The members of the Xu family all turned their gaze to the eldest young master Xu, their attention focused on his mobile phone. They were all eager to hear what Lin Xiaotian would say next.
At this moment, Lin Xiaotian's triumphant voice came from the phone. "That painting I gave you earlier, haven't you shown it to them yet? Isn't that enough to prove my sincerity?"
"That painting alone is worth a great deal. Even if your family is incredibly wealthy, they wouldn't casually dismiss such a painting as trash, would they?"
Hearing this, a smug smile spread across the eldest young master Xu's face. "Brother Tian, I haven't shown them the painting yet. I only mentioned our relationship, and they didn't believe me. Now, I can only use that painting as proof."
"But don't worry, I will definitely smooth things over with my family and establish a cooperative relationship with you. Anything you have, I will accept."
Lin Xiaotian's voice came from the phone again: "Excellent. As long as you have sufficient funds, I'll take all the money you have. And the treasures I have are more than you can ever imagine."
"If your family doesn't have enough money, we can cooperate in other ways. For example, you could offer your family's industries or some of your own collected antiques in exchange. Some people like jade, others prefer calligraphy and paintings, and some like other collectibles. I may not have much else, but I certainly don't lack calligraphy and paintings."
After a few more words, they hung up the phone. A triumphant expression already appeared on the eldest young master Xu's face. His eyes gleamed with excitement. With Lin Xiaotian personally vouching for him, if his family members still refused to believe him, there would be no way to account for it to anyone. Furthermore, if such a contribution was not rewarded, it would chill everyone's hearts.
Moreover, he was the eldest young master of the family. Even if some people wanted to seize his position and use him as cannon fodder, they would need the strength to do so.
After hanging up the phone, he looked at everyone present and said with a smile, "You've all heard the conversation just now. Lin Xiaotian will only cooperate with me, and you've seen our relationship, haven't you? Lin Xiaotian trusts me one hundred percent."
"If our family sent someone else to trade with Lin Xiaotian, they might be directly sent away. The financial strength Lin Xiaotian has displayed is beyond your imagination. Most importantly, Lin Xiaotian possesses many antiques and calligraphy paintings."
"And those antiques and paintings are all rare treasures. Now, I will unfold a painting he casually gave me to show you how precious it is."
No one from the Xu family spoke. They simply watched in silence. The eldest young master Xu was not in a hurry. He carefully spread the painting flat on the table and slowly unfurled it bit by bit.
All eyes were drawn to it, and their gazes still held clear doubt. Lin Xiaotian actually gave such a precious painting to the eldest young master Xu so easily? While they harbored doubts, they also felt something was not quite right with Lin Xiaotian, though they couldn't pinpoint what it was.
The eldest young master Xu said with a half-smile, "If you don't believe it now, you can find some skilled appraisers to authenticate this painting and determine its authenticity."
"There's no need to deceive you. At least, as I said before, Lin Xiaotian wants to establish a cooperative relationship with us. The main point is that once this cooperation is established, we can acquire all the antiques and calligraphy paintings from Lin Xiaotian."
"Furthermore, we have our own techniques that allow us to divide those antiques and paintings into three parts. We can carefully piece together the Xuan paper, and for each piece of antique calligraphy and painting, we can sell it for three times the price."
"This matter is beneficial to us without any harm."
"I have already made such a great contribution to our family. Those who were previously nagging and complaining, you can continue now."
Many members of the Xu family's faces turned very ugly, especially his brothers, whose eyes flashed with anger, as if they wished they could cut him into a thousand pieces. The eldest young master Xu, however, became even more triumphant. The more angry those people looked, the happier he felt. It at least proved that he had truly infuriated them, and they were powerless to do anything about it.
He couldn't help but say, "I just love seeing you dislike me but unable to do anything about it. You wanted me to be cannon fodder, but you never expected me to accomplish something so significant, did you?"
"Now Lin Xiaotian only cooperates with me, and you can only obey my orders."
The Xu family patriarch let out a cold snort. "You've merely completed a small task. Stop being so smug. We need to discuss the follow-up to this matter."
"We wanted to trick some antiques from Lin Xiaotian, but now it seems Lin Xiaotian has too many good things. Merely tricking a small portion would be a huge loss for us."
"And we do have some precious antiques. Lin Xiaotian's artistic skills are so remarkable. There's no need to directly deceive Lin Xiaotian; we can exchange with him."
"Moreover, we only want the antiques and calligraphy paintings. After all, once those antiques and calligraphy paintings are truly divided into three, they can be sold for triple the price, and they won't be identified as fakes."
"This will neither damage our reputation nor bring us immense profits. This entire matter will be entrusted to you."
"Absolutely no mistakes are to be made, or you will not be forgiven."
Upon hearing this, the eldest young master Xu immediately stood up, his eyes filled with excitement. "Father, don't worry. I will handle this matter perfectly."
"However, since I've accomplished such a significant task, shouldn't I receive some reward?"
A faint smile appeared on the Xu family patriarch's face, and his gaze held a warning. "You are my son. Is it not your duty to contribute to our family?"
"The family has provided you with so many resources, and you are the eldest young master of the family. You should naturally put in all your effort for this family. However, your heart should not be chilled. After all, you have accomplished such a great deed; a reward is certainly in order."