I Inherited 5,000 Years of Family Property

"Mr. Zhang, are you sure? If you really want to buy those paintings, I'll arrange for someone to handle it immediately!" Bruce's tone betrayed a trace of excitement.

He had expected to sell five or six hundred of the more than four thousand paintings, and he hadn't even dared to hope for a thousand, but Zhang Menglong was ready to buy them all at once. Was this not the God of Wealth?

"Go ahead and arrange it," Zhang Menglong said.

"Ok, ok, I'll get on it right now!" Bruce's face lit up with a smile.

"Damn, did he really buy them?"

"Awesome, I didn't hear wrong, did I? It's close to fifty billion, right?"

"In US dollars, brother, my head is buzzing right now."

"Fifty billion US dollars, and in cash? Isn't he richer than the world's richest person?"

"On this year's Forbes list, isn't the richest person still the CEO of Amazon? How much is his personal fortune? 150 billion US dollars?"

"The 150 billion US dollars are mostly water, nearly half of it is fixed assets and shares. Logically, it would be incredible just to have a few tens of billions in cash."

"Even if those 150 billion US dollars were all cash, put it bluntly, would you spend a third of your total assets on a bunch of pretty but useless paintings?"

"If you had a million, would you spend 300,000 on a painting?"

"Definitely not!"

"So, Zhang Menglong's assets must be more than 1,500 million. In fact, this might just be his liquid assets!"

"Hiss!"

The people around analyzed and immediately came to an incredibly terrifying conclusion.

It was highly probable that this young man who had never appeared in the public eye before was the real world's richest person!

"Wait a minute!" Zhang Menglong suddenly called out to Bruce.

"Mr. Zhang, is there anything else I can do for you?" Bruce's heart skipped a beat. Could Zhang Menglong be having second thoughts? It was hard enough to reach the peak of his life, could it all come crashing down so quickly?

"I wanted to ask you, are other paintings for sale?" Zhang Menglong pointed distantly at the "Mona Lisa".

"Mr... Mr. Zhang, do you want to buy that painting?" Not just Bruce, everyone around had shock written all over their faces.

The "Mona Lisa" was more than just a painting. It represented something far beyond its artistic value, having become an emblematic presence while being housed in the Louvre.

The organizers had gone to great lengths to bring it out of the Louvre, and the extravagant manpower deployed was primarily for its protection. Describing it as a priceless treasure was no exaggeration.

A hundred years ago, its auction price had already reached 3 billion US dollars. A hundred years later, even if the Louvre were willing to sell it, there would probably be very few who would dare to inquire about the price, right?

"Yeah, I always feel that one wall in my living room is a bit empty, and it seems the size is just perfect."

"Damn! The king of swagger, swagger beyond limits! I admit defeat."

"Da Vinci leaves cursing and swearing in the middle of the night."

"Damn, world-famous paintings used as home decor, I'm impressed."

"Maybe this is just the world of the wealthy, I just don't understand it."

"Confused, are you? Working-class people?"

...

"Alas!" Zhang Menglong shook his head. The "Mona Lisa" was indeed precious, but it was not unique. In his home library, there were quite a few paintings worth no less than the "Mona Lisa".

"Sorry, Mr. Zhang, this painting really can't be sold," Bruce forced a pained smile. This was a national treasure, as well as the biggest draw of the exhibition. If it got sold, the number of visitors to the exhibition would be cut in half at least!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Not only that, such a national treasure ending up in another country would be a disgrace to their own nation. No one wants to see their country's treasures displayed in museums of other countries.

Moreover, if Zhang Menglong were to buy this painting, the best-case scenario would be its placement in a Huaxia museum. He didn't doubt for a second that this piece could actually end up on the wall of Zhang Menglong's house, or even in his bathroom or toilet!

"What a pity," Zhang Menglong sighed. If this painting could be sold, he could easily rake in a few hundred billion US dollars, right? Perhaps this trip to Gusu would even complete that blasted mission, something he quite looked forward to with regards to that mysterious academy.

...

"Mr. Zhang, we have completed our calculations," before long, Bruce came jogging over to Zhang Menglong. They had tagged every frame in this batch of paintings and created an intelligent management system to calculate the price of the artworks available for sale, with just a simple tap.

"How much?"

"Mr. Zhang, it's a total of 49.226 billion US dollars. I've already consulted with our boss, and he's willing to round it down to 49 billion US dollars for you," Bruce said with a wide smile plastered on his face.

With this 49.226 billion US dollars, they could make so much money—it was clear to see just how much leeway was involved when more than 2 billion US dollars could be shaved off like mere change.

"Hisss! 49 billion US dollars! Goodness gracious!"

"Dude, can you spare me that change?"

"Why do I suddenly have this strange feeling that I've seen this scene somewhere before?"

"Bro, I think I feel the same way."

"Are we on high alert?"

Someone, somehow, had stealthily started a live broadcast online, simultaneously streaming this scene to the web. Since it was just a small website, the number of netizens flocking there almost crashed their servers due to overwhelming traffic.

"I don't need it!"

"Huh?" Bruce was stunned for a moment, thinking he might have misheard, "Mr. Zhang, are you unsatisfied with the price? Give me a little more time, I will negotiate for you, we might be able to make it cheaper!"

"No, what I mean is, I don't want a discount. I've never had the habit of getting discounts when I buy things. Please, let's stick to the original price, or else I won't buy it, or I could even pay more!"

"Ha ha ha! Does Mr. Zhang even need a discount?"

"Looks like the high alert warning was right, it's starting again! I've seen this scene at Wanda!"

"I was there at that time!"

The chat in the live stream suddenly dominated the entire screen, and for some reason, everyone seemed unsurprised by Zhang Menglong's refusal of the discount. Rather, it seemed like it was the expected attitude all along.

"There, I've transferred the money to your account," Zhang Menglong checked his phone, Hong Yi informed him everything had been handled.

"50 billion?" Bruce's hands trembled slightly as he saw the feedback from the company's headquarters.

"Don't be nervous, I like to round up. Let's leave it at that!"

"Mr. Zhang... You really have opened my eyes!" Bruce had never before seen someone spend money like this. Even though he had met quite a few wealthy tycoons along the way, compared to Zhang Menglong, they were leagues apart.

"Ha ha ha, just look at the baffled face of that foreigner."

"Newcomers, don't be alarmed. Mr. Zhang's style has always been wild, the kind who rounds up on a whim. Last time it was a couple million, now he's gone straight to a few billion US dollars."

"Baldy, got scared, huh? This is just the basics!"

"Everybody stand up!"

...