Chapter 6: This guy Tao Bailang is really easy to please.
"How can we save him?" Su Guanqing heard the certainty in Jiang Tong's tone and became a little curious.
"The secret cannot be revealed," Jiang Tong patted his shoulder, "Come on, go shopping with me first."
"good."
Su Guanqing obediently followed Jiang Tong back, but he felt a strange feeling in his heart.
The Tongtong in his memory had always been lively and straightforward, but now, Su Guanqing could clearly feel that Tongtong was different. For example, just now he had expressed that he did not believe the painting could be saved. If it were the Tongtong of the past, she would definitely be furious and yell at him, scolding him for not believing her.
But now, Tongtong just said lightly, "If I say I can save him, then I can definitely save him," with a nonchalant tone.
This was not the tone a sixteen-year-old girl should have; it was clearly that of an adult who could withstand the wind and rain.
Even Su Guanqing himself couldn't help but believe her words when he heard this tone.
Not to mention their time together today, he clearly felt that Jiang Tong was no longer the willful little girl. Instead, she had learned to take care of him and his feelings.
Su Guanqing sighed inwardly. Tongtong had grown up and become more mature, but he couldn't be happy. If the Jiang family hadn't experienced such a big change in recent years, how could Tongtong have grown up so quickly?
.....
When Jiang Tong came out of the pharmacy, Su Guanqing was still standing alone at the door, waiting for her out of the way of others.
He held a bamboo stick in his right hand and a bamboo basket in his left hand. Behind him was a crowd of people coming and going. Only he stood there quietly, looking so lonely, as if he had been abandoned by the whole world.
Jiang Tong's heart inexplicably tightened, and he walked over quickly.
Hearing Jiang Tong's footsteps, Su Guanqing smiled: "Tongtong, what did you buy?"
"I bought a piece of Sichuan insect wax." Jiang Tong said as he put the piece of white wax in his hand into the basket that Su Guanqing was holding.
The bamboo basket was filled with all sorts of odds and ends that Jiang Tong had just bought.
Such as:
A thickest and longest sewing needle, wrapped in a piece of rag, a wooden ruler, two palm brushes, a brush, a writing brush, and even in Su Guanqing's right hand, along with his bamboo stick, there were several wooden keels half a meter tall.
It was because the keel was too long and it was inconvenient to enter the store that he was waiting for Jiang Tong at the door.
Su Guanqing was completely baffled by these unrelated things, and couldn't help but ask again, "Tongtong, can we use these things to save the painting?"
"Of course there are more than these, there are still some missing." Jiang Tong took out his purse, counted the remaining copper coins in it, and frowned.
As she twisted the copper coins, they made a sound. Su Guanqing had sharp ears and immediately asked, "Is the money not enough? I have saved a little more these days."
As he spoke, he leaned the long and short wooden sticks in his hands against himself, reached into his arms, took out a plain purse, and handed it to Jiang Tong.
Jiang Tong didn't answer the phone immediately, but just looked at the other person with a complicated expression, feeling that this person was still the same as in his previous life, and really didn't leave him any way out.
Su Guanqing didn't get a response. He pricked up his ears and tried to listen to Jiang Tong's movements, but he didn't hear the other person's voice. He suddenly became nervous: "Tongtong? Are you still there?"
"I'm here." Jiang Tong took the other person's purse. It was a very worn-out purse, all torn and sewn up with needle and thread. The stitches were crooked and one could tell at a glance that Su Guanqing must have sewed it himself because he couldn't see and was groping.
Jiang Tong couldn't describe the feeling in his heart, he just vaguely recalled -
I haven't even helped him with something as small as patching.
In this life or the last life, have I ever done anything for him?
"If you can't see, why don't you ask me to help you mend it?"
When she asked this, Su Guanqing finally remembered what he had done to the purse, and felt a little embarrassed for a moment: "You have always been active and dislike quiet. Whether it is needlework or reading and writing, they are all things you hate. How can I bother you with these things?"
Jiang Tong was in a daze for a moment. Was this what she looked like when she was young?
Really, it has been so long, so long that I almost don’t remember it.
She shook her head, shaking off those sudden emotions, and said softly: "It's different now. I can't do anything else now, but I can be calm. If you encounter this kind of thing again in the future, come to me for help."
Su Guanqing blinked his long eyelashes, as if he was a little surprised, and then he laughed, very happily.
Jiang Tong couldn't help but laugh. This guy is so easy to coax.
In the past ninety years, she has met all kinds of people, but she has never seen anyone cleaner and purer than Su Guanqing.
A heart so pure that it can only hold one person.
Of course, although Jiang Tong was moved, she was not polite at all and spent all the copper coins in Su Guanqing's ugly purse in one breath.
"Tongtong, have you bought everything this time?"
Poor Su Guanqing, the bamboo basket in his left hand was already filled with odds and ends, and his right hand was holding a pile of wooden dragon bones and his bamboo stick, so he had no hands free to explore the way.
"We need some rice paper. I remember there's a paper-binding shop up ahead. Let's go over there."
As Jiang Tong spoke, he pulled Su Guanqing's sleeve and walked forward to prevent him from losing his way.
Su Guanqing was puzzled. Why did he go to a mounting shop to buy rice paper instead of a store that specialized in selling the four treasures of the study?
But he didn't ask. Although Tongtong talked to him a lot today for the first time, it was obvious that Jiang Tong had been controlling the direction of the topic. She only asked about his daily life and didn't talk much about herself. Su Guanqing has always been smart. After noticing this, he didn't dare to ask more questions. He just followed Jiang Tong's words, for fear of making Jiang Tong impatient.
When Jiang Tong entered the border shop, Su Guanqing was waiting at the door holding a wooden keel that was more than one meter tall, listening to the negotiations between Jiang Tong and the shopkeeper.
As expected, after Jiang Tong explained his purpose, the shopkeeper was also very surprised: "You want to buy paper? There's a paper shop across the street. You can go there to buy it."
Then Su Guanqing heard Jiang Tong's crisp voice say, "Oh, I don't have money to buy it, so I thought of asking the shopkeeper for a few sheets. I don't want new paper, nor do I want old paper. I just want a piece of rice paper that's nearly a hundred years old."
The shopkeeper was stunned by Jiang Tong's shamelessness: "Why should I give it to you for free?"
Su Guanqing, who was standing at the door, also blushed a little. He wanted to call Jiang Tong out and tell her that he would save more money and would soon have enough money to buy her paper.
But before he could open his mouth, Jiang Tong said, "I'm not taking the shopkeeper's paper for nothing. I'm naturally going to give him something in return."
Her tone was calm, without the usual childish pretentiousness or the scheming of trying to get something for nothing. It was just an ordinary deal, and this calmed the shopkeeper, who was ready to listen to what she had to say.
"Then tell me, what are my benefits?"
"Shopkeeper, please take a look."
As Jiang Tong spoke, he carefully took out the ancient painting from the silk bag and spread it out on the counter for the shopkeeper to see.
When the shopkeeper saw her take out a painting, he gave her a look and the apprentice next to him very tactfully cleared the clutter on the counter to the side.
As the scroll was slowly unfolded, the shopkeeper couldn't help but widen his eyes.
He is almost fifty years old this year. He has been engaged in mounting for nearly forty years since he started as an apprentice. He has mounted and restored many calligraphy and paintings, but this is the first time he has seen one in such a bad state.
Jiang Tong said, "The shopkeeper is well-informed and should be able to recognize it. This is the painting 'Autumn Forest and Wilderness' by the scholar Huan Xiazi of the previous dynasty."
Before the shopkeeper could say anything, Su Guanqing at the door was stunned.
This Huanxiazi is the Yuan Dynasty painter Ni Zan, one of the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty.
He had this painting at home before, so of course he knew about it.
But he clearly remembered that the inscription on the painting read "Yunlin Sheng Ni Zan", and there was no mention of the pseudonym Huanxiazi in the inscription.
Jiang Tong has never liked calligraphy and painting, so why can he recite Ni Zan's pen name right away?
The shopkeeper did not respond immediately, but instead tried to suck in his belly, which was about to give birth, and bent over to carefully examine the painting.
Although the painting was stained black by mud, if you look closely, you can still see the painter's brushwork through the wormholes and damage.
Ni Zan was good at using the folded belt texture technique. His painting style was simple and unadorned, with a strong personal touch. His paintings are easy to recognize.
Although it was from the previous dynasty, the painting was actually less than a hundred years ago. No wonder the girl specifically asked for a hundred-year-old paper.
etc!
The shopkeeper looked up suddenly: "Miss, you mean to restore this painting?"
"That's right." Jiang Tong nodded.
The shopkeeper, as if hearing a joke, pointed at her and sneered, "You little girl, you're boasting! Even if I had spent half my life in this field, I wouldn't dare claim to be able to restore this painting. How old are you? You've only seen a few ancient paintings, and yet you dare to brag like this?"
Jiang Tong was questioned in person, but he was neither anxious nor annoyed. He just smiled calmly and said, "If the shopkeeper doesn't believe me, we can make a bet."
The shopkeeper, seeing her calm demeanor, became interested and asked, "What's the bet?"
"If I can restore it, the shopkeeper will ask if anyone is willing to buy it. If the sale goes through, the shopkeeper will get a commission."
"What if you can't fix it?"
"Then I'll return the money for the rice paper to the shopkeeper later."
At this point, the shopkeeper finally understood why this little girl came to him.
Calligraphy and paintings are damaged and need to be repaired and remounted. The paper needed for these steps cannot be found at random. It must be selected according to the situation of the original painting. Try to choose paper of the same age, category, thickness, color, and pattern as the painting.
Because of this restriction, the paper is not so easy to find.
There may not be a stationery shop, and even a place that specializes in selling ancient paintings may not be found. However, a mounting shop that needs to repair and mount ancient paintings from time to time will definitely have various types of paper and silk commonly used in history.
"So, young lady, we are in the same line of work," the shopkeeper smiled, holding his big belly. "Okay, let's do as you say. I'm looking forward to seeing your cooking skills."
He didn't really believe that a girl in her teens could repair the almost tattered painting in front of him, but he just thought the girl was interesting.
Besides, they were just a few old pieces of paper, so he was willing to give them away.
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