Exciting 1979!

Chapter 195: A painting worth hundreds of millions, get it! (Guaranteed -in-)

Wei Ming: "I feel that everything I want to say to confused young people is in this poem."

Vice President Zhou read it carefully. The poem was not long, but he read it over and over again several times, and the more he read it, the more he enjoyed it.

"Well, what a good poem!"

This poem is not fancy, but it is very positive and inspirational. It gives me the same feeling as when I first read "Ideal". It is exactly the bowl of steaming hot chicken soup for the soul that young people need.

Vice President Zhou said: "I will ask them to typeset this poem and publish it in this issue!"

after one day.

Guo Jianmei, a student of Class 79, Law Department, Grade 1, accidentally discovered when sorting out the Peking University magazine issued today that there was a short poem on the front page. The poem was titled "Love Life" and the author was Wei Ming!
She immediately stood still and began to read it carefully.

At this time, Cha Haisheng, the youngest student in the class, passed by behind him.

"What is Mei looking at?"

"Read the poems," Guo Jianmei said excitedly, "Wei Ming's poems!"

Hearing her say that she was reading poetry, Cha Haisheng remained calm. His interest in poetry had faded a lot now. He was more concerned about his future. He heard that graduation assignments also depended on relationships, and many people simply could not stay in Yenching.

As a rural kid, will I be exiled back to my hometown? My parents have high hopes for me, and I am also responsible for the prosperity of the entire family. Will I disappoint them?
The thin 16-year-old boy felt melancholy when he thought of this, especially the recent heated discussion on "life path". After reading too much negative emotions expressed by young people from all walks of life in newspapers, he began to doubt his life.

But when he heard that it was Wei Ming's poem, he became excited.

Seeing that Cha Haisheng wanted to watch it so much, Guo Jianmei found a seat and watched it with him. He was the little brother of the class.

After reading the title, Cha Haisheng read it out softly:

“I don’t think about whether I can succeed.

Since I have chosen the distance,
Just worry about the wind and rain.

I don't think about whether I can win love,
Since I love roses,
Just be brave and speak your truth.

I don’t think about whether there will be cold wind and rain behind me.

Since the goal is the horizon,

All that is left to the world is your back.

I don't think about whether the future will be smooth or muddy.

As long as you love life,

Everything is as expected.”

Guo Jianmei really likes the sentence "Since you have chosen the distant place, you should just focus on the journey regardless of wind and rain." It is very free and easy, and has a kind of indomitable courage, which is also in line with her impression of Wei Ming.

He really can give strength to those around him. I am very fortunate that Zhenyun and I can be recognized as friends by him.

After Cha Haisheng read it through, the expression on his face gradually became lively.

Yes, worrying about things that haven't happened yet may even affect my current mood and make me ignore the long road of life. What is truly meaningful is not the moment of reaching the end, but the process I have gone through along the way!

Even if I can't stay in Yanjing after three years, as long as I study hard in the remaining three years, enrich myself, equip myself from head to toe, and become the best among my peers, even if I am exiled to the frontier, can't I create something great?

Speaking of difficulties, Wei Ming is from the rural area like himself, but he didn't even get into university. At the beginning, he was just a security guard at Peking University. He had a much harder time than himself.

But he has been practicing literature since he was young, and his position has not affected his success at all!
Wei Ming is worthy of his name. A short poem of more than 100 words gives me such abundant energy!
And Guo Jianmei’s first thought after reading it was that Wei Ming had released another masterpiece!

The previous song was "Chengdu", and everyone was busy making jokes and imitating it. There was nothing much to say about its literary and ideological value, but this song is like the excitement of seeing "Ideal" for the first time.

By the way, let Zhenyun take a look too!
Just as Guo Jianmei was about to take the school magazine away, she glanced at Cha Haisheng and said, "Dongzi, do you want to copy it?"

Zha Haisheng shook his head: "No need, Sister Mei, it's all in my mind."

As soon as Guo Jianmei left, he wrote it down word for word. For a little genius who could get into Peking University at the age of 15, this was not a big deal.

By the time Guo Jianmei found Liu Zhenyun, the poem had already spread among their Chinese Department 78.

Dai Jinhua: "Great poem, great poem! Wei Ming finally wrote another serious poem. What was the name of his previous poem "Chengdu"? "

Liu Zhenyun said with a playful smile: "I quite like Chengdu. That was the period when I was most interested in poetry."

Xiong Guangjiong: "I feel that Wei Ming's poem seems to have a specific meaning."

Zhang Manling: "I feel like he probably wrote this in response to the recent article in China Youth."

Dai Jinhua: "That should be it. After reading such a poem, what is there to be confused about? Just keep going through wind and rain!"

Several other students grabbed the school magazine and prepared to make excerpts.

Liu Zhenyun was chatting with his classmates. When he looked up and saw Mei Zi, he quickly walked out of the classroom. The two discussed the poem all the way to the cafeteria.

Liu Zhenyun still felt that the experience was still lingering, so he came out of the cafeteria and went to the South Gate to see if he could run into Wei Ming.

As a result, there were only Qiao Feng and Mei Wenhua in the dormitory. Brother Feng's mother-in-law had already come to Yanjing, and he had officially moved back to the dormitory.

"Brother Ming is back home?"

Mei Wenhua replied: "He said he went to Liulichang."

"What are you going there for?"

"It's normal for men of letters and poets to go to Liulichang."

~
Liulichang and Panjiayuan are places that often appear in the cultural and artistic circles, but Wei Ming's current financial resources do not allow him to collect antiques. If he had that money, he would rather modernize his electrical appliances first.

He came to Liulichang mainly for Gong Xing. Her painting "Purple Grapes" had not been framed before, so he came here yesterday to find a shop to frame it, and came to pick it up today.

There are many famous shops here, including the well-known Rongbaozhai, Yidege and Huaiyinshanfang, which are all on this street.

Wei Ming just found a small shop. The owner did not laugh at Gong Xing's painting. He put a lot of effort into it. A small business is still a business after all.

Wei Ming saw that he had framed the calligraphy well, so he bought some ink, rice paper and brushes. It was time to pick up his own calligraphy. Besides, when Sister Xue came over in the future, he wouldn't have to borrow from Old Wu next door.

The small business suddenly became a medium business.

When Wei Ming was leaving, he happened to pass by Rongbaozhai, a century-old brand specializing in the four treasures of the study. It should be more than three hundred years old and was originally called "Songzhuzhai".

Rongbaozhai also undertakes mounting work, but it only receives big clients. The painting "Such a Beautiful Countryside" that Wei Ming saw in the Great Hall was mounted by Rongbaozhai. It was completed by two masters, Fu Baoshi and Guan Shanyue, which took three months to complete. There are also inscriptions by great men on the painting.

The painting "Such a Beautiful Countryside" hung in the Great Hall after the 90s was a copied version, because the original version had turned yellow and old over the decades, and the painting was partially damaged due to rain leakage. Rongbaozhai was also responsible for the copying work.

In addition, Rongbaozhai also shoulders the important task of earning foreign exchange. In addition to Friendship Store, you can also use foreign exchange or foreign exchange coupons to buy paintings by Qi Baishi, Li Keran, Li Kuchan, Wang Xuetao, and Wei Ming's neighbor Wu Zuoren in Rongbaozhai.

Wei Ming stopped riding his motorcycle because he saw Mr. Wu Zuoren.

The old man also noticed Wei Ming and quickly waved to him. Wei Ming locked the car and entered the gate of Rongbaozhai. The plaque at the door was inscribed by Guo Moruo. After entering, one could also see plaques inscribed by Qi Gong, Qi Baishi and others.

"Xiao Wei, why did you come to Liulichang?"

Wei Ming shook the scroll in his hand and said, "I'll take the painting."

Wu Zuoren: "Is this the painting you borrowed the brush and ink to create that day?"

"Correct."

Wu Zuoren became interested: "Can I take a look?"

"It's just a friend of mine who paints for fun. He's not a professional painter." Wei Ming stated in advance, and then slowly unfolded the story.

Mr. Wu knew at a glance that Wei Ming was not being modest and was indeed unprofessional, judging from the signature, it was a woman's.

So he said, "Your Aunt Xiao is good at flowers. If your friend wants to discuss it, you can talk to her."

"Oh, is this too much of a bother?" This is a great opportunity.

Mr. Wu waved his hand and said, "We are all retired people. We are idle at ordinary times, so it won't cause any trouble."

Wei Ming quickly thanked him on behalf of his friend.

Afterwards, Mr. Wu was invited by the staff to the reception room for tea, and Wei Ming was also able to enter this world of art.

Everywhere you look you see paintings and calligraphy by famous people, and each one is very familiar and well-known.

For example, when Wei Ming was drinking tea, he was facing Bai Shi's "Ye Yin Wen Sheng" album of flowers and insects. This is an 32-page group painting, divided into six frames and hung on the wall of the reception room of Rongbaozhai. Each painting is not large, only 26×cm in size.

This kind of top-quality work is really rare to see, especially when you look at it up close, the attention to detail is amazing.

Mr. Wu also introduced to Wei Ming: "These paintings should have been painted in the 40s. They are works from Mr. Qi's mature period. They are very precious. Almost every painting has insects, animals, flowers and plants, which are full of wild charm."

He has several paintings by Mr. Qi at home, but to be honest, the level of care put into them is not as high as these eighteen small paintings. This group of paintings can be regarded as the pinnacle of similar works by Mr. Bai Shi. Don't be fooled by their small size. The paintings are full of details, which shows how difficult they are.

These paintings are about 40 years old. Their small size makes them easy to maintain. They don’t look old at all now.

Wei Ming initially focused on the large shrimps that seemed alive, and compared them with the ones Melinda bought at the Friendship Store.

Wei Ming had tried his best to pick the best ones for her, but they still couldn't compare to the one in front of him. It was estimated that the shrimp Melinda bought was painted by the old man in just a few minutes, while the one in front of her must have taken at least ten minutes.

At this moment, Wei Ming only regretted not bringing a camera with him.

As he looked, he noticed a picture of grapes with a grasshopper on the grape branches.

Wei Ming feels that the grasshopper is the focus of this painting, and he feels that he needs a magnifying glass to see the horrific details clearly, and the grapes are just a by-product.

However, if Sister Xue saw the grapes, she would probably tear up her own copy of "Purple Grapes".

Wei Ming was admiring the painting when a waiter came in and handed the bill to Mr. Wu. He took a look and said it was OK, then signed. He was also here to buy paper, ink, and paint. The items had already been selected, and they were all top-quality materials, but he didn't have to pay.

Because he still had paintings in Rongbaozhai, these expenses were deducted directly from the money from the sale of the paintings, and then settled at an agreed time. Apart from the expenses in Rongbaozhai, there was still a large portion left.

Just as they were about to go out, more people came in, two guys with a Chinese man and a Western man.

Wei Ming noticed that they were speaking French. After they sat down, the two waiters began to show them paintings, but the Frenchman was not satisfied with any of them, including the paintings by Wu Zuoren.

The old man was about to leave, but then he sat down again, wanting to see which painter's painting his French friend would eventually choose. If the translator didn't understand the painting, he could help translate.

He originally studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, so he knew some French, especially the professional vocabulary related to art.

This was a good opportunity to earn foreign exchange, so the managers and clerks at Rongbaozhai tried their best to meet his requirements and only brought out high-quality products.

But he was still not satisfied. Just as Wu Zuoren was about to ask about his artistic preferences, the tall and strong Frenchman set his eyes on the Qi Baishi paintings of flowers and insects in the frames on the wall.

Wei Ming then realized that these paintings hanging on the wall were also for sale!
Yes, yes, how could I not sell it? I vaguely remember that this set of paintings was later collected by a Hong Kong businessman, and was auctioned for a sky-high price of over 100 million yuan more than 20 years later!

The current price of this set of paintings is US$1800, equivalent to US$100 per painting, and they are not sold individually.

Based on the unit area, the price is indeed expensive, but it is a fine product after all. Wei Ming feels that Melinda's paintings are not as good as this one. If he had known that Rongbaozhai has such good things, he would not have gone to the Friendship Store.

Wei Ming likes it very much, not because of its future sky-high price, but because it is a work from Qi Baishi's peak period, and also the type he is best at. It is really beautiful, but it's a pity that he has no money.

However, when the foreigners heard the price, they shook their heads and thought it was too expensive. After all, each of these paintings is very small, and one of the pricing criteria for paintings is the size of the painting.

Finally, Mr. Wu stepped in and communicated directly with the other party in fluent French. He then persuaded him to buy one of his paintings, which he paid $200 for. It was a pretty big one.

The share of this painting alone is enough to cover the cost of pens, ink, paper and inkstone for the old couple for a year.

That's why it is so important to master a foreign language.

Mr. Wu was very happy as they earned foreign exchange for the country. As the two of them walked out of Rongbaozhai, Wei Ming asked the beaming Mr. Wu how he got there.

"Take the bus."

People in their seventies can no longer ride a bicycle.

Wei Ming: "Do you want me to take you home? I also want to go home."

"Then I'll trouble Xiao Wei." Mr. Wu did not refuse. The motorcycle was faster.

On the way, Wei Ming deliberately rode slower to avoid shaking the old man off. He also asked some questions about selling paintings in Rongbaozhai.

“Normally, if we can sell one painting a month, that’s considered good.”

Of course, he was talking about Rongbaozhai. He could also sell some to Friendship Stores in other major cities, and easily make a few hundred yuan in profit every month, and even thousands when things were going well. In addition, his oil paintings were more expensive abroad than his Chinese paintings.

"Which countries generally like to buy our Chinese paintings?"

"Apart from our compatriots in Hong Kong, the Japanese buy the most. One reason is that there is more communication between China and Japan now, and there are many Japanese tourists. Another reason is that the Japanese are the ones who can feel the connotation of Chinese paintings, and they are more influenced by Chinese art. Then there are the French. The French love art. Even if they don't understand Chinese paintings, they know the value of this kind of art. They can buy some to hang at home as a decoration. Then there are the Americans. Although they are a country with no artistic heritage, they are rich." Mr. Wu talked incessantly.

Wei Ming asked again: "Which writer is selling the best now?"

"It's not me anyway," the old man said first, and then added, "If we talk about the best sellers, besides Mr. Qi, Mr. Xu, and Mr. Zhang, there is a young man named Fan Zeng who has been selling well recently. The Japanese like him very much, and his price is even higher than Mr. Qi's."

Wei Ming had also heard of this. This future famous painter who was an old cow eating young grass was a good foreign exchange earner in the 80s. In a few years, one of his paintings could be sold for tens of thousands of yuan, and he was especially loved by Japanese collectors.

Then they talked about the group of Qi Baishi's paintings.

"It's a really nice painting. I actually like it. It's a pity that I don't have that much foreign exchange."

Mr. Wu smiled and said, “Oh, you can also earn foreign exchange?”

Wei Ming: "My novels have been published in Hong Kong, so I do have some channels to earn foreign exchange."

He now has more than 4000 Hong Kong dollars in his hand, which is about 900 US dollars, enough to buy half of it.

Wu Zuoren hurriedly asked, "How long will it take you to get enough money?"

Wei Ming thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. Maybe one month, or maybe two months?"

Wu Zuoren immediately said, "Turn around and go back."

"what?"

"You want to buy a painting, don't you? Tell them and arrange a time so they can keep it for you. Otherwise, when you have enough money and the painting is gone, who are you going to turn to? Just turn around."

Wei Mingxin said that he actually didn't want it that much. He was also thinking of exchanging Hong Kong dollars for foreign currency to buy a refrigerator.

However, I also felt that the eighteen paintings of grass insects were truly rare treasures, and it would be a great pity if I missed them.

After thinking about it, he turned around decisively.

In order to save face for Mr. Wu, the manager immediately agreed to keep the money for Wei Ming for one month, and that they would only accept foreign currency and foreign exchange coupons.

As a result of this, Wei Ming was a little late for work in the afternoon, but no one said anything. They just said, "Writer Wei, your poem is amazing!"

In just half a day, Wei Ming's inspiring poem spread first in Peking University and Tsinghua University.

The circulation of Tsinghua and Peking University magazines was so strong that several Peking University magazines appeared in the Tsinghua cafeteria during lunch time. Wei Ming's poems became famous again.

When I got off work in the afternoon, I ran into Liu Zhenyun, who asked Wei Ming, "Brother Ming, how many steps did it take to write this poem?"

Wei Ming smiled and replied: "I didn't take a single step. I just turned around and wrote it."

Knowing it was a joke, Liu Zhenyun just smiled and passed it off. Wei Ming also smiled and walked away. He had an appointment with Sister Lin and didn't have time to play mushroom with him.

This was Zhu Lin's third day at Wei Ming's house. The two usually cooked and ate together.

Then Wei Ming writes in the study, Zhu Lin reads a romance novel in the living room, and finally there is some time left to paint. This is roughly the process.

But when they came back today, they saw two men who looked like workers standing at the door.

"You must be Wei Ming from Room 302, right? We are here to install a telephone." The two men spoke to Wei Ming, but their eyes were uncontrollably attracted to Zhu Lin.

It looks good. It looks so good!
It’s here, it’s finally here!
After checking their work certificates, Wei Ming happily opened the door and welcomed them in.

Zhu Lin carried the vegetable basket and said, "Then I'll go cook first."

Hearing this, the two communications workers immediately thought that they were a couple. Oh, the head of the household looked so young, but the wife he found seemed to be very mature.

They stopped paying attention to Zhu Lin and started working seriously. The telephone was installed in the living room and a line had to be brought in from outside. Wei Ming helped and handed him cigarettes. He had been waiting for this thing for too long!
Zhu Lin prepared the meal and they waited for a few minutes before they finished their work.

At that time, there was no initial installation fee, but there were material fees, and a one-year monthly rent had to be paid in one lump sum. Wei Ming paid nearly three hundred yuan at one time.

This was less than he had imagined, so Wei Ming still had more than 400 yuan in his pocket and could consider replacing some furniture. At least he could arrange beds for the three bedrooms.

"Eat, eat!"

Wei Ming ignored the call for the time being and had dinner with Sister Lin first. While eating, he told her about his experience of viewing paintings in Rongbaozhai today.

Even though Zhu Lin didn't know how to paint, he knew the name of Qi Baishi. When he heard that Wei Ming was willing to spend so much money to buy Qi Baishi's paintings, he knew that he was not an ordinary person, and he also liked to listen to him talk about these art matters.

But he was a little curious: "Did you go there specifically to buy paintings?"

"No, I was there to frame some paintings and I happened to meet you."

"Mounting a painting?" Zhu Lin remembered, "Oh, Comrade Gong Xing's grapes."

"Well, it looked pretty ordinary before, but after it was framed, it feels like a higher-end painting."

Upon hearing Wei Ming's evaluation of Gong Xing's paintings, Zhu Lin burst out laughing.

After dinner, the first thing she did was to go to the study to look at the framed painting. It really looked like the real thing. Then she picked up "My Fair Princess" to continue reading. She had been thinking about the story of Yiping and Ruping at work today.

Alas, how could the girls in the 80s resist the temptation of Qiong Yao's novels?

I'd better let her read my novel later. This one can be considered a romance novel and is less toxic.

Wei Ming still plans to publish this novel in both mainland China and Hong Kong under the pen name Wei Kuangren.

After getting the house, his creative attitude began to turn leisurely, but now with the constraints of that group of paintings, he has to work hard again.

So don’t engage in those expensive hobbies. It’s better to eat and drink well. He hasn’t eaten out for several days.

It’s not that Sister Lin’s cooking skills are bad, it’s just not that good.

"Sister Lin, why don't we go out for dinner tomorrow? The phone installation today cost less than I expected."

Zhu Lin thought for a moment and said, "I heard there's a pretty good movie recently. How about we go watch it together?"

Unexpectedly, she would enjoy life even more. Wei Ming: "Okay, it's settled!"

After three days, Zhu Lin finally completed the sketch. She couldn't help but admire herself in the painting.

"I didn't expect you to be so good at it. Yesterday you couldn't tell what I looked like, but today it's like you're taking a photo."

If Wei Ming's craftsmanship is used to perform on the street in the future, it will be worth at least 50 yuan per piece. It cannot be called art, but it can be guaranteed to be realistic.

"Okay, I'll stick it on the bedside table and read it every day."

Zhu Lin suddenly thought of some special behaviors of adolescent boys and said hurriedly, "Don't post it in the bedroom, post it in the study."

Wei Ming: I won’t shoot in the study? Childish!
After sending Zhu Lin back to the unit dormitory, Wei Ming started beating him immediately after returning home.

Call!
(Six thousand words, please give me a monthly ticket, there is more!)
(End of this chapter)