Chapter 81: Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition

In the end, it was Wu Mengting who went to wash the dishes.

Regarding this, Chen Feng could only admire her good temper.

The three of them left together, taking Chen Feng’s car.

It was just a press of the accelerator, and in two or three minutes, they arrived at Chen Feng’s rented East Lake villa.

“It’s this close?”

Both Lin Wan and Wu Mengting were shocked.

The distance between the two places was simply too close. After leaving the main gate of their residential complex, it was a left turn and a straight walk of less than a hundred meters.

There was no need to drive; it was only a few minutes on foot.

“Yeah. It’s very close.”

Chen Feng opened the car door and got out first. The two women then followed, as if waking from a dream.

Standing by the car, they sized up the villa. Its exterior was an antique-style building, looking very beautiful.

Opening the courtyard gate, they were greeted by a small yard with a path paved with blue bricks in the middle. There were lawns on both sides, fitness equipment, and many potted plants and flowers. There was even a small patch of land reserved for a vegetable garden, but nothing was planted at the moment.

“This house is too nice! No, I have to start my live stream. Brother Feng, you don’t mind, do you?”

Lin Wan stood at the courtyard gate, quickly taking out her phone to open the live streaming app, while looking at Chen Feng with a grin and a pleading look in her eyes.

“Do as you please. But I don’t like being on camera, so don’t film me.”

“Okay, OK, no problem.”

Lin Wan said happily and immediately started her live stream, writing the title: #Taking Everyone on a Tour of a Villa by East Lake#.

“The stream is live! Hello, my dear viewers. Today I’m a guest at my friend Brother Feng’s house. This is his villa by East Lake in Xiuzhou. Everyone, take a look.”

Lin Wan held her phone, giving a close-up of the villa’s small courtyard, and then began to walk into the yard, starting her introduction.

It had to be said, many people were very interested in the villas by East Lake. Seeing the title of her live stream, many passersby clicked in.

As for Lin Wan’s fans, it went without saying. After receiving the notification, as long as conditions allowed, they all opened the live stream to watch.

Before long, there were over a thousand people in the live stream room.

Chen Feng didn’t pay much attention to her, as long as she didn’t film him like last time.

He also didn’t want to be in the shot and waved his hand at her, signaling her not to film him and to just wander around on her own.

Lin Wan didn’t insist. She held her phone and started strolling around the villa.

Wu Mengting, on the other hand, sat down with Chen Feng in the living room. Chen Feng made her a cup of tea and turned on the TV to avoid any awkward silence.

“How much is the rent here? It must be very expensive, right?”

Wu Mengting asked after glancing around.

Chen Feng leaned back on the sofa naturally and replied, “Not very expensive. Thirty thousand a month.”

“Thirty thousand?” Wu Mengting was slightly surprised at first, then nodded and said, “For such a large villa in such a good location, thirty thousand isn’t that expensive.”

“I initially chose this place because it’s close to East Lake. When I have nothing to do, I can go for a walk on the East Lake embankment at any time.”

“Then you could live in my complex. It’s also quite close to the East Lake embankment. The monthly rent is only five thousand.”

Chen Feng shook his head, showing off a little, “I’m not used to living in residential complexes anymore. I’m only used to living in villas.”

Wu Mengting rolled her eyes and said, “Since you’re so rich, you might as well just buy a villa to live in. Why spend tens of thousands on rent?”

Chen Feng smiled and nodded, “I actually have that thought. When I’ve saved up enough money, I’ll just buy this place.”

Wu Mengting was taken aback and asked, “Didn’t you say before that you didn’t have much money? Why are you suddenly saying this now?”

Chen Feng smiled a little embarrassedly, “I was being deliberately low-key before, and I was also afraid that some people would become sycophants if they knew I was rich. Now, I consider you a friend, so of course, I have to be honest.”

“Did you really make a lot of money from stock trading?”

Lin Wan had already told her about Chen Feng’s stock trading.

Chen Feng nodded.

“I don’t think stock trading is very stable. You might as well invest in real industries while you have the money.”

“What real industry is a guaranteed win?”

“Buying property.”

Chen Feng smiled and nodded, “That’s true. When I’ve saved enough money, I’ll buy this villa.”

“This villa must cost at least ten million, right? It seems you’re really rich. You lied to me before.”

“I didn’t deliberately lie to you before, I just didn’t tell the whole truth.”

Wu Mengting didn’t argue about it. She just tilted her head to look at him, picked up her teacup, and slowly sipped her tea.

Seeing this, Chen Feng felt a bit awkward and also quickly picked up his teacup.

Lin Wan finished her tour downstairs and was about to go up. When she entered the living room and saw the two of them sitting in silence, heads down, sipping tea, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Why aren’t you two talking?”

Chen Feng raised his hand to block the phone camera in her hand, saying, “Don’t film me. Didn’t we agree?”

“Oh, sorry, my apologies. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Lin Wan smiled embarrassedly, quickly moved the camera away, and then asked, “Can I go upstairs to film?”

Chen Feng waved his hand at her impatiently. She said a grateful “thank you” and, ignoring them, went upstairs with her phone, thump, thump, thump.

“Did you tell Sister Sun that you were letting us come over?” Wu Mengting suddenly asked.

“Not yet. I’ll tell her later. She probably won’t mind,” Chen Feng said confidently.

Sun Xiaorui was just someone he sponsored. What right did she have to mind? Even if she did, it would be useless.

Of course, Chen Feng still had basic respect for Sun Xiaorui and would definitely let her know.

Wu Mengting nodded and fell silent again.

Chen Feng felt he had nothing to say to her for the moment, so he held his teacup and watched the TV… commercials.

Wu Mengting did the same.

After a full ten minutes, Lin Wan came down from upstairs and said to Chen Feng, “Brother Feng, the viewers in my stream want to see you. A big spender said that if you appear on camera, he’ll give me a Super Rocket. How about I split it with you?”

“Go, go, go. I said I won’t be on camera. Stop using me as a prop.”

Chen Feng refused irritably. Was he someone who was short of a thousand yuan?

“Please. Just help me out,” Lin Wan pleaded.

Chen Feng immediately put on a stern face and said, “If you keep this up, you’re no longer welcome here.”

Seeing this, Lin Wan could only look to Wu Mengting for help.

“Don’t look at me. I’ve already been your prop several times. It’s already great that Brother Feng is letting you film his house for free. You’re going too far wanting him to stream with you.”

Hearing Wu Mengting say this, Lin Wan could only sigh helplessly and say to the live stream camera, “You all heard them. They’re not cooperating, so there’s nothing I can do. Maybe next time I’ll have a chance to get them on camera. They’re just ordinary people, not like me. It’s different.”

That comment… sounded strange to Chen Feng.

Due to Chen Feng and Wu Mengting’s lack of cooperation, and because they were going to the art museum, Lin Wan could only temporarily end the live stream.

As soon as the stream was turned off, Lin Wan couldn’t help but complain about the two of them.

She was acting less and less like an outsider, even when facing a rich friend like Chen Feng.

Chen Feng had come to understand her personality. She didn’t have much cunning, was busty but brainless, straightforward, and spoke her mind. When she wasn’t familiar with people, she could still pretend to be cold and aloof.

But as soon as she became familiar, even if it was just for a short while, she would show her true nature and was especially good at pushing her luck. So, with this kind of woman, you should never beat around the bush or be too nice to her.

Otherwise, she would really be impolite to you and push her luck even further.

Both Chen Feng and Wu Mengting now understood her personality, so they completely ignored her complaints.

The two of them went out and got in the car on their own. Seeing this, Lin Wan could only sigh and quickly follow.

She was definitely going to the art museum too, with the purpose of live streaming.

Although she didn’t know much about art, she had heard from Wu Mengting that the artist holding the exhibition today was a very famous calligrapher and painter in the country, a master in the art world, very impressive.

So, she had decided early on to visit, and had also made an announcement in her live stream.

The East Lake villa was not far from the art museum, about a ten-minute drive.

Walking into the art museum, there were not as many people visiting the Wang Yi Master Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition as expected.

There were only about fifty or sixty people scattered around. This was because there was no admission fee; otherwise, there might have been even fewer people.

“Tiantian, this is the master of the Chinese calligraphy and painting world you were talking about? Why are there so few people here?”

Lin Wan complained directly. She was going to live stream, and she had already made an announcement and hyped it up in her stream, saying how amazing this Master Wang Yi was. But when she got here, there were so few people at his exhibition. It was really a slap in the face.

Wu Mengting also didn’t expect so few people. She said helplessly, “Art is inherently highbrow and has a small audience. Master Wang Yi’s reputation in the domestic calligraphy and painting world is indeed very high, but he himself is not good at packaging and promotion, and he disdains to do so. The general public doesn’t know much about him, so it’s normal that not many people come.”

Lin Wan and Chen Feng could only accept this explanation.

Chen Feng specifically took out his phone to Baidu this Master Wang Yi. There were quite a few people with the same name. Only after adding “calligrapher and painter” did he successfully find him.

There was a personal encyclopedia entry, which was not very detailed, but it did say that he was one of the few remaining masters of calligraphy and painting in China today. His calligraphy, in particular, held a high status in the domestic calligraphy world.

Looking at his date of birth, a quick mental calculation showed that he was over ninety years old this year.

Lin Wan reluctantly started her live stream, taking her viewers to see the calligraphy and paintings, while Chen Feng and Wu Mengting were much more casual.

They looked at the works one by one in order.

To be honest, Chen Feng didn’t understand much. Especially the ink wash paintings. They looked very good, but he couldn’t say exactly what was good about them.

However, he could be sure that his several calligraphy works looked really good, with a powerful momentum like iron strokes and silver hooks.

After more than ten minutes, the two of them coincidentally stood in front of the same work.

This was the copy of Wang Xizhi’s “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion” that Wu Mengting had mentioned before. It looked indeed quite good.

It was very pleasing to the eye!

What Chen Feng found somewhat strange was that the more he looked at it, the more he liked it, and he had a dizzying sense of intoxication.

This was definitely not because he understood calligraphy well, but a very direct feeling this piece gave him.

When Chen Feng looked away, this intoxicatingly comfortable feeling suddenly disappeared.

When he looked back at the piece, that comfortable feeling slowly reappeared.

This was quite magical!

After repeating this several times, Chen Feng finally confirmed that it was not a hallucination or an illusion.

Then the only explanation was that this piece of calligraphy was intoxicating!

“Mengting, if I offer to buy this piece, do you think I can?” Chen Feng asked hesitantly.

“Ah. You want to buy this piece?” Wu Mengting’s mouth fell slightly open.

Chen Feng nodded with a serious face, “Yes. Do you think Master Wang Yi will sell it to me?”

“This… I don’t know. But, if… the price is high, there should be no reason not to sell, right?”

“Okay, I’ll go ask someone.”

So, Chen Feng walked over to a staff member.

He directly asked if he could buy the “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion” calligraphy. At first, the staff member thought it was a prank. Only after Chen Feng repeatedly assured her did she believe him and helped contact the superior in charge of this exhibition.

Then Chen Feng was taken to an office, and Wu Mengting followed.

This leader of the art museum also confirmed several times and clearly told him that if he really wanted to buy Master Wang Yi’s “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion,” the price would be at least two million.

Then he asked Chen Feng, at this price, would you still buy it?

Chen Feng said bluntly, “I’ll buy it!”

Seeing this, the leader immediately helped contact Master Wang Yi’s people.

The person on that end was the person in charge of planning and preparing this exhibition. She was Master Wang Yi’s niece-in-law, that is, his wife’s niece.

She was a woman in her fifties, wearing glasses, with a dignified and elegant temperament. Her surname was Zhai, Ms. Zhai.

Master Wang Yi’s calligraphy and paintings were of course for sale, and he had sold quite a few works over the years.

As for this copy of the “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion,” it was not Master Wang Yi’s only one. He was over ninety years old, and over the years, he had sold three copies of the “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion.” The cheapest one was sold for 200,000, but that was more than twenty years ago.

The most expensive one was sold three years ago for 2.8 million.

As for this copy, according to Master Wang Yi himself, it was the most satisfactory work of his life. He created it in one go after getting drunk on his sixtieth birthday.

Therefore, he had always treasured it and was reluctant to sell it.

Therefore, Ms. Zhai needed to ask Master Wang Yi himself first.

After explaining all this, Ms. Zhai, at Chen Feng’s request, went out to make a phone call.

Then she came back with her phone and said to Chen Feng, “Master Wang Yi is in the capital now. He needs to see you in person via video call before he can decide whether to sell or not.”

Although Chen Feng found this a bit strange, he still took her phone. In the video call, Master Wang Yi had sparse white hair and his face was covered with age spots and wrinkles.

Chen Feng took the initiative to speak, “Hello, Master. I am very sincere about buying your copy of the ‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion.’ Do you think you can sell it to me? The price is negotiable.”

Master Wang Yi on the other end asked in a somewhat slurred voice, “Why do you want to buy my painting?”

Chen Feng said truthfully, “Looking at your painting makes me feel very comfortable, even a little intoxicated.”

“Thank you. Then I’ll sell it to you. 3 million.”

“Ah, 3 million.”

“Mm, if you think it’s too expensive, then don’t buy it.”

“Of course not.” Chen Feng quickly shook his head, “I’ll buy it!”

In fact, Chen Feng thought it was cheap. After all, Ms. Zhai had just said that a copy was sold for 2.8 million three years ago. Now three years had passed, and this piece was Master Wang Yi’s masterpiece, which he was previously reluctant to sell.

Unless what she said was a lie, but seeing her shocked face, it was unlikely she was lying.

“Okay, let Xiao Zhai handle it.”

After saying that, the video call ended directly. Master Wang Yi was really straightforward.

“Mr. Chen, you are really lucky. I don’t know why the master suddenly agreed to sell you this painting. Someone offered 5 million for it before, and he refused. It’s really… please wait a moment, I’ll ask him again.”

Ms. Zhai went out to make another phone call. A few minutes later, she came back with a helpless look on her face.

“Alright. This painting is sold to you. It will be sold to you now, no need to wait for the exhibition to end. This is the master’s wish.”

Everyone who heard this found it a bit incredible.

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