world class art fanatic

Everyone looked at him in astonishment, and the curator immediately asked anxiously:

"What's the problem? The ebony strings are stretched, or the cracks in the body are too deep? Xiao Zhou, you are an expert who came back from Italy, come and have a look at this piano—"

"Director Yu, wait a minute."

Fan Chengyun was aware of his apprentice's temper and calmed down the anxious curator.

He frowned and said in a deep voice: "Xiao Ying, I have taught you many times that you should not speak so directly and decisively, regardless of the occasion."

"Yes, Master."

Zhong Ying looked around at the confused and curious crowd, and suggested, "I hope I can talk to you about this piano alone."

Alone, that is, there is no room for outsiders to continue listening to the piano.

Curator Yu walked deeper into the museum with Zhong Ying, who was holding a guqin in his arms, in fear.

When the door of the conference room was closed, Zhong Ying lowered his eyes and put the piano back on the spacious conference table.

Zhou Juntong spoke out urgently.

"Mr. Zhong, what's wrong with this piano?"

However, Zhong Ying did not answer immediately.

Those slender and powerful hands caressed the strings, without their previous caution, they slammed out a round and wide rhythm.

His voice is clear and firm, "Yayunqin is two feet long and five inches wide. The head of the piano is slightly tilted, and the waist of the piano is sunken. There is a long tail behind the half box, and there are wild goose feet under the tail."

The size and shape of the black elegant rhyme in his hand matched exactly what he said.

"The drums and qin have an ethereal wooden fish sound, which reverberates through the cabinet like a wooden bell."

But he slapped the body of the piano, making a dull sound, without the slightest echo like hitting a wooden clock.

"The two strings resonate and become one tone. The five tones and twelve rhythms are all at your fingertips."

He traced the long string with two fingers, and made inconsistent sounds. Obviously, the tones from the two strings could not blend with each other.

"more importantly--"

As Zhong Ying said, he raised the piano up high and flipped it over suddenly, so frightened that the people around him subconsciously stretched out their hands to protect the piano.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Juntong screamed.

The curator took a long breath, "Ancestor!"

I'm afraid he will come to Yu Boya to throw Qin Mingzhi!

But Zhong Ying just hugged the piano in front of him, his fingers bent slightly, like a blind man touching characters, he penetrated into the belly of the half-box piano, and carefully touched the eight-character engraving of "the strings are suppressed, and the rhyme is revived".

Broken lines on the body of the piano would be deceiving, and the recording of the strings would have errors, but the touch from his fingertips was extremely accurate, which confirmed his judgment.

"This is a new engraving less than 20 years old. The body of the violin is covered with snake scales and plum patterns. Only the grooves of the characters are new and smooth, with deliberately old grain protrusions. It is definitely not raw lacquer and natural weathering of wood over time. Such a violin The body, how could it be ebony made in the Tang Dynasty?"

Zhong Ying spoke with certainty, looking at Fan Chengyun with sullen eyes.

"Master, this is not Yayun, this is a newly made modern imitation."

"how is this possible!"

Stanford, who had been listening to the translation, was the first to raise an objection, "I knew that no one other than Master Fan could play this piano. What is your identity and what qualifications do you have? How dare you say this piano is fake?"

"Don't be impatient."

Facing the anger of the asset manager, Fan Chengyun obviously chose to defend his apprentice.

"He just put forward his own point of view, with a little evidence. Our guqin authentication has always been like this. There is no need for Mr. Stanford to be so angry. It's just a normal discussion, and it really can't be fake."

Stanford's anger dissipated a lot in Fan Chengyun's leisurely and peaceful persuasion.

He frowned and looked at Zhou Juntong, "Jessica, you have been protecting this piano for five years at the Bellu Museum, and you have been protecting it all the way back to China. Come and tell this kid what he did wrong!"

Zhong Ying raised his eyes and saw Zhou Juntong's expression as if struck by lightning, panic was written all over his gaze.

Fortunately, her voice was still calm.

"When this violin was brought back to the Bello Museum in 2007, it was in a very bad condition. The body of the violin was eaten by moths, the strings were broken, and it looked like rotten wood with a few silk threads hanging from it. It has been repaired nearly a hundred times."

"So, even if you have documents recording the tone and woodiness of this piano, it is impossible to completely match the current state of this piano."

Guqin is not porcelain or picture scroll, it can be intact just by repairing the appearance.

Zhou Juntong said that every repair record of the ten-stringed qin has a huge number of materials, materials, paint, and strings.

Although she hasn't done it by hand, she counts every repair and can use her memory to explain the recording process clearly.

Zhong Ying touched the body of the piano with his hands while listening.

No matter what the professional cultural relic restorer explained, he just felt cold in his heart.

"Whether this piano is genuine or not has nothing to do with the number of repairs and the degree of repairs."

After Zhong Ying listened quietly, he bent his fingers again and tapped the body of the piano with his knuckles, the sound was dull and short.

"This is ebony, but the sound does not penetrate the wood. It must not be more than a hundred years old. I believe that the Bellu Museum is a professional restoration of cultural relics, and will not replace a complete thousand-year-old ebony with a large piece of new wood, even if it is newly made by our luthiers. Guqin will not make such a simple material mistake."

He asked again, "Since you have repaired it nearly a hundred times, have you ever dissected it?"

"Repair?" Zhou Juntong couldn't fully understand his words.

Zhong Ying explained: "The top panel and the bottom panel of the qin are completely disassembled, and the internal structure of the qin is refurbished, and the wood is cut or pasted according to the situation, so that the sound groove on the belly of the qin can be restored to its original state."

Zhou Juntong remembered, and she eagerly replied:

"Yes. It was written in the repair record at that time that for this ten-stringed qin, the Bellu Museum specially went to China to hire a luthier, and also found many experts in instrument repair in Italy. , I dared to open it. However, the belly of the violin was seriously damaged, and the deep grooves could barely be seen. It was very difficult to repair, and almost the whole violin was replaced with a new one.”

Replacing the qin with a new one, making the qin far from the records in the literature, is simply a disaster for cultural relic restorers.

Thin sweat broke out on Zhou Juntong's forehead, and he didn't care to wipe it off. He carefully confirmed: "Is it because we have repaired something wrong, so it doesn't sound right?"

"It's not for this reason..."

Seeing her sitting on a needle cushion, Fan Chengyun kindly comforted her, "You have done a very good job. It is already a miracle to restore a piano with broken grooves and moth-eaten broken strings to what it is now. But..."

He looked at the furious Stanford and said calmly, "Belo told me personally that this ten-stringed violin cost him nearly one million euros, and he bought it from an Italian auction house to fulfill Mr. Shen's long-cherished wish."

When Stanford heard this, his eyebrows stood upright, "That's true! Mr. Bellou not only bought this piano back at a high price of 98 euros for Shen Ling, but also doubled the cost of repairing and maintaining it in the past 14 years. There is no return, it is simply doing charity !"

In his words, he secretly reprimanded Zhong Ying for not knowing what is good or bad, and guessing the old man's kindness with malicious intent.

Zhong Ying sneered, he was never gentle enough to treat men.

"Then, how could an authoritative professional auction house in Italy use the gimmick of a thousand-year-old qin to sell a piece of rotten wood that requires the buyer to spend a lot of money to dissect and repair it. Shave off the wormholes, cut off the broken strings, and directly auction the thousand-year-old ebony Don't make money?"

The meeting room fell silent, Zhong Ying singled out the nature of the auction house as a businessman.

Rotten wood?

According to Zhou Juntong's repair description, the state of this piano brought back by Mr. Bellou is indeed broken, and the body of the piano is moth-eaten. It is better to say that it is a thousand-year-old rotten wood than a thousand-year-old ancient piano.

Everyone present knew the standards of the auction house.

Antiques, cultural relics, and collections in good condition can be recognized by them and be on the auction table.

2007 was not a wild year, and Italian auction houses were not stupid businessmen.The famous qin handed down from generation to generation is indeed rare, but it is an instrument composed of ebony and ice strings. Only when it is in good condition and can be played can it have the value of "qin".

A rotten piano was auctioned for a high price of 98 euros...

It will definitely become hot news, but they have never heard of it!

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. If there were doubts about the origin of this piano, then its authenticity would be even more thought-provoking.

Everyone present was dizzy, their ears were ringing and they were staring at Guqin with suspicion.

However, because of Stanford's face, he dared not speak out.

However, they didn't say anything, and Stanford became impatient!

He pointed to Zhong Ying and said, "You don't know what to do, you don't know what to do. If you judge Mr. Bellou's kindness like this, it seems that this place is not suitable for the preservation of cultural relics. I have to re-evaluate this donation."

Stanford is no ordinary agent. He is not only here to donate for Harrison Bellew, but also an expert in investigating the collection conditions of Qingling Lake Museum.

Not to mention the ten-stringed qin, even the 112 donated cultural relics, even if they entered the Qingling Lake Museum, he has the right to send them back to Italy!

Unfortunately, Zhong Ying was unmoved by his threat and looked at Master.

Fan Chengyun looked helpless, and smiled kindly: "Re-evaluate? Are you going to tell Bellu that not only did he not get back the piano of his best friend, Mr. Shen, but he was also deceived by counterfeiters into millions and kept in the dark for 14 years. So you For his reputation, decided to send all these cultural relics back?"

"Master Fan..."

Stanford seemed to want to explain, but felt he was in a dilemma.

Qin stayed, they suspected it was fake.

Sending the qin away, it is even more confirmed that the qin is an imitation, which is trying to cover up.

Fortunately, Fan Chengyun was considerate and offered suggestions.

"How about it. For the sake of the friendship between Bellou and me, I still need to ask curator Yu to coordinate a professional testing instrument to identify the year of this ebony."

"Don't worry, we'd better do this without telling Bellu. Don't tell him. My poor old friend must have been deceived too. If he knows that his best friend Guqin, which he has collected for 14 years, is just an imitation , would be devastated. It wouldn't be good for him physically."

Harrison Bellew was 96 years old and couldn't bear such grief.

Even if Stanford wanted to say something, considering his employer's physical condition, he reluctantly nodded and agreed to Fan Chengyun's suggestion.

Fan Chengyun is kind and considerate, but no one praises him.

They were all shocked by the fake piano in front of them, and they wanted to disassemble the piano from the beginning to the end and check it to see which year it was a fake!

Zhong Ying silently lifted his piano case, and stopped looking at the fake piano.

The master and apprentice walked out of the conference room side by side, and no one stopped them.

They hadn't gone far when they heard a call behind them.

"Master Fan! Mr. Zhong!"

Zhou Juntong chased after him, more anxious than ever.

"I, I will contact my teacher as soon as possible, and after the exhibition is over, I will go back to the Bellu Museum. That piano, that piano..."

Her voice was urgent, even knotted, and her expression was more shocked and surprised than when she heard Zhong Ying slander Bellu.

"I'll be sure to double-check its restoration records. But..."

Seeing her hesitation, Zhong Ying patiently waited for her question.

Finally, the young restorer who respected Belu asked cautiously: "Mr. Zhong, you said that Mr. Belu took advantage of the danger and stole the ten-stringed qin, and made up a story about his friendship with Shen Ling... that Is the story true or false?"

This question seemed to touch her years of faith.

When she asked, she didn't even dare to speak too loudly, so as not to disturb the ghosts hovering in the sky.

Zhong Ying has always been firm, but this time he couldn't bear to give a simple answer.

Because her eyes were flushed, she seemed to get a definite answer, and she would cry out of sadness.

"Mr. Shen has passed away for many years. What's the point of the story Bellu made up is true or false? The key is—"

Zhong Ying said calmly, "This Qin is not real."

Zhou Juntong stood there blankly, Zhong Ying carried the piano case and Fan Chengyun walked out of the museum quickly.

They got into the long-awaited vehicle, and as soon as the door closed, Fan Chengyun told the driver in a low voice, "Go back to Fanlin, we have to check Mr. Shen's diary and letters again to see if there is anything missing."

Turning his head, he stared at Zhong Ying and began to calculate, "Did you tell Bellu's cultural relic restorer about the diary?"

"Master, that Zhou Juntong really believes in Bellu's fabricated stories, and he really likes cultural relics."

Zhong Ying said earnestly, "I don't want such a good person to respect a shameful thief all the time. And...after she knows that this piano is fake, she looks very sad."

Fan Chengyun hesitated for a long time, but finally did not criticize Zhong Ying's recklessness.

He closed his eyes and leaned on the car seat, extremely tired.

"It's not just her."

Fan Chengyun's voice sounded like a sigh, "So many people are sad to death because of this piano, it's hard to rest their eyes on it."

The vehicle traveled through the hustle and bustle of the city, away from the hustle and bustle of the city center, gradually drove to a secluded place, and finally stopped in front of a spacious courtyard.There is a retro plaque hanging on the gate, with the word "Fan Lin" written on it.

Zhong Ying followed Fan Chengyun and walked straight into the piano hall on the north side of Fan Lin.

Abundant sunlight follows them into the inner hall, where countless musical instruments are placed neatly.

Guqin, pipa, erhu, chime bells, and thirteen stringed buildings are all works made by Lin Wanggui, the original owner of the piano hall, who spent most of his life making them.

In the center of the piano hall, there is a simple altar.

A framed portrait in color hangs on the wall.

Fan Chengyun went in, lit a stick of fresh incense, and put it neatly in the incense burner.

"Wanggui, Yayun still hasn't come back, you have to wait."

It's a pity that the old man on the colorful portrait can no longer answer him with a smile.

Zhong Ying put down the piano case silently, took out the simple Qiusi, and put it back to its original position, in a row with the other four pianos that were placed upright in the room.

Then, he turned around and walked to the projector, and opened the scanned copy of the saved diary.

On the yellowed paper, Shen Ling's powerful handwriting is clear——

"Since the Tang Dynasty, the leather silk has rotted, and my heart aches. Fortunately, Zhiyuan found a good talent and restored it as before. The drum and qin are like wooden fish and ethereal, and the good sound echoes like a wooden bell. The two strings resonate and merge into one tone. Ten tones I am very happy that the two rules are at my fingertips!"

In Shen Ling's diary during her lifetime, she is full of joy when talking about Yayun.

Even after several decades, when Zhong Ying reads it again, he will feel that the sound of the piano has never stopped.

After turning a few more pages, Shen Ling said again:

"The war is coming to an end. There is a cruise ship heading to Italy at the pier. I don't know if the letter I entrusted to the embassy will arrive smoothly. I am not worried about the porcelain and picture scrolls they took away. I am only worried about Yayun's delicate and fragile. It was unbroken in the long journey, so that my pain would be less."

Zhong Ying read Shen Ling's words silently.

Mr. Shen was arrested and imprisoned, and returned to Yiyin Yashe [-] days later. The world has changed.

Yayun, the ten-stringed qin, and all the valuables in the club were lost, and only the friends who stayed behind told him——

In order to prevent the Japanese army from robbing and damaging the musical instruments, they transferred the musical instruments and antiques to the concession, and asked foreign friends who the Japanese army dared not offend to keep them for safekeeping.

However, the foreigners withdrew overnight, and they did not look like they were friendly and helpful at the beginning. The members of Yiyin Yashe were so anxious that they could not wait for Mr. Shen to be released from prison to discuss, and immediately left a letter briefly explaining the situation, and traveled far to chase those who broke their trust. only.

Relying on Shen Ling's diary, Zhong Ying pieced together the scene of the panic at that time, but he couldn't know who took the other musical instruments away.

Only the whereabouts of Shixian Yayun is clear, and it is in the hands of a pair of Italian businessmen named "Belu".

Mr. Shen has been planning to go to Italy.

He wrote many letters and sent them to that distant European country, just to get any news about Bellew and his son.

At that time, Mr. Shen didn't even know who "Belu" was.

But he is absolutely convinced that the lifelong fate between Qin and the luthier will not disappear because of the high mountains and rivers.

As long as he goes to a distant foreign country, then Qin will not be far from home.

pity……

pity.

Zhong Ying let out a long sigh and stopped looking down.

Because, behind the scanned document, there is only Shen Ling's last diary entry.

The words and sentences inside are full of the hope of the writer.

Until he died with hatred, he also failed to board the cruise ship to Italy, let alone wait for the answer from Italy.

Ten Xian Yayun seemed to have completely disappeared from this world with his early death.

So far, it has only reappeared in the Bello Museum in Italy 14 years ago.

Zhong Ying asked: "Master, can we ask the embassy to contact the Italian government and tell them that this is a fake piano?"

"We have to find out where Yayun is before contacting them will be useful."

Fan Chengyun has worked hard for this piano for 14 years. When it first appeared in Italy, he dealt with the government, so he naturally understood the key points.

Qin was lost in 1942.

The Heritage Convention was signed in 1995.

The principle of non-retrospection of the law, if they want to return lost cultural relics, they can only count on the conscience of the collectors.

It's a pity that Harrison Bellew's conscience is not on the ten-stringed harp.

Fan Chengyun stared at Lin Wanggui's portrait and pondered for a long time, then he suddenly said: "Xiao Ying, you can go to the Italian Musical Theater alone in a few days."

"Since Yayun is in Beilu's hands, I have a way, hoping to get it back."