Very humble attitude.
Shui Yiyao also said politely, "Your 'Wildfire' is ingeniously conceived and skillfully crafted. It is truly a masterpiece. Unconventional and striving for innovation is a true role model for our generation."
Zhao Mingjue was also surprised: "You know my Wildfire?"
The most flattering thing he gets is his gold medal-winning work, "Bright Flower," not "Wildfire." But in his heart, Wildfire is his most satisfying work, and among truly top-tier professional jade carvers, it's Wildfire that commands the highest acclaim.
Shui Yiyao nodded: "Your timing is wrong, but your work is impeccable."
She had actually looked up information on past Tiangong Awards, focusing on the Gold Award winners and their jade carvers. Zhao Mingjue was one of the individuals who left a particularly deep impression on her. His personal approach was very clear, striving for innovation. His works felt "new," a "new" that broke with tradition.
His "Wildfire" is a fully carved work, which means that the jade is completely carved without leaving any blank space.
In fact, jade carving also pays attention to "leaving blank space", using "nothing" to set off "something", highlighting the beauty of the jade itself. Works that are fully carved will appear too artificial and cliché.
But his Wildfire piece is a truly beautiful piece, a solid, fully carved piece. The material itself is a rare, red-stained seed material, and the entire piece is fully stained. Combined with the Wildfire pattern he carved, the smooth lines and intense colors create a strong sense of endless life.
If he had submitted Wildfire to the Tiangong Awards a year earlier or later, he might have won the Gold Medal. But the year he entered was a fierce competition, with everyone's works surpassing each other, so he only took the Silver Medal.
Zhao Mingjue has also seen Shui Yiyao's work. She has a very strong personal style, which many young jade carvers lack. Most young jade carvers are either too rigid and lack inspiration, or too innovative and lose their foundation.
But Shui Yiyao is different. Most of her works are traditional themes, such as gods and Buddhas, Guanyin, the twelve zodiac animals, etc.
But her carvings were obviously different from traditional styles. She would make some of her own designs, adding geometric shapes and visually impactful symbols. The combination of some patterns was very wonderful. He saw that she had a sugar-white jade plaque with the zodiac signs of tiger and rabbit. The plaque used a double-sided transparent technique. From the front, the rabbit looked clever and cute, and the tiger was mighty and domineering. From the back, the rabbit showed its sharp teeth, while the tiger opposite had closed its eyes and lay very peacefully under the protection of the rabbit.
That kind of design is very spiritual, but also supported by sophisticated techniques.
The double-sided transparent coin requires the design of both sides to complement each other, which requires great care in design. However, such care requires good craftsmanship to achieve. Otherwise, if the design is not good enough, the engraved object will be very rigid.
Shui Yiyao's design and craftsmanship are both outstanding. This work could be shortlisted for the Tiangong Award.
Crucially, Shui Yiyao's work schedule was very short. This was something he admired greatly. While everyone else worked eight hours a day, he felt Shui Yiyao worked at least eighteen hours.
However, precisely because Shui Yiyao's work schedule was short, her colleagues didn't even bother to look at her work, and subconsciously thought she was perfunctory. Some even said that she might have used machine carving and then refined it.
But it’s a live broadcast, it’s clear and obvious.
But they don't look at it, and if they ask, there must be something fishy.
However, Zhao Mingjue wasn't overly worried about Shui Yiyao. This industry required solid skills, and Shui Yiyao's craftsmanship was undoubtedly exceptional among her peers, and outstanding jade carvers always had a bright future.
If she wins a few more awards, she can make those people shut up.
"I'll take you in." Zhao Mingjue said politely to Shui Yiyao.
Shui Yiyao waved her hand: "No, you're busy. I can go in by myself."
There were some other jade carvers who were invited nearby. They were a little surprised to see Zhao Mingjue being so polite to Shui Yiyao, and their discussion stopped for a while.
Amid the surprised and bewildered looks of the other jade carvers, Shui Yiyao followed Nan Yi into the manor.
In fact, she can understand why these "orthodox" jade carvers treat her badly.
After all, jade carving is a craft that takes time to hone, three to five years at the shortest and six to seven years at the longest, and everyone is about the same.
She had only been around for less than half a year. What could she have done in half a year? Everyone labeled her a novice.
Like Jiang Luo, who, after a few months of practice, began grinding beads, the beads turned out to be neither round nor symmetrical. After just a few days, his hands were shaking with helplessness. This is what a novice is, a novice in everyone's eyes.
Who knew she was such a seasoned driver?
Having said that, to judge a person's skills, we ultimately have to return to his or her work.
It is arrogant to talk about something without even reading it.
Led by the manor's waiter, Shui Yiyao and Nan Yi soon arrived at the small garden inside, which was where the jade friends' meeting was held.
Some people have gathered in this small garden. Some are standing, some are sitting, and most of them are looking at some jade. They all look to be middle-aged people in their forties or fifties.
No one is particularly old.
The older ones have generally been in the industry for more than 20 years. They don’t like to join in the fake fun and are all studying technology.
After Shui Yiyao walked over, many people noticed her and tilted their heads to look at her, but almost no one greeted her.
"Uncle Zhao." Nanyi walked to the middle and greeted one of them.
The man stood in the middle of a circle of people. Next to him was a waiter holding a tray with a red velvet scarf on it and a piece of jade on the scarf.
Everyone was gathered around the jade carving, discussing it.
Nanyi walked over to say hello. Everyone stopped and looked at him with friendly expressions. Everyone greeted him.
"Nanyi, how is your uncle doing lately? What's he doing?"
"Have you prepared any work to enter the Tiangong Award this year?"
"Do you have any apprentices?"
“…”
There are quite a lot of problems.
Almost no one talked to Shui Yiyao.
Shui Yiyao was just about to find a place to take a look at the jade they were all admiring when she suddenly heard someone calling her.
"Yuyu! I'm coming!"
Shui Yiyao: “?”
She instinctively felt that someone was calling her, so she looked towards the entrance of the small garden and saw a lady coming in led by a waiter. However, when she saw Shui Yiyao, she suddenly quickened her pace and left the waiter behind.
She laughed: "Finally I see you alive!"
The woman looked to be in her thirties, quite young. She was wearing a denim jacket with a big logo and a baseball cap with a strange pattern that looked very trendy.
She walked towards Shui Yiyao with a smile on her face.
"Sister, who are you?" Shui Yiyao was a little confused. She didn't remember knowing such a person. But, calling her Yuyu, was she a fan who watched her jade carving live broadcast?
"That's a good name, you're Yuyu, and I'm Yuyu too. We're so destined to be together!"
Shui Yiyao didn't react until she heard Uncle Zhao, the initiator of this Jade Friends Association, walk towards the woman and say with a smile, "Sister Lu, you are so kind to come!"
Shui Yiyao felt even more puzzled. Uncle Zhao looked at least forty-five or forty-six years old, so why did he call someone who looked only thirty-something "sister"?
Last name Lu, Yuyu... ?
By the way, I have some impression of her surnamed Lu.
In her livestream, the Lu family still appeared from time to time with their gold-colored bullet screen frames. Among them, Mr. Lu appeared in almost every show.
Someone joked that he bought a house in her live broadcast room.
Lu Jiayu, the daughter of Mr. Lu and a jade carver, also appears in her live broadcast room from time to time. Although not in every show, her name is still high on her gift list, and her presence is very strong.
She has also seen Lu Jiayu's works. She is quite amazing and has won the Tiangong Gold Award twice.
You have to remember that the Tiangong Award has only been held for 18 years. Winning the Gold Award twice is truly impressive.
Uncle Zhao came over and said, "Sister Lu, I thought you wouldn't come."
Lu Jiayu looked at him and said frankly: "I really didn't want to come at first, but I heard that you also invited our Yuyu, so I came."
Shui Yiyao said, "Sister Lu, you are so polite."
"How can you call that polite?" Lu Jiayu disagreed. She added, "My dad also asked me to invite you to visit my house."
There are more polite things to come.
The other party's expression was too straightforward, and Shui Yiyao felt a little embarrassed: "If there is time and opportunity, I will definitely do it."
The expressions of the people around were very strange, especially Uncle Zhao.
He invited Shui Yiyao only because he heard from his colleagues that they wanted to see how capable Shui Yiyao was and whether she had the ability, and they also wanted to snatch a place in the competition between their two countries' leagues.
Someone had mentioned before that the Lu family was particularly fond of Chengdao jade carvings.
But they didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just the ordinary care and appreciation of the elders for the younger generation. After all, the Lu family treated people well, but looking at this attitude, it seemed that it was not the so-called care and appreciation at all.
If I must say, it seems that I am over-appreciating it.
"Let's take a look at this material." Someone suddenly said, "It's a good thing. We've been looking at it for quite some time, and no one can figure out its origin. Sister Lu, come over and taste it?"
Not only the Zhao family, but all the jade friends present also actively greeted Lu Jiayu, calling her Sister Lu and asking her to come over to see the jade.
After greeting each other, they exchanged a few pleasantries before bringing Yu over.
The waiter came up to them with a tray.
"Yuyu, please take a look first." Lu Jiayu stepped aside and said to Shui Yiyao beside him.
Uncle Zhao looked at Shui Yiyao, his eyes narrowed, and suddenly he picked up the jade from the tray and handed it to Shui Yiyao: "Come and take a look."
Shui Yiyao didn't take it. She said, "Put it down. I'll watch it."
In this business, we are all veterans. How can we just take something when it is handed to us? It is not the norm for us to pass it to each other without any interaction. After all, Hetian jade is very valuable, often worth tens of thousands of yuan. If it is dropped, who will be responsible?
So this is almost the default rule in the industry. It will not be transmitted from person to person if it is not handled properly.
I took them all from the display cabinet myself.
This way, if something breaks, the responsibility is clear and there won't be any additional disputes.
Uncle Zhao paused and put the things back on the tray.
He was testing her intentionally; it seemed the girl wasn't completely clueless. Many newcomers make this mistake, easily accepting things directly from others.
When Shui Yiyao saw him put the item back, she took a closer look. At first glance, she judged, "Is it the work of Master Qian Buyu?"
Uncle Zhao's heart skipped a beat. How did she know that?
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