Riding the wind of rebirth

"Then I will be a real villain for once." Luo Qianhe said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou took He Shaoji's calligraphy couplets. This booklet is considered as a gift. Should I pay by credit card or fill in a check?"

"We have a debit card from this city. Is there a POS machine in the store?"

Luo Qianhe took out the POS machine with a smile: "Doing business in Shanghai is impossible without this."

At present, major banks across the country are still "trialing" universal deposits and withdrawals in cities, which is quite troublesome.

Shanghai is the first big city to implement full coverage of deposits and withdrawals. At least here, the city’s “one-stop card” for large transactions can be realized.

The reason why credit cards and checks are not used is actually because these two things rely on personal credit, but Zhou Zhi's age makes it difficult for the seller to rest assured.

So Zhou Zhi simply transferred the money to Jiang Shuyi's savings card and swiped her card.

He Shaoji was a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, and the couplets of famous officials and celebrities in the Qing Dynasty have more than doubled in the past two years. Things that could be bought for a few thousand yuan in the past are now sold for 30,000 yuan, or just over 20,000 yuan at a 30% discount.

Several aunts had been lingering in the store unwilling to leave. Now that Jiang Shuyi actually took out his card and swiped it, they felt like they had watched the last episode of a TV series and left with satisfaction.

I think they will have another story to tell their families tonight.

Zhou Zhi was equally satisfied. Among the items he took over from Mr. Wang before, there was a couplet of He Shaoji.

However, that painting was a work in running script, which did not fully reflect He Shaoji's calligraphy style of "following the Qin and Han Dynasties and visiting the Six Dynasties" in his later years, advocating the ancient and upholding simplicity, and this one in official script is very typical.

As for that album, although the paintings of modern and contemporary painters are now very valuable, they are not serious calligraphers, so what they casually wrote on the letterhead is hardly valued now and has little value.

It can also be seen from this that this thing is really a private collection collected by Luo Qianhe himself. Giving it to Zhou Zhi is a fitting thank you because he knows Zhou Zhi's personality and character.

He could pick up and miss millions of things, but he let him go just because of his kind words, and he also came with an appraisal opinion worth tens of thousands. Such a person is a bit like "treating money like dirt". Luo Qianhe knew that he would definitely value her. The value of this private collection that is not worth anything now.

However, Zhou Zhi also knows what this album will look like in another twenty or thirty years, because among all the works of celebrities, the writing is the most lively and casual, and the "creative method" that best reflects their calligraphy style and personal personality.

For example, Yan Zhenqing's "Manuscripts of Memorials to My Nephew", Wang Xizhi's "Aunt's Tie", and Wang Xianzhi's "Yatou Wan Tie" are all of this type.

It can even be said that these works record the state of mind of the calligrapher at that time. If the mood, environment, and age change, even if you ask the calligraphers to rewrite it themselves, they will no longer be able to show the effect of the original post.

At present, most collectors in China have not yet reached this level of appreciation. Therefore, when pursuing collections, they often consider the fame of the author, the large format of the work, and even the major exhibitions they have participated in. Regarding the artistic level of the work itself, the requirement is at the bottom of the list.

But this situation will eventually change as the level of national appreciation increases. By that time, the short vertical characters of Zheng Banqiao and Qi Baishi will be worth millions.

However, Zhou Zhi felt a little embarrassed and said to Luo Qianhe: "I will soon go to Suzhou to visit some famous jade carving masters. Could you please Uncle Luo to recommend some interesting carvings to me?" "From our store." There are many types of jade, from the earliest Liangzhu period to modern handicrafts, there are probably no less than tens of thousands of pieces." Luo Qianhe said: "I just don't know what price I want, what era, and do I have any requirements for craftsmanship and themes?"

The deal was concluded, and the two had already established a preliminary friendship. Luo Qianhe once again replied to Zhou Zhi with the earliest title, but unlike the previous casualness, this time it was an expression of intimacy.

"I want two or three unique pieces that can reflect the ancient jade carving craftsmanship, and preferably have something to do with Suzhou jade carving." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "As for the subject matter, I don't have any specific requirements."

"If it is related to Suzhou jade carvings," Luo Qianhe thought for a moment: "then there is no need to consider the Zhanhan stuff. It has to start from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It cannot be the Zigang brand."

"However, the Zigang brand in the Ming Dynasty is extremely expensive, and the ones in the Qing Dynasty are better, but not cheap either." Luo Qianhe said: "If you don't consider the Zigang signature, there are more choices."

"It would be great if I could take a look at them all." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "Even if you can't afford it, it's good to be able to feast your eyes on it. In fact, I just want something with exquisite craftsmanship. As for whether it has Zigang's signature, it doesn't matter. It doesn’t matter.”

"Then come with me." Luo Qianhe called a teller to take his place: "See, these have to go to the warehouse. We usually don't put them on the counter."

The price of ancient jade has never been high, because the country has long banned its flow overseas. Cultural relics stores mainly sell cultural relics to external parties, so they basically keep the jade in the warehouse. Only a small number of items have been identified as after 1911. Displayed on the counter.

After passing many checkpoints, the three of them arrived at the warehouse behind the cultural relics store. Zhou Zhi vaguely felt that Luo Qianhe's identity might not be as simple as the rehired staff he said, because the staff he met along the way respected him very much. For him to bring Zhou Zhi and Jiang Shuyi into the warehouse, the procedure was relatively simple, with only one more person accompanying them.

"This is a new friend I made today." Luo Qianhe said: "He is mainly here to buy some carvings that reflect Su Gong. Xiao Wang, please take out the Zigang brand collection in our store and show it to him. "

The staff member named Xiao Wang heard this and went to pick up the things. Luo Qianhe added: "Let me take a look at the dozen or so things we sent to the capital for display during the Spring Festival."

After a while, Xiao Wang pushed a small cart over. There were two labeled boxes on the trolley. Each box had two locks. He and Luo Qianhe opened one and unlocked the layer of jade custom-made inside. The purple velvet plate was taken out.

The utensils on the first plate are all relatively regular, with similar sizes and interests. They are jade tablets with carvings and a rectangular shape as a whole.

The jade tablets are slightly thick, with a width of about four centimeters, a height of about six centimeters, and a thickness of generally five to six millimeters. The first part is mostly hollow, with images of two dragons playing with beads, wishful decapitation, flowers, bats, auspicious animals, chimes and other patterns. If there are many, it is even more auspicious.

Some brands have a narrow border around them, or are decorated with only negative lines, or there are cloud and thunder patterns around them.

The negative lines are short, thick and powerful, with only a few knives. The paintings are clear and clear, mostly landscape paintings by literati or poems by poets. The style imitates the landscape paintings of Shen Zhou, Wen Huiming and others of the Wumen School of Painting that were popular at the time. The other side is engraved with poetry seals. Elegant and refined.

In this part of the brand, there are also a few jade tablets in which the ground outside the poems and patterns engraved on them is ground as rough as frosted glass. Those that only retain the writing and patterns are called "ground ground" or "mao bottom".

The workmanship of the other two plates is even more exquisite. On the jade plaques, the grass, insect, beards, claws, stamens and leaf veins are all clearly visible, showing off the craftsmanship.

But in terms of price, the rough one is more expensive.