Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 893 The ideal has changed again?
Finally, the three of them each selected the calligraphy and paintings they liked and were about to leave.

Of course, these calligraphy and paintings cannot be taken away now. The transaction will be completed after the exhibition is over.

Before leaving, Wang Longchang and Wu Mingsheng both warmly invited Fang Minghua to get together when they had time, and Gabriel also said the same thing. Fang Minghua readily agreed.

It would be impolite to refuse someone immediately after they have just made a purchase.

However, whether to go or not is still a matter of two words.

With this good start, the whole exhibition is still quite popular. Many people come to visit every day, including some celebrities and wealthy people, and of course most of them are Chinese.

Of the 52 paintings and calligraphy works exhibited this time, 40 were finally sold. All five of Fang Minghua's calligraphy works were sold, and even two of Jia Pingwa's calligraphy works were sold, with prices of US$5 and US$6.5 respectively.

That's the word Jia Ge.
Fang Minghua couldn't help but curl his lips inwardly.

Of course, the income from the sale of calligraphy and paintings must be taxed. According to California tax law, sales tax and capital gains tax must be paid, totaling 19%.

Finally, Fang Minghua made a table of their respective incomes and sent it to Song Tangtang, asking her to pass it on to her calligraphy and painting friends in Xijing and ask them to provide their personal accounts and deposit the funds into them.

At the same time, he reminded them to quickly ship over the sold calligraphy and paintings!

After the matter was handed over to Song Tangtang, she quickly completed it and said to Fang Minghua on the phone: "These Xijing calligraphers and painters were very happy to hear about this. Some have already given me their calligraphy and painting works. I will send them to you after I have collected them all, so as not to delay the opening of the Confucius Institute."

"Brother Jia also said that if there are still people who want it, you can sell it. Write as many as you want."

Have I become a calligraphy and painting dealer?

Fang Minghua couldn't laugh or cry after hearing this.

After being busy for more than ten days, I can finally take a break.

On the weekend, Fang Minghua took her younger daughter and Liu Xiaoli to participate in a play performed by the drama club of the San Francisco Art School. The play was performed in the school's small theater, and the director was naturally her eldest daughter Fang Rui.

This is a three-act play modeled after the British Bookhouse Theatre, but the original version is longer and has more characters, making it less suitable for rehearsal by middle school students.

Fang Rui herself made bold changes, reducing the number of characters to an 8-person version, and controlling the performance time to one hour.

The performance was held in the school's small theater, which has more than 500 seats and was packed today.

As expected, it is an art school, so the artistic atmosphere is quite strong. Also, my daughter's drama is quite popular.

Fang Minghua was watching attentively in the front row.

It seems that my daughter's arrangement is quite good. The plot is very compact, with a very pure British style, and the language is lively and interesting.

You know what, Fang Rui is quite talented in art. It would be nice if she could get involved in drama in the future, Fang Minghua thought.

Liu Yifei’s role as Marianne was also good. Although her oriental face looked a little out of place next to those blonde American girls, she was pretty nonetheless.

In addition, the body language and facial expression management are just right. In later generations, the biggest problem with Liu Yifei's acting skills is that her lines are not strong, and her facial expression control and emotional expression are not very good.

However, after filming the "Harry Potter" series, it seems much better now after being trained by two major directors, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.

If she performs in more dramas, it will only help improve her acting skills.

The drama performance ended with applause. Fang Rui immediately ran down excitedly, followed by Liu Yifei.

"Dad, how is my choreography?" Fang Rui asked.

"Well, it's pretty good!" Fang Minghua gave a thumbs up, and then said to Liu Yifei: "Xixi, you acted well too. You can act in more dramas in the future."

Of course, I was acting with professional actors, not hanging out with a bunch of middle school students. But I couldn't say this in front of my daughter today, it would be hurtful.

"Dad, I want to be a drama director in the future!" Fang Rui said again.

Ah?
The ideal has changed again?
At first I wanted to be a dancer like my mom, then I wanted to be a pianist, and now I’m a drama director!
Forget it, do whatever you want.

Fang Minghua finally met the drama instructor, a middle-aged woman named Caitlin, who generously praised Fang Rui for her talent in drama directing.

"Mr. Fang, I know your daughter is versatile and has great potential in music, especially piano playing, but I still strongly suggest that you let your daughter pursue a career in drama in the future, because..."

At this point, Caitlin paused and emphasized: "If you engage in drama directing, the piano world will only lose an ordinary pianist, but the drama world will gain a talented director!"

This is a very good compliment.

Fang Minghua first expressed her gratitude to Caitlin for guiding Fang Rui in rehearsing the drama. She also said that she never interfered with her daughter's choices and let her do whatever she liked.

After attending her daughter's drama performance and the calligraphy and painting exhibition, Fang Minghua's life became more relaxed.

He gets up at seven o'clock every morning, runs in the manor, reads, fishes, and surfs the Internet. On weekends, he goes shopping with Li Li and his two daughters, and occasionally goes to Lei Dawen or Zhang Qing's house to hold a private party.

As for other social engagements, he politely declined.

Time flies, and it is late November now. The weather in San Francisco has turned cold. Early this morning, Fang Minghua and Li Li dressed in formal attire and drove straight to San Francisco State University, because today is the date of the establishment of the Confucius Institute, and a grand unveiling ceremony will be held.

The Confucius Institute is located in the building of the Graduate School of Education at San Francisco State University. Consul General Peng Keyu, President of San Francisco State University Culligan and President Xu Zhihong of Yenching University attended the ceremony and delivered speeches.

Representatives of the California Governor, San Francisco Mayor William, and city officials also came to offer their congratulations; Hanban and the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Education both sent congratulatory letters, and more than 300 representatives from all walks of life in the Bay Area attended the ceremony.

Of course, this includes Wang Longchang and Wu Mingsheng.

Consul General Peng Keyu delivered a passionate speech. With the development of China's economy and its close relationship with global economic development, Chinese language teaching has been increasingly valued worldwide. In recent years, the Chinese government has further increased its support for the international promotion of Chinese and launched a series of plans, of which the construction of Confucius Institutes is an important part. He expressed his appreciation for the measures taken by the US government to encourage the learning of Chinese, and thanked the mayor of San Francisco and the local education department for their support for Chinese language teaching.
Consul General Peng Keyu also presented 3000 books and audio-visual materials on Chinese culture, history, language and literature, and Chinese language teaching to the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University on behalf of Hanban, and handed over the first batch of funds allocated by Hanban for the Confucius Institute.

Of course, after the opening ceremony, there was also a donation ceremony, where Fang Minghua personally donated 10 Chinese paintings by painters of the Republic of China and 52 works by calligraphers and painters from Qin Province.

All these calligraphy and painting works were displayed in a special exhibition hall of the Confucius Institute. When Fang Minghua unveiled the red silk cloth hanging on the bronze plaque at the entrance of the exhibition hall, warm applause broke out in the corridor, and then everyone filed in to appreciate the calligraphy and paintings.

"Is this really Qi Baishi's authentic work?!" Wang Longchang became excited when he saw the painting "Funny Picture of Shrimps" hanging on the wall.

"And this one, Zhang Daqian's Autumn Sunshine!"

nonsense!

I donated a fake?!

Fang Minghua was somewhat dissatisfied.

But before he could say anything, Wu Mingsheng beside him smiled and said, "President Wang, to be honest, I have two paintings by Qi Baishi at home. I often take them out to appreciate them, so I know a thing or two about them. I am sure this painting is absolutely authentic? Besides, why would Mr. Fang donate a fake?!"

"Yes, yes, Mr. Fang, I'm sorry, I take back what I said just now." Wang Longchang said immediately, and looked at Fang Minghua with burning eyes: "Mr. Fang, are you selling this painting? I am willing to buy it at a high price!"

Fang Minghua smiled and shook his head.

At this moment, a white-haired old man standing by suddenly said in fluent Chinese: "Mr. Fang, may I ask, where did you get these paintings from the Republic of China period? Are they originally from the collection of the Palace Museum?"

Hey, how did you know?

Fang Minghua was surprised and looked at the old man with an oriental face in amazement.

(End of this chapter)