovate the interior of the house. Someone had to supervise this work because if they damaged any antique items, the losses would be enormous.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust people, but that the carved wooden decorations and copper bells under the eaves of this house were all valuable. She had to be cautious.
This was definitely not something she could leave entirely to others.
First, they had to move all the items in the house together before proceeding with any work.
The surveillance equipment was already in place. Shen You had checked with the gatekeeper, and there were no blind spots, so no additional equipment was needed.
Some furniture that looked old was made from good wood and could also be considered antiques.
She sighed softly. Wen Zhi was really wealthy and wasteful.
The huanghuali wood arhat bed and master’s chair had natural lacquer surfaces that were severely cracked.
Gu Shaoyu continued supervising the work and helping move things while Shen You went to the parking area. She retrieved the large lacquer and tools she had prepared earlier from the trunk, had the cleaning lady wipe everything clean first, then began the restoration work herself.
She had asked Wen Zhi before, and he had said she could handle all the items in the garden as she saw fit.
Although she had worn dignified and elegant xiangyunsha silk when she went out, she had anticipated doing manual work, and so brought a set of cheap work clothes. She changed into them in the afternoon.
Now, she crouched in the courtyard’s open space, wearing gloves and a mask, looking nothing like a studio owner.
Large lacquer had a strong smell before it dried and couldn’t touch skin, or it would cause allergic reactions.
After working for an entire afternoon, the restoration of one chair was only half complete.
“Right, move it here first. Be careful not to bump into anything.”
Gu Shaoyu’s voice came from inside the house. This pampered young master had also worked solidly for an entire afternoon and was becoming more enthusiastic as he worked.
“I suddenly find manual work quite interesting.” He had just walked over when the lacquer fumes made him stop in his tracks.
Shen You, who was tired and sitting directly on the ground, looked at him and shook her head. “You only find it interesting because you’ve done too little work.”
“Is this the same chair from before? It went from two hundred yuan to two hundred thousand yuan in an instant.” Gu Shaoyu said with delight.
Shen You looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then said quietly, “Before restoration, people who don’t know its value might sell it for a few hundred yuan. However, the actual price of this complete set should be ten or twenty times more than two hundred thousand yuan. These are Qing Dynasty items. I estimate they came with the garden when it was purchased.”
Hearing this, Gu Shaoyu’s eyes widened. After a long pause, he said, “Wow, the owner of this garden just left antiques lying around like this?”
He had thought that when the garden was given to Shen You to use, the valuable items inside would have been removed.
He never expected that the seemingly dilapidated old furniture was actually from the Qing Dynasty!
Even though his family was wealthy, they would not leave precious items lying around like this.
Earlier, the workers had been very puzzled by Shen You’s behavior. They thought the richer people were, the stingier they became.
She was using such an expensive garden but was reluctant to throw away a broken chair.
She even picked up papers that had fallen on the ground with a pained expression, saying they were old xuan paper.
What had Shen You said? Every little bit saved counts.
The studio needed impressive items to maintain its reputation. What she had saved was not just a little bit—it was more like a hundred million points.
“Look at this too—Huimo ink.” Shen You picked up a black object.
Without her explanation, who would have thought that something lying on the ground that nobody bothered to pick up was actually Huimo ink that money could not necessarily buy?
“One tael of gold for one tael of Huimo ink. Making one block requires six months of initial drying. For high-end varieties like this, gold leaf decoration and color filling are added, followed by another round of drying.
My research into scholarly implements is not deep, but if I’m not mistaken, this is the most expensive suheyouyan variety, first created by Emperor Huizong of Song.”
Shen You could not tell by looking, but based on her understanding of Wen Zhi, anything he left here should be the finest quality.
Gu Shaoyu was already too shocked to speak. He carefully looked around at the items he had handled earlier, relieved that he hadn’t knocked or bumped anything.
Only after the workers left for the day did he speak up: “You should tell me which items cannot be moved carelessly. I’m afraid I might accidentally damage something and not be able to explain it to the garden’s owner.”
During this period, if Shen You couldn’t come due to other matters, he would still need to supervise here.
“Actually, there’s nothing special. Just protect everything properly. The pillars and tiles outside have been restored before, but don’t knock into them either. Restoration is really exhausting.” She sighed.
Gu Shaoyu asked, “What about the paper you picked up earlier?”
“Jingxian xuan paper. A sheet measuring three zhang and three chi once sold for thirteen thousand yuan. The sheet from earlier had some age to it, making it even more valuable.”
One zhang equaled 3.33 meters.
This paper was more expensive than gold.
Gu Shaoyu asked like a thief, “Should I set up a bed here to sleep? I’m afraid things might get stolen.”
No wonder his family couldn’t negotiate to hold events here. Even a single sheet of paper inside was so valuable.
The garden owner definitely didn’t want the items inside to be damaged.
The West Slope Book Study had also reached long-term cooperation only because the auction company had professional maintenance staff.
“The gatekeeper is watching. There’s no place to set up a bed here.”
The bedroom upstairs—she wanted to renovate and use it for her own rest. The left side could be divided into a rest room, and the carved bed upstairs could be moved down later.
However, that area was currently filled with items and hadn’t been organized yet, so it was obviously not habitable.
“Or you could go to the bedroom upstairs if you’re willing.” Shen You pointed upward.
Gu Shaoyu thought of the furnishings there, and a Chinese horror atmosphere swept over him. “Never mind… let’s forget it.”
That place was some distance from where the gatekeeper lived.
At night, in the deep silence, a room full of unorganized antiques…
Shen You sealed the lacquer bucket properly, tidied up her tools, and clapped her hands. “Work’s done for today. We’ll continue tomorrow.”
“I’ll still stay at a nearby hotel until the custom security cabinets arrive.” Gu Shaoyu thought about it and still felt uneasy.
The gatekeeper looked like he could not fight off thieves.
This was his first time wanting to seriously pursue a career. Nothing could go wrong!
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