Zhang Tianyuan planned to bring a gift to Mu Ying's grandfather, but he had a hard time choosing what to choose, and later heard Xu Gang mention jade, and he suddenly thought of a good idea.

Mu Ying's grandfather is not short of money, and it is definitely not okay to send too cheesy valuables, and people still don't look down on it.

But if the things you send are too ordinary, you can't show your intentions.

What to do?

Zhang Tianyuan came up with an excellent idea, which was monkey wine, plus a piece of Hetian jade carved by his own hands.

In this case, although the thing is not valuable, the intention is definitely there.

That monkey wine is a rare good thing, the brewing method has almost been lost, only the ebony Taoist on the peaks understands, of course, Zhang Tianyuan has also learned now, in order to thank Zhang Tianyuan, the ebony Taoist handed over the secret recipe of brewing to Zhang Tianyuan, maybe his old man doesn't want this good thing to disappear from now on.

And Hetian jade itself is an excellent jade, coupled with Zhang Tianyuan's imitation of the ancients' carving techniques, it can definitely be regarded as a real intention, but whose jade carving techniques to imitate, you have to think about it.

"Gangzi, last time I heard you say that Mu Ying's grandfather seems to be a person who worships Buddha?" asked Zhang Tianyuan.

"That's right, the old man seems to have believed in Buddhism when he was old, but he is very religious. Xu Gang nodded.

"That's easy, since he believes in Buddhism, then I'll give him a jade Buddha!"

"Jade Buddha, but we don't have a few high-quality Jade Buddhas here, so you won't be afraid of dropping the price if you send them away?" Xu Gang said with a smile.

I heard that there was a person named Yang Huizhi who was good at carving Buddha statues in the Tang Dynasty, and you see me imitating his carving technique to carve a jade Buddha for Mu Ying's grandfather?" Zhang Tianyuan said with a smile.

"Yang Huizhi, I haven't heard of it, but your idea is good, even that old man Tu is full of praise for your imitation works, and I believe that Mu Ying's grandfather will not be an exception. Xu Gang nodded.

Zhang Tianyuan said with a smile: "You really should read more books, you used to only do jade, and you just knew less, but in the future, there will be more things, if you still look like this, you can't do it." Anyway, it is very convenient to acquire knowledge nowadays, and you can buy a lot of books on the Internet, so you can read them when you have time, and you don't have to force yourself too much. ”

"Okay, okay, I know, you guy, why are you more verbose than my mother. ”

"It's for your own good, even Yang Huizhi doesn't know how to do it, how do you make others believe that you are the boss of an antique shop? That's Wu Daozi's friend." Zhang Tianyuan sighed and said: "And in terms of artistic attainments, it is not inferior to Wu Daozi." ”

"Well, I've heard of Wu Daozi, he's a painter, right, and it seems that he is still a painting saint, what's the matter with this Yang Huizhi you said?"

It is said that Yang Huizhi and Wu Daozi painted together in their early years, and then Yang Huizhi thought that Wu Daozi was superior in painting, so he gave up painting and became plastic. ”

"Hehe, this person is also interesting, if he doesn't work, change his career, I'd rather be a chicken head than a phoenix tail, admire and admire!" Xu Gang said with a smile.

"What a chicken's head and phoenix's tail, painting is of course art, and sculpture is also art. Yang Huizhi participated in the production of many temples in Chang'an and Luoyang, and was a sculptor at the very beginning. Its Buddhist statues are known as 'exquisite and unparalleled'. ”

"Is it such an exaggeration? After all, isn't he just a coolie, and those who are engaged in carving nowadays don't have the dignity to paint. Xu Gang muttered.

"Alas, let me say what you are good at, although since the Republic of China to the present, the carving master is not as many as the master of calligraphy and painting, but its achievements are not low, let's say modern, if you get a piece of good Tianhuang stone, jade or something, if there is no excellent carving master to help carve, then the value of your thing will be reduced a lot. Zhang Tianyuan said with an angry face.

"You just said that this Yang Huizhi is good at sculpting Buddha statues?" Xu Gang didn't want to be trained by Zhang Tianyuan, so he simply changed the topic and asked.

Zhang Tianyuan nodded and said: "Yang Huizhi is especially good at sculpting Arhat statues, and pioneered the style of arranging characters in the background of mountains and rocks - wall sculptures, also known as 'shadow sculptures'. The Song Dynasty Arhat statue in the existing Jiang Sujiao Zhibao Temple made use of this method, so it was once attached to Yang's work. Yang Huizhi has also achieved high achievements in portrait sculpture. Legend has it that he once left a statue of a cup pavilion for a famous artist in Chang'an, and people can recognize it as a cup pavilion from the back of the statue. ”

"This is really a cow, it is not easy to recognize a person from the sculpture, although many experts say that some sculptures are lifelike or something, but ordinary people can't recognize anyone at all at a glance, unless it is a celebrity, for example, you said Guan Gong's long hair, it is easy to recognize, if it is Zhang Fei, maybe it will be recognized as Li Kui. Xu Gang was surprised.

"Yes, my country's paintings are different from Western oil paintings, oil paintings pay attention to the truth, so at a glance, you will know who it is, and it is very close to the photo, and my country's figure painting pays more attention to the likeness, but the problem is that if you really paint a picture and put it there, you can't recognize who is who at all. Painting is like this, sculpture is even more so, Yang Huizhi can make others recognize someone through his sculpture, which can really be said to be ingenious. Zhang Tianyuan exclaimed.

"This person is so powerful, he doesn't leave anything, and he doesn't seem to be very famous. Xu Gang said again.

Zhang Tianyuan sighed and said: "Yang Huizhi summed up many years of sculpture experience and wrote the book "Portrait Formula", but unfortunately it is no longer transmitted. However, because Yang Huizhi has the status of Wu Daozi, the painting saint in the history of painting, in the history of sculpture, later generations praised him as the 'plastic saint'. ”

"Tsk, to be called a saint or an immortal, that's amazing, it looks like this person is really powerful. Xu Gang was moved.

"That's why I chose his carving technique to imitate, fortunately I was fortunate to see Yang's Buddha carvings in the early years, and I still remember it deeply, so it shouldn't be a problem to imitate. Zhang Tianyuan smiled.

"Then you can get it quickly, you can wait over there. Xu Gang said.

Zhang Tianyuan nodded, just do it, he directly found all the tools for carving in the shop, and then selected a piece of Hetian jade, although it is not big, but to give a gift, it is a gesture, if you directly move a person-high jade Buddha past, then the other party has nowhere to put it, it is not as good as this palm-sized jade Buddha, but it can often be placed in the room to worship.

Because the Jade Buddha is relatively small and not as complex as a bamboo carving, this carving took less than half an hour.

When he finished carving, he found that there were onlookers around, and these people were asking the shopkeeper Hu, asking when the shop had this kind of business, and wanted to order one immediately.

Shopkeeper Hu was very embarrassed, he didn't know that his boss still had this kind of ability, thinking that Zhang Tianyuan was just a rich boy, and he made some money by good luck, he had to keep complaining that he didn't have that luck, and now it seems that his ability is not enough.

"Don't hide it from you, the things carved under the bottom, the minimum will not be less than one million, if you add the cost of this material, it is not a small amount, if you really have this demand, I can ask some slightly cheaper carvers to help you order jade, how?" Zhang Tianyuan did not refuse the guest's request, but just showed his hole card, the meaning is obvious, if you want me to carve, I must have time, and you have to be able to pay for it.

However, the guest's words reminded Zhang Tianyuan that if jade can be ordered in the jade shop, it is also a good business, according to Zhang Tianyuan's knowledge, the development of the domestic jade industry is far less prosperous than the jewelry industry.

If in the future, domestic newlyweds will change to jade bracelets and jade rings instead of diamond rings when they get married, then it will be considered a success.

The current domestic jade is mainly liked by people who play this industry, and most ordinary people basically don't dabble in it, which is a pity.

Moreover, there are many types of jade, and there are many more beautiful than diamonds, and the reason why the status in the international arena is far inferior to that of diamonds is not that the value is not good, but the lack of promotion, but the lack of operation.

But this kind of thing, Zhang Tianyuan can't do it at this stage, he can only take his time first, it seems that there are a lot of carvers under Zhu Ling in Nandu, who are responsible for the production of various carvings, and ask a few people from him to try it first to see if it works, if it is easy to use, you can cooperate in training in the future, this kind of practical skill is not less than other money.

"Shopkeeper Hu, you are entertaining guests, we are going to do something, so we will leave first. Zhang Tianyuan thought about the jade in his heart, gave the shopkeeper Hu some advice, and then drove back to the residence with Xu Gang, brought a gourd monkey wine, and carefully packaged the jade Buddha, and then went to Mu Ying's house.

As soon as I arrived at Mu Ying's house, I saw Mu Ying's grandfather sitting on the sofa reading a book, which was a book about Buddhism, and Zhang Tianyuan didn't know much about it, so he didn't bother the old man.

However, the old man himself stood up, his eyes fixed on the little eagle Shenluo who poked out a small head in Zhang Tianyuan's arms.

Old Man Mu was wearing reading glasses at this time, but he looked at people a little strangely, he lifted his glasses down, and then lowered his head slightly, but his eyes rolled up to look, it felt like rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you kid has got a treasure, this little thing is the Snowy Condor. Old Man Mu said in surprise.

This is the second time Zhang Tianyuan has heard someone call Shenluo the Snowy Divine Eagle, in fact, he doesn't care about these, what kind of eagle is this little thing, it's the same for him, he doesn't care at all, but seeing that the old man is so interested, he can't sweep the old man's Yaxing, so he asked: "What did Mu Lao Wei say that?"

"The whole body is as white as jade, and the eyes have three-color pupils, which is the most obvious feature, but I heard that the Snowy Divine Eagle is quite human, I don't know how about your eagle?" asked Old Man Mou.

"It's so smart that it understands me and what I'm trying to say. ”

"That's right, take care of it, it's not easy to get such a spiritual object. That is, old man, I don't like pets very much, otherwise I would have to buy them from you. ”

"Old man, he didn't sell this thing for 20 million. Xu Gang interjected on the side.

Hearing this, Old Man Mu's body trembled obviously, and then he smiled and said: "Yes, yes, you can maintain your principles in the face of such money, you are very good, it seems that the little girl of the Liu family is really not casual to say it!"