After the beginning of winter, the weather became colder day by day. I got up early to climb Lion Rock. The rock surface was covered with a thin layer of white frost. The withered pines and cypresses seemed to be frozen and turned black. The breath from my mouth was white.
Alas, winter has arrived in Wu County.
Chen Caozhi and Lai De both wore winter clothes, but Ran Sheng refused to wear them. He only wore two singlets. He said it was hot, and when he touched his hands, they were indeed warm. Ran Sheng's physique is really not that strong.
However, the weather in October was not completely cold. The winter sun shone brightly for several consecutive days, and it was as warm as spring arriving ahead of schedule across the ice and snow.
On October 16th, they had a break from school. Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi followed Gu Kaizhi to Shanluo Village and had lunch at the house of a tenant named Mao. The girl from the Mao family worked with her father and brother every day. Although her complexion was not very fair, she had a smooth complexion.
She is lustrous, her brows are lively, she walks briskly and vigorously, and she must be very beautiful in her posture of pounding clothes by the stream.
On the way home in the afternoon, Gu Kaizhi said: "Zizhong, it's sunny today. When the bright moon comes out at night, I can finish the painting of "Making Clothes on a Moonlit Night" much faster than the painting of presenting a flute by Master Wei."
Chen Caozhi could only draw landscapes before, but had never learned to draw figures, so he said: "Changkang, I want to learn how to draw figures from you. Master Wei is not very energetic and has no time to teach me."
Gu Kaizhi said with a smile: "Okay, I am here to teach you the art, but you should paint your landscapes and trees first. I feel that you are very talented in painting those. First, you should familiarize yourself with the skills of using pen and ink. I will paint again next year."
I’ll teach you how to draw figures—do you also want to draw beauties?”
Chen Caozhi smiled and said: "Of course, painting beauties is indispensable."
Gu Kaizhi asked: "How many wives and concubines are you planning to marry?"
Chen Caozhi asked curiously: "What does marrying a wife have to do with painting beauties?"
Gu Kaizhi said: "The tenant farmer said that he wanted to give me his daughter as a concubine. I declined and promised to exempt him from one year's land rent. I am only fourteen years old. Although I am lustful, I don't want to be lewd. If I paint a beautiful woman every time
If I have to get married and go home, how can I bear it?"
Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi both laughed.
Gu Kaizhi added: "It's not impossible to marry her back, but it's really boring to watch her beauty getting older every day, so I only paint their most beautiful moments, and then I never see them again."
Chen Caozhi praised: "Chang Kang's affectionate and witty words can be passed down to future generations."
Liu Shangzhi said: "That Lu nymphomaniac is the most beautiful woman in Wu County. Why doesn't Changkang paint it?"
Gu Kaizhi said: "The Gu and Lu families are at odds with each other and have not interacted with each other for thirty years. How dare I paint the Lu family's girls! When Zizhong learns how to draw figures, let Zizhong paint, and we will have no regrets."
When the three of them returned to Taolin Xiaozhu, Wei Xie said to Chen Cao: "Before noon, a servant of the Lu family came to look for you. He didn't say anything. When he saw that you were not there, he left."
The sun was already setting in the west, and tomorrow was Dr. Xu's lecture day. I had no time to go to Lu Mansion. I had to wait until the school break in three days before going there, and bring the "Four-Body Calligraphy" borrowed by Wei Heng last time and "A Gift to Wang Hu" by Xie An.
"Poetry" was returned together with two other calligraphy books to copy.
Because he wanted to watch Gu Kaizhi finish the "Moonlight Night Breaking the Clothes", Chen Caozhi stayed overnight in a small Taolin village. At night, a bright moon rose. Wei Xie, Gu Kaizhi, Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi walked south along the creek.
But they met Xu Miao and Ding Chunqiu coming on the moon, and they admired the cool moonlight together.
On both sides of the creek, the leaves of the peach trees have fallen away, leaving only the angular branches. The stream is gurgling and jumping with light. Occasionally, you can hear the "splashing" sound of the fish. During the day, all the colors are shrouded by the moonlight, leaving only black and white.
There are two colors, but just like ink is divided into five colors, including black, white, thick, light, dry, and wet, the scenery under the moon is also extremely rich in layers, including clouds, distant mountains, farmhouses on the other side, and sparse peach trees.
, the bright eyes of fellow travelers——
Suddenly, a light lit up in the distance, instantly breaking the hazy black and white under the moon.
Gu Kaizhi clapped his hands and shouted: "Yes!" He ran back as fast as he could, and a servant of the Gu family quickly followed.
Ding Chunqiu asked in surprise: "Why is this? What happened to brother Changkang so anxious?"
Wei Xie said with a smile: "I must have suddenly realized something and rushed to paint." He added: "The winter night is very cold, and the old man has to go back."
Everyone returned to the thatched cottage and saw that Gu Kaizhi was already painting at his desk. It only took half an hour to finish a four-foot-long scroll called "Moonlight Night Breaking Clothes Picture":
A full moon rises on the east mountain. The clouds are like gauze, making the moonlight hazy. The stream is winding. A young girl squats on a protruding stone on the bank of the stream. The wooden pestle in the girl's hand is raised high and she is pointing at the new cutting board.
When the woven cloth was pounded away, it seemed that the sound of "crack" could be heard far away along the stream. Behind a sparse forest, there were several huts. The door of the hut was half open, a lantern poked out, and another
The gray head must be the girl's father who saw his daughter undressing late at night and was going to greet her. The lantern light was also a little faintly yellow under the moonlight——
When everyone was admiring the painting "Moonlight Night Breaking Clothes", Gu Kaizhi only stared at Master Wei. He saw Master Wei's lips move slightly and said eight words: "The charm is vivid, as if the painting has a soul."
Gu Kaizhi was overjoyed and bowed deeply to the Wei Association: "Thank you very much for the compliment, Master Wei. I'll go to bed now."
Gu Kaizhi has this habit. When encountering something particularly happy, he likes to lie on the bed alone, tossing and turning in bed, enjoying himself, thinking about it, and bursting into laughter from time to time.
…
In the morning of the next day, Xu Zao finished his lecture on "Erya Sound and Meaning" and the students dispersed. It was now three o'clock. Chen Caozhi collected his paper and pen and returned to his thatched cottage bedroom, preparing to recite from memory what Dr. Xu said.
He sorted out his phonology knowledge and re-copied it into a volume he bound in the shape of a book. His sister-in-law Ding Youwei knew that he used a lot of paper, so he asked Ding Chunqiu to send five large volumes of Zuo Bo's paper this time, which should be able to be used until the year before.
Ran Sheng came over and said: "Xiao Langjun, there is someone looking for you over there. Behind the row of cypress trees, there is an ox cart. They have been waiting for a long time."
The bullock cart was hidden alone behind a row of cypress trees, and a little maid peeked her head behind the tree. It was Lu Weirui's personal maid, Short Hoe.
Short hoe saw Chen Caozhi and said happily: "Chen Langjun, my little lady has been waiting for you for a long time."
Lu Weirui, who had bright eyes and bright teeth, lifted the car curtain and said with a smile: "Chen Caozhi, I sent someone to invite you to Zhenqing Taoist Temple yesterday to see the camellias. You were not here. I thought the school would start today and you would be there, so I came and waited.
Just now I saw my sixth brother's bullock cart passing by."
Chen Caozhi asked: "Is Zhenqing Taoist Temple far from here?"
Lu Weirui said: "It's not far, just outside the west gate." He looked at Chen Caozhi eagerly.
After Chen Caozhi hesitated for a moment, Lu Weirui opened her eyes wide and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
Chen Cao smiled and said, "There's nothing wrong. Let's go." He thought to himself, "What's there to be worried about? We're just two flower lovers."
Chen Caozhi turned around and ordered Lai De to drive his car, following the Lu family's ox cart and driving toward the county town.
Chu Wenbin, who had always paid attention to Chen Cao's every move, discovered the Lu family's ox cart and was secretly surprised, so he placed his own ox cart far behind Chen Caozhi's cart to see who was sitting in the Lu family's cart.
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