Chapter 68: Deal with an Arabian Prince (1)
The steak from a five-star hotel in Hong Kong tasted really special. However, before Haejin could fully enjoy it, Eric forced him to decide.
“Why? Are you worried?”
“I am more curious than worried. Why are you into this… no one would blame you for standing by. I don’t understand why someone rich like you would want to do something like this.”
Haejin had seen people with power and wealth doing all kinds of bad things on the media. So, he couldn’t be sure if Eric’s intention were really pure.
However, Eric took Haejin’s question with pleasure.
“Haha! Yes, you can doubt me. If you can’t believe me, don’t believe me and just take the job. You’ve already met that old man anyway.”
“Yes, but…”
Somehow, Haejin didn’t have a bad feeling about this, maybe because of his trust in Eric.
“He will tell you tomorrow, but that old man will show you three paintings. He is going to give one of them to Prince Abdula al Sahmadi of the Arab Emirates, but the problem is that this prince has high standards. No, more accurately, his appraiser is great at his job.”
There was something Haejin couldn’t understand.
“What does it have to do with me having to see those three paintings?”
Eric’s smile faded.
“I wonder that, too. Strange, isn’t it? Why does he want his paintings appraised again? He doesn’t know if they are real? Or maybe they can be fake? Does it make sense? He doubts his own paintings and wants you to take another look?”
“That’s what I’m talking about.”
“Right? Well, let’s say that could happen. Sometimes it does, you know. You cannot trust your own decision… but even if I think so, there’s one more thing that bothers me.”
“What?”
“That old man was bragging about himself so much that everyone knows what kind of antiques he has in his home. However, he’s not talking about this. Maybe he cannot talk about it.”
Haejin didn’t feel that Anthony was too talkative, so he couldn’t understand Eric 100%, but he just thought it might be.
“That can be true.”
“So, I recommended you. I don’t know what those three paintings are yet. However, I thought you might be able to find out something while you appraise them.”
“Hmm… you’re saying something bad might have happened when he got those paintings?”
“Maybe, maybe not. So, don’t take it as if you are going to do something important. No need to think of yourself as an agent from Mission Impossible. Just appraise those paintings and let me know if there’s anything suspicious. Then, I’ll take it from there.”
“What if things go wrong? You said he is extremely rich. He must have great powers.”
“Come on. You don’t know me well enough yet, but I can demonstrate some power if I want to. He cannot easily mess up with me.”
“Okay. I was wondering why you were going to give me that thousand million won gift, but I guess it was for this.”
“You know, sometimes you give, and sometimes you receive.”
Haejin thought he should have taken that two thousand million. It wasn’t like a thousand million was a small amount of money…
The next day, they met Anthony at the hotel’s lobby. He then gave Haejin a plane ticket.
“You should come to Dubai with me.”
“I’m not seeing the paintings here?”
Anthony lightly hit Haejin’s shoulder and smiled.
“They are in Dubai. Bringing them to Hong Kong and taking them to Dubai again would have made things complicated. You should have seen them in the States before they left, or you would have to go to Dubai. Although if you can just appraise them with photos, you can finish the job here… can you do it?”
Appraising while seeing the real artifacts was hard, so appraising accurately with photos? That was impossible. Haejin had no choice but to go.
“Then, I should go with you.”
“Haha… good. I won’t be bored on the way.”
The journey to Dubai with Anthony was both bad and good. Haejin really liked the comfort of a first- class seat, but the conversation with Anthony was quite puzzling.
Haejin knew that Anthony was obsessed with paintings just after five minutes.
He also had such a great self-pride that Haejin was forced to receive a lecture on how happy his life was with all the women and wealth.
Haejin could totally understand why Eric had said Anthony liked to boast about himself and was very talkative.
One good thing was that as Eric was with them, Haejin could take some rest while he handled Anthony.
The sunlight of the desert was dry and sharp. They went to the worldly famous hotel Burj Khalifa.
“I am liking Anthony Goldberg for the first time. I’ve always wanted to stay here.”
Haejin whispered to Eric. He smiled.
“You must have had a hard time on the plane. People get talkative when they get older, but rich old men are the worst.”
“I hope you don’t become like that when you get old.”
“Hhhh… judging from my nature, I doubt it. Anyway, I have high hopes for you.”
Eric expectantly looked at Haejin. They arrived at a pre-booked suite room. There were buffy guards standing in front of it.
However, one of them put a hand in front of Eric’s chest and shook his head.
“I guess I’m not qualified.”
Eric spoke as if he was just disappointed, but his eyes were full of pity.
“I’m sorry. The secret must be kept, so I cannot take you with us.”
Anthony looked sorry. Haejin didn’t know if it was real but, if he was lying, he was a good actor.
“Okay. Do well. I’ll wait in the lobby. I hope you aren’t planning to eat him?”
Eric smiled as if it were a joke, but Haejin could see he wasn’t asking it as a joke. Anthony also answered without a smile.
“Are you going to turn me into a cruel criminal?”
“Haha! I was joking. Then, I’ll see you later.”
Eric left while Haejin followed Anthony into the room. There were three paintings in the living room.
“Sir.”
A white woman with blonde hair greeted Anthony. She was about 170cm tall and was wearing a two- piece suit. She looked at Anthony with love. That was suspicious.
“Well, time to prove me why you have flown thousands of kilometers. What do you think about my paintings?”
Each painting Anthony proudly introduced was enough to make Haejin’s jaw drop.
The one on the left had a dancing girl who showed Degar’s style.
A red color that caught the eyes, a delicate expression and gesture that contrasted to the color, and middle-aged men watching her… it was a typical Degar.
Degar’s painting alone was shocking enough, but the next painting was Gogh’s.
It showed a riverbank with the sunset. Haejin had never heard of Gogh drawing such a painting.
However, the painting showed the red river that couldn’t exist in the real world with Gogh’s unique overflowing energy.
The red river ruffled as if it were about to flood over the artist and the strange bird that flew over it was ominously black.
The last painting was Gogh’s, too. It showed sunflowers stuck in a vase on a table. Haejin could see it was one of Gogh’s Sunflowers series.
“Impressive. How did you get these paintings?”
“I was lucky. Oh, and of course I spent a lot of money. Each of these had an astronomical price. However, I’m not lying about being lucky. You cannot get what you cannot find, no matter how wealthy you are.”
“That’s right. However, what do you want me to do? Should I just pick the real paintings?”
Anthony reclined on a sofa. Then, he got some wine from his beautiful secretary and slowly took a sip.
“On our way here, we talked about many things. I could see that you were bored, but I didn’t stop. Do you know why?”
Haejin felt like he had been busted. However, he didn’t want to bother to deny it, so he sat down next to Anthony.
“Well, you knew, and you did it on purpose? Isn’t that too mean?”
The secretary frowned, but Anthony raised his hand to tell her not to be rude.
“Huhu… I’m sorry if it looked that way. I always like to talk. It’s because I can see what the people I’m talking to are thinking. Agitated, bored, delighted, excited. However, it was strong. Most people who get on a plane with me show delight and excitement. No one has so openly shown that they were bored like you.”
“Oh, really?”
“People who act like me are mostly as wealthy as I am. In other words, people who think they cannot get anything from me are that bored.”
“Okay…”
Haejin kept answering, but he couldn’t see what this had to do with the paintings.
“That’s what I’m worried about. You cannot act like that in front of the Prince Sahmadi, who you will meet in an hour.”
For a moment, Haejin thought he wasn’t hearing properly. Why would he meet Prince Sahmadi?
“As far as I know, I’m here to appraise paintings.”
“You are. You are also going to introduce these paintings instead of me.”
“And, why should I do that?”
“If you want to leave after appraising, I won’t stop you. However, if you leave after promoting these paintings and a leave good impression on the prince, I will give you a bonus.”
In fact, Haejin had just spent a thousand million, so earning more money was good, but he was not going to lunge in like an idiot for money.
“Well, I think the appraisal fee would be enough…”
Anthony interrupted.
“Tell me your terms. I’ve never met anyone who hates money. People pretend like they don’t need it, but it is always about the amount.”
Now, Haejin thought just refusing would be a little funny. He would look like a coward.
“Okay. You are going to sell one of these, right?”
“It can be one, it can be more.”
Apparently, Anthony wasn’t sure about his paintings. All the better for Haejin.
“How much are you planning to get?”
Anthony narrowed his eyes and looked at Haejin. He couldn’t answer quickly. He looked at the paintings.
Haejin didn’t press him. The choice was up to Anthony and pressing him wouldn’t look cool.
“Fifty million dollars at most.”
When Anthony spoke, his secretary was surprised. It was more than what she had imagined.
If the Gogh’s paintings were real, the total price being higher than fifty million wouldn’t be hard.
Haejin could easily get him fifty million with the two Gogh’s paintings.
Nevertheless, Anthony said fifty million. He was clearly thinking that at least one or two of the paintings were fake.
“Good. Then, the price of the three paintings is fifty million dollars. And, if I get more, I’ll take the rest of the money. Do you agree?”
Anthony’s eyes shook. Then, he looked at the three paintings in front of him.
“You can get more with these?”
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