Chapter 49: The Prodigal Son (Part 2)

  Wu Shu looked at Old Zhou's memorial photo, and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. He didn't expect that another childhood playmate had left, except for one who went abroad and two who settled in other places, the friends he grew up with in Beijing were all gone, how could this not make him feel sorrowful?

  After paying respects to Old Zhou, Uncle Wu handed over the 3,000 yuan to Little Zhou and said: "Uncle Wu can't help you much, this little money, apart from buying some paper money for your dad, the rest is up to you to manage yourself. You should also find a job and live a good life."

  Xiao Zhou took the three thousand yuan, and his eyes lit up instantly. He said to Uncle Wu: "Uncle Wu, now you are really the only one who can help me. My dad left a few paintings, would you please help me sell them?"

  Uncle Wu heard his request and almost stormed off, this person is simply unreasonable. His father had just died a few days ago, and he was already thinking of selling off all the things his father left behind. The money from the sale would definitely be used on his unreliable ancient jade again. This person has simply gone mad, beyond salvation.

  But then he thought about it and sighed, if the price isn't expensive, he might as well buy it, keep it, in the end 90% of it will be sold cheaply anyway, rather than letting it be wasted like that, he'd rather buy it himself, also to keep some memories of his old friend.

  "Then take us to see it." Although Wu Shu had intended to buy the paintings and calligraphy left behind by Old Zhou, he clearly wanted him to have a good attitude towards Little Zhou, which was obviously not possible now, so his tone of speech became somewhat unfriendly.

  But Xiao Zhou didn't mind, as long as he could buy the book and painting, that was a good attitude.

  Next, he led the two into a small room next door. As soon as they entered, a pungent smell rushed straight to their foreheads, and both of them wrinkled their brows and covered their noses. It wasn't until after a while that they gradually got used to it.

  This smell is none other than the chemical smell emitted by the fake ancient jade bought by Xiao Zhou. We know that most of the fake ancient jades nowadays, in order to imitate natural erosion, often soak the fake jade in chemical reagents, so the surface of the jade will inevitably carry a hint of chemical smell.

  One or two flavors are light, and maybe can't be smelled, but in this small room, there are tens of thousands of pieces of fake ancient jade, such a cumulative chemical smell, how can it not be pungent?

  Xiao Zhou led the two in and said with a smile: "Uncle Wu, how's that? My collection is quite rich, isn't it?"

  Seeing him in such a good state of self-expression, Wu Shu was really speechless and urged him: "Xiao Zhou, bring out the books and paintings, it's not early anymore, we still have things to do later."

  "Alright, Uncle Wu, just wait for a moment."

  Xiao Zhou took over Wu Shu's words and walked towards a dark and humid corner, where he picked up three scrolls.

  Uncle Wu saw this and was both angry and heartbroken. We know that to keep books and paintings well, at the very least they should be placed in a relatively dry place. An environment as humid as this can be said to be taboo for preserving books and paintings, and not even having a box is such a preservation environment, it won't take a few months for these three paintings to become damp and moldy.

  Wu Shu couldn't help but scold Xiao Zhou, and Chu Chen hastily stopped him. There's no need to say anything more about this kind of person. If he had really listened, his mother wouldn't have been driven to death by him.

  Xiao Zhou casually placed the scroll on the table and said: "Uncle Wu, take a look, is it satisfactory?"

  Before watching, Wu Shu first let out a mouthful of stagnant air in his chest and walked to the table with Chu Chen, carefully opening the scroll and observing it carefully.

  Among these three pieces, two are paintings and one is a calligraphy work. The authors of all the works are well-known figures.

  They first looked at the calligraphy work, which was about five square feet in size and was a running script written by He Yubo in 1912.

  He Yu was one of the sixty families of the Shanghai School in the late Qing dynasty. He first studied under Hu Gongshou (Hu Yuan), Ren Yi (Ren Bonian), and later became a disciple of Zhu Menghu's inner chamber. He excelled at creating flower-and-bird paintings, and liked to create larger and more exquisite works, with themes often being auspicious subjects.

  However, he made a living by selling paintings for sixty years, leaving behind many works. Although his paintings are not bad, considering his reputation, the price is not too high in the antique market where rarity and fineness are valuable.

  As for this cursive script work, he wrote with a flowing and powerful style, and the words also reflect the author's artistic conception at that time. It can be considered one of He Yun's better calligraphy works.

  Unfortunately, the work is not well preserved. The paper has some mold stains after getting damp, which affects the overall quality of the work. As a result, the original value of 60,000 to 70,000 yuan is now worth only around 40,000 yuan at most.

  Seeing the quality of this calligraphy, Wu Shu and Chu Chen couldn't help but worry about the next two paintings. However, thinking again, these three paintings had only been in Xiao Zhou's hands since the day before yesterday, so they should have been in this condition when they were still in Lao Zhou's hands. Thinking of this, the two of them also slightly breathed a sigh of relief.

  Next, they watched a landscape painting by Wang Xuehao, which was about three square meters in size and was one of his works created in 1821.

  Wang Xuehao was a relatively well-known painter in the mid-to-late Qing dynasty, specializing in landscape painting. His landscape painting techniques were passed down from the famous Qing court painter Wang Yuanqi. He initially studied under Li Yude, and later also practiced sketching from life, with a light and elegant color palette, claiming to have captured the spirit of the Yuan masters.

  The landscape painting in front of us still reflects Wang Xuehao's consistent style, with bold and elegant brushstrokes, subtle and refined charm, and unique textures. The ancient and elegant atmosphere overflows from the paper. However, this work is exactly from his late period when he changed his style, using the broken pen technique.

  However, this style was limited by the era and did not bring a fresh new wave to the art world, nor did it thoroughly transform, thus affecting the overall level of painting. Therefore, although this painting is still considered one of his masterpieces, its value has been affected, and judging from its quality, its market value is estimated to be around 5,000 to 6,000 at most.

  The author of the last piece is named Zhang Jian, who was also a relatively well-known painter in the Qing Dynasty, but he lived during the Kangxi period. He didn't start reading until he was thirty years old, and can be said to have achieved great things late in life; his calligraphy and poetry are both extremely skilled.

  Zhang Shoulder is best at painting bamboo and is deeply loved by people from all walks of life at home and abroad. The work in front of them now is a stone bamboo picture.

  However, after the two slowly opened up the painting completely, Wu Shu's eyebrows furrowed because on the paper, there were obvious signs of water stains, and it looked like they had dripped not long ago. Seeing this situation, Wu Shu glared at Xiao Zhou fiercely.

  Xiao Zhou also felt a bit embarrassed, and he quickly explained: "Uncle Wu, this wasn't intentional on my part. I was just careless when I looked at the painting yesterday and accidentally dripped some water on it. But look, the water only dripped onto the blank areas, didn't it?"

  The water didn't actually drip onto the ink color of the painting, otherwise the value of this painting would have been greatly discounted. However, even so, after the rice paper gets wet, there will be yellow stains. If they are not removed immediately, it will be troublesome to clean them later on. This painting, after being bought back, will definitely need to be handled by a framing master again.

  Listening to Wu Shu's explanation, Xiao Zhou was also amazed. He asked weakly: "Wu Shu, does that mean the value of this painting is less than before?"

  "What do you think?" Wu Shu asked gruffly, then turned back to look at the painting again.

  Just now, Uncle Wu was talking to Little Zhou when Chu Chen kept staring at a place that had been splashed with water. Because he always felt that there was something different about this place, it seemed like there was a faint ink color, which made him suspicious in his heart.

  However, if he were to go over and take a look, it would definitely be inappropriate, especially with two other people around. Wu Shu was fine, but that little Zhou not only wasn't one of his own kind, but also made him feel particularly disgusted. Although so, apart from using his eyes to look, he had another heaven-defying method, which was his special ability.

  After using his ability, not only did he verify his previous guesses, but he was also extremely surprised and delighted, with a faint smile spreading across the corners of his mouth.

  Bamboo, as we all know, is one of the Four Gentlemen, representing elegance and refinement. The quality of a bamboo painting depends on whether it can convey its unique characteristics in the artwork, making it especially important.

  And this painting did not disappoint Wu Shu and Chu Chen. On the painting, there were several clusters of bamboo in the stone, with varying lengths, yet sparse and dense at the same time. The brushwork was elegant and refined, full of vigor and vitality. It truly embodied Zhang Qian's style, depicting the bamboo as slender, cold, strong and dense.

  In addition, the seals, inscriptions and collector's seals on the painting can also be verified one by one, so it can be confirmed as a genuine work of Zhang Shou. What is most precious is that this painting has an area of about 15 ping (about 25 square meters), which is extremely rare in Zhang Shou's works, and can be said to be extremely valuable.

  The three works left by Old Zhou, after seeing them, the two can confirm that all three are genuine, but because of the author's reputation and quality, the value is not too high.

  Uncle Wu asked Xiao Zhou: "Xiao Zhou, the goods are fine, I've taken a look and they're really not bad. These three pieces of work, I can take them all away. How much do you want for them?"

  Xiao Zhou's eyes rolled around, and he quoted a price: "Uncle Wu, you also know that I'm short of money now. Considering that you've seen me grow up, take these three pieces for 40,000 yuan."

  "You!"

  Uncle Wu got angry when he heard Xiao Zhou's offer. The first two pieces together are worth at most 10,000 yuan. The last piece, although it has about 15 square feet and is rare in Zhang Jian's works, but precisely because of this, with his standards, the painting doesn't look that perfect.

  So, considering the author's reputation and appreciation of the painting, a price of 15,000 is already quite good. Even if it were to be auctioned off, it would likely only sell for between 20,000 to 30,000.