Half an hour later, in an exhibition room of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
This is an exhibition hall located on the first floor of the museum, specially set aside for this identification and cleaning work.
At this time, Xiao Ran asked Nick and the others to move some of the stolen antique artworks into the exhibition hall to prepare for further cleanup.
What was cleaned this time were mainly paintings created by McCann himself.
Some of them are nothing unusual, just mediocre oil paintings.
But for other paintings, there is something else going on underneath, some stolen art hidden inside.
Xiao Ran knew which paintings contained secrets.
But he didn't point it out, but prepared to put on a show to make everything look more reasonable.
In addition, he has some small ideas.
They use these hidden stolen works of art to offer prices to museums and negotiate transaction terms.
In this exhibition hall, in addition to Peggy and Timothy, there are also Thomas, Pierre and others.
Although Thomas and the others do not belong to any one partner, they are all from top museums in the United States and are heavyweights in the field of cultural museums.
No matter Xiao Ran, Peggy or Frank, they must give these guys some face.
What's more, they are still Xiao Ran's main trading partners, and they cannot be turned away.
And Pierre and the others were able to enter this exhibition hall solely because of Xiao Ran.
Of course, the influence of the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, as well as the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, cannot be underestimated.
As for other museum representatives and people from all walks of life, including the Polish Ambassador and the Italian Cultural Counselor, they could only wait in the public rest area of the museum!
While talking, Xiao Ran, Timothy and the others walked into the exhibition hall with the last batch of paintings.
As soon as they came in, Sam immediately leaned over and whispered:
"Sean, there is news from the major crime team. The idiot who drove the heavy truck and tried to attack the convoy died before reaching the hospital."
"Before he died, the guy named a name and phone number. He was the person who paid him. The crime team has launched an investigation."
Next, he whispered the name.
Coincidentally, this is the same name as the guy Xiao Ran saw through clairvoyance at the intersection.
Apparently, the guy watching out at the intersection was the one who hired the truck driver.
There must be an invisible black hand hidden behind that guy.
After a pause, Xiao Ran whispered:
"Tell those guys from the Major Crime Unit later that I'll pay $500,000 to track down this guy."
"If those guys from the Major Crime Unit can find out who's behind the scenes, I'll reward you with an additional $500,000."
Before he finished speaking, Sam already laughed.
"Wow! With a reward of 1 million US dollars, the guys from the Major Crime Unit will definitely be crazy about it."
Xiao Ran smiled and nodded.
"This is what I want. Anyone who dares to plot against me will be chased to the end of the world. I will dig him out."
"Tell those guys from the Major Crime Unit that I'll only give them a week. If they can't complete their mission, I'll publicly offer a reward!"
"I know, I'll inform those guys"
Sam responded, and then began to report other situations.
"Sean, when are you going to meet with the Polish ambassador, cultural attaché and others?"
"In just a short time, those guys have already asked me several times."
Xiao Ran smiled softly, and then whispered:
"Let those guys wait in the public area for a while. I will go to the public area to meet them in about half an hour."
"Okay, Sean, I'll ask the guys outside to notify them."
Sam nodded in response and walked out of the exhibition hall.
Next, Xiao Ran directed Nick and the others to take out McCann's paintings from their painting bags and place them on the easels one by one.
After a while, the first batch of paintings that were taken out were all placed.
Everyone at the scene immediately rushed forward and began to look at the paintings, trying to find something.
Elaine, Fang Yufei and the others also came forward to look at the paintings, and kept communicating in low voices with Pierre and others.
Xiao Ran stayed behind to prepare for the next cleaning and appraisal work.
At this moment, the director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum suddenly walked over.
Coming closer, this guy immediately whispered:
"Sean, what you said yesterday about the transaction, we went back to discuss it."
"We consulted a lawyer, who suggested that we choose a transaction to get back half of the stolen antique art."
"In this case, we have decided to make a deal with you. We can find time to sit down and talk about the deal."
"In addition to several pieces of stolen antique art that originally belonged to our museum, we also plan to acquire several pieces of unowned stolen art."
"A lot of unowned and stolen antiques and art fell into your hands this time, and you also plan to use some of them for trading. We don't want to miss this opportunity."
Before he finished speaking, a hint of joy flashed in Xiao Ran's eyes.
There is no doubt that this is the result he most wants to see.
Although the Penn Museum is only a university museum, its scale is staggering, with a collection of millions of items.
Whether in the United States or around the world, it can be regarded as a top museum.
More importantly, the Penn Museum has a collection of many national treasure-level antiques and artworks from China.
These national treasures are Xiao Ran's trading targets.
After pretending to think for a moment, he smiled and nodded and said:
"Siggs, your choice is very wise. Only by trading with me can you get back all the stolen antiques and art."
"I do intend to trade part of the stolen antiques and art that fell into my hands in exchange for some of China's top antiques and art."
"As for which museum or collector to trade with, it depends on the price offered by each party. I will choose one party to trade with."
Hearing this, Siggs immediately rolled his eyes angrily.
What a cruel and cunning bastard, he has made it clear that he wants to kill everyone!
Although he knew that he was a pig and a sheep to be slaughtered, Sigus could only stick out his neck and wait for Xiao Ran to raise the knife and drop it!
After calming down a little, the guy just said:
"We are a university museum with limited funds and cannot spend much money to acquire top-notch antiques and artworks."
"Fortunately, our museum has a collection of many top-notch antiques and artworks from China, and we can exchange some of them."
"You happen to be interested in Chinese antiques and art. I believe we can reach an agreement."
After the words fell, Xiao Ran nodded immediately and said:
"That's right, I prefer China's top antiques to green dollars. That's my preferred trading condition."
Seggs nodded, then gritted his back molars and said:
"Let's talk about it. Are you interested in the Chinese antiques and artworks in our collection? Let's see if we can reach an agreement."
"Then you're welcome, Segus."
Xiao Ran smiled and nodded, and then issued the transaction conditions.
"Let's talk about the antiques and artworks stolen from your museum first. As for the antiques and artworks stolen without owners, it's too early to discuss the transaction now."
“Only when the clean-up and appraisal work is completed, the value and quantity of the ownerless stolen antiques and artworks are determined, and what items will be sold can we talk about the transaction.”
"As for the stolen antiques and artworks that have been discovered and originally belonged to your museum, if you want to take them all back, you need to exchange some Chinese antiques and artworks."
"I am determined to acquire two of the Six Horsemen of Zhaoling collected in your museum, the two important stone carvings of Sa Lu Zi and Quan Mao Zhi, as well as the Chen Zhang copper square pot from the middle period of the Warring States Period."
"In addition, there is "Spring Dawn" by Liu Songnian, a painter of the Southern Song Dynasty. As long as you take out these treasures, you can exchange for your stolen antiques."
"ah!"
Sigurs exclaimed and froze on the spot.
The guy's eyes widened and he stared at Xiao Ran, his teeth chattering.
After adjusting his mood a little, he shook his head firmly.
"Sean, you are too greedy and have a huge appetite. There is no way we will agree to your conditions."
"The pieces of Chinese antique art you want are the most important exhibits in the China Hall of our museum."
"If I exchange these treasures with you, our China Hall will definitely lose its luster. We cannot bear this result."
Xiao Ran looked at the angry museum director, smiled and said:
"Seghers, don't be so harsh with your words. Leave some room. You might as well think about it from the perspective of market value."
"Every piece of antique art stolen from your museum is of top quality and of astonishing value."
"The Mondrian painting and the Renoir painting must be worth more than 100 million U.S. dollars together."
"The overall value of the four top Chinese antique artworks I want is not that high, or even very different."
"For that matter, if we trade, I will be the loser, not your museum."
"You can think about it again. Whether you are willing to trade with me or not, the decision is yours. I will not force you."
"That's all I have to say. I'm going to do my work first. When you think about it, you can come to me to negotiate a deal."
With that said, Xiao Ran picked up the box at hand and walked towards Elaine and the others.
Looking at Sigers again, he was stunned.
This guy knew that in terms of market value, what Xiao Ran said was indeed correct.
But the value of an antique piece of art can never be measured by money alone.
The market value of some antique artworks is not high, but the historical and cultural research value is very high.
Especially the four treasures Xiao Ran just mentioned, each one has high historical and cultural research value.
From this perspective, the paintings of Mondrian and Renoir cannot even catch up with these four top Chinese antique works of art.
Thinking of this, Sigers suddenly fell into conflict and couldn't make a choice for a while!
Chen Zhang square teapot in the middle period of the Warring States Period
