Chapter 29: I regret you, you have to help me
Ma Yuan's "Taegae Tu" has reached the final stage of finishing.
Because of being burned by sparks, there are several missing parts in this painting, especially the upper left part in the middle, which is burned the most severely, with a hole as big as an adult man's palm.
Although these damaged holes were filled, unfortunately, Jiang Tong didn't know what was burned.
The key to restoration is to restore the original style of the work as much as possible, so Jiang Tong cannot fill in the gaps with his own imagination.
Although the customer gave a simple description of the missing parts, he did not understand calligraphy and painting after all, and could only say in general terms that there were mountains here and clouds there, but it was useless to explain.
Just when she was at a loss, Su Guanqing told her that he had seen a copy of "Tagetu".
Jiang Tong was overjoyed and asked a barrage of questions, "Who painted this? Is the copying wrong? Where is it? Can I borrow it to see?"
Su Guanqing said, "The imitator was a court painter during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, named Dai Jin. He has since retired and returned home, so I'm afraid the painting is no longer available for borrowing."
"Do you still remember the content of the picture?"
Su Guanqing nodded slightly and described what he remembered.
When Jiang Tong compared it with the "Taegetu" painting in his hand, he knew that the imitation painting he was looking at was indeed copied from the original painting.
Jiang Tong's eyes lit up. "So, here in the middle of the Chatian Mountain Ridge, there was a half-hidden pavilion that was burned down. What was the shape of that pavilion?"
Su Guanqing recalled and said, "It was a two-story building with a simple gargoyle on the roof..."
"Wait, 'the one with a chiwen is a palace'. Since there is a chiwen, it should not be an ordinary pavilion, but a palace." Jiang Tong interrupted.
Su Guanqing shook his head: "But it does look like an ordinary pavilion."
He said it was hard to explain, and he was a little anxious: "I'll draw it for you."
Jiang Tong pulled him to sit in front of the desk, spread out the rice paper, dipped the brush in ink, and handed it to him.
In fact, Su Guanqing regretted what he said as soon as he said it, and hesitated for a moment while holding the brush.
Jiang Tong noticed his hesitation and said slowly, "As long as you have a rough idea, you don't have to worry if the painting is ruined."
When Su Guanqing saw her speak, he knew he couldn't avoid it, so he had to bite the bullet and start writing.
Jiang Tong stood beside him and saw him picking up the brush to sketch. His brushwork was still there and didn't look unfamiliar. He was afraid that he was still thinking about it in his daily life.
But some things are different after all.
She remembered the way he painted in those days, with an excited look in his eyes, and every stroke of his brush on the paper was interesting, unlike now, when he hesitated over every stroke, no longer with the free and easy manner of the past.
Even though he was very careful, he still couldn't find the right position, the strokes always overlapped, and the final effect was really unbearable.
In the past, Master Yuequan was famous throughout the capital. Painting enthusiasts would pay thousands of gold coins to obtain a piece of his calligraphy. Who would have thought that his paintings today are not even as good as those of a child.
Jiang Tong felt that the mess of ink on the paper seemed to be blocking her heart, making her feel suffocated.
If he had not caused him to become blind, Su Guanqing would have been a young genius like Wang Ximeng, and would surely have been famous in the future.
Su Guanqing finished painting carefully, stroke by stroke, then raised his head and "looked" at Jiang Tong. His expression contained a little uneasiness, a little expectation, but more of a kind of fragility tinged with fear.
"Tongtong...did I...did I draw it clearly?"
Jiang Tong's heart was clenched with pain. She forced herself to raise her lips and said, "It's clearly drawn."
Although Su Guanqing's painting turned into a ball of black ink, she saw every stroke of his painting and had already formed a picture in her mind.
Su Guanqing refused to believe it. He gave a wry smile, and with his left hand he felt around on the table, touched the brush holder, and then put down the brush. He said softly, "You're trying to fool me again."
There was uncontrollable pain in his eyes.
...I have no other strengths except painting, but...
A deep feeling of self-loathing spread from the bottom of his heart, quickly took root and sprouted, growing into a towering tree that blocked out the sky and enveloped him in a shadow that followed him everywhere.
If his mood was like flying to the clouds when he was discussing painting with Jiang Tong, now he has completely fallen to the bottom.
Just when he felt he was about to drown in the mud at the bottom of the valley, he suddenly felt Jiang Tong tugging at his sleeve.
"Guan Qing, there is something you need to do me a favor."
"You say." Su Guanqing tried his best to calm down.
"Quesheng is a beginner in restoration, and she'll need to learn how to connect brushes in the future. However, she's never even touched a brush before, so I have to teach her everything from scratch. I don't have the time for that. Why don't you take some time to teach me?"
"But...but I can't teach you," Su Guanqing was a little flustered. He would never refuse Jiang Tong, but this matter really made him embarrassed, "This, this..."
Jiang Tong stopped him from continuing. "How to hold a brush, how to dip ink, how to dot and color, how to fill with glue and alum... these elementary things, you should be able to teach them with your eyes closed, right? Well, tell her what you can tell her first. As for the rest that you really can't teach, wait until your eyes are better."
As Jiang Tong spoke, she saw Zhao Quesheng looking eagerly at them, holding a pair of tweezers. She smiled and said, "Quesheng, you're lucky to have Master Su teaching you. Don't think your teacher is great. People like us are just craftsmen at best. Master Su is a true painter. If you can even learn a little bit from him, it will be enough for you for the rest of your life."
"Tongtong, I'm not as good as you say." Su Guanqing was embarrassed for a moment.
"Honestly, although I can imitate the brushwork of various artists, in the final analysis, I am just a craftsman. I will not have my own paintings to pass on to future generations.
Perhaps a hundred or ten years from now, a painting I've restored will be restored again. Someone will unwrap my frame and see the folded strips I left behind, and they'll sigh, "The craftsmanship of my predecessor was remarkable." But that's all they'll say. No one will remember the name of a restorer. But you're different, Guan Qing. Your paintings will endure for generations.
Speaking of which, I'll definitely buy back that "Double Immortals" painting if I get the chance. With my keen eye, honed from viewing thousands of paintings by famous artists, this painting will definitely become a family heirloom!"
Su Guanqing was still in the valley of his heart as he listened to Jiang Tong's praises, but bright little flowers had already bloomed in the quagmire at the bottom of the valley.
"It's settled," Jiang Tong clapped his hands. "From now on, Quesheng will listen to Master Su's lectures in the morning and learn painting from me in the afternoon."
She winked at Zhao Quesheng and said, "Quesheng, kowtow to your master quickly."
Zhao Quesheng put down the tweezers, walked around the desk quickly, and knelt down in front of Su Guanqing.
"Master, please accept my disciple's greetings."
"Hey," Su Guanqing quickly stretched out his hand and said, "Quesheng, get up quickly."
"Okay, you two go to the yard to teach now. I'm going to start taking over." Jiang Tong simply drove the two out.
…
Su Guanqing brought his new disciple to the flower stand in the courtyard and said, "Quesheng, go find two small sticks."
"yes."
Hearing the sound of the young disciple's footsteps running away, Su Guanqing's emotions began to fluctuate again.
How could he not feel Jiang Tong's painstaking efforts?
But precisely because he felt it, it was even more difficult for him to control himself from letting his thoughts run wild.
He couldn't convince himself that Jiang Tong's act of giving him half of his apprenticeship was just due to their childhood friendship.
He could clearly feel that Jiang Tong treated him differently.
But he didn't dare to really believe that Jiang Tong had any other feelings for him.
His heart was empty and floating in the air, unable to go up or down, until Zhao Quesheng's soft voice sounded, and he tried hard to collect his mind.
"Master, I found a stick."
Su Guanqing spread out his hands: "Today I will teach you how to hold a pen. Come, give me one."
…
On that moonlit night when summer had just arrived, Jiang Tong had just laid down when the door opened gently.
Jiang Tong hurriedly got up and opened the door. A tall and strong figure appeared in the darkness. It was A-Qiao.
Seeing the door open, Aqiao slipped in, ran to the table, picked up the kettle and drank water.
"Why are you so thirsty?" Jiang Tong asked with a smile, "I've fixed the painting. Do you want to see it?"
A Qiao waved his hands until every last drop of water was poured out, then he wiped his mouth with his elbow.
"No hurry. I don't have any other safe place to store the painting right now, so I'll leave it with you for now. I'm here to tell you some news—Jiang Xuan is dead."
Jiang Tong suddenly woke up from his sleepiness: "How did he die?"
"The creditor couldn't get the money, so he killed her," Ah Qiao said. "You didn't see it. When Jiang Xuan died, there wasn't a single piece of skin left on his body."
When Jiang Tong heard about her enemy's tragic death, she thought she would be very happy, but at that moment, she had no emotion in her heart, just a sense of emptiness.
After a long while, she came back to her senses and asked, "Did Jiang Huaiyan really not pay to save him?"
Ah Qiao shook his head: "No. And when he was dealing with the creditors, he repeatedly angered them. From the way he looked at them, it seemed as if he wished Jiang Xuan dead. I don't know where the grudge came from."
"Then...where is Jiang Huaiyan now?" Jiang Tong asked.
"He left the city, and I don't know where he went. The people I sent to follow him haven't returned yet. Also, you said before that your father took the two land deeds, but I didn't see them used to pay off Jiang T'an's debt."
Jiang Tong pondered for a while, then suddenly said seriously, "Aqiao, I have a favor to ask of you."
"You say." A Qiao said.
"Find someone to tell my father about Jiang Xuan's death. Let's see how he reacts."
"Okay." Aqiao agreed.
The next morning, a gangster-looking man knocked on the door of the Jiang family and asked for Jiang Huaishan.
After Jiang Huaishan received the news of Jiang Xun's death, he did not make it public. He just said that he was going to have tea with a friend and then went out alone.
According to what A Qiao told Jiang Tong later, Jiang Huaishan went to the mass grave, asked someone to collect Jiang Tong's body, and built a grave for him.
However, when he came back in the evening, he still did not tell Jiang Tong and her daughter about Jiang Tong's death.
Jiang Tong observed him for a while and saw that he looked normal, without any sadness on his face. She was very puzzled for a while, but she didn't ask him directly in order to avoid making him more defensive. She just waited for news from A Qiao.
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