Chapter 303: The True Master

...... "Okay, you can drive! Don't lose it!" Although the old man hasn't been here for five days, he still knows about Liu Dong and Li Yuncong's affairs in heaven and earth.

After hearing this, Liu Dong nodded, took Mu Gang to the garage on the right side of the courtyard corner, and drove Li Yuncong's Porsche out.

However, when he saw this car, Mu Gang couldn't help frowning, and his face showed a look of embarrassment. For his majestic body, which is close to two meters, the interior space of a sports car seems a little cramped. Only off-road vehicles such as Hummer, Land Rover, and Grand Cherokee are Mu Gang's favorite models.

However, there is no way at the moment, Liu Dong's Land Rover is far away in Quancheng, so he can only squeeze at this moment.

The three cars slowly drove forward in the slightly crowded traffic in the capital, and Liu Dong, who was following behind, thought of the master with a high status in the country who was about to meet, and his mood became slightly excited.

Qi Gong, a Manchu, Yongzheng - the ninth grandson of the emperor, a famous contemporary calligrapher, painter, educator, classical philologist, connoisseur, red scholar, poet, master of Chinese culture. He used to be an associate professor and professor of Beijing Normal University, a standing member of the National Committee of the People's Consultative Conference of the People's Republic of China, a chairman of the National Cultural Relics Appraisal Committee, a curator of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History, a doctoral student, a tutor, a consultant of the Jiusan Society, an honorary chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, the founding chairman of the World Federation of Chinese Calligraphers and Painters, an advisor of the China-Buddhist Association, the Ancient Palace Museum, and the National Museum, and the president of the Xiling Seal Society.

This long list of names also represents the high status of this master in China. Everyone who knows something about the old gentleman. will be respected from the heart. Even if it is an old soldier like Li Lao who has come from the war years. When the old gentleman is mentioned again. It's also a look of admiration.

And when he first came to the capital and told him from Mr. Li that he was visiting this old gentleman, Liu Dong was excited for a long time.

"Now I finally have a chance to visit his old man!"

And just when Liu Dong was looking forward to meeting Master Qi Gong, the car had already gotten off the main road and turned into a not very wide alley, and there were also some courtyard houses on both sides of the alley, just like the small courtyard before Li Lao, the courtyard here has also undergone special modernization. There is no clutter and distraction in other Laobei-Beijing hutongs.

When Liu Dong and the others came to the gate of the Qi Old Courtyard. There was already a small black car parked outside the door.

"It seems that there are other people who have come to visit Qi Lao!" When Old Man Li got out of the car with his wife, he looked at the half-hidden door and secretly guessed.

And at this time, after Liu Dong parked the car, he also walked over with Mu Gang, "Elder Li, shall we go in?"

"Here, naturally you want to go in!Hey, what are you holding in your hand?" Looking at the long package in Liu Dong's hand, Old Man Li asked in surprise.

"Oh, this is the rice paper I bought from Panjiayuan. Anhui Venus Xuan paper, raw Xuan, cooked Xuan and semi-cooked Xuan each have a knife!" Liu Dongyang raised the thick stack of paper in his hand. Said with a smile.

When he learned that he was going to visit Qi Lao, Liu Dong was already thinking about what gift to take. However, Mr. Qi is frugal by nature, although calligraphy and painting are worth thousands of gold, but most of the money has been donated in addition to buying books, and his own life is extremely simple, so Liu Dong is also good to give too precious things. Therefore, I bought these three knives of the best rice paper from Pan Jiayuan.

Don't look at these three knife papers, there are only 300 sheets, which is not much, but Xuan paper is a kind of high-grade paper used for calligraphy and painting in China. Its main raw materials are sandalwood bark and straw, supplemented by more than ten kinds of condiments such as chinensis, mulberry, bamboo, hemp, etc., which can be made after more than ten processes such as soaking, ash masking, steaming, bleaching, beating, scooping, gluing, and pasting. Every piece of paper is extremely precious, and Liu Dong's three knives alone cost him nearly 10,000 yuan.

Hearing Liu Dong's answer, Li Lao nodded and smiled with satisfaction: "You kid is smart and knows what to send!"

At this time, Liu Dong also saw the box that was not too big in Li Lao's hand, and looked at the packaging outside, although it was not gorgeous, it was very simple, and it was obviously a gift prepared by Li Lao.

"Old man, what are you holding in your hand?"

"Guess?" said the old man, smugly.

"Alright, don't look at how old you are, and play this guessing game like a child. At this time, Grandma Li, who was standing next to her, glanced at the boss and said to Liu Dong with a smile: "What he is holding in his hand is an ink product from the Qing Dynasty ink maker Wang Jinsheng's 'Jiangu Zhai'!"

Although Mrs. Li has always opposed Mr. Li's collection of antiques, her husband has been tinkering with this all day long, and she has learned a lot, and before coming again, Mr. Li has not been less bragging to her about the rarity of the ink treasure in his hand.

Listening to the old lady's words, Liu Dong was surprised for a while, Wang Jinsheng and Cao Sugong, Wang Jie'an, Hu Kaiwen were the same famous Qing Dynasty ink makers, their ink carving work, decoration ingenuity, all of which are beautiful, are the cherished things of literati and scholars. Although it is not as hard to find as the famous 'Li Tinggui ink', it is also a rare ink product!

Looking at the surprise on Liu Dong's face, Old Man Li was also proud in his heart.

"Okay, it's not early, Xiaodong, let's go in!" When the old man was about to turn around, as if he remembered something, he turned back to the four black-clothed bodyguards again and ordered, "Don't go in, stay outside!"

After finishing speaking, the old man didn't care about other people's expressions, and with Wang Jinshengmo in his hand, he strode towards the door, and seeing this, Mrs. Li hurriedly followed.

And Liu Dong, who had long been looking forward to this placement infinitely, naturally did not dare to lag behind. Maybe only Mu didn't take this matter to heart just now.

"Bang!" Li Lao grabbed the iron shop on the door and knocked hard.

"Is anyone there?" of course, this time it was Liu Dong who shouted.

When his words fell, less than half a minute later, a middle-aged man wearing a gray short-sleeved T-shirt, slightly obese, with a hint of generosity on his face, and about forty years old, appeared in front of Liu Dong and the others.

No one knew who the middle-aged man was, including Li Lao, but when they saw Li Lao and they were standing at the door, they came over with a smile.

"You're Li Renfang, Li Lao, right?"

"I am, you are?"

Seeing the confusion on Old Li's face, the middle-aged man hurriedly said, "My name is Fu Kun, and I came to visit Old Qi with my master!"

"Oh, Fu Kun, I don't think I've heard this name before!" After thinking for a while, Li Lao suddenly remembered something, and then asked: "You are a calligraphy and painting appraisal expert at the National Museum, right? So your master is Xu Bangda, Xu Lao?

Looking at the look of surprise on Old Man Li's face, Fu Kun smiled and nodded, "My master and Old Qi are waiting for you in the living room!"

"Yes, this is great!Xiaodong, let's go!" said, even the old lady Li next to him didn't care about it, her expression was a little anxious, and she raised her legs and walked inside. The old lady who hurt told him to slow down in the back, for fear that the old man would fall.

And at this moment, while Liu Dong was striding to keep up, he was also happier in his heart.

Xu Bangda Xu Lao, a master of the "appraisal school" in the field of Chinese art history, combined traditional appraisal methods with modern archaeological methods to establish a teachable research method and academic theory for the appraisal of calligraphy and painting. It has the reputation of "Xu Half Ruler" (meaning that his appreciation of paintings, and the authenticity of half a foot is known when unfolded on the painting axis) and "the first person to distinguish paintings in China".

His representative works include "Several Seals and Related Calligraphy and Painting Authenticity", "Xu Bangda Collection of Five Ancient Calligraphy and Painting Records (Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty Calligraphy, I)", "Rewriting the Catalogue of Old Paintings and Calligraphy in the Qing Palace Museum" and so on.

Moreover, Liu Dong has also read these books, which has opened his eyes, and at the same time, his antique appraisal skills have risen greatly, and he also deeply feels the depth of the old man's skills in antiques, especially calligraphy and painting appraisal.

The group bypassed the shadow wall and saw the Chinese calligraphy and painting and appraisal of the two people who were standing under the grape trellis in the main house of the courtyard at the moment, welcoming several people.

The two old men, one in 1910 and the other in 1911, are now ninety years old, and their bodies are more or less sick, especially Qi Lao, who has been in poor health in his old age, so seeing the two old men standing outside the door, whether it is Li Lao and his wife, or Liu Dong hurriedly strode forward and respectfully greeted him.

In front of these two old men, Li Lao, who is already in his prime, is just a junior.

"Elder Qi, Elder Xu, and the two laborers went out to greet them in person, and Ren Fang was really flattered!"

"Hehe, General Li is polite! You came to visit in person, as the master, I am also full of brilliance!" Qi Lao said with a smile. Although the furrows on the slightly round face are deep, the smile gives people three points of kindness.

"Old Qi has tormented me, Ren Fang has been retired for many years, and he is no longer General Li, if you don't dislike it, old man, just call me by my name!"

"Okay, then let's take a step back, how old am I, you can just call me brother, how about it, Brother Li?"

"Hehe, I think it's good!" said Xu Lao said with a smile beside him.

Of course, Old Man Li doesn't have any opinions, speaking of which, although the age gap between them is quite large, they are already old people, and they don't have to distinguish too much between each other, otherwise Liu Dong and these juniors will have a hard time in terms of title.

Next, after introducing Liu Dong and the others, Fu Kun and Liu Dong respectively helped Xu Lao and Qi Lao into the living room of the main house.

"Listen to Jing Huai, Brother Li, how many paintings do you have, and you want me, an old man, to help you do an appraisal?" Everyone sat down, and after a brief greeting, Qi Lao went straight to the topic.

The Jinghuai in Qi Lao's mouth is Zhang Jinghuai, his nephew who has been taking care of his daily life before, because Li Lao had no intersection with Old Man Qi at the beginning, so when he wanted to come over and place it, he asked this Mr. Zhang Jinghuai to ask for a message. (To be continued......)