Li You was stunned, but also incredibly excited.
But the gift was so valuable that he felt a bit awkward accepting it.
"Ancient, this painting is too valuable. Are you really giving it to me?"
Guyi nodded and smiled. "A painting is a gift for the one destined to have it. Just accept it, Boss. As for its value, if someone likes it, it has value. If someone doesn’t like it, then it’s worthless. So, there’s no such thing as being too valuable."
Hearing Guyi say this, Li You laughed and said, "Then I’ll gladly accept."
Guyi nodded.
Li You added, "Ancient, since you’ve given me this painting, can I sell it?"
As soon as he said this, everyone present was completely stunned.
Even if the boss wanted to sell the painting, he couldn’t just ask Guyi so bluntly!
How could Guyi not get angry at a question like that?
If he got angry, he’d take the painting back on the spot, and the boss would be left empty-handed.
The customers all thought Guyi would definitely get angry, or at the very least be a little displeased.
However, Guyi simply smiled faintly and said, "Of course. Since it’s been given to you, you can do whatever you want with it."
He didn’t seem the least bit displeased.
The customers were a little surprised, but on second thought, it didn’t seem so surprising after all.
They were beginning to understand the depth of Guyi’s enlightenment.
Li You laughed heartily and said, "Ancient is generous!"
Of course, Li You wasn’t really planning to sell the painting; he was just joking.
He knew Guyi wouldn’t get angry.
Of course, he did briefly wonder if he could actually sell the painting.
He could take it to an auction house.
Once auctioned, it would fetch at least ten million, conservatively speaking.
’Who wouldn’t be tempted by that much money?’
However, Li You quickly dismissed the idea.
For him and his restaurant, the painting’s value truly couldn’t be measured in money.
Ten million was certainly tempting, but he was already earning several thousand, or even over ten thousand, a day.
At that rate, earning ten million would only take three to five years.
Besides, he was growing more and more fond of running his restaurant here.
So, Li You had only entertained the thought for a moment; there was no way he would actually sell it.
Seeing Li You speak this way, all the customers present suddenly understood. The boss wasn’t actually going to sell the painting.
He was just joking with Guyi.
Moreover, he knew Guyi wouldn’t get angry.
It seemed the boss understood Guyi better than they did.
The customers felt a wave of emotion and then went back to looking at the painting.
No matter how long they looked, they couldn’t get enough of it.
Seeing this, Li You said, "I’ll have this painting framed and keep it on display in the restaurant. Everyone is welcome to come and admire it anytime."
After hearing this, the customers all cheered in agreement.
When it came to framing paintings, Ling Xiaoru was an expert.
Li You said to Ling Xiaoru, "Miss Xiaoru, could I trouble you to get this framed for me?"
Ling Xiaoru was a bit surprised. "A painting this valuable... Boss, are you sure you trust me to take it to be framed?"
Li You nodded. "Of course."
He felt at ease because he knew Ling Xiaoru would cherish the painting just as much as he did.
Ling Xiaoru smiled. "Then I would be more than willing."
Li You said, "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Miss Xiaoru."
Ling Xiaoru replied, "It’s no trouble at all."
The group continued to admire the painting. After the ink was completely dry, Li You carefully rolled it up.
He would keep it safe for now and give it to Ling Xiaoru when she left.
At that moment, Guyi bid farewell to everyone.
He was leaving.
Not just the restaurant, but Wenxian Town itself.
Li You and the customers were all quite reluctant to see him go.
"Ancient, you’re not staying for a couple more days? You’ve hardly had any of my wine," Li You said.
Guyi smiled. "I’m only leaving for now. I might come back anytime in the future. I’ll definitely be back often for the boss’s wine and food."
Hearing Guyi say this, Li You and the customers felt relieved.
As long as he would be back often, that was all that mattered. In that case, they wouldn’t insist on him staying this time.
Li You then said, "Let me fill a jug of wine for you then, Ancient. You can drink it on the road."
Guyi chuckled. "I was just about to ask the boss for some wine to take with me. You beat me to it."
Li You laughed and added, "Ancient, you could take this whole jar of wine if you wanted!"
Guyi said, "If I could carry it, I’d definitely be tempted. But unfortunately, I can’t. Never mind, just one jug will do. It doesn’t have to be too big—one that holds eighty or a hundred pounds will do."
This made Li You and all the customers roar with laughter.
Everyone knew Guyi was joking.
Guyi was traveling alone; carrying eighty to a hundred pounds of wine would be far too heavy.
In the end, Li You filled a ten-pound jug with wine.
This weight was more appropriate.
There were also about forty braised chicken feet left over, so Li You packed them all up for Guyi to eat on his journey.
Other dishes weren’t convenient to eat on the road, but the braised chicken feet were perfect.
Guyi laughed heartily and didn’t refuse.
After taking the wine and the chicken feet, Guyi officially said his goodbyes.
Li You and the customers walked Guyi to the parking lot.
A taxi from the county town was already waiting there.
Guyi had already arranged for the taxi at noon.
Guyi got into the taxi.
Amid everyone’s farewells, the taxi slowly drove away.
Afterward, the customers continued to talk about what had just happened.
Even now, the customers were still buzzing with excitement.
Ling Xiaoru walked up to Li You and said, "Boss, now that you have Ancient’s painting, if you don’t want to hang mine anymore, you can take it down."
Ling Xiaoru was being considerate, thinking that now that Li You had Guyi’s painting, he might not want to display hers anymore but would be too embarrassed to take it down, afraid of hurting her feelings.
So she took the initiative to say it was okay to stop hanging her painting.
Li You shook his head. "I wasn’t thinking that at all. I think your painting is very good too. Besides, it’s a painting that Guyi personally commented on, which also makes it very valuable and meaningful."
"Really?"
Ling Xiaoru was very happy to hear Li You say that.
Li You smiled. "Of course, it’s true. Your painting has considerable value and significance now. Also, I have you to thank for giving it to me. If it weren’t for your painting, Ancient might not have been inspired to paint today."
Ling Xiaoru was even happier. However, she believed that Guyi’s inspiration to paint today had little to do with her painting.
So she said, "Ancient was inspired to paint today mainly because of the boss’s fine wine and food, as well as everyone’s enthusiasm. You can tell from the fact that he included the restaurant and all of us drinking and laughing together in the painting. It doesn’t have much to do with my painting."
Li You said, "It definitely played a part. It was the combination of everything that put Ancient in the mood to paint."
Ling Xiaoru added, "Maybe a little, but really not much."
Li You laughed. "Let’s not get hung up on it. The point is, we were all lucky today."
Ling Xiaoru nodded. "Definitely."
The customers chatted in the parking lot for a long time before saying goodbye to Li You and leaving.
And as they returned to town, the news that Guyi had painted a picture of Jiulong Gorge live in Li You’s restaurant quickly spread.
More people found it hard to believe, and then they were kicking themselves, regretting that they had missed an unparalleled visual feast.
’Why on earth didn’t we go to Jiulong Gorge Restaurant for lunch today?’
’What a terrible shame!’
...