Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 220 Spending Money Like Water
Compared with most military units, the work and life of the art troupe are undoubtedly rich and colorful. The experience of performing at the grassroots level and participating in art performances always allows these art soldiers to be exposed to things that many people do not normally get exposed to.

The most popular people in the art troupe are the dancing female soldiers like Feng Juan. They are young, beautiful and have good figures. They are the focus of attention wherever they go.

But the apparent glamour also requires more arduous efforts than ordinary people. The principle of “one minute on stage, ten years of hard work off stage” applies to any industry.

According to Feng Juan, she is only 20 years old this year, but she has already experienced an injury to her left Achilles tendon. If she gets injured again in the future, she might not be able to dance anymore. This is also the reason why Feng Juan wants to apply to the Film Academy, just to leave a way out for herself.

"If you can't jump, you can't jump. The same goes for other jobs. Don't you want to act in a movie? Let's go act in a movie." Du Feng said.

Lin Chaoyang glanced at Du Feng. It seemed that he had not yet told Feng Juan about Li Hanxiang's movie. Lin Chaoyang did not say anything.

After chatting for a while, Du Feng asked Lin Chaoyang: "Brother-in-law, I see that not all the furniture you bought is used?"

“For collection.”

"collect?"

This term is still a very unfamiliar word today. Du Feng asked curiously: "Can furniture be collected?"

"No, ordinary furniture won't work. It has to be furniture that's a bit old."

"What do you want to collect?"

Feng Juan asked a seemingly boring question, but it represents the thoughts of many people of this era.

They have no idea that antiques will appreciate in value, and naturally they don’t understand the significance of collecting.

"This is a personal preference." Lin Chaoyang said. He couldn't explain too much about this to Feng Juan.

Du Feng asked, "You also collect calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, and so on, right?"

"Well, if there's something suitable, I'll definitely collect it. Why, do you have any?"

Du Feng waved his hands repeatedly, "I don't have that stuff, it's so expensive! That time when I went to an antique shop with my friend, a painting by Qi Baishi cost 1,500 yuan, and I had to pay for it with foreign exchange coupons. It was simply robbery!"

One thousand five hundred yuan is indeed expensive, equivalent to the salary of an ordinary working class person for two years without eating or drinking, but if you can get a painting by Qi Baishi, it would be worth it.

After thirty years, the value will at least increase by 20,000 to 30,000 times.

Lin Chaoyang felt that his time and energy were obviously insufficient. He had been running around all day before buying some furniture.

If you want to visit all the large and small cultural relics shops and trust shops in Yanjing, it will take at least a year and a half. You will have to go there from time to time to wait and see if there are any good things.

He looked at Du Feng and felt that his brother-in-law was a good laborer who could help.

However, he couldn't say these words to Du Feng in front of Feng Juan at this moment. He would wait for a suitable opportunity later.

It was another weekend, and Lin Chaoyang did not go to the trust store this time. After last week's experience, he felt that his efficiency in going to the trust store alone was too low.

He first went to Yanda to pick up A Mao, and brought him to the Foreign Guest Service Department of the Forbidden City. He planned to make a big purchase today.

When I arrived at the gate of Yangxingzhai, I ran into the security guard Li Tianbao whom I had known before.

"Hey, Brother Lin? Why are you here?" Li Tianbao was surprised to see Lin Chaoyang.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "I came to visit the Forbidden City with my friends."

Li Tianbao glanced at Ah Mao beside Lin Chaoyang and said, "Foreign friends, please come in!"

With A Mao by his side, Lin Chaoyang easily entered Yangxingzhai.

The decoration and layout here are similar to those of most state-owned stores today. Goods are displayed on counters and shelves, and if you want to check the goods you have to go past the salesperson.

A Mao had received guidance from Lin Chaoyang beforehand and behaved very well. After entering Yangxingzhai, he pointed at the goods. Lin Chaoyang introduced them in a fake manner beside him. Then A Mao asked the salesperson to take out the items for him to have a look.

"this is not bad!"

“Oh, this one’s good too!”

"Oh my God! This is a masterpiece!"

The products sold by the Foreign Guest Service Department are mainly replicas of rare antique calligraphy and paintings, handicrafts, and calligraphy and paintings by contemporary calligraphers and painters.

For Lin Chaoyang, replicas and handicrafts have basically no collection value, so his attention is focused on the works of contemporary calligraphers and painters.

A Mao showed his appreciation for these calligraphy and paintings in an exaggerated expression, and his words were full of praise, as if he had discovered a treasure of art.

The vast majority of foreign visitors to the Forbidden City are not interested in Chinese calligraphy and painting, especially contemporary calligraphy and painting. They are more interested in things like porcelain, jade, and gems.

It was rare to see a foreigner so obsessed with Chinese calligraphy and painting today, which made several sales clerks in the Foreign Guest Service Department feel proud.

"So beautiful! These paintings are so beautiful! I want to buy them all." A Mao seemed to be so excited that he lost himself.

Lin Chaoyang "could not help" reminding: "Sir, these paintings are all works of contemporary artists and their artistic value is not high."

"What are you talking about?" A Mao looked at Lin Chaoyang in disbelief. "These are incomparable works of art. I want to buy them all."

Seeing that A Mao was so persistent, Lin Chaoyang had no choice but to say to the salesperson, "My friend wants to buy more calligraphy and paintings. I see that you don't have many paintings here. Is this all you have?"

The salesperson quickly said, "Yes, yes, we have a lot more here."

“Are there works by masters like Xu Beihong and Qi Baishi?”

"Yes, they do, but their works are collections and not for sale. Most of the works here are by famous contemporary painters of a younger generation than them, such as Lu Yanshao, Wu Zuoren, Li Keran, and Jiang Zhaohe."

Lin Chaoyang felt a little regretful and said, "Then you should take the ones with higher prices first. My friend is not short of money."

The salesperson was overjoyed when he heard this, and thought that Lin Chaoyang was helping them, so he hurried to get the painting. Most of the creators of these contemporary calligraphy and painting works displayed by the Palace Museum Service Department are still alive today, and the number of works preserved is huge. There are thousands of works accumulated here alone.

The sales of these calligraphy and painting works have never been good in the past. Today, they finally met a rich and silly foreigner, how could they not be enthusiastic?
After a while, the salesperson brought a pile of paintings for A Mao to choose from. He accepted almost all of them and said every painting he saw was good. Within an hour, there were more than fifty paintings piled around him.

The salesperson at the side whispered to Lin Chaoyang: "Comrade, your friend has seen so many calligraphy and paintings, do you plan to buy all of them?"

Lin Chaoyang understood that the salesperson was afraid that they were just in a whim and would just look without buying and eventually not pay.

Lin Chaoyang pretended to whisper a few words to A Mao, and then said to the salesperson: "Then you can calculate the price of these calligraphy and paintings first, and we will pay for them first."

The salesperson was overjoyed when he heard this. He fiddled with the abacus beads for a while and finally got a number.

The fifty-five works were worth a total of 9063 foreign exchange coupons. The most expensive one was "Mrs. Xiang" by Fu Baoshi, which sold for 750 yuan. The prices of the other works ranged from three or four hundred to more than one hundred yuan.

When Lin Chaoyang heard the salesperson's offer, his heart skipped a beat. Only fifty-five paintings cost so much. However, he thought that the salesperson brought only high-priced paintings, so the total price was reasonable. These works were probably the best products sold by the Palace Museum's service department.

He felt his pocket and luckily he had enough money with him today.

Lin Chaoyang said to A Mao: "That's all."

Ah Mao readily agreed, "Okay."

When he came, Lin Chaoyang brought 10,000 foreign exchange certificates, and when he left, he had less than 1,000 left. He spent the money like water in the blink of an eye.

After more than fifty paintings were packed, Lin Chaoyang and his companions could not carry them alone, so the Palace Museum Service Department specially sent a car to help them deliver the items.

The car stopped at the gate of the Overseas Chinese Apartment, and Lin Chaoyang and A Mao carried things upstairs one by one.

"Buy so much?"

Lin Chaoyang has been tinkering with his collection recently. When he went out early this morning, he told Tao Yushu that he was going to the Palace Museum Service Department to buy paintings. She didn't take it seriously, but she didn't expect that he would come back with so many paintings in just one morning.

“All the paintings we bought were fine works from the Palace Museum’s service department.”

Lin Chaoyang's face was filled with joy as if he had gotten a great deal, which made Tao Yushuo laugh and cry.

"All the money spent?"

"No, there's still a thousand dollars left."

Tao Yushu complained: "If you keep spending money like this, the family savings will be gone in two days."

Lin Chaoyang said quickly: "I won't buy it for the time being after I buy it this time."

Tao Yushu keenly noticed the subtext of his words, "not buying it for now" does not mean "not buying it in the future".

Once my husband embarks on the path of collecting, there is no turning back!
If he continues to spend money like this, how will our family save money in the future?

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, Tao Yushu pulled Lin Chaoyang to the sofa and said to him seriously: "Even if these antique calligraphy and paintings can appreciate in value in the future, you can't spend all your money on them!"

Lin Chaoyang was so excited today that he spent more than one-third of his family savings at once. After being reminded by Tao Yushu, he realized his problem.

I understand the future trends, but Tao Yushu and his family do not, and it is unrealistic to expect them to fully understand me.

"You're right. How about this? From now on, a quarter of the royalties will be used for collecting. What do you think?"

For Lin Chaoyang, there is not much difference between spending one thousand yuan or ten thousand yuan on collecting. He can't collect all the treasures in his own hands.

Tao Yushu thought about it and felt that this proposal was reasonable. He nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it this way. You should be more careful next time."

"Hehe, I'm happy to see prey, I'm happy to see prey."

Tao Yushu couldn't help but ask again: "If you buy these paintings, will they really be valuable in the future?"

Lin Chaoyang had talked to her about collecting before, but Tao Yushu had no idea at the time. But now that she has spent tens of thousands of foreign exchange coupons, she always feels a little unsure.

Lin Chaoyang did not answer her question directly, but asked: "Do you know what Li Hanxiang bought after coming to Yanjing?"

Tao Yushu immediately understood what he meant and pointed at the paintings. "This one?"

"Not only that, he also bought porcelain, jade, four treasures of the study, lacquerware, furniture, embroidery... anything that had anything to do with antiques."

What Lin Chaoyang said is true. When Li Hanxiang came to the mainland to shoot a movie, his favorite places to visit in his spare time were Liulichang, Rongbaozhai, and the Chinese Painting Shop.

Because of filming, he has studied the Tang, Qing and other dynasties, and thus developed a hobby of collecting art.

Every time he comes to the mainland, he will buy some antique calligraphy and paintings if he has time.

"If I take the things I buy now to Hong Kong, they will be worth several times as much immediately."

Lin Chaoyang's statement was very conservative. At present, Hong Kong's recognition of domestic antiques and calligraphy and paintings was not very high. But even so, it was enough to make Tao Yushu feel at ease.

Lin Chaoyang cleared a corner of the study room to store paintings. Unlike furniture, calligraphy and paintings have strict requirements on the environment. At this stage, the Overseas Chinese Apartment is the most suitable place for these paintings.

One of the important reasons why he chose to buy paintings at the Palace Museum this time was that these paintings did not take up as much space as porcelain and furniture.

"I think I'll have to find a house specifically for you to store these collections!" Tao Yushu said.

Lin Chaoyang clapped his hands and laughed, "Your suggestion is good. Let's try to buy a few more houses in the future and fill them up."

Tao Yushu rolled his eyes at him and said, "Fill up this place and Mianhua Hutong first."

(End of this chapter)