Grandma Jiang and Li Xiangdong decided to become master and apprentice. This couldn't be kept secret, and they would have to visit each other often in the future.

After brainstorming for a while, the two told the outside world that Li Xiangdong was learning to paint with Grandma Jiang.

Everyone in the room, except for Doctor Gu and Old Madam Hong, was shocked by the matter of taking a master. Why would someone take a master?

They do have apprenticeships here, like carpenters and blacksmiths, where masters teach apprentices.

But, learning to draw?

Li Jin looked at Zhao Sufang, and Zhao Sufang looked at Li Jin. Anyway, their second son knew more than they did, so whatever their second son said was the truth!

In front of everyone, Li Xiangdong solemnly kowtowed three times to Jiang Ying, the old lady, and began to address her as "Master".

Jiang Ying solemnly helped him up, and then took out a jade cicada from her pocket, saying, "Xiang Dong, this is a gift from your master."

Li Xiangdong accepted the document and kept it safe; from that moment on, the two officially became master and apprentice.

Li Jin and Zhao Sufang were also quite happy and were making plans to prepare a decent meal to celebrate the occasion the next day.

Li Weijun took a moment to call Li Xiangdong aside and said, "Xiangdong, are you stupid?!"

"This old lady Jiang must be over sixty years old this year, she looks older than our grandma. What kind of master do you want to take on now?"

“A master and his disciple are like father and son. She’s an old woman all alone. Now she’s taking you as her disciple, isn’t it just so she can find someone to take care of her in her old age?”

"How could you be so foolish? Look at this thing she gave you, it's worthless!"

Li Weijun took the jade cicada from Li Xiangdong's hand, weighed it in his hand, and said, "It's just a green stone, carved into a cicada monkey with long wings. It's not worth much, but you're asking me to take care of her in her old age and see her to her death. You're really cunning!"

Li Xiangdong couldn't help but chuckle. Although his older brother didn't know much about art, he was showing concern for him this time. "Brother, I loved drawing when I was a child, but the school didn't teach it. Luckily, my master had studied drawing, so I became his apprentice."

"As for taking care of you in your old age and seeing you off in your final days, my master is an old lady and can't eat much."

"Hmph, those who don't listen to the elders will suffer the consequences." Li Weijun snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Two days later, Li Xiangdong rode his bicycle to Quanshui Village to find Grandma Jiang.

The third sister and her husband took Grandma Hong and Daxia to visit Grandma Hong's eighth daughter, Hong Mei, who had just given birth in the next village. Grandma Jiang was left alone at home, which was a good time for her to be quiet.

"Did you bring the wine?" Grandma Jiang asked.

Li Xiangdong reluctantly took out a bottle of Moutai.

"Watch closely now!"

Grandma Jiang first laid a sheet of protective paper on the table, then used a brush dipped in water to smooth it out. She then laid the brittle and broken bamboo and lark painting flat on the table in order.

Grandma Jiang picked up a small, white tin spray bottle. "This contains 50-degree warm water. Spray it evenly onto the painting to soften the brittle paper."

As she spoke, Grandma Jiang picked up a spray bottle and sprayed water on it. After soaking for more than an hour, the previously warped paper, which looked like a potato chip, slowly became soft and smooth.

"Do all paintings need to be heated to 50 degrees Celsius?" Li Xiangdong asked curiously.

Grandma Jiang gave him an approving look. "Of course not. It depends on how old the painting is. We need to adjust the temperature accordingly. Of course, this requires experience to judge."

Li Xiangdong nodded.

"Next is cleaning, and this process must adhere to the principle of restoring the old as it was. What does 'restoring the old as it was' mean? It means controlling the degree of cleaning, and preserving some natural traces that should be preserved."

As she spoke, Grandma Jiang gently scrubbed the ancient painting with a wet brush, saying, "As long as it's clean and fresh, that's fine."

After cleaning, the painting still needs to be accurately pieced together. Grandma Jiang poured in clean water, gently touched and pushed it with a brush, and relied on the buoyancy of the water to flatten and piece the ancient painting fragments together one by one.

"In order to make the colors appear more vibrant and colorful, Chinese painters often used lead-containing pigments in their ancient paintings. However, over time, lead-containing pigments would gradually turn black. Look at this painting of bamboo and larks in the rain. The feathers of these two larks were painted with colors such as plum red, pine flower, azurite, and sapphire blue. But after hundreds of years, they have all turned black."

"What should we do?" Why are the colors in the meticulous paintings we see in museums still so vibrant?

"This is called lead oxide. In general, the black lead powder is oxidized into white by solvents for repair."

"What about the unusual ones?"

Grandma Jiang asked Li Xiangdong to soak the Xuan paper she had cut into long strips in clean water, and then she herself used the wet Xuan paper strips to form a circle around the two larks.

Grandma Jiang instructed Li Xiangdong, "Open the Moutai!"

"Can't we use other wines?" Li Xiangdong still wanted to make a small effort.

"Stop arguing and hurry up!"

Li Xiangdong opened the Moutai with a pained expression, watching as Grandma Jiang poured the Moutai into a circle made of damp Xuan paper strips, then struck a match and lit the liquor.

"What the heck! What are you doing?" Li Xiangdong exclaimed.

"Stop yelling like you've never seen anything like this before!" Old Mrs. Jiang rolled her eyes at him. "The fire is to burn off the lead powder and remove the blackening."

"Oh!" Li Xiangdong scratched his head. "But won't this burn it?"

"If you control the amount, it won't burn. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, while paper ignites at a much higher temperature. As long as there is water in the painting, the fire will only burn the lead powder and won't burn the painting."

"This is the fire-burning method, also known as 'fire on paper'!"

Li Xiangdong nodded. This must be the secret technique for restoring ancient paintings!

After burning the lark, Grandma Jiang took out a piece of protective paper and gently covered the painting with it.

Once the protective paper was completely attached, Grandma Jiang gently flipped the painting over. "Now peel off the protective paper from the front."

Grandma Jiang gently peeled off the protective paper with small tweezers, and carefully put the painting back in place with a brush if it had shifted.

Li Xiangdong watched Jiang's movements with bated breath and clenched fists. He didn't know how much time had passed before the front of the painting was finally peeled off.

Grandma Jiang sighed with relief, "Put it on the wall and let it air dry!"

Li Xiangdong flexed his wrists, carefully pasted the drawing on the wall, and examined it closely. "The bird's head isn't complete; it looks rather scary!"

Grandma Jiang chuckled, "Once it dries, we can just touch it up with paint. You think restoring an ancient painting is just as simple as washing it and remounting it?"

"If you want to restore something to its original state, you must first master different painting techniques and have skilled painting skills in order to connect with the original artist's brushstrokes and re-outline and fill in the colors."

"So, you're not wrong to say you want to learn to draw from me!"