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

Chapter 50
Boss Han didn't believe it, so he sent someone to take a look at the north gate. As Lu Yuting said, the person surnamed Bai left long ago, leaving only an empty house.Only then did he realize that he was really deceived, his face turned pale immediately, he sat down on his buttocks, and after a while he let out a sigh of relief: "This man surnamed Bai deceived me so hard!"

Lu Yuting saw that his face was pale and depressed, and he knew that although he was the owner of a bookstore, 2 yuan was not a small sum for him, and besides, he was just involved in the calligraphy and painting collection business, and he was caught in this big scam. A stick.I couldn't bear it in my heart, thought for a while, and said, "Boss Han, since this guy surnamed Bai has already run away, you won't be able to find him if you want to find him. But there is a way below, maybe you can lure the snake out of the hole and let him automatically Show up, and if you're lucky, you might recover Boss Han's losses."

Boss Han's eyes lit up: "Really?"

Lu Yuting nodded, and said: "But there are two points that must be explained to Boss Han: first, Boss Han must follow Lu's arrangement; One use."

Boss Han hurriedly bowed to him and said, "It should be, as long as there is hope to recover the loss, Han must obey the arrangement of shopkeeper Lu and fully cooperate."

"That's good. Boss Han, please wait for a few days. Lu has his own arrangements."

Lu Yuting rolled up the painting "The Picture of Rain on the Mist River", bowed his hands to him, and went.

3
Three days later, shopkeeper Lu sent his clerk Xiaozhu to return the painting to Boss Han, and asked Boss Han to send out invitations to invite celebrities and acquaintances and friends of the Fang family to come to his home to enjoy the wonderful painting. The more the merrier.

Boss Han opened the scroll and saw that it was still the same painting "The Picture of Rain on the Yanjiang River", and the pedestrians on the bridge were still hurrying with their umbrellas under their armpits, without any change.I couldn't help but whisper in my heart: invite someone to appreciate the strange painting?When the time comes, the room will be full of people, what strange paintings should I show them for appreciation?Although I was reluctant in my heart, but because shopkeeper Lu had said beforehand, I followed his arrangement, so I had no choice but to do it one by one, wrote hundreds of invitations, and cast them out like a net.

A few days later, the sky was cloudy and rainy, and as expected, dozens of spectators came to Xiulin Bookstore.Han Che secretly groaned in his heart, but since shopkeeper Lu had already explained, he had no choice but to hold a banquet in the inner hall of the bookstore.He took out the painting "Smoky River Desiring Rain", and everyone looked at it, and saw that it was the authentic work of Huang Gongwang, a great painter of the Yuan Dynasty.There are also connoisseurs who took a few glances and realized that they were only Huang Gongwang's early works, and there was nothing unusual about them, so they just laughed them off.

Before the meal was finished, the pouring rain outside started to fall.Boss Han unfolded the "Picture of Desiring Rain on the Yanjiang River" again, and it didn't matter that it didn't matter, he was stunned on the spot - the umbrellas in the hands of passers-by on the bridge, at some point, actually propped up on top of their heads.Others also noticed this detail, and everyone rushed to see it, all amazed.Not long after, the wind stopped and the rain stopped outside, and I unfolded the scroll to see, my good guy, but the umbrella was put away, and it was caught under the arm of the pedestrian again.No one had ever seen such a wonderful painting before, all of them stared wide-eyed in shock.On the spot, some connoisseurs wanted to pay a high price for this painting "The Picture of Rain on the Mist River", but Boss Han shook his head and politely refused.

The news that Boss Han of the Xiulin Bookstore has a wonderful painting in the collection of Xiulin City spread like wildfire. Whenever it is rainy, friends, acquainted or not, will always come to visit, not for anything else, just to see it. A legendary painting.Boss Han is not a stingy person either. No matter whether he is acquainted or not, as long as someone comes to see the painting, he will definitely respond to his request and never disappoint.

Everyone looked at the painting where the pedestrians closed their umbrellas on a sunny day and opened their umbrellas on a rainy day, just like a real person. They all raised their thumbs up and praised: "It's really the most amazing painting in the world!"Even the county magistrate Chen couldn't help being curious. In order to see the mystery of the strange painting, he even visited the Xiulin Bookstore in person twice.Because of this strange painting, the reputation of Xiulin Bookstore has greatly increased, and the business has improved by [-]-[-]% compared to usual, which is beyond Boss Han's expectation.

After more than a month, one day, the weather was gloomy and extremely hot, which was the harbinger of the coming storm. Han Che was reading a book in the store, when a white-haired old man with crutches and wrinkled face suddenly came to the door and said that he was a neighbor. The county people heard that Boss Han has collected a rare painting, so he came here to see it.

Han Che looked the old man up and down, and felt that he looked very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before, but couldn't remember it for a while.He was old and came from a long way, so naturally it was inconvenient to refuse, so he was invited into the closet inside and showed him the painting "Mist River Desires Rain".

The old man held the painting, opened his eyes and looked very carefully, even the inconspicuous places in the surrounding corners.Han Che felt that this old man seemed to be different from other people who looked at the painting. Others came to appreciate the painting, but he seemed to be looking for something from this painting.He pointed to the pedestrians in the painting and reminded the old man: "Old man, please look here." The old man then looked carefully at the place he pointed to.

When it rained heavily outside and looked at the painting again, the pedestrian in the painting really opened the umbrella under his arm and held it above his head.As soon as the wind and rain stopped, he put away the umbrella again and put it under his arm.The old man seemed to have seen a ghost, his eyes were bigger than cowbells, and he looked at the painting over and over for a long time, and finally rolled up the painting and stuffed it into his arms without saying a word.

Han Che frowned, and hurriedly said, "Hey, old man, what are you doing?"

The old man chuckled, suddenly changed his tone, and said, "Boss Han, just look at who I am." After speaking, he stretched out his hand and tore off the wig on his head and the human skin mask on his face, revealing a fair and young face.Han Che was taken aback for a moment, he really had nowhere to go, and it took no effort to get here. This guy is actually that liar Bai Shaoqiu.

He couldn't help being furious, and wanted to jump over and kick him on the ground, but remembering that Lu Yuting had already told him not to act recklessly, he could only slowly loosen his clenched fists, and hit the sky haha , Said: "I don't know who it is, it turns out to be Mr. Bai, where have you been all this time, it's hard for me to find."

Bai Shaoqiu also laughed, and asked knowingly, "Oh, why is Boss Han looking for me?"

Han Che said: "I'm looking for Mr. Bai, because I want to thank Mr. Bai! Thank you for transferring this world's most extraordinary painting to me. As soon as this painting was in my hands, someone came up with a high price of 3 yuan to buy it. , I politely declined."

Bai Shaoqiu frowned suddenly and said, "Hey, Boss Han, it's not right for you to speak like this. Bai didn't say that he would transfer this painting to you at the beginning! I have something to say first, because the money is tight recently and I urgently need a sum of money. Turnover, that’s why I mortgaged this painting to you at a low price of 2 yuan. I’ll redeem it when I’m free.”

Han Che's expression changed, and he said, "Mr. Bai, didn't you slap yourself? At the beginning, we clearly agreed that it was a transfer, a sale, not a mortgage. How could you go back on your word and keep your word?"

Bai Shaoqiu also lowered his face, and said: "Boss Han, you said that I sold this painting to you at the beginning, but there is no evidence for what I said, but is there a contract?"

Han Che was startled, shook his head and said, "That's not true."

Bai Shaoqiu became even more frantic, slapped his thigh and said, "That's it. If it's really such a big deal, how can there be no contract certificate? Even if there is a lawsuit, the judge won't believe you, don't you think so?"

Han Che turned pale with anger, and said angrily, "Bai, what exactly do you want?"

Bai Shaoqiu held the painting "The Picture of the River Desiring for Rain" in his hand, looked at him with a smile, and said eccentrically: "Bai's idea is very simple, since it was agreed at the beginning that this painting was only temporarily mortgaged to you, then now The time limit has come, and Bai wants to redeem the price of this painting, and I will pay you [-] yuan a cent, plus an additional [-] yuan for storage. Boss Han, what do you think?"

Han Che was overjoyed, but his face remained calm, pretending to be very angry, and said coldly: "What if Han refuses?"

Bai Shaoqiu's face changed, and he said: "Then we have no choice but to go to the court. But if there is a lawsuit, everyone in Xiulin City will know that you cheated this strange painting from your friends and spread it. I'm afraid it will have a great impact on your bookstore's business, right?"

Han Che stared angrily at him for a while, finally lowered his head, and said helplessly, "Okay, you give me back the [-] oceans, and take this painting away! From now on, if you dare Step half a step into my Xiulin Bookstore, and don't blame me, Han Che, for being ruthless and throwing you out on the spot."

4
Han Che took back the cheated 2 yuan ocean. Apart from being happy, he admired Yutingxuan's shopkeeper, Lu, so much that he specially prepared a generous gift and came to thank him.When Lu Yuting heard what happened from him, he just laughed lightly, as if he had already expected such a result in his heart.

After drinking tea for a while, Han Che finally couldn't help asking the question that he had been wondering for a long time: "Shopkeeper Lu, what kind of magic did you use to make the pedestrians in the painting really be able to put away their umbrellas on sunny days and hold umbrellas on rainy days?"

Lu Yuting laughed when he heard the words, and said: "Where does Lu know any magic? To put it bluntly, it's just a trick of the rivers and lakes. In the folk magic book "Goose Fantasy Compilation" compiled by Suzhou native Tang Zaifeng during the Guangxu period, it is recorded that A potion used for magic tricks, called goose gall and alum juice. Use an old goose gall, mix the alum powder in the bile, put it in a bag, tie the bag tightly, hang it at the air vent, and dry it until After it is hard, rub it with clean water to get goose gall alum juice. If you dip a brush into this goose gall alum juice for writing and painting, it will disappear after it dries, but it will gradually appear when it is wet by water vapor in rainy days. Shadow trace. I used this kind of potion to first paint off the umbrella that was held under the armpit of the passer-by in "Smoky River Desire for Rain", and then draw an open umbrella on top of his head, and draw the umbrella he held with his hands up. The shape of an umbrella. When the potion dries, there is no trace and no trace can be seen, but when it is wet in rainy days, the potion will develop, showing the picture of pedestrians holding umbrellas."

Han Che nodded his head and let out a long "oh" before he understood the mystery behind it. After thinking about it, he asked again: "Then how did you expect that Bai would definitely come back and take this painting?"

Lu Yuting said: "Actually, Lu is really not sure whether he can really lure this Bai back. But I think as long as he is still in Xiulin City, or in the surrounding area of ​​Xiulin, as long as he hears that your The characters in the "Smoky River Desires for Rain" in the picture can actually make different changes according to the sunny and rainy weather. I must feel very surprised. Curiosity is present in everyone, and liars are no exception. I guess he must I will come back to find out, even if I don’t look for you blatantly, I will come to view the painting in disguise. I have carefully observed that the water between the two ends of the painting of "The Picture of Yanjiang Desiring Rain" has been covered by the The person surnamed Bai made a mark. As long as he came to see the painting, as long as he knew through the secret memory left by himself that this painting was indeed the "Mist River Desire for Rain" that he resold to you, there is no doubt that as long as he found this " Yanjiang Desire for Rain” can really change according to the weather, he will regret it in his heart: So this painting is really a strange painting, why didn’t I find it before? With such a strange painting, even if you don’t do it Lie, sell it to others openly, and the price is definitely more than 2 yuan."

Han Che interjected: "So you expect that as long as he sees this painting, he will definitely try to get it back, right?"

Lu Yuting stroked a strand of goatee under his jaw, nodded and smiled, "Exactly."

Han Che suddenly thought of something, slapped his thigh and said, "You just said that such a strange painting would sell for more than 2 yuan to people who don't know the truth. If this person surnamed Bai holds this painting If we go to bluff again, wouldn't we become his accomplices?"

Lu Yuting laughed and said, "Boss Han, please don't worry, Mr. Lu has already thought of this, so when making goose gall and alum juice, he added a little corrosive medicine to it. Within two months, the painting will fade automatically." , and the place smeared with goose gall and alum juice will fester and form a big hole. If the surname Bai wants to use this painting to cheat again, he has made a wrong calculation."

After hearing this, Han Che felt relieved.

(End of this chapter)