Thinking of this, Lin Yuanqiu opened the book box, took out the rolled paintings, and found a piece of rough paper to wrap them around, so that he didn't have to worry about accidentally soiling the paintings.
I came here early today, and tomorrow is the official start of classes, so not many students have come here yet.
After leaving the private school, Lin Yuanqiu went to Hexi Street.
When he got there, he went directly to the calligraphy and painting shop he had visited last time. For some reason, perhaps due to a blind eye, Lin Yuanqiu always felt that the fat shopkeeper was something he could trust.
Shopkeeper Hu recognized Lin Yuanqiu at a glance and thought to himself, isn't this the little kid who had been to the store before? I wonder what the purpose of coming here today was. Could it be that he came to see paintings again?
However, shopkeeper Hu put his thoughts back after seeing the scroll in Lin Yuanqiu's hand. Come to think of it, this kid came here today to help him look at the paintings.
As the shopkeeper of a calligraphy and painting shop, he naturally knows a lot about the fine art of brushwork and ink. Therefore, people often bring their own paintings over and ask Shopkeeper Hu to help them appreciate them.
Therefore, when Lin Yuanqiu asked whether the store would accept paintings, shopkeeper Hu didn't react for a while.
Selling paintings?
Whose paintings are you selling?
It couldn't have been painted by the kid himself, right?
Their shop definitely accepts paintings and calligraphy, but it doesn't accept just any paintings. Otherwise, not only will they not be able to sell the paintings, they will also have to spend money on them to frame the paintings.
In Shopkeeper Hu's view, no matter how good Xiaowa'er's paintings are, they will never be ready for sale.
Just looking at the round little face on the other side, Shopkeeper Hu felt that when he refused later, he would try to be as tactful as possible.
Lin Yuanqiu, the "pseudo-child", of course understood the facial expressions of the fat shopkeeper. He didn't bother to say more. He just opened the painting and took a look.
Thinking of this, Lin Yuanqiu squatted down, put the scroll on the ground, and slowly spread it out.
Shopkeeper Hu was still organizing his words of rejection, but when he lowered his head to see the paintings spread out on the ground, he hurriedly bent over and picked up the paintings, "Oh, I said you are such a little kid. Son, why did you put the painting on the ground?"
Shopkeeper Hu looked at the ground as he spoke. It was okay, okay, the shop was paved with blue bricks, and there was no mud or anything like that.
Otherwise, it would be a pity if such a good painting was stained.
I thought it was the little kid who painted it himself, but now it seems that someone else must have done it.
It's just that I don't know who can actually draw such sophisticated lines. Shopkeeper Hu is a person who is used to seeing paintings. With just one glance, he knows that the painter has a solid foundation.
And he has never seen this kind of freehand landscape painting in all the years he has opened a calligraphy and painting shop.
So Shopkeeper Hu endured the excitement in his heart, carefully spread all six paintings on the table, and then looked at the signature area.
People from Taoyuan Mountain?
He had never heard this name before. Could it be someone's new nickname?
Thinking of this, shopkeeper Hu turned to Lin Yuanqiu and smiled, "Who painted this painting?"
Lin Yuanqiu would definitely not tell others that the person who painted the painting was him. As for who painted the painting, Lin Yuanqiu had already thought of the excuse before coming here, so he replied, "It was the boy's uncle who painted it."
Originally, Lin Yuanqiu wanted to say that he was his brother, but then he thought about it, his brother was too young, and he definitely didn't have as much mystery as his uncle.
Uncle?
Sure enough, after listening to Lin Yuanqiu's words, Shopkeeper Hu suddenly looked clear and said to himself, as he had guessed, this should be the painting of someone.
Seeing that Lin Yuanqiu had no intention of saying more, shopkeeper Hu didn't ask any more questions. He still understood this rule.
However, in terms of pricing, we can only follow the prices of ordinary paintings. After all, these paintings are only marked with the name "Taoyuan Mountain Man" and there is no name seal or anything like that.
In the end, Shopkeeper Hu gave a painting a price of four hundred yuan, and the six paintings totaled two hundred and four yuan.
Lin Yuanqiu calculated the cost of these paintings in his mind. Six four-foot-for-one sheets with seventy-two texts on life, and then ink and negligible cinnabar. Therefore, he earned at least two taels from selling the paintings this time. Three coins.
If he wasn't worried that he was too happy and that it would affect the pricing of his next work, Lin Yuanqiu would definitely have burst into laughter.
After collecting the money, Lin Yuanqiu said goodbye to shopkeeper Hu. It was already late, and he still had to walk for more than two-quarters of an hour from Hexi Street back to the private school. For such a fair and cute child, it would be safer to go back earlier.
After all, I saw a lot of ancient human traffickers on TV.
What Lin Yuanqiu didn't know was that after he left, Shopkeeper Hu began to study those paintings carefully. From the lines, the ink dots, and the painters of the pavilion and boat, Shopkeeper Hu was eager to know these things. I want to know who painted the painting, and I also want to know who is actually so depressed that he makes a living by secretly selling paintings.
…
On the twentieth day of the first lunar month, the Yamen issued a notice for registration for the county examination.
The registration time is three days from today and tomorrow, and the county examination is scheduled for February 28th, which is more than a month later.
Zhou Zixu is also going to take part in this county examination. In addition to him, there are a dozen other students from Class A.
Lin Yuanqiu discovered that the remaining six students in Class A, including him, had already passed the county examination, so the registration for the county examination this time meant that the entire class was mobilized.
"Brother Lin, is the county exam difficult?" Zhou Zixu was taking part for the first time and felt a little unsure.
Lin Yuanqiu shook his head, "I think it shouldn't be difficult for you."
What Lin Yuanqiu said was not soothing. In his opinion, Zhou Zixu was the kind of person who was fed by God when it came to memorizing articles. Every time he wrote the same article, Zhou Zixu would do it faster than other students. Memorize it.
This is a sign of good memory.
Most of the county exams are about content in books, such as Tie Jing, the annotations of the scriptures in Mo Yi, and the moral part. If these questions can be answered successfully, then the remaining poems and poems will only need to be answered. If it's average, there shouldn't be any problems.
"It's easy for you to be a poet." When it comes to writing poems, Zhou Zixu almost bursts into tears. If he could, he would rather memorize a dozen articles in a row than write a poem.
My uncle always said that he had too little accumulation and an empty stomach, so the poems he wrote had unclear intentions and were either too mediocre or too scattered.
But Zhou Zixu felt that it was not so easy to distinguish between vulgarity and elegance. I was afraid that he would have to practice for a long time before he could make any progress.
Lin Yuanqiu recalled what Zhou Zixu had said to him in the calligraphy and painting shop before, and asked, "Think about it, what is the difference between the New Year paintings sold in the market and the calligraphy and paintings we saw on Hexi Street that day?"
What's the difference? Do you even need to think about it?
Zhou Zixu said without thinking, "Of course one is vulgar and the other is elegant!"
After he finished speaking, he quickly realized that Brother Lin was probably teaching him how to write poems.
Seeing Zhou Zixu's understanding look, Lin Yuanqiu laughed, "Isn't this a distinction immediately? When you write poetry, you can use this method to distinguish the mediocre. If you are still in trouble, just use the stupidest method. The best way is to recall what the paintings in the calligraphy and painting shop look like, whether they are light in color, not impatient and impatient, and the artistic conception is elegant, just like the spring breeze blowing willows."
Zhou Zixu hurriedly closed his eyes to feel what Lin Yuanqiu said, the light clouds, green mountains, streams, vines, and the curling smoke rising...
So, the inspiration just came.
Zhou Zixu was excited and said, "Brother Lin, I seem to have poetry in my belly. Just wait, I'll write it out right now."
After saying that, he quickly rushed to the table, dipped his pen in ink, and quickly wrote the poem: In the clear and quiet place of the water valley, in the peach land of misty mountains.
Unfortunately, there are still two sentences left. Thinking of this, Zhou Zixu hurriedly closed his eyes again, preparing to feel the next two sentences.
…
As a local student, Zhou Xiucai naturally had to follow him to the county seat.
Before setting off, Zhou Xiucai assigned essays and strategies to the six people in Class A. The county examination would be soon followed by the government examination, so there was no room for relaxation.
It was like Zhou Zixu, who had opened up a "poetry path", would compose a poem from time to time in the past few days. After Zhou Xiucai read the poems, he couldn't help but sigh, this child finally had an epiphany.
Zhou Zixu, who was rarely praised by his uncle, felt grateful to Lin Yuanqiu and praised "Haikou". If he wins the county test this time, he will definitely invite Brother Lin to Zuixianglou for a good meal.
Then Zhou Zixu stretched out his finger without hesitation, hooked up with Lin Yuanqiu, and hung himself for a hundred years without changing!
Lin Yuanqiu was naturally not polite. Regardless of whether it was because of the good methods he taught, it was definitely a very happy thing to have a meal. This meant that he had passed the exam.
Early the next morning, students who were going to apply for the county examination took carriages to the county seat.
Lin Yuanqiu, on the other hand, planned to go to the bookstore to buy some rice paper for painting. Taking advantage of the two and a half days that his roommate was away, Lin Yuanqiu wanted to draw a few more paintings and send them to the calligraphy and painting shop.
Seeing Lin Yuanqiu coming over, shopkeeper Gao hurriedly took out an oil paper bag and said with a smile, "I originally wanted to wait until lunch break to deliver it to you, but you coming here now will save me a trip. Well, this is sugar stir-fry Chestnuts, I’ll bring them to your dormitory for you to eat.”
Lin Yuanqiu took it with both hands, "Thank you, Uncle Gao!"
Since Lin Yuanqiu went to town to study, shopkeeper Gao would often bring him some delicious food. Sometimes it was homemade buns, sometimes peanuts boiled with salt. In shopkeeper Gao's view, the child was still young, so he always wanted to eat something delicious. Just help take care of it.
Lin Yuanqiu's gratitude also comes from the heart. Although they are relatives, no one in this world has the obligation to be kind to you. People must know how to be grateful.
Although the Master was not here, Lin Yuanqiu and the other five classmates in Class A did not slack off. After lunch, they began to write essays and strategies assigned by the Master in the class room.
After dinner, Lin Yuanqiu returned to the dormitory early, spread out the rice paper, and then started painting an ink landscape. After finishing one painting, it was almost dark.
At this time, Uncle Zhong would bring lamp oil, still two spoons.
Lin Yuanqiu lit the oil lamp. Two spoons of lamp oil plus the unused oil from last night should be able to burn for almost an hour and a half. According to his own painting speed, Lin Yuanqiu felt that he could draw at least three landscape pictures tonight. come out.
During the lunch break on the third day, Lin Yuanqiu spoke to the concierge and quickly headed to Hexi Street.
Shopkeeper Hu was smiling when he saw Lin Yuanqiu bringing another painting.
The few landscape paintings last time were just framed and hung in the store, and they were bought one after another. It can be seen that there are indeed many people who like freehand landscapes.
Lin Yuanqiu didn't have any ink marks either, so he handed over all the paintings in his hand.
The master and the others will be back soon, so I have to go back early. Although the strategy and essays have been prepared, I am still a little embarrassed when the master catches me wandering outside.
Shopkeeper Hu opened all the paintings. When he saw that they were all landscape paintings, he nodded repeatedly, thinking that these paintings would be sold soon.
The size of the rice paper Lin Yuanqiu used this time was four feet wide, which was almost twice the size of the previous six pieces of paper. The larger the paper, the higher the selling price would naturally be.
Shopkeeper Hu said that landscape paintings of this size are most suitable for hanging in the study room. I hope they will be of this size in the future.
In the end, Shopkeeper Hu calculated the price of each painting at 600 cents, and the seven paintings were sold for a total of 4 taels of silver.
After collecting the money, Lin Yuanqiu did not stay any longer. He said goodbye to Shopkeeper Hu and went back to the private school directly.
On the way back, Lin Yuanqiu was thinking that he didn't know how much the smallest denomination of silver notes was. If there were ten taels of silver a piece, then when he sold the painting again, he could ask the shopkeeper to help him exchange the silver. It's a banknote, so it's much more convenient to keep it by yourself.
…
Chapter 57 Register for the government examination
After registering for the county examination, Lin Yuanqiu found that his classmates were much more attentive to their studies.
During this period, the food in the canteen was changed from eating meat dishes once every fifth day to once every three days.
Lin Yuanqiu understood Master Zhou's intention. He wanted the students going to take the exam to have a good body and be able to cope with the next exam smoothly.
Since the exam is coming soon, this month's holiday is naturally cancelled.
When Lin Sanzhu sent the embroidery to the bookstore, he came to the private school to visit and brought a slightly thinner coat over.
Spring is about to begin, so I have a thin shirt ready so I can change out of my thick cotton-padded jacket when the weather gets hot.
