Objective achieved, Ye Jiaorui showed a smile, "Then hurry up and call Senior Sister Luo..."
"Tsck." Fu Yan leaned forward, his long fingers fiddling with a printed lighter, "Since our Zhizhi has agreed, she will definitely help out. It's not very nice for Miss Ye to urge like that, right?"
Sheng Congzhi took over, "If you mistrust me that much, then forget it."
Ye Jiaorui almost clenched her teeth to pieces.
Sheng Wanrou hurriedly smiled apologetically, "No, no, Jiaojiao is just too anxious. After all, that painting is very important to Dongting..."
"Since it's so important," Fu Yan mused, "Our Zhizhi is helping out so much, what's in it for her?"
Sheng Wanrou's smile almost failed to hold.
Ye Jiaorui widened her eyes in disbelief as if she hadn't expected Fu Yan to be so... shameless!
The room fell silent.
After a tense few seconds, Sheng Wanrou finally spoke, "Well, Zhizhi's previous car broke down. I'll buy you a new one, how about that?"
"There's no need to bother." Sheng Congzhi curved her lips, "That car model is too old; I actually don't like it. Just give me the money, and I'll pick one myself."
**
Back in the car, Ye Jiaorui began to lose her temper, "Mom, look at her, she's too much! She obviously smashed the car on purpose and still asked you for money to buy a new one..."
Sheng Wanrou was forced to bleed money and was also angry enough that her heart thumped fiercely.
After telling the driver to drive, she sighed deeply, "Let's just consider it charity."
Charity?
Ye Jiaorui: "Is Dr. Fu very poor?"
"If he had money, would he be asking us for those little benefits?" Sheng Wanrou scoffed, "He drives a domestic car. As for the villa, it must be given by the Fu Family. He's just an illegitimate son without Fu Family's inheritance rights. Being a doctor, how much could he possibly earn a month?"
So he's just a poor doctor! Ye Jiaorui felt a bit relieved.
Regarding the villa.
Sheng Congzhi spoke, "I'm going upstairs first."
As she was about to get up...
"Wait a moment." Fu Yan's fingers pressed down, touching her waist, "Do you also know a restoration master?"
Sheng Congzhi's body tensed slightly, "... I knew one from when I studied painting."
Fu Yan nodded, "And what about Uncle Lu, did you meet him through painting too?"
Sheng Congzhi countered, "What do you want?"
"Just asking." Saying this, Fu Yan chuckled lowly, his fingers pinching her waist, "Your husband just asked for a car's worth of money for you, can't you endure a few questions? Huh?"
Sheng Congzhi took a deep breath, then suddenly stood up, "Thank you."
She quickly turned around and went upstairs.
Fu Yan sat there, his phoenix eyes smiling yet not smiling.
This girl...
Running so fast?
Can someone forget decency as soon as they put on their pants?
**
Fu Dongting soon received a call from Luo Yuanjiu.
"Mr. Fu, the master sister called me. She can repair your painting, but there's a condition."
"What condition?"
"She wants to take a ten percent commission."
In the antique play world, good restoration masters are hard to come by, thus the more skilled the restorer, the higher the commission they charge.
Fu Dongting already had this premonition, and he agreed readily, "No problem."
...
The next morning, Fu Dongting brought the painting to Luo Mansion early on.
Looking at the quiet store, "Will Senior Sister Luo be here today?"
"I'm not sure about that," Luo Yuanjiu smiled, "The master sister is always elusive, but don't worry, since she has already agreed, she will definitely repair the painting well."
"Alright then."
"Mr. Fu." Luo Yuanji handed over a contract, "This is the commission contract, please take a look, and if there's no problem, sign here."
Fu Dongting fell silent, "Do I still need to sign?"
Luo Yuanjiu continued smiling, "This is what Senior Sister Luo instructed. Rest assured, the terms are clearly stated here: Upon completion of the restoration, she will collect a commission of ten percent of the painting's value; if you are not satisfied, she will also compensate you with double the price of the painting."
It indeed sounded like a good deal.
Fu Dongting pondered for a moment and then signed his name.
Not long after he left, Sheng Congzhi arrived at the store.
"Senior Sister!" Luo Yuanjiu greeted, "Mr. Fu has already signed the contract, and the painting has been delivered to the restoration room upstairs."
Sheng Congzhi was pleased, "Well done."
...
In the restoration room.
"The Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River" lay flat on a square table.
On another table nearby, various restoration tools were displayed: a workbench, mounting board, brown brushes, book-cutting machine, bamboo scrapers, and so on.
They were dazzlingly arrayed, everything was available.
Among them, just the touch-up brushes alone filled an entire row.
Restoring ancient paintings and calligraphy required four processes: rinsing, delaminating, patching, and full color.
Sheng Congzhi tied her long hair into a bun, put on her work clothes, and began to work!
First, she soaked the brush in hot water and applied it bit by bit to the dirtied areas, allowing the water to slowly seep downward before using a sheep's stomach towel to absorb the dirty water.
Book and painting restoration is a very demanding job that required full concentration, with patience and meticulousness being the most crucial.
Moreover, one must possess solid painting skills, and even a mastery of various histories, literatures, and even physical and chemical knowledge of materials…
For instance, this painting "The Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River" used mineral pigments, so the amount of water and the temperature had to be strictly controlled to avoid damaging the painting quality.
Luo Yuanjiu stood to one side, not daring to disturb her.
However, he soon noticed—
Though Senior Sister Luo was young and hadn't done this work for almost four years, she still handled it extremely skillfully and composedly.
...
Thus, for the next five days, Sheng Congzhi pushed aside all other activities and immersed herself in work at the store every day.
On the last afternoon, the whole painting was completely recolored.
Looking at the refreshed "The Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River," Luo Yuanjiu was amazed, "Senior Sister, you are truly amazing; it looks as though it was just freshly painted."
"Call Fu Dongting and ask him to come pick up the painting tomorrow."
"Senior Sister." Luo Yuanjiu was curious, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Speak."
"Why did you suddenly agree to restore this painting? Just for that additional commission?"
Sheng Congzhi didn't deny it, "Money is something, the more the better."
Luo Yuanjiu: "..."
"Right," Sheng Congzhi reminded, "tell Fu Dongting that he can pay the commission after the auction."
"Auction?"
Sheng Congzhi only smiled without replying.
Two days later, there was a charity dinner in Yun City; if she wasn't mistaken, Fu Dongting would use this painting for a transaction.
By then, the value of the painting would be far more than just a few million...
**
Upon receiving the call, Fu Dongting rushed over as soon as possible.
Seeing the finished product, he completely relaxed.
Although Senior Sister Luo was a bit eccentric, she indeed had masterful skills; he hadn't made a mistake in picking her!
"The current market price of this painting is one million, ten percent of that is..."
"Mr. Fu, let's not worry about the commission now."
Once Luo Yuanjiu relayed Sheng Congzhi's message.
Fu Dongting's brow instantly furrowed.
This Senior Sister Luo actually knew he was planning to auction the painting?!