Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 209

Qi Baishi was the kind of person who only cared about money. He only cared about money and not people. No matter who it was, no matter how good the relationship was, he would pay them enough money. If there was no money, he would not give anyone a painting.

Of course, this is a prerequisite. He has already achieved great success, and money alone is not enough. It also depends on his mood. When he is in a bad mood, even the King of Heaven himself cannot buy his paintings.

People who are involved in art have very distinct personalities, just like children. If someone comes to ask for a painting and they don't want to paint, they can simply write a note saying "I'm not here" and stick it on the door.

They simply turned people away, leaving them both amused and exasperated.

Qi Baishi, who was born on New Year's Day in 1864, is now ninety years old and his energy is no longer what it used to be. He has even set a rule that people who request his paintings cannot specify the content.

Even if Qi Baishi agrees to your request, he won't make you feel at ease. What you want to paint depends on his mood. He won't paint what you want; he'll paint whatever he wants when he's in a good mood. Take it or leave it.

However, Qi Baishi was the pinnacle of contemporary painting. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, all sectors of society could only pamper and indulge him. After all, no one could afford to be disrespectful to an old artist.

Hong Henian was dumbfounded when he heard this. There were few people in the capital who did not know Qi Baishi’s name, but he did not expect that his personality would be so distinctive.

"Sure enough, if you go directly to ask for a painting, you'll most likely be turned away."

"Yes, I don't know if the painting exchange will go smoothly this time."

At that time, although the paintings were not expensive, Qi Baishi was famous and most people would not put their paintings aside. He Yuzhu asked around for a long time but could not buy them.

Two days later, Li Keran was ready and came to invite He Yuzhu.

Nanluoguxiang is a north-south oriented alleyway, 8 meters wide, with eight smaller alleys on each side. Yu'er Hutong is one of them, and Qi Baishi's old house is located in Yu'er Hutong.

This place is not far from He Yuzhu's No. 95 courtyard in a straight line, only two or three hundred meters away. I had met this great painter before.

Actually, there was another famous person nearby, the literary giant Mao Dun, whose home was not far to the west of Nanluoguxiang, near Chiang Kai-shek's former residence.

Led by Li Keran, they soon arrived at Qi Baishi's home in Yu'er Hutong.

This is a two-courtyard house that was bought by Qi Baishi for a large sum of money as early as the Republican era.

For a period of time, Qi Baishi was very profitable; a single painting could sell for more than 10 silver dollars.

Painters' remuneration is called "runge". During the Republic of China era, Qi Baishi's runge was determined by Mr. Wu Changshuo. A five-foot painting cost 18 silver dollars, a six-foot painting cost 20 yuan, and an eight-foot painting cost 30 yuan.

This price was only half that of Mr. Wu Changshuo, but in later generations, Qi Baishi's paintings were 30 times more expensive than Wu Changshuo's. I wonder if Wu Changshuo would be so angry that he would turn in his coffin.

In the early years of the Republic of China, painting was very lucrative, but later, due to inflation, even paintings sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars were not enough to cover living expenses.

When the country was founded, someone offered Qi Baishi a price of 4 yuan per square foot, which was already considered a high price.

At that time, Huang Binhong's paintings were only one yuan per square foot, and even at such a low price, they were difficult to sell.

Even so, Qi Baishi felt that the price did not reflect his level of skill, so he raised his price to 6 yuan per square foot. Even so, people still flocked to buy his paintings.

However, the Qi family is large, and everyone relies on Qi Baishi to sell his paintings to support the family. They still live in poverty, and even now, at the age of 90, they still have to sell paintings to make a living.

Upon entering, Li Keran instructed, "Mr. Li, please don't take it to heart if my master says anything unpleasant."

"Okay, I understand. Just give me the drawing."

Seeing that He Yuzhu had agreed, Li Keran stepped forward and knocked on the door.

After waiting for a while, the nanny opened the door. She looked young and very pretty.

"Mr. Li has arrived, please come in."

Li Keran introduced, "This is Chunfang, the nanny who serves my master. If you need anything in the future, just ask her."

He Yuzhu looked the woman up and down and realized that the woman dressed as a young girl was no longer a girl, but a married woman.

It should be noted that Qi Baishi was a model of youthful spirit despite his advanced age; even at the age of 93, he still wanted to marry and take concubines.

You should know that Qi Baishi had three great hobbies: painting, money, and beautiful women.

Chapter 155 The Qi Mansion asks for a painting

As a painter, painting must be his primary passion; otherwise, he could not have become a top-notch painter.

Secondly, he loved money; you could say he was a miser. In his later years, he converted all his money into gold and carried it with him wherever he went.

The last point is that he loves beautiful women.

Qi Baishi married three wives and had countless lovers throughout his life.

He was quite an oddball in this respect. When he was over 80 years old, his third wife was still able to get pregnant and give birth to a child for him, but the child died in childbirth.

When he was 93 years old in 57, he took a fancy to a 21-year-old nurse. After paying a lot of money, she agreed to marry him and he prepared to make wedding arrangements. However, Qi Baishi's health suddenly deteriorated and he passed away. Thus, he did not marry his fourth wife.

These men are all 93 years old, have more than ten children, and still want to marry and take concubines, which shows how romantic they are.

The pretty nanny had a flirtatious look in her eyes, and it seemed that she had been frequently pampered and developed by Qi Baishi. He Yuzhu didn't believe that the lecherous Qi Baishi would let go of the girl beside him.

He Yuzhu nodded, greeted them, and then walked into the courtyard.

As expected of a renowned artist, the entire courtyard was filled with poetic charm. The various flowers and plants were arranged in an orderly manner. They seemed ordinary, but upon closer inspection, they were just right, possessing the wonder of a master craftsman.

"Come with me, the master is in his study."

After passing through the moon gate, we followed Chunfang into the study, where we saw an old man sitting upright in a grand chair, looking at a picture album.

The old man's hair and beard were already white, but he was in good spirits; he was none other than Mr. Qi Baishi.

"Ke Ran is here."

Then he noticed He Yuzhu following behind and frowned: "Is this the chef you hired?"

Li Keran first stepped forward and bowed to his master, then said, "Master, in the cooking industry, you can't just look at age. Master He's skills are among the best in the capital."

"How good can a young chef's skills be? And he doesn't want money? Does he want me to pay with a painting?"

Although He Yuzhu looked mature, he was only in his early twenties. After entering the room, Qi Baishi was displeased because he looked too young.

That's bad enough, but He Yuzhu even dared to try to pay Qi Baishi's wages with his own paintings. What kind of person does he take Qi Baishi for?

Doesn't that mean he, Qi Baishi, is already comparable to a chef?

This greatly displeased Qi Baishi, and he couldn't help but say it out loud.

When He Yuzhu first came in, he thought that these were all veteran artists, and he was a junior, so he shouldn't be too harsh in his words.

Hearing Qi Baishi's words made He Yuzhu very unhappy, and he couldn't help but say, "I didn't expect Mr. Qi to be such a contemptible person. He's been eating for nothing for over ninety years."

"You..." Qi Baishi was so angry that he felt a sharp pain in his heart because he did not expect He Yuzhu to speak so ruthlessly.

Li Keran was startled and quickly advised, "Mr. He, please give me some face. My master is old and sometimes has the temper of a child."

Then he went to comfort his master and said, "Don't underestimate Mr. He just because he's young. He has already made a name for himself as the 'Braised Meat He.' The braised meat you often praised before was bought from Mr. He's shop."

Qi Baishi asked in surprise, "You mean, Limin Braised Pork on Yandaixie Street belongs to him?"

"Yes, Mr. He not only makes excellent braised meat, but his culinary skills are also superb, and his calligraphy is also excellent."

Then Li Keran added, "It's even better than my handwriting."

Qi Baishi curled his lip. What kind of writing could a young man in his early twenties possibly have? This guy surnamed He might actually be good at cooking, but to say that he could write, that a cook who knows calligraphy, is just laughable.

"Hmph, I know, I'll try the dish today."

Qi Baishi didn't believe He Yuzhu could do calligraphy at all, and he was too lazy to criticize him. After all, He Yuzhu had said some very unpleasant things just now. If he said a few words to him and He Yuzhu lost his temper and beat him up, it wouldn't be worth it.

No matter what, it's better to let this guy surnamed He try cooking dinner in the kitchen. If the dishes he makes are just average, then we should change chefs as soon as possible.

"Where's the kitchen?"

"Please come with me, sir." Chunfang led He Yuzhu to the kitchen and then said, "Please check first to see if anything is missing."

He Yuzhu looked at the ample ingredients and, after checking them, nodded and said, "No problem."

"That's good. Please let me know if you need anything."

He Yuzhu was preparing to cook in the kitchen, while in the study, Li Keran gave a detailed introduction to He Yuzhu's calligraphy, leaving Qi Baishi speechless.

You're saying his handwriting is so good?

"Yes, Master. I inquired around there and found that although Master He was originally a chef, he has taken a liking to calligraphy in the past two years. The neighbors all know that he practices calligraphy and praise his writing, but they don't know just how good it is."

"Really? Is it that amazing?" Qi Baishi was still somewhat skeptical of He Yuzhu's calligraphy skills.

"To be honest, I didn't believe it at first, but after seeing it with my own eyes, I had no choice but to believe it."

"Let's see if we can cook some good food first."

"Alright."

Li Keran was deeply impressed by He Yuzhu's calligraphy. His calligraphy was even better than that of some famous calligraphers. However, such a great calligrapher was unknown and not recognized by the industry, which made Li Keran very anxious.

I wanted to introduce the calligrapher He Yuzhu to my teacher, but I didn't expect that my teacher wouldn't believe me.

Soon, He Yuzhu's dishes were ready, and Chunfang brought them over. Only then did the Qi family gather in the dining room.

"This dish smells delicious. Did you hire a chef today?"

"Yes, this dish smells much better than Chunfang's. I told you long ago, Chunfang can't stay."

Qi Baishi was furious. Chunfang was the most considerate and best at serving people; how could he possibly replace her?

"This family isn't your place to be in charge. If you're so capable, go out and start your own household."

After Qi Baishi finished speaking in anger, he picked up his chopsticks to pick up the dishes. They looked quite good, and each dish had an excellent presentation. He was already somewhat convinced of their value.

As soon as he put the food in his mouth, a smile immediately appeared on Qi Baishi's old face, and he said with satisfaction:

"This is the best dish I've ever eaten."