Dreaming With My Dragon Lover - Chapter 160

“How about this one? Does it look too young?” As Amélie walks out of the fitting room, the white top and red striped cardigan coupled with navy blue straight-leg jeans, she looks simple, youthful and full of Parisian flair.

Yuan Ge’s eyes light up. He truly admires Amélie’s taste in fashion. No matter what the style is, she can easily manage it and find the perfect accessories to make it her own.

“This outfit goes well with your new purchase. You have very good taste.”

“Then I’ll take them all!” Amélie’s face is filled with happiness, “Thank you Director Yuan for the new shoes!”

“You’re welcome. I’m a bit surprised that they’re willing to give you a discount on C.L’s new products. It seems your previous track record in Paris was legendary!”

“Well, I also didn’t expect that the manager of this Xidan flagship shop had actually worked under me before when I was in Paris.” Amélie can’t help but feel a little pleased with herself when she hears Yuan Ge’s compliments.

“But after all the walking we’ve done all day, especially after all the shopping, shouldn’t you be most anxious to relax your feet and buy a pair of trainers or something to wear?”

“You know me, red-soled high heels are my favourite and most expensive collection. This hobby is the same as your collecting films as a director. How can you possibly skimp on money and effort on the things you love!”

Yuan Ge raises his eyebrows and expresses great admiration for her mysterious womanly logic. He takes the shopping bag handed to him by the shop assistant and offers to pay for it in a very gentlemanly manner.

“Actually, the thought of you shopping with me and giving me a gift is enough.”

After Amélie has paid for her shopping, she notices that Yuan Ge is carrying another shopping bag with the latest model of mobile phone in it. She can’t help but ask, “You went and bought this when I was trying on clothes? Don’t tell me this was bought for Rong Qiuchen!”

“Yes, it is. He is already quite muddled in the head, and if he doesn’t have a means of contact, he could easily get lost.”

Although Amélie has always been unconcerned about how much Yuan Ge spends on himself, she can’t help but feel disheartened when she sees what Yuan Ge has done now. Deep down, she has followed a certain code of conduct for relationships between men and women. She has always believed that if there are too many financial transactions involved, she would be looked down upon by men and the relationship would no longer be pure. If she wants to be an independent woman, it is important to remain financially independent. But when she sees such an inexplicable lunatic budging into their lives, without any modern concept of independence, and spending Yuan Ge’s money as freely as tap water, without a hint of guilt, she feels righteous indignation. So, after all that trouble, the money she has saved has been spent on someone else!

Forcing down the displeasure in her heart, Amélie tries her best to control her facial expression and says indifferently, “Even if you want to buy him a mobile phone, is it necessary to buy the latest model? Isn’t it enough to get a basic model phone that he can use for easy contact?”

“No, that won’t do. When have you ever seen me using outdated electronic products? Men care about this sort of things. Even if Qiuchen is a bit muddled in the head right now, it’s still too humiliating for a young man to pull an old man’s phone out of his pocket. I reckon he can’t even use 10% of the phone’s functions at the moment, but he learns things really quickly, so in the long run, it’s better to buy him a new model …”

When they have finished shopping, settled down and ordered at the roast duck restaurant on the top floor, Rong Qiuchen is also led to their table by the waiter.

“As pretty as a peach blossom in spring; as pure as a chrysanthemum in autumn.”

When Rong Qiuchen saw that Amélie had changed into new shoes and clothes, he did not hesitate to give sincere praise and handed Yuan Ge the calligraphy and painting tube at the same time.

“I can’t believe you sold them! How much did you sell them for?” Seeing the spring couplets inside the calligraphy and painting tube turned into a tube of cash, Yuan Ge’s jaw nearly dropped in surprise!

Rong Qiuchen holds out two fingers crossed together, clearly not meaning twenty thousand.

“A few old couplets that have been hung and peeled off the doors, and you actually sold them for a hundred thousand yuan?!”[1]

Although Yuan Ge feels that it is not quite appropriate to discuss the exact amount of money in a public place like a restaurant, he still can’t help but exclaim in awe.

“Is the owner of Liang Yu Xuan crazy?” Amélie certainly can’t believe it either.

“The owner of Liang Yu Xuan is acquainted with Professor Fu, so I briefly mentioned Lady Yuan’s name.”

“Even if they were doing my mother a favour, you can’t sell them for a hundred thousand yuan!”

Yuan Ge can’t help but press on, asking Rong Qiuchen to tell him what has happened.

“Gege, I found a piece of Shoushan stone from General Cave[2] in my room a few days ago, so I took the liberty of carving a private seal …”

Rong Qiuchen tells the story of selling the couplets with a slight smile on his face, “If Rong Qiuchen, the famous actor and the number one Flower of the Opera Stage, had written a couplet himself, the price he would have sold it for would have been far more than hundreds of taels of silver. Although Mr Lin had never seen Rong Qiuchen’s handwriting, the ink and paper were genuine antiques, the seal and inkpad were real, my explanation of the couplets were credible, and I knew a lot about the Qing Dynasty and Rong Qing’s past, so he didn’t doubt it and offered a hundred thousand yuan for the whole lot.”

“Ouch! I heard from my mother that Mr Lin comes from a family of calligraphers and painters from the Ming Dynasty and is definitely a connoisseur. Even he was fooled this time! A few unframed couplets with the paste on the back not even dry, and you still managed to get away with it? My mother would love you to death if she knew. Why do you bother to become an actor? You have a great future in the antique business!”

“And from what you’ve described, instead of being ridiculed, it seems like you have sold them too cheaply. What’s going on?” Although Amélie doesn’t know much about the antique business, with a tube of cash before her eyes she has to believe it. She can’t help but feel a tinge of admiration for Rong Qiuchen.

“As soon as I saw Mr Lin’s surprised expression and trembling voice when he made the bid, I knew the offer was on the low side. But it doesn’t matter, I just wish I could repay Gege the money sooner.”

“Who asked you to pay back the money? I’ve told you, it was me who wanted to buy those Beijing Opera dolls.”

Yuan Ge shows a wicked smile, as if he was possessed by Professor Fu, and says playfully, “Chenchen, next time you go to sell your calligraphy, remember to sell them for more money. Just think about it, Rong Qiuchen is an ancient person from 160 years ago, counting inflation, the price must have gone up at least ten times, right? These calligraphies were worth a few hundred taels back then, now they must be worth a few thousand taels of silver! Uh …”

Amélie shoves a roast duck pancake she has rolled up into Yuan Ge’s mouth to stop him from going on, “Yuan Ge, enough is enough, don’t go further and further down the path of criminal forgery! Qiuchen, don’t listen to his bad ideas and follow his bad example! Beware of being reported and getting arrested by the police again …”

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[1] In Chinese, numbers are not measured in thousands, but in tens of thousands, and twenty thousand means two times of ten thousand. When a person extends two fingers, it usually means two, but when two fingers are crossed into a plus sign, it resembles the Chinese character for ‘ten’, so when Rong Qiuchen extends two fingers crossed together, Yuan Ge knows that it means ten times ten thousand, or one hundred thousand.

[2] Shoushan stone is the most famous agalmatolite in China, occurring around Shoushan Village near Fuzhou, Fujian Province.  Agalmatolite is a variety of pyrophyllite used by Chinese artisans for carvings in pagodas and similar objects. General Cave, also known as Tianfeng Cave, was named after a general who took possession of the mining rights during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The stone from this cave is pure, soft and is said to have spiritual quality, and is one of the finest types of Shoushan stones.. When the cave collapsed, the stone from the cave became extinct.