Is not being able to do as you please also called rebirth?

Chapter 142 Yan Jin's Devilish Figure

Yan Jin treated Jiang Xun to Nianheju's specialty dishes. This restaurant wasn't as famous as it would be in later years, but reservations were still required.

Fortunately, Yan Jin was probably a regular customer here, so the owner specially reserved a table for her.

Nianheju is a courtyard restaurant located in Donggongjiang Hutong. It is a high-end business club with an area of ​​more than 500 square meters, but it only accommodates a few tables of guests.

The antique porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, and ornaments that are everywhere take up more space. The square table, blue and white porcelain, writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones, and paintings and calligraphy are all carefully collected by the owner over the years.

Even if not every item is priceless, they must be valuable objects; it's like a small museum.

Jiang and Xun ordered several local specialties, such as Dongpo pork, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, premium pigeon swallow's nest, and Liaoning sea cucumber and chrysanthemum soup.

While waiting for the food, Jiang Xun looked around like a curious child, sometimes even taking Dong Qichang's "Thirteen Discourses on Antiques" from the bookshelf next to him to study the antiques.

Yan Jin, on the other hand, sat quietly in her seat, drinking tea and occasionally glancing at her phone.

She seemed more like a gentle and virtuous young lady from a prominent family, taking her mischievous younger brother out for a meal.

As the dishes were being served, a woman dressed in elegant attire entered with a waiter. Seeing Jiang Xun studying a landscape painting, she smiled and asked:

"Young man, are you interested in these antique paintings and calligraphy?"

Jiang Xun turned his head, glanced at the book, closed it, and replied with a polite smile:

"I'm just looking around, I don't understand it."

The woman glanced at the book "Thirteen Discourses on Antiques" in his hand and nodded slightly. She had only asked casually and naturally did not think that Jiang Xun, who was so young, could understand anything.

At this moment, Yan Jin walked over from his seat, a rare smile on his face, and greeted the woman. The two obviously knew each other long ago and had a close personal relationship.

"His name is Jiang Xun, he's my intern assistant. We're having a meeting at Huada University, and we brought him along to try your cooking, Sister Nianhe," Yan Jin said, introducing Jiang Xun while holding the woman's hand.

The woman was slightly surprised. She thought he was some relative of Yan Jin's family, but she didn't expect him to be just an assistant, or rather, a student.

She had known Yan Jin for quite some time and knew her well. She never imagined that Yan Jin would bring a student out to dinner, especially a male student.

"This is Sister Su Nianhe, the owner of this restaurant," Yan Jin introduced to Jiang Xun.

"Hello, Sister Nianhe." Jiang Xun was a little surprised, but quickly greeted her with a smile.

Su Nianhe chuckled, and even Yan Jin next to her couldn't help but chuckle, secretly turning her head away so that Jiang Xun wouldn't see the corners of her mouth turn up.

“I’m over forty years old, and you still call me ‘sister’? You should call me ‘auntie’,” Su Nianhe said with a smile.

Jiang Xun showed a hint of surprise, and said somewhat embarrassedly:

“You look to be in your early thirties, about the same age as my sister. Wouldn’t it be too awkward to call you Auntie?”

His words weren't entirely against his conscience. Su Nianhe looked to be only about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, much younger than her actual age. It was indeed hard to believe that she was already in her forties.

Women are auditory creatures; everyone likes to hear nice things, so those who are good at sweet talk are never short of beautiful women around them.

If the person speaking also looked like Jiang Xun, the destructive power would increase countless times.

In short, Su Nianhe was overjoyed by Jiang Xun's words, feeling as if she had become more than ten years younger. In her happiness, she blurted out:

"Since you're calling me 'sister,' little brother, do you like any of these calligraphy and paintings? If so, let me know, and I'll give them to you."

This is the true value of a top-tier rich woman. She can give away expensive paintings and calligraphy whenever she's in a good mood. No wonder so many people try to befriend rich women, even if it's a steel wool ball.

"Thank you for your kindness, sister, but I don't know anything about these things. It would be a waste for me to give them to you. They're more valuable with you." Jiang Xun quickly declined, as he didn't want to experience the joy of steel wool yet.

Su Nianhe's eyes revealed a hint of appreciation. It was already commendable that he could refuse such expensive items, but Jiang Xun's eyes showed no hesitation, indicating that he was not saying it against his will, which was even more rare. No wonder Yan Jin wanted to keep him by his side.

At this moment, Su Nianhe suddenly felt a sense of testing, and she said with a smile:

“I saw you were just studying this painting and calligraphy by comparing it with ‘Thirteen Discourses on Antiques’. Could you tell me what you’ve come up with?”

Nowadays, few young people are interested in antiques and calligraphy. They might glance at them briefly in this private room before looking down at their phones.
It's rare to find someone like Jiang Xun who flips through books to compare and study things, which is why Su Nianhe asked this question.

Yan Jin, standing beside him, slightly raised his eyes and suddenly spoke up:

“Speak nicely, if you speak well, Sister Nianhe might just give us a free meal.”

After she finished speaking, a hint of barely perceptible expectation flashed in her eyes as she looked at Jiang Xun.

"You greedy girl, you don't need to worry about the cost of this meal? Fine, it's on the house. I can't even invite Professor Yan to dinner normally."

Su Nianhe and Yan Jin exchanged a few jokes, then Su Nianhe looked at Jiang Xun, hoping he could come up with something convincing. If it was even slightly plausible, she would still give the calligraphy and painting to Jiang Xun. "Well, I've got it figured out, if you really give us the meal for free, it's on me," Jiang Xun said with a smile, looking at Yan Jin with an air of "I won't say anything unless you agree."

"Okay, it's on you." Yan Jin nodded, still with that indifferent look, but there seemed to be a hint of helplessness in his tone, perhaps because of Jiang Xun's sudden display of childishness.

By this time, the waiters had finished serving the dishes and left. The two women in the private room were both looking at Jiang Xun, wondering what he would say.

Jiang Xun lightly stroked the yellowed paper with his index finger, glanced at his intermediate-level calligraphy and painting appreciation skills, pondered for a moment, and then spoke:

"The rocks in this painting are rendered with layers of hemp-fiber texture strokes, just like the saying in 'Thirteen Discourses on Antiques' that 'the essence of brush and ink lies in the interplay of light and dark,' and 'the subtle tremor at the end of a stroke is like a spider's web in the wind, yet it suddenly tightens when it touches the water's mouth in the painting'..."

His voice was calm and powerful, without any hesitation or tension.

Su Nianhe's expression froze slightly, and her pupils dilated slightly.

Yan Jin, standing beside her, had a glint of surprise in her eyes, as if she had seen the result she most wanted to see during an experiment.

Jiang Xun didn't notice the change in their expressions and calmly continued:

"Although the paper is old and not decayed, and the ink has not blurred, according to what is said in the book, it should be a work of a private student who inherited the Southern School style."

"Private style?" Su Nianhe suddenly exclaimed, "Can you determine the age of this painting?"

If the first two sentences could be considered as Jiang Xun making things up based on what he read in the book, then his direct revelation of the painting's origin was definitely not a guess.

If he can also directly determine the age of the painting, then he must either come from a family with a long tradition of studying calligraphy and painting since childhood, or he must be an absolute genius in this field!

Jiang Xun pretended to ponder for a moment, then pointed to the ochre in the mountains:

"The brushstrokes in the painting are hidden in the ink, and the spirit permeates the paper; this is something that imitations cannot match. As for the form—the sandalwood scroll can be turned half an inch in the palm of your hand; Ming dynasty handscrolls were often mounted with soapberry glue and alum, but this scroll feels rough to the touch."

Before Jiang Xun could catch his breath, Su Nianhe urged impatiently, "Continue!"

Jiang Xun didn't play coy, since the other party surely already knew the painting's origins, so he simply said:
"Although the seal on this painting is a bit blurry, you can still see the three characters 'Mo Chan Xuan' if you look closely. The book says that this studio name was only used by Dong Xuanzai in his later years—maybe I'm wrong, Sister Nianhe, don't take it seriously."

After saying that, Jiang Xun smiled somewhat embarrassedly; he really wasn't very confident.

After all, his appreciation of calligraphy and painting had reached the beginner level with some books he had collected online before, and he had just collected the calligraphy and painting section of "Thirteen Sayings on Antiques," which was only at the intermediate level. It was already quite difficult for him to be able to distinguish them.

After Jiang Xun finished speaking, Su Nianhe didn't speak immediately. Instead, she carefully examined him for a moment before sighing:

“If it is true, as you say, that you have never been exposed to calligraphy and painting before, then you are truly a rare genius.”

"Is he right?" Yan Jin, who was completely bewildered, asked subconsciously. However, it was obvious that she was asking a redundant question. If he wasn't right, Su Nianhe wouldn't have this expression.

Next, Su Nianhe not only waived the bill for Jiang Xun and Yan Jin, but also added a few more dishes. At Jiang Xun and Yan Jin's invitation, she also stayed to have dinner with them.

With Su Nianhe around, Yan Jin seemed less indifferent, occasionally speaking up and a smile would sometimes appear on his face.

During the meal, Su Nianhe talked about how the dishes were made, and happened to ask Jiang Xun about it.

Although Jiang Xun didn't want to show off, he was also very curious about how the Su family made Dongpo pork and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, so he chatted with Su Nianhe about cooking for almost an hour.

Yan Jin had become numb to Jiang Xun's terrifying learning ability and knowledge reserves. She herself was a genius with super learning ability, but compared to Jiang Xun, this monster, she seemed to be just a normal person.

Towards the end of the meal, Su Nianhe mentioned their skiing trip together, and Yan Jin took the opportunity to suggest that they go skiing together as well.

"Great! It's rare that Professor Yan has time. I'll go change my clothes. Wait for me!" Su Nianhe seemed very excited, abandoning her previous gentle demeanor, and hurriedly left the private room.

"Can you do it?" Yan Jin looked at Jiang Xun with a strange look in his eyes.

Now Jiang Xun was certain that this woman was definitely treating him as a research subject.

No wonder they asked him to be their assistant, their driver, and even treated him to meals. This is completely different from the legendary image of Professor Yan, who is indifferent to any man.

Having reached this conclusion, Jiang Xun smiled, boldly staring into Yan Jin's eyes, and whispered:
"No, Professor Yan, can you teach me?"

Yan Jin's eyes flickered slightly under Jiang Xun's gaze. She coughed lightly and said:

"can."

When the three arrived at Yuyang International Ski Resort, Yan Jin changed into her ski gear and revealed her devilish figure.

Jiang Xun suddenly felt a surge of anticipation for this ski lesson.

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(End of this chapter)