As evening approaches, the weather clears up. Under the warm sunshine, the late autumn in Chuzhou actually has a little more warmth.
When the time came to 5:20 pm, Shen Yu and Pei Yuan finally stood in front of the "Dong Ji Antiques" store.
This is a row of six three-storey single-family Chinese-style antique buildings. Looking up, the four-character store name on the plaque shines brightly in the sunset, which is dazzling.
Dongji Antiques, also known as Wanbaolou, is a famous antique store that all collectors in Chuzhou must visit once.
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"My little friend is joking, I have been working in Wanbao Tower for thirty years, and I have never heard of any authentic work of 'Gu Kaizhi' handed down to the world.
"Don't talk about it now, Gu Kaizhi's authentic paintings were rare in the Northern Song Dynasty. There are only nine copies in the Imperial Palace's collection. There is still a lot of controversy over whether it is authentic or not, so you'd better put this painting away."
Before Shen Yu and Pei Yuan entered the gate of Wanbao Tower, they heard an obviously unhappy old voice coming from the hall on the first floor.
"Someone comes to Wanbao Building to sell fakes? This is really interesting."
Shen Yu and Pei Yu'an looked at each other and quickened their pace.
Opening the door curtain and entering the hall, you instantly feel like entering an ancient scholarly home.
The windows are bright and clean, spotless, and every piece of furniture is neatly placed.
This is Shen Yu's first real visit to Wanbao Building, and the interior furnishings are indeed somewhat different from what he imagined.
The lobby on the first floor is not luxuriously decorated, but rather simple.
Of course, the first floor of Wanbao Building is very large, almost thousands of square meters.
The interior is completely open and transparent. In terms of safety, six giant pillars support the roof beams, giving people a very solid feeling.
Although the furnishings are not luxurious, they are quite grand. On the north wall of the entrance hangs a huge picture of "Penglai Seeking the Road". The brushwork is majestic, the ink is elegant, and the painting skills are superb. Although it was not painted by the ancients, Shen Yu noticed it at a glance. It is known that this painting is from the hands of a modern famous artist, and the essence of his painting can be said to have reached its peak.
Under the picture, there is a square table of mellow red sandalwood with a huge animal-headed copper stove placed on it. From time to time, a faint sandalwood scent floats out of the stove, which is like the elegance of Lanzhi and is very refreshing.
On both sides of the square table are three rosewood Taishi chairs arranged side by side. Judging from the style and patina, they must be genuine rosewood from the Qing Dynasty.
All that's left are the antique counters and various antique shelves.
After a few glances, Shen realized that there must be forty or fifty Bogu racks alone. It looked like they were quite busy today.
"Gentlemen, do you want to sell antiques or buy antiques?"
A polite male clerk walked over quickly and greeted Shen Yu and Shen Yu with a smile.
Shen Yu raised the jade paperweight and Duan inkstone in his hand and smiled back, "Yes, these two pieces were purchased elsewhere."
"I wonder what kind of antiques you two want to buy?"
The expression on Shen Yu's face remained unchanged, but he said in his heart, "I'm here to pick up the leaks, how can I know what to buy now?"
But this kind of question didn't bother Shen Yu at all. He looked around a few times and said, "Antique collection is mainly about one's eyesight. You have to look at it before deciding what to buy."
"I can tell from your words that you are an expert in collecting antiques. Okay, feel free to take a look. If you like it, you can call me anytime. By the way, what would you two like to drink?
"Black tea, green tea, oolong tea, coffee, all kinds of cold drinks, and boiled water are all available in the store." The clerk nodded in agreement, and at the same time quietly flattered Shen Yu.
"Two bottles of Qinglianggu mineral water will do. By the way, who is that old man?"
Shen Yu asked, pointing to an old man sitting at an appreciation table not far away.
This old man is tall, with white beard and white hair, but he is very energetic and does not feel angry or intimidating when he stands in front of the appreciation table.
Opposite him was a tall, thin young man. Because his back was to Shen Yu, he couldn't see his face clearly for a while.
"That's Zheng Congyun, Mr. Zheng, the big shopkeeper in the store."
Shen Yu's mind raced, "I wonder what the relationship between Mr. Zheng and Zheng Congyuan is?"
The clerk smiled and said, "Mr. Zheng is the cousin of Boss Zheng."
Shen Yu suddenly realized that no wonder he felt a sense of déjà vu when he first saw the old man.
The clerk went to get the mineral water, and Shen Yu whispered to Pei Yu'an: "Yu'an, I, the younger member of the Shen family, originally said that the leak was on the shelf, so it shouldn't be something like calligraphy and painting.
"Wanbaolou does not sell porcelain, so it is basically certain that it is a miscellaneous antique. You can browse around in the store first. If you feel which antique may be missing, remember it first. I will go and take a look at the painting by Gu Kaizhi."
Not to mention, Shen Yu's interest arose after hearing Gu Kaizhi's authentic work outside the door.
The reason is very simple. Shen Yu has never heard of anyone selling Gu Kaizhi's calligraphy and paintings, whether in the major antique markets in Dongjiang or in Chuzhou flea markets and antique cities.
Even on the street stalls, there are no paintings by Gu Kaizhi for sale.
Ancient paintings are the most valuable antiques. In other words, ancient paintings have the highest price among all the antiques that can be bought on the market.
Generally speaking, most of the fakes on the market are imitations of works by second- and third-rate painters of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
There are few works by the six families of the Qing Dynasty and the four families of the Ming Dynasty, and there are basically no works by the four families of the Yuan Dynasty.
The antique market in TV novels where people sell fake Tang Yin products does not actually exist.
You can understand this when you think about it. The collectors are not fools. Where did they come from so many authentic works of Tang Yin?
So this sudden appearance of a so-called authentic work of Gu Kaizhi made Shen Yu uninterested.
What's more, we are still in the Wanbao Building.
Who is Gu Kaizhi? The greatest painter in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the undisputed originator of ink painting, and the original author of "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River", "Proverbs of Women's History", "Qinqin Picture", and "Pictures of Women's Benevolence and Wisdom".
Although Gu Kaizhi, Cao Buxing, Lu Tanwei, and Zhang Sengyao are collectively known as the "Four Great Masters of the Six Dynasties", they are the first figures in the history of painting.
Zhang Sengyao, the protagonist of the famous allusion "The finishing touch", is a fan of him. The so-called "making the finishing touch" was also learned from Gu Kaizhi, and it was leftover from Gu Kaizhi's play.
Therefore, there is no dispute that Gu Kaizhi is ranked first in the "Xuanhe Painting Book" of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the painting sage Wu Daozi must also be ranked behind him.
Why is Gu Kaizhi the first painter?
Quite simply, he is the first painter in history whose works can be verified.
Some people will say, wow, it’s that simple?
Well, it’s that simple!
Because there are works handed down from generation to generation, even if they are copies of Tang and Song Dynasties.
There were many talented people before Gu Kaizhi, but most of them were only briefly mentioned in classics. No matter how powerful their works are, they are not convincing.
When he came to the appreciation table, Shen Yu found that it was a simple and old hanging scroll painting with yellowing paper.
Perhaps due to the age, the double poles at both ends of the hanging shaft and the shaft head have developed thick patina.
The content of the painting was traditional landscape figures. There was nothing special about it. Shen Yu took a look at it and didn’t look at it any more.
The characters are dull and plasticky, and the landscape has no aura. The whole painting can be said to have no ancient meaning and is full of the modern flavor of imitation.
"Ah, is it Mr. Shen?"
Shen Yu raised his head when he heard the sound, looked at the other person for a few times, and immediately smiled, "Boss Yi, it turns out it's you."
The world is so small, and the person selling paintings is none other than the tall and thin stall owner Yi Shengyou whom Shen Yu met when he accompanied Gu Qingqing to the flea market to buy birthday gifts in the summer.
That is, the porcelain stall owner where Shen Yu happened to pick up a silver mandarin duck incense pot in his stall.
Later, after Shen Yu saw the pot, he found a natural luminous pearl inside the pot.