"Director, I have two apprentices who want to be transferred to the painting shop. They are now full-time employees of XC District Materials, mainly because I can use them more easily." Zhang Junping said slightly embarrassed.
"This is no problem!
There are no other requirements? I mean, if the city agrees to your plan, what are your requirements?" Cao Xiangqian asked with a smile.
"Well, speaking of requirements, there are two points."
"Haha, tell me your request. When I report to the city later, I can mention it to the leader." Cao Qianqian smiled at the two of them and asked.
"First, it would be best if the city could provide one million US dollars in foreign exchange support.
If not, I will have to find someone to cooperate in the early stage.
Second, give us those granaries in department stores."
"Granary? You are talking about Nan Xincang? What do you want it for?" Cao Xiangqian could understand the need for money, but Cao Xiangqian was a little confused about the granary.
“In the entire BJ City, there is no place that is taller, larger, more spacious, and more suitable for an art exhibition hall than Nanxincang.
Nanxincang has a history of six hundred years and is antique. After a little tidying up, it becomes an exhibition hall full of historical atmosphere.
Now that the department store has basically abandoned it, it just happened to be used as an exhibition hall for me." Zhang Junping explained with a smile.
"You inquired very clearly! OK, I will report this matter to the city leaders.
Are there any other requirements or difficulties?" Cao Xiangqian asked again.
"No more! Then I won't delay the director's work..." Zhang Junping said goodbye and left at the right time.
………
Back at the painting store, Zhang Junping first went to the old store manager to explain the reason for his late arrival before returning to his office.
The painting desk has been moved back.
There is also an additional bookcase behind the desk, both of which are Huanghuali pieces from the Ming Dynasty.
It seems that the old store manager has a special liking for Ming Dynasty huanghuali furniture.
There is also a phone on the desk, which is basically complete.
As soon as Zhang Junping sat down, Lu Guozhong knocked on the door and came in.
"Manager Zhang, this is the 10,000 yuan you lent to the finance department yesterday.
You give me the IOU and I'll charge the account." Lu Guozhong put the money on Zhang Junping's desk and said respectfully.
"Oh! Here is the IOU!" Zhang Junping took out the IOU from his pocket, handed it to Lu Guozhong, and said with a smile: "Chief Lu, you take this money back and it will be used as money for me to buy the painting.
All these ten thousand yuan will be exchanged for me to calligraphy and painting by modern calligraphy and painting masters."
"Manager Zhang, I wonder whose calligraphy and paintings you need?"
"Callifications and paintings by modern and contemporary artists, including works by Mr. Bai Shi, Mr. Daqian, Mr. Beihong, Mr. Baoshi, Huang Binhong, Lin Fengmian, Pan Tianshou and other modern and contemporary artists are all acceptable.
Just calculate the price according to our normal selling price. If I can sell the works of these masters of calligraphy and painting, I have already benefited from it." Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"Okay, I know about Store Manager Zhang! I'll have someone bring the calligraphy and painting to your office right now."
Just as Lu Guozhong was about to leave with the IOU and cash, Zhang Junping stopped him again: "Chief Lu, please do some statistics on the calligraphers and painters who have often come to us to sell calligraphy and paintings in the past few years.
Looking back, when we distribute Chinese New Year benefits, we will also give them a copy.
Once the statistics are complete, send them over as soon as possible so that I can prepare them."
"Okay, I'll do the statistics right away!" Lu Guozhong agreed and turned around to go out.
After sending Lu Guozhong away, Zhang Junping habitually wanted to make himself a cup of tea.
Although he cannot taste the quality of tea, he is used to drinking a cup of tea in the morning.
As a result, he found that there was no kettle in his office.
At this moment, Zhang Junping began to miss his days in the Materials Bureau.
There are apprentices waiting on me, and I make tea for myself in advance every morning.
I just had a drink when I got to the office.
Now……
Zhang Junping could only go out and ask Lu Guozhong, "Chief Lu, do we have any extra thermoses? Get me one."
"Ouch! Manager Zhang, I'm looking back to you for making such a low-level mistake.
I'll get you a thermos right away!" Lu Guozhong was stunned and quickly apologized to Zhang Junping.
He took out a thermos filled with hot water from his office and said, "Manager Zhang, I will bring it to your room."
"No, I can just take it myself.
You are in charge of both finance and purchasing, so you have a lot to do.
Besides, this is not a big deal." Zhang Junping said with a smile.
Very generous and didn't take it seriously at all.
However, it was different to Lu Guozhong's ears.
Store Manager Zhang is beating himself up. If you don’t take me seriously, don’t blame me for taking advantage of you.
Zhang Junping returned to Zhang Junping's office with the thermos and took out a bone china teacup from the space.
I took the tea cup and went to the faucet downstairs to clean it carefully. Then I went to the boiler room and took the hot water and scalded it several times.
Zhang Junping was still a little worried and went directly to the canteen of the painting shop.
"Manager Zhang, what are your orders?"
"Master Ma, I have a cup here. Give me the pot and put it in it for a while."
"Manager Zhang, do you want to disinfect it?"
"Yes! I bought this cup abroad. It has a history of nearly a hundred years and can be considered an antique cup.
So I thought about disinfection." Zhang Junping explained with a smile.
"Okay, leave it to me. I'll cook it for you first, and then soak it in white vinegar for you.
Make sure it's as clean as new." Master Ma assured, patting his chest.
"Okay, please, Master Ma." Zhang Junping thanked him and left the backyard.
Come to the business hall on the first floor in front.
The facade of the painting shop is a two-story Western-style building. The first floor is a business hall. It sells famous calligraphy and paintings, the four treasures of the study: pens, inks, paper and inkstones. It also sells various painting tools, including Chinese paintings and Western paintings.
The second floor is the office area and framing studio.
There is also a quite large yard at the back with about ten houses, which are used as warehouses, water boilers, and canteens.
Seeing Zhang Junping come in, a young woman in her thirties hurriedly came over and asked, "Manager Zhang, what are your orders?"
This young woman is considered the beauty of the art shop. She is Chen Lijun, the sales supervisor on the first floor.
"Sister Chen, bring me a knife of various types of rice paper, a set of good brushes, and a pen holder.
After issuing the ticket, just hand it over to Section Chief Lu." Zhang Junping smiled and ordered Chen Lijun.
"Manager Zhang, do you think you should issue an invoice for loss or..." Chen Lijun hesitated, you asked me to issue an invoice, what invoice should I issue?
Is it wear and tear, or is it a ticket for defective products sold at a discount?
"Sister Chen, you should have heard that I am not short of money.
So, you can just issue invoices according to normal sales." Zhang Junping glanced at Chen Lijun and said with a smile.
"Oh! I understand, I'll have someone bring it to you right now." Chen Lijun nodded in agreement.
"Manager Zhang, I heard that you were the one who contacted us about our year-end benefits this year. What are they?" An aunt in her forties came over and got close to Zhang Junping.
This is the salesperson in the sales hall who is responsible for collecting calligraphy and paintings. Her name is Guo Meizhen.
Seeing Sister Guo, Zhang Junping knew that the former painting shop was still glorious.
Sister Guo must have been pretty when she was young, but now that she is in her forties, her figure is severely out of shape.
That's when everything starts to get huge.
Yeah! It’s the Chinese version of Kardashian.
"Sister Guo, what kind of benefits do you want?" Zhang Junping asked with a smile.
"Manager Zhang, what do you mean, can I just send you whatever I want?" Guo Meizhen said with a hearty smile.
"That's really possible!"
"Well, how about some rice? My children loved steamed rice the most when they were young.
No, when I came back from going to the countryside, I have lost a lot of weight." Guo Meizhen said with a distressed expression on her face.
"You can have this!" Zhang Junping smiled and nodded.
"What about the pork belly? Next time, my son likes to eat braised pork mixed with rice."
"Yes!" Zhang Junping nodded again.
After saying several things in succession, Zhang Junping nodded and said yes.
"Then, some more hairtail?" Guo Meizhen herself felt a little unsure.
"Yes!" Zhang Junping still nodded.
The conversation between Zhang Junping and Guo Meizhen attracted all five people in the business hall.
"Manager Zhang, we have a lot of food, can you give me some coupons? It's Chinese New Year, and I will also make new clothes for my children." Seeing that Zhang Junping is so kind and has no airs, other salesmen also boldly made requests.
.
"Why publish tickets? You have to spend money to buy them. How about we publish the materials directly?" Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"real?"
"Really! It's already the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, and there are only a few days until the New Year. How many days can I lie to you?" Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"Then when will the benefits be paid?"
"It's coming soon, I'll send it to you in about three days." Zhang Junping said with a smile.
At this moment, Master Ma from the kitchen came over with a cooked and sterilized tea cup.
"Manager Zhang, the tea cup is ready for you!"
"Thank you, Master Ma!" Zhang Junping thanked him and took the tea cup.
"You guys should be busy, I should go upstairs to drink tea!" Zhang Junping held a tea cup and smiled at the elder sisters.
"Store manager, let me help you bring the rice paper up."
"Store manager, let me help you get the brush and pen holder up."
"Store manager, do you want ink? We also have a lot of Huizhou ink produced in the Republic of China in our store. Please bring some and use it."
The elder sisters were very enthusiastic and rushed to help Zhang Junping get things.
"Thank you Sister Chen and Sister Guo.
Then you can help me get a set of oil painting tools.
Actually, I am better at oil painting than ink painting." Zhang Junping thanked him with a smile.
The three eldest sisters, Chen Lijun, Guo Meizhen and Wang Fenglan, got the task of delivering things to Zhang Junping.
Help Zhang Junping bring rice paper, brushes, easels, drawing boards, drawing boards, brushes, and oil paints for oil paintings into the office.
Seeing that there was no room to put these things in Zhang Junping's office, Chen Lijun took the initiative and called a few framing apprentices to move a shelf to the warehouse downstairs specifically for storing rice paper and canvas.
After Zhang Junping thanked him, he politely sent the three eldest ladies out of the office.
Getting along with others is as simple as that. If you respect others, others will respect you.
Zhang Junping first made himself a cup of jasmine tea and took a nice sip.
Then he took out a six-foot piece of rice paper and spread it on the painting table.
Take out an inkstone and a piece of Hui ink from your own space.
Put a few drops of water on the inkstone and start grinding the ink.
While studying the ink, I was thinking about how to lay it out.
Zhang Junping had already thought about the content and wrote Mao Zu's "Qinyuanchun. Snow". It would be most appropriate to hang "Qinyuanchun. Snow" in the leadership office of a government agency.
The reason why Zhang Junping used six-foot-wide rice paper was to create a calligraphy and painting work by pairing it with ink paintings.
What Zhang Junping is thinking about now is how to lay out the calligraphy and paintings.
Soon, the ink was finished, and Zhang Junping picked up the largest wolf hair brush.
After dipping enough ink and licking the pen, Zhang Junping directly drew a long ink line diagonally on the rice paper with a bold and unrestrained movement.
After a while, a majestic and winding Great Wall appeared on the rice paper. The Great Wall was like a giant dragon, winding into the clouds, with no head or tail visible.
Tall pine trees stand proudly in the white snow, and an eagle soars in the sky.
The mountains and rocks are rugged, but they are unwilling to be covered up by the heavy snow, revealing their ferocious horns.
With poems and paintings, Zhang Junping's paintings are very simple, but very powerful. The winding Great Wall rises into the sky like a giant dragon, straight into the sky.
After drawing the accompanying pictures, Zhang Junping changed to a medium-sized brush and began to inscribe on it.
"Qinyuan Spring. Snow"
The scenery of the North is covered in ice and snow.
Looking inside and outside the Great Wall, there is nothing but vastness; the rivers flowing up and down suddenly stop flowing.
············
"Good! What a great Qinyuanchun Snow!" Zhang Junping just put down his brush when a shout of approval came from behind him, which startled Zhang Junping.
When painting and writing, Zhang Junping was so focused that he didn't even notice anyone coming into the office.
I turned around and saw that it was the old store manager, looking excitedly at Qin Yuanchun Snow, who Zhang Junping had just written and the ink was not yet dry.
"Mr. Wu, when did you come?"
"You came here when you were painting cedar trees." The old store manager replied to Zhang Junping's words, but his eyes never left the painting.
"This painting of yours is enough to be the treasure of the art shop."
"Don't! Mr. Wu, you are trying to flatter me! What kind of virtue can a young man have? How can he use a random painting as the treasure of his shop?
There is only one treasure in our painting shop, and that is you!" Zhang Junping said to the old store manager, handing over his hands to beg for mercy.
Literary men look down on each other. As a junior, if others praise him a few words, that is called support.
However, if he dares to arrogantly agree to the old store manager's words, he will be criticized verbally and in writing.
No matter how good your calligraphy or painting is, we can find all kinds of flaws in you and criticize you for being useless.
Ordinary people don't understand calligraphy or painting. In their eyes, those calligraphy and paintings that can be called everyone's calligraphy and painting are all the same.
Among everyone, who is more powerful, whose calligraphy is better, and whose painting is better, all depends on people to judge.
Whose words are more convincing and more convincing to ordinary people are naturally those professors from major prestigious schools and those who have the title of national first-class master of arts and crafts.
Therefore, if you praise me for being young and promising, and for my calligraphy and painting, I will accept it, but you can say that I am a treasure to the shop.
That absolutely cannot be admitted.
You must know that the works of contemporary calligraphers and painters cannot become the treasure of the store. Your calligraphy and painting by Zhang Junping are the treasure of the store. What do you mean?
Suppress a generation?
You are still so young and want to suppress a group of seniors in their 50s, 60s and 70s?
If you don’t do it, who will do it?
You know, back then, Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, and Zhang Daqian were also hacked by people of the same generation.
"Haha! Xiao Zhang, don't be nervous, there is no one else in this room.
It's good that you can keep a clear mind." The old store manager said with a smile.
"Old store manager, we can say whatever we want behind closed doors.
However, some flowers must not be told to others!
Apart from anything else, if what you just said spreads out, will anyone sell us calligraphy and painting in the future?
You can't have a large art shop that only sells our calligraphy and paintings, right?" Zhang Junping reminded with a smile.
"Haha, I'm old, I'm old! You haven't seen some things clearly yet." At this time, the old store manager also knew that he had made a mistake, shook his head and said with a bitter smile.
"Are you going to put this calligraphy and painting in the store or..." The old store manager changed the topic again.
His plan was that if Zhang Junping said he would sell it in the store, he would use his power for personal gain and hang the painting in his office.
"This painting is for my father-in-law.
Yesterday, my father-in-law said that he was short of some calligraphy and paintings in his office and asked me to write some for him." As Zhang Junping spoke, he picked up a small brush and wrote inscriptions and postscripts next to it.
There are actually two types of inscriptions and postscripts: subtitles and postscripts.
Title refers to the title, which is in front of the calligraphy and painting.
The postscript is behind the calligraphy and painting.
Inscriptions and postscripts are divided into two types: author's inscriptions and others' inscriptions.
Other people's inscriptions and postscripts can be divided into two types: contemporaries' inscriptions and later generations' inscriptions.
The value of a calligraphy and painting work depends not only on the fame of the author, but also on who has written the inscriptions and postscripts.
Being inscribed by a celebrity can greatly increase the value of the work.
For example, a calligrapher and painter who is not very famous has been inscribed and postscripted by Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, Fu Baoshi, Huang Binhong and others.
Not only will the value of the calligraphy and painting skyrocket, but the fame of the author of the calligraphy and painting will also rise.
After Zhang Junping finished writing the inscription and postscript, he took out his seal and stamped it.
Zhang Junping didn't choose a font size for himself, so his seal only had four words: Zhang Junping Seal.
"Xiao Zhang, please take the time to write a few more calligraphy and paintings and put them in our painting shop to enrich... the inventory." The old store manager looked at the Qinyuanchun Snow with greedy eyes and warned Zhang Junping.
In fact, this is how the old store manager leads by example. Among the tens of thousands of works in the store, there are thousands of them by the old store manager.
Many were sold, and many were not sold.
This is not the old store manager using his power for personal gain. When the old store manager put his calligraphy and paintings in the store, he didn’t take a penny to retouch them. It was completely a selfless contribution.
Not only that, the old store manager often went to his friends of the same generation to enjoy the autumn breeze, brought over their calligraphy and paintings for free, and put them in the store for sale.
Zhang Junping really can't compare to this kind of sentiment.
"Okay, I listen to you! When I have nothing to do, I will create in the office." Zhang Junping agreed with a smile.
At this time, there is no need to argue with the old store manager about anything else.
The values generated in an era cannot be changed by a few words.
"Mr. Wu, I just asked Chief Lu to compile a list of artists who have sold paintings and calligraphy in our art shop over the years.
As you prepare for the Chinese New Year, send them some care.
Are there any calligraphers or painters on your side who need special attention?
Even if you have never sold calligraphy and paintings in our store, you can still send a copy in advance and seek future cooperation."