Chapter 26: The fog is thick. Something seems to be different about Jiang Tong...
Early the next morning, spring rain was falling.
Su Guanqing opened the steamer, and white steam rose out, revealing the steamed buns and cornbread inside.
——These were actually the lunches that Zhao Quesheng brought over in the past few days, but they were withheld by Jiang Tong and used as their breakfast.
Su Guanqing picked up the chopsticks and took the steamed buns out of the pot.
One, two, three, four, five...
He paused.
...Why is one missing? It's broken. Did it fall somewhere?
The wind and rain were still beating outside the door. Ah Qiao, holding a hot steamed bun in his mouth, quietly slipped into Jiang Tong's room.
"You got up late today," Ah Qiao leaned against the bedpost, watching Jiang Tong stay in bed, "Master Su's steamed buns are ready."
"What's the best thing to do right now? Getting drunk, traveling, or sleeping!" Jiang Tong stretched lazily, half-closed his fox eyes and smiled at her. "Any news?"
Ever since she realized that she was not dreaming but was really starting over, all the depression she had accumulated over the years was swept away and she felt very cheerful.
She felt that with God's blessing, she could repair damaged calligraphy and paintings with her own hands and also reshape a new life for herself.
Ah Qiao shook his head. "We're still investigating. But I don't think that fake Jiang Huaiyan has done anything. He doesn't seem to really want to save Jiang Meng."
"It's no wonder they're not real father and son," Jiang Tong sat up, his eyes falling on the painting in Aqiao's arms. "What is this?"
When this was mentioned, Aqiao suddenly became gloomy: "A painting my mother left me was eaten by insects."
Jiang Tong had mentioned to her earlier in casual conversation that it was inappropriate to hide paintings on the wall, so she had wanted to go and take a look, but she was too busy and only got around to it last night.
When I dug out the painting and looked at it, I felt so heartbroken that I regretted my decision.
"Let's go to the study and I'll help you take a look." Jiang Tong quickly put on his clothes and pulled A Qiao to the study.
When the scroll was spread out, it was indeed badly damaged by insects, with holes densely packed with tiny holes as big as sesame seeds.
However, compared with the large-scale loss of land in a few decades, the current situation is still optimistic.
Jiang Tong concentrated and carefully studied the entire painting. She remembered that after repairing the painting, there were still many parts missing, which she completed by connecting the strokes.
But she had never seen the original painting at that time, nor was she the artist who created it. She relied on her speculation and imagination to fill in the gaps. Although the technique made it impossible to see the traces of filling in, it was impossible for her to surpass the original work.
Now looking at the part that had not been eaten by insects, she had to admit that the added things were indeed not as natural as the original ones.
"Is there any way to remedy this?" Aqiao's brows were knitted into eight characters.
Jiang Tong reached out and pinched her face, laughing: "I was almost dying then, but I didn't see you frown once. Now these wormholes have made you so worried."
A-Qiao was stunned by her pinch.
Although the current A-Qiao is not the powerful Boss Qiao many years later, the years of living on the edge of a knife have forged her with a cold and stern temperament.
Normally, no one dared to offend her, whether it was her brothers, rivals, or employers. Jiang Tong was the first one to dare to mess with her like this, and strangely, she didn't feel disgusted at all, but rather found it quite refreshing.
She looked at Jiang Tong and saw her smiling brightly. Suddenly, she felt that something was different about Jiang Tong. Jiang Tong, who used to be calm and experienced, was now tense and gave people a feeling of decadence, as if she was shrouded in a dark cloud.
The clouds must have cleared and the rain has stopped now. She was smiling, standing in the sunshine and in the colorful clouds, looking very relaxed and comfortable.
Ah Qiao suddenly felt a little envious, but quickly suppressed this emotion and said self-deprecatingly, "Don't make fun of me. I'm not afraid of death, but this painting is the only memory my mother left me. It can't be damaged."
Jiang Tong's heart suddenly moved.
A Qiao, whose last name and name are unknown, has only a code name.
What kind of background does she have?
Besides helping him investigate things, what else has she been doing these days? Has she gone back to her old ways?
In his previous life, it was because of this incident that Aqiao learned from his mistakes and realized the disadvantages of being weak and powerless, so he began to accumulate his own power.
Although she has not left her hometown now, she may not necessarily go back to the same old path.
Then she thought about the time when Aqiao helped her investigate things. She had been completely kept in the dark about those secrets in her previous life, but Aqiao seemed to have easily found out the clues, which further demonstrated Aqiao's ability.
To achieve this, she must have already gained a certain amount of influence in the city.
So, at this point in his life, Aqiao has become stuck in the mud?
When Jiang Tong thought of this, his heart sank.
"This painting... is it hopeless?" Seeing Jiang Tong staring at the painting for a long time with an increasingly serious expression, Aqiao's heart sank.
Jiang Tong came back to his senses and smiled at her: "Yes, don't worry, I'll take care of it."
"I feel relieved now that you've said that. If anything happens to this painting, I really don't know how I'm going to explain it to my mother."
...You still don't take your life seriously.
Jiang Tong was very displeased: "If the painting is ruined, your mother may not be angry. If something happens to you, your mother will be sad."
Seeing that the conversation had already begun, Jiang Tong simply spoke out what was in his heart:
"Ah Qiao, I don't know what you've been up to, but after seeing you injured last time, I know what you're doing is fraught with danger. I know you're capable, but as the saying goes, if you walk by the river often, you'll inevitably get your feet wet. Since you've changed your ways, you can definitely start a new life. Why go back to your old ways?"
Seeing Jiang Tong's sincere tone, and every word he said was for his own consideration, Ah Qiao felt a pang of pain in his heart, and was speechless for a moment. After a long while, he smiled bitterly and said:
"It's not that I don't want to live a peaceful life, it's really... you don't know, I'm different from you. I was born to be shady and have never dared to hope to live an upright life. In this regard, I'm afraid I'm not even as good as Master Su."
"What do you mean?" Jiang Tong had never heard her talk about her life story before, so she couldn't help but wonder.
Ah Qiao was no longer willing to bring it up. She waved her hand and said, "Oh, it's okay. You think I'm talking nonsense."
She pointed to the incomplete painting on the table and said, "I'll entrust this painting to you. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."
After saying that, without waiting for Jiang Tong's response, the figure disappeared in a flash.
At this moment, Su Guanqing's voice came from the yard: "Tongtong, it's time to eat."
Jiang Tong walked out of the study and saw Su Guanqing standing at the door of her bedroom, which was wide open. He didn't go in, but called her from the door. She answered, "I'm here."
"Tongtong?" Su Guanqing turned in the direction of the voice, a little surprised, "You're already revising the painting so early?"
"Not yet. Let's eat together." Jiang Tong said, walked into the kitchen, and was about to take the steamed buns from the plate. Unexpectedly, he felt a pain as soon as his fingertips touched the buns.
As soon as Su Guanqing came in, he heard her hiss softly.
His expression became serious, and he hurried to her side in two steps, but he couldn't see her condition. He was extremely anxious, and a trace of anxiety could not help but appear in his eyes: "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"It's okay." Jiang Tong didn't want to explain that she had been rubbing the life paper day and night, causing the skin on her fingertips to be damaged. If she said this, Guan Qing would nag her to balance work and rest.
She shook her hands, trying to shake off the burning sensation. Seeing that Su Guanqing still looked as if he was facing a great enemy, she smiled and said, "It's really okay, I just got burned. It's okay now."
Su Guanqing was confused.
...Is it still hot?
He had clearly gone to deliver breakfast to Jiang Huaishan and his wife before calling Jiang Tong. Logically, it shouldn't have been too hot.
The mystery was not revealed until noon when Zhao Quesheng, who suffered the same problem, could no longer hold his chopsticks.
At noon that day, Jiang Huaishan said that he was going to visit an old friend and would not be back at noon. Jiang Tong, who had not seen him for a long time, was willing to go back to the house for dinner.
Halfway through the meal, Zhong Wanci suddenly stared at Zhao Quesheng's hand and exclaimed, "What's wrong with this kid's hand?"
Zhao Quesheng was embarrassed and wanted to hide his hands.
Jiang Tong said calmly, "It's like this when you first start retouching a painting. Once the skin falls off, it will grow back and everything will be fine."
Su Guanqing's heart trembled, and he immediately understood what happened this morning. He frowned and said, "Tongtong, your hand is broken too?"
"My condition isn't as serious as Quesheng's," Jiang Tong glanced at Zhao Quesheng, "Silly boy, if your index finger hurts, don't you know to try another finger?"
Zhao Quesheng was an honest child. Seeing Jiang Tong using his index finger during demonstration, he thought it was the rule in the industry and didn't dare to change it. When he heard what Jiang Tong said, he was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood and nodded hurriedly: "Disciple, I will teach you."
"Don't just talk about others, let me see your hand." Zhong Wanci put down the bowl and pulled Jiang Tong's hand.
Jiang Tong had no choice but to show her: "I said it's okay, the skin is not even broken."
Zhong Wanci scolded, "You're only halfway there, the teasing is a joke! All ten of your fingers are red like this, and you're still fine!"
Jiang Tong curled her lips and said nothing.
After waiting for the meal, Zhong Wanci started to apply medicine to Jiang Tong and Zhao Quesheng.
Zhao Quesheng was quite obedient. She applied the medicine when asked to do so. She wrapped the medicine on her right index finger. She still had nine fingers to replace.
Jiang Tong was annoyed. Her mother wanted to wrap all ten of her fingers, which scared her so much that she ran back to the study.
Zhong Wanci stomped her feet twice in anger, then suddenly had an idea and went into the kitchen.
When Su Guanqing finished cleaning the kitchen and returned to the house, Jiang Tong was checking Zhao Quesheng's homework.
"Yes, great progress."
Zhao Quesheng's eyes lit up: "Then can I learn the next step?"
Jiang Tong shook his head mercilessly: "You still have a lot to learn about peeling off the paper. For example, you don't necessarily have to use your fingers to peel off the paper. Sometimes, if the paper isn't too fragile, you can use tweezers to peel it off."
As she spoke, she handed Zhao Quesheng a pair of tweezers and two pieces of waste paper she had glued together earlier. "Look, with newer paper like this, you can just find a gap along the edge and gently lift it with the tweezers to tear it off. Using your fingers would be more troublesome. Here, try it yourself first."
Su Guanqing waited for her to finish her instructions before speaking, "Tongtong, isn't the backing removal process for Ma Yuan's painting finished yet?"
"It's finished," Jiang Tong replied casually, "I fixed the damaged parts yesterday, and the core of the painting is dry today, so it's time to paint it all over."
Su Guanqing said, "I remember you said that full color means using a brush to dye the new paper that has been added."
"good."
"Then applying the medicine shouldn't affect your overall color."
Jiang Tong didn't expect him to be waiting for her here. She was stunned and was about to say something, but Su Guanqing quickly said, "I promise it's wrapped very thinly and won't affect your pen-holding."
"Teacher, please apply the medicine. I feel sad when I see your fingers." Zhao Quesheng held the tweezers, with his tightly wrapped index finger raised high. He looked up at Jiang Tong with concern.
Although still somewhat unhappy, Jiang Tong finally nodded and waited for Su Guanqing to bring the ointment. She then said angrily, "If the ointment makes it difficult for me to do my work, you must remove it."
"Okay." Su Guanqing responded with a smile.
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The author has something to say: What is the most suitable thing now? Getting drunk, traveling, or sleeping - "Xijiang Yue·Showing My Children to Entrust Family Affairs to Them" ·Xin Qiji
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