38 Chapter 38 I'll Do It For You
◎Yun He was also slightly stunned◎
Yuliu has always been accustomed to judging people from the details.
In the eyes of Boss Shen, such fine brushwork and painting became so-called "splashed ink stuff", which was really not something that the owner of a building that could run a large-scale commercial building like Chunfeng Fulan would say.
Unless, the romantic spirit that Master Chen displayed from the very beginning was all a disguise from beginning to end.
Perhaps it was just a coincidence that they had the same name and surname, and Master Chen was not the "Shen Yuan" she was looking for?
Or is it that Master Chen is really so defensive that he is disguising himself all the time?
Yuliu thought that she was good at disguising herself to outsiders and had quite some experience in this matter. She could barely be considered Chu Qiao, but even so, there were occasional exceptions when she would reveal her true feelings.
But when she looked at the dashing and romantic spirit of Lord Shen, she found it really rare that he could be consistent and thorough in his conduct.
This way, it doesn't seem like a disguise.
Yuliu always felt that the matter of "Shen Yuan" seemed to be somewhat doubtful. She did not dare to jump to conclusion at the moment. She felt that she should go back and look for an opportunity to confirm it carefully with the system.
As he pondered, Yuliu's gaze slowly fell on the painting of a beauty lying on a couch hanging on the screen wall of the entrance hall. Although the ink painting had been mounted with great care, the paper was fragile. Even after being exposed to the wind for a few days, the edges of the white rice paper would inevitably turn slightly yellow. However, the traces of time had not erased the charm and elegance of the scroll. On the contrary, it was precisely because of the precipitation of time that the scenery around the beauty on the couch was brewed with a hazy and thin veil. The beauty lay slenderly on the long wooden couch, a light green willow fan lightly touching the tip of her nose, covering the lower half of her face. Her slender neck was raised as she looked up, her two bright eyes slightly curved, and she looked at Yuliu with a smile.
Yuliu actually felt that the look of the beauty in the painting looked somewhat familiar, and he could only sigh in his heart that it was worthy of being the master's original work, and the brushwork was so vivid and wonderful. When he was about to go in and observe it more carefully, Master Chen had already lowered the purple glazed bead curtain, and walked across the entrance screen wall in three or two steps with a crisp sound like broken jade hitting beads.
However, as he passed by Yuliu and Yunhe, his steps paused slightly. He paused for a moment, his eyes casually sweeping over the ink painting hanging on the wall. Then he walked nonchalantly to the living room on the left side of the hall. He lifted his robe and sat down boldly. Looking at Erlang, who had arrived late and was sitting across from him with slow movements, his narrow phoenix eyes moved slightly, revealing a sly smile, and asked, "Miss Su, do you like the painting of a beauty lying on the couch? If you like it, I would like to give it to you to make you smile!"
Yuliu was lowering her head to remove the small lotus-embroidered tasseled sachet hanging from her waist. She was untying the string to remove the deed to the Spring Breeze Fence inside when she heard these words. Her nose trembled slightly, and she murmured, "...Hmm?"
"Master Chen, are you talking about that hanging painting? Ah... I just saw the calligraphy of a famous artist for the first time, and I found it a bit novel, so I took a few more glances. Why do you want Master Chen to part with it?" Yuliu unfolded the land deed, which was blown by the spring breeze, and spread it flat on the red nanmu table. She carefully turned the handwriting to face Master Chen. Then, she put her slender fingers together and gently pushed the land deed forward. The expression in her smiling eyes was somewhat similar to that of the beauty in the painting. She smiled at Master Chen and replied gently, "Master Chen is also a very busy man. I don't want to bother you any more. Why don't we just start discussing the land deed leasing?"
In fact, Yuliu just took a quick glance. Even though she was not a person who liked to appreciate calligraphy and painting, she really felt that she had some connection with the painting of a beauty lying on the bed.
But the most difficult debt to pay off in this world is the debt of favor. Right now, she and Lord Shen have a real money deal to discuss with each other. Yuliu naturally dare not remain silent and accept the other party's kindness.
Master Chen didn't take the land deed that Yuliu handed over. Instead, he personally poured two cups of spring tea for Yunhe and Yuliu. He quickly and expertly scanned the thin, slightly yellowed land deed. Seeing that the official and private seals all matched, he said nothing more. He stood up and handed two blue-glazed white porcelain cups to Yunhe and Yuliu one by one. He nodded and said directly, "Okay, this is the latest early spring tea from Baiyue. It's not available on the market yet, so it's a rare opportunity. Why don't you two try it first?"
"Master Shen's kindness is appreciated." Yu Liu was thinking about the land lease, so she just chuckled and took it and put it aside. "But this time, I came here mainly to discuss the price and period of the lease with Master Shen. I wonder what Master Shen thinks?"
Yun He sat beside Yu Liu and took the cup of early spring tea. He lifted the lid of the cup with his slender fingertips and slowly skimmed off the floating tea leaves. After taking a sip, he nodded slightly and said, "It's really good tea."
"Hahaha, thank you for the compliment, Senior Brother." When Master Chen heard Yun He surpass his tea-making income, he immediately raised his head and laughed heartily. He replied to Yu Liu very happily, "Miss Su, I see that you and my senior brother have a good relationship, so I won't argue with you any more. As for the price, I'll just add 10% to the market price. As for the lease period... Actually, since I'm the owner of this Chunfeng Fulan, this business is naturally long-term. I don't mind signing a contract for a few years. It's up to you, isn't it?"
The land deed that Yuliu had, which was as beautiful as the spring breeze, was originally a reward for choosing a side quest. It could barely be considered a windfall. The reason why she had to go through this journey was mainly to find a stable source of income for herself so that she could have something to rely on.
Chunfeng Fulan is a wealthy family with a huge business. The annual rent is already quite high, worth millions of taels of gold. Lord Shen was being as generous and unrestrained as ever, even offering Yuliu a 10% increase. Yuliu naturally wouldn't covet any more benefits. She relaxed her shoulders and neck, gently brushing off her teacup like Yunhe, and said with a small smile, "It's the same as what I thought. When I came here, I was also thinking about the lease period. But if it's a short-term lease, it might be a bit of a loss for Lord Shen. After all, Lord Shen's Chunfeng Fulan is a long-term business."
"Since Master Chen is so forthcoming, why don't we just sign a long-term lease? The rent will naturally be a bit cheaper than a short-term lease. At the same time, it will also save Master Chen from having to spend time treating me to a cup of fine tea that's hard to come by outside the city. What do you think, Master Chen?"
"Hmm? Miss Su, that's being a bit too formal. Today, we hit it off right away. Let alone this pot of early spring tea, if Miss Su ever craves it, you don't have to come in person. Just let me know and I'll personally deliver it to Yuqing Courtyard."
"Miss Su is kind-hearted, but a long-term lease is exactly what I want. It's great. So let's make it a deal then?" Master Chen propped his chin on one hand, sipping his tea from the other, looking very happy. "Please wait a moment, Miss. I'll go out and ask someone to help draw up a new lease deed. I'll stamp it with red ink and send it to the government later, and it will be signed."
The spring breeze blows on the railings, and the quietness of the top floor of Tianzi Pavilion is a good thing, but it seems a bit lonely and deserted when help is needed.
Master Chen was about to get up and go out to call a servant to draft the document and send it with the seal, but Yun He put down his cup, raised his hand slightly, made a gesture of stopping him, and said in a clear and powerful voice: "Master Chen, the Emperor's Pavilion is quiet and deserted. If you don't mind, I would like to write it for you."
They were originally seated at the Eight Immortals waist-length nanmu long table in the living room, on which were placed all the four treasures of the study: pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. Master Chen and Yu Liu originally wanted to avoid danger, so they asked for a three-party certificate to sign the lease deed.
If Lord Chen asked Chunfengshualan to write the lease deed by hand, Yuliu would take it and confirm it again after it was written.
But if the person writing this time is Yunhe, it is still trustworthy even if Yuliu is not here.
Obviously, Master Chen was thinking the same thing. The joy in his eyes and eyebrows became even more overflowing. He immediately sat back down and said, "That's great. I'm flattered to have Senior Brother do this for me. Why would I mind?"
After Master Chen finished speaking, he even moved the teacup and placed the white jade lotus root pen holder, the carved peacock feather Duan inkstone, and the silver-threaded rice paper beside the nanmu table in front of Yunhe. Finally, he smiled and extended his hand, saying politely and respectfully, "Big Brother, please?"
"Thank you." Yun He nodded without saying much, and took out a few green jade bamboo-patterned wolf-hair brushes from the pen holder with swift movements. He dipped the brush into the thick black ink in the inkstone, glanced at the yellowed old deed, and then wrote the new lease deed one by one on the fine rice paper.
Yunhe writes in the running script of dragon and phoenix, and his strokes flow like flowing water, completed in one go.
Yuliu was taking back the title deed from the owner of Yuchen Tower, preparing to put it next to Yu Yunhe for him to study and write on. However, when she took the yellowed old title deed and looked sideways at Yunhe's handwriting, her eyes froze slightly, and she suddenly felt that the horizontal and vertical strokes of the handwriting were quite familiar.
But Yuliu had never seen Yunhe pick up a brush before. She hesitated for a moment, before she could recall where this familiar feeling came from. Yunhe had already written the last stroke.
After finishing his writing, Yun He placed the jade penholder diagonally on the carved peacock feather inkstone, making a subtle sound. He naturally reached out to take the deed that was leaning towards him, and habitually bent his neck and leaned sideways, saying to Yu Liu in a gentle voice, "Thank you."
Yun He's original intention was to ask Yu Liu and Lord Shen to check if there were any mistakes in the handwriting on the official document. However, when he placed the old, thin, yellowed lease deed side by side with the new lease deed whose ink had not yet dried, Yun He was slightly stunned.
They had not expected that, apart from the differences in paper material and writing dates, the handwriting on the old and new deeds was exactly the same in terms of writing style.
It's as if...
They were written by the same person at the same time, in overlapping time and space.
【Author’s words】
The names and styles of the items used in the Tianzi Pavilion of the Lord of the Shen Tower are from the National Museum of China.
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