Chapter 52: Getting Ready Ouch, it seems some people just…
"Oh my, it seems some people forget their old love when they find a new one."
Feng Fuliu sat at the dinner table, raised her orchid finger to pick up a piece of food and put it into her bowl, then glanced at the distraught Su Guanqing and said coldly.
"Don't talk nonsense!" He was responded to in unison by Su Guanqing and Zhao Quesheng, the master and his disciple.
"Hmph! You, master and disciple!" Feng Fuliu leaned over to Su Guanqing. "Don't be stubborn with me. You think the same, don't you? Otherwise, why are you just staring blankly at the bowl?"
"That's not the case." Su Guanqing immediately lowered his head and took two mouthfuls of rice.
When Jiang Tong was not around, he didn't want others to pick up food for him. He would usually just pick up one or two dishes in front of him. But when he got to the second half of the meal, there were fewer dishes on the plate, and he couldn't always pick up food with his chopsticks. If he couldn't, he was too embarrassed to search in the plate, so he would just eat the rice directly.
Feng Fuliu was not a particularly attentive person. He did not even notice that there was no food in Su Guanqing's bowl. He just made sarcastic remarks:
"I bet you that not only today's meal, but also in the future, as long as that family is still here, your eldest daughter will probably not eat with you anymore."
"Starting tomorrow, the teacher will indeed not eat at home." Zhao Quesheng added, glancing at Su Guanqing's bowl with his small eyes.
She had been accustomed to observing people's words and expressions since she was a child, so she naturally noticed that Su Guanqing ate white rice. She had also tried to help her master pick up some food, but after being rejected once, she didn't dare to do it again.
Su Guanqing asked her, "Aren't you going to eat at home?"
Speaking of this, Zhao Quesheng looked proud: "Teacher is going to the Prince Xiang's Mansion to practice Wang Xizhi's calligraphy!"
When Su Guanqing heard Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, his eyes lit up and he asked, "Is it an authentic one?" But before he finished speaking, he became a little sad again.
Even if it was true, he would never have the chance to see it.
"The teacher said it's an authentic work. He told me to go with him tomorrow. I can learn a lot!" She lowered her voice and muttered timidly, "But I don't understand it either. I haven't learned to paint well yet."
"That's all right. Calligraphy and painting are one. Master will explain the key points to you first. You can go with your teacher tomorrow and learn as much as you can. Even if you don't understand it, it will be beneficial to read more and ponder more."
"yes!"
So, the master and disciple started talking about books at the dinner table.
Feng Fuliu rolled his eyes, ate his meal by himself and stopped interrupting.
…
Jiang Tong stayed with the visitor until it was almost time to go to bed. When he finally had some free time and came to find Zhao Quesheng, the little girl had already blown out the lights and lay down.
As soon as he heard the teacher was outside, Zhao Quesheng jumped up and opened the door.
"teacher!"
"Is everything ready?" Jiang Tong asked.
Zhao Quesheng said hurriedly, "I have everything, except the ancient paper from the Jin Dynasty. I told my uncle about it, and he said he would definitely find it and send it to me tomorrow morning."
As the teacher and student were talking, the door to the next room opened. Su Guanqing walked out, lighting a bamboo stick, and called softly, "Tongtong?"
Jiang Tong turned around in surprise: "You haven't slept yet?"
Su Guanqing couldn't say that he was lost in thought and couldn't sleep, but he heard Jiang Tong's voice. He opened the door and walked out in a hurry, like a moth attracted by the light.
"I ate too much last night and I feel a little indigestion." Su Guanqing had to make an excuse.
Zhao Quesheng complained to Jiang Tong in a low voice: "Master only ate white rice tonight. I wanted to pick up some food for Master, but Master wouldn't let me. Master only lets me pick up some food."
She spoke as softly as possible, but Su Guanqing could still hear it clearly.
For a moment, he was also a little embarrassed.
Jiang Tong rubbed Zhao Quesheng's head and said, "Go back to sleep. You have to do something in front of outsiders tomorrow, so you can't lose face in front of the teacher."
Zhao Quesheng nodded vigorously, said goodnight to Jiang Tong and Su Guanqing, and returned to his small side room.
There were only two people left under the eaves. Jiang Tong finally walked over to Su Guanqing, took his hand, and shook it. "I'm sorry I didn't have dinner with you tonight. My aunt just arrived today, so she couldn't get away. Starting tomorrow I have to go to the palace to repair the paintings. When I'm done with this period, I'll have dinner with you every day."
With just a few words of comfort, the heavy stone that had been weighing on Su Guanqing's heart for half a day suddenly melted away. He smiled and said, "It's okay. Just focus on your work and don't worry about me. I'm not a child. Can I not eat by myself?"
He paused, then pretended to ask casually, "I don't think I've seen your cousin before. So, what does he look like?"
"What does he look like?" Jiang Tong didn't even bother to look at him for a second. "Just the nose is the nose, and the eyes are the eyes."
This answer was puzzling, and Su Guanqing became even more nervous.
"So... is he tall?"
Jiang Tong noticed something was wrong with Su Guanqing, and her fox eyes curved into thin crescents. She deliberately lied, "He's quite tall. Tall and strong. And handsome..."
"Oh..." The corners of Su Guanqing's mouth couldn't stop drooping.
Jiang Tong suppressed her laughter and leaned close to his ear: "I'm just teasing you! He's not as pretty as you."
Her breath hit his neck, wet and hot. In an instant, his head buzzed and he didn't even hear what she said.
…
The next day, Jiang Tong and Zhao Quesheng were loading the repair tools onto the carriage when Zhao Ji arrived with ancient paper from the Jin Dynasty.
He handed the paper roll to Jiang Tong with some trepidation: "Miss Jiang, I don't know if this paper is suitable for use."
When it comes to restoration paper, in addition to ensuring that the age and category are as consistent as possible with the painting, the warp and weft of the paper fibers must also be as similar as possible.
But Wang Xizhi lived more than a thousand years ago, so it is not easy to find paper copies from the Jin Dynasty. If he had to pick these, it would be impossible. He searched all his colleagues in the city yesterday, but only found this one thing.
Jiang Tong looked at the paper and said, "It's usable. Thank you, Manager Zhao, for your hard work."
"That's good, that's good." Zhao Ji breathed a sigh of relief and said goodbye and left.
Jiang Tong handed the paper roll to Zhao Quesheng, walked up to Su Guanqing, and pulled his little finger: "I'm going out. You should eat well at home. If you don't want others to help you pick up the food, just ask Master Feng to open the menu and pick a plate for you alone. Don't just eat plain rice."
Su Guanqing nodded with a smile: "I saved it."
Jiang Tong then let him go and got into the car with Zhao Quesheng.
Listening to the carriage slowly driving away, Su Guanqing stepped onto the steps with his bamboo stick. Just as he was about to cross the threshold, he heard someone talking to him——
"You are the Su Guanqing who was once engaged to my cousin, right?"
Su Guanqing paused, guessing it was Jiang Tong's cousin Fan Yanyu, and politely replied, "That's me."
Fan Yanyu looked him up and down, sighing, "I've heard of your talent all over Guangzhou. The son of the Prime Minister, a master of both calligraphy and painting. What a pity!"
"Masters of both calligraphy and painting? Oh, that's you," a middle-aged woman said nearby. "I'd like to see you paint if I can."
Su Guanqing said, "I'm sorry, I can't paint anymore."
Fan Yanyu squinted at his mother and said, "How can you ask me to paint if I can't see?"
"Oh," Zhong Yange realized that she had said something stupid and asked, "Then there must be some drawings from before, right?"
"I'm sorry, my old works have been scattered and I can't find them."
"That's a pity." Fan Yanyu put his hands behind his back, and kept shaking his head while sticking out his belly.
"Well, but those things don't mean much. Tongtong doesn't like these things. Tongtong hates reciting poems and painting the most. Riding horses and wielding swords are her favorite. At that time, she was clamoring to cancel the engagement, and my sister even wrote to us to complain about it. This is the same as my son's preference. My son also despises those sour things. A mother always loves her children. My sister also wanted to go along with Tongtong at the time, but unfortunately my brother-in-law insisted on having his own way. Now it's all good..."
Zhong Yan Ge kept talking on and on.
Su Guanqing listened quietly with an unmoved expression, but it was Fan Yanyu who got impatient first: "Mother, why are you saying this?"
"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this," Zhong Yange asked Su Guanqing again, "Your engagement with Tongtong should have been cancelled, right?"
"yes."
"Then why are you still staying in the Jiang family?" Zhong Yan Ge's tone was a little dissatisfied.
Su Guanqing said: "I... I am a servant of the Jiang family, so naturally I should stay in the Jiang family."
Zhong Yan Ge kept shaking her head: "How can a blind man serve others as a servant? I am a kind-hearted sister, so I will just consider it as a good deed."
As she was speaking, Zhong Wanci came out: "Sister, why did you leave so quickly? I turned around and you disappeared."
"Hey, I'm waiting for you at the door. You're always like this, procrastinating. Hurry up, didn't you say you were going to take us around the capital?"
"Let's go, let's go now." Zhong Wanci hadn't gone shopping with her sister for many years, and her face was full of joy.
She walked past Su Guanqing arm in arm with Zhong Yange, and warned him, "Guanqing, stay home and don't run around. Tongtong will be worried if you get lost."
"Yes." Su Guanqing responded respectfully.
Hearing the three people walking away, Su Guanqing finally couldn't maintain his calm expression. He was like the bamboo pole in his hand that had begun to turn yellow, sticking stiffly in the snow, not moving for a long time.
…
Jiang Tong brought all his equipment to the palace and quickly set up his formation.
Zhu Zhanji was very generous and gave her and Hu Shaoqing each a large house, allowing them to bring their respective apprentices in to repair it.
Hu Shaoqing took advantage of his seniority and while his apprentice was making preparations, he ran to Jiang Tong with his hands behind his back to give him advice.
He looked at the Jin paper Jiang Tong had put aside and scoffed, "Your paper is too different from the painting. The warp and weft don't match. It can't be used."
Jiang Tong said, "Jin paper is hard to find. There's nothing we can do about it."
"That's because you are young. I have accumulated papers of this kind for decades. If you are willing to beg me..." Hu Shaoqing dragged out his voice, waiting for Jiang Tong to come and beg him.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Tong just smiled and said politely, "Old man, you should keep it for yourself."
"You! You don't know what's good for you!" Hu Shaoqing was so angry that he threw his sleeves and left.
When Jiang Tong turned around, she saw the little girl Zhao Quesheng with an excited look on her face. Her two little eyes were flashing with light and she kept looking at Hu Shaoqing's back.
"Calm down," Jiang Taidou said, his face darkening. "No matter how confident you are, once you start revising a painting, don't be impatient."
"Yes." Zhao Quesheng immediately straightened his chest and tightened his abdomen, and his face became serious.
"Go put the pot on the fire."
"Hey!" Zhao Quesheng immediately went to move the small stove.
Jiang Tong watched her movements and saw that her steps were brisk and her movements were much faster than usual. It was obvious that she couldn't contain her excitement at all. She couldn't help but laugh and shook her head, sighing: She is just a child after all, she can't keep her composure.
Zhu Zhanji sat in his study, reading for half a day, and then he remembered to ask the servant, "How is their progress?"
The servant said, "Mr. Hu had already removed the old mounting yesterday and had just sent a page of the painting to Dr. Jiang. Right now, Mr. Hu and his apprentices are cutting paper and patching up the holes."
——The papermaking technology of the Jin Dynasty was unable to produce paper more than ten meters long, so the entire scroll was actually made up of many small pieces of paper spliced together.
Zhu Zhanji asked again, "What are those two little girls doing?"
The servant hesitated for a moment. "They lit a stove in the house and seemed to be... cooking."
"Nonsense!" Zhu Zhanji scolded, "How can you be cooking? Go check again!"
The servant returned soon, his expression even more strange: "Your Highness, Your Highness is wise, they are not cooking, but... cooking paper."
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