Chapter 137: Master of Chinese Painting

P.S. (Many thanks to Ling Yuling for the precious monthly ticket…)

When Chen Hao returned to Chuanshan Academy, the academy had already arranged accommodations for him. A student led him to a small courtyard.

The courtyard was elegant and secluded, with flowers and plants occupying more than half of it, while the house itself consisted of only two rooms. The student pointed to the room on the left and said, “Junior Brother Chen, you can stay here. Senior Brother Weiqing lives next door. All the flowers and plants in the courtyard are his treasures, so be careful not to damage them.”

Chen Hao smiled faintly. “Thank you, Senior Brother. I’ll certainly be careful.”

The room had already been cleaned, and bedding had been prepared as well. Chen Hao could not help sighing inwardly at how important it was to have a good teacher.

After his character lay down and fell asleep, he logged onto the game forum to see how the players had reacted to his becoming Wang Kaiyun’s disciple.

In the game forum’s hot-topic section, two posts by Zhuge Kuntian and Xuanyuan Sword were pinned at the very top, and both had attracted a great many supporters. After reading them, a cold smile appeared on Chen Hao’s face. Although Zhuge Kuntian’s and Xuanyuan Sword’s posts seemed to contradict each other sharply, in truth they had only one aim: to pressure him into selling the opportunity to obtain the top-tier special skill Imperial Statecraft.

Chen Hao had sold the blueprint for constructing a headquarters because there would be other chances to obtain such blueprints in the future. Since he was not in any great hurry to establish a base, he might as well sell the first headquarters blueprint in the game while it was still valuable. Imperial Statecraft was different. There were only ten A-rank special skills in the strategy category, and each could be learned by only one player. It was not something money could buy.

The reason Chen Hao sneered was that memories from the future told him Zhuge Kuntian was actually one of Xuanyuan Sword’s people. Their little double act on the forum had an obvious purpose. No matter how well they performed, he would never sell Imperial Statecraft.

Seeing so many players supporting Xuanyuan Sword’s argument and urging him to sell the opportunity to obtain Imperial Statecraft, Chen Hao wondered whether he should make a post explaining the situation.

In the end, he gave up on the idea. He needed only a small number of elite experts to establish his base, and players who had been swayed by Xuanyuan Sword’s post were unlikely to be particularly powerful in the first place.

He left the forum and returned to the game. Then he began considering how to complete the mission to eliminate the bandits, deciding that he should first go to the inn and find Thief Three.

Chen Hao knew almost nothing about the Xiangxi bandits. He had to gather sufficient information before he could formulate a strategy, and Thief Three was clever and resourceful. Sending him to investigate was the obvious choice.

“Who are you? Why have you appeared in my courtyard?”

After stepping outside, Chen Hao encountered a middle-aged NPC dressed in a long robe. The man had a long beard and was looking at him in confusion.

Chen Hao smiled faintly. “You must be Senior Brother Weiqing, right? I’m a newly accepted disciple of Headmaster Wang. He arranged for me to stay here.”

The middle-aged NPC replied helplessly, “Since the headmaster has arranged for you to live here, be careful not to damage my flowers and plants.”

Chen Hao nodded. “I certainly will. May I ask your surname, Senior Brother?”

“Qi Baishi.”

A look of pleasant surprise appeared on Chen Hao’s face. He knew that Qi Baishi had taken Wang Kaiyun as his teacher, but he did not remember exactly when. He had never expected Qi Baishi to become his neighbor.

Artists’ works in the game could increase a player’s cultural cultivation. If Qi Baishi painted a few pictures for him and Chen Hao pretended to admire them every day, perhaps his cultural attribute—which had already reached a bottleneck—would begin rising again.

Chen Hao could not help indulging in a little wishful thinking.

In the game, finding a renowned master to teach one to read and write would increase one’s cultural attribute. Because Chen Hao had taken the great scholar Li Pisen as his teacher, the Four Books he studied were all accompanied by detailed commentaries, which was why his cultural attribute had risen so quickly. However, Li Pisen had not taught him anything beyond the Four Books. This was certainly because the Four Books were his greatest specialty. If Chen Hao later studied other texts under him to increase his cultural attribute, his progress would be much slower.

Wang Kaiyun was even more famous, but he still specialized in the Four Books and Five Classics. Studying the Five Classics under him would increase Chen Hao’s attributes by only a few points at most.

Cultural attributes were useful not only for taking the military academy entrance examination. In the game, culture also served much the same purpose as comprehension in traditional games. The higher one’s cultural attribute, the faster one learned any skill.

Increasing one’s cultural attribute depended on accumulation. Once the Four Books and Five Classics were no longer enough, the only way to improve further was to cultivate one’s taste and appreciation. Admiring calligraphy, paintings, and antiques was the most common method.

Qi Baishi was a master of traditional Chinese painting. Admiring his paintings would certainly increase one’s cultural attribute. Since they had become neighbors, it would be a crime not to beg, borrow, or otherwise coax a few paintings out of him.

Thus, Chen Hao put on an expression of delighted surprise and said, “So you are Master Qi Baishi! I’ve long heard that your brushwork is vigorous yet richly imbued, your colors vivid and bright, your forms concise and lively, and your artistic conception pure and unpretentious. I never imagined that we would become neighbors.”

Qi Baishi’s expression remained impassive. “Those are merely exaggerated compliments from the world. The rumors are inaccurate. If you have nothing else, Junior Brother, I’ll return to my room.”

Chen Hao had clearly failed to make an impression. Naturally, however, he had no intention of giving up the chance to obtain Qi Baishi’s paintings so easily. During the time he remained at Chuanshan Academy, Master Qi would not be allowed a moment’s peace.

When Chen Hao reached the inn near the academy, he gave the name Lin Shanhai. The innkeeper then led him to a room in the corner of the second floor.

Thief Three opened the door with bleary eyes. Seeing Chen Hao, he asked groggily, “Master, do you need something?”

Chen Hao said irritably, “Why are you sleeping in the middle of the day? Did I summon you here so you could sleep? Get dressed and prepare to go out on an assignment.”

Thief Three looked displeased. “I haven’t rested enough yet! What’s so urgent?”

Chen Hao took out fifty silver dollars. “There is a bandit force in Fenghuang, western Hunan. Go and find out everything you can about them, then come back and report to me.”

At the sight of the gleaming fifty silver dollars, all traces of sleep vanished from Thief Three’s face. He swiftly accepted the money and thumped his chest. “Don’t worry, Master. I’ll investigate everything thoroughly before I return.”

After Thief Three left, Chen Hao began pondering how he could get closer to Qi Baishi and persuade him to paint several pictures for him.

He walked to a nearby market and found a stall selling flowers, birds, fish, and insects. There he bought two orioles, three red carp, and two pots of clivia. Since Qi Baishi was most famous for painting shrimp, Chen Hao bought eight of them in total, each of a different type.

After asking an NPC to deliver the purchases to the courtyard, Chen Hao stepped forward and knocked on Qi Baishi’s door.

“Senior Brother Qi, are you resting?”

Qi Baishi opened the door, still holding a paintbrush in his hand. An impatient look covered his face.

With an ingratiating smile, Chen Hao said, “Senior Brother, you’re painting? I’m afraid my arrival in this courtyard has disturbed your peace. I heard that you like flowers, birds, fish, and insects, so I went to the market and bought a few things. I hope you’ll like them.”

As the saying went, even thunder would not strike a man who wore a friendly smile. Chen Hao’s face was covered in smiles, and he had spent a considerable amount of money buying the gifts as an apology. Qi Baishi’s expression softened considerably.

He glanced at the flowers, birds, fish, and insects Chen Hao had bought. He truly liked the little creatures, but he was unwilling to accept such an expensive gift. After hesitating briefly, he shook his head.

“You must have spent quite a bit of money on these things, Junior Brother. The gift is far too valuable for me to accept. If possible, you should return everything.”

Chen Hao was willing to invest heavily to obtain Qi Baishi’s paintings. The flowers, birds, fish, and insects had cost him more than eighty silver dollars in total. As long as he could exchange them for a single painting by Qi Baishi, the investment would be entirely worthwhile.

Hearing Qi Baishi refuse, he hurriedly said, “Senior Brother, everything has already been bought. How could I return it? I don’t know how to care for fish and shrimp. If I kept them in my room, they would probably all be dead within two days.”

Qi Baishi looked troubled. He genuinely loved flowers, birds, fish, and insects, but he did not want to accept the gift. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “How much did you spend altogether? Perhaps I could pay you for them and take responsibility for caring for the flowers, birds, fish, and insects myself.”

Chen Hao feigned displeasure. “I bought these gifts out of respect for you, Senior Brother. If you start talking about money, you’re looking down on me. If you refuse to accept them, I’ll throw everything away and consider the eighty-odd silver dollars wasted.”

Qi Baishi was not yet as famous as he would later become, and his finances were far from comfortable. Hearing that Chen Hao had spent more than eighty silver dollars, he could only smile bitterly.

“Junior Brother, you certainly are generous. I truly can’t produce that much money to repay you. I would feel ashamed to accept such a gift.”

Chen Hao laughed heartily. “From now on, we’ll be neighbors. I’m very fond of traditional Chinese painting. If you’re willing, Senior Brother, you could give me a few paintings. I can copy them in my spare time.”

Qi Baishi stroked his beard and smiled. “That will be easy enough. You’ve bought so many things today, and I happen to be in excellent spirits. I’ll paint three pictures for you.”

Chen Hao secretly rejoiced. He had heard of men forcing virtuous women into prostitution, but he suspected no one had ever gone so far as to force another person to accept gifts.

He followed Qi Baishi into the room. On the desk lay an unfinished ink painting. Qi Baishi picked up a drawing board and said, “Wait here for a moment, Junior Brother. I’ll give them to you once they’re finished.”

Qi Baishi painted while observing the goldfish. Before long, a lifelike painting of goldfish playing in the water appeared before Chen Hao. After handing it to Chen Hao, Qi Baishi took out another sheet of rice paper and began painting shrimp.

When the second painting was nearly finished, Chen Hao suddenly received a system notification:

“Player Chen Baxian, by observing the painting of the master of traditional Chinese painting Qi Baishi, you have improved your cultural cultivation. Your cultural attribute has increased by one point.”

Chen Hao felt immensely pleased. The eighty silver dollars had been worth every penny. His cultural attribute was now extremely difficult to improve, and he would have been perfectly willing to spend a hundred silver dollars for a single attribute point.

About two hours later, Qi Baishi finished all three paintings and gave them to Chen Hao.

Item Name: Goldfish Playing in the Water

Item Description: An early work by the master of traditional Chinese painting Qi Baishi.

Item Attribute: After being appraised, Culture +1. Once one player completes the appraisal, a second player appraising the same item will not gain an attribute point.

Chen Hao felt slightly disappointed. He remembered that Qi Baishi’s paintings should provide two points of Culture, and that the same painting could be appraised by three different players, granting each of them an attribute point.

Then he remembered that the works he had seen in his memories were paintings from Qi Baishi’s later period. It was only natural that their attributes would be better than those of these three early paintings, and he soon let go of his disappointment.

After returning to his room, Chen Hao repeatedly “appraised” the master’s three ink paintings. Unfortunately, he seemed to possess no artistic sensibility whatsoever. He stared at Goldfish Playing in the Water for a long while, but the system gave no indication that he had completed the appraisal.

After watching the painting for an hour, he found it unbearably tedious to keep staring at it. He finally put all three paintings away, climbed into bed, and went offline.

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian and cast a recommendation vote or a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)