Chapter 123
In the afternoon, Song Yuanchao came out of Liulichang on his bike. There was a wooden box tied to the back seat of his bike. Inside the box were several paintings he had just bought.
These days, since the first time Song Yuanchao went to that store, he went there every few days, buying four or five pairs of shoes at least, and more than ten pairs at most, and he never missed a pair every time he came.
After a long time, Song Yuanchao became familiar with the master chef on the second floor. Master Jiang, who is nearly 60 years old, is the oldest and most experienced clerk in the store.
Master Jiang had been working here long before liberation. At that time, this shop was still privately owned. Master Jiang was a shop assistant in the shop and learned the craft of mounting paintings from the master chef in the shop.
Later, as the public and private enterprises merged, Master Jiang went from being a waiter to a full-time employee of the store, and he worked there for more than 30 years.
Master Jiang's painting mounting skills are well-known in Liulichang , which is why he is on the second floor. He is also very experienced. The current store manager was once Master Jiang's apprentice, so Master Jiang is half the boss of this store.
After Song Yuanchao came here once, he would come here every few days when he had time, and he never missed a visit. As time went by, Master Jiang became interested in Song Yuanchao, a young man who often came to buy paintings. He felt that although this young man did not understand painting, he was a person who loved painting. Otherwise, how could he buy so many paintings every time he came?
After meeting each other many times, Master Jiang gradually became familiar with Song Yuanchao, and sometimes he would give some pointers when Song Yuanchao was looking at paintings. Although what Master Jiang taught Song Yuanchao was just some ordinary knowledge, such guidance benefited Song Yuanchao a lot.
Riding his bike back to the courtyard, Song Yuanchao pushed the bike straight into the yard, untied the rope tied to the back seat and moved the wooden box down.
He carried the wooden boxes to the east wing, which was now where Song Yuanchao kept the paintings. He moved all the furniture from the east wing to the west wing, creating a large area to store the wooden boxes, which contained the paintings he bought from Liulichang.
Song Yuanchao had someone make a few shelves where the boxes were stacked, and the boxes were placed between the shelves with the bottom hanging in the air. Under the shelves, Song Yuanchao put some quicklime blocks in cloth bags, and other things like mothballs.
The storage requirements for Chinese paintings are very high. Generally speaking, they must be kept away from light, dust, moisture, and sealed.
In later times, Chinese paintings were generally stored in special constant temperature rooms, and those with better conditions were directly placed in bank safes. But now there is no such condition at all, so Song Yuanchao had to do this as a last resort.
This method was taught to Song Yuanchao by Master Jiang as the most appropriate method of storage for private preservation. However, the box Song Yuanchao used was a little inferior. It should be a Jiangyang lacquered leather box, or a camphorwood box. However, Song Yuanchao could not find these containers at the moment, so he could only use the pinewood box.
But even this is enough. After all, his paintings are not ancient paintings. They are works of modern artists and are relatively easy to preserve. Of course, Song Yuanchao plans to go to other places later and get some good containers, because in his eyes, these paintings that are not valued by outsiders are not just paintings.
After placing the box in the empty space that had been prepared long ago , Song Yuanchao glanced at the hygrometer hanging on the side. This thing was specially bought by Song Yuanchao from the store. Although this old-fashioned hygrometer was not very accurate, it was enough for him now.
After all the hard work, Song Yuanchao looked at the neatly arranged large wooden boxes with satisfaction and a gratified smile appeared on his face.
Over a month, Song Yuanchao purchased a total of 73 works by modern painters from Liulichang, including six works by Zhang Daqian, four by Xu Beihong, and dozens of works by Lu Ruo, Lu Yanshao, Zhang Boju and others, basically buying all the fine works in the store.
The most expensive paintings among these are naturally the works of Mr. Xu Beihong. Song Yuanchao spent a full 1,260 yuan on four paintings. The second most expensive are the paintings of Zhang Daqian. The six works cost a total of 980 yuan. The total cost of the two is 2,240 yuan.
In addition, works by other modern painters were priced between 20 and 30 yuan, generally around 15 yuan. However, due to the large number of them, a total of 1,070 yuan was spent on the sixty-three paintings, bringing the total expenditure on purchasing paintings to 3,310 yuan.
Adding the expenses of these boxes and shelves, Song Yuanchao's investment was about 3,500 yuan. He spent 8,200 yuan to buy this courtyard house. In just less than two months, Song Yuanchao's money was gone in an instant, and his assets shrank significantly.
Song Yuanchao calculated the remaining money on his hand, and found that he still had about 15,000 yuan. Although this amount of money sounded like a lot, it was far from enough for him, because he had to continue spending money, not only to buy paintings, but also to help him find a suitable courtyard house from Fang Yazi Yue Laoer, and he was ready to buy one again.
A courtyard house costs nearly 10,000 yuan, plus the frequent purchase of paintings, Song Yuanchao's remaining 15,000 yuan may not last long. Thinking about his worries, Song Yuanchao locked the east wing, pushed his bicycle out of the courtyard, and headed towards the school.
"I have to do something, otherwise the money will be gone in a blink of an eye." Along the way, Song Yuanchao thought about this matter in his mind. This era is the best opportunity to pick up bargains. Once missed, it will never come back. Song Yuanchao will never give up.
But Song Yuanchao could no longer do business like he did in Shanghai. Firstly, he had innate conditions in Shanghai, whether it was Li Daqi, Qin Zhengguo, Gu Jie, or his master, Director Ma, and Principal Zhou who treated him like a son or nephew, as well as the school-run factory, etc., all of which were his solid backing. It was precisely because of these backings that he had the opportunities to show his abilities in Shanghai.
But in Yanjing, Song Yuanchao was just an ordinary college student. Of course, with Song Yuanchao's ability, it was not impossible for him to fight alone. China, which was in the early stages of reform, was full of opportunities. It was not difficult for Song Yuanchao to start from this aspect.
But there is another key issue, that is Lin Yan. After meeting Lin Daoyuan last time, Song Yuanchao still remembers Lin Daoyuan's words, especially when Lin Daoyuan inadvertently pointed out what Song Yuanchao did in Shanghai, which surprised Song Yuanchao.
He originally thought that everything he did was very secret, but he didn't expect that Lin Daoyuan had known about it for a long time. Moreover, Lin Daoyuan's words and deeds did not agree with Song Yuanchao continuing to do these things. So for the sake of his own and Lin Yan's future, Song Yuanchao would not take the risk to resume his old business in Yanjing.
But then again, Song Yuanchao would not let the opportunity slip away, especially since it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Considering Lin Daoyuan's thoughts, Song Yuanchao could not go directly into business, so he had been thinking about it these days and had some ideas in mind.
He rode his bike into the school, and before he reached the dormitory, he saw Li Xiaoyun circling downstairs from a distance, looking in his direction.
"Xiao Yun, why are you here?" Song Yuanchao stopped beside Li Xiaoyun with both hands on the brakes , got out of the car with one foot on the ground and asked.
"You're finally back, of course I'm waiting for you!" Li Xiaoyun seemed to have been waiting for a while, and when she saw Song Yuanchao finally came back, she said angrily: "Where did you go? I asked your roommates, and they all said that you disappeared after class."
"Haha, I went out to do something. What's the matter? Did Yan Zi ask you to find me?" Song Yuanchao asked with a smile.
"Sister Yanzi, Sister Yanzi, classmate Song Yuanchao, your mind is full of Sister Yanzi. Can't it be that I have something to talk to you about?" Li Xiaoyun pouted and said dissatisfiedly.
"Yes, yes. Of course I can. What's the matter? Are you still thinking about the meal I owed you last time? Are you planning to beat up your rich brother Yuanchao today?" Song Yuanchao looked at her angry look and teased her intentionally.
"Hmph! In your eyes, am I always thinking about eating? Eat, eat, eat, you won't be satisfied until I eat myself into a pig?" Li Xiaoyun was very angry. She stomped her feet and gave Song Yuanchao a sanitary ball. Song Yuanchao was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"Hehe, you actually took it seriously when I scared you." Seeing Song Yuanchao's expression, Li Xiaoyun suddenly covered her mouth and laughed, tilting her head and said to Song Yuanchao: "Okay, I'll keep owing you this meal. I have something serious to talk to you about today."
"Business?"
"Yes, I'm just a messenger." Li Xiaoyun looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to this side, so she approached Song Yuanchao and said, "Luo Yang asked me to pass a message to you. He wants to invite you to dinner. The location is at the state-owned restaurant near the school. He is already waiting, so you should hurry over."
"Luo Yang?" Song Yuanchao was stunned and looked at Li Xiaoyun in confusion: "Why did Luo Yang come to you to pass on a message? Are you very familiar with him now?"
"Bah, what are you thinking?" Unexpectedly, Li Xiaoyun's face turned red when Song Yuanchao said this. She dodged for a moment, but soon returned to normal. She looked up and said to Song Yuanchao, "He was planning to look for you after school, but you ran so fast that you disappeared. He said it was inconvenient to look for Sister Yanzi and the others, so he found me and asked me to tell you."
"Haha, did this kid bribe you with some benefits? Classmate Xiaoyun, don't be careless. You can't take sugar-coated bullets." Song Yuanchao asked with a smile.
"Hmph, a sugar-coated bullet? If it really is a sugar-coated bullet, I'll eat the sugar coating and then shoot the bullet back at him! Besides, how can I ask for any benefits from him? I just saw that he was anxious, so I was kind enough to help my classmate. Okay, okay, the word has been spread anyway, I'm leaving first. Sister Yan Zi is still waiting for me in the dormitory. By the way, don't tell Sister Yan Zi about this, remember! Let's go!" After saying that, Li Xiaoyun jumped and ran away in the blink of an eye. Looking at the direction she went, Song Yuanchao smiled and shook his head, turned the car sideways, got in the car and went back to the school gate.
