Chu Chen smiled faintly. "That won't do. My original estimate was already rather conservative. If I bought it at this price now, people would criticize me behind my back."
After a moment's thought, he said, "How about three million? What do you think?"
There was a reason Chu Chen had named that price. For one thing, his original estimate really had not been very high. Given Zhao Ji's reputation, the painting that had sold for more than twenty-five million at the beginning of the year had actually gone quite cheaply. An estimate based on that price was indeed rather conservative.
Of course, looking at it another way, no matter how well this woodblock watercolor print had been made, it was ultimately still just a reproduction. If the value of the original was low, it could be estimated at one-tenth of the original's price. But if the original was highly valuable—for example, if it was worth a hundred million—then the print definitely could not be valued at one-tenth of that.
That was why Chu Chen had offered three million, a price that matched his expectations fairly well. As for whether it was expensive, that depended on the individual. The value of antiques had never been easy to define. In any case, Chu Chen certainly would not lose out.
For example, if Chu Chen sold this painting right now, his reputation alone would attract buyers willing to pay four million, let alone three million. If he used Old Liu's name, the price would be even higher. And that was only in an ordinary setting. If it went to auction with such an interesting angle, the final selling price would be even harder to estimate.
Of course, the reason Chu Chen had suddenly raised the price so much was also that he needed