Chapter 105: Heavy Color
The shops nowadays are different from those in later times. The exterior of this shop bears strong traces of time and the building looks antique, but after entering the shop, one finds that the displays inside the shop are not much different from those of other ordinary state-owned stores, except that they sell different things.
There were not many customers in the store. Apart from Song Yuanchao, there were only two or three others. Compared with the sales clerks in the store, it seemed very deserted.
The store is very big. As soon as you enter, you can see a large concave glass counter. From left to right, various types of study supplies and some daily stationery are sold. Even children's school bags are sold. They are hung on the wall behind the counter, which seems somewhat out of place with the rice paper, pens, ink, calligraphy and paintings on the side.
After standing in the store for a while, no one came forward to greet him. Song Yuanchao was not surprised, because that was how state-owned stores were in that era, the things were there and it was up to you to buy them or not. The salesperson was now king.
Song Yuanchao heard about Lin Daoyuan's situation from Lin Yan. Lin Daoyuan once studied at Imperial University of Peking, so he was actually his senior.
Song Yuanchao considered that bringing ordinary gifts would definitely not work, and if he replaced it with expensive gifts, Lin Daoyuan might not accept them. In view of Lin Daoyuan's situation, Song Yuanchao felt that the four treasures of the study were the most suitable. As gifts, these things were elegant and inconspicuous, and Lin Daoyuan should not refuse them.
After walking around the counters, Song Yuanchao finally stopped his eyes on the counter selling inkstones.
The four treasures of the study refer to pens, ink, paper and inkstone. After much deliberation, Song Yuanchao decided that buying an inkstone for Lin Daoyuan would be the most appropriate. However, he had no idea which inkstone was good or famous. But it didn't matter. Even if Song Yuanchao didn't understand inkstones, he could always understand prices, so he only compared the ones with high prices.
The shops of this era are still very formal, and all the goods are genuine and priced reasonably. In such places you don't have to worry about buying fakes, and the prices are not random either.
Like in later generations, if a item is priced at 8888, you can directly lower it to 188. Maybe your boss can make 180 from you while you are feeling smug , and then laugh at you and call you an idiot behind your back.
But it is simply impossible nowadays. Everything in the store is sold at a certain price, and you get what you pay for. This is a unique feature of this era.
Standing in front of the counter, his eyes swept across the rows of inkstones, and finally Song Yuanchao set his sights on three of them. These three inkstones were the most expensive.
The first one is oval in shape, with a green pine carved on the outer cover. The carving is very good, and the curved green pine tilts to the right, perfectly showing the inkstone in the middle.
The second one is round, with plum blossom patterns dotted around it, and the carvings are also excellent, with a simple shape. As for the third one, it is square and looks a bit simple, with only a few bamboos carved on both sides, and a few strokes of the pen, and no other decorations.
However, among these three types of inkstones, the last one happened to be the most expensive. After thinking about it, Song Yuanchao stood up and asked the salesperson to help him take out all three inkstones for a look.
"Do you want to buy these three?" The salesperson frowned slightly and glanced at Song Yuanchao, but seeing that Song Yuanchao was dressed neatly with the badge of Imperial University pinned on his chest, he thought about it and said nothing more. He directly and carefully took the three inkstones from the counter and placed them one by one on the counter.
"What's so special about these three inkstones? Especially this one, why is it the most expensive?" Song Yuanchao looked at them carefully one by one and tried them out, but as an amateur, to be honest, he couldn't tell the difference between the three inkstones at all, so he looked up and asked the salesperson.
"The first two models are Fangcheng inkstones, and the last one is She inkstone, so the price is higher." The salesperson replied.
Song Yuanchao was confused by what he heard. He had never studied this thing in his previous life, and he didn't understand what a Fangcheng inkstone was and what a She inkstone was. But no matter what, judging from the salesperson's expression, these three inkstones were not ordinary inkstones.
"Let's take this She inkstone. Please issue the invoice." Song Yuanchao considered it and finally chose the most inconspicuous She inkstone. After all, it has the highest price and its shape is simple and looks very ordinary. If he gave the other two models, he was a little worried that Lin Daoyuan would not like it when he saw it. On the contrary, this She inkstone looks ordinary and is more suitable.
After getting the invoice, he went to the side to pay the money and handed the receipt to the salesperson, who had neatly packed the She inkstone into a paper box and tied it up with a rope. Song Yuanchao took the towel out of his schoolbag, wrapped it around the outside, and then carefully put it back into his schoolbag.
After buying the things, Song Yuanchao felt much more at ease. He strolled around the store. After a round, he noticed that there was a staircase leading to the second floor. There was no railing at the entrance of the stairs, nor a "No Entry for Non-Permanent Persons" sign. Song Yuanchao hesitated and walked up.
When he got to the second floor, Song Yuanchao was slightly stunned, because although the second floor and the first floor had the same layout, the layout inside was completely different. Compared with the large L-shaped counter on the first floor, the second floor only had a large table about three meters long and two meters wide in front, and no other counters could be seen.
On the walls of the second floor, there were paintings and calligraphy one after another, and many scrolls were placed in several large vases half a person's height. In addition, there were several glass cabinets with various items, including vases, bowls, enamel products, gold and silver wares, jade wares, etc.
Seeing this scene, Song Yuanchao was immediately refreshed and understood what was sold on the second floor. Although he didn't know much about these things, he thought that state-owned stores would not sell fake goods, so he immediately looked at them with great interest.
Although there were many things, the origin and price were not marked, whether it was calligraphy and painting or antiques. Song Yuanchao looked at it for a while and felt strange, so he went straight to the table and asked a bespectacled master.
"Master, how much do you sell these things for?"
The old master was not tall, with a slightly hunched back. He was wearing a blue cloth work suit that had been washed to a bleached color, with dark sleeves on his sleeves. His hair was gray, and he was estimated to be nearly sixty years old.
The old master was busy. On the table in front of him was a detailed painting. It showed two birds standing on a branch, one in front and the other behind. The one in front was looking back at the one behind, its yellow beak slightly open, as if it was chirping something with its companion, while the one behind was tilting its head to listen.
Beside the painting are brushes of different sizes, as well as scissors, knives, water, glue and other miscellaneous items. These are all supplies for mounting the painting.
Without stopping what he was doing, the old master just raised his eyes slightly when he heard the voice, with his glasses half drooping on the bridge of his nose, and glanced at Song Yuanchao out of the corner of his eye.
"Which one are you referring to?" the old master asked while he was busy.
Song Yuanchao hesitated, then reached out to the nearest painting and asked, "How much is this galloping horse painting?"
"This is Xu Beihong's painting of running horses, and the price is 260." The old master directly quoted the price. Song Yuanchao was shocked when he heard it. Although this painting of running horses was not Xu Beihong's most outstanding work, because Xu Beihong was good at painting horses, he painted many paintings of running horses in his life, including Eight Horses and Six Horses, as well as the most famous painting of a single running horse.
The painting of galloping horse that Song Yuanchao inquired about was of a chestnut horse running sideways. Although it is not one of Xu Beihong's most famous paintings, it is also a masterpiece.
260 yuan, this figure is worth a lot for ordinary people. After all, the monthly income of ordinary workers is less than 50 yuan, which is half a year's salary. But for Song Yuanchao, this price is too cheap, 260 yuan! Although Song Yuanchao did not collect these things in his previous life, he had heard about how much Xu Beihong's masterpieces would appreciate in value in the next 20 years.
"What about this one?" Song Yuanchao's heart was beating violently. He tried hard to control his emotions and pointed to another painting next to him in a seemingly normal manner.
This is a detailed and colorful painting of an ancient lady, and the painter is the famous Zhang Daqian.
"100!" The old master raised his eyes and directly quoted the price.
"100!?"
Song Yuanchao couldn't believe his ears. Did he hear it right? Zhang Daqian's meticulous painting was only 100 yuan? When Song Yuanchao confirmed from the master that the painting was indeed only 100 yuan, he was shocked.
