Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1911 Traveling Together
Although the days of reunion were happy, they were always short. Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao did not return to Suihuaxuan that night. After Zhou Zhi sent Mai Xiaomiao back to the Academician Building, he returned to Hongqi Village and lived in his own studio.

Although she no longer lives there, Feng Xueshan comes to clean the studio regularly, and everything in the studio is kept clean and in order.

Speaking of calligraphy and painting restoration work, Zhou Zhi still has a lot on hand. His collection can now be described as overwhelming, but in the past he always rescued those that were in very poor condition and of extremely high value. The Song and Ming dynasties are his forte.

In fact, he has many ancient paintings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, which came from his early years and Zhang Cheng's house, purchased from Gongmei, and later purchased a large number from Rongbaozhai, a large number transferred by Mr. Wang, a large number discovered in the secret room of Suihuaxuan, a batch obtained overseas, and a batch bought out from Lu Lirong Xinbaozhai in Hong Kong Island.

There are actually quite a few conditions that need to be repaired, but Zhou Zhi is too busy and has not been able to free up to do it.

Now Zhouzhi's calligraphy and paintings are stored in several places. The most valuable ones are stored in Demian Hall in the capital, the next level is in Suihuaxuan, the overseas channels are in Xinbaozhai, and the relatively lower value ones are stored in Hongqi Village.

However, works of low value are not without value for appreciation. For example, the couplets and letters written by famous people in the late Qing Dynasty are quite valuable. Another example is the scrolls of the Yangzhou School, where artists such as Yang Fa, Li Rong, and Min Zhen, although not as famous as Zheng Banqiao, Huang Shen, and Bian Shoumin, does not mean that their painting skills are not sophisticated.

Zhou Zhi's painting skills remain at the level of knowing how to appreciate and repairing the missing parts of the scroll. Appreciating the legacy of previous paintings is undoubtedly very beneficial to the advancement of his own skills.

The effect of appreciating paintings directly and up close cannot be replaced by high-definition picture albums. No matter how clear the photos are, they cannot capture the texture of rice paper and silk.

Appreciating paintings is like reading poetry, you need to have a sense of unfamiliarity in order to fully appreciate it. Zhou Zhi has an excellent memory and a strong understanding of classical poetry, so he can basically remember a poem after reading it two or three times.

This results in Zhou Zhi only being able to enjoy reading poetry once or twice. By the time he has memorized it, the "surprise of first sight" has disappeared.

The same is true when looking at paintings. Now when Zhou Zhi opens a familiar painting, the first thing he notices is no longer the meaning of the painting, but the flaws. He thinks about where the repairs are problematic, where the mounting is not done properly, what kind of paper and silk were used. To be honest, this is a bit of putting the cart before the horse.

Only by observing a painting that you are not familiar with can you rediscover the joy of appreciating paintings.

He is not very familiar with Min Zhen's paintings. He is also one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, but generally speaking, if you are not a professional, you often don't know his name.

His landscapes follow the style of Wu Wei of the Ming Dynasty, being vigorous and unrestrained, and his figures, flowers and birds are all painted with unrestrained brushwork and are lifelike in form and spirit.

Not only is his freehand brushwork commendable, his detailed brushwork is also exceptional, and his calligraphy is also impressive. In fact, he is an all-rounder.

Spread out in front of Zhou Zhi was a painting called "The Old Crane", which depicted an old crane with bald and fluffy feathers standing on a pine tree.

But the animals painted by this man, like those by Bada Shanren, have their own eyes and expressions, and are quite cartoonish. The old crane is now rolling its eyes at Zhou Zhi outside the painting, as if blaming him for disturbing its peace.

Zhou Zhi was also stubborn and insisted on disturbing her. He disturbed her for a long time. She was immediately drawn into the topic and by the time she realized it was time to go to bed, it was already past one in the morning.

She had to get up early the next day, so she called the taxi driver with whom she had a nice chat when she came, and asked him to pick her up to the airport so as not to disturb Feng Xueshan and Yang He.

After arriving at the airport and going through security to get his boarding pass, there was still a long time before boarding, so Zhou Zhi simply took a nap in the waiting hall.

The intensity of labor these days is actually quite high, and he is really tired.

In fact, in 1995, taking a nap in the waiting hall was really a dangerous thing because there were so many thieves.

But the airport is much better. Zhou Zhi thinks it may be because the cost of stealing things is too high and it is difficult to escape.

Zhou Zhi opened his eyes when he heard the reminder of his flight boarding in the terminal. He was shocked to find a girl leaning against him. "Xiao Miao? Why are you here?" In front of Mai Xiaomiao was a large pink suitcase. "Ah, I'm going to the autonomous prefecture with you."

"Why do you want to go to the autonomous prefecture with me?" Zhou Zhi was puzzled: "Your laboratory is in Shudu?"

“Can’t the laboratory work be done through the satellite network?” Mai Xiaomiao said nonchalantly, “Isn’t that what you did in the autonomous prefecture before?”

"But you don't have to endure the hardship. I'm going to the countryside, and the conditions there are very bad."

"It doesn't matter. I just want to go out and have some fun with you." Mai Xiaomiao looked at Zhou Zhi pitifully. "I'm alone in Shudu and I don't know anyone. In the past, I was either in Shuda's office or Suihuaxuan. I was almost bored to death. These few days are the happiest days since I came to China..."

As he spoke, his eyes seemed to get a little wet: "You... don't want to take me with you?"

"No, no." Zhou Zhi saw that the situation was going to get worse, so he had to quickly calm the girl down: "You have worked hard to prepare for the laboratory these days. It's no big deal to go out and relax. Let's go and have some fun first, and then come back if we don't like it anymore."

"Yeah! Elbow, you're the best! Let's get in line and board the plane!"

"But don't be too happy too soon." Zhou Zhi was now confused, but he still reminded Mai Xiaomiao in a friendly way: "We are taking a small plane this time, so it may be a little bumpy, but you don't have to be too scared. You just need to endure it for more than half an hour."

But it was impossible not to be afraid. The plane began to shake during the climb, giving everyone a sense of weightlessness from time to time. Every time this happened, the entire cabin was filled with low and suppressed exclamations.

After boarding the plane, in order to take care of Mai Xiaomiao, Zhou Zhi could only communicate with the passenger next to him, and the two sides exchanged seats.

Zhou Zhi's ticket was a first-class ticket, which was equivalent to upgrading his cabin, so of course the passenger was willing.

From the first time the plane shook, Mai Xiaomiao hugged Zhou Zhi's arm tightly. If the seat was not really inconvenient, she would have wanted to hide in Zhou Zhi's arms.

Zhou Zhi had no choice but to let her hold on to him and comfort her from time to time, telling her that small planes were different from large transoceanic planes, but were actually quite safe, and could be just like riding a roller coaster in the park.

The flight lasted for an hour, which was about ten minutes later than usual. It was indeed a very bumpy flight. Fortunately, the landing process was relatively smooth, and after emerging from the smog in Shudu, the sky was blue and the sun was shining throughout the airport.

The idiom "Shu dogs bark at the sun" definitely does not exist in the autonomous prefecture.

Mai Xiaomiao still held Zhou Zhi's arm tightly, but her pale face had regained its rosy color: "Wow! The sunshine here is so strong, and the air is so good!"

"Miss, can you let me free my hands to drag the box first? Why is your box so heavy?"

"Is it heavy? Because there is a set of books inside."

"Books? Laboratory materials?"

"No, it's the English version of your Sichuan Essays. Sister Xueshan found it for me."

"..."