The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

Lin, the head constable of Pengcheng, wrote to Su Qianqian again. He had heard that Su's paintings had become popular and were now very valuable, so he wrote to inquire about the ownership of the two sketches in the yamen.

【Miss Su, I'm sorry, there's still no news about the human trafficker Zhu Laosan. The two criminals you helped draw have both been arrested, and the government office no longer needs those two portraits. Should we return them to you?】

Su Qianqian replied that it was not necessary. When she helped draw the criminal's characteristics based on Lin Butou's description, it was already agreed that the drawing would be done for free. She wouldn't ask for the item back just because it was valuable.

Lin, the head constable, was not a greedy person. After receiving the reply, he concluded that Miss Su had painted the portraits for the Pengcheng government, so he gave both portraits to Prefect Xu.

"Prefect Xu, this is a portrait of a wanted criminal drawn by Master Su of Gu's House for our prefectural government free of charge. Now that both criminals have been caught, we no longer need this portrait. Miss Su said she doesn't intend to take back what she sent out and wants us to handle it ourselves."

Lin, the head constable, felt it was a great pity. The portraits painted by Miss Su were very lifelike. If it weren't for the two portraits that Miss Su helped paint, those two vicious criminals would not have been caught so quickly.

But now that Miss Su's paintings are very valuable, it will be embarrassing for us to ask Miss Su to paint criminals for free when we catch criminals in the future.

Prefect Xu was also a scholar who became an official through the imperial examinations, and he had a certain appreciation for paintings.

He carefully examined the portrait in his hand and found that Miss Su's painting technique was indeed very unique, and she painted the portrait very realistically.

Moreover, Prefect Xu just received a letter from his daughter, Xu Ruoxian, saying that Miss Su's paintings had received personal praise from the Sage of Painting.

It's unbelievable that Miss Su, at such a young age, has such talent in painting; calling her a genius wouldn't be an exaggeration.

My own daughter is also very talented; she can befriend a genius artist.

I heard that recently, merchants from the capital have been buying paintings in Pengcheng and Qinghe County at high prices. A small sketch by Miss Su can sell for more than a thousand taels of silver.

The impoverished Prefect Xu's eyes lit up; this painting was clearly a treasure trove of silver.

He was especially grateful to Officer Lin for his foresight in asking Miss Su to paint two portraits for him a few months ago, which indirectly saved the heavily indebted government office.

This year, he borrowed more than a thousand taels of silver from Master Chen to help people repair their houses, and now he can finally pay it back.

Prefect Xu didn't even have time for lunch before he hurriedly sent his advisor, Qian, to find merchants from the capital. In the end, they found eight merchants in Pengcheng who wanted to buy the paintings.

Prefect Xu had the merchants bid together, and in the end, the two portraits he had were sold for an astonishing price.

One of them sold for 1,500 taels of silver, and the other sold for a record-breaking 1,800 taels.

This year, we won't have to worry about not being able to pay people for the Lunar New Year. Everyone in the government office will receive their monthly pay. Winter is coming soon, and even if a snow disaster occurs, we'll have money to deal with it.

Prefect Xu chuckled foolishly. The wanted criminals probably never imagined that their portraits would be so valuable.

My daughter told me that Miss Su can paint many of these little paintings a day.

The annual salary of a third-rank official in the capital is only worth one of Miss Su's paintings, so Miss Su is practically a money tree.

\

At the residence of Vice Minister Luo in the capital, Luo Minggeng placed a silver note containing one thousand and three hundred taels of silver on the table next to Madam Luo.

"Grandmother, the 1,000 or 300 taels you gave me is not enough. Now, even a small painting of a wanted man is selling for around 2,000 taels."

Madam Luo clutched her chest. She herself had publicly said she would pay for the painting for her grandson, and now that the price had gone up, she couldn't go back on her word. She had chosen this path, and she had to see it through, even if she had to crawl on her knees.

Madam Luo waved to Granny Fan, "Go and get another thousand taels of silver."

Hopefully, the price of that so-called genius painter's paintings won't skyrocket again, otherwise even an extra thousand taels of silver probably won't be enough.

Madam Fan took the silver notes from the old lady's room and walked towards the reception room.

She felt that the old lady was too generous in giving money to her eldest grandson, who was not related to her by blood.

Mrs. Fan thought of the old lady's biological son who farmed in the countryside.

She felt that the old lady shouldn't have given so much money to young master Minggeng. If the old lady had used that money to compensate her biological son who grew up in the countryside, even if she didn't acknowledge him back, at least her biological son's family could have lived a wealthy life.

Doesn't it break your heart to leave your own son to suffer in the countryside?

Unfortunately, she was just a servant and couldn't make decisions for the old lady.

Luo Minggeng happily took the silver notes and left the mansion.

He eventually bought the portrait for 2,008 taels of silver.

Only after receiving the painting did they realize that it contained the words "wanted criminal".

What exactly is the name of that genius painter from Qinghe County? It's quite intriguing.

\

As the weather gets colder, Gu Ji has started selling hot pot.

The restaurant is still packed with customers every day.

Moreover, the painting master has not yet left Qinghe County and often comes to Gu's Restaurant to exchange painting experiences with Su Qianqian.

It has attracted many art lovers to come here.

Several businessmen from the north sat at a table, eating hot pot and chatting happily.

Someone asked Wang Qian, "Brother Wang, you've done business in Qinghe County several times, and you've always eaten at Gu's restaurant. Every meal was lavish with fish and meat. You must have spent a lot of money, right? I heard that before your Wang family elected a patriarch, each member had to earn their own living."

"That's right, it did cost a lot of money."

Wang Qian showed no sign of distress and continued, "But compared to the money I've earned, it's nothing. Last time, I bought 10 small portraits from Master Su, and they were snapped up by wealthy young men as soon as I arrived in the capital, earning me over eight thousand taels of silver. I also made a fortune reselling the 'National Beauty' clothing."

In fact, Wang Qian had also collected deposits for 10 small sketches in Beijing. He didn't dare to collect more, fearing that Su Dongjia wouldn't supply the goods. Otherwise, he would have been overwhelmed with deposits.

He is now the future head of the Wang family, and speaking of which, Miss Su from Gu's family is his benefactor.

Even if Miss Su stops selling him small portraits, he won't blame her. He can simply return the deposit and compensate her with some money.

Wang Qian felt that this kind of hot pot tasted very good, and since the food cooled down quickly in winter, it didn't have that problem when eating hot pot.

If only I could buy the soup base recipe from Miss Su.

The wealthy businessmen at the table all envied Wang Qian. "It's a pity. If we had had Brother Wang's foresight back then and bought the small portrait from Miss Su, we could be making a fortune now."

The wealthy businessmen all regretted not buying the sketches with Wang Qian back then, missing out on a huge fortune. What a pity!

The wealthy businessman surnamed Yan sighed, "It's a pity I arrived in Qinghe County a few days too late. I didn't manage to snag a single portrait. I heard that the portrait that was posted on the stairs of the Jinyumantang Inn was stolen yesterday."

The painting was indeed stolen, but the thief has been caught by Gong Yu's men, and the painting has been treasured by Gong Yu.

In the backyard of Gu's house, Su Qianqian was drawing a portrait of Gong Yu.

I heard that Gong Yu has been busy with official business in Huainan City. He finally made it to the city and insisted that I draw his portrait.

It seems this guy knows everything that happened in Qinghe County and already knows she can draw.

"Young Master Gong, very good, stay in this position, don't move."

"Young Master Gong, please smile. If you can't smile, then say 'cheese' to me."

Gong Yu made a slight upturn of her lips, making her already stunningly beautiful face even more breathtaking.

If this kid were to travel to the modern era, he would definitely become the most popular young male idol.

Su Qianqian picked up a handkerchief to wipe the drool from the corner of her mouth and continued drawing.

Gong Yu's beautiful peach blossom eyes were gazing affectionately at Su Qianqian, who was drawing with charcoal sticks. He thought of that time in the cave when the two of them huddled together for warmth at night.

Although nothing was done, it is unforgettable.

If someone ruins a girl's reputation, they must take responsibility.

But Gong Yu knew that his feelings for the girl in front of him were not just about being responsible. Ever since he left Qinghe County, her smiling face would appear in his mind every night before he went to sleep.

Her smile was unrestrained and flamboyant, unlike any other girl he had ever met, making her unforgettable.

This time when we met, the girl was a bit fatter and much fairer than last time. She no longer looked malnourished and had transformed into a beautiful young woman.

After the painting was finished, Gong Yu took out a small box, about the size of a palm, and handed it to Su Qianqian, saying, "This is for you."

Su Qianqian opened the box and took a look. It was full of shiny diamonds. In later generations, these things were called diamonds, and they were very expensive.

The phrase "A diamond is forever" echoed in Su Qianqian's mind.

This small box full of diamonds could be a family heirloom.

"Wow, it's so sparkly! This is so expensive!"

"Girl, you deserve the best."