Chapter 150 The Gap of Time
It was the hottest time of August and the city of Yanjing seemed to be wrapped in a steamer.
In the small courtyard of Shichahai, Lin Weimin and Han Zhuangzhuang, uncle and nephew, each wore a pair of large shorts without even a vest on their upper bodies. Lin Weimin was lying on a recliner while Han Zhuangzhuang was sitting on a chair.
"Uncle!"
"What's wrong?"
"Do you think I should read more books?"
"Why do you suddenly have this idea?"
"Nothing, I just suddenly felt that I knew too little."
Lin Weimin stopped fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan and glanced at Han Zhuangzhuang. "Not bad, you have improved. It seems that you have been stimulated by the People's Art Theatre?"
Han Zhuangzhuang looked embarrassed and didn't say anything, which was tantamount to his agreement.
"What kind of book are you going to read?" Lin Weimin asked him.
Han Zhuangzhuang looked bewildered, "No way!"
Lin Weimin looked at his nephew's stupid eyes and sighed, "How about this. I'll make a list of books for you, and you can buy them and read them carefully later."
"Uncle, don't you have books in your study?"
Lin Weimin glared and said, "My book is my book. You can buy it if you want to."
"So stingy!" Han Zhuangzhuang muttered.
Lin Weimin was just about to teach his disrespectful nephew a lesson when the gate was suddenly pushed open and Qu Xiaowei walked in.
"Oh, what a rare guest!" Lin Weimin said in a teasing tone.
Qu Xiaowei walked in and sat down, ignoring Lin Weimin, and said, "Nephew, pour me a cup of tea."
Han Zhuangzhuang poured him a cup of tea, and Qu Xiaowei drank it all before saying, "You're still comfortable here!"
"Why are you here? I don't want to eat for free!"
Qu Xiaowei showed a mocking expression, "Look at how stingy you are. You are simply the reincarnation of Grandet. Don't worry, I am here to bring you something good today."
As he spoke, he put down the painting tube he had been holding and said, "Take a look!"
"What is this?"
Qu Xiaowei opened the painting tube and pulled out the scroll.
Lin Weimin frowned. Is this a painting?
As Qu Xiaowei carefully unfolded the painting, an ancient landscape painting appeared before Lin Weimin's eyes.
"What is this?" Han Zhuangzhuang asked.
Qu Xiaowei showed off: "Did you see the inscription on it? 'A poem by Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty says: Frosted leaves are redder than flowers in February, and can be dyed.'"
He read out the inscription above the painting word by word, and then said proudly: "Do you know it?"
Han Zhuangzhuang shook his head happily. How could he know this?
Qu Xiaowei looked at Lin Weimin again with a provocative look on his face.
Lin Weimin was surprised and asked, "Li Keran?"
Seeing Lin Weimin's expression, Qu Xiaowei's idea finally came to his mind and he slowly rolled up the painting.
He said with some pride: "You have good taste. This is Li Keran's "Pasturing in the Autumn Countryside". It is different from those cheap ones sold at a few yuan per foot in the History Museum. My grandfather bought it for fifty yuan per foot."
Then he continued, "My father said that the people in Zheng State remember your favor, so we have to repay you. As for how you repay Zheng State's favor in the future, our family does not care."
As he spoke, he handed the scroll to Lin Weimin.
Lin Weimin pushed the scroll away and said, "No, it's too valuable. I can't take it."
"Just take it if I give it to you. How big of a favor is it to help Haiyan transfer to another job? I don't want to owe you this forever."
Lin Weimin sighed secretly, "When I was at the Institute of Literature, I saw that you were a big complainer. After such a long time, you have once again proved my judgment."
Li Keran, a modern painter and a disciple of Qi Baishi, is good at painting landscapes and figures, especially cows.
Several years later, the master's works started at millions at auctions, and the most expensive work set a sky-high price of 293 million.
"This is something that can be passed down from generation to generation. Keep it for your family."
Qu Xiaowei said: "We have a lot of heirlooms in our family, this one is not a big deal..."
As he was speaking, he felt his hand lighten and the scroll was in Lin Weimin's hand.
Lin Weimin originally thought that he should not take advantage of Qu Xiaowei, but this kid's words were too infuriating.
What does "this one thing doesn't matter" mean?
Damn it, I misjudged him before. I didn’t expect this guy to be a hidden rich second generation.
No wonder the attributes of this big resentful species are so powerful!
Lin Weimin used to have a good feeling about himself, but now thinking back, he wonders what kind of friends he has around him.
Zheng Guo, who claimed to have no father or mother and was very stingy, returned to his hometown and transformed himself into a second-generation G.
The heartless and idle Qu Xiaowei can easily produce a masterpiece.
It turns out that I'm the only one who started with the hell difficulty copy, and you guys are all cheating?
Lin Weimin suddenly felt that he was the clown himself.
Heaven is so unfair!
No wonder Qu Xiaowei dared to spend money to buy those signed books of mine without blinking an eye. It was still less at that time!
"Look at how you're blinded by money!" Qu Xiaowei teased.
Lin Weimin said viciously: "I am robbing the rich to help the poor!"
"Rob my wealth to help your poverty?"
“That’s right!”
After joking for a while, Lin Weimin thought of what Qu Xiaowei had just said, "What history museum did you just say? They also sell paintings?"
"Don't you know? The Foreign Guest Service Department there sells all kinds of paintings. The cheap ones are only a few dollars per foot."
Lin Weimin's eyes lit up. After traveling for such a long time, he finally found a way to get rich quickly.
Listen, listen, sold by the meter, is that what people say?
"Whose paintings are for sale there?" Lin Weimin asked excitedly.
"Wang Xuetao, Li Keran, Lu Yanshao, Huang Binhong, Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Li Keran, Wu Zuoren, Jiang Zhaohe..." Qu Xiaowei counted on his fingers.
Before he finished counting, Lin Weimin grabbed his hand and said, "Stop talking and leave!"
"Where are you going?"
“A museum!”
"You want to buy a painting?"
Qu Xiaowei grabbed him and said, "Don't go."
"What's wrong?"
"They've been bought out. Now they're filled with cheap stuff. They're not worth much."
"What the hell? Sold out?" Lin Weimin looked shocked.
"Yes, it happened in the first half of this year. A businessman named Xu Huachi who came back from Hong Kong spent more than 200,000 Hong Kong dollars to buy all the paintings for the Foreign Guest Service Department. I think there were more than 9,000 paintings in total, right?"
"Fuck!"
Lin Weimin couldn't help but swear. More than 200,000 Hong Kong dollars? He bought nearly 10,000 paintings by famous artists?
Isn’t this considered a loss of state-owned assets?
They are Li Keran, Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong and Zhang Daqian!
How dare you?
Not to mention the feeling of missing out on 100 million yuan, just watching these masters' works being sold at such low prices by certain officials in the name of serving foreign guests filled his heart with regret and resentment.
"Why are you so excited?"
"How can I not be excited?" Lin Weimin yelled.
Then he calmed down under Qu Xiaowei's puzzled gaze.
With a wry smile, this is probably the gap between the times?
He couldn't explain it clearly to Qu Xiaowei, and could only sit down dejectedly in the face of his suspicious and incomprehensible look.
The next day, a working day.
Lin Weimin found Qin Chaoyang with Shi Tiesheng's touching essay.
"Comrade Qin, you have to thank me this time." He pulled over a chair and sat next to Qin Chaoyang's desk.
Qin Chaoyang raised his head from the pile of papers, "Oh? What do you mean?"
Lin Weimin handed over the manuscript and said, "I have received a good manuscript for our editorial department."
Qin Chaoyang took the manuscript and didn't even wait to read it. "That's all?"
“It’s not the quantity of manuscripts that matters, but their quality!” Lin Weimin said proudly.
Putting the manuscript on the table, Qin Chaoyang adjusted his glasses and began to read the manuscript.
The full text of "Autumn Nostalgia" is less than two thousand words, and it doesn't take long to read.
After reading it, Qin Chaoyang was silent for a long time. Only after he calmed down did he raise his head and meet Lin Weimin's expectant gaze.
"How about it?"
“Great article!”
“Can it be published?”
Qin Chaoyang laughed, "Publishing is not a problem! How did such a good manuscript fall into your hands?"
"What do you mean it fell into my hands? This is the result of my hard work in compiling manuscripts!" Lin Weimin said shamelessly.
Qin Chaoyang weighed the manuscript and said regretfully, "It's just a little short."
Lin Weimin said, "It's not short. It's just prose, not a novel. Why make it so long and boring?"
Qin Chaoyang laughed and said, "Good boy, for the sake of publication, you even dare to slander your own business."
"How can this be called slander? Each literary style has its own characteristics. Novels need to create characters and conflicts, but prose does not need these. It is enough to express one's feelings directly. Do you remember Gui Youguang's "Xiangji Xuanzhi"? "There is a loquat tree in the yard, which was planted by my wife in the year of her death. Now it has grown tall and majestic."
Just this one sentence gives time a measure and makes longing countable, making it a famous sentence that will be passed down through the ages.
Thousands of years later, people may not remember who wrote "Xiang Ji Xuan Zhi", but they will definitely remember that there was a man who loved his wife deeply and missed her. "
"I just said a short word, and you responded with a long speech, citing scriptures and criticizing me."
Lin Weimin quickly stood up and said, "What are you talking about? I'm just trying to communicate with you!"
Qin Chaoyang waved his hand to let Lin Weimin sit down and listen to me. "Okay, I know you value this article. It's really well written. It's a little short, but it's just a minor problem."
Lin Weimin then laughed, "Hey, why are you breathing so hard when you speak?"
Qin Chaoyang smiled bitterly and said, "You kid didn't even let me open my mouth, and you just started talking at length."
"Hehe!" Lin Weimin smiled embarrassedly.
Qin Chaoyang joked: "I haven't seen you so anxious about your own manuscript!"
He looked at the signature on the manuscript and said, "I have some impression of this Shi Tiesheng. He had published a novel in Contemporary before, and also published a work in South Wind in the first half of the year, right?"
"You have a good memory. He published a short story in South Wind earlier this year called 'God in the Woods'."
"It seems like they are really good friends. They even remember the works so clearly."
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "We are indeed good friends! Then I will give this manuscript to you. When do you think it can be published?"
"Whichever period is scheduled will be the next one."
I have to visit relatives starting from the second day of the Chinese New Year, so the daily writing will be suspended for a few days, and I will update at least 6,000 words.
Let me report on the battle situation: the current average subscription is 6,100, and the number of chapters has been increased to 5,500, so I owe six chapters with 12,000 words; there is no additional chapter for the 1,900 monthly tickets, so I owe one chapter with 2,000 words; due to the rewards from book friends who have placed orders for high-quality books, I owe one chapter with 2,000 words, so a total of 16,000 words are owed.
I am in pain and happy at the same time. Please wait patiently for two days. I will visit all my relatives during these two days and resume my daily updates on the fourth day of the New Year. I will try to make up for the overdue updates as soon as possible.
(End of this chapter)
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