Chapter 521: Investment with a Hundredfold Appreciation Potential

"Alright, put them here. Be careful!"

Back at Huashang Bank, Xia Yu carefully took out each antique from the boxes and placed or hung them in appropriate locations.

After finishing the arrangement, Xia Yu wandered around the office casually, observing everything a few times, and finally showed a satisfied smile.

"Xia Yu, with your arrangement, the level of the office has instantly improved."

Wu Hongyi also took a look around and said with a smile.

"Haha!"

"Come, try the tea brewed from this Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain teapot."

As Xia Yu spoke, he first rinsed the teapot and teacups with hot water, then took out a can of Tieguanyin tea from Hong Kong, scooped a small spoonful with a wooden tea scoop, and put it into the teapot to brew the tea.

Soon, all four teacups were filled with crystal-clear hot tea. Xia Yu invited Wu Hongyi, Li Qian, and Li Wuming to enjoy the tea together.

This was the first time Li Qian used such teacups. She carefully picked one up, gently blew away the steam, and, mimicking scenes from historical dramas, used the lid to scrape the rim of the cup before taking a small sip.

"Xia Yu, drinking tea like this feels so interesting!"

Li Qian blinked her sparkling eyes, exclaiming in amazement.

Seeing Li Qian's genuine delight, Xia Yu smiled and also took a sip of tea.

"Good tea!"

"Xia Yu, this tea is great. I didn't expect you to have such fine tea! It tastes better than the treasured tea my grandfather kept, and that's already something. My tea is nothing compared to this, it's practically spoiled water!"

Wu Hongyi, who was also knowledgeable about tea, sniffed it before sipping and smacked his lips in admiration.

Xia Yu smiled and said, "This tea was a gift from someone. It's picked from the famous Tieguanyin tea tree in Huaxia, and I heard it's tea that leaders drink. A friend brought it back from Huaxia last year. He gave me two small cans, and this can is for you!"

Saying this, Xia Yu placed the tea can in front of Wu Hongyi.

"Really? Tea that leaders drink? Wow!"

Wu Hongyi's eyes widened as he took another sip, seemingly discovering more flavors.

"Indeed. I still have a can in my estate, so don't be polite."

Seeing that Xia Yu wasn't lying, Wu Hongyi smiled broadly and carefully took the tea can, saying happily, "Then I won't be polite."

"There's no need to be polite between us."

After drinking a few sips of tea, Xia Yu asked, "Hongyi, what's the story with the Treasure Pavilion? You need to explain it to me."

Wu Hongyi gently put down his teacup, exhaled a breath of warm air, and looked a bit absent-minded as he said, "There is indeed some history behind it. Let me explain it to you."

"At the beginning of this century, during the turmoil of the Qing Dynasty, Mr. Hua's family was still relatively well-off. Due to certain reasons, Mr. Hua's parents settled in England when he was young. They opened the Treasure Pavilion because of their excellent skills. The porcelain they made was exquisite and was highly sought after by the British."

"Mr. Hua learned his parents' craft from a young age. If not for unforeseen circumstances, he would have greatly advanced the craft of making antiques. However, accidents happened."

"You know, from the Tang and Song dynasties until now, countless antique cultural relics have ended up abroad, mostly in Europe. When Mr. Hua was young, he visited the British Museum and saw our Huaxia relics displayed there, which he found humiliating. From a young age, he vowed to spend his life's effort to retrieve relics from the hands of foreigners."

"Mr. Hua's parents supported his ambition and invited several masters to teach him. Mr. Hua was diligent and talented, and he ventured into various kinds of antiques. He then began to practice his craft."

"Many British nobles and wealthy families have antique collections, including items from Huaxia. Some noble families, when falling on hard times, would sell their assets, and Mr. Hua would go to acquire them, or he would find bargains in the countryside."

"Although Huaxia antiques were not valued highly in Britain, they still had some value due to their age. While antiques from rural families could be bought at extremely low prices, antiques from British nobles were not cheap. Acquiring antiques from nobles required a lot of funds."

"The income from the Treasure Pavilion's craft items could not support Mr. Hua's dream, so he changed his approach, selling part of the antiques he acquired to raise funds and then buying more antiques from the British. However, if the antiques sold went back into the hands of foreigners, it would contradict his ambition. Hence, he established a rule: not selling to foreigners and only selling to Huaxia people, with the additional requirement that buyers also must not sell to foreigners!"

"Of course, initially, there were those who broke their promises. Mr. Hua, after discovering this, learned from experience. He couldn't ensure that everyone would keep their promises, but he could try to sell antiques to Huaxia people who were more likely to honor their commitments. Generally, the more powerful and wealthy Huaxia families and individuals were less likely to sell antiques, unless they were on the verge of ruin. Thus, Mr. Hua welcomed every sincere collector and established good connections with them. Our Wu family has bought hundreds of antiques from Mr. Hua over the years, and my grandfather is an old friend of Mr. Hua."

"Mr. Hua has operated this way for decades, traveling through Britain and then to other European countries, using every means possible to acquire antiques. That's how the collection we see today in the Treasure Pavilion was accumulated."

"In the Huaxia community, almost everyone has heard of Mr. Hua's reputation and admires his ambition. When they have some spare money to buy antiques, they often turn to Mr. Hua. So far, there hasn't been a single report of Mr. Hua selling a fake item to Huaxia people, and the prices he charges are not too high."

"On the other hand, Mr. Hua sells craft items at high prices to foreigners, never selling antiques. Foreigners do not understand the profound culture of Huaxia and tend to focus only on the surface, preferring bright and colorful crafts."

Wu Hongyi finished explaining in one breath, his expression complex as he took a deep drink from his teacup.

After hearing Wu Hongyi's account, Xia Yu and the others were deeply shocked and moved by Mr. Hua's great ambition and noble national spirit. He was a commendable and admirable elder.

At this moment, Xia Yu felt a sense of shame for his earlier idea of taking advantage of the situation.

Just then, Wu Hongyi suddenly sighed and said, "It's a pity that Mr. Hua has no successor. His only son passed away unexpectedly. Last time he talked with my grandfather, he was worried that no one would inherit his ambition after he's gone."

Xia Yu was silent. Suddenly, he thought of Uncle De, whom he saw in the store earlier today. He frowned and asked, "Isn't Uncle De, who was in the store this afternoon, Mr. Hua's disciple?"

Wu Hongyi nodded and explained, "Uncle De is indeed Mr. Hua's disciple, but Mr. Hua said that Uncle De's skills are not yet perfected, and with Uncle De's connections, he cannot inherit his business. Mr. Hua is not at ease."

"We Huaxia people also try to help Mr. Hua as much as possible. When we have spare money, we buy antiques to provide Mr. Hua with more funds to acquire antiques from the British."

"But you know, although antiques have collectible value, if one's own business is not doing well, there's no way to have enough spare money to collect antiques."

"If I had enough capital, I would definitely buy as many of Mr. Hua's collections as possible, but unfortunately, I don't have it!"

Wu Hongyi sighed and then suddenly said to Xia Yu, "But Xia Yu, our strength is limited. If you have enough spare money, you could buy all of Mr. Hua's collection. He definitely wouldn't mind and would be grateful."

Based on Xia Yu's performance this afternoon, Wu Hongyi had guessed a bit of Xia Yu's thoughts, which is why he said this.

Wu Hongyi's suggestion astonished Xia Yu.

However, upon reflection, it did make sense. After all, Mr. Hua's ambition was to buy as many antiques from the British as possible. If Xia Yu bought everything and ensured not to sell to foreigners, it would align with Mr. Hua's rules.

At this moment, Xia Yu's sense of shame was completely replaced by a surge of ideas.

After all, Xia Yu knew how Huaxia's future strength would develop. Despite being looked down upon by Western countries now, which leads them to think Huaxia's cultural relics have no investment value.

This view is held not only by Western capitalists but also by some Huaxia people. No one could have imagined that in just a few decades, Huaxia would grow from being a world-ranked economy to the second-largest economy, with Huaxia people buying up everything globally.

In the future, countless Western families would auction Huaxia relics one by one, with many fetching astronomical prices! So now, collecting antiques, in a few decades, could appreciate a hundredfold!

It's definitely an excellent investment direction!

It's just that people

 of this era can't see it.

If they knew Huaxia's antiques could appreciate dozens to hundreds of times, would they still say they don't have money? They might even abandon their foundations to invest all in antiques.

Saying there's no money ultimately means not recognizing the value of collecting antiques.

But others might not recognize the value of antiques, but Xia Yu, coming from the future, certainly does.

Listening to Wu Hongyi's recount of Mr. Hua's deeds, Xia Yu was deeply moved and felt a surge of heroism in his chest.

As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. Since he has the strength and investing in antiques is a project he has long considered as a sure profit, there is no reason not to find ways to acquire more antiques from Western countries.

Moreover, the loss of Huaxia relics to the West is not only due to trade reasons during the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties but also because Western robbers looted Huaxia's land in the late Qing Dynasty, openly displaying them in museums for people to view. This is a humiliation for every Huaxia person!

While it's hard to retrieve antiques from museums, Huaxia relics scattered among Western civilians should be brought back as much as possible. Now is the best time; otherwise, after Huaxia rises, the prices of relics will skyrocket, making it increasingly difficult!

So, helping with Mr. Hua's cause is something he's determined to do!