Seeing that no one else believed the appraiser, Song Yuanyuan came over to help out. She scrutinized the fan's frame critically.
"Master Huang must be telling the truth. Look at this fan's frame. It's all patchy with yellow and white bits. It's faded!"
"It must be a shoddy product!"
Xu Qingqing, standing outside the crowd, was quite speechless. And the knowledgeable people around also shook their heads, wearing smirks on their faces.
In their eyes, Song Yuanyuan, who had made a blunder, was like a monkey amusing them.
"What are you laughing at?"
Unaware of the situation, Song Yuanyuan wanted to argue further. "What famous fan frame has such a shabby color?"
"Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand," Xu Qingqing couldn't stand it anymore. She walked over and said coldly, "This is the famous Xiangfei bamboo!"
Xiangfei bamboo is also known as "spotted bamboo", "tear bamboo", "Xiang bamboo", etc.
Legend has it that Emperor Yao had two daughters. One was Ehuang and the other was Nüying. Both daughters married Shun as his concubines.
Later, when Shun died during his southern inspection, Ehuang and Nüying stood on the banks of the Xiang River and cried loudly for their husband. Their tears splashed on the bamboos and formed spots.
In fact, the spots on the Xiangfei bamboo are caused by the corrosion of fungi. Since it's a natural decoration, the value of using Xiangfei bamboo for fan frames lies in these spots.
The spots on the fan frame in Master Jiang's hand were red and purple, and in a circular shape.
"Master Jiang, if I'm not mistaken, the fan frame in your hand should be the top - grade Xiangfei bamboo of 'purple flowers on wax - colored base', right?"
The "purple flowers on wax - colored base" type, with the most obvious color contrast, was deeply favored by the dignitaries in ancient times. It was extremely precious and exquisitely crafted.
It had been in vogue from the Ming Dynasty until now and was the ultimate favorite of fan - frame collectors.
After hearing Xu Qingqing's introduction, Master Jiang nodded in agreement. "Young friend has good eyesight! This is indeed the top - grade Xiangfei bamboo."
The moment Master Jiang saw Xu Qingqing's face, he was slightly stunned.
"Thank you for your compliment, master," Xu Qingqing said and turned to leave, but was stopped by the somewhat excited Master Jiang.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're Xu Qingqing, right?"
Xu Qingqing was taken aback. She didn't expect Master Jiang to recognize her.
"Yes, I'm Xu Qingqing. Do you know me, Master Jiang?"
"I'm a friend of your father's, and I watched your livestream a few days ago," Master Jiang said amiably.
"Okay," Xu Qingqing nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.
This Master Jiang was a friend of her father's, but she had never heard her father mention him.
Just when Xu Qingqing didn't know how to break the awkward situation, a firecracker went off, startling her.
Looking up, she saw a middle - aged man in a golden suit. He was chubby, wearing exaggerated sunglasses, and holding an opened confetti cannon in his hand.
"I'm glad everyone could come to my birthday party. This year's birthday theme is antiques. So, without further ado, let's start the first game!"
From this man's words and demeanor, Xu Qingqing was sure that this was Sister Jing Zhen's current husband, Song Fuqiang.
Xu Qingqing looked at the chubby "golden pumpkin" rolling down the stairs in disbelief. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't associate Song Fuqiang with the intellectual and elegant Sister Jing Zhen.
Jing Zhen also changed into a more appropriate dress and walked down the stairs.
When Song Fuqiang saw that Jing Zhen had changed her clothes without permission, a flicker of displeasure flashed across his face. Although it disappeared quickly, Xu Qingqing still caught it.
Song Fuqiang offered his arm to Jing Zhen, and Jing Zhen naturally took it.
The two of them didn't seem to match at all. Just from their ages, one could only assume they were father and daughter.
Creak, creak.
Suddenly, the strange sound of creaking reached Xu Qingqing's ears.
This eerie sound gave Xu Qingqing goosebumps. Turning her head, she found that the person making the sound was Xu Yan.
In order to control his emotions, Xu Yan gritted his teeth so hard that it made this creepy sound.
"Brother, are you okay?" Xu Qingqing rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and couldn't help asking.
She was worried that if her brother kept grinding his teeth like this, his good teeth might get damaged.
"I'm fine. I'm doing great," Xu Yan pretended to be calm, but his eyes were full of jealousy and madness. He wished he could rush up and break the hands that Jing Zhen and Song Fuqiang were holding.
"To liven up the atmosphere, I've prepared a competition. The prize is the famous painting 'Bird Bells and Slim Bamboos' by Lin Zhenghong, the 'Elegant Gentleman'."
When everyone heard that Song Fuqiang was offering the painting "Bird Bells and Slim Bamboos" as the prize, the place instantly became lively, and people were talking animatedly.
"This Song Fuqiang is really a rich fool! He's actually using the painting 'Bird Bells and Slim Bamboos' as the prize!"
"That's for sure! He invited so many antique masters to attend his party. He must spend a fortune! Otherwise, he'd be sorry for their coming!"
"This is 'Bird Bells and Slim Bamboos'. It's really worth coming today."
Hearing that Song Fuqiang actually had the painting "Bird Bells and Slim Bamboos", Xu Qingqing was slightly surprised.
She had thought that Song Fuqiang was just a nouveau - riche, but she didn't expect that he could collect a painting by the Elegant Gentleman.
Hearing everyone discussing "Bird Bells and Slim Bamboos", Xu Yan shook his head.
He was so angry that he couldn't remember any information about "Bird Bells and Slim Bamboos" for a moment.
Xu Yan nudged Xu Qingqing beside him and whispered, "Why does the painting 'Bird Bells and Slim Bamboos' sound a bit familiar?"
Xu Qingqing, who was clapping along with the crowd, rolled her eyes at Xu Yan.
Of course it sounded familiar. This was the only painting that Xu's father had a regret about not collecting.
Xu's father was a loyal fan of Lin Zhenghong, who was known as the "Elegant Gentleman". Lin Zhenghong was best at painting bamboos.
Especially the bamboos when spring just arrived and after a spring rain, when all the bamboo shoots were popping out. They were cute and full of spring vibes, very infectious.
Moreover, Lin Zhenghong was also a calligrapher. His calligraphy was powerful.
This strength was also applied to his paintings. The bamboos he painted were straight, full of strength, and lifelike.
There was once a legend that Lin Zhenghong was very fond of painting bamboos. There was a bamboo grove in his house for him to draw inspiration from. One spring, the bamboos grew very well.
Lin Zhenghong painted the bamboos on a new table specially made for him by his family.
When the whole spring was over, the servants wanted to carry the table out for cleaning.
They found many dents on the place where Lin Zhenghong painted. All of them were left by Lin Zhenghong's excessive force while painting.
This little story not only reflected Lin Zhenghong's love for bamboos but also showed his strong painting skills.
Because he loved painting bamboos and bamboos were known for their elegance, people called Lin Zhenghong the Elegant Gentleman.
Although Lin Zhenghong painted a lot, due to the decline of his family and his exile to the border, many of his paintings were lost. Not many of them were completely preserved.
Most of them were in museums. Even though Xu's father liked them very much, he could only feast his eyes on them in the museums.