Chapter 18: Painting a portrait

"It's a pity that you paint so well. If the young lady saw your paintings, she would definitely like them very much." The maid Xiaoxue said regretfully.

"It should be you who are sorry, not me." Zhong Lin said with a smile: "With my painting skills, are you afraid that someone will not recognize the goods?"

The confident tone made the maid Xiaoxue feel like hitting someone, but she had to admit that Zhong Lin's painting skills were the best she had ever seen.

Xiaoxue didn't know what it meant to focus on meaning rather than form. She only knew that Zhong Lin's paintings were just like the real ones, as if the people in them could walk out at any time, which was simply a magical skill.

She curled her lips and pointed to a scroll in Zhong Lin's package: "Sell this to me! I'll take it back to show the young lady."

"Five taels of silver."

"It's okay, not expensive. Miaohuafang charges three taels for painting for the young lady. Your paintings are so beautiful, five taels of silver is not expensive."

While speaking, the maid Xiaoxue took out a grain of silver from her purse, not more, not less, just five taels.

Zhong Lin reached out to take the silver and handed over the scroll.

Xiaoxue slowly opened the scroll again and looked at the beauty in the painting. The beauty was dressed in white, with an ethereal temperament, long black hair flying in the wind, a three-dimensional figure, and lively eyes, even a feeling of being alive.

"So beautiful, more beautiful than my daughter, what's her name? Which daughter is she?"

Xiaoxue looked away with difficulty, closed the scroll, and asked.

At this time, Zhong Lin was still immersed in the joy of five taels of silver. You know, this was just a short stick of incense. If you want, you can paint another one at any time.

The rent of the courtyard he rented was only three taels of silver a year, and this painting was five taels of silver. With this skill, you don't have to worry about not having enough to eat.

Hearing the question from the maid Xiaoxue, he casually said, "This is Xiaolongnu, not someone's daughter. I saw her in my dream and then drew her."

"Seen in a dream? No wonder she is so ethereal and full of fairy spirit. How can ordinary people raise such a beautiful woman?"

The maid Xiaoxue sighed and turned back to the Nuanxiang Tower behind her.

Zhong Lin also put away his five taels of silver and walked away with big strides.

He earned five taels of silver for the first time in business, so he must reward himself.

Go to a restaurant.

"Excuse me, is this Mr. Zhong?"

A carriage suddenly stopped in front of Zhong Lin, and a tall and thin old man in his fifties got off it.

"Who are you?"

"I heard that Mr. Zhong is a master of painting, so I specially came to invite you to paint for my master. Please move."

The housekeeper was not at all rebellious because of Zhong Lin's young age. His tone was full of gentleness, which made people feel that he was worthy of being the housekeeper of a wealthy family.

"You can paint, but the fee is..."

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhong. If your painting satisfies the master, he will never treat you unfairly."

"Okay."

Zhong Lin stepped onto the carriage and headed toward the city along the street.

Sitting in the carriage, the housekeeper was taciturn and closed his eyes to rest. Zhong Lin didn't want to talk to him either, so he looked out the window to see the scenery.

As the carriage moved, the buildings on both sides of the street became more regular, and the people coming and going were obviously better dressed.

The ground streets were paved with bluestone, and the houses changed from small courtyards to deep courtyards.

In about a quarter of an hour, the two came to a red-painted gate. Above the mansion was a large plaque with the two characters "Liu Mansion" written on it.

"Mr. Zhong, please."

Following the housekeeper in from the side door, there were artificial mountains and waters, pavilions and towers all the way, which made Zhong Lin sigh for a while, worthy of being a wealthy family.

Not long after, he was led to the inner courtyard by the housekeeper, and seven or eight maids and servants were waiting on the side.

Some people were holding basins, some were holding towels, and some were carrying food boxes.

As soon as I entered the house, a strong smell of medicine hit my nose.

The housekeeper explained in a low voice: "Mr. Zhong, please forgive me. My master is terminally ill. The doctor said that he has not much time left. I asked Mr. Zhong to come to paint a portrait for my master, so that future generations can admire his appearance. Please rest assured, Mr. Zhong, I will give you an extra red envelope after the matter is completed."

"Housekeeper, has the painter been invited?"

A middle-aged man in his forties in the house saw Zhong Lin and the housekeeper come in and asked loudly.

"Master, the painter is here."

"Him?"

The middle-aged man looked at Zhong Lin and showed a look of disbelief as always.

Zhong Lin did not say much, and directly took out the scroll behind him, showing half of it to the middle-aged man to watch.

No mistakes in one poem, one post, one content, one content, one book, one bar!

This has become Zhong Lin's business card.

Sure enough, after seeing the painting in Zhong Lin's hand, the middle-aged man's eyes lit up and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, let's choose him!"

The housekeeper quickly led Chen Mo into the inner room. At this time, he also saw the old man lying on the bed. At this time, the old man's face was pale, his breathing was weak, and every breath in his throat would make a dull sound like a broken bellows, making people have no doubt that he might kick his legs at any time.

"Here it comes... cough cough."

The voice was hoarse and weak, and he coughed violently after just saying one sentence. The old woman next to him stroked his chest for a long time before calming down.

"Master, this is the painter I found for you." The housekeeper stepped forward and whispered.

"Such a young painter? Forget it, you can take a fancy to it, which means that the painting is good. Let's start!" Master Liu waved his hand with difficulty.

"The top-quality pens, ink, paper and inkstone are ready, please, Mr. Zhong."

Zhong Lin was speechless at this time. His original target group was the young ladies in the brothel. Who knew that the business in the brothel was not successful, but he came to paint the portrait. Life is so unpredictable!

Just paint! It's not bad to make money.

Zhong Lin did not sit down and write immediately, but turned his head to the housekeeper and said: "Please bring the clothes and accessories that Mr. Liu wears every day for me to see."

The housekeeper looked at Zhong Lin in surprise, and after asking for instructions, he did not arrange according to Zhong Lin's request.

Zhong Lin ignored the others, walked to the bedside, looked at Mr. Liu carefully, and understood it in a moment.

Not long after, Mr. Liu's clothes were also delivered. Logically speaking, the portrait should be dressed up before painting, but it was a pity that Mr. Liu had no energy to do this at this time.

He asked the housekeeper about Mr. Liu's usual state, temperament, habits, etc. After some operations, Zhong Lin finally sat down and picked up the brush.

An hour later, Zhong Lin slowly put down his brush and stood up.

In fact, Zhong Lin had almost finished the painting half an hour ago, but he had to respect the money given by others.

"Mr. Zhong has a great hand."

The housekeeper and Mr. Liu standing behind Zhong Lin could not help but be moved after seeing the painting.

The person in the picture has a full face, bright eyes, and meticulously combed hair. The overall image is very different from the dying old man on the hospital bed.

But the two knew that this was the image of Mr. Liu in a healthy state, and the image in the painting was even younger than usual.

It's just manual Photoshop, basic operation, don't be stupid.