Chapter 135: Painting in Painting

  "Maybe you just got lucky and had this experience of picking up a bargain." Zhou Kai noticed that Sheng Dengfeng and Lu Zhuoqun were back, and immediately chose his words carefully, continuing to attack Xuan Qi: "If this painting is really Huang Shaogang's work, it's worth at most 20,000, not 50,000. You know that even Qi Baishi's works are only worth 40,000, let alone your dubious piece."

  Sheng Dengfeng stood in front of the desk, carefully observing the ink bamboo painting on it. Although it had some charm, the technique was not mature, and it indeed looked more like a practice piece. Sheng Dengfeng hadn't dabbled in calligraphy or painting, but he still had an eye for beauty. Beautiful things are inherently connected, and this painting did have some shortcomings in certain aspects.

  But Lu Zhuoqun didn't say anything, silently observing Xuan Qi, and found that he was still calm and unruffled when faced with other people's doubts, as if he had a kind of transcendent demeanor. Although young in age, he had the bearing of a noble family. Moreover, since Lu Zhuoqun knew about the Xuan family's background, he couldn't help but praise him in his heart, what a refined and elegant young master.

  Xuan Qi slowly stretched out his finger and pointed to the pattern on the bamboo leaf, saying: "You think this is Huang Shaoqiang's early work? I disagree with that. Take a closer look at this piece of bamboo leaf, can't you see something?"

  "Is that a bamboo leaf?" Zhou Kai concentrated his attention for a while, and finally shook his head slowly. He really couldn't see what was different about this piece of bamboo leaf. On the other hand, Luo Zhanggui concentrated his attention for a moment, and was shocked to the core. Then he patted his palm and said: "Wonderful! Wonderful!" After carefully examining the entire ink bamboo painting, he immediately praised it repeatedly: "The technique is already mature, the painting has returned to simplicity and truthfulness. It's a pity that Huang Shaogang passed away at a young age. Otherwise, he could have become a famous artist comparable to Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian."

  When Zhou Kai heard Luo Zhanggui say this, he was even more surprised. At this moment, he felt that he had become a small person again, jumping up and down. He tried his best to open his eyes wide and look at the "Mozhu Painting" again, but still couldn't see what was wrong with it. The technique was immature, the composition was okay, the ink was too heavy, and the quality of the brush used was very poor. The branches and leaves on the painting looked like they were forked. This was obviously a practice piece, so why did it suddenly become a masterpiece? Was it really comparable to Qi Baishi or Zhang Daqian? Zhou Kai's doubts made him look at Luo Zhanggui again, hoping he could explain clearly.

  At this time, not only Zhou Kai was curious, but also Sheng Dengfeng and Lu Zhuoqun were curious. This painting, which seemed to be clumsy in technique, had become a masterpiece of returning to simplicity and truth.

  Luo Zhuangui took a sip of tea and cleared his throat: "As we often say, it's easy to paint the skin of a tiger but hard to paint its bones. The 'bones' here refer to a kind of spiritual charm. Those who can grasp this charm are usually accomplished painters, renowned masters. And this painting is a work created by Huang Shaoyong after he had mastered his skills. What he painted was not just ink bamboo, but the very essence of bamboo."

  When Luo Zhuanggui said this, Zhou Kai went to look at the painting again. Those places that seemed like scribbles suddenly became clear, and even the places that seemed to be opened up by a brush became vivid. The whole painting seemed to be right in front of him, and the originally fixed ink began to tremble. The whole painting had an inexplicable charm.

  Luo Zhuangui continued: "Mei Lan Zhu is also known as the Three Friends of Winter. Bamboo has always been a symbol of resilience in our traditional culture. After Huang Shaoqiang's skills were fully developed, he painted bamboo bones, which was a metaphor for people and also a self-portrait. He not only painted out the bamboo bones but also the spirit of bamboo."

  Luo Zhanggui exclaimed in admiration and said with a smile: "I am willing to pay one million for this bamboo skeleton painting."

  Before Xuan Qi could respond, Zhou Kai loudly said: "There must be something wrong here. Why does the Republic of China's ink painting use Qing Dynasty's paper and Qing Dynasty's scroll? There is still doubt here, whether it is Huang Shaoqiang's masterpiece or not, it's too early to conclude now."

  Zhou Kai now only had a hard mouth, stubbornly refusing to give in, using the backing paper and scroll to make excuses. Luo Zhanggui's face flashed with displeasure, but he didn't say anything. While Sheng Dengfeng and Lu Zhuoqun's eyes flashed with disdain, a true member of the gentry values openness and honesty, what's right is right, what's wrong is wrong. Someone like Zhou Kai who is muddled and unreasonable doesn't seem like a member of the gentry, but rather like a shrewish woman.

  Xuan Qi didn't say much, but instead gazed at the entire bamboo skeleton diagram again, using his Qigong technique to carefully examine the painting from top to bottom. After a moment, a flash of insight suddenly appeared in his mind, and all the inconsistencies were explained.

  Just as Xuan Qi was using his Qigong technique, Lu Zhuo thought Xuan Qi was embarrassed and brought up the old matter: "I also like this bamboo bone painting very much. Even if I have doubts, I am willing to buy it. Does the Xuan family brothers want to sell it? I will offer 15 million."

  Xuan Qi silently shook his head: "Don't mention 1.5 million, even if it's 3 million I won't make a move, there's a hidden mechanism in this painting."

  "The mystery is still hanging" Zhou Kai has already let go and said loudly: "I think you're crazy, this painting with a dubious attitude, it's also possible that it's a fake..."

  Xuan Qi didn't pay attention to Zhou Kai's barking, but instead turned around and asked Luo Zhanggui: "Does your store have a magnifying glass? Please bring the one with the highest magnification."

  Luozhanggui handed over a magnifying glass to Xuanqi. Everyone listened as Xuanqi whispered: "What exactly did Huang Shaogang encounter? A person who is not good at painting bamboo, yet painted the skeleton of bamboo?" Then he seemed to ask himself: "Whose paintings of bamboo were the best in the Qing dynasty?"

  Zhou Kai didn't miss any opportunity to strike at Xuan Qi, and directly flaunted his own vast knowledge: "The best painter of bamboo in the Qing dynasty was Zheng Banqiao, who focused on painting bamboo for fifty years - don't you know that?"

  Apart from Zhou Kai who was blinded by anger, the remaining three were all cautious and meticulous, with a hint of mystery in every corner of the painting. Why could Huang Shaoqiang's painting skills reach perfection in his last few years of life? And why did his paintings appear on the scrolls of the Qing Dynasty? There was only one explanation. The eyes of the three people lit up at the same time.

  Xuan Qi used a magnifying glass to carefully observe the mounting of the entire painting. Although he had already mentally prepared himself, when he really saw the joint, he couldn't help but loudly exclaim: "It's indeed a painting within a painting!"

  Luo Zhuangui was even more excited. He had already inferred that there should be another painting under Huang Shaoqiang's work. Hearing Xuan Qi shout like this, he also came up and picked up the magnifying glass to look at the somewhat strange dial. Sure enough, he saw something unusual and immediately shouted excitedly: "Do you want to uncover the painting?"

  Xuan Qi was also curious about the painting and asked: "How long will it take to reveal the painting? Will it hurt Huang Shao's bamboo bone?"

  "Absolutely not!" Luo Zhuangui seemed to have found his favorite toy, and he guaranteed to Xuan Qi: "I'll come myself to peel it off, I guarantee there won't be any mistakes. You can trust my craftsmanship, I can peel off three layers from a single piece of rice paper..." Luo Zhuangui, in high spirits, knew he had misspoken, fortunately the people around him didn't notice.

  The development of things has exceeded Zhou Kai's expectations. He closed his mouth and didn't dare to speak nonsense again. Xuan Qi's body exuded a hint of evil spirit. The painting he bought turned out to be a painting within a painting...

  The excited Luo Zhuangui quickly brought his own toolbox and two young apprentices to assist him. Three layers of rice paper were placed on the back of the painting, and the two apprentices pressed down on the four corners. Then, Luo Zhuangui picked up a brush and dipped it in clear water, evenly brushing it onto the top layer of rice paper. He let the damp rice paper seep downwards for about ten minutes. After that, the painting was flipped over onto the Eight Immortals table. Luo Zhuangui's eyes shone brightly as he put on a special magnifying glass that looked like diving goggles. Holding a knife with a cold glint in his hand, he carefully searched for the seams where the mounting had been done.

  Everyone who has mounted and framed ancient paintings and calligraphy is aware that a painting scroll is not just one layer, but rather multiple layers glued together. Additionally, due to the characteristics of rice paper, through some special techniques and methods, it is possible to separate a well-mounted painting from its backing. This is also an essential skill in the restoration of paintings and calligraphy.

  A good mounter can disassemble a painting in the reverse order of its original mounting. A more skilled mounter can take this craftsmanship to an extreme, taking apart a genuine artwork layer by layer, with the most skilled individuals able to remove up to five layers, thereby turning one authentic piece into five. Luo Zhanggui is already considered a mid-to-high level craftsman since he can remove three layers.

  Although doing so can bring huge profits in the short term, it causes irreparable damage to cultural relics and calligraphy. Is there any mounter who can reattach the opened paintings? It is precisely because of the existence of unscrupulous businessmen who are greedy for short-term gains that they have destroyed one by one the genuine articles passed down from our ancestors.

  Luozhanggui carefully lifted up the top layer of painting, and indeed there was another painting underneath, also a bamboo painting. Luozhanggui tried hard not to get distracted, slowly lifting off Huang Shaogang's work, and placed it on a piece of xuan paper aside. After verifying that everything was correct, he took off his glasses and looked at the true appearance of the painting below.

  The ink is light and elegant, the bamboo leaves are lush and green, with a poem on top: Biting the green mountain without letting go, standing firm in the broken rocks, after thousands of hardships and setbacks, still strong and unyielding, let the winds blow from all directions.

  This is a work by Zheng Xie and Zheng Banqiao, and it's one of the few masterpieces created after Zheng Xie reached the pinnacle of his artistic career. No wonder Huang Shaoqiang can make great progress in painting by copying this piece every day, he must have gained something from it.

  Luo Zhuangui was generous with his praise, giving a thumbs up to Xuan Qi and saying: "Little brother, you really have good taste. For 50,000 yuan, not only did you buy the genuine article of Huang Shaogong's later work, but also Zheng Banqiao's genuine article. This luck, this vision... tsk tsk..."

  Sheng Dengfeng's eyes flashed with shock, then turned into wild joy, and later desperately suppressed the wild joy in his eyes, saying to Xuan Qi: "Little brother, your vision and luck are really enviable"

  Zhou Zhuoqun also chimed in: "In all these years of playing with antiques, I've never heard of a situation where one painting contains two masterpieces. This is a huge loophole."

  Zhou Kai finally said weakly: "Maybe buying antiques and picking up bargains is just good luck, but the real test is yet to come. I don't believe he can be so lucky with gambling on stones."