Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
After two days passed, he had understood how scary it was for someone to suddenly become famous. Especially if he was to get famous because of his paintings. Now, even more people came to request paintings from him.
Whenever he looked at his brothers at Cloud Street, they had a different gaze as compared to before.
There was a burning look in their eyes, which frightened many. He was afraid that they might just tie him up and throw him into a small room, forcing him to paint every day, not giving him any food if he didn’t paint.
He got scared just thinking about it.
As for the members of the Chinese Art Association, they were now smiling from ear to ear. They had broken into the limelight at the International Art Exhibition.
Many Art Masters from the various countries slept at the exhibition center, staring at the painting every day, and at the same time, they studied the painting. Some Masters even developed a huge interest in Chinese Art because of these paintings.
Of course, the International Art Exhibition wasn’t smooth sailing. By the second day, there were some international thieves who attempted to steal the painting. However, Zheng Zhong Shan had already placed people to stand guard and protect the painting. Even at night, there would be people patrolling the painting.
It was regrettable that these international thieves had no other alternative but to attempt to steal these paintings.
In Shanghai.
Lin Fan just got out of bed when he received a call from Zheng Zhong Shan.
“Elder Zheng, have you guys returned?”
“We’re back. Did you know how many people we managed to attract on the day of the exhibition? Everyone who looked at your painting momentarily had an extremely rich expression. If you saw them, you would definitely laugh to death.”
He didn’t need Zheng Zhong Shan to say anymore. He knew exactly what expression he was referring to. What other expressions could it be other than shock?
Just at this moment, Zheng Zhong Shan said excitedly, “The person-in-charge of the International Art Exhibition contacted me. He wishes to rent those ten paintings from you so as to continue the exhibition. However, I rejected his request. How could we hand over such a treasure over to them? We obviously had to bring it back with us. Moreover, I have already contacted the National Museum to donate your ten paintings to them. These paintings were high in artistic skill, as well as historical value.”
Lin Fan hadn’t expected that his art would be able to be displayed in the Museum. He momentarily smiled, “Alright, you can arrange for it then!”
Zheng Zhong Shan said, “Elder Lin, listen to me. The benefits are great for you to put these ten paintings in the Museum. Don’t think that I’m trying to scam you. These days, there are very few paintings that are allowed to be displayed in the Museum. Moreover, displaying the paintings in the museum will cause your personal value to rise so much that it’ll be scary. From my estimation, your name would pass down many generations.”
Lin Fan laughed, “Elder Zheng, what kind of person do you think I am? How can I not trust you? You would definitely not scam me.”
Zheng Zhong Shan was elated that he had gained Lin Fan’s trust. He suddenly thought of something, “Oh that’s right! In future, don’t paint for anyone randomly. Your artworks are now worth ten million and up, and this is just the base price. There aren’t many people in our current society that are able to reach your level of skill. However, your artworks have too high a value of artistic skill. It’s just too high! Completely crossing the limit of any skill. I hope you do understand what I’m saying.”
Lin Fan nodded his head, “Understood. One more thing, didn’t I give both you and Elder Yue one of my paintings each? Are you going to put them in the Museum as well?”
Zheng Zhong Shan was momentarily angry when he heard this, “How would that be possible? These paintings were given to us by you yourself! These were gifts via friendship. We’re going to keep them as family treasures and to pass them down the generations.”
For them, they regarded the paintings by Elder Lin as treasures. Even though they didn’t have as high an artistic value as the ten paintings, they were still top-notch and had considerable value.
If news of Lin Fan’s paintings being displayed in the National Museum was to go out, the value of Lin Fan’s artwork would become extraordinary. It would rise like a rocket.
During the exhibition, there had been a billionaire that started the bid with twenty million but was rejected on the spot. Could these paintings be described with just money alone?
This was the pinnacle of art. There wasn’t anyone capable of surpassing it.
Even if someone was able to surpass it, only Lin Fan himself would be capable of doing so.
“Haha.” Lin Fan laughed, “Okay, that’s enough. Elder Zhang, I’ll leave everything for you to arrange. I won’t care about it too much.”
Zheng Zhong Shan laughed mysteriously, “Elder Lin, your days are immediately going to get tougher. I’ve seen people who were like walking stacks of money before. There will be many people requesting paintings from you. You have to be strong and not give in!”
“You don’t have to tell me. Strangers, not so much, but those that I’m familiar with have already requested for some. I’m hanging up.” Lin Fan said impatiently.
…
National Museum.
Inside one of the spacious exhibition halls, the ten paintings being kept.
A group of elderly appeared. Within this group, there were historians, as well as art appreciation masters. Their main purpose of coming here today was to study these ten paintings.
Even though these paintings were done by a modern Master, this Master was unlike any other.
From an artistic value point of view, these paintings were at the pinnacle. Compared to the ancient artworks, these paintings surpassed them by a mile. They weren’t even on the same level.
If the ancient paintings had no historic value, they wouldn’t even be comparable to these paintings.
Qi Yong was a learned scholar of the Song Dynasty. He had a huge reputation in the nation and was considered as the top few. He had multiple disciples under his guidance. He was authoritative. He specialized in studying the culture and common practices of the people during the Song Dynasty. He was seventy years old this year but was still full of enthusiasm. When he first entered the room, he didn’t look anywhere else but went straight to the Along the River during the Qingming Festival Painting.
When he first saw the Along the River during the Qingming Festival Painting, his eyes were glued to it and didn’t even move.
He stared at it for a whole minute.
“Good… Very good!” Qi Yong clapped his hands and applauded. His face was completely red as if he had seen some rare treasure, “This Master Lin is indeed different. It’s as if he’s a scholar who has researched deeply into the Song Dynasty.”
“Professor Qi, why are these paintings so highly valued?” Another elderly man asked. He had studied the history of the Song Dynasty as well, however, compared to Qi Yong, he was still very lacking.
Qi Yong waved his hand, “Looking at it closely, the painting displays the cultural landscape on both sides of the Henan River. This can be found in the history books, but in order for them to be shown through painting is truly unbelievable.”
The art appreciation masters were also very engrossed in this artwork.
They were all people of huge authority, but when they closely inspected the artworks, their moods improved greatly.
In particular, after researching deeper and deeper, they became more and more frightened. The way the details of the paintings had been handled was very good. The fineness of the strokes wasn’t one bit messy, even for the moving cloud and flowing water. This was impossible to see in modern times.
Even ancient art masters weren’t able to achieve such perfection.
What surprised them the most was the shocking feeling that these paintings gave them. Moreover, it was the kind of surprise that put them in disbelief. One look at the paintings and it felt as though they were transported into the painting, with nothing in their way.
All the way until nighttime.
These Masters exited the hall, still pumping with enthusiasm. One of the Masters left saying while saying,
“This is on the level of a National Treasure. Stunning work! Spread it throughout the world!”