It's getting cold to the single digits. Walking on the road, you can see the water vapor in a breath. A ginkgo tree in the courtyard has long been bald and clean, and there are no leaves left.

In the old-fashioned duplex building, the briquettes in the small red star coal stove are lit with red fire, and such coal stoves are almost extinct in the big cities. The stove had already been lit and a small teapot had been placed. On the edge of the iron sheet, Qiu Wenzhen also roasted a few large oranges.

"Lao Bai and I, talking about the past, it was more than half a century ago. At that time, calligraphy and painting were still thriving, and in the jargon, three points of painting and seven points of mounting, and he and I were both begging for a living in a framing workshop in Lin'an. The old white man is smart, he has been the pillar of the store for less than a year, and some familiar customers have named him to frame it, so I am relatively stupid, and I have studied for five or six years, and I can't even adjust the paste. You must know that the key to framing lies in the craftsmanship and the blending of water.

Later, an old gentleman came to the store, said to see Lao Bai is smart and clever, want to teach him to treat the seal, I slept with him at one end of the shop, that night, when I painted the heart, a painting was broken, at that time, I wanted to die, my mother was sick in the countryside again, I need to send money to the house, I pretend to be not good at learning. Lao Bai had a good relationship with me, and quietly told me that night that he had already agreed with the nobleman and gave me this opportunity to learn sealing. Zhong Yue, do you know how big the difference in status was between framers and those who engaged in printing at that time?"

Qiu Wenzhen said, the piece of wet cloth held the handle of the pot, poured water on the tea set on the bamboo plate, and washed it slowly, "I know, Lao Bai he pitied me, but he said that he didn't want to leave the framing study, saying that framing makes money, but fools know that it can be comparable? So I told him that night, I Qiu Wenzhen has a day to get ahead, and I owe him a great favor, and I will agree to any conditions in the future." ”

After listening to Qiu Wenzhen's eloquent words, Zhong Yue didn't expect that the old man Bai, who lived in the Lanting Orchestra Pit and was a small cloth puppet, would still be so affectionate.

"You just said, Brother Bai, he is Shaoxing?" Qiu Wenzhen asked thoughtfully.

"Yes. In the Rantei orchestra pit, you make small cloth dolls and run a craft shop. ”

Qiu Wenzhen sighed, with a suffocation in his eyes, "It seems that he still can't forget it......"

"Can't forget anything?"

"At that time, the daughter of the shopkeeper in the study liked the puppet very much, and Lao Bai and I both liked that little girl at that time, but it's a pity...... Later, when I went to find the framing shop again, the building was already empty, and after several inquiries, I learned that the owner's business had closed down, and as for the girl, she was also married to a vendor. ”

Zhong Yue listened to this story, although it was so old-fashioned and cheesy that he could guess the ending after listening to the beginning, but in that era, it was not uncommon for people to be involuntarily. If Lao Bai goes to learn to govern the seal, he may really be able to hold the beauty.

Qiu Wenzhen made a good tea and poured it for Zhong Yue, "How did you know him? Your surname is Zhong and not Bai, this kind of kindness, with Lao Bai's character, will definitely not be easily sent." ”

Zhong Yue told the story of himself and the old white head, and Qiu Wenzhen also frowned frequently when he heard it.

"So you mean that you want to break through the bottleneck of calligraphy from the governance of seals?"

"Yes, that's right. ”

Qiu Wenzhen nodded, "Yin comes from the book, it's just Zhong Yue, I'm afraid this road will not be easier than you to find a breakthrough from calligraphy alone." ”

"I'm confident in that. ”

Qiu Wenzhen sighed and said: "Since Lao Bai is so open-minded to give favors to a person who can't beat him, don't worry, I will definitely repay this 'favor debt'." ”

Zhong Yue listened to the taste in his words, and said, "Old Qiu, if you don't want to teach the great, you don't have to force it. I also know the successor of the She faction in Huizhou, Xiao Zhan Li. ”

Qiu Wenzhen chuckled: "I have backbone." However, if Xiao Li talks about seniority, he must be regarded as my apprentice grandchild. ”

“……”

Qiu Wenzhen peeled off the orange with some burnt skin, ate two petals, and said, "Don't worry." It's not that I've never confiscated apprentices in my life, it's just that my master's patience hasn't been polished, and the temperament of those apprentices has been polished, and then I didn't bother to accept apprentices, and I didn't have that energy. There is no one who really comes out of the school. So since you want to follow me to learn sealing, let's talk about the rules, I still won't slack off on you because you are entrusted by the old people, or follow the old rules, and you can't ruin the reputation of our Zhejiang faction. ”

"What else?"

Qiu Wenzhen said: "If there is anything else...... It depends on your talent, although you have calligraphy skills, but it may be ten or eight years, and you can't touch the carving knife, it's not impossible. ”

"Ten years...... Can't touch the carving knife?" Zhong Yue was speechless, what kind of operation is this? Learn to govern the seal, isn't the basic skill practicing carving?

Qiu Wenzhen smiled, "What's the matter, are you scared?" So I said that if you want to take this path, it is not easier than you to devote yourself to studying, but I dare to say that if you really make a name for yourself in the future, your future is limitless. ”

Zhong Yue looked at the old tinted glass window. Looking to the east, Liu Shao'e's earnest teachings to him are looking at the achievements of his life, to endure what ordinary people can't endure, to endure the hardships that ordinary people can't endure, so that great perseverance and perseverance can be qualified to provoke the banner of revitalizing calligraphy!

"The master is above, and he is bowed by the disciples. ”

Apprenticeship Zhong Yue is already too familiar to be familiar, and now there are Wang Xun, Wang Ximeng, Xu Wei, Wen Zhengming, Zheng Banqiao, Jin Nong in the system, and in reality there are Zhang Laifu and Cao Danqing, and now there is another Qiu Wenzhen, each with its own strengths, the master adds up, and there can be one more person in the whole two tables of mahjong......

"The etiquette is decent, but I heard you say, you are still learning painting from an old professor in Shanghai, and you can afford to run at these two ends?"

Zhong Yue said with a smile: "Don't worry, I'll send something back, and I'll leave his old man speechless immediately." ”

Qiu Wenzhen chuckled and said, "Oh, why don't I believe it?" At their age, for fame, fortune and money, it is all a floating cloud that life does not bring to death, and it may be especially important to the cultivation of disciples. Although calligraphy, painting and printing are the same, unless it is a generation of masters, it is rare to achieve excellence in all three.

Zhong Yue sat down, peeled a roasted orange, and took a bite, his mouth froze.

"Ahem, this roasted orange is so unpalatable......"

"I'll cure the asthma, or what do you think?"

“……”

The corners of Zhong Yue's mouth twitched, and it seemed that he had to blame himself for being cheap......