Qingshan County Dongshi, Shui Mo Zhai.
Shui Mo Zhai specializes in pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and also sells printed books.
Chen Mu was sitting on the east side of the entrance of Shui Mo Zhai.
There is a table in front of him, complete with pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
There is also a piece of white paper hanging in front of the table, with two people drawn on it. One is himself, writing with a pen, and the other is a passerby with only his back.
Next to the portrait were written eight elegant characters, "Writing letters and drawing portraits."
This is where the predecessor wrote and painted pictures.
The tables, chairs and benches all came from the Shui Mo Studio behind him, including his location, and the rent was two copper coins a day.
Chen Mu sat behind his desk, bored and waiting for business to come to him.
In this era, productivity is not high, and living standards and education levels are not good.
For poor people, most people send messages to them, but few write letters.
Even after sitting for a whole day, he only wrote three letters.
Writing letters is different from selling calligraphy words. It is impossible to sell money per word. Each piece of letter paper is worth three copper coins.
"Three letters are nine coppers."
"Two are given to Shui Mo Zhai, and four are left as rent reserves. Only three are left. It's barely enough for one day's meals, but it's still not enough."
"well……"
…
Four days later in the evening, Chen Mu arrived near Anlefang in the north of Dongshi.
This is Goulan Street, where a large number of brothels and houses gather.
As the sky gets dark, the place becomes more and more lively.
Chen Mu stood in the shadow of the street corner and stared at an old man on the street.
The old man was wearing a long robe, with a desk in front of him, and he was concentrating on writing and splashing ink.
He has been observing for two days. This old man is a painter and makes a living by painting people here.
The protagonists of the portraits are mostly singers in the street.
I don’t know the exact amount of his income, but seeing that he is clean and well-dressed and eats out every day, I guess it’s not much different.
Walking out of the street corner, he slowly approached the old man's desk and looked at the other man's paintings for a moment. Chen Mu nodded pretendingly.
The old man raised his head and looked at Chen Mu for a moment, then smiled: "What, you want to sell paintings too?"
Chen Mu was startled, the old man actually saw what he was thinking.
As if aware of Chen Mu's doubts, the old man straightened up and smiled calmly: "You've been watching me for two days and you haven't made up your mind yet?"
Chen Mu was stunned. Fortunately, he thought he was hiding it well, but he didn't expect to be noticed by others.
"Selling paintings is a dead end! Young man, listen to my advice and go back and study hard." The old man looked incomprehensible.
"The water in this industry is very deep, you can't control it." The old man said lightly with a sneer.
Chen Mu looked baffled as to how deep the water could be to sell paintings.
"I won't stop you, just ask for your own blessings." The old man smiled, lowered his head and continued painting and ignored it.
…
Ping'anfang
Chen Mu didn't care about eating, so he rushed into the east study room and took a self-portrait of himself facing the reflection in the basin.
After finishing the painting, I looked in the mirror and compared it. This painting, except for my own painting, looks nothing like it!
Gray walls appear in front of you.
Writing: 1035/10000/second level;
Picture: 3061/10000/First Order;
Chen Mu thought about the painting of the old man on Goulan Street...
"Well, at least there's a lot of room for improvement."
Putting away the paintings, Chen Mu left the study.
After pouring all the money on the square table, Chen Mu counted it again.
There were two paths before him.
One is to live according to the original owner's trajectory, slowly accumulate wealth, and look for possible opportunities for change.
The other option is to give it a try, spend all your money to practice painting in seclusion, and after you get good at it, go to Goulan Street to paint portraits of singers, earn more money, eat well first, and then try more possibilities.
Regardless of whether it was the original owner in his previous life or his previous life, he would always choose the first option. Because that seems safer and more stable.
I dare not step out of my comfort zone, dare not face the pressure of the unknown, and dare not show the courage to risk my life.
This is a common state among all living beings.
Facts have proved that even if you choose a seemingly safe choice, it may not bring stability.
Any accident in life can destroy this seemingly stable but fragile and peaceful life.
"You've already worn it, what else do you have to worry about?" Chen Mu smiled and said, "Besides, I still have the proficiency in gray walls."
He took the money and went out, bought white wheat and filled the rice vat.
I also budgeted carefully and bought enough oil, salt and firewood for two months.
Carefully organize the vegetable plot on the east side of my yard, plan the amount that can be eaten every day, and try to last until two months later.
After preparing everything, he only had three copper coins left in his body.
But Chen Mu felt relaxed physically and mentally.
When everything was ready, Chen Mu closed the door and started practicing painting.
…
The painting techniques of this era are similar to ancient freehand brushwork with splashed ink, emphasizing meaning rather than form.
My father was an old scholar who made a living by giving elementary school lessons to children.
The predecessor of painting skills was taught by his father.
Chen Mu does not plan to develop according to the techniques of his predecessor.
He had seen the paintings of the old man Goulan, and his paintings were extremely lifelike. Even with the help of proficiency, Chen Mu was not sure of surpassing him within a period of time.
He planned to find another way.
In my previous life, I was in an era of information explosion, and I had seen a lot of various paintings.
Compared with freehand painting, Chen Mu planned to do a three-dimensional painting with fine brushwork, highlighting one word - like! Like a camera!
Holding a branch with a sharpened top, Chen Mu came to the vegetable patch in the small courtyard.
There is a piece of flat land about one meter in diameter, with a layer of fine soil evenly spread on it.
It was okay to write with water, but not suitable for painting. He planned to practice on fine soil so that he could use it repeatedly.
Facing the reflection in the basin, Chen Mu used sharpened branches to outline it one stroke at a time.
It took half an hour to draw a self-portrait.
Chen Mu couldn't wait to bring out the gray walls.
Writing: 1035/10000/second level;
Picture: 3073/10000/First Order;
"One portrait will increase your proficiency by twelve points. Fortunately..." Chen Mu let out a long sigh of relief.
Drawing takes more time than practicing calligraphy. Fortunately, the experience increases a lot.
After leveling the ground and covering it with soil, Chen Mu continued painting.
This time, I only gained nine proficiency levels.
While sorting out the fine soil, Chen Mu thought about and summarized what he had learned from the two paintings. After he started painting again, he consciously made improvements.
The proficiency level has indeed improved significantly, reaching thirteen points.
"Looks like I need to be more dedicated!"
Every time he practiced painting after that, Chen Mu would take a break, summarize what he had learned, and even bring a pen and paper to record it.
Time passed slowly as he practiced, improved, and practiced.
Chen Mu's drawing ability is also improving little by little.
…
A month and a half later, in the study.
Chen Mu has disheveled hair and a messy beard. He holds a brush in his hand and gently sketches on the white paper.
A beauty with fluttering white clothes and ethereal temperament was born in the painting.
This beauty has long dark hair, a three-dimensional figure, and lively eyes. She even seems to be alive.
Chen Mu put away his pen and looked at it, then thought about it and wrote a seven-character poem next to it.
"The sky is covered with frost over the ten-mile flat lake, and every inch of blue hair is filled with worries about the past."
"Looking at each other in the shape of the moon, we only envy the mandarin ducks but not the immortals."
Writing: 1035/10000/second level;
Picture: 72/10000/second order;
"It's done!"
