Tranquility

In July, there is only a trace of coolness in the early morning.

The sun rises in the east, and the sun breaks through the clouds and sprinkles on the earth.

Sprinkle to a brand-new house in the east of the village, over the black tiles on the roof, over the new blue bricks, over the window lattice with the Chinese character "囍".

Suddenly, the east-facing window opened from the inside, and was propped up with wooden sticks by a pair of white and slender hands.The sunlight seemed to find an exit, and suddenly filled the whole room. The carved screens, the newly painted dressing table, and the tables, chairs and benches in the room were all filled with golden yellow.

Those hands opened an exquisite makeup box, that makeup box had many small drawers, and a small door that was locked, it was Tang Mu who made the makeup box for Mr.Then, those hands picked out a golden ruby ​​hairpin from it, and gently inserted it into the ink-like hair bun of the person in front of him.

A pair of smaller and thinner hands suddenly stretched out, slightly straightening the crooked hairpin.

"Hey, I've been practicing for so long, why can't I get it right?" A slightly hoarse voice said awkwardly.

Sister Cheng looked at the mirror, pursed her lips and smiled, her pale face was bathed in the sun, showing a warm color.

Looking at Sister Cheng's expression, Tangning asked worriedly, "Did you wake up too early, why don't you go back to sleep for a while, I'm only going out for a month, and it's too much trouble for you."

Sister Cheng raised her head and looked at this handsome and elegant young man. He was her husband. When she thought of this, a warm current surged in her heart unconsciously. She knew that it was a kind of satisfaction and happiness.

"It doesn't take much effort. I just move my mouth. Aunt Xiao Taoli and the others cleaned it up. You are going out today, so I have to give it away anyway. I just hope that my husband can be named on the gold list as soon as possible."

After getting along with Sister Cheng for a long time, Tang Ning finally realized the stubborn heart under Sister Cheng's weak appearance. As long as it was something she believed in, no one else could persuade her.It wasn't a big deal, so Tangning nodded and stopped trying to persuade her.

After tidying up, the pair of Bi people held hands and walked out of the room in the gradually hotting sunlight.

The house that Tang Ning built was very large, with two entrances, all of which were green bricks and large tiles. All the rooms were also paved with green bricks, and he added some small mechanisms that he specially improved, such as toilets.Such a large amount of money not only spent the 30 taels of silver left by his second brother, but he also borrowed another 20 taels of silver.Fortunately, all the expenses were paid by him. Others don't know how much they spent. Generally, it only takes a dozen taels to build a house, so everyone thought that Tangning would spend at most a dozen taels. many.Of course, this also had something to do with Tangning's plain dress and low-key demeanor.

Now there is a maidservant in this family, a pair of old couples, the maid was bought by Mr. Cheng, and she is responsible for the trivial things around sister Cheng. It's easy, he should rely on Tangning for the elderly.Sister Cheng once wanted to buy a book boy for Tangning, but Tangning got used to it by herself and decided not to.

With Tangning's income a few years ago, he would not be able to support his family. At that time, he could only sell one or two paintings, and not every painting could be sold.However, since he entered the realm of seeing things with only his right brain, the number of people who bought his paintings has increased suddenly, and some literati are willing to let go of their prejudice against oil paintings and appreciate him more.

Moreover, he does not only paint oil paintings now. In fact, in the past three years, he has painted more ink paintings, most of which are pictures of beauties. Now he can draw beauties with his eyes closed.In fact, when he first started learning, he thought that the pictures of ancient Chinese ladies really couldn't see any facial details, they were all the same, at most, the clothes and movements were different.Therefore, the pictures of beauties he drew at the beginning were all rigid, as if they were printed from a mold.

Mr. Cheng was very annoyed by this. He pointed at Tangning's nose and cursed, "Do you think a beautiful face is just a circle?"

Tangning took a closer look at the masterpiece of a painter who was said to be the best at painting ladies in this dynasty, and said innocently, "Isn't it?"

Mr. Cheng was furious, "I saw your landscape paintings a few days ago, and thought you were enlightened, but I didn't know that it was just a lump of elm. You are so good at landscape paintings, why do you end up like this when it comes to characters?" , don’t you have a beauty in your heart?”

Tangning really wanted to talk about Sister Cheng, but in front of her father-in-law, he was too embarrassed to say so, and besides, he couldn't imitate Sister Cheng.

"Besides, beauty should not only be judged by the face, but also by the demeanor, frown and smile, standing and sitting, different beauties have different lines, soft beauties should have soft lines, and majestic beauties should have neat lines." Mr. Cheng Pointing to the two beauties in the painting again, "These two beauties seem to be the same, but in fact the painters used different strengths."

Tangning continued to be at a loss.

In the end, Mr. Cheng had no choice but to take out the seven beautiful pictures that Master Hui Yi had drawn that he had kept private for many years before he became a monk, and asked Tang Ning to observe them carefully.

The corner of Tangning's mouth twitched. Aren't Master Hui Yi's paintings rare? Why did he see two of them within a year? Although this was a painting before he became a monk, this painting is as tall as a real person, or seven beauties.But soon, he didn't have time to think about these things, because he was attracted by Master Huiyi's paintings again. His paintings always gave Tangning a different feeling. Find resonance in his paintings, and learn a lot from them that cannot be taught with words.

When Tang Ning came out of her husband's study room, it was already the time when the willows were on the moon. After he came out, he only said one sentence: "Seven beauties, poignant beauties."

Since then, Tangning's beauties suddenly had souls. Each of the beauties he painted was different. Although it was still the same few strokes, anyone who had seen his paintings felt that they were all real beauties.

Oftentimes, a person's fame grows exponentially. Ever since Tang Ning's picture of a beauty was posted in Yimo Studio, his name spread throughout the painting and calligraphy circles in Yizhou in a very short period of time, and he was soon popularized by Weihai literati. familiar.

Ordinarily, Mr. Cheng, a teacher, should be happy when the students are making progress, but on the contrary, Mr. Cheng is even more worried.

Tang Ning's realm is established, but his painting skills can't keep up with it, and his fame is too fast and too great. Mr. Cheng asked him to just study quietly at home in the past few years, practice his painting skills, avoid the limelight, and draw Don't want too much, just sell one or two pieces once in a while, as long as you have enough money.Besides, things are rare and expensive, the less Tang Ning sells, the more valuable his paintings will be. The highest price can be sold for 100 taels, which is a hundred times what it used to be.

Mr. Cheng thinks that sometimes it is not a good thing to be famous at a young age. Master Huiyi is a living example.At the beginning, when he discovered that Tangning's paintings were quite similar to Master Huiyi's paintings, he didn't take it seriously. It is common for literati to learn from each other; but when Tangning realized the realm from Master Huiyi's beauty pictures At that time, he began to worry, because he found that Tang Ning and Master Huiyi were very similar. They both became famous when they were young, and their painting styles were the same. Paintings, like words, can reflect a person's heart.He wasn't worried that his daughter would be a widow, but he was worried that if her daughter passed away, Tangning would be overwhelmed, and he would be dead soon.

So Mr. Cheng kept Tang Ning in check, and at the same time encouraged him to write more letters to Tang Yun, go out more with Zhao Qian and other friends, and hang out with Shu Hongyu more. Even Xie Baiyun often came to see Tang Ning, and he didn't stop him much.On the contrary, Xie Baiyun always came excitedly, and then he was shocked by the scene of Tang Ning and Sister Cheng's you and me. However, after a while, he regrouped and repeated, until Tang Ning and Sister Cheng got married, he came to drink After drinking a glass of wedding wine, there was no more news.

After breakfast in the main hall, Sister Cheng called Xiaotao and told her to bring Tangning's things.

Tangning took a look and saw that everything was complete, not to mention pens, inks, papers and inkstones, a small blanket for the night, a kettle, towels, dry food, a change of clothes, and a large bottle of Dr. Lu's special cooling oil, all neatly placed in a bamboo basket. Not at all cumbersome.Thinking back to how she looked in the college entrance examination, Tangning couldn't help sighing, having a wife is happiness.

Before leaving, Tangning took Sister Cheng's hand and said worryingly, "Yu'er, after I leave, you can go back to live with your father-in-law. Even if you stay at home, you have to close the door and don't pay attention to my mother and Niuniu. When Niuniu comes in, if you have anything to do, you can find my sister-in-law, and I will be back in two months at the latest."

Sister Cheng's health has gotten worse over the past few years. Dr. Lu has thought of many ways and changed many prescriptions, but he can only encourage her to stay the same. No one dared to tell Sister Cheng that it was because Tangning couldn't even wait for the exam. The reason why he hurriedly married Sister Cheng was that she was already eighteen, and a girl's time could not be delayed.

Sister Cheng smiled and agreed, but her eyes were full of reluctance. For some reason, she always felt that her current life was as happy as a dream, and she had to desperately cherish every minute and every second before she woke up from the dream.

Mr. Cheng had already said goodbye to Mr. Cheng yesterday, so after Tangning left home, she went to the Tang carpenter's house next door to say goodbye, and then rode Bai Xue on the road.

Tang Ning first went to Cangping County to meet Zhao Qian. Jin Yongfu had a businessman relative in Weihai. He wanted to go there and settle down sooner, so that he could adapt to it earlier, study with peace of mind, and make more friends with students from the provincial capital. Ashamed to disturb Tangning's loving couple, he invited Zhao Qian to go with him, but Zhao Qian insisted on going with Tangning and was unwilling to stay with the businessman's house, so Jin Yongfu left him in a fit of anger and left on his own.

Tangning sent Bai Xue to Dr. Lu's house, and hired a carriage with Zhao Qian to go on the road.Due to the late departure, when they arrived in Weihai, there were only three days left before the provincial examination.

After all, Weihai City is a provincial capital, much more lively than Yizhou. It has Nanshan Mountain in the south, Beishan Mountain in the north, the sea in the east, and the capital city in the west. It has beautiful scenery and a developed economy. scene.Although it is designed according to the square and well-regulated ancient city, and the identity of the residents is strictly determined according to the orientation, the south is respected and the north is humble, and the east is expensive and the west is cheap, but it is undeniable that it still exudes the vitality that a new city should have. .

The two of them entered the city from the west city gate, passing through the bustling Fangshi. The west market is the commercial center of the entire city. Everything is sold here, including food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

It was already noon at this time, Tangning decided to find a place to eat first, and then went to Jin Yongfu to see if there was any suitable place for him to stay. sky.

The two had eaten and were paying the bill at the counter. When they asked the shopkeeper where Jin Yongfu's relatives lived, they saw a group of people walking in from the outside. The leader was a handsome man with sword eyebrows and starry eyes.

"Tangning, I've been waiting for you!"