Jin Yutong

Chapter One

Under some dazzling desk lamps.

Chen Ran was frowning, with a focused expression, and from time to time, the hard diamond pen in his hand was struggling to draw tedious and slender lines on the green jade. His eyes, through these lines, saw It was a Maitreya Buddha with a big belly and a smile... On the semi-old work table, some tools for carving jade were scattered or stacked. Chen Ran skillfully and nimbly put down a tool from time to time, and then Picking up another tool, during the whole process, his eyes never left the jade in front of him.

Suddenly, Chen Ran's whole movement stopped.

Looking at the formed Maitreya Buddha in his hands, Chen Ran couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Although he almost repeated the same movements every day, every time he sculpted, he was always cautious.

This is not just about worrying about breaking the original stone and having to bear a lot of losses, it is also an attitude!

And he knows that if he wants to go further on this road, he must have such an attitude.

The tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and Chen Ran suddenly felt dizzy in his brain, and couldn't help lying on the back of the chair, 'rubbing' his numb arms, but after seeing After the Maitreya Buddha pendant showed a slightly dull luster, he immediately forcibly raised his spirits again.

As the saying goes, "Jade cannot be crafted without being cut." Although this jade pendant has been formed, it still lacks the last process: polishing!

Polishing is a very important and irreplaceable step in jade carving.

No matter how you carve and polish it, the surface of the jade piece is always rough, unable to show the crystal clear beauty of the jade. Only perfect polishing can make the jade show a warm and smooth appearance, make the jade have a noble temperament, and be able to show The real value of jade.

Polishing mainly refers to grinding the surface of the jade to make it smooth and bright, and more aesthetically pleasing. Otherwise, no matter how beautiful the jade is, it is still a semi-finished product without polishing.

Chen Ran casually picked up a piece of gauze from the dilapidated desk in front of him, and gently wiped it on the jade pendant. His movements were skillful and natural, without any hindrance, and his face was still focused as before.

After about half an hour, the jade polishing process was finally completed.

Holding the jade in his hand above his head, Chen Ran just looked at it quietly. The surface of the polished jade pendant exudes a faint light. Looking at the light, it gives people a crystal clear feeling, and smiles The Maitreya Buddha who was holding it seemed to have been consecrated... Until this time, Chen Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief in secret. The quality of the jade is very good, and he should be able to get a good salary.

Since leaving school, Chen Ran has been carving this kind of low-grade jade for a living. Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it has been more than a year now.

Opening the drawer, he took out one from a pile of jewelry boxes, and put the jade into it. Chen Ran found the phone and checked the time, but found that it was late, so he hurriedly tidied up the messy room.

In February, the nights in Zhongdu are long and the days are short. Just after six o’clock, the sky outside slowly darkens. The street lights on both sides of the road are gradually lit up, making the city continue to shine brightly. The people who get off work are like giant spiders. It is generally filled in the streets and alleys of this city, and various sounds echo over the city... The colorful lights turn the streets into intricate and complicated underground labyrinths.

Walking along this street in the village, you will find a large antique city. Zhongdu is the capital city of the Central Plains Province, and the Central Plains undoubtedly plays an irreplaceable role in the history and culture of China. Perhaps because of this, collect It has become the joy in the lives of many people in Zhongdu, and happiness and loss come and go one after another.

After passing through the flower market in the antique city, Chen Ran walked towards a jade shop.

The jade shop is not so much a jade shop as a grocery store. Its name is Baoyu Pavilion. Compared with other rows of antique shops with simple decoration, Baoyu Pavilion looks a bit vulgar. However, to Chen Ran, On the contrary, there was a kind of cordial feeling, which made him think involuntarily... In Baoyu Pavilion, there was silence, only an old man about 60 years old was standing at the counter. The old man looked 60 years old, but Chen Ran knew that the other party had no actual Those who are so old on the Internet, who are not yet 50 years old, just have experienced too many things, so they look older.

As Chen Ran entered the door, the old man raised his head and said, "Xiao Ran is here, I'm waiting for you to close the door!"

Chen Ran handed the jade box to the old man and asked, "Uncle Liang, why is the door closed so early today?"

"...cough cough cough..." Uncle Liang opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly coughed violently. Chen Ran quickly stepped forward and patted his back. Uncle Liang coughed for a while before recovering, and turned towards Chen Ran Then he waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "As you get older, your health is getting worse and worse. There is no business in this store, so let's close the door earlier!"

Antique shops like Uncle Liang usually do not open for business, and have been open for three years. Uncle Liang is in poor health and closes earlier than others.

When Uncle Liang was talking, he opened the box, took out the jade, and fumbled for a pair of magnifying glasses, tilting his head slightly to look at it, and murmured softly: "Well, yes, Xiaoran's craftsmanship is getting better and better. High, thanks to you, otherwise my shop would lose a lot of business."

"Uncle Liang, my skills are still far behind."

Chen Ran shook his head, and said humbly, in fact, he didn't know that Uncle Liang was just encouraging him. There were countless carvers like him in this antique city, not to mention other places, and his Although the craftsmanship is constantly improving, it is only barely getting started.

Uncle Liang smiled, put the jade down, turned around and took out a fifty-dollar bill from the cash drawer, paused, then took out two twenty bills and handed them to Chen Ran.

Chen Ran was startled, and looked at Uncle Liang with a little surprise: "Uncle Liang, why are there so many?"

He accepts jobs from Uncle Liang. There are two ways. One is to buy rough stones himself, carve them into jade wares, and resell them to Uncle Liang’s store for an extra wage. Raw stones or buy rough stones in the store, put forward some requirements, and let the carver carve.

However, the second type is very rare, only occasionally, mainly because Chen Ran carves low-grade jade, and there are very few customers who are so troublesome, only some young people who pursue sentimentality or have special meanings .

Chen Ran’s carvings are all small pieces, and he can earn about 60 to [-] for one piece, and more than [-], which is almost his net worth, and there is also a share of Uncle Liang taking care of him. Otherwise, based on his worth, he would only be twenty or thirty.

Chen Ran basically keeps one item a day, which is already his limit, and the most he earns a day is only more than 70 yuan.

Unexpectedly, Uncle Liang gave him 90 yuan directly this time!

He knew very well that his worth was not worth so much.

Uncle Liang looked at Chen Ran with a smile, and when he saw the touched expression on Chen Ran's face, he understood what he was thinking, and he couldn't help but comforted: "Take it, this is what you deserve, Can't you see that your craftsmanship has improved a lot, this Maitreya Buddha is well carved, and the water species is also good, it should be able to sell for a good price, and I won't lose money."

Although he heard what Uncle Liang said, Chen Ran also understood that Uncle Liang was taking care of him. He hesitated for a moment, and then took it over, thinking silently in his heart that if there is a chance in the future, he must repay Uncle Liang well.

After staying in Baoyu Pavilion for a while, Uncle Liang gave him two pieces of raw stone to be carved into a pair of pendants for a couple. There was no specific requirement on what to carve, but it was clear that Uncle Liang believed in Chen Ran on this point.

Although Chen Ran's craftsmanship is just getting started, in Uncle Liang's eyes, Chen Ran is a very thoughtful carver, and this is an essential innate condition to become a master carver.

Helping Uncle Liang close the store, when Chen Ran was about to leave, Uncle Liang suddenly stopped him: "Ah Ran, I almost forgot one thing. I met a friend who forgets the year at noon today. But everyone in the collection industry is very famous and has a wide network. I suddenly thought of you when I was eating with her at noon. A person like you is a wild way, basically there is no bright future , unless a master engraver can take you with me. Thinking of this, I mentioned it to her by the way and asked her to recommend a master engraver for you, but she agreed..."

Before Uncle Liang could say anything, Chen Ran's eyes lit up, and then his heart was filled with emotion. Uncle Liang, I was just thinking about how to repay you, but I didn't expect you to send me another great favor. I... If Chen Ran still had the confidence to repay the favor he owed Uncle Liang before, but now he has no confidence in this favor at all. This favor is not insignificant!

In the circle of sculptors, almost every novice sculptor has a dream, that is, suddenly a master sculptor takes a fancy to him and accepts him as an apprentice, it seems that everyone dreams of winning 500 million same as the grand prize.

There is a huge difference between having a famous teacher and exploring by yourself.

It's a world of difference!

Even if you don't learn any skills from a famous teacher, but just as a famous teacher's apprentice, your worth will change drastically, just like Cinderella suddenly turned into a little swan... The gap between rich and poor among carvers is Great, for a novice engraver like Chen Ran, his worth is only thirty or forty. Let you carve it.

It is normal for a master carver to cost hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. Even some masters, if you are not a human being, will not carve for you no matter how much you pay.

This is the difference!

I have to say, for Chen Ran, this is a great opportunity!

"You don't have to work tomorrow, come over at noon." Uncle Liang saw a look of shock on Chen Ran's face, and couldn't help smiling, son, the future road will be on your own , I hope you don't let me down... "Thank you, Uncle Liang!" Chen Ran gathered his thoughts, thanked Uncle Liang, and then turned to blend into the night.

But I don't know... After bidding farewell to Uncle Liang, Chen Ran walked along the Antique Street towards the way back. Although he haunted the Antique City every day, in fact, apart from having a certain understanding of jade, the others were regarded as Don't know anything.

Like many collectibles markets in China, there are not too many tourists here, most of them are tourists from other places, but on weekends or holidays, it must be another bustling scene. On the one hand, there are many people on weekends and holidays. If you have time to come out and try your luck, see if you can find satisfactory collections. On the other hand, many small vendors in the surrounding areas also come to admire their reputation. A newspaper or a piece of flannelette has also become a counter, and there are all kinds of things gathered around. Put your old gadgets up, and put a small stool behind it to sit on, and the business will be opened!

Although it was already dark, there were still many street stalls on both sides of the road, and even the lights were turned on. Today is not a Sunday or a holiday, but there are not many people during the day, but there are many more people scattered at night, maybe it is I'm busy with work during the day, and come out for a stroll at night.

Most of the people who come and go are young men and women, but they are just looking at the flowers on horseback. They seldom stay in front of a booth for a few minutes. Most of the purchases are handicrafts, and the price is ten or eight yuan, which is relatively cheap. Far from being a valuable collectible.

Chen Ran passed by here every day, and he was used to it for a long time, but he didn't look around, except when passing by the stalls selling jade, he would stop and stop. , he lost interest.

Just as he was about to leave, suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, a golden light flashed like a golden lightning...