Chapter 36 Don't give Su Guanqing the leftovers
This realization made Jiang Tong panic for once, but she quickly calmed down.
No, that's not the case.
I just don't like the feeling of being out of control.
Come to think of it, Jiang Tong hasn't felt so out of control in a long time.
She has spent most of her life as a leader in the industry, and no one in her circle dares to interfere with the painter Jiang.
She has the final say on what jobs to take and what not to take, who to get along with and who not to get along with. No one can tell her what to do.
No matter whether they were high-ranking officials or wealthy nobles, even if they offered her thousands of taels of gold or tens of thousands of taels of silver to ask her to repair a painting, she would still refuse if she didn't want to.
When a person who is used to controlling everything finds himself losing control in the area where he is most adept, he will naturally feel uncomfortable.
...That's right, it must be so.
Jiang Tong managed to calm himself down and asked in a deep voice, "I'm going to ask you one last time. Think it over before you answer me. Do you really want to stay here alone?"
Su Guanqing still didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.
"Okay, if you want to stay, then stay." Jiang Tong's anger rose again and he could no longer control it. He was so annoyed that he turned around and left.
Until the whole family moved away, Jiang Tong never spoke another word to Su Guanqing.
But even though she was angry, she still sent a servant to take care of Su Guanqing.
The servant was in his early twenties and was very hardworking. He was responsible for buying groceries, cooking, washing clothes, and decocting medicine, so Su Guanqing was left with nothing to do.
He had nothing to do, could not read or paint, and had nothing to talk about with the servant.
He spends most of his time in his study.
As soon as Jiang Tong left, the study, which was originally full of people, became empty.
She had basically moved away all the tools she used on a daily basis, and only some miscellaneous small items were left in the study.
For example, the small wooden sticks used as the top and bottom poles for mounting, a stack of incompletely cut old paper and silk, two slightly worn brushes, and the polishing stone...
Su Guanqing was fine. He treated these discarded items as treasures and kept them neatly arranged.
After finishing the tidying up, he had nothing to do, so he sat on the chair that Jiang Tong usually sat on, holding the grinding stone in his hand, rubbing it gently and daydreaming.
I often stay there for a whole day.
The servant Xie Mancang was quite considerate. At first, when he saw Su Guanqing staying in the study, he thought that he had eyesight problems and was unwilling to go out, so he brought the food to the study and wanted him to eat at the desk.
Su Guanqing was originally sitting there like a puppet, but he almost jumped up when he heard this.
"No, you can't eat it here. Put it at the door of the kitchen."
"Door, door?" Xie Mancang was stunned.
Su Guanqing nodded: "Just put it by the door."
As he spoke, he stood up and walked to the threshold of the kitchen. In front of Xie Mancang's surprised gaze, he sat down alone on the threshold of the kitchen, holding the bowl of rice and started eating.
Xie Mancang looked at Su Guanqing, then at the empty desk in the study, and muttered in his heart: He has a strange appearance, but why does he have poor eyesight and not a very good brain?
The servant's wages and grocery expenses were all paid by Jiang Tong, so he did not regard Su Guanqing as his master.
He took his bowl, squatted beside Su Guanqing, and began to chat with Su Guanqing. Of course, it was mainly Xie Mancang who asked all kinds of questions under the pretext of understanding the situation and making it easier to take care of him.
This servant was also very shrewd. When he saw that Su Guanqing had a gentle and humble scholarly air, he knew that Su Guanqing must have an extraordinary background.
But no matter how he tried to inquire, he could not get any information. He did not even understand the relationship between Su Guanqing and the Jiang family.
It was not until Feng Fuliu came to visit Su Guanqing that Xie Mancang took the opportunity to serve tea and water to listen carefully. Only then did he know that Su Guanqing had actually been a musician in a music band. From that time on, his attitude towards Su Guanqing was not as attentive as before.
Unfortunately, Su Guanqing had a good temper and did not get angry even when he was neglected by Xie Mancang. Xie Mancang then became more and more aggressive.
He always kept the food for himself every day and gave the leftovers to Su Guanqing.
He also secretly took Su Guanqing's clothes and wore them. Anyway, he was just hanging around in front of Su Guanqing, but Su Guanqing couldn't see him.
It wasn't until one day when he accidentally cut a hole in his sleeve that Su Guanqing discovered the clue.
But he refused to admit it, and Su Guanqing had no evidence, so he had to give up.
Xie Mancang became complacent and pretended to be wronged and angry. Even when Su Guanqing asked him to mend the hole, he refused and said, "The material of your clothes is good. I am clumsy and weak. What should I do if I ruin it?"
Su Guanqing had no choice but to figure it out on his own.
He has had no one to take care of him these years, so he has been doing all the needlework himself. The results are a bit ugly, but at least the sewing is pretty solid.
As she was sewing, Jiang Tong's voice suddenly rang in her mind: "Come to me for these jobs from now on."
That was what Jiang Tong said when she pinched his ugly purse when they went to buy repair tools together.
The comfort he felt when he heard these words seemed to still be in his heart. Su Guanqing felt a pang of pain in his heart, and his hand trembled, and the thimble slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, rolling around, and no one knew where it went.
…
Ever since Jiang Tong finished repairing the "Early Spring Picture" that no one dared to take over, the reputation of the painter Jiang has risen in the capital, and more and more people have come to Jiang Tong to repair their paintings.
Jiang Tong wants to repair a painting and doesn't want to be disturbed.
But since the other party had come to visit, Jiang Tong couldn't send him back to Zhao Ji to receive him.
Just like in his previous life, Jiang Tong simply handed over the task of greeting guests to his apprentice.
Unfortunately, she only accepted one apprentice in this life. The little girl was introverted and didn't dare to speak in front of others. When she was forced to the front of the stage by the teacher, she almost cried.
However, Teacher Jiang was hard-hearted and ignored his apprentice's panic. He even told her, "You are the face of me, Jiang Tong. If you are timid, people will think that my abilities are all bragging."
Zhao Quesheng had no choice but to bite the bullet and act like the master's first disciple.
Although she had not seen many paintings by famous artists, she had long since learned about many famous paintings by famous artists throughout the ages from Su Guanqing, so if she was asked to talk about them, she could name them all.
If the customer who came to visit did not bring a masterpiece of art, she would send him to Zhao Ji. If it was a famous painting, she would ask the collector to stay for a while until Jiang Tong finished her work and came to inspect the painting in person.
As she received more and more collectors, the little girl gradually became more adept at it. She could even greet the collectors, ask when they received the paintings, and give them suggestions on how to improve the storage environment of the paintings based on the damage of the paintings.
On this day, a collector came to the door with a mysterious look on his face. He did not say which master the painting was from, but just unfolded the scroll and let Zhao Quesheng look at it himself.
This made Zhao Quesheng feel guilty.
As soon as the scroll was unfolded, Zhao Quesheng did not even look at the content of the painting, but hurriedly began to look for the signature all over the picture.
"Moon, Spring, Reflection, Purity... Moon, Spring, Reflection, Purity! Is this a painting by Master Su Yuequan?" The little girl's nervous mood immediately turned into excitement.
This was the first time she saw a painting by her master.
The painting... Zhao Quesheng's understanding of the art of brush and ink was not yet sufficient, so she had no way of judging, but she recognized at a glance that the two immortals in the painting, holding hands and riding the wind, as graceful as flying swans, were her two teachers!
"You little girl really know what's good." The collector couldn't help but laugh when he saw her reaction.
He is about forty years old. When he is not smiling, he looks intimidating without being angry, but when he smiles, he becomes a very kind uncle.
Zhao Quesheng had heard Jiang Tong and Su Guanqing talk about this painting several times.
This painting was originally given to Jiang Tong by Su Guanqing, but unfortunately the young Jiang Tong refused to accept it, so it has remained in the Su Mansion ever since.
Until the Su family was convicted, the painting was confiscated and later sold. It changed hands several times and no one knew who had it. I didn't expect it to be in front of me today.
Zhao Quesheng said hurriedly, "To be honest, my teacher has been looking for this painting for a long time. I wonder if the elegant scholar would be willing to part with it? My teacher is willing to buy it."
The collector refused without a second thought: "No, no, I'm here to repair the painting, not to sell it."
Zhao Quesheng secretly observed the man. He was dressed simply, had no servants to serve him, and had not even come by car. He thought he was from an ordinary family. If he offered a little more, he might be able to persuade him. So he said earnestly, "My teacher has been thinking about this painting for a long time. Just name your price, we are open to negotiation."
The collector laughed and said, "Who wouldn't want a piece of Su Yuequan's calligraphy? Look at the two immortals in this painting. They're as light and graceful as a cloud covering the moon, or snow blown by a gust of wind. They're simply captivating. I heard Su Yuequan was still a teenager when he painted this. He's truly a young talent."
He sighed again as he spoke: "It's a pity that God is jealous of talented people. Such a great painter... Alas. I must keep this painting well, so don't argue with me, little girl." The collector was probably from Jiangnan, and his Mandarin was accented with the Wu dialect.
This gave Zhao Que the illusion that he would be soft-hearted, and she insisted on pestering him for a long time, until it was almost time for lunch, when Jiang Tong saw that she had not come back for a long time and came to find her.
When Zhao Quesheng saw Jiang Tong coming, he felt relieved and hurried over to tell him what had happened.
When Jiang Tong heard it was the "Double Immortals Picture," he hurried over to take a look. When he saw the two immortals in the painting, his nose was sore.
The collector was shocked when he saw Jiang Tong's appearance. He looked at Jiang Tong in disbelief, then looked down at the painting.
"The person in this painting..."
When Jiang Tong looked up again, he had calmed down and gave the collector a proper smile: "Yes, I am the person in the painting. This painting was painted by Yuequan back then, depicting him and me."
"The girl and Su Yuequan..." the collector asked doubtfully.
"Yuequan is my good friend." Jiang Tong said.
A hint of surprise flashed across the collector's eyes, and he continued, "Young people's friendship is indeed something worth cherishing. In that case, this painting should be returned to its original owner."
"Thank you very much," Jiang Tong was overjoyed, "Please give me a price..."
Before Jiang Tong finished speaking, the collector waved his hand and said, "It's yours, young lady. How can I ask for a price? However, I have an unwelcome request, but I wonder if you can agree to it."
"You are welcome to speak freely, sir," said Jiang Tong.
"I heard that Master Su is blind, but I wonder if there's a cure for this disease?"
"I'm already taking medicine. The doctor said I'll be fine sooner or later."
"That's great," the collector said. "If Mr. Su's eyes recover in the future, could you please give me a copy of his calligraphy?"
"That's for sure."
At this moment, a surprised and happy voice came from the door of the hall -
"Yuzhong? When did you return to the capital?"
Everyone turned their heads and saw Jiang Huaishan walking in.
The collector was also surprised when he saw Jiang Huaishan: "Huaishan? This is your home?"
It turns out that this collector is actually Jiang Huaishan's former colleague, named Ye Sheng, also known as Yuzhong. Before the Duomen Incident, he was in mourning for his father.
It had been several years since the old friends last saw each other, and they were overjoyed to be reunited.
After the three of them exchanged greetings again, Jiang Huaishan left Jiang Tong and took Ye Sheng into the house to reminisce about the past.
As soon as they left, Jiang Tong couldn't wait to see the painting of "Two Immortals".
She had actually been looking for this painting in her previous life, but unfortunately she never found it in her entire life, and she never got to see it again until her death.
"Teacher?" Zhao Quesheng called her softly.
"What?" Jiang Tong came back to his senses.
"Teacher, have you seen this painting before?"
Jiang Tong nodded, the corners of her lips curling slightly as if recalling the past. "The last time I saw this painting, the ink wasn't even dry yet. You didn't see your master like that, holding it so carefully, smiling and saying he wanted to give it to me. I hated him the most at the time, but I had to give him a perfunctory word to get a bowl of sugar water cooked by his wet nurse. As soon as he finished the sugar water, I ran away."
Thinking of Su Guanqing's gloom at that time, an indescribable guilt filled her heart.
Seeing that Jiang Tong seemed to be in a bad mood, Zhao Quesheng quickly changed the subject: "Teacher, the mounting technique seems to be very poor. It has caused the center of the painting to crack." As she spoke, she showed a disgusted expression.
Even her mounting skills are not as good as this one!
"Yes, your eyesight has improved. You can tell that the cracks are caused by the mounting," Jiang Tong nodded. "Then take a look. Which step caused the problem?"
Zhao Quesheng knew the teacher was testing him, so he didn't dare to neglect his words. He said seriously, "The cracks here are because the paste was made too thick when mounting the painting."
"What about these mold spots?" Jiang Tong pointed in the air.
Zhao Quesheng leaned over to take a closer look. "The mold isn't on the surface of the painting, but mostly between it and the paper. It's probably because when they were placing the paper, they didn't wait for the paste to completely dry before moving on to the next step."
The little girl showed an angry look: "Whose paperhanger is this? How can he be so outrageous? Master must have been deceived by an amateur."
Jiang Tong smiled and didn't answer. He just gently rolled up the painting and walked towards the study.
When Xiao Su Guanqing asked her to comment that day, she took it seriously.
She took a sip of the sweet horse hoof soup and said, "When people send calligraphy and paintings as gifts, they always send them framed. Who would just send a thin piece of paper?"
Little Su Guanqing didn't realize that this was just an excuse for not wanting to accept the painting. He actually thought it made perfect sense and said hurriedly, "Then I'll have it framed and give it to you."
"I don't want anyone else to frame it for me," Little Jiang Tong bit into the crispy water chestnut cubes, and the sweet juices spurted out. She narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, "I want you to frame it yourself."
She had deliberately posed a difficult question, but little Su Guanqing obeyed her orders and actually framed the painting himself.
It’s a pity that in her previous life, she didn’t get to see the painting framed by him until the end.
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