The wine was good, the food was good, and the mood was even better. So the five of us drank to our heart's content.
When they were half drunk, old man Xiao Zhenguo suddenly showed his youthful vigor and insisted on painting.
Hearing that Mr. Xiao wanted to leave his calligraphy, the manager of the Donglaishun restaurant on Nanheyan Street immediately came to bring the four treasures of the study. He knew all about these old men in front of him. He knew that they were all experts in the Palace Museum, and each of them had a very high status in the circle.
If any one of these old gentlemen left some calligraphy in his shop, it would be enough for them to eat here for a year.
Mr. Xiao is an expert in calligraphy and painting. In the calligraphy and painting circle, even if you look at the whole country, he is one of the top few people. Now that Mr. Xiao wants to leave his calligraphy, the manager of this Donglaishun branch must serve him personally.
The paper was spread out and the pen was dipped in ink. Mr. Xiao laughed and drank the wine in the cup in one gulp, then stood up and started writing.
"Swish, swish, swish..." Old Xiao's pen moved quickly and in just a short while, he wrote a five-character quatrain on the rice paper.
Several people stood up and came forward. When Mr. Liu saw the words, he immediately shouted "Good!"
Yang Jing also looked at it and saw that the calligraphy was in typical cursive script. He could vaguely make out what words Mr. Xiao had written.
Compared with the calligraphy and painting masters who have been immersed in this field all their lives, Yang Jing is still far behind in this regard.
Cai Yi also nodded and said, "I don't live for a hundred years, I wish to be happy all the time. There is good wine in the cup, and my heart is free from worldly affairs. Haha, this is a poem by Tong Ji in the early Ming Dynasty. Wow, the calligraphy written by Lao Xiao this time is really amazing."
Mr. Guo also laughed and said, "Old Xiao drank just the right amount this time, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to write such a masterpiece."
Mr. Xiao put down his brush, crossed his arms across his chest, and had an inexplicable look of high spirits on his face. It was obvious that he was very satisfied with the calligraphy.
After looking at the calligraphy for a long time, Mr. Xiao smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad, you did a pretty good job today. It's mainly because of the good wine today, otherwise it would be really hard for me to write such good calligraphy."
The restaurant manager at the side said with a shameless face: "Mr. Xiao, please leave this calligraphy with me. I will definitely ask someone to frame it and hang it in the middle of the lobby. From now on, no matter when you come to eat here, it will be free of charge."
The only mistake was that the signature on this calligraphy piece contained the words "Nanheyan Donglaishun", otherwise the manager would not have dared to ask for this calligraphy piece.
It should be out of habit that Mr. Xiao wrote these two lines in the final signature: "On the sixth day of the third month of the Wuxu year, Yiping, his old friend and his beloved disciple were at Donglaishun along the Nanhe River."
Today is April 21, 2018. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2018 is the year of the dog. Today is the sixth day of the third lunar month. As for Yiping, it is the pen name of Mr. Xiao. Mr. Xiao's name is Zhenguo, and his pen name is Yiping. Most of his calligraphy works are signed with the two words "Yiping".
Hearing what the manager said, Mr. Guo said with a smile: "Xiao Zhao, do you really think you can get Lao Xiao's calligraphy just for free?" It was obvious that these old men were also very familiar with the manager named Zhao.
Manager Zhao chuckled and said, "I really like Mr. Xiao's calligraphy. Besides, how can Mr. Xiao's calligraphy be measured by money? In the eyes of people like me, Mr. Xiao's calligraphy is a priceless treasure."
Mr. Xiao is one of the best cursive calligraphers in the country. His calligraphy works are extremely valuable. I can't say that each character is worth a thousand dollars, but fifty thousand yuan is definitely a good price. This calligraphy work has a total of twenty characters. If it were to be sold for one million yuan, there would be many people vying for it.
However, the flatterer of Manager Zhao was quite comfortable with the person he was flattering. In addition, the name of the restaurant was indeed engraved on the calligraphy. Although Mr. Xiao was a little uncomfortable with the calligraphy, he finally nodded and agreed to Manager Zhao's request.
In fact, calligraphy and painting masters like them often leave their works when they are in high spirits. Not only Mr. Xiao, but all calligraphers from ancient times to the present have this kind of character......
After sitting down again, Cai Yi smiled and said to Mr. Xiao: "Old Xiao, you've lost money this time. This calligraphy of yours can be considered a top-notch piece. If it's put up for auction in a few years, it can easily fetch three to five million."
Old Xiao waved his hand and said, "It's okay. I'm in a good mood today, mainly because of the good wine. I wrote this calligraphy when I was in the mood. I feel like I have made some breakthroughs." Then, Old Xiao turned his head and said to Yang Jing, "You have a lot of this kind of wine, right? Give another jar to the teacher later, and I'll give you a calligraphy!"
Old Guo laughed and pointed at Old Xiao and said, "You old fellow, you are really calculating. Although Xiao Jing bought this wine for 200,000 yuan per jar, everyone knows that if this wine is really put up for auction, the price will be no less than your calligraphy!"
Mr. Xiao did not take it as an offense and said with a smile: "Who told me that I could feel the feeling after drinking this wine?"
Yang Jing said, "Master Xiao, don't worry. I have a lot of this kind of wine in the trunk of my car. I know that the teachers like to drink a little, so this time I brought eight jars of wine for the four teachers, two jars for each teacher, as a gift from your disciples."
The faces of several teachers changed slightly, but they didn't say anything. Yang Jing even said the word "disciple", so they couldn't refuse even if they didn't want it.
In this circle, it is natural for disciples to show filial piety to their masters. Even if the real price of a jar of this wine is over a million or even a few million at auction, they cannot refuse the disciples' filial piety.
Old Liu smiled and said, "Well, we old men will accept Xiao Jing's filial piety. I have never received filial piety from my disciples in my life. Now that I am old, I finally have a disciple who pays tribute to me. I am completely satisfied..."
Several people laughed.
The wine was indeed good, but the old men were able to control themselves well and did not drink too much. Each person drank no more than two taels of wine.
They are all veterans in the alcohol field, and of course they know that although this old wine tastes good, you must not drink too much. The taste of this wine is enough, if you drink too much, you will definitely be knocked out.
With their status, they must have been exposed to wines that were 20 to 30 years old, so they certainly knew the common sense in this regard. Especially when dealing with wines that had been stored in the cellar for 66 years, they were better able to control their drinking.
It is natural to drink just the right amount after a meal.
After returning to the museum, Yang Jing took out eight jars of old wine from the trunk and gave them to the four old men, which made them very happy.
No matter how wealthy they are, they cannot get their hands on this rare old wine.
Yang Jing chatted with the old men for a while. Mainly, the old men told Yang Jing about the procedures and things that needed to be paid attention to in the apprenticeship ceremony that would be held in a week.
(PS: I have something urgent to deal with, so this chapter has a few words...)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
