Chapter 106 Trance
Restraining the turmoil in his heart, Song Yuanchao took a deep breath and continued to ask the master about several other paintings. When the master quoted outrageous prices one after another, Song Yuanchao's eyes widened and he was completely stunned.
Even though Song Yuanchao had lived for nearly seventy years in his previous life, he was not surprised by many things. He had also heard that the works of modern painters were very cheap in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but he never expected that they could be so cheap.
You know, he just bought a She inkstone downstairs, which cost Song Yuanchao 200 yuan, which is equivalent to the price of a bicycle. But now, a painting of a lady in fine brushwork and heavy colors by Zhang Daqian in his middle age only costs 100 yuan, which completely subverted his imagination.
Apart from Zhang Daqian, a painting by the Chinese painting master Lu Ruo only sold for 15 yuan, and the works of Lu Yanshao, Zhang Boju and others all sold for no more than 20 yuan, which was even cheaper than cabbage.
The paintings on the second floor are all works of modern painters, among which Xu Beihong's works are the most expensive. This may be related to Xu Beihong's personal experience. After all, Xu Beihong is so famous in society that in 1978 the country even published a collection of Xu Beihong's fine paintings. It is for this reason that the price of his works far exceeds that of others.
In addition, Mr. Xu Beihong has passed away, which is another reason why his paintings are priced high. The others are all living painters. As for Zhang Daqian, although he is famous, he has too many extant works and he is still alive. In addition, because Zhang Daqian went to the Taiwan Strait before liberation, he is not highly regarded in China, so his paintings are far less expensive than Xu Beihong's.
Without saying a word, Song Yuanchao reached into his pocket and took out almost all the money he had on him. He decisively bought the detailed and colorful painting by Zhang Daqian and several works by Lu Ruo, Lu Yanshao, Zhang Boju and others. The total price of these works was just over 200 yuan, and that was because Song Yuanchao did not have enough money with him.
The old master issued a receipt and collected the money, then took down the paintings, rolled them up carefully, tied them up, put them in a cloth cover, and handed them to Song Yuanchao.
Song Yuanchao was so happy holding the pile of scrolls in his hands that his heart was beaming with joy. He had never thought that he could get a bargain, and such a big one at that. Looking at the dazzling array of other works hanging around, Song Yuanchao felt itching to move everything on the second floor back home.
But when he left the store, Song Yuanchao suddenly remembered an important question, that is, where should he put these things? His home is in Shanghai, and Yanjing lives in the school dormitory. Can he put these treasures in the dormitory? If they are bumped or dirty, Song Yuanchao will have nowhere to cry. For a moment, Song Yuanchao was a little worried.
After going out and returning to the parking place, Song Yuanchao asked the old man who was watching the car for directions, and then rode his bike to the nearest post office.
When he arrived at the post office, Song Yuanchao used the last three yuan in his pocket to buy a large wooden box, then carefully placed the scrolls inside. He also filled the gaps in the box with some dry straw, then tied the box to the back seat and returned to school.
This thing can only be kept in the dormitory for the time being, but Song Yuanchao knows that it is not safe to keep it in the dormitory, so he still has to find a place to store it properly.
In fact, Song Yuanchao had planned to buy a house in Yanjing a few days ago, especially the day when he and Lin Yan went to Gao Da's mother's house, and the emotion in Lin Yan's words when they came out.
In Lin Yan's view, the courtyard house with a sense of home makes her feel at home. The same is true for Song Yuanchao, who grew up in a lane. He is not used to those cold residential buildings. In his previous life, after the old Shikumen houses were demolished, Song Yuanchao lived in that kind of house for decades. But until the moment he passed away, he didn't even know the name of his neighbor across the street.
Song Yuanchao planned to buy a house in Yanjing these days, a courtyard house, one to give Lin Yan a surprise, and also to store the treasures he bought today.
Song Yuanchao imagined that one day he would take Lin Yan into his courtyard house in Yanjing and tell her that this was their common home. Song Yuanchao was looking forward to seeing Lin Yan's happy and excited expression.
What's more, Song Yuanchao knew better than anyone how much a courtyard house would be worth in Yanjing in the future. Song Yuanchao had money. He had made nearly 100,000 yuan from making clothes hangers and college entrance examination review materials before. When Qin Zhengguo went south, Song Yuanchao gave him 30,000 yuan. Song Yuanchao saved nearly half of the remaining 70,000 yuan in the form of fixed-term loans and treasury bonds. After deducting some resettlement needs and other support before he left Shanghai, he currently had more than 27,000 yuan in his hands.
Of course, Song Yuanchao couldn't carry all this money with him. After arriving in Yanjing, Song Yuanchao deposited the money into the bank in several installments or purchased fixed-term loans in Yanjing. He had less than three thousand yuan in cash on him.
This amount of money would be worthless in a few decades, but it is a huge sum of money now. Moreover, it is not safe to keep cash or passbooks in the dormitory. It is not that he does not trust his roommates, but the human heart is the most difficult to guess. Song Yuanchao does not want to test his classmates in this way.
The closer it gets to National Day, the more festive the atmosphere becomes both inside and outside the school. Lights and decorations are hung everywhere, and red lanterns are hung at the school gate. There are four big red lanterns with a word on each of them, which together form the four big words "Happy National Day".
The National Day in 1979 happened to be on Monday, so Song Yuanchao and his friends had two days off including Sunday. Originally, Song Yuanchao thought that Lin Daoyuan would meet him on the National Day, but who would have thought that on Saturday afternoon, Lin Yan told him that her father Lin Daoyuan would take time to meet him at noon tomorrow.
With a nervous mood, Song Yuanchao got up early that day, changed into a white shirt brought from Shanghai, dark blue trousers, and a pair of new leather shoes. The shoes were polished so well that you could see your reflection in them. You should know that Song Yuanchao used up half a box of shoe polish.
Dressed neatly and tidy, Song Yuanchao waited for Lin Yan at the school gate. Seeing Song Yuanchao's appearance today, Lin Yan smiled like a flower and jumped directly onto the back seat of Song Yuanchao's bicycle, putting one hand gently on Song Yuanchao's waist. Song Yuanchao felt full of energy and pedaled the bicycle more easily than ever before. The two of them talked and laughed as they went towards the agreed place.
Lin Daoyuan chose a place today. It was neither his home nor his office, but the roast duck restaurant that Song Yuanchao and Lin Yan had visited last time.
When Song Yuanchao and the others arrived, Lin Daoyuan had already arrived. They were still in the room in the backyard as last time. Song Yuanchao and Lin Yan came to the door of the room. Lin Yan went forward and knocked on the door. A voice came from inside saying "Come in". Lin Yan pushed the door open and saw her father Lin Daoyuan sitting at the table with a document in front of him. He was taking off his glasses and looking up at her.
"Dad, we're here." Lin Yan greeted her father with a smile, and at the same time stepped aside to reveal Song Yuanchao behind her: "This is Song Yuanchao, the one I told you about, my partner."
When Lin Yan's body turned sideways and Song Yuanchao saw Lin Daoyuan, he was a little dazed for a moment.
In a trance, Song Yuanchao thought he was dazzled and had hallucinations, because the man sitting there looked so much like his father Song Guangzeng.
He was about the same age, both slightly thin, with gray hair on the temples but neatly combed slightly to the left, wearing a blue Zhongshan suit, holding a pair of glasses he had just taken off, with a serious yet polite expression, and a strong scholarly air about him. Song Yuanchao thought he had seen his own father.
Song Yuanchao's eyes turned red involuntarily, his body trembled slightly, and his lips were tightly pursed, as if tears were about to fall at the next moment.
Song Yuanchao pinched himself hard and finally woke up from the hallucination. Only then did he realize that although Lin Daoyuan and Song Guangzeng were extremely similar , their faces were completely different.
Compared to Song Guangzeng's soft face, Lin Daoyuan's is harder, and there are many differences in their facial features. In fact, there is still a lot of difference. It's just that the moment Song Yuanchao first saw Lin Daoyuan, he couldn't help but think of his deceased father, and he was almost excited .
