Ties of Silence Chapter 10

Grayson Ding and Caleb Ji spent the whole day painting in the study, with crumbled rice paper all over the carpet. If they wanted to discuss, they had to understand each other, and if they wanted to cooperate, they had to do it in a thoughtful manner.

Putting down the pen almost at the same time, he put the rice paper spread out horizontally together, and two paintings with the same theme suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. Caleb Ji bit his lip, like suddenly kicking his legs while sleeping, an unconscious behavior, but after biting, he felt panicked.

He had no time to compare, and stared intently at the other's painting. The fluttering figures' clothes and the flapping wings of the magpie were all too lifelike. The texture was as thin as hair, and the complicated folds were not messy. He thought of Grayson Ding's ghostly patterns, each stroke of which was meticulous and made the onlookers applaud.

Grayson Ding was lazy and arrogant, but his paintings were meticulous, so Caleb Ji was surprised.

"What do you want to say?" Grayson Ding also looked at the two paintings, "I'll be honest with you. It's good to take it out, so I can make do with it."

Caleb Ji already admired the other party's painting skills, so he did not refute: "How can I make do?"

Grayson Ding pointed casually: "We paint not for appreciation, but to lay the foundation for sculpture, so it must be precise and true. Some painters have said that only by being very similar can we express the spirit, but your 'similarity' is not enough." "

Caleb Ji accepted it humbly: "Do you have any other questions?"

Grayson Ding glanced at him, as if he didn't expect him to be so humble, so he pointed out the problem in a softer tone: "Painting pays attention to two major points, the layout is well-organized, and the colors are appropriate. We only need to look at the layout. Do you think yours is the same?" Is there any problem with the layout?"

Caleb Ji looked at it for a moment: "The living creatures are too concentrated and are too heavy."

He sat down and repainted the painting, and after it was completely fine, he took a picture with Grayson Ding. Combining pictures is to complete a picture together. Facing a piece of paper, the respective paintings are merged into one. There can be no deviation or disparity, so that outsiders cannot see the difference.

The posture was crowded. Caleb Ji's right arm was pressed against Grayson Ding's left arm. When he was about to be unable to move, Grayson Ding raised his hand to avoid it and put his arm behind him, semi-surrounding him. The two held their breath, perhaps looking at each other as they dipped in ink and changed pens, but there was no other communication.

A silent collaboration ended with the sunset, and the entire painting was finally completed.

Grayson Ding commented: "If you can draw it, why didn't you draw it more carefully before?"

Caleb Ji also studied painting assiduously, and did not want to be misunderstood. He got up and ran to the bedroom, and came back with a booklet. The hard cover only bears Ji Fangxu's seal. He said, "This is my master's painting. Take a look."

When Grayson Ding opens it, the landscapes and figures inside each have their own shapes, the lines are smooth and simple, and the colors are clear and elegant, but they cannot be looked at in detail. Every detail has been touched up with only a few strokes, and the charm is there, but it is not carefully crafted, which makes people think that this painter is quite lazy.

Grayson Ding shook his head: "No, I also have Master Ji's picture album at home, that's not the case."

Grayson Ding rummaged through and found a book of flowers and birds, which was a birthday gift given to Elliott Ding by Ji Fangxu when he was young. When he opened it, he saw that the flowers and plants were extremely lifelike, and the birds were vivid and delicate, which was difficult to imitate.

Caleb Ji immediately understood that Ji Fangxu later became obsessed with antiques and his focus gradually shifted. Anyway, there were gains and losses.

One night passed, and Grayson Ding did not go to work again. He was carrying an aluminum kettle to irrigate the flowerbed early in the morning. The lilacs that bear his surname were watered by him until they were muddy. After pouring, I went to the study to wait, preparing to finish the hooking in the morning.

Caleb Ji came late with candy in his mouth and leaned over the table: "Brother, I have a question."

Grayson Ding wiped the stone with a deerskin handkerchief: "What's the problem?"

Caleb Ji said: "Aren't we going to compete? But when we carve a piece together, we have to be in sync, so how can we tell the difference?"

Grayson Ding raised his eyes, his eyes were just like Caleb Ji's time when he was carving rich bamboos, and his tone was not good: "You can just keep up with me, how about we compare? The one who is taller than me is Elliott Ding, so let's divide fart."

Caleb Ji stood up suddenly. He had already experienced Grayson Ding's arrogance, but he didn't expect that the other party still looked down upon him so much.

The two of them guarded the hibiscus stone hook line. This stone was their heart's favorite that could not be neglected, so they put aside their rivalry for the time being and tried their best to cooperate. Caleb Ji had already seen the speed of Ding Han's white outlines. He learned from Ji Fangxu's lazy painting style and could not change it overnight, so he gradually fell behind.

He knew that Grayson Ding was slowing down and waiting for him, but if he slowed down by four points, Grayson Ding would only slow down by less than two points.

Caleb Ji's palms were sweating: "Brother, wait for me."

The tip of the pen flicked smoothly, and Grayson Ding did not slow down at all: "Why do you ask others to wait? You may be rejected, laughed at, and looked down upon. It is better to grit your teeth and catch up, tie and surpass him, then you can shame him, run against him, and suppress him." It's him."

Caleb Ji clenched the crown of his teeth and sped up, looking at his eyes, nose, and heart, almost as if he had not been left behind. After finally finishing the line, he was sweating and asked: "When one day I really shame you, run against you, and suppress you, what will you do?"

Grayson Ding replied: "Nothing can be done. It's my fault for not working hard." He rinsed the brush clean, knocked the pen holder to wash away the water beads, and threw the beads away, but a faint smile appeared on his face, "Never hate your opponent for being strong. , the scenery is still desolate, the posture must be good-looking. "

Caleb Ji nodded. Since arriving here, Grayson Ding had said a lot to him, hot or cold, good or bad. Some of them he agreed with, and some of them were forgotten after hearing them. He remembered the sentence just now, along with Grayson Ding's expression and tone.

The embryo was about to come out after the painting was finished. From conception to painting technique, the two of them each won a round. Now was the most fundamental and critical moment of carving, and within ten minutes there were disagreements again.

Grayson Ding glanced at the other party like a thief: "Pearls?"

Pretending to be intimate, he said: "It's rough carving, what are you going to carve out with a knife?"

Caleb Ji held a long-handled knife: "Traditional fine craftsmanship is indeed rough carving, but my master is not like that. He highlights a few key points, fixes the whole, and carves discretely in the center."

Grayson Ding thought of the small Nanhong statue. He spoke highly of it at that time all because of the light perception, but he couldn't turn back when he cut. Each cut had to be planned in advance. "Does this determine the brightness?" he asked, "Actually, what you determined is the light point?"

The tip of the knife stopped for an instant, and Ji Shen said anxiously: "You, you can't..."

Grayson Ding was very interested: "What can't be done?"

Caleb Ji rarely spoke sternly: "You can't steal it! This is what my master figured out, and it's not allowed to be passed on to anyone else!"

This technique is contrary to the traditional carving method. It seems to be just adding a few cuts in advance, but without a lot of research and practice, it is impossible to achieve the effect. It is naturally not easy for outsiders to learn.

Grayson Ding said deliberately: "Don't let it be lost in your hands."

"I don't think you're worried about it." Ji Shen said enthusiastically, "In the future, it will be passed on to my children, and then to my grandchildren. It will be passed on endlessly from generation to generation... Maybe I will even apply for a patent." "

Ding Han smiled in vain, with a trace of regret hidden under his smile. He dropped the words too early. Caleb Ji might really be able to compete with him. Putting aside his inspiration and unique skills, he only observed the other person's eyes.

Caleb Ji was obsessed with the work at this time, his face was as dark as water, and only his eyes were alive. The emotion in his eyes is very simple, besides being serious, there is also a deep love.

Grayson Ding recalled that Caleb Ji had never looked at his father like this, never looked at Elliott Jiang like this, and never looked at himself like this. He only looked at this hibiscus stone like this. But he understood that Caleb Ji's eyes would not change if he replaced it with bloodstone, agate ice piao and Tian jade.

He said that once you hold a knife, you only have this piece of material in your eyes and heart.

He could do it, and Caleb Ji could do it, but there was a big difference.

It was already afternoon after the embryo was conceived. Caleb Ji went back to the room. Grayson Ding covered the hibiscus stone with a deerskin handkerchief. He sat quietly for a while and thought about miscellaneous things, then stood up to face the sunshine.

The weather is so nice, why not go out for a walk.

Grayson Ding put on a pair of white sneakers, walked down the corridor, stepped on the railing and jumped two meters out, and reached the arch in a few steps. The bedroom door creaked open, and Caleb Ji stood in it: "Are you going to Yushu Ji?"

Grayson Ding picked up his trouser pockets and said, "I'm going to play. If you want to follow me, just change your clothes."

Caleb Ji was very wary: "Go to the bathhouse?"

He was still frightened, and the smell of bathing and steaming in the sauna was still lingering in his mind for three days. After changing his clothes, he went out with Grayson Ding. Grayson Ding carried him on his bicycle, so swaying that he almost forgot about the "B@st@ard B@st@ard" on the beam.

"Brother," Caleb Ji apologized, "I'm sorry."

Grayson Ding didn't care: "It's okay. It's my fault that I forgot to pick you up that time."

After saying these two sentences, he didn't say anything again, and he arrived at his destination quietly. Entering through the gate, you will see a long screen wall, with noisy people behind it, and a constant stream of people coming and going.

Caleb Ji followed Grayson Ding, bypassing the screen wall and entering a vast world - the tortoiseshell antique market.

There are so many dazzling treasures on the ground that you can pick them out first, regardless of whether they are real or fake. You can see all kinds of beautiful things at a glance, which is dizzying. People and artifacts were numerous and mixed. Grayson Ding started walking along the narrow road, wondering about this and being fascinated by that, forgetting Caleb Ji.

Caleb Ji didn't care about anything else, and looked carefully at every stall. After squatting for a long time, someone kicked his B*tt. After getting up, he searched around and saw Grayson Ding picking skewers not far away. He went over to watch and felt that the wooden skewers were really ugly. He turned around and saw that many stalls were selling wooden skewers.

The boss tried his best to praise his wooden bracelet, which is red sandalwood, oily and beautiful... Grayson Ding played with it and said: "Ten red sandalwood and seven fake. I think the quality of your beads is not good. In two years it will be "It has to break."

The boss assured me: "No way, I will definitely not collapse!"

Grayson Ding added: "It doesn't collapse because it has a low density. The best wood has a high density, so your raw material is not good."

The boss was trapped by him, and neither left nor right was able to recover, and a quarrel was about to begin. Caleb Ji hid behind Grayson Ding, grabbed the corner of Grayson Ding's clothes and tugged on him, not wanting to cause trouble.

Unexpectedly, after Grayson Ding picked the thorns, he obediently took out the money and bought all the strings.

They walked around for a long time, making no mistakes from beginning to end, and ended up drinking soda outside the canteen, with the bracelets spread out on the table. Caleb Ji picked up one, smelled it and frowned: "Fake red sandalwood."

Grayson Ding agreed: "Indeed."

Then why did you buy it? Caleb Ji wanted to ask. Before he could ask, Grayson Ding asked him first: "Wood, walnut, top-quality twelve-petal diamond bracelets, what do you think of these bracelets?"

Caleb Ji didn't even think about it: "It's ugly, and I won't wear it even if I pay for it."

Grayson Ding drank all the orange water: "I think it's ugly too, but many stalls sell them, and they are more popular than jade skewers. This is the market, and it is a fashion trend that is about to become hot."

This antique market is a microcosm. There are a lot of fakes, ignorant buyers, and more and more people in the circle. Real and good ones can’t find a market. To adapt means to downgrade, and when it comes to Jade Sales Notes, downgrading is fatal.

"What should we do?" Caleb Ji asked this time.

Grayson Ding replied: "Nothing to do, this is fine. It doesn't matter whether it's high-end or high-end, or tacky."

They continued shopping, but Caleb Ji was not as excited as before. He vaguely felt that Grayson Ding had not finished speaking. In other words, Grayson Ding had nothing to say to him.

He also vaguely felt that Grayson Ding was hiding something in his heart, something higher than the Jade Sales Record.

After wandering around for a while, Grayson Ding saw that Caleb Ji was empty-handed and tried to be a landlord: "If you like anything, I'll buy it for you."

Caleb Ji said consciously: "I'll just take a look. I don't want anything."

Grayson Ding misunderstood him: "Are you afraid of choosing a fake?"

At that moment, Caleb Ji could read the pride in Grayson Ding's eyes. When he looked again, Grayson Ding exuded the temperament of a wealthy man with ease. He thought that Grayson Ding was going to waste money, but he didn't expect that Grayson Ding came closer. I whispered to him.

"I can tell the difference between true and false. There is no mistake or omission."

Caleb Ji was led around and stopped in front of a stall, still dazed. He was a little dazzled when he saw all kinds of orphan gadgets. Grayson Ding asked him to pick one, and he picked an enamel brooch at random.

Grayson Ding frowned: "You wear it?"

"I'll give it to my aunt to wear," he said.

Grayson Ding took it off and put it back: "I gave it to you, you gave it to your aunt, you borrowed flowers to offer to the Buddha and you told me clearly, do I need to thank you again?"

After he finished speaking, he waved away Caleb Ji's hand and selected it himself. After screening out defective goods and fakes, he confirmed it at a glance and picked up an amber pendant. "That's it." He threw the pendant to the other party, paid the money and left.

It was about to sunset on the way back. Caleb Ji was looking at the pendant in the back seat, holding the rope and raising and lowering his hand to find the best light source. Facing the sunset in the distance, amber spins, revealing the beauty formed over thousands of years.

He said: "Thank you, senior brother."

Grayson Ding pedaled the car without saying you were welcome.

Caleb Ji asked again: "Why did you choose this to give me?"

"The color is nice." Grayson Ding answered this time, but didn't say the other part--like your eyes.