The old man listened to Xie Bin's speech, nodded with a smile, and said: "Not bad, very courageous, dare to buy such a small stone with 180,000 yuan, amazing." ”

Li Jingjing also knew that this stone came from this way, and she couldn't help but praise Xie Bin's luck in her heart. It's just that she doesn't know and can't know that Xie Bin can get this stone, not only by luck, but also by his ability.

The old man praised Xie Bin twice, and then made another suggestion, "But Xiao Xie, I think it's best to change your font size." ”

Xie Bin looked at the old man differently, and when he just sat down, he praised him for his good name, why did he have to revise it now? "Why? What do you want to change? ”

"Hehehe, Xiao Xie, don't worry, I think it's good to change it to two words, well, three words, carved as 'Xie Shiyin', how about it?" The old man saw Xie Bin's slightly anxious expression, and said with a smile.

Xie Bin's eyes lit up when he heard this, "Xie Shiyin, not bad, not bad," he said and gave the old man a thumbs up, "It's still your old man who is smart, and it's not okay if you don't accept it." ”

The old man smiled proudly, "There, I just think that the words 'Xie Shishanren' are a bit old-fashioned, and they are not suitable for you as a young man, so I want to come over to you to talk about this problem, haha, the main thing is that this stone is too precious, if you rush to the knife, there will be no place to cry in the future." ”

Xie Bin nodded, "Yes, I originally felt this way, but I couldn't think of anything better, so I decided to ask for this font size, but you have always modified it like this, hey, it has reduced two words, which makes it more concise, but the meaning has not changed at all, and it is even more clearly expressed." The two words 'Xie Shi' can not only be used as a name, but also as a font size, and can also express their thoughts. Saying that, Xie Bin clapped his palms, "Just do as you say, when the time comes, I will add an extra copy to you, hahaha." ”

"Hehe," after listening to Xie Bin's words, the old man was noncommittal, "Then I'm ready to use the knife, do you have any requirements?" ”

"This?" Xie Bin really had a small request, but he was afraid of being a little reckless, "I want to follow you and have a look, I don't know if it's okay?" ”

The old man raised his eyebrows and nodded, "Okay, there are really not many people who like this line of work now, my son, he doesn't want to watch it when he forces him, you can like it, it's rare, okay, it's just that it takes some effort." ”

When Xie Bin heard that the old man agreed, he was overjoyed and said happily: "It's okay, I can witness your old man's craftsmanship with my own eyes, this is a happy event that many people dream of, what are you afraid of when you spend some time?" ”

"Well, if only you thought so," the old man sighed regretfully.

Indeed, don't look at the old man's skill, and his reputation is not small, but in this kind of environment where machine carving is popular, it is also very uncomfortable. In these years, there are fewer people who learn seal carving than those who learn bamboo and wood carving. Almost all of these famous seal carving masters in China are old people of the same generation as the old man, and the young ones are forty or fifty years old, and there are almost no younger ones.

However, as soon as the old man entered the workshop, Li Jingjing and Qiao'er followed in. Xie Bin laughed, pointed at Qiao'er and said: "Old man, this is your future successor, well, interest should be cultivated from childhood, haha, old man, you have to hurry." ”

The old man touched Qiao'er's head dotingly: "This is the summer vacation, the girl can live here for a few days, and when school starts, I won't see you for many days." As she spoke, she sighed again, "If her father knew that my old man taught Qiao'er to learn this, I'm afraid he wouldn't dare to let Qiao'er come to me again." ”

Xie Bin sighed secretly, this old man's son didn't want his daughter to learn this, and others could imagine it, thinking about it, Xie Bin thought of the old craftsman he had met at that expo before, and he was also facing the dilemma that his craft was about to be lost. Xie Bin was excited, "Old man, why don't you teach me." As soon as the words came out, Xie Bin felt that he was a little abrupt, although the old man was a little emotional, but maybe he already had an apprentice, he was so reckless, would the old man think too much.

Who knew that the old man grabbed Xie Bin in surprise, "Xiao Xie, are you willing to learn this?" ”

Xie Bin nodded, "Yes, I know when I am old, I am playing bamboo and wood carving, this foundation should be very good, as long as you master the skills, the progress should be very fast." ”

Grandpa smiled and waved his hand, "Xiao Xie, you look at seal carving too simply," he said with a long breath, "Seal carving sounds like carving seal characters, in fact, not only seal characters, but also can be carved simplified characters in regular script or something, you can also carve flower and grass images and the like, but if you want to learn carving systematically, the difficulty is not here, but there," the old man said, pointing to the big bookcase next to him, and took out a copy of "Three Generations of Jijin Wencun", handed it to Xie Bin and said: "You see, if you want to really learn seal carving, These books must be mastered, otherwise, if you don't learn well, it's better not to learn them. ”

Xie Bin flipped through the book and took a closer look, but it was the relevant knowledge and introduction of "Golden Text", as well as pictures and so on. Xie Bin looked up at the bookcase again, there were "Jin Wen Compilation", "Oracle Bone Inscription Compilation", "Oracle Bone Script Collection", "Ancient Chronicle Compilation", "Historical Chapters and Preface to the Evidence", "Ancient Seal Compilation", "Shuowen Interpretation of Characters", "Jinshi Dictionary", "Chinese Seal Character Sign" and so on, all of which are books related to ancient characters. Xie Bin looked at some of the words that were like heavenly books, and his head instantly became bigger. But think about it again, I have a foundation in seal script, and it's not too difficult to learn this, but it takes a lot of time.

Thinking of this, Xie Bin nodded at the old man, and said firmly: "Don't worry about these, as long as you are willing to teach me, these are trivial things, besides, I also have a foundation in seal script, it shouldn't be too difficult to learn these, I don't want to be a scholar of paleographies, just lettering, you can know how to write." ”

The old man nodded, "That's too, alas, besides, those who engrave seals now, and a few research these, most of them are dealt with with in modern fonts, and occasionally draw a few seal characters to feel great, where is like the previous masters, they are all based on golden scripts, and then all kinds of words have to be involved." He waved his hand and said, "Since Xiao Xie is willing to learn, then follow me, but I am very strict, and I don't nod, you can't be a teacher." ”

Xie Bin nodded, expressed his understanding, and said with a smile: "Then do you want to give you an apprenticeship tea?" ”

"Hahaha, Xiao Xie, you still know these rules, it's not simple, who is your master?" The old man asked with a smile after hearing this.

"My grandfather, when his old man taught me to learn carving, I also kowtowed respectfully," Xie Bin also said with a smile. This is a fact, the older generation has such rules, including some current industries, there are such rules, just like the king surnamed Liu in Xiangdao, who went to Sichuan and Shu to learn the face-changing stunt, and also kowtowed to tea, and the famous cross talk sketch actor, when accepting apprentices, he also had to kowtow to apprentices.

"Hahaha, so that's the case, but you don't have to kowtow, I accepted an apprentice a few years ago, and I didn't ask him to kowtow, the new society doesn't want this," he said, taking out several books from the cabinet, "Na, these are all basic things, you can see them yourself, if you don't understand them, come to me to learn knife techniques if you have time." ”

Xie Bin hurriedly nodded yes, looked at Li Jingjing's slightly surprised eyes as he spoke, and asked with a smile: "Teacher, shall we demonstrate my piece of material first?" ”

"Hehe, Xiao Xie, you really have the courage to dare to use such a good material as a demonstration, you are not afraid of damaging this material?" The old man joked with a smile.

"Hehe, your old craft, I don't worry," Xie Bin also touched the old man's temper, it's okay to make such a little joke.

"Okay, let you see the teacher's craftsmanship, don't think that my old man is fooling you," the old man was full of pride, took out the materials and tools with a wave of his hand, and sat down in front of the workbench.

The tools of the seal carving master are simpler than bamboo and wood carving, and the knives are only a few models, unlike bamboo and wood carving, there are more than a dozen large and small carving knives alone, from the chisel as big as the chisel used in carpentry to the carving knife narrower than the tip of the needle, there are a lot of them.

The carving knife method of these seals is also relatively simple, with two techniques, punching and cutting. The punching knife travels quickly, pouring thousands of miles, much like the penmanship in calligraphy, which can show the vigorous momentum; The cutter travels slowly, and is continuously cut with a short-range crushing knife, step by step, just like the astringent pen in calligraphy, which can show a strong and condensed, thick and steady atmosphere. Sometimes the combination of the two knife techniques is more effective.

When the old man demonstrated to Xie Bin, he used a cutter. Seeing the old man's steady arm and a delicate carving knife working on a small stone, Xie Bin felt as if there was some kind of idea sprouting in his heart.

With the old man's movements, the bloodstone stone chips fell on the workbench one by one, and the end of the knife had begun to emerge, and the approximate shape could be seen.

This superb bloodstone is oval at both ends, and the old man first carved a border before he began to create the text. And before the creation, the drawings have been drawn, and there are three seal characters on the drawings. Xie Bin took the drawings and looked at them carefully, and had to sigh at the old man's imagination and creativity.

These three characters are a hundred times stronger than those hanging in the living room, and the idea is also very ingenious, with a "Xie" character occupying almost half of the layout, and then the two characters "lithograph" in the lower corner. The lines between the three characters do not interfere with each other and are in contact, and with the constraints of the border, they look like a stone image.

The old man carved it according to the map, knife by knife, as if forgetting that there were three bystanders around him, two large and one small, frowning from time to time and looking at it with a magnifying glass, and from time to time he continued to cut the knife, and cut it violently for a while.

Xie Bin on the side was a little excited, witnessing such a master creating, this opportunity is not much, especially the selfless work of the old man in this state, it is even more rare.

And although Li Jingjing is also very interested, she is already a little uncomfortable, but Qiao'er, this girl is still full of interest, looking at her grandfather, then at Xie Bin, and then at Li Jingjing, but it is very self-satisfied.

It took more than two hours to wait until noon, and this "Xie Shiyin" was freshly baked. Xie Bin was pleasantly surprised to hold this small seal, dipped in the mud, and then gently pressed on the prepared rice paper, the three words "Xie Shiyin" were clearly printed on the paper, the simple and solemn three words, and like a rock that has gone through wind and rain, the lines are clear, strong and powerful, Xie Bin looked at it for a while, and smirked at the old man, not knowing what to say.

Seeing Xie Bin's appearance, the old man was also happy in his heart, but he taught a lesson: "Don't look at how easy I engrave, I don't even rub anymore, but you have to start from the most basic part, learn all kinds of words, be able to write on paper, can rub on stones, and finally can start the knife, understand?" ”