The growth system comes at the age of 30

Chapter 265 Who took my work to auction? (4.5K)

After working day and night, Chen Jingle only had three orders left to complete.

This put him at ease.

The rest should be done within a week, so I don't have to rush anymore.

I always say I won't take on so many orders next time, but every time someone places an order, the thought of 50,000 yuan per piece makes me grit my teeth and accept it.

I just can't control myself. (JPG)
Earning this money was a bittersweet experience.

Fortunately, it's not urgent, so I can write and draw at my own pace.

If you want it expedited, that's possible, but there's an additional price.

After finishing another painting, I stretched and saw Li Beixing sitting on the sofa next to me, engrossed in scrolling through his phone, so I went over to him.

Suddenly, Li Beixing exclaimed "Huh?" and looked up, saying, "Someone took your work to an auction house to auction off?"

"what?"

Chen Jingle was stunned, quite surprised: "I don't know. Which one was it? How much did it sell for?"

He has taken so many orders, all of which are custom-made pieces. Logically, they should all be private collections, so how did they get involved with auction houses?
After all, he was neither a famous person nor did he hire anyone to promote his fame.

His fame grew gradually, step by step. Only last time, when Jiang Xiaojun and Xia Yu helped him gain exposure, did it attract a lot of traffic and customers.

Li Beixing laughed and said, "I don't know. I saw someone post a screenshot of a collection of 'Prices List of Contemporary Famous Calligraphers and Painters' on Douyin. Your name was on it, and the price information was from an auction house. The type of painting was flowers and birds, and the price per square foot had already risen to 10000, which is a bit more expensive than what you are selling for now. It also noted that there is great potential for appreciation and that it is suitable for large-scale collection. It seems that the appraiser has a very high opinion of you."

At 10000 per square foot, a four-foot sheet would be eight square feet, and the auction price would be 80,000 yuan.

The price was a bit unexpected for Chen Jingle: "It seems there are quite a few people who know their stuff."

"It should be through a legitimate auction house."

Li Beixing covered her mouth and laughed: "It's only because you didn't want to participate in exhibitions and competitions. Otherwise, you could have won a few awards, done some hype, and multiplied your value several times over, easily. By the way, do you regret it?"

With Chen Jingle's abilities, entering provincial exhibitions and winning provincial awards would be a piece of cake.

First, I'll get a provincial association membership, then participate in a few national exhibitions to get a national association membership. That will naturally qualify me to compete for the Lanting Award and other art awards.

If you can win the Lanting Award for Fine Arts, it's definitely worth a try, after all, it's the highest award for calligraphy in China.

For example, in calligraphy, Li Beixing felt that Chen Jingle's writing was no worse than that of the two winners of the Lanting Gold Award.

It's not a filter.

Although her own calligraphy skills are limited, she has at least taken formal calligraphy courses with a renowned teacher, so it's natural to tell whether a piece of her work is good or not.

Chen Jingle's current work is in no way inferior to those so-called contemporary masters. If he puts his full effort into creating, it's hard to say how high he could go.

Anyway, Li Beixing saw that what he was writing and drawing now was all done with ease.

Whether in calligraphy or painting, he has already built upon the foundations laid by predecessors such as Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Mi Fu, Zhao Ji, Fan Kuan, Huang Gongwang, and Zhao Mengfu, forming his own unique style and forging his own path.

Even if the gold award depends on official status, giving a silver or bronze award would be fine too; they are both forms of recognition.

If they can't even get a bronze medal... then the judges must be blind.

Ms. Li doesn't care; her boyfriend is the best!

Chen Jingle thought for a moment and shook his head: "They're all just empty titles, there's no need to care about them."

As I've mentioned before, in China's art world, increasing one's value follows the same pattern as becoming a star in the entertainment industry.

Exhibiting, winning awards, and creating hype.

The most common approach is to first find a group of media outlets to conduct interviews, whether they are shady or legitimate media. The key is to have someone conduct the interviews, and then publish these press releases on various websites to create the impression of being very famous.

Secondly, create a respectable encyclopedia entry introducing your achievements, ideally by spending money to buy a few illegitimate awards or titles from dubious associations, such as "National Gift Calligrapher." The calligraphy piece Old Li got from a friend last time was like that.

The third step is to start organizing exhibitions, but not in China at first. Instead, organize them abroad, preferably in Japan, South Korea, or other Southeast Asian countries, for export-to-domestic sales.

Finally, they could partner with a familiar auction house to hold a private auction and drive up the price.

Although this trick is old and clumsy, the sheer size of China's population, along with the vast overseas Chinese community, means that some people will inevitably fall for it.

Chen Jingle was very dismissive of this.

It is said that a gentleman loves money but gets it in a proper way.

Marketing is acceptable, but exaggerated advertising, or even false advertising to deceive people, is wrong.

Chen Jingle's paintings are priced this way because they are of a high standard and have reached a certain level. They are truly worth the price, and there are quite a few people who agree with this and are willing to buy them.

Those who deliberately hype things up may fool people for a while, but they can't fool them forever; the bubble will burst sooner or later.

In contrast, his works have a stable value, and it will only increase in value.

Of course, there is also a slightly safer approach, which is to go through the association, participate in formal exhibitions, and link the value of calligraphy with one's position.

However, even the National Calligraphers Association has lost its prestige these days, let alone provincial and municipal ones.

Many works by members of the China Calligraphers Association are only worth a few hundred yuan per square foot, not to mention those by ordinary members; these have no collectible value whatsoever.

It's easy to buy but hard to liquidate.

Only the president and vice president can sell their products at a slightly higher price.

The problem is that after such a person retires, their value also plummets, as seen with the former president of the Calligraphers Association.

Besides, Chen Jingle doesn't like to socialize.

Whether it's an association or a book fair, it's all the same old business model: connections, legacy, mutual flattery, and nothing but commercial back-and-forth.

Chen Jingle has no interest in so-called connections or mentorship, so why would he need to curry favor with others?
"I just want to earn money honestly, that's why I don't want to get involved in those shady things."

What is the purpose of participating in exhibitions and competitions?
For fame and status.

But now his net worth is higher than many famous people, so why should he get involved in those irrelevant things?
On the contrary, consistently producing high-quality works is what truly matters.

As long as his works are of high quality, there will naturally be buyers willing to pay for them, and the supply will be continuous.

To put it bluntly, if you're powerful enough, people will be begging you to join.

For example, a certain provincial online literature association that made a fool of itself and went viral before. After its establishment, there wasn't a single online literature author among its members, from the top to the deputy and various council members. In the end, the controversy escalated and it was criticized. It had no choice but to shamelessly beg a platinum-level online literature author to take a deputy position.

As a result, the top authors completely ignored them, and many online novelists announced their withdrawal. Amidst schadenfreude, the entire association disbanded and started over.

Who is the one who loses face?
Chen Jingle eagerly anticipates the day when he becomes a top-tier master and is invited by the National Association to become a member.

Whether they will accept or be willing to join is still uncertain!
Of course, participating in the exhibition is still very meaningful for ordinary people.

When you don't know your skill level, go to an exhibition. Generally, in a formal calligraphy exhibition, as long as the quality is good enough, the judges will give you a spot in the exhibition if they are not blind.

It feels like participating in exhibitions is almost as common as submitting papers.

Those with a good reputation will be given priority; then those who are disciples of famous teachers will be given a chance to pass; those whose instructors are unknown will be judged based on their content; and those without instructors or affiliated institutions should stay away from the limelight.

For someone like Chen Jingle, who has no teacher and no institution to rely on, the only way to participate in exhibitions is probably to start with exhibitions for newcomers and exhibitions for copying calligraphy, and then work his way up step by step.

That's such a waste of time; who knows when it will even happen. As for winning an award, that's even more uncertain.

If you're willing to spend the money, there are specialized exhibition agencies to help you operate; or you can join a gallery studio and have professional art exhibition agents to help you manage it.

No matter what kind of competition it is in China, it's still essentially the same old system of sitting in a row and dividing the spoils, making full use of the four words "human relationships and social niceties".

Even the Lanting Award is the same.

The Lanting Award is indeed prestigious, being the highest award in calligraphy art, but the problem is that the prize money awarded to the winners of the Lanting Gold Award isn't actually that high.

Therefore, there is really no need to be overly superstitious about awards, exhibitions, associations, or titles.

"Garlic bird, garlic bird, there's always a way out, things will work themselves out, let's talk about it later!"

Chen Jingle swept Li Beixing up in his arms and placed her on his lap.

He's already quite content earning several hundred thousand a month; he's afraid he wouldn't be able to handle anything more.

Even after reading many books, learning a lot of knowledge, and understanding many principles, he still felt that his understanding was insufficient to acquire much wealth.

Otherwise, even if they earn more money, it will eventually flow back into society in other ways.

Moreover, the purpose of life should not be to make money; money is merely a tool for achieving happiness.

He used to work hard to earn money because he was afraid he wasn't good enough and wouldn't be accepted by his future in-laws, who wouldn't let him marry Teacher Li. Now it seems that Li Beixing's parents are quite satisfied with him, so he doesn't need to worry about money anymore; enough to get by is fine.

If all else fails, there's always someone to live off, right?

Teacher Li's life is so sweet and delicious that he wishes he could live off her for the rest of his life.

However, not participating in competitions or exhibitions does not mean doing nothing.

Chen Jingle obtained a screenshot of his price quote from the "List of Price Quotations for Famous Calligraphers and Painters" from Li Beixing, posted it on Douyin, and asked, "Which friend submitted my painting for auction?"

He was particularly interested in which auction house was being used for the specific auction and evaluation.

It wasn't because of the transaction price of 80,000 yuan, but because of the evaluations such as "great potential for appreciation" and "worthy of being collected in large quantities".

He now has over 30 followers on Douyin, all of whom are real fans, which is more than many people, making him a minor internet celebrity.

Many people were surprised when they saw this new video: "Huh? Master Chen's works are going to increase in price?"

Most people who have bought Chen Jingle's works are pleasantly surprised, especially those who bought them for their collectible value.

Meanwhile, some people who were still hesitant and hadn't made up their minds to buy were secretly kicking themselves, feeling like they had lost a fortune!

Chen Jingle had no choice but to reply: "Not for now. This is the auction house's estimate. I'm just curious which buyer submitted it for auction and for what reason."

In the end, someone actually came forward to claim it.

"I'm sorry, Master Chen, it was me who sold it. My family's business has been having problems lately, and we're having trouble with cash flow, so we sold a lot of things, including antiques and collectibles. What I didn't expect was that your work is one of the few pieces in my collection that I didn't lose money on but actually made a profit on."

Chen Jingle remembered the other party; he was a buyer from Lin'an who bought a meticulous flower-and-bird painting depicting a spotted dove building its nest.

He hadn't intended to blame anyone, but seeing that the other party seemed to have misunderstood, he explained, "It's alright, it's sold, it's all just worldly possessions. Let's calm down first. I should thank you for helping me increase my market value. I'm just curious which auction house it was consigned to?"

The other party replied: "It's Xiling. Their company is in Lin'an. I use them to handle my calligraphy and painting work for convenience."

Chen Jingle suddenly realized.

If it's Xiling, then it's not surprising.

Although Xiling is not what it used to be, and even the position of president has been vacant for a long time, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Its reputation at home and abroad is still top-notch, and assessing the quality of its works is not an easy task.
"Excellent taste! No wonder it's the number one society in the world!"

Chen Jingle was quite pleased with himself.

Li Beixing was amused by his appearance. It turned out he wasn't as aloof as she thought; he actually liked being praised and recognized.

Some commenters questioned whether Chen Jingle was creating this hype himself.

In response, he retorted directly: "I neither participate in exhibitions nor rely on any institution. A single four-foot-long calligraphy and painting work is clearly priced at 50,000 yuan. Even so, I still receive so many private orders every month that I can't keep up with them. Do I need to hype myself up?"

He simply ignored anyone who questioned him.

Since realizing that teaching online is more difficult than teaching in Africa, he has rarely engaged in long conversations with people, let alone tried to teach them to appreciate his calligraphy and paintings.

Let's figure out which is bigger, 0.8 or 0.11, first!

Seeing his reply, many people who had been following Chen Jingle for a long time finally understood why they couldn't find any specific information about him online.

He is neither a disciple of any of the eight major art academies nor a national gift calligrapher or painter, yet many people still praise the quality of his works.

It turns out that they were completely different from the current calligraphy and painting circles.

To say he's indifferent to fame and fortune is clearly not true; this guy takes on so many jobs just for money, writing and drawing non-stop.

But they don't get involved in those associations; they just focus on making money.

It can only be understood as having a bit of a unique personality.

But young people can understand.

The comment section was filled with astute individuals who, upon seeing the evaluation of Chen Jingle in the "Complete List of Price Lists for Famous Calligraphers and Painters"—"great potential for appreciation" and "worthy of extensive collection"—seemed thoughtful.

The fact that Xiling could still give such a high evaluation without any institutional hype or promotion shows just how high the quality of Chen Jingle's work must be.

buy!
Must buy!
Take advantage of the low price now and stock up on a few more!

Will the large number of works produced by Chen Jingle lead to a devaluation of market prices?
There's no need to worry about that.

Conversely, if a work is produced in sufficient quantity and recognized by both primary and secondary markets, especially with a large enough circulation in the secondary market (secondary sales), the artist's fame will grow, and the price of their work will only increase and become more stable.

Just like gold, any gold shop in the country has a gold buyback service.

If one day any gallery, art museum, or auction house in the country is willing to pay a price to buy Chen Jingle's works, then he can basically be said to be famous all over the world.

Under such circumstances, how could the price of his works decline?
Those who want to collect his calligraphy and paintings are essentially gambling, betting on the chance that a work will appreciate in value or even double in price.

People who are poor or uninterested in these things naturally cannot understand, but for those who focus on calligraphy and painting and have certain assets, Chen Jingle's calligraphy and paintings are indeed a very good investment choice.

Gold funds, stocks, futures – which isn't gambling?
Compared to those, Chen Jingle's works are of much higher quality and have less controllable risk.

Why not?

Many people in China make money through the calligraphy and painting industry, and just as many people pay attention to Chen Jingle.

As I said before, there are too many people; any niche hobby is ultimately part of the mainstream.

When Chen Jingle saw in his private messages that someone wanted to buy his calligraphy and painting works in bulk, and that there was more than one such person, he immediately became alert.

After thinking for a moment, I politely declined: "I'm sorry, I've received quite a few orders via private message. If I paint for you for the next few months, other buyers might have to wait a long time, which doesn't align with my creative philosophy. How about you buy a smaller number? How about three? Or if you're willing to wait a little longer, that's fine too."

Without exception, they all expressed their willingness to wait, as long as the price remained unchanged.

It just goes to show that there's never a shortage of smart people in this world, all thinking about making money off him!

(End of this chapter)