Chapter 682: I can only be a second-rate sculptor in this life
Opening the box, a flash of black light flashed out. With just one glance, Qin Yu was attracted by the ink-green jade pendant in the box.
"What a great carver."
Qin Yu held the jade pendant in his hands. The jade pendant was engraved with a statue of Zhong Kui riding an ox. The carved Zhong Kui had a leopard head and ringed eyes, an iron face and curled temples, with flying eyebrows and beard. He was riding on an ox, holding a sword in one hand.
The posture is majestic and awe-inspiring, harmonious with the curve of the ox under the seat, and the knife skills are smooth with almost no breaking points.
"Mr. Qin, look at the other boxes." Upon hearing Qin Yu's praise, Zhuang Rui showed a satisfied smile on his face and pointed to the other boxes.
"Hey, is this a blessing from Zhong Kui?"
Qin Yu opened the second box as promised, only to find that the jade pendant statue of Zhong Kui in this box was different from the previous one. If the previous one reflected Zhong Kui's evil aura, then the carved Zhong Kui on this jade pendant looked mighty.
So solemn.
In fact, in addition to being a ghost-chasing heavenly master, Zhong Kui also has another title: the Holy Lord of Blessings and Towns. The Zhong Kui on this jade pendant is holding a jade Ruyi, holding Ruyi, cleverly carved bats, lively
cute.
"Mr. Qin, Master Liu thinks that if all ten jade pendants are carved with the same image of Zhong Kui, it will inevitably be a bit monotonous. Among these ten jade pendants, in addition to Zhong Kui riding a bull, Zhong Kui blessing, Zhong Kui marrying a daughter, Zhong Kui fighting ghosts,
There are also Zhong Kui's town houses. There are five types of them, all evolved from the folk legend of Zhong Kui, and each type has two pieces."
Qin Yu listened to Zhuang Rui's introduction while observing the jade pendants in other boxes. As Zhuang Rui said, there were five types in total, but each one was carved lifelike, especially Zhong Kui's appearance, which was the most vivid.
In fact, Zhong Kui's appearance is very ugly, with a leopard head and ringed eyes, otherwise there would be no folk story about Zhong Kui marrying a daughter.
According to legend, there was a gentleman named Du Ping in Zhong Kui's hometown. He was a philanthropic man who funded Zhong Kui's exam in Beijing because of his ugly appearance. Although Zhong Kui passed the exam, he was removed from the title by the emperor. Zhong Kui was furious and hit him.
He died on the steps and his body was left in the Jinluan Hall. Du Ping, who was taking the exam with him, buried him ceremoniously. After Zhong Kui became the ghost king, in order to repay Du Ping's kindness during his lifetime, he led the ghost soldiers back home on New Year's Eve and married his sister.
Gave it to Dupin.
As for these Zhong Kui jade pendants, except for Zhong Kui fighting ghosts, the carved Zhong Kui is indeed ugly and scares ghosts. The other Zhong Kui's ugliness is dignified, which is due to the exquisite carving skills of the carving master.
"Mr. Zhuang, where is Master Liu? I must thank him properly."
Qin Yu said sincerely that although ink jade is a treasure among jadeite, Master Liu's carving skills have increased the value of ink jade. No wonder there is a saying in the jade shop that the value of a piece of jade is seven points.
The materials and the engraving are three-thirds, Qin Yu finally understood.
"Haha, Mr. Qin is too polite. To be honest, Master Liu also told me to thank Mr. Qin. For a carver, being able to carve good jade is also helpful to the carver."
"Okay, let's go to the engraving workshop now. Master Liu is waiting for us there."
Zhuang Rui and Qin Yu said a few polite words, then ordered Peng Fei to put the ten boxes into a lockbox, and then handed them over to Qin Yu.
The engraving workshop is an independent house, not far from Qin Yu's office. It took a few minutes to walk there. As soon as they entered the workshop, Qin Yu heard the sound of "ding, ding, ding".
This is a workshop of more than 200 square meters. There are many jade raw materials piled inside. There are several masters sitting on the long desk. Some are hammering the jade embryos with hammers, while others are carefully carving them with carving knives.
Yes, although there is plenty of light in this workshop, each master has a lamp hanging in front of his desk.
"This is Master Liu."
Zhuang Rui pointed to a man in his fifties at the innermost desk. This man was carving a piece of cabbage jadeite, and was carving a rough embryo. The man's hands were very steady and powerful, and he was very capable of cutting the knife.
It’s accurate, and you can tell from one glance that he has many years of basic skills.
"Master Liu, let me introduce to you. This is Mr. Qin, the owner of Mo Cui, and this is kid Jiang Tiezhu."
Zhuang Rui led Qin Yu to Master Liu and waited until Master Liu put down the knife before he spoke.
"Boss Zhuang is here."
When Master Liu saw it was Zhuang Rui, a smile appeared on his face, and then he turned his attention to Qin Yu and said: "Mr. Qin, thank you very much for giving me Mo Cui to carve. I don't know if you are satisfied with the ten jade pendants."
No?"
Master Liu didn't even glance at the iron pillar beside him, he looked at it as if it was nothing.
"Master Liu is so polite. I would also like to thank Master Liu for carving Zhong Kui so vividly and adding a lot of value to the jadeite. Qin Yu also noticed Master Liu's attitude and frowned slightly, but soon he
Stretch out.
"Haha, Mr. Qin is serious." Master Liu smiled, ignored Qin Yu, and turned his attention back to Zhuang Rui, "Boss, this cabbage jadeite will only take another week to complete.
Already."
"Master Liu, this is not urgent, and the customer is not in a hurry. I brought Mr. Qin here this time because of what I told you last time, Master Liu."
Zhuang Rui also looked a little embarrassed. A few days ago, Qin Yu called him and asked him to recommend a jade carving master. He patted his chest and said that he had a first-class jade carving master in his factory, so the problem was on him.
.
However, after asking Master Liu, he realized that things were not that simple. Master Liu only recruits one apprentice per generation and is passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, he is very strict in accepting apprentices.
You will not take back an apprentice without a certain amount of talent.
Moreover, in the carving industry, the earlier the better, usually around the age of ten. If you are too young, the hand bones are not fully developed, but at the age of thirteen, the hand bones have already taken shape. Only about ten years old, according to special training methods
, the flexibility of the hand bones will be very suitable for carving.
Therefore, after knowing that Master Liu was not very willing to accept Tiezhu as his disciple, Zhuang Rui was also a little embarrassed. He had boasted about Haikou before, but in the end he could only persuade Master Liu to give Tiezhu a chance to test it out.
If it doesn't work, just learn from other masters.
"Is this the kid who wants to learn sculpture from me?"
After hearing what Zhuang Rui said, Master Liu turned his attention to Tie Zhu and said, "Stretch out your hand and show me."
Tie Zhu stretched out his hands as instructed. Master Liu just glanced at Tie Zhu's tiger's mouth and frowned slightly, "Okay, there's no need to extend it anymore, just take it back."
"Master Liu, how are you?" Qin Yu and Zhuang Rui were both a little uneasy. Tie Zhu also sensed something was wrong in the atmosphere, and the little guy also looked at Master Liu with hopeful eyes.
"Hey, this child is not suitable for learning my type of carving. The bones in his wrists are all formed. Our type of carving pays attention to a circle, which can at least rotate 180 degrees."
Master Liu stretched out his hand, turned his wrist so that his fingers and arm were at a perpendicular angle, and then turned his palm, making a 180-degree rotation in the direction of his fingers, but his wrist did not move at all.
Master Liu's move made Qin Yu and Zhuang Rui stunned. Peng Fei on the side even stretched out his palm to try, but he could only rotate it to 90 degrees. But he could only rotate 90 degrees.
It is already very powerful, and for most people it is between 30 and 60 degrees.
"Master Liu, you have been trained for many years. Tiezhu still thinks that maybe after training, you can reach this point?" Qin Yu was still a little unwilling and defended.
"It's impossible. This is innate. Training can only play an increasing role. This is why I haven't accepted an apprentice for so many years. It is difficult to find a suitable apprentice, but no matter how difficult it is, you can't just make up for it. It's better to be lacking than to be idle.
, this is what the master told me at the beginning."
Master Liu's answer made Qin Yu frown, and Tie Zhu had a disappointed expression on his face. However, the little guy was stronger and still had an unconvinced expression on his face.
"I have carved things myself before, and the carvings are very beautiful. Uncle Master, let's find another master."
"Hmph, you have carved things. What do you know? There are several levels of carvers. To become a first-rate master carver, talent is very important. With your hand bones, you will be a second-rate carver at most, and there is no hope of becoming a carver in your life.
Master." Master Liu sneered when he heard Tie Zhu's bold words.
"I can carve just this cabbage," Tie Zhu retorted unconvinced.
"If you can carve cabbage, I will agree to accept you as my apprentice." Master Liu glanced at Tiezhu. Cabbage is the most particular about carving. The lines and patterns of cabbage require profound carving skills. If you don't learn five or six skills,
If a child who has never been exposed to jade carving can carve cabbage, then most carvers, including him, can find a piece of tofu and kill them.
"I don't want you to accept me as your disciple, but I can carve it for you to see." Tie Zhu also replied with courage.
"Iron pillar?" Qin Yu looked at the iron pillar with some worry. This jade carving also requires skills. Even if the iron pillar has been carved before, it should only be carved with wood or clay. It is a completely different concept from jade.
.
"Uncle, I can do it."
"Well, I believe you." Seeing Tie Zhu's eyes, stubborn yet firm, Qin Yu felt an inexplicable surge of confidence. Maybe Tie Zhu could really do it.
"There is a table there, no one is there, and there is a carving knife on it. I don't want you to carve the whole cabbage. As long as you can carve the lines of the cabbage, I will admit that you can carve the cabbage."
The table that Master Liu was talking about was not far from him. Qin Yu walked to the table with Tie Zhu. Zhuang Rui glanced at Master Liu, then at Qin Yu and Tie Zhu, as if he was hesitant to speak.
, finally, I sighed lightly and chose silence. (To be continued)