The Tyrant Billionaire

Entering a commercial street art shop, the shopkeeper, a middle aged man in his forties, nodded politely upon seeing Hardy enter.

Hardy looked around the shop himself.

European furniture, silver jewelry, various art works, and in one corner, Hardy spotted several oil paintings.

There are two large paintings and three small ones. One painting depicted what looked like Florence in the Renaissance era, while the other portrayed an ancient Venetian row ship.

The three small ones were exquisitely made, featuring images of a few people that looked like families.

"Do you like these oil paintings of Italy?" the shopkeeper asked, noticing Hardy had been staring at the two large paintings for quite some time.

"What are the prices for these oil paintings?" Hardy inquired.

"These two are $2900 each, and the three small ones are $1800 each," the shopkeeper replied.

"That's quite pricey," Hardy remarked, comparing the prices to those he had seen in New York, finding them significantly higher.

"Just look at their exquisite details. These are rare treasures originating from the early Renaissance era, by the artist Filippo Brunelleschi. They used to be the treasures of an Italian businessman who moved recently to the US, I've had them examined, and the painting oil used on them is over three hundred years old," the shopkeeper explained enthusiastically, sensing Hardy's interest.

Hardy examined the bottom of the two large paintings and indeed found the signature on them with the name of Filippo Brunelleschi. He also received the paper of authentication from the shop keeper indicating the age of the painting oil used, as well as the fine pattern known as craquelure that only appears on old paintings.

"I'll offer $1900 for each of the two large paintings. If you agree, I'll take them both," Hardy negotiated.

The shopkeeper immediately shook his head. "No, that's too low of an offer."

The two engaged in bargaining for over ten minutes, finally settling on a price. Both compromised, agreeing on a total of $5000.

They shook hands, sealing the deal.

As the shopkeeper went to the back to fetch boxes for packing, two girls entered the art shop. One had brown hair and was tall and slender, while the other was about 165 centimeters tall and had a beautiful face and long black hair.

In this life or the last, Hardy had seen countless girls, but the black haired girl before him could be counted among the most beautiful.

Her skin was tender, and her appearance was stunning.

Hardy couldn't help but steal a few more glances.

The girl noticed Hardy and, mistaking him for the shopkeeper, nodded politely in greeting. Hardy smiled and nodded back.

The girl's gaze swept over the items in the art shop, finally settling on the five oil paintings that Hardy had just checked. She walked over to examine them closely.

After a while, she turned to Hardy and asked, "Shopkeeper, how much are these oil paintings?"

Hardy thought to himself that the girl had misunderstood him, but found it rather amusing.

He stepped forward to stand beside the girl and pointed to the oil paintings saying, "These two are $2900 each, the three small ones are $1800 each."

The girl nodded and then looked back at the paintings. She liked each one very much, but she didn't have enough money to buy all of them. She reluctantly decided to only purchase one.

The rest had to be given up.

Feeling reluctant, she thought she could at least take a longer look.

Hardy stood just over a meter away from the girl, and when she tilted her head slightly, she looked exceptionally cute.

Finally, she moved her gaze away from the paintings and pointed to one of the two paintings that Hardy just bought, asking, "Shopkeeper, could you lower the price for this one? I'm willing to pay $2600."

The girl looked up at Hardy.

Hardy immediately shifted his gaze away from the girl.

Being caught felt impolite.

"Do you like this paintings? Do you know its origin?" Hardy asked.

The girl thought for a moment before replying, "This should be one of Mr. Filippo Brunelleschi's paintings from the Renaissance era."

"How can you tell it's really from the Renaissance era and not fake?" Hardy asked curiously. After all, he had seen the authentication paper the shopkeeper showed him, but this girl didn't, she just examined it for a while and concluded it was genuinely from the Renaissance era.

"This canvas on the surface, as well as the darkening of the canvas at the bottom, and the back of the paintings..., are sufficient to show its a genuine master piece." The girl answered honestly.

"What is the darkening of the canvas?" Hardy asked, puzzled, looking at the oil painting and not seeing any dark spots.

The girl extended her finger and pointed out the patterns on the painting to Hardy. As Hardy leaned in to look, they ended up so close that their breaths were almost audible.

Just then, the middle aged shopkeeper returned with two boxes in hand. Seeing the girl talking to Hardy, he said, "I found the boxes, I'll help you pack."

With that, he went to fetch the two large paintings Hardy had bought.

Elena paused, turned to Hardy, and asked, "Aren't you the shopkeeper?"

Hardy smiled.

"I'm here to buy oil paintings."

Seeing the shopkeeper packing the painting, the girl blinked her eyes in surprise and asked Hardy, "Did you buy this one?" pointing her finger to the one she just wanted to buy.

The shopkeeper, hearing this, chuckled and replied, "That's right, this gentleman bought both paintings of Mr. Filippo Brunelleschi. Miss, what would you like to buy?"

The girl hesitated for a moment.

"I also want to buy that one," she said.

The shopkeeper was somewhat surprised. These paintings were expensive, and from a somewhat unknown artist, people rarely buy such items, and today, suddenly, there were two customers interested. It was quite strange.

Knowing that the painting had already been bought, Elena didn't insist. She walked to the counter to look at other items. In the glass case on the counter, she found beautiful silver earrings.

"Shopkeeper, how much are these silver earrings?" the girl asked.