Tianzhu: The Record of Foreign Stories in the Republic of China

Chapter 49
1
Just after noon, God's face was overcast, and the gray clouds were low on the top of Xiulin Mountain. The air in Xiulin City was dull, tired birds were flying low, and there was a breath of rain.

Lu Yuting, the shopkeeper of Yutingxuan Calligraphy and Painting Shop, saw that the business was slow, yawned, and explained a few words to Xiao Zhu, the shopkeeper, and was about to go to the back room to sleep, when he saw a young shopkeeper in green clothes and cap running in, shouting: "Treasurer Lu!" !” Handed him a post.

Lu Yuting opened the post and saw that it was Han Chehan, the boss of Xiulin Bookstore, who invited him to "appreciate treasures".Since the county magistrate Chen visited Yutingxuan last time and asked him to appraise the two landscape paintings of Fan Kuan in the Northern Song Dynasty that he collected, Lu Yuting has become famous and has become an authority in the field of calligraphy and painting appreciation in Xiulin. The collector invited him to appraise treasures.This boss Han Chehan has met him several times, and knows that he is a well-known bookseller, and at least nine of the ten books read by Xiulin people are engraved and issued by his Xiulin Bookstore .But this Boss Han has always only loved collecting rare and rare books and ancient books. I haven't heard that he has a hobby of collecting calligraphy and paintings?

He looked up at the dark clouds in the sky, and said hesitantly: "You see, the heavy rain is coming in a blink of an eye, why don't you go back to Mr. Han, and say that I, Lu Yuting, will definitely visit his house some other day to appreciate the treasures."

The guy was clever, and hurriedly said: "Our husband said that he just wanted to invite you to go there on a rainy day. If it was a sunny day, you wouldn't be able to see the beauty of his painting."

"Oh, there is such a thing?" Lu Yuting suddenly became curious, and laughed, "I'm going to have a look." Turning around, he took an umbrella, and against the dark clouds overwhelming the sky, he followed the guy. up.

It's not far, turn around from Biyu Street in front of Yutingxuan Gate, pass Jieshan Pass, and not far away, you will arrive at Xiulin Bookstore.Boss Han, who was wearing a navy blue gown and a pair of round glasses, was already waiting at the door, bowed his hands to him, and said, "Shopkeeper Lu, I'm sorry!" He invited him into the shop.

The storefront of the bookstore is quite large, and there are many bookshelves in the store, filled with all kinds of books.The thread-bound book cover has a white paper at one end, on which the author, year, title, and format are written, so that book buyers can know it at a glance.There are people coming and going in the store, customers are overflowing, and many readers are standing in front of the bookshelf and looking through the books.Passing along the way, it was extremely quiet, only the sound of "rustling" turning the pages of books could be heard.

When he came to the cabinet room at the back, Boss Han invited shopkeeper Lu to sit down. While ordering someone to watch tea, he took out a scroll and slowly unfolded it on the desk.

Lu Yuting raised his eyes and saw that it was a picture of Huang Gongwang's "Smoky River Desiring Rain", with stone pines and fir trees near the painting slope, wide river in the middle, flat beaches and shallow islands on the opposite bank; several layers of hills, lush forests, Jingfei Village Homes are dotted among them, the river flows gently, and goes far away; where the water and the sky meet, thick clouds gather.The picture is misty and rainy, elegant and moist, just when the mountain rain is about to come, and the rain is not yet raining.

Huang Gongwang, styled Zijiu, nicknamed Dachi, also named Yifeng, was born in Changshu, Jiangsu Province. He was one of the most influential painters in the late Yuan Dynasty. He was good at painting landscapes. He learned from Dong Yuan.

Lu Yuting put down his tea bowl, and carefully looked at this painting "The Picture of Rain on the Yanjiang River" again. There were inscriptions and postscripts by Shen Zhou, Dong Qichang and other families in the Ming Dynasty on the painting, signed with the word "big idiot", it is an authentic work.However, judging from the painting style, it should belong to his early years. The layout is a bit too complicated, and the painting environment is not perfect, so it can't be regarded as a fine work.

"Shopkeeper Lu, please look here." Boss Han pointed to the small bridge over the river in the painting.It was a girder bridge with wooden beams and stone pillars. There was a passerby on the bridge, with an umbrella under his arm, hurrying against the wind.Boss Han said, "Look at his umbrella, is it open or closed?"

Lu Yuting said, "It's kept."

Boss Han said: "Then you have to watch it."

Lu Yuting was startled, and asked, "Could it be that there is some mystery in this?"

Boss Han said: "What is the mystery of this painting, please wait for the shopkeeper to find out." After speaking, he laughed, slowly rolled up the painting, put it on the table, drinking tea, and chatting with Lu Yuting at the same time .

There was a thunder, and the dark clouds accumulated above the head for a long time, and finally turned into a torrential rain, overwhelming the sky and falling down.Raindrops the size of broad beans made the roof crackle.Han Che couldn't help but brow up with joy, and opened the window to look, the rain poured down like the Milky Way, the sea poured down, it fell hard and fast, and in just a moment, the ground was covered with white water stains.

"What a timely rain!" Han Che sighed, turned around and said, "Shopkeeper Lu, please take a look at this painting again to see if there is any change?"

Lu Yuting didn't know what kind of medicine he was selling in the gourd, so he was full of doubts. He unfolded the scroll according to the words, took a look, shook his head and said: "Please forgive Lu's blindness, I really can't see the difference between this painting and just now."

"How could it be? Look at the umbrella in the hands of the passerby on the bridge..." Han Che strode over and tapped the river bridge in the painting with his finger, but he was stunned before his finger fell down.The passers-by on the bridge carried umbrellas under their armpits, and they were in a hurry, just like before.

"Hey, there really isn't any change!" He seemed a little surprised, and looked out the window, "Maybe it's not raining hard enough, please wait a little longer and we'll find out." Fu put on the scroll again, Walking to the window, frowning and looking at the rain outside the window.

The rain seemed to understand his mood, and it really fell bigger and bigger, pouring down like a waterfall in a deep mountain.After waiting for another cup of tea, Boss Han said, "It's raining so hard, this time it should be okay." Opening the painting again, his eyes fell on the hurrying pedestrian on the bridge. It is still a person, the umbrella is still an umbrella, people are still walking on the bridge, and the umbrella is still tucked under their armpits, nothing has changed.

Boss Han's expression changed, and he sat down.

Lu Yuting saw the clue, and hurriedly asked: "Boss Han, what is the origin of this painting? What's so mysterious about it?"

Han Che sighed and said, "It's a long story when it comes to the origin of this painting."

2
About half a month ago, a young customer came to Xiulin Bookstore. He was about 25 or six years old. He was wearing a royal blue brocade gown with gold ruyi embroidered all over his body, a melon skin hat on his head, and a A crystal and translucent gemstone, a hand-operated folding fan, and a fluttering sleeve of clothing, rich and divine like jade, with extraordinary charm.

This customer came to the store to read books every day for a week, and bought a lot of books to go back.Such a generous customer naturally attracted Boss Han's attention. Through conversations, he found out that his surname was Bai Shaoqiu. live.During the conversation, Boss Han found that although this young man was young, he was very knowledgeable. He was familiar with ancient books of various ages and editions when he met him. He went to drink tea in the back cabinet room, took the opportunity to ask for advice, and benefited a lot.After going back and forth, the two became friends.

One day, this Mr. Bai asked someone to invite Boss Han, saying that he had asked someone to bring back some Guzhang Maojian from Hunan, and specially invited him to drink tea at home.The hospitality was hard to come by, so Boss Han went.Bai Shaoqiu's mansion is located in the north gate of Xiulin City near the main road of the Yangtze River. It is a deep mansion with a vermilion lacquer gate, gray bricks and black tiles, vermilion corridors and painted walls.Bluegrass was planted in the yard, calligraphy and paintings of famous people were hung on the walls, mahogany furniture was placed in the house, male and female servants came in and out busy and uncluttered, looking very luxurious and luxurious, even Boss Han couldn't help feeling envious.

Bai Shaoqiu personally went out to welcome him into the house, and the two chatted happily while tasting the hair tip.

During the conversation, they talked about several calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall. Bai Shaoqiu pointed to one of them "The Picture of Mrs. Xiangjun and Xiang" and said: "This picture is a representative work of Wen Zhengming's figure paintings. God, according to legend, Ehuang is the Lord of Xiang, and Nvying is the lady of Xiang. You see, the characters in the picture are made of Tang makeup, and the long skirts are high-knot and fluttering against the wind. The clothes are drawn with ancient silk, delicate and smooth , showing the lightness of the figure's body. The color of the whole work is light and elegant, which highlights the figure's lightness and grace. The brushwork is exquisite, the lines are flexible, and the style is ancient and quiet. It is really a rare masterpiece in the painting! A "Picture of Mrs. Xiangjun Xiang" was bought in Tianjin Huabaozhai for 4 yuan." Only then did Boss Han know that this Bai Shaoqiu turned out to be a calligraphy and painting collector.

After drinking tea for a while, Bai Shaoqiu casually took out a painting from the painting basket under the table and asked him to appreciate it.When Boss Han saw it, it turned out to be a picture of Huang Gongwang's "Smoky River Desires for Rain".He is proficient in bibliography, but has little research on calligraphy, painting and antiques. He didn't pay attention to this painting when he first saw it.After the two of them admired the painting, Bai Shaoqiu casually rolled up the painting and put it aside. Seeing that it was getting late, he left him to eat at home.

During the banquet, it was raining heavily, and Bai Shaoqiu took out the painting "The Picture of the River Desiring to Rain". Boss Han was stunned when he saw it. Holding the umbrella above his head, it looks like he is rushing anxiously in the drizzle.

Seeing Boss Han's face full of surprise, Bai Shaoqiu explained to him that this is a strange painting by Huang Gongwang in the Yuan Dynasty. The characters in the painting were brought to life by the artist. If it is raining, the characters in the painting will open their umbrellas and hold them above their heads.After a while, the wind stopped and the rain stopped, and the picture scroll was unfolded again, and the man put away the umbrella again and put it under his armpit.It was only then that Han Che believed that what Bai Shaoqiu said was true. Although he had no hobby of collecting calligraphy and paintings, he couldn't help being very interested in seeing such a miraculous "Picture of Rain on the Mist River".

Bai Shaoqiu caressed the scroll, and suddenly sighed and said: "It's a pity, such a wonderful painting, but it can no longer accompany me."

Han Che asked, "Why?"

Bai Shaoqiu said: "I recently fell in love with Gu Hongzhong's "Han Xizai Night Banquet Picture" at Qibaoxuan in the provincial capital. Unfortunately, the other party's asking price is too high. Bai's money is tight and he can't make it for a while. The difference is 2 yuan, so I want to bear the pain and sell this picture of "The Picture of Yanjiang Desiring Rain". If there is a suitable buyer among your friends, please help me match up."

Boss Han couldn't help being moved, and asked him how much this painting would cost before he was willing to sell it.Bai Shaoqiu said: "In order to buy this painting, I made a special trip to Zhejiang. It cost me a total of 3 yuan to compete for it. Now I am waiting for the money. If someone wants it, I would rather Sell ​​at a low price of [-] oceans."

Boss Han gritted his teeth and said: "It's a pity to sell such a good painting to someone else. Mr. Bai, why don't you find another buyer. I want this painting, twenty thousand oceans, and I'll send it to you later. In this way, Boss Han spent 2 yuan to buy this wonderful painting by Huang Gongwang.

Before Han Che finished speaking, Lu Yuting already understood what was going on, and stomped his feet and said, "Boss Han, how can there be such a strange painting in the world? You were clearly deceived by this Mr. Bai. He showed it to you They are two almost identical paintings, the one without an umbrella when it’s sunny, and the one with an umbrella when it’s raining. You fell into He has fallen into a well-designed trap. Although this painting is the authentic work of Huang Gongwang, it is an early work, and the estimated market value will not exceed two thousand oceans."

"Ah, no way?" Boss Han has also realized that the situation is not good, but he is still skeptical about the words of shopkeeper Lu, so he got up and said, "I'm going to find that surnamed Bai!"

Lu Yuting said: "Boss Han, it's useless for you to go to him now. Lu has seen such scammers and scams a lot. They only pick you as a newcomer. If Lu's estimation is good, then The house must have been rented by him, and the servants in the house were also hired by him. As soon as the painting is sold, they immediately pack up and leave. If you look for it now, the house is already empty."

(End of this chapter)