"Xu Wei, Xu Wei... want him!"
Zhu Changan made his choice without hesitation.
Although Xu Wei's reputation is slightly lower than that of Wu Daozi, Tang Bohu, Gu Kaizhi and other historical painting circles, his strength is enough to rival the top artists such as Zhang Zeduan, Yan Liben and Qi Baishi.
For Zhu Renxia, Xu Wei's works are contemporary paintings, but when exposed to Zhu Changan's world, they become cultural relics from more than 400 years ago.
"Xu Wei's paintings only cost three taels of silver!"
Zhu Renxia hesitated, "And I heard that calligraphy and painting only become valuable after the author dies."
"I want Xu Wei's painting, please go quickly!"
"Okay then, disciple, I will obey."
"Remember, never buy a fake."
"Also, if the store has other Xu Wei calligraphy and paintings, you can buy them all for me."
"Yes, Tianzun."
Zhu Renxia agreed, but secretly murmured in his heart, "Is this Xu Wei so awesome? He actually made the gods thirst for talents in his works."
"Boss, I only have enough money to buy Xu Wei's paintings."
Zhu Renxia stared at the flower and bird pictures hanging on the wall and nitpicked for a while, "Look, this place is not framed well. The ink here is too light. If it's cheaper, I'll take it."
After a while of haggling, the deal was finally settled for 2 taels and 8 silver coins.
"Boss, is this painting of yours a fake?"
After the painting was packaged, Zhu Renxia asked cautiously.
The gentle and elegant shop owner immediately became anxious, "I, Zhang Fang, am also a scholar, so I can sell fakes? If they are fakes, you can sue me at the county government office and have my title revoked at will."
Zhu Renxia felt relieved: "Do you have any other works by Xu Wei?"
"Gone."
Zhang Fang shook his head, "But my senior brother has a picture of grapes in his hand. If you are interested, I will take you to buy it."
"Where is your senior brother?" Zhu Renxia asked.
"Li Ping."
"Then forget it!"
Zhu Renxia shook his head hastily.
Tian Zongren probably gnashed his teeth with hatred for the people in Jiangjia Village. He didn't even have time to escape, so he ran to Liping and threw himself into a trap. His head was squeezed by the door, right?
"How do you sell this copper stove?"
"This is a stove from Lord Hong Wu's period, priced at one tael."
"Where's this cloisonné set?"
Zhu Renxia also fell in love with a set of gold enamel and glass lamps. Because it was most popular during the period of Emperor Jingtai and the craftsmanship reached its peak, it was called cloisonné by the world and has been passed down to the 21st century.
"Young master, you have good eyesight. This is a tribute produced in the capital, specially sent to the imperial palace, and it sells for 5 taels of silver."
Zhu Renxia shook his head, "It's too expensive."
"Brother, can you give me a price?"
"One or two."
When Zhu Renxia was a boy, he worked as a handyman at the home of Zhenguo General Zhu Rentu, helping to clean and clean various types of porcelain, so he had some understanding of it.
"Too little."
Zhang Fang shook his head like a rattle, several times faster than Zhu Renxia, "The purchase price of this cloisonné has reached one to eight yuan. If you want it, the minimum is two yuan."
"Wrap it up!"
Zhu Renxia selected another pair of plum vases and a pair of Ruyi ear statues. After some haggling, he finally priced them at one or two and a half.
Zhang Fang packed up all the items quickly and handed them to Zhu Renxia with a smile: "Young Master has such a good eye. You have almost covered all the good things in my store."
"Check out!"
"okay."
"2 taels of Xu Wei's paintings of flowers and birds, 1 tael of Hongwu copper stove, 2 taels of cloisonné glazed lamps, 1 tael of plum vase and Ruyi Erzun, the total price is 8 taels of 3."
Zhu Renxia opened the bag and counted it, and found that there were still fifteen taels of silver left. After payment, there was less than seven taels of silver left.
"I bought so many antiques for eight taels of silver, which is worthy of the Lord."
Zhu Renxia picked up the box and said goodbye.
Zhang Fang walked to the door: "Young master, please come back when you have time. Our Yinma Town is located on the thoroughfare between two provinces, where merchants gather. My goods are much higher-end than those in the county towns."
"sure."
Zhu Renxia carried the box to a deserted place, looked up to the sky, and saw the giant face of Chang'an Tianzun.
"Report to Tianzun, my disciple bought Xu Wei's painting for you."
"It's a pity that he is still alive now. After he passes away in a few years, maybe the works will be valuable."
Just as Zhu Renxia entered the store, Zhu Changan quickly searched Xu Wei's information and found that he had died in the 21st year of Wanli.
In other words, Xu Wei has been dead for three years.
However, these days there is neither television nor radio nor the Internet, so news flows slowly.
Let alone the death of a painter, even if the emperor dies, the southwestern frontier may not receive news for a year and a half.
"Don't worry, Xu Wei has been dead for three years."
Zhu Changan put his palm into the landscaping box and motioned to Zhu Renxia to put the cardboard box containing antique calligraphy and paintings into his hands.
The height of Zhu Changan's fingers is more than one centimeter, which is a bit taller than Zhu Renxia, who is eight feet tall.
Fortunately, the total weight of the contents in the box was only a dozen kilograms. Zhu Renxia stood on tiptoes, raised his arms, and lifted the box, trying his best to deliver it to Zhu Changan's fingertips.
"Tianzun, be careful. In addition to Xu Wei's paintings of flowers and birds, the disciple also bought you a set of cloisonné glazed lamps, a Hongwu copper stove, and several plum vases, ear statues and other porcelains."
"Not bad, well done!"
Zhu Changan quickly took his palm out of the jar and saw a box the size of a grain of rice placed on his fingertips.
Zhu Changan carefully put the things on the coffee table and returned to the landscaping box.
"Besides this painting of flowers and birds, are there any other calligraphy and paintings by Xu Wei?"
Zhu Changan, who was in a good mood, sat on the chair with his legs crossed and asked.
Through Baidu just now, Zhu Changan learned that Xu Wei's works are priceless.
In 2007, Xu Wei's ink flower hand scroll was auctioned for 20.72 million.
In 2011, Xu Wei's grape painting was auctioned in Beijing for 37.95 million yuan.
In 2013, a floral hand scroll by Xu Wei was auctioned for a sky-high price of 53.28 million yuan.
In 2017, one of Xu Wei's life sketches fetched an astonishing price of 127 million in London.
Although Zhu Changan didn't know the quality of this painting "Flowers and Birds on an Empty Mountain", with Xu Wei's reputation, it would be easy to sell it for tens of thousands, right?
Zhu Renxia put his hands on his hips and gasped: "No, but the shopkeeper said that his senior brother had a picture of Xu Wei's grapes. I didn't ask the price."
"Grape picture?"
Zhu Changan was immediately interested. Did he just see a picture of grapes that was auctioned for 37.95 million on Baidu?
If this picture of grapes can really be drawn from the world in the box, and this picture is the same as the one in the real world, wouldn't it mean that there are two identical pictures of grapes in this world?
"Oh... I must buy this!"
Zhu Changan immediately issued a death order, "The Queen Mother likes to eat grapes, she will be happy to see the grape picture. No matter what you think of, you must help me buy this grape picture!"
"Uh...but his senior brother is in Liping City."
Zhu Renxia scratched his head and said, "Then Liping City is Tian Zongren's lair, and the disciple is worried...that's all, that's all, since Tianzun wants it, the disciple will definitely buy it no matter what he thinks of!"
"To the bird... to the bird, this is my good disciple."
Zhu Changan encouraged, "When the villagers return to Jiangjia Village, I will reward you with mutton!"
"Disciple knows."
Zhu Renxia made a bow and said, "Disciple, go to the tailor shop to buy some clothes for Axiu."
Zhu Changan nodded: "Go ahead and don't forget to buy some jewelry for your wife."
"Thank you Tianzun for reminding me."
Zhu Renxia scratched his head in embarrassment and strode back to the bustling market.
