Chapter 16 We have to cooperate. I will support you.
In the next few days, Jiang Tong did not let Su Guanqing stay around to "make trouble" when he was doing things.
Only after the painting "Autumn Forest and Wilderness" was framed did Jiang Tong completely relax. He carefully put the various tools in the study in order and left the study.
There was no one in the yard, only the intermittent sound of cutting vegetables came from the kitchen.
Jiang Tong thought that Zhong Wanci was cooking, so she walked in leisurely. Unexpectedly, the person standing in front of the stove was Su Guanqing.
"Guanqing? Are you cooking?" Jiang Tong couldn't believe it. She walked over and really saw Su Guanqing putting a white radish on the chopping board and cutting it.
He couldn't see and couldn't cut the radish neatly, so the shredded radish came in all sizes, thick and thin.
Su Guanqing laughed when he heard her voice: "I've already prepared several meals, haven't you noticed?"
...I really didn't realize it, because Zhong Wanci's knife skills are also at this level.
It turned out that she had been in seclusion these days, so Su Guanqing used a bamboo stick to familiarize himself with the environment in Jiang's house. Fortunately, Jiang's house was really small at the moment, so he quickly figured out the situation inside the house.
Jiang Huaishan had exhausted all his energy due to that trip and hadn't been able to get out of bed for the past few days. Zhong Wanci was busy taking care of her husband, and Aqiao was still elusive, so Su Guanqing took the initiative to help with the work.
Jiang Tong's eyes fell on Su Guanqing's slender white hand. Suddenly, her face darkened. She reached out and grabbed Su Guanqing's wrist and pulled his hand up.
She had seen Su Guanqing play the piano. She didn't know how to appreciate music, but she remembered the way his hands plucked the strings.
Those were a pair of flawless hands with distinct joints.
But now, these hands are covered with wounds.
There were old wounds on the fingertips that had healed, several cuts near the nails, and two blisters on the back of the hand, which were obviously recent injuries.
"If you can't see, don't use the knife." Jiang Tong's voice was heavy.
Su Guanqing heard the pain in her voice, but instead he became happy and said in a gentle voice: "It's okay, everything is difficult at the beginning. I have mastered the technique now, and I won't cut myself again."
A smile filled his unfocused eyes. "Besides, you spent so much money to buy a servant like me, so I must be of some use. With me here, how can you ask the mistress to cook again?"
"Who treats you as a servant? If you dare to talk nonsense again!" Jiang Tong shook off his hand.
"Yes." Su Guanqing responded with a smile and continued to work.
Jiang Tong watched him fumble to take out a clean large bowl, and then fumble to put the large and small, thick and thin radish strips into it.
Although each step was done slowly, it was very orderly.
Jiang Tong suddenly thought that if the apprentice he had accepted back then had this kind of patience in doing things, he might have gotten angry less often and lived a few more years.
She shook her head, throwing the strange thought out of her mind. When she spoke, her tone had softened: "I originally said I would bring you back to enjoy life, but I didn't expect you would still have to do all this work. Wait for me. Once I make some money and hire two servants, you won't have to work anymore."
"Speaking of which," Su Guanqing cleaned the chopping board and used his fingertips to find the kitchen knife and the remaining half of the radish. "My injury is almost healed. I can go out and earn money tomorrow."
"You want to go out and earn money?" Jiang Tong was stunned.
Su Guanqing nodded, a smile on his face: "Now that I am free, I don't need to let the team leader take the lion's share of the money I earn. I will give it all to you when the time comes."
Jiang Tong's expression darkened again: "Did I bring you back just to let you go out and perform to support our family?"
Su Guanqing could tell that Jiang Tong was really unhappy, and he felt anxious: "But my uncle is still sick, and there is no income at home..."
"I've already framed the painting. We'll sell it this afternoon."
"But even if a painting can be sold for a high price, we can't just sit back and enjoy the savings."
"I can take on some painting repair work."
Su Guanqing's voice lowered a little, but he still said it: "But this job doesn't make much money, right?"
Jiang Tong was calm and composed. "Don't underestimate restoration skills. Imagine you have an ancient painting that everyone admires. For example, Zhang Zeduan's 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival', and it's been destroyed due to poor preservation. If there's only one restorer in the world who can help you restore it to its original state, how much would you be willing to pay her to repair the painting?"
Su Guanqing put himself in the other person's shoes and said sincerely, "If you want to save 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival', I'd be willing to spend whatever I have."
"That's it, then. Give me some time. As long as I get my name out there, there will be many collectors coming to me with priceless ancient calligraphy and paintings to ask them to restore them." Jiang Tong smiled, not hiding his pride.
…
In the afternoon, Jiang Tong took the painting "Autumn Forest and Wilderness" in his left hand and Su Guanqing in his right hand and went to the mounting shop.
More than a month later, when Zhao Ji, the owner of the mounting shop, saw the painting again, he could hardly recognize it.
He first held the painting upright, then laid it flat and looked at it, but he couldn't see any signs of restoration.
Zhao Ji looked up at Jiang Tong in confusion: "Miss, this is... another painting, right?"
Jiang Tong wasn't annoyed by the questioning, but calmly replied, "I'm just a restorer. How can I possibly possess Ni Yunlin's painting skills? The shopkeeper also saw this painting that day. I trust the shopkeeper to make his own judgment on whether it's the same painting."
Zhao Ji looked at Jiang Tong, who was calm and confident, and began to observe the painting carefully again.
Judging from the brushwork and painting skills, he had actually confirmed that this was Ni Zan's authentic work, and it was also the incomplete painting he saw a month ago. He looked at it again, simply to find flaws in the restoration.
This time, Zhao Ji was extremely alert.
He first examined it carefully from the front, then moved closer to the painting, tilting his head to look at it from the left and right sides, and then did the same thing from the top and bottom.
The more I looked, the more horrified I became.
He is also a skilled restorer, and he knows very well that the most easily visible flaws in restored paintings are usually in the full-color stage.
Even if the new paper is dyed, it is difficult to completely match the color of the old painting. Even if the color is consistent on the front, the flaws can still be seen when looking from the top, bottom, left, right and side.
However, in the restoration business, as long as the color looks the same from the front, it is already a good job.
If there is no problem on one or two sides, it is called "two-sided light" or "three-sided light", and that means you are an intermediate to advanced artist.
The highest level is that no matter whether you look at it from the front, up, down, left or right, there are no visible flaws. This is known as "four-sided light" in the industry.
Zhao Ji has never seen such a person since he entered the industry.
Jiang Tong's painting achieves the effect of "light from all sides".
So Zhao Ji instinctively thought at first that this was another painting.
But after all, he had seen the painting before it was restored. He remembered the brushwork and details of the painting. It was indeed the same painting. Moreover, no matter how well a restored painting was restored, its value would definitely not be as high as the original one that had never been damaged. Jiang Tong had no reason to lie to him.
But how could a girl of ten years old master such skills?
Zhao Ji thought about it and naturally assumed that there must be a master behind Jiang Tong. But since the master didn't want to show himself, why would he expose it?
Zhao Ji immediately put down his painting and said sincerely, "Young lady, you have such outstanding skills! I admire you!"
"How dare I, how dare I," Jiang Tong said, "I asked Shopkeeper Zhao to help me find a buyer. I wonder if anyone is interested in this painting right now?"
"This... uh..." Zhao Ji looked a little embarrassed. To be honest, he had never believed that Jiang Tong could restore the painting, so he naturally had not asked about the buyer.
Jiang Tong could see what he meant. She hadn't originally sought out the framing shop to ask the owner to help her sell her paintings. Seeing this, she smiled faintly, "That's fine. The sale of paintings and calligraphy always depends on fate. Even the best paintings may not be liked by everyone. I was short of money before, so I had to ask the owner for some old paper. Now it's time to settle the bill."
As she spoke, she was about to take out the money, but Zhao Ji said, "Wait a minute. Those pieces of paper said they were for the young lady, how can I accept money? And, I'm buying this painting."
Jiang Tong paused and looked up at Zhao Ji in surprise. The shopkeeper looked fat and bloated, and didn't look like a gentleman who could spend a fortune on calligraphy and painting.
"I'll offer one hundred and sixty taels. Are you willing to sell it, young lady?"
Jiang Tong was familiar with the market and naturally knew that the shopkeeper was quoting a real price.
Of course, if she was willing to wait patiently and wait for a customer who was knowledgeable and wealthy, it would not be impossible for the painting to be sold for more than two hundred taels.
But Jiang Tong wanted to sell it as soon as possible, and this price was already very good.
Jiang Tong said, "I didn't realize that Shopkeeper Zhao loved Ni Yunlin's paintings so much."
Zhao Ji waved his hand: "I don't know how to appreciate these things, I only see business."
Jiang Tong raised his eyebrows, expressing his curiosity.
Zhao Ji rubbed his hands, a hint of embarrassment showing on his greasy face: "I really admire your craftsmanship and would like to cooperate with you for a long time."
A hint of cunning flashed in Jiang Tong's beautiful fox eyes. She deliberately showed off this skill in front of Zhao Ji. She originally wanted to cooperate, but she didn't expect Zhao Ji to be willing to buy the painting.
At the moment, she was not in a hurry to express her opinion, but just listened to Zhao Ji's words:
"Well, your level of polish is so high that no other restorer in the city could possibly match it. I'm planning to hang this painting in my shop to attract customers. If I come across a difficult and challenging painting or calligraphy in the future, I hope you can take it over. I'll only take a commission. What do you think?"
"That's great," Jiang Tong said, "but I have a condition."
"But it's okay."
"For every ancient painting I handle, the shopkeeper must inform the customer that I am the one who repairs the painting." She also wants to make a name for herself with this craft, so naturally she is unwilling to be an unknown craftsman behind this mounting shop.
"Well..." Zhao Ji instinctively wanted to say that the girl was young and might not be able to gain the trust of customers, and that her store was not as good as his old brand.
How could an old ghost like him not be able to fool a little kid?
However, before he could finish his words, he met Jiang Tong's smiling eyes.
Zhao Ji's heart skipped a beat at that moment. That was definitely not the look of a young boy who was inexperienced in the world. Those eyes could see through his thoughts!
His years of experience in the business world made him realize immediately that the girl in front of him was not someone he could easily control. If he wanted to gain both fame and fortune, he would probably lose the opportunity to cooperate with Jiang Tong.
Zhao Ji immediately said: "This is natural, this is natural."
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