"I once bought a Picasso painting from a customer too, but that was a casual sketch and it only sold for 37,000 US dollars. This painting of yours does have a strong early Picasso vibe!"
Old George searched for the value of the painting, wanting to deepen his understanding.
Suddenly, he was silenced.
"Where did you get this thing from? Did you steal it?" Old George asked suspiciously.
"Picked it up. I spent 7,000 US dollars at the Southern Port and bought a container blind box." Allen Zhang shrugged nonchalantly, speaking like he was at Versailles, "Never imagined I’d find this thing inside."
"..." Old George’s lips twitched, and he virtually ground his teeth in secrecy.
Listen to this, what’s he even saying?
Spent 7,000 US dollars on a random container blind box and ended up with a painting worth millions? Fresh chapters posted on novel★fire.net
But you really have to admire someone’s outrageous luck!
And that oil drilling thing from a while back hasn’t even passed yet.
"As much as I would love to buy this painting from you, I must say, even if I sell my assets and mortgage everything to the bank and the auction house, I still couldn’t afford the painting you have in your hands." Old George sighed deeply, reluctantly placing the painting on the counter.
Terrified of knocking it, this thing is worth more than his life.
"It’s okay, I never intended to sell it to you. I knew you couldn’t afford it. I just wanted to show it to you and get an appraisal," the General Sect Leader said bluntly. I just love being honest.
"..." Old George’s face darkened, he said unhappily, "If it’s just for an appraisal, you should be going to an auction house, not to this old man. I charge for appraisals here!"
Allen Zhang immediately pulled out a rabbit doll found in the container, "Here, this can be the appraisal fee then."
"This thing is maybe worth 5 US dollars." Old George thought it was something precious, he examined it closely but quickly realized it was just junk and reluctantly gave it back to the General Sect Leader.
"Nonsense! This is clearly a rabbit doll Picasso played with when he was young, otherwise why would it be kept with the painting? Don’t you have any business sense?" Allen Zhang immediately criticized him.
Old George suddenly realized, and took the rabbit back, "You have a point, I think this rabbit doll does have some collectible value! At least worth 2,000 US dollars. Are you sure you want to use this as the appraisal fee?"
"I’ll just give it to you." Allen Zhang said.
"All right, all right." Old George was all smiles.
He took back the Picasso painting, snapped a photo of it, and had it priced by experts. Soon, he received a professional appraisal response.
Old George pondered, "An insider thinks this painting is very valuable, a genuine Picasso, with nearly three million US dollars in auction price at the beginning of last century, nowadays it could go up by several times, the estimated value is about 57.9 to 62.37 million US dollars. Of course, if you were to consign it at an auction, the price would only be higher. It could fetch up to 70 million!"
"Are you sure it can be worth that price?" Allen Zhang was surprised too. He thought the painting might be valuable, but he didn’t expect it to be this valuable.
"Actually, this thing is just an ink painting, if it wasn’t a genuine Picasso, it would be worthless. But because it is a genuine piece left by Picasso, it has commercial value, so there should be quite a few people willing to buy and collect it."
Old George said, "You really struck it big this time!! Found a huge bargain. If you want to sell it, the specialist I just consulted can help find a buyer, the price might be a bit lower than what I mentioned, but not by much."
"Thanks, Old George, but I think I probably won’t be lacking buyers."
Allen Zhang smiled, immediately packed the painting for storage. "If I really can’t sell it, only then would I consider an auction."
Old George nodded, understanding as well; after all, auction houses charge exorbitant fees. The General Sect Leader is not short in contacts in this area, he could probably transfer it easily internally.
They chatted a bit more, and once new customers appeared at the pawnshop, Allen Zhang left the store with the painting and got back into his car.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Madison, along with a photo of the painting.
But the other party did not respond immediately, likely busy at the moment. Allen Zhang also sent a message to Madison’s female assistant Gwen, inquiring about the situation.
Gwen: Mr. Madison had private physiotherapy this afternoon, he is currently resting and sleeping. Ever since the last incident, he has become more emotional. The doctor has increased the frequency of his consultations, he almost needs medication every day, but his condition isn’t too serious.
Allen Zhang: Ok, when he wakes up, remind him to contact me, I have a very important matter to discuss with him.
Allen Zhang put away his phone, instructed the Beggar Gang Disciples to drive towards Armed Nation.
Upon arriving at Thunderbolt Fire’s storefront on the street, he got out of the car and saw Bailey and a few others loading guns and ammo, Allen Zhang had the Beggar Gang Disciples drive back to the repair shop, and walked over to ask about the situation.
"Boss, didn’t you open a branch in Texas? We are preparing to send a batch of goods over there. Even arranging for two men to stay there permanently."