Chapter 102: The King of One Eye missed, Shopkeeper Zhou broke the situation
"Please have a seat, please have a seat. How come shopkeeper Zhou has time to come to my place?"
"What, is it inconvenient?"
"What are you talking about? Just wait a moment, I'll make you some tea."
In the morning, Zhou Shi spent a lot of time before knocking on Wang Yinchang's door.
This famous "eyesman" in Jiangdu opened the door with his eyelids drooped, obviously not sleeping well. But when he saw that the person coming was Zhou Shi, he immediately invited him into the study with a smile.
Wang Yinchang is a regular customer of Fengde Building. He has been friends with Shopkeeper Zhou for ten years. In addition, Zhou Shi helped solve the problem of the sunset scroll on the Changhe River last time, so he is naturally welcomed in this way.
Zhou Shi leaned on the back of the chair, but was hurt by the things hidden behind his back, so he had to sit upright and admire the collection in the study.
Although most of the things hanging on the wall are imitations, as Cai Youlin said, they are indeed masterpieces.
Zhou Shi slowly copied those calligraphy paintings in his mind, imitating the ups and downs of the strokes, and suddenly a few strands of literary spirit rose in his chest, stimulating the practice of calligraphers.
Unfortunately, Wang Yinchang came back with a teapot before he could practice for long.
"Come on, Shopkeeper Zhou, this is the best Pu'er. I was given it last time when I showed it to someone, but I didn't even unpack it!"
Amidst the rising fragrance of tea, Zhou Shi watched Wang Yinchang dip his hands in tea and apply it on his eyelids, and couldn't help but ask:
"Mr. Wang, didn't you sleep well last night?"
"That's not true." Wang Yinchang said weakly, "I didn't sleep all night."
"Ah?" Zhou Shi put down the tea cup and said, "Is there anything that's bothering you?"
Wang Yinchang rubbed his temples and said: "It's nothing serious. I just collected something yesterday. I looked at it for a long time and couldn't be sure, but when I came back to my senses, it was already dawn."
Oops, there is something that can make the "King of One Eye" miss?
"Oh, there is no end to learning. After living for half a lifetime, why do I become more and more confused as I live? Even this kind of thing..."
Wang Yinchang studied behind closed doors for a day. He had nowhere to vent his troubles, and all his worries fell on his old friend Zhou Shi. But Zhou Shi was anxious. He came to see the calligraphy and painting masters and had to rush back to Fengde before lunch.
Lou, how can I accompany him here to think about the meaning of life?
"Ahem, Mr. Wang, what is it that makes you unsure? Can you take it out so that I can open my eyes?"
Wang Yinchang broke free from the pain, took out a box from the corner of the study, opened it, and took out a rolled scroll.
"Please see, this is what was delivered yesterday..."
He unfolded the painting, and Zhou Shi stood up to take a closer look.
This is a painting of a lady. A woman in blue clothes stands tall and farsighted, with a sad expression. Even Zhou Shi, who doesn’t know how to paint, thinks this painting is a masterpiece.
However, there is some damage on one side of the painting, which just erased the signature.
"The owner of this painting said it was a masterpiece from the previous dynasty, but the inscription was unclear. He asked me to see if it was authentic. I saw that the painting's brushwork, ink, and layout were all correct, but the clothes didn't match it." "How to say it?"
"In the previous dynasty, blue was regarded as lowly, and it was impossible for ladies to wear blue clothes. This flaw is too obvious. Only the worst imitations can make this mistake. But if this problem is put aside, then this painting is undoubtedly authentic.
Wang Yinchang said with a grimace, "This worries me to death. Could it be that when the painter was coloring, only blue was left? Or maybe he has color weakness... By the way, maybe he only loves women wearing blue clothes."
..."
Seeing that he was starting to talk nonsense, Zhou Shi hurriedly said: "Don't worry, don't worry, let me take a look."
"You?" Wang Yinchang was stunned. Shopkeeper Zhou also studied calligraphy and painting? But this painting of a lady was so evil that even he couldn't be sure. What could shopkeeper Zhou do?
Zhou Shi smiled and said: "Although I don't understand painting, I know something else. Can you confirm that there are no other problems with this painting except the color of the clothes, right?"
"Yes. I watched it for a day, and there is absolutely no mistake."
Seeing Wang Yinchang's certainty, Zhou Shi felt 30% sure.
"Whether it is true or not, there is no loss in giving it a try. And I have a good relationship with Wang Yinchang, so I won't lose face because of this..."
Thinking like this, he said to Wang Yinchang:
"Please bring me the charcoal stove."
Wang Yinchang was puzzled: "Charcoal stove? Are you cold?"
"It's not about keeping warm. Let's talk about it later."
Although Jiangdu is located on the riverside, the winter is not colder than that in the north, but the unique humidity and coldness in the south makes the winter here equally difficult. It is the turn of autumn and winter, and the homes of pampered people like Wang Yinchang have already prepared charcoal for the winter.
After a while, he came back with the charcoal stove. Zhou Shi asked him to burn the charcoal and hang the strange picture of a lady above the charcoal stove.
Although Wang Yinchang didn't know the purpose of doing this, he still decided to believe Shopkeeper Zhou after considering the sunset scroll on the Changhe River last time.
The charcoal fire was lit, and the warm current slowly rose along with the smoke, wrapping the painting in Zhou Shi's hand.
Wang Yinchang stared at his movements nervously. If there was anything wrong with this painting, he would have no way to explain it to his employer.
And something strange happened right under his nose——
The woman's clothes slowly changed from blue to purple!
"This..."
"Don't worry, wait a little longer." Seeing the changes in the painting, Zhou Shi felt confident and continued to lift the painting on top of the charcoal stove.
The color of the clothes changed again, from purple to light red!
"Okay." Zhou Shi removed the painting from the charcoal fire and handed it to Wang Yinchang, "Look, are there any problems with this painting now?"
Wang Yinchang took the scroll, looked it up and down several times, and said with some excitement: "No more! This is exactly the style of the previous dynasty! Oh, now I can finally deliver..."
Zhou Shi rubbed his sore arm and looked at Wang Yinchang with a smile as if he had found a treasure.
"But..." After the joy, doubts followed, "Shopkeeper Zhou, what is going on? I have never heard that a painted painting can change color!"
"Haha, the paint on this is actually made from a flower produced outside Guanxi, called 'Yanlonghong'..."
Zhou Shi explained that this "Yanlong Red" has a peculiar property. When it is first painted, it is light red, but this red color will change over time, and it will turn blue after a few years.
However, once it encounters the smoke from the charcoal fire, this "smoke red" will slowly return to its original color.
"You said that there are no problems with other parts of this painting, but I noticed that the signature of this painting was deliberately damaged. Coupled with my understanding of 'Smoke Red', I guessed that it was the painter who used it on a whim.
I painted a work with this paint, but afterwards I felt that it was beneath my dignity to use such a strange technique, but I was reluctant to destroy the work, so I had to erase the signature."
"Yanlonghong" is both the name of the pigment and the name of the flower. It is recorded in the "Shan Jing" given to Zhou Shi by hiker Wang Zhuang. It is precisely because of this that Zhou Shi can think of this layer.
"I see... I've never heard of 'Yanlonghong'. Shopkeeper Zhou, you are really well-informed."
Zhou Shi took the painting over and looked at it carefully, feeling that light red suited the tone of the painting.
"Thank you, our restaurant welcomes customers from all over the world, and we have to deal with all kinds of religions, so we only know a little bit about everything." Zhou Shi said, turning the painting over for Wang Yinchang to see, "What do you think this painting is worth?"
"Ah, due to the lack of signature, I'm afraid I can only..."
Halfway through his words, Wang Yinchang's drooped eyelids suddenly opened, showing a look of horror.
"Mr. Wang?"
"Shopkeeper Zhou, this..."
He took two steps back, pointed at the painting and said: