Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 210

"Yes, I didn't expect it to be so delicious."

Li Keran said the same thing after tasting it.

"Really? It's so delicious?"

The Qi family members then started eating, and everyone who tasted it praised it highly, saying it was the best meal they had ever had.

They devoured the meal in a flash, completely abandoning all the manners they had cultivated over the years, and even ate the soup by dipping steamed buns in it.

After the meal, everyone patted their bellies, saying they were stuffed, and asked Qi Baishi to keep the chef so they could eat his cooking from now on.

"Alright, if I were to keep these starving ghosts reincarnated at home, I wouldn't be able to afford to feed you all."

Back in his study, Li Keran asked, "Master, how's the chef?"

Qi Baishi nodded in satisfaction: "You really are a great cook. How much do you earn a month?"

Li Keran then said, "They've already made a name for themselves with braised pork, why would they need money?"

"What does he want?"

"To prepare a meal, you need a painting that is two feet in size."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Qi Baishi said in surprise.

"I'm not kidding. Just think, anyone who can cook such delicious food is a master. You wouldn't find many chefs this good in the entire capital. A meal like this in exchange for two feet of painting, or..."

"What do you mean, my paintings are worthless? He wants to trade two feet of my painting for a whole table of food?"

Qi Baishi was extremely heartbroken. He had worked hard all his life and reached the top of the industry, but now two feet of his painting could only be exchanged for a twenty-year-old chef to cook a meal.

This is just the labor cost; the materials were all provided by my family. So, the labor cost for one meal is twelve yuan, which seems too expensive.

Qi Baishi was very demanding of those who asked him to paint, which shows that he was rather stingy; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so obsessed with money.

At this point, Qi Baishi felt that the cost of this meal was too high, and he could hardly afford it.

Li Keran knew his master was a stingy old man, so he could only advise, "Master, it's still quite worth it."

He wants me to draw for him, not for you to draw for him!

Qi Baishi muttered something unpleasant, making Li Keran feel quite embarrassed, as his own paintings were simply not up to par compared to his master's.

"Alright, bring them over here."

He Yuzhu ate in the kitchen. After he finished, he waited for a while before Chunfang came over and invited him to the study.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, He Yuzhu said, "I wonder if Mr. Qi is satisfied with my cooking skills?"

Qi Baishi nodded: "It is indeed one of the best meals I have ever had. I'll leave the New Year's Day banquet to you."

He Yuzhu said, "Since you've agreed, then you have to follow my rules. One table is worth one foot of wages."

Qi Baishi sighed and said, "Alright, we'll talk about it later."

He Yuzhu said, "Let's settle today's bill first."

"Today's?" Qi Baishi was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, paint a small fan for me today."

"alright."

Qi Baishi looked rather grim, but He Yuzhu didn't care, as long as he could get Qi Baishi's original painting.

Even a single fan painting could fetch millions in the future.

He Yuzhu didn't mind; this was all part of his family's heritage, and the more they accumulated, the better.

Qi Baishi, looking displeased, got up and went to the painting table. He Yuzhu followed him, and only then did they notice a prominent notice posted on the wall next to them:

When selling paintings, please pay according to the price list, regardless of personal relationships.

The handwriting is good, but the content is rather offensive. He Yuzhu curled his lip, thinking, "So this is supposed to be a great painter? This time, it's not as good as what I wrote."

It seems the rumors are true. Qi Baishi sells his paintings without any favoritism or pretense. Anyone who wants to buy his paintings has to pay him the full price.

But I should be an exception, since I can exchange a meal for two feet of his painting.

If we measure this by future market prices, wouldn't it be equivalent to earning several million by cooking a meal for yourself?

Thinking about it this way, He Yuzhu felt incredibly comfortable. He had already cultivated his martial arts to the level of "Transformation of Strength," and living to be over 100 years old would be a piece of cake.

There will be plenty of time to enjoy life then.

What kind of fan do you want?

Qi Baishi took out a pastry from the cabinet next to him and placed it on the table.

Huh? Why is the stingy Qi Baishi suddenly so generous?

Upon closer inspection, He Yuzhu realized that the pastry had frozen into a hard block, as if it had been sitting for a long time, and there wasn't a trace of moisture in the mung bean cake.

Then I remembered that when I entered the room, Li Keran had told me that the food in the study was not edible, and it seems that it really was not edible.

This had clearly been sitting there for a long time; Qi Baishi was just using it as a facade, a polite gesture, just for show.

He Yuzhu was speechless. Qi Baishi was praised as an artist of the people by the Party and state leaders. In the art world before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, no one could surpass him.

Given its high historical status, it's surprising that the person in question was so stingy. It's incredibly cheap. I wonder how many years this plate of dessert has been served and how many guests it has entertained.

After complaining for a while, He Yuzhu said, "Draw a plum blossom fan."

Qi Baishi nodded, took out some paper, and Li Keran quickly helped him grind the ink. Then he picked up his brush, dipped it in the ink, and said seriously, "You should know my rules: even a fan less than a foot long is counted as a foot long."

"Okay, then draw me two."

Today's table requires paintings that are two feet in size, but a fan painting is less than one foot in size, so He Yuzhu wants two fan paintings.

Qi Baishi smacked his lips and said, "This is highway robbery! I never thought a cook would cost more than my paintings. How about we make a deal?"

"No way, I won't do anything below two feet. Go ask around and see if I've ever cooked for anyone."

Previously, some people had approached He Yuzhu, wanting him to arrange the banquet, but He Yuzhu's demands were too high. He wouldn't agree to pay 10 yuan per table, and insisted on at least 15 or 20 yuan.

This price alone deterred too many people. And this is just for one table. Who only hosts one banquet? The wages for He Yuzhu for hosting a banquet are over a hundred yuan. Even capitalists wouldn't be willing to spend that much.

Qi Baishi snorted and said, "Do you want to color the plum blossom part?"

"Of course, it needs to be colored."

"If you want coloring, then you'll have to pay extra."

He Yuzhu was stunned. So Qi Baishi was waiting for him here. It seemed that he was unhappy about exchanging his paintings for his cooking skills and was looking for another way to get money.

Originally, he thought he could exchange his culinary skills for paintings, but he didn't expect Qi Baishi to be so cunning. Even at the age of 90, he was still so shrewd and wanted to make up for it.

"Okay, I'll add two dollars, you can spend it nicely."

"Huh, how stingy."

After Qi Baishi finished speaking, he lowered his head and began to paint. With just a few strokes, a plum blossom appeared on the paper. It must be said that although Qi Baishi was stingy and petty, his painting skills were indeed very exquisite.

Each stroke is perfectly natural, and with just a few simple strokes, the vigorous trunk of the plum tree is outlined.

Then he changed to a different brush and painted pink plum blossoms on the fan. Perhaps because he was unhappy, he only painted two plum blossoms before stopping.

This painting looks extremely discordant. The plum tree trunk is quite thick and strong, but there are only two plum blossoms on it, which makes it seem very abrupt.

"Is this your painting?"

"Aren't you just talking nonsense? I just drew this for you."

"This is too monotonous, it's really ugly."

Chapter 156 A Different Kind of Master

"It's good enough that you even have a painting. You didn't pay me, you just cooked a meal in exchange. I'm already being kind to you by not putting my name on my students' artwork."

He Yuzhu was immediately dumbfounded. Could there really be such a way of operating?

Qi Baishi's willfulness and capriciousness were even more severe than he had imagined. Although this painting was Qi Baishi's work, it would definitely not fetch a high price if it were put on the market later, which went against his original intention.

It seems I was being too optimistic; Qi Baishi's paintings are hard to come by.

If the first one is so obviously perfunctory, then the second one certainly won't be done well either. Forget it, if I have to accept two such inferior paintings, I might as well just accept one masterpiece.

He Yuzhu said, "How about this, I don't want the second one, you just need to paint this one better, it has to be to my satisfaction."

Qi Baishi then smiled: "You mean a meal in exchange for a painting?"

If you calculate it that way, the cost of serving one table would be 6 yuan, which would already satisfy Qi Baishi.

He Yuzhu said, "Instead of painting two works like this, you might as well give me one masterpiece that satisfies me."

"Okay, you should have said so earlier."

Qi Baishi then picked up his brush and added a few more plum blossoms to the painting. As expected of a master, the disharmony in the painting disappeared in the blink of an eye after the addition of a few plum blossoms, turning it into a masterpiece.

He Yuzhu nodded in satisfaction: "It looks really good."

Qi Baishi straightened his back and turned his brush to count the plum blossoms on the painting.

"...Six, seven, eight, nine, a total of nine plum blossoms, give me nine yuan."

"What money?" He Yuzhu was stunned.