Chapter 1383: Zhang Ye’s calligraphy ascends to the altar!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
It blew up online!
The Japanese were stunned!
The Koreans were stunned!
The Chinese were stunned!
All of Asia’s people were stunned!
“How much?”
“How much did he say?”
“100 million? USD?”
“That’s almost fucking 700 million RMB!”
“Fuck that shit! Isn’t that too much?”
“Even if this were an ancient masterpiece or an original manuscript of a calligraphy piece with historical value, $100 million USD is still not a practical price to pay for it. There has never been an item worth this in any of the past auctions! How can this ‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion’ measure up to those works? It was written just today! There is no history behind it! $100 million USD? Is this a joke? Is this calligraphy piece by Zhang Ye really worth such a price? Oh my God!”
“Even Master Wu’s calligraphy doesn’t command such a price!”
“What do mean by it doesn’t command such a price? That’s a far cry from this!”
“Yeah, Master Wu’s most treasured piece of calligraphy is probably only worth about 8 million RMB! Compared to 700 million RMB, that’s almost 100 times of that!”
“Goddammit, 100 times?”
“Wow, you’re right!”
“Miyamoto Shinshou’s work is lacking by far as well! It’s totally not on the same level of quality!”
“Modern calligraphers, including the living masters and those who have passed on, none of them can command such a price for their works. How is this just an astronomical price? It’s totally gone beyond that!”
“Zhang Ye is too awesome!”
“This result will shock all of Asia!”
“This fellow is too fearsome!”
“That was really some big-time face smacking that he dished out! It was a bruising blow!”
“I bet Master Miyamoto is in tears!”
“Master Miyamoto must have pissed his pants!”
“Yeah, who the fuck has seen a calligraphy piece fetch such a price?”
…
At Zhang Ye’s maternal grandma’s house.
Everyone was shouting for joy.
“Ahhh!”
“$100 million USD!”
“He’s on fire!”
“Our brother is on fire!”
…
At Zhang Xia’s house.
Her daughter was dumbfounded.
Zhang Xia inhaled sharply!
Her daughter said, “Mom, didn’t Teacher Zhang gift you a piece of calligraphy?”
Zhang Xia was startled. “I think so, I asked him for it.”
Her daughter suddenly became very excited and shouted anxiously, “Where is it? Where’d you put it?”
“Why?” Zhang Xia asked.
Her daughter anxiously said, “I’ll take it out and frame it!”
…
At Old Wu’s parents’ house.
“Changhe.”
“Ah!”
“Why is Little Ye’s calligraphy worth so much!”
“How the heck should I know!”
…
At Yao Jiancai’s house.
Yao Jiancai suddenly said, “Where’s the calligraphy that Zhang’er gave me?”
His wife was taken aback. “I put it away in a box, why?”
“In a box?” Yao Jiancai said angrily, “You ruinous woman! What if it gets creased or folded!?”
Yao Mi also said in a panic, “Mom, hurry up and take it out! Bring it out quickly! That will be our family heirloom from now on! Hurry, hurry, hurry!”
The three of them hurriedly rummaged through the boxes for it!
…
The outside world was in an uproar!
Everyone was shocked silly by this heaven-defying price that the calligraphy piece by Zhang Ye had fetched!
The people from the calligraphy world in Asia quickly went to check through the historical auction records and found to their surprise that the value of this “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion” was unprecedented!
$100 million USD!
This was the highest record set in an auction for a calligraphy piece in Asia!
This was the highest record set in an auction for a calligraphy piece in the world!
No other works came close!
“Preface to the Orchid Pavilion” was now the most expensive calligraphy work to have been sold in the entire world. Further, this calligraphy piece was not written by Master Wu, nor was it written by Master Miyamoto. It was actually written by the hands of a celebrity from the entertainment industry, a Chinese Heavenly King who was also a big shot A-lister in Asia!
This moment was bound to go down in the annals of history!
At this moment, Zhang Ye’s calligraphy work ascended to the altar!
At practically the same time the hammer fell, the various major trading and auction forums in Asia blew up. They were flooded with countless threads requesting the acquisition and purchase of some items!
On a Japanese painting and calligraphy trading and auction platform.
“Request to buy Zhang Ye’s calligraphy!”
“Who has any of Zhang Ye’s calligraphy? Buying for a high price!”
“Those with Zhang Ye’s calligraphy, please approach us. We guarantee that you’ll be satisfied with the price that we offer!”
On a Korean platform.
“Buying in for a high price!”
“Requesting Zhang Ye’s calligraphy, urgent!”
It was even more so in China.
“I remember that Zhang Ye has written many works, right?”
“Yeah, Yan Mei owns one of them herself!”
“Right, she requested it from Zhang Ye during the interview!”
“Who else is there?”
At this moment, Yan Mei posted onto Weibo the poem that Zhang Ye had gifted to her.
Immediately, a lot of people commented below it with their offers.
A Chinese toy company’s CEO: “Teacher Yan, are you selling it?”
A CEO from the food and drink industry: “Old Yan, quote a price!”
“1 million RMB!”
“I’ll offer 3 million!”
“5 million, deal?”
Although this piece wasn’t written in the semi-cursive script that Zhang Ye had just used at the charity auction, people still offered a high price for it. A lot of businesspeople and rich second generations were asking to buy it!
Central TV host Yan Mei was frightened by all these offers. Damn, they’re willing to pay so much? She quickly deleted the Weibo post and posted another one, saying: “I was just showing it off; it’s not for sale.”
Zhang Ye was on fire!
His calligraphy were also on fire!
In a flash, their prices were sent soaring!
There was even a shopping site that had people selling Zhang Ye’s autograph!
“Does anyone want to buy Zhang Ye’s autograph?”
“How much for it?”
“100,000!”
“What? 100,000 for a signature?”
“It’s Zhang Ye’s writing we’re talking about here!”
Everyone was speechless!
“Pfft!”
“Crazy, it has gotten way too crazy!”
“Zhang Ye’s words are practically worth a thousand taels now!”
“Aiya, if I had known, I would have ambushed Zhang Ye at his doorstep every day to get an autograph!”
…
Seoul.
At the venue of the charity auction.
Boss Han said sourly, “Congratulations, Old Qian.”
China’s richest man, Qian Haitao, laughed heartily and said, “Thanks!”
Boss Sun rolled his eyes. “Let’s have a viewing session at your place some time. Don’t you dare not let me look at it.”
Qian Haitao said, “Haha, thank you for giving in to me.”
It could be seen that Qian Haitao was in a very excited mood. He really loved this calligraphy piece so much that he was willing to spend however much it took to get it. He wasn’t short of money anyway. This was a national treasure! Even if it wasn’t that yet, it would definitely become one in the years to come! Therefore, this “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion” must never land in the hands of foreigners!
The Japanese businesspeople all had looks of pity on their faces!
The Korean businesspeople were also looking on in regret!
They had missed out on the opportunity to get their hands on the “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion”!
Over there.
The Chinese celebrity team.
Amy grabbed hold of Zhang Ye and said, “Lord Zhang, you’re so godly! That was simply too godly of you!”
Big Qi was also utterly convinced. “So your calligraphy is actually at such a high level!”
Li Xiaoxian said, “What an astronomical price that is!”
Xiaodong said, “Look, Teacher Zhang’s eyes have turned red. He must not have thought that his calligraphy would fetch such a price either.”
Amy said, “Yeah, Teacher Zhang must be touched to know that his calligraphy has finally been acknowledged by the world! Who wouldn’t feel excited if they were in his shoes?”
Excited?
Acknowledged?
Zhang Ye had tears flooding down his cheeks!
Excited, your sister!
Acknowledged, your sister!
As if this fellow’s eyes had reddened because of that. He was simply feeling the pinch!
$100 million USD!
It was $100 million USD!
Fuck your sister!
If I had known that it would sell for this much, I would have secretly written it at home and taken it to a commercial auction to sell, alright! I…As if I have nothing better to do than show off here!