No. 32 Ancient Street.
In the inner courtyard, Wang Gu walked back and forth, his eyes full of doubt.
"Who is that young man? How did he meet the Old Master? Over the years, the Old Master has always been behind closed doors. Even many neighborhoods in the Ancient Street do not know that the Old Master is still alive, and I have never seen that person in the past either…" He muttered softly in his mouth.
"That painting… what's going on with it? Is it possible that that young man is a descendant of the owner of the painting?" His brows frowned as he became thoughtful.
"Also, what on earth will the Old Master and that young man talk about?" When Wang Gu said this, he raised his head from time to time and looked in the direction of the small wooden door, but he did not have the guts to go in without the Old Master's permission.
…
In the gallery.
The light was dim, Wang Xiu's hands trembled as he continued to lit a few more candle lights, the place was illuminated extremely brightly.
Ye Bei stood quietly as he looked at the painting in front of him, while Wang Xiu was quietly preparing the ink.
In the painting, there were a few small rural houses, a few dead trees that had just sprouted, and a few ancient people.
When looking at this painting, Ye Bei's thoughts drifted away leisurely.
In a house's study room.
A boy was gently grinding ink beside Ye Bei, his actions were serious and meticulous.
Ye Bei was in a long gown as usual; he sat in front of a desk with a brush in his hand. His eyebrows were handsome and his complexion was calm.
He moved the brush and words fell.
Line after line, the style of the words was peaceful and natural, and the gesture was subtle and stable as if they were born with a sense of perfection.
"Master, what are you writing?" The boy stopped, and when Ye Bei finished writing, the boy asked curiously, he knew very few words.
"Orchid Pavilion Preface." Ye Bei spoke, his voice was indifferent.
"Master, these words are so beautiful… I want to write such beautiful words in the future too!" The boy's voice was full of admiration and awe.
Ye Bei picked up the word and muttered softly, "This word is for you."
"Really?" The boy was overjoyed.
"Yeah." Ye Bei nodded, he let out a light smile and said lightly, "After this word, there is also a painting, I will give it to you today too."
"Thank you, master, I will grind the ink for master." The boy was overjoyed even more.
While grinding ink seriously, the boy would also look at Ye Bei's painting from time to time.
It was a story of a meeting of Winding Stream Party. With Ye Bei's graceful movements and strokes, the boy became more and more surprised as time went on. The picturesque scenery was quiet and peaceful. (A/N: A winding stream party is an old Chinese custom in which the participants wait by a winding stream and compose poems before their cups full of rice wine float down to reach them.)
The depiction of trees, buildings, and characters were all extremely sophisticated.
When the whole painting was over, it was elegant and beautiful in the splendor and subtly, showing the green landscape with an extremely real and lifelike picture.
"Master, this painting is so beautiful. Just looking at it, I can hear the sound of mountain streams and bamboo leaves stirring as if my whole person is integrated into this painting, and it's extremely quiet and tranquil." As Ye Bei stopped his movement, the boy fully expressed his thoughts.
"The painting was made with Orchid Pavilion Preface; I will give it to you today." Ye Bei's expression was indifferent, he glanced slightly and gave the painting to the boy casually.
"Thank you master for the reward; I will not let master down in the future." The boy took it carefully, like a heavenly treasure.
And many years later, this boy made great achievements in the calligraphy world, the later generations called him the "Sage of Calligraphy".
The collection of Orchid Pavilion Preface, with a pure heart and a sharp brush in the three points.
But there was no trace of the painting, in later generations, people often copied it based on fantasy.
That boy's name was Xizhi, his surname was Wang, his nationality was Han, his penname was Danzhai.
"Such a pity." After a long time, Ye Bei regained his senses and sighed slightly, his eyes faint.
When Wang Xiu heard this, he said, "Guest, the world only knows that Wang Xizhi has written the Orchid Pavilion Preface but does not know that there's a painting along with it too, it's a pity, it's been too long, where did that painting go? No one knows, now this one was bought by ancestors with at a large sum of money, and it was made by posterity according to the preface."
"En." Ye Bei said lightly.
He did not intend to tell the truth. Whether it was the Orchid Pavilion Preface or the painting, he moved a lot of hands and feet in later gears to cover up everything.
"Guest, that ink has been polished." Wang Xiu muttered.
From the table, Ye Bei picked up a brush, he took a step forward and moistened it with ink.
Afterward, he found a piece of paper cloth and placed it on a wooden board, with a calm expression, he sat down in front of the wooden board with a graceful movement.
The brush in his hand moved, the words appeared.
Wang Xiu crouched on the side, watching carefully.
"Orchid Pavilion Preface!"
When the tree characters 'Orchid Pavilion Preface' appeared, Wang Xiu's expression was shocked, his pupils kept dilating.
Those three words were vigorous and powerful, full of the long years, if not for the new ink, it was definitely more real than the original.
In a blink of an eye, ten minutes passed.
Whoosh!
Everything was done.
The brand new Orchid Pavilion Preface was created.
Ye Bei took the paper cloth away without even looking at it, he put it aside and picked up the brush again, smeared it with ink, then he laid a piece of paper cloth again. This time, Ye Bei was going to paint.
Green mountains and green water, magnificent forests and bamboos…
The outline of the painting became clearer and clearer.
Next to him, Wang Xiu's body was already sluggish, those eyes were full of incredibility and shock.
"Guest, this is… the original painting of Orchid Pavilion Preface?" The moment Ye Bei started the movement of his brush again, Wang Xiu could not help it as his voice trembling, then he stepped forward, rubbing his eyes, staring at the painting without blinking. His dry eyes became brighter, his voice also vividly revealed excitement.
"Yes, if you think it is. No, if you think it's not." Ye Bei threw the brush aside, left his hand from the painting, and stood quietly in the gallery, continuing to observe the paintings handing on the wall, his eyes tranquil, without any waves.
But it could not be applied to Wang Xiu.
He could not calm down at all. That rickety, old body quickly picked up the two pieces of paper.
Regardless of whether Ye Bei was nearby, he found a magnifying glass and looked at it carefully by candlelight.
In the gallery, it fell into silence again.
Hu, hu…
Only the occasional heavy breathing of Wang Xiu could be heard.
After a long time, Wang Xiu raised his head, his body arched, and his hand holding the magnifying glass could not stop shaking.
"Guest, have sir… ever met the ancestor Danzhai?" His voice was very soft, with hesitation, also with a bit of anticipation, and the way he called Ye Bei had also changed from 'you' to 'sir'.
"Yeah." Ye Bei said lightly, which was regarded as an answer.
"That…" Wang Xiu wanted to ask more.
But before he could let out the second word, Ye Bei leisurely continued, "He was my attendant."
Wang Xiu held the paper cloth and slowly loosened it. In the gallery, the needle fell silently.