Reborn as a great painter, with a system, you can be willful

Chapter 180, Banquet, Another Invitation

The good afternoon passed quickly.

Jiang Zhe took a taxi to send Chen Yan back to school, then sent Xiao Ka home, and arrived at the hotel at the agreed time.

Wang Zhen hosted a banquet for the guests at a famous local hotel.

When she saw Jiang Zhe appear in the hotel square, she came out from the lobby to greet him: "I was really worried that you wouldn't come."

Jiang Zhe said: "How could that be? I must do what I promised."

"Manager Zhao has also invited several local collectors to have dinner together. Three of them have already arrived. I'll introduce them to you." Wang Zhen pulled Jiang Zhe towards the reserved banquet hall.

Jiang Zhe asked: "Are these people easy to get along with? If not, I'll wait a while before going." It's hard to change the habits of the previous life.

Wang Zhen said: "In terms of communication skills, you really need to learn from those old painters."

Jiang Zhe opened the door of the banquet hall and saw a large round table in the center of the spacious hall. The waiter was preparing tea. In the leisure and entertainment area of ​​the hall, three men were chatting. When they heard the door open, they looked towards the door together.

They had seen Wang Zhen and turned their eyes to Jiang Zhe who followed in.

Jiang Zhe was also looking at these three people.

One had gray hair and held a black pipe in his hand. Another was fat and had curly hair. The third was skinny and hunched over.

The man holding the pipe asked with a smile, "Manager Wang, is this your friend?"

Wang Zhen introduced both parties.

The man holding the pipe is named Qi Wen, and the fat man is named Yan Pu. Both of them are famous local collectors and have been collecting since the 1980s.

The hunchbacked man is called Tao Chun, a painter and collector. He used to be an art editor for a newspaper and is now retired.

"Welcome new friend." Qi Wen smiled and shook hands with Jiang Zhe, then said to Tao Chun: "Old Tao, you two are in the same business."

Jiang Zhe vaguely remembered Tao Chun, so he said, "I've seen Mr. Tao's work in the newspaper before."

"Hey," Tao Chun waved his hand and said modestly, "I've already retired and now I have a sinecure at the art academy. Your works will be auctioned soon, and later, I can see your works in the newspapers."

After Yan Pu and the other two finished talking, he asked Jiang Zhe in a gentle voice, "Who did you learn painting from?"

When Wang Zhen introduced Jiang Zhe, he only talked about his grades.

Jiang Zhe was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.

Tao Chun helped explain: "I want to ask you if you have any master?"

Jiang Zhe suddenly realized: "I am a student of Binhai Art College. I did not follow the previous custom to become a disciple."

"Don't pay attention to him, this is just an old habit. Many young artists nowadays come from academic backgrounds." Qi Wen said to Jiang Zhe, and at the same time retorted to Yan Pu.

"Academic. Alas, it is difficult for an academy to cultivate talents." Yan Pu said.

Jiang Zhe was a little unhappy. Before he could say anything, Qi Wen said, "You should say this in front of the leaders of the Chinese Artists Association and the presidents of the academies of art."

Tao Chun said to Jiang Zhe: "We have been teasing each other like this all the time, don't mind it."

Next, Jiang Zhe discovered that these three people teased each other without showing any respect, but no one was angry, so he slowly got used to their way of chatting.

Soon, Manager Zhao and Consultant Liu came to the banquet together, and there were two other guests with them, both of whom were clients who had business dealings with the auction company.

When the banquet started, everyone present except Jiang Zhe and Consultant Liu was talkative and did not let anyone feel bored.

During the breaks in drinking, Manager Zhao specifically sought out Jiang Zhe to chat.

Jiang Zhe took the opportunity to ask Manager Zhao to help him pay attention to the market reaction of his work, especially to other people's comments, and whether there are any useful suggestions. Manager Zhao thought he was worried that his work would not be accepted by the market, so he advised him not to think too much, "We are also studying the changes in the market, but your work style should have an audience."

He shared his understanding of the market, which gave Jiang Zhe some inspiration.

Except for Jiang Zhe and Wang Zhen, the others who attended the banquet were all quite old, so no one urged them to drink and they all stopped when they had enough.

After the banquet, Manager Zhao and his colleagues said goodbye to Wang Zhen and others and flew back to Shanghai.

Jiang Zhe seldom drinks, but today he had two glasses of old wine and was a little tipsy. He fell asleep as soon as he returned to the studio.

He had several dreams in a row. His works were put up for auction, but no one bid for them despite the auctioneer's eloquence. He also dreamed that his works received rave reviews, but they disappeared during transportation. Later, the dreams became more and more bizarre, with a young girl chasing an old painter, saying, "I want the old man, I want the old man..."

Early in the morning, Jiang Zhe woke up and felt uncomfortable. He didn't know how much sweat he had sweated last night. After washing up, he felt refreshed.

Thinking back to those bizarre dreams I had last night, I felt that it might be because I was thinking too much and had some reactions in my dreams.

In order to dispel his chaotic emotions, he took out his pen, ink, paper and inkstone and began to copy small calligraphy.

While practicing calligraphy, I gradually let go of my worries, felt calm, and started to create watercolor paintings.

For him, watercolor is not only an independent painting language, but also a practice draft for oil painting. At this time, there is no model, so he can only paint still life and landscape.

The cell phone rang, he picked up the phone and saw that it was Chen Yan's number. The time displayed on the phone was 11:16.

I pressed the answer button and heard Chen Yan's voice: "Hello, are you awake?"

Jiang Zhe said: "I woke up a long time ago."

"You didn't drink too much last night."

"I didn't drink much. I went to sleep as soon as I got back. Don't worry."

"Let's have lunch together? I have something good to tell you." Chen Yan said.

Jiang Zhe agreed: "Okay, let's go to the old place?"

"Okay, see you later."

He packed up his tools, went to a familiar restaurant, and met Chen Yan.

After ordering the food, Chen Yan said, "I heard from others that there are many students in our class who are willing to be painting models. I'll introduce them to you and if you think they are suitable, I can negotiate the price with them."

"If possible, ask Wang Zhen's gallery to send someone to talk to them." Jiang Zhe said, "Don't create conflicts among your classmates over money."

"Okay, you are more thoughtful." Chen Yan felt that Jiang Zhe's method was better.

While eating, Jiang Zhe's cell phone rang.

Jiang Zhe picked up the phone, looked at the caller ID, and said to Chen Yan, "It's Yuan Xiaohan."

Chen Yan was obviously unhappy, but still nodded.

Jiang Zhe hesitated for a moment and pressed the answer button. "Yuan Xiaohan, what's going on?"

"Student Jiang Zhe, I heard that your work in the college students' joint calligraphy and painting exhibition received a lot of praise? Congratulations!"

Jiang Zhe was a little confused by this question, so he could only respond: "Really? I don't quite understand."

Yuan Xiaohan then asked, "Are you free this afternoon? I can be a model again."

"Why do you suddenly have this idea?"

(End of this chapter)