Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 211

"As for the coloring of the plum blossoms, we already agreed that you'll have to pay an extra dollar per blossom."

"What? When did we agree on this? I just said I'd give you two extra dollars to color the plum blossoms."

"Didn't I say that?" Qi Baishi retorted.

"No!"

Qi Baishi turned to ask his apprentice Li Keran, and after receiving a negative answer, he immediately slapped his head, feeling extremely annoyed. He was getting old and his memory was failing; he had forgotten to tell Li Keran.

"Next time you want to color it, it'll be one yuan per flower."

He Yuzhu had been shocked enough today, but he was still defeated by Qi Baishi's outrageous actions. He never expected him to be so willful.

He sighed again. Who told him to ask for a favor? After all, he needed Qi Baishi to paint so that his descendants could live a better life in the future.

Actually, at that time, even if it were 60 yuan per foot, let alone 6 yuan per foot, He Yuzhu would have bought as many as he could, since these were Qi Baishi's paintings.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; he doesn't have many more years of good days ahead of him. Besides, he's already 90 years old, and his energy is not what it used to be, so he paints less and less.

He Yuzhu readily took out two yuan and placed it on the table, saying, "Then I'll come over again on New Year's Day."

Qi Baishi rolled his eyes and said, "I'll prepare the painting for you in advance."

He Yuzhu shook his head: "No need, I think it's better if you paint on the spot, so you don't pass off your apprentice's painting as your own."

Qi Baishi glanced at it. He had indeed been planning to do that. He should have known better than to say that. Now he had to paint a picture himself to pay off the debt.

"Let's get this straight, a table of food is worth one foot of rice. Don't try to fool me."

Qi Baishi was still a little worried that if he had fooled the chef so much today, He Yuzhu would not cook seriously and the food would not taste as good as it did today.

He Yuzhu said, "I would never do something so tasteless."

Upon hearing this, Qi Baishi blushed. He had just been thinking of using his apprentice's words to impersonate his own.

"see a visitor out."

"Mr. He, please."

Li Keran rolled up the fan and then invited He Yuzhu out of the courtyard.

"Please stay."

After giving Li Keran some instructions, He Yuzhu promised to put in 12% effort to prepare the banquet on New Year's Day, which satisfied Li Keran.

Carrying the painting back to the front courtyard, He Yushui was chatting with his sister-in-law on the edge of the bed. Seeing him enter the room, she asked, "Brother, what are you carrying?"

"A painting by Qi Baishi himself."

"Let me see," He Yushui said with some delight.

He Yuzhu unrolled the scroll, and a painting of plum blossoms in winter leaped onto the paper.

"It's so beautiful! It's much better than what our art teacher draws."

"This is a painting by Qi Baishi, do you like it?"

"I like it," He Yushui said happily.

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Since you like it, I'll keep this painting as part of your dowry when you get married."

"Pah, you bad brother."

He Yushui's face flushed slightly. Unable to bear the teasing, she raised her foot and kicked him lightly before angrily leaving.

Xu Huizhen said speechlessly, "You, you're already married, and you still like to tease Yushui."

He Yuzhu stepped forward, hugged his wife, and kissed her: "Who told Yushui to be so clueless? I'm already back, and she still doesn't think about going back to make room for me."

Xu Huizhen gave him a shy push and said, "You bad boy, go brush your teeth."

He Yuzhu then got out of bed to wash up, then lay back in bed and touched his swollen belly, continuing downwards while asking with a smile, "Wife, did you miss me?"

"No, I don't want to," Xu Huizhen said, blushing.

"Really? I don't believe it. I need to check."

"Pah, you scoundrel, she's already pregnant."

"It's okay, I'll be gentle and go slowly."

Although Xu Huizhen said no, her body was honest. He Yuzhu served her for a while and kept her busy until midnight. She didn't wash up and go to sleep until after 12 o'clock.

When New Year's Day arrived, He Yuzhu felt a bit sentimental. Time had flown by, and it was already 1955. He didn't have many days left to do business.

After breakfast, He Yuzhu brought his senior brother Ye Xuequn to Qi Baishi's house. After all, there were five tables of food to be prepared today, which he couldn't handle by himself.

The two of them busied themselves preparing all the food before noon, and only started cooking the hot dishes after all the guests had arrived.

Qi Baishi is 90 years old this year, which is exactly his birthday, so the celebration was very lively. In addition to his family, many friends from the arts and culture circles were also there.

People like Lao Shu, Lao Mao, and Lao Guo all came to show their support, making it a grand event in the arts and culture world. In particular, many well-known painters and calligraphers gathered together, creating a lively atmosphere.

He Yuzhu was still somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that the stingy Qi Baishi had such a wide circle of friends. He thought that these people would despise his character and wouldn't come to congratulate him.

These people had no connection with He Yuzhu, so they could only obediently cook in the kitchen.

Thinking about Qi Baishi's stinginess, He Yuzhu had ordered a lot more than he should have when he opened the menu before, and put the extra ones into his space. He also made up for the extra two yuan he had spent last time.

After all the guests had left, He Yuzhu was invited into the study by Li Keran.

Qi Baishi was very happy today. After all, it is rare for someone to live to seventy, and he had already lived to be ninety years old, which was a rare and long life.

"Since I promised to talk to you, I'm in a good mood today. What kind of painting do you want?"

“A landscape painting with twelve panels,” He Yuzhu blurted out.

Qi Baishi couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "That's too much to ask, no way."

Qi Baishi created four or five thousand paintings in his lifetime, among which his representative work is the twelve-panel landscape screen. The auction price was very high, fetching a high price of 810 million yuan. With the handling fee, the total price was 930 million yuan.

Therefore, He Yuzhu immediately named the twelve landscape screens.

Qi Baishi painted two sets of twelve landscape screens in his lifetime. One set was painted in 1925 to celebrate the birthday of Chen Zilin, a famous doctor in the Republic of China. He kept this set for more than 20 years, and in 1958, it was collected by Guo Xiuyi.

The twelve landscape screen paintings auctioned were from Guo Xiuyi's collection.

It should still be in the hands of Chen Zilin's descendants. He Yuzhu wants to intercept it, but it is unknown where Chen Zilin's descendants are now.

There is also a set of twelve landscape screens painted in 1936, which was commissioned to Wang Zan, a high-ranking official in SC province at the time.

Back then, Wang Zhanxu invited Qi Baishi to paint, promising 3000 silver dollars before Qi Baishi agreed, and then invited Qi Baishi to his home to create the work.

Unexpectedly, during his stay, the dashing and debonair Mr. Qi Baishi, still lustful, became involved with the concubine of the high-ranking official Wang.

Unfortunately, the matter was not kept secret, and when Wang Zanxu found out, he was furious and only gave Qi Baishi 400 silver dollars to get rid of him.

Later, amidst the chaos of war, the complete set of twelve landscape paintings disappeared without a trace.

The landscape painting consists of 12 panels, each 180 cm long and 47 cm wide. Painting such works is too energy-consuming for him, who is already 90 years old and simply cannot afford it.

Besides, those two paintings were for important people. He Yuzhu was just a cook whom he looked down on. Even if he had the energy, he wouldn't paint for him.

It would be better to use that energy on Chunfang; once you do it, it's one less time you'll get.

He Yuzhu said, "Then paint a picture of 'Pine and Cypress Standing Tall'."

As early as 1946, Qi Baishi created a painting called "Pine and Cypress Standing Tall". This is the largest of his paintings and calligraphy works. The painting is 266 cm in height and 100 cm in width. The matching couplet in seal script, "May people live long and may the world be at peace", is 264.5 cm in height and 65.8 cm in width.

The painting is magnificent, symbolizing the surrounding beauty of pine and cypress trees. The matching four-character couplet in seal script is robust, natural, dignified, and grand, expressing a beautiful hope for the peaceful development of the nation and its people, and a heartfelt wish for happiness and peace in the world.

On May 22, 2011, China Guardian held its first joint evening sale of ancient and modern Chinese paintings and calligraphy, "Grand View - Evening of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Masterpieces". The most anticipated lot of the sale was Qi Baishi's largest work, "Pine and Cypress Standing Tall with Four-Character Couplet in Seal Script". After a fierce bidding war lasting more than half an hour, it was finally won by an in-person collector for RMB 4.255 million.

Qi Baishi couldn't help but roll his eyes. More than 10 years had passed, and he didn't have the energy to create such a huge work.

"I won't paint, not for any amount of money."

Although He Yuzhu's cooking was delicious and satisfied all his relatives and friends, Qi Baishi was currently very confident and felt that he had the upper hand.

He Yuzhu said, "I can pay more."

"I won't paint it even if you offer more money," Qi Baishi said firmly.

Qi Baishi's prices are very transparent. The flat rate is 6 yuan per square foot. You cannot specify which painting to choose. If you encounter a painting that is difficult or requires a lot of effort, you will need to pay extra.

Prices were clearly marked on the walls, and a handwritten confession was pasted in the center of the study, with prices clearly stated on it:

"Add ten yuan for each flower and insect/bird. Add twenty yuan for each wisteria and bee. Those who lower prices are harming others to benefit themselves, which I do not like."

"Common name seals, three gold coins per character, the stone size is based on the Han Dynasty foot, larger stones are priced accordingly. Small stones are two fen (a unit of length), and the characters are the size of millet grains, ten gold coins per character..."

He Yuzhu knew that the requirements for these two paintings were quite high, so he tentatively said, "How about you paint me a cicada?"

"Neither."

Qi Baishi later painted a cicada, which once fetched as much as 8 million at auction.

"Drawing shrimp!"

He Yuzhu knew that Qi Baishi was very good at painting shrimp.

Qi Baishi shook his head: "I can't see it clearly, so I can't draw it."

He Yuzhu immediately lost his temper. Only a few of Qi Baishi's paintings exceeded 1 million, and those were all rare masterpieces.

It seems I'm not qualified enough. Besides, I'm getting old and don't have the energy to dedicate myself to creating.

Helpless, he could only say, "Then paint me a landscape."