Hearing Antoine mention and inquire about the whereabouts of the two missing Old Summer Palace beast heads, Xiao Ran's eyes immediately flashed with surprise.
The next moment, his tone was very relaxed.
"Did you find out about the two missing animal heads from the Old Summer Palace? This is indeed surprising and good news."
"Tell me, Antoine, which two animal heads did you ask about?"
Hearing his tone, Antoine was suddenly confused.
In Antoine's impression, the Chinese people attach great importance to the twelve animal heads of the Old Summer Palace and regard them as national treasures!
As long as the heads of the twelve beasts from the Old Summer Palace appear on the market, Chinese buyers will flock to them, buy them at all costs, and then take them home.
Even if he breaks the rules of the international auction market and is blacklisted by all major auction houses, he will not hesitate!
But Xiao Ran's current behavior doesn't seem to be the case.
After being stunned for a moment, Antoine responded.
"Sean, what I found are two statues of a chicken head and a sheep head. It is said that they are both in very good condition."
Xiao Ran smiled softly and then continued:
"The chicken head and the sheep head are indeed two animal heads whose whereabouts are unknown. It seems that my guess is correct. They have been hidden in the hands of some people in France."
"Where are they specifically and in whose hands are they? Is the other party willing to trade them and what is the price?"
"If the price is reasonable, I would be happy to purchase these two Yuanmingyuan animal heads. What if the asking price is too high?"
Antoine was stunned again, and then responded:
"I can't tell you the detailed information about these two Yuanmingyuan animal heads for now. If nothing else happens, you will be able to see these two treasures tomorrow."
"What I can tell you is that the two sellers are asking very high prices. One wants to trade in cash, while the other is not opposed to exchanging Western antiques and art."
"But from what you said, it seems that you don't attach much importance to these two animal heads. This is different from what I know. It seems that the attitude is different from other Chinese people!"
The next moment, Xiao Ran chuckled and said:
"Those two sellers may be disappointed. I may not be able to give them a price that satisfies them, but I am willing to see the condition of these two animal heads before I say anything."
"As for why my attitude towards Yuan Mingyuan's twelve animal heads is different from that of most Chinese people, and why it is different from that of many Chinese collectors, it is actually easy to explain."
"The Twelve Beast Heads of the Old Summer Palace are red bronze statues cast during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. They were originally just twelve faucets of a fountain in the Old Summer Palace. Although they were beautifully cast, there were no inscriptions on them."
"Compared with the exquisite bronzes engraved with large numbers of inscriptions in ancient China, the cultural value of the twelve Yuanmingyuan animal heads is not high. The reason why they are valued by the Chinese is entirely because of the historical stories behind them."
"From this point of view, their market value is not much higher. After the hype boom in previous years, people are now much more rational, so the price I give will not be too high. Just go with the market!"
"ah!"
Antoine exclaimed, but there was a bit of disappointment in his tone.
From this alone, Xiao Ran could tell instantly.
In all likelihood, the chicken heads and sheep heads were in this guy's hands, and they were secretly purchased by him.
I am going to use these two treasures as bargaining chips to get some advantage from Xiao Ran.
But Xiao Ran's indifferent attitude was unexpected, so he was a little disappointed.
Next, Xiao Ran continued to joke and chat with this guy.
During the chat, he didn't mention the two Old Summer Palace animal heads again, and mainly talked about tomorrow's transaction.
When he hung up the phone, he waved his fist vigorously.
He is bound to get these two twelve beast heads from the Old Summer Palace that have just appeared!
If it cannot be traded from Antoine tomorrow, then some other means can only be used.
Even if you use unattractive means like robbing or stealing, it's not impossible!
What he didn't tell Antoine just now is that every Chinese hopes to wash away the shame in history, and he is no exception!
It is a very symbolic thing to collect the twelve animal heads of the Old Summer Palace that were looted by the British and French forces and return them to their homeland and return to the Old Summer Palace!
For this symbolic meaning, Xiao Ran didn't mind robbing Antoine at all and directly snatched back the two animal heads.
Why is the Yuan Mingyuan animal head in France? Because they were snatched by the French more than a hundred years ago!
There is nothing wrong with snatching it back now, this is called retribution!
Thinking of this, a sneer flashed across Xiao Ran's eyes.
Immediately afterwards, he casually started dialing Anthony's number.
I saw that Xiao Ran called instead of using the intercom to notify.
Anthony immediately realized that there was a special mission this time.
The guy paused for a moment before answering the phone.
"Sean, there is no one else around me. You can tell me if you have anything to say."
The next moment, Xiao Ran whispered:
"Antoine, ask the technicians to check the whereabouts of Arnaud's eldest son, Antoine, over the past few days, as well as other relevant information."
"If our technical staff can't find it, then you can contact that guy Turner and ask him to use the CIA's connections to check it out."
"After finding out Antoine's whereabouts, don't take any action. Just give me the relevant information. This matter must be kept strictly confidential."
"Understood, boss"
Anthony responded.
Afterwards, Xiao Ran hung up the phone.
Fang Yufei, who was sitting next to her and had been holding her breath for a long time, could no longer restrain her curiosity and asked excitedly:
"Xiao Ran, I just heard you say on the phone that Antoine of the Arnault family found two animal heads from the Old Summer Palace. Are they true or false? They are national treasure-level antiques!"
Xiao Ran looked at her, then smiled and nodded.
"It should be true. Those who snatched the twelve animal heads from the Old Summer Palace were the French troops who invaded our country."
"So, the most likely place where the four missing Yuanmingyuan animal heads exist is in France."
"With the strength and influence of the Arnault family in France, it is obviously much easier than me to find the four hidden animal heads."
"The result is that Antoine did find two missing animal heads, and these two animal heads are probably in his hands."
Hearing this, Fang Yufei immediately beamed with joy.
"It's great. If we can get back two Yuanmingyuan animal heads at once, it will definitely cause a huge sensation in the country."
"The twelve animal heads of the Old Summer Palace have now become a symbol, but I think you don't seem to care much about these two national treasures?"
Xiao Ran complained angrily.
"I was acting, okay? The purpose was to make that guy Antoine think that I didn't really care about these two Old Summer Palace beast heads."
"Only in this way can I get these two national treasure-level antiques at a lower price. I don't want to be killed by this guy."
After hearing this, Fang Yufei and Yi Lian suddenly realized.
"So that's it. You're such a thief and your acting is really good."
"That's right, even if we have been deceived, we can definitely deceive that guy Antoine."
Xiao Ran smiled proudly, and then began to tell Elaine the story about the twelve zodiac animals in the Old Summer Palace.
More than an hour later, Anthony knocked on the door and entered the suite.
He collected Antoine's whereabouts over the past few days, call records, some mansions in Paris and France, and even several residences where female stars were kept, and sent them all over.
After getting these things, Xiao Ran quickly flipped through them without saying anything else.
At noon, Lawrence brought people to the hotel.
Xiao Ran invited this old friend to have an authentic Chinese meal and discuss the transaction at the Musee d'Orsay tomorrow.
In the afternoon, he went to the Louvre on the other side of the river.
We went to the underground vault of the Louvre with Henry, looked at the treasures discovered yesterday, and discussed the disposal plan.
