SFS Chapter 170 Gold and Jade
Chapter 170 Gold and Jade
"Hey, I guess Old Xiao drank too much last night. We guys had to carry him back home yesterday. Don't take it to heart. I'll take you to see him right away!"
This young man is really capable. He explained everything to Xiao Yang in just one sentence and also got a favor from Ning Yuan.
Ning Yuan naturally wanted it very much, and followed the two boys to the backyard.
Zhang Haiyang, Fan Xinhua, Zou Cheng and a few others also followed.
They didn't walk far before the young man in the coat brought Ning Yuan and the others to their destination.
Xiao Yang was indeed still asleep, and he banged on the door more than ten times in a row.
Then came the sounds of people getting up and footsteps from inside, accompanied by cursing.
"Who are you, so early in the morning? You better give me a good reason, or I'll fucking~"
Xiao Yang opened the door while muttering.
Ning Yuan saw the door open and Xiao Yang, who was obviously still asleep, joked.
"Why, what excuse do you want me to give you? You were such a deep sleeper!"
Ning Yuan immediately hugged Xiao Yang and brought him back to the living room to sit on the sofa.
Xiao Yang also rubbed his eyes and recognized Ning Yuan.
"Ning Yuan? Why are you coming to me so early in the morning? I'm still asleep!"
Well, it seems that this guy was really drunk yesterday and completely forgot about the appointment he and Ning Yuan had made at Lao Mo yesterday!
Ning Yuan slapped the boy on the head and said, "Why did I come here to look for you? Where are your junk?"
Xiao Yang rubbed his head. Although he was still confused, he didn't dare to fight back against Ning Yuan. He could only passively accept this loving caress.
But after hearing Ning Yuan say this, he remembered.
"Oh, right, right, I totally forgot! Okay, buddy, I'll take you to get it right away. It's all in the woodshed in the yard!"
Xiao Yang shook his head and finally came to his senses. He even went back to the house and got a military officer's wool coat to put on.
After bringing Ning Yuan and the others to the woodshed, Ning Yuan indeed saw a bundle wrapped in rags.
Xiao Yang pointed at the bundle and said to Ning Yuan, "Here, this is it. Open it and take a look. Just take whatever you want!"
Ning Yuan didn't hesitate, he walked over, squatted down and opened the rag bundle.
I felt heartbroken as soon as I opened Ningyuan, what a wasteful thing! !
The two bright yellow glazed porcelain plates with dragon patterns cracked directly. Ning Yuan looked at the signature on the bottom of the plates, "Qing Dynasty, Made in the Kangxi Period", and it was actually from an official kiln.
Just these two plates cost at least a thousand dollars. Isn't this a complete waste?
Ning Yuan glanced at Xiao Yang with hatred, feeling helpless. Wow, what a spendthrift! !
Then I started searching again, luckily everything was fine!
The remaining items are still in good condition.
A green bamboo-shaped paperweight, four scrolls and drawing paper all look like ordinary calligraphy and paintings.
There are no other jades or other porcelains.
These are the only five items left intact.
Ning Yuan first picked up the green paperweight and looked at it.
Originally, he didn't care much about it, because this green jade was not considered the top jade among all jade categories, and this bamboo-shaped paperweight was obviously not from the palace.
The paperweights generally used in the palace were carved with various majestic animals.
Ning Yuan felt that with this material and shape, even if it was a little old, its value would not be too high.
It was not until he turned over the bottom of the paperweight and saw the signature engraved on it that he realized his mistake.
The two big characters "Zheng Xie" were clearly engraved on it!
When Ning Yuan saw these two words, he instantly became alert and carefully put down the green bamboo-shaped paperweight.
He quickly took out the four paintings from the bundle.
After opening one picture, the landscape in the painting slowly unfolds!
It was indeed him! Ning Yuan exhaled, smiled and nodded.
The painting "Cold Mountain and Green Bamboo" is inscribed with "Zheng Xie, the 12th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty"
When it comes to the name Zheng Xie, you may not be familiar with it, but when it comes to his pseudonym, everyone knows it.
Mr. Banqiao!!
Zheng Xie, one of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou".
Zheng Xie, whose courtesy name was Kerou, was also known as Li'an and Banqiao.
Born in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, in the 32nd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, he served successively as magistrate of Fan County and Wei County in Shandong Province during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. After resigning from office, he lived in Yangzhou and made a living selling paintings.
When everyone present saw Ning Yuan’s happy expression, they understood that he had found what he liked.
But they are indeed not very clear about Zheng Xie's status in the painting world and the value of his works.
Ning Yuan had just opened the bundle and was disappointed when he saw the scroll was made of this material.
It's obvious that these are not valuable scrolls or drawing paper.
But unexpectedly, it really gave him a big surprise!
Zheng Banqiao was a man who loved green bamboo so much that his contemporaries said, "I would rather eat without meat than live without bamboo!"
He started painting bamboo in his youth and continued until his later years, spending almost half of his life studying bamboo painting!
Ning Yuan remembered that several authentic works of Zheng Banqiao in later generations would start at 20 million once they were put up for auction.
Especially the paintings created after the tenth year of Qianlong's reign, their artistic value is more profound than the works created when he was younger, so almost every one of them is priced at a sky-high price.
Ning Yuan looked at the work in his hand. Although it was a little small in size, it was old enough and was definitely a masterpiece.
Ning Yuan already had an idea about the other three paintings.
The scroll and mounting method are almost identical, so it must be a painting by Zheng Banqiao.
In addition to the green bamboo paperweight just now, Ning Yuan was really curious about whose house they had robbed to be able to copy so many authentic works of Zheng Banqiao.
Ning Yuan put away the painting in his hand, then opened the other three works. After a quick look, he confirmed his guess.
This time he controlled his expression and hurriedly put away the paintings.
Ning Yuan asked Xiao Yang, "Hey buddy, where did you get these things? I think they all came from the same household!"
"Yes, all of these here are from the same family. I heard them mention this family. It seems to be the Zheng family. As for the others, I burned them all!"
"It's just these few things, painted bamboo and stuff. I don't think they're necessary, so that's why my buddy brought them back!"
Xiao Yang said casually.
Ning Yuan felt really distressed after hearing this, and quickly said to Xiao Yang: "Brother, if you get this old stuff again, you keep it for me, I will take it all!"
But I was extremely fortunate that these were all bamboos, so I escaped the disaster.
After Ning Yuan cleaned up the two broken porcelain plates, he wrapped up the remaining four paintings and a paperweight and handed them to Fatty Fan.