Although Mr. Kong said it very easily, in fact, making ink ink by hand is a very tedious work, and the natural oxidation process cannot be completed without extraordinary patience and perseverance.

However, Liu Yuhao was very patient, and he didn't show any urgency, except for accompanying Master Ge to the site of the Baolong auction again on the afternoon of the first day, he almost never went out.

Liu Yuhao especially enjoys the days of getting up every afternoon to make a pot of tea, and then strolling to the old man's study to chat with the old man.

"Old man, let's rest for a while and taste the tea I made today."

Liu Yuhao smiled and handed the green and white porcelain cup of Longquan kiln overflowing with tea in his hand to Old Man Kong, but he did not rush back to sit back to taste tea, but went around to the bookcase of clay making to take over the old man's work.

Fortunately, these days, Liu Yuhao has also learned the process of making clay, and the old man Kong is pointing out from time to time, and from a distance, the movements are also decent.

Old Man Kong glanced at Liu Yuhao happily, nodded appreciatively, and then squinted his eyes, picked up the blue and white porcelain cup and put it under his nose, savoring the rare happy times in the past few decades.

"Old man, I guess I can't find out where you can find out if you make this bit of ink, compared to the price of gold."

Liu Yuhao moved quickly in his hands, but his mouth was not idle, and he chatted with Old Man Kong without a match.

The operation process of making ink clay mainly includes three processes: grinding Zhu, rubbing wormwood, and making oil, but because Mr. Kong is particular about materials, and has his own specific formula, coupled with fine production skills, Liu Yuhao roughly calculated, and when the ink clay is completely made, I am afraid that the cost of each gram is not far from the price of gold on the market.

Old Man Kong smiled faintly, put down the blue and white porcelain cup in his hand, and said, "The ink is the clothes of the seal. If the clothing is not neat, it will be cold; If the ink is not good, the seal cannot be colored. I don't dare to touch that piece of goods on the heirloom jade seal. ”

"That's nature!" Liu Yuhao nodded hurriedly.

Old Man Kong snorted coldly and said, "Those who are good at using ink clay choose ink ink, just as those who are good at writing choose pen and ink. The quality of its quality directly affects its artistic effect. As the saying goes, the difference is a thousand miles. The best ink is worth a lot of money, and in ancient times, it was common to exchange a tael of gold for a tael of ink clay, and the little fur I learned in my hand was still far behind. ”

Is this still called fur science? What else is far from it?

Liu Yuhao was stunned, stopped what he was doing, and said with a smile: "Old man, if those artists in China think like you, then I will open a clay printing factory first when I go back to Ming'er, and it will be strange if I don't make money." ”

"Stinky boy, you can't do anything meaningful except make money."

Old Man Kong looked serious at first, but then he was amused by Liu Yuhao's lazy appearance, shook his head and scolded with a smile.

Liu Yuhao smiled, washed his hands in the clear water, and said with a smile: "The teacher also has a side of ink, which is usually precious, except for taking it out every once in a while to maintain it, I am usually reluctant to use it." ”

"Oh! And Brother Qi values the ink so much? ”

Old Man Kong raised his eyebrows, looked at Liu Yuhao with interest, and waited for him to continue.

"I heard that it was a treasure left behind by a gentleman named Seal Idiot, and I never knew anything about ink before, so I didn't look at it carefully."

Liu Yuhao picked up his blue and white porcelain cup, walked to a chair in the corner and sat down, leaned back on the chair, only to feel that he had used too much force just now, and his arm was a little swollen when he stopped suddenly.

"Yes, only Lu'an Yin Ni is worthy of being cherished by everyone like Brother Qi."

Old Man Kong waited for Liu Yuhao to finish speaking, and he had already guessed why Old Man Qi valued his treasured ink clay so much, and nodded with a smile.

"Lu'an ink? Old man, are you talking about the pharmacist named Zhang Lu'an? ”

Liu Yuhao was stunned and slapped his head.

Old Man Kong pursed his lips and explained disdainfully: "Zhang Lu'an, the founder of Lu'an Yin Ni, was born in a famous family of pharmacists in Hangzhou, and his family runs one of the six major pharmacies in Hangzhou in modern history. ”

Oh, that Zhang Lu'an turned out to be a veritable "Xiaokai"!

Liu Yuhao secretly smiled in his heart, but he pretended to admire it on his face, and said: "Three white and sixty lines, the best in the line, no matter what happens, as long as you do it with your heart, you should become a generation of everyone." ”

Old Man Kong was very satisfied with Liu Yuhao's attitude, nodded slightly, and said: "Zhang Lu'an has benefited from the family's cultivation since childhood, and has made quite outstanding achievements in both business and art. It is said that the young Zhang Lu'an went to Shanghai to expand the family business, and opened a branch of Yiyuan ginseng, one of Zhang Tongtai's industries, on Nanjing Road. ”

Speaking of this, Old Man Kong deliberately paused and glanced at Liu Yuhao, probably wondering if Liu Yuhao was listening to him. Fortunately, Liu Yuhao's expression was serious, and his eyes did not wander with Old Man Kong's every move.

The old man smiled slightly, took a sip of tea, and then continued: "Later, Mr. Zhang Lu'an chose Jing'an as his residence, and had to worship the famous calligraphy, painting and seal carver Zhao Shuru as his teacher. While studying the skills of compilation, he also collected seals and seals on a large scale, so he won the title of the seal idiot. ”

Liu Yuhao had never heard this story before, so naturally he would not interrupt Old Man Kong's words.

Mr. Kong said: "With the growth of Mr. Zhang Lu'an's seal carving skills, he became more and more dissatisfied with the quality of the existing ink, so he decided to create his own ink, and finally achieved the famous Lu'an ink. ”

"Famous all over the world? Old man, this word is a bit exaggerated."

Liu Yuhao's expression moved when he heard this, and he asked with surprise.

When Mr. Kong heard Liu Yuhao's words, he almost fell off the chair with an upside-down onion, and said dissatisfiedly: "Mr. Lu An often spares no effort to make ink, and specially invited a chemistry teacher to do experiments and study formulas at home. In order to do a good job of printing clay, buy refrigerators, buy electric stoves, buy what you want, regardless of money, the raw materials purchased are carefully selected, and the cost of the ink he makes is really far more than gold. ”

"Damn, I can't say, that kind of person is a real madman."

Liu Yuhao's face did not change at all, but in his heart, he slandered Zhang Lu'an, the founder of Lu'an Yinni.

Due to the lack of raw materials for making ink clay in Europe, those materials that must be specially processed such as lead dan, white clay, borneol, musk, castor oil and yellow wax had to be prepared by Mr. Kong himself, so it took three days for the ink clay to be completed.

"This dipping in mud is also exquisite, but I don't want to let my own temperament come from it."

Old Man Kong looked pious, and when he held the heirloom jade seal with both hands, tears of excitement overflowed in his eyes.

At this time, Liu Yuhao didn't dare to disturb the old man's temperament, so he stood aside and looked at his nose and heart, even if he felt funny in his heart, he couldn't help but be solemn.

After the old man Confucius chattered silently for a while, he held the steady seal clay box in one hand, and touched the side of the seal of the jade seal of the country to the round light on the top of the pile of ink, and touched it lightly.

Liu Yuhao also had a few seals that he carved to play with, but he had never used them, so when he saw Old Man Kong's respectful and cautious appearance, he couldn't help but laugh again in his heart.

Although Old Man Kong had his back to Liu Yuhao, he seemed to guess what Liu Yuhao was thinking, and said lightly: "Boy, the more you are at this time, the more serious you must be, and you would rather beat lightly many times than ask for a quick and heavy hand." When the printing surface is flat, the thickness of the upper vermilion directly determines the imprinting effect, and the trial printing should be carried out according to the needs to accumulate experience. ”

As he spoke, Old Man Kong held up the Seal of Heaven with both hands and printed it on a pre-prepared birth announcement.

Liu Yuhao nodded hurriedly and said, "What the old man said is that I have a few clicks." ”

Old Man Kong nodded slightly, and reminded Liu Yuhao to say: "If you encounter a newly made seal in the future, you must also remove the stone chips to avoid falling into the seal mud." Remember, if the new pile of ink is not sure to be pulled out in a bundle, the mud should be pressed before continuing. ”

Liu Yuhao naturally did not allow anything.

Old Man Kong decisively placed the seal on the shengxuan, pressed down the top of the seal of the Son of Heaven with his hand, so that the force on the seal surface was even, and then quickly removed the seal.

After doing those, Old Man Kong took a few steps back and squinted his eyes to look at it carefully, and after feeling quite satisfied, the old man placed the seal of the Son of Heaven face up and covered it with paper.

"That's it?" Liu Yuhao asked.

Old Man Kong didn't look back, but he was full of anger and snorted: "Say less, see more!" ”

"Uh" Liu Yuhao suddenly had black lines on his head.

Old Man Kong didn't pay attention to what Liu Yuhao was thinking at this time, and carefully strangled Shengxuan's back with his fingernails and the lid of the ink box, and then removed the seal, and wiped the remaining ink on the seal with soft paper.

After doing all this, Old Man Kong didn't have a trace of smile on his face, picked up a handkerchief and wiped the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, but he spit out a long breath of turbid air as if he was tired and collapsed.

It was already deep at night, but Liu Yuhao had not rested.

When the watch hand on his left wrist pointed to zero o'clock, Liu Yuhao felt a figure flash at his door, and then, two figures flashed in.

"Brother Liu, I'm back."

"Boss!"

The one who spoke in front was naturally Fuji Yi, who hadn't seen anyone for several days, and the one in the back who smiled at him as soon as he entered the door was Gu Pingzhi, who was full of oil.

A new battle is about to begin.

Liu Yuhao smiled calmly, waved his hand, and said, "Pingzhi, sit down, sit down and take a break from the tea I brewed with my own hands." ”