Glass Butterfly

After getting up in the morning, Ruan Youqing was forcibly dragged to Tubai by Tang Tu.

While brushing his teeth, the other party looked at his bloodshot eyes and sighed again and again: "Don't touch those glass this week. Come to work with me."

Ruan Youqing has been sitting in the workplace for more than two months, except for eating and sleeping.The day before yesterday, the white eyeballs began to become bloodshot. When Tang Tu came home from work and saw the blood-red eyeballs, he was shocked and took him to the hospital. Fortunately, it was only subconjunctival hemorrhage, which was actually caused by overwork. Microvascular rupture.

"Just take a break. Also, be careful not to overuse your eyes, don't stay up late, and go to bed on time." The doctor understated, "Small problems. But if they recur, it will be troublesome. It may cause other eye diseases. If you don't pay attention..." Seeing Tang Tu's blue face, the doctor stopped talking, "So don't underestimate minor illnesses and pains just because you are young."

Tang Tu kept a cold face on the way home from the hospital, forcing Ruan Youqing to close her eyes not to look at anything, like a teacher in a kindergarten who supervises naughty children taking a nap, even closing and locking the sliding door of the workshop when returning home.

In fact, if he didn't do this, Ruan Youqing would consciously rest, after all, he was already deaf, wouldn't he even need his eyes?

On the way to Tubai, Zhang Wenbin played the phone with Xu Hanyi, and the girl urged them to hurry up, and the live broadcast would start at ten o'clock.

"What live broadcast?" Ruan Youqing asked casually.

"Huh? Christie's auction in the morning...you don't know?" Zhang Wenbin suddenly turned from the cab to look at the back row, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Watch the road." Tang Tu calmly reminded the driver who was getting carried away.

Ruan Youqing turned to look at the people around her: "Should I know?"

The other party's expression was a little subtle, and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or unhappy: "Your work has appeared in the daytime auction list, and Cheng Mo found it. It was a jellyfish that was sold before, which is more than a month ago." .”

Gallery sales are the primary market, which is a way for artists to directly profit, but once the work enters the secondary market such as the auction house, whether it is a failed auction or a sky-high price, the income has nothing to do with the creator.However, although it cannot be directly profitable, if a person's work is recognized in the secondary market, it shows the value of the artist, and the rise of his worth is just around the corner.

Ruan Youqing is not familiar with art auctions, and even has some resistance.Compared with a gallery, an auction house is more like a place where art and money are nakedly equated.He always felt that the work that he poured his heart and soul into was like a rib hanging in a butcher shop, like an ancient slave kneeling on the ground, and the scene of being bid by everyone was a bit horrible.And now his work is going through the same ordeal.

"For works of art, it is very important to be expensive." Tang Tu could always read his concerns.

Looking at the traffic outside the window, he suddenly opened his mouth and reached out to press the back of Ruan Youqing's hand: "Only valuable items will be protected, and people don't care about things that have no economic value. The way to ensure that cultural products can survive is to let them have commercial value."

Ruan Youqing was taken aback.

"It was said by the famous auctioneer Simon." Tang Tu tapped his knuckles with his fingertips, "However, whether it is expensive or cheap, priced or priceless, it has nothing to do with you. Only the creation is related to you, and other things give it to me."

Xu Hanyi made the window full screen, and the auction introduction on the official website was concise and to the point.

Jellyfish II.

This is the second piece in the series of six pieces of The Twilight Plane Run.

Estimated price: HKD55000-HKD95000

At ten o'clock, the auctioneer appeared in the video window on time, wearing a pink professional suit and standing in front of the stage with a gavel in hand.The big screen behind her displayed the first lot at the same time, and the scene entered the state almost instantly.

The moment she introduced the starting price with a smile on her face, it heralded the start of the auction.The people off the field kept raising their cards, and she looked around calmly, repeating the number board and bidding price, calmly arousing everyone's desire to fight, and then dropped the hammer at the highest point to make a final decision in one go.

Although they were only watching the smoke-free battle through the live webcast, they could still feel the tense atmosphere on the scene.

"Here we come." Xu Hanyi couldn't help but whispered.

When the picture of the jellyfish glass sculpture with a broken mouth and wrist appeared on the big screen with the author Ruan Youqing's name and year of birth, it made people so nervous that they couldn't breathe.There was a murmur of whispers coming from the screen.

"Youqing should be the youngest artist that Christie's has photographed in recent years..." Cheng Mo sighed as he stood aside with his arms folded.

Will it fail.This was the only thought in Ruan Youqing's mind at the moment.

"Glass sculptures by very young glass artist Ruan Youqing. The starting price is 55000, and the price is 5000."

Ruan Youqing wanted to turn off the screen when the scene was stagnant for a few seconds.The more embarrassing it is, the slower time flows.

"60000, No. 3031." The auctioneer finally called out the first number, followed by the second, "65000, No. 3083."

When the on-site bidding reached 75000, there was a written bidding.The auctioneer looked at the phone area, and someone called 85000 through the consignor.

The originally peaceful price increase was broken by this mysterious person who was not on the scene, and immediately someone was full of fighting spirit and raised a sign of 90000.The client holding an old-fashioned telephone receiver immediately raised his hand calmly and raised the price to 100000 without changing his face.

"The written asking price is 100000." The auctioneer repeated, "The written asking price is 100000 once. Okay, let's bid on the spot, 105000, which is still No. 8031. The written asking price has reached 110000."

Everything happened very quickly, within a few minutes.It seems that the sword is on the verge of breaking out, but in fact, every collector is rational, and nothing beyond expectations has happened.After a round of lively bidding, the mysterious collector on the other end of the phone finally won the jellyfish at a price of 200000.

"The value of the remaining few should go up." Cheng Mo and Tang Tu looked at each other, "How many do you have?"

"The last two." Tang Tu stood up.

"Our young teacher's work line is going to be adjusted in price..." Cheng Mo smiled and patted him on the shoulder, then turned and went back to his work.

The morning auction was just a warm-up, and most of the valuables were placed in the evening auction. Ruan Youqing saw three large-scale paintings by the senior's father, Mr. Li Yunchuan, in the evening auction list, and the estimated prices were all higher than one million.In previous auctions, the hammer prices of Li Yunchuan's paintings were around 300 million.

"Stop looking at the screen." Tang Tu pulled him up from the computer and threw him on the sofa, "Close your eyes for a while, and we'll go out for dinner during lunch break."

They were sitting in the newly opened Japanese grocery store on the first floor of Chuqing, and Tang Tu asked him what it was like to see his work being auctioned for the first time.

"It's a little embarrassing..." Ruan Youqing said truthfully, "I'm afraid of failing the filming, everyone is watching."

"That's it? What else?" Tang Tu stuffed a snow-white arctic crawfish into his mouth.

"Anything else? The auctioneer responded very quickly..."

"Price, do you think it is high or low?"

"Didn't you say that this is not what I should consider?" Ruan Youqing looked at the other party puzzled. In the auction, you can do what you want, and it has nothing to do with him whether he makes more money from the moment this jellyfish is sold.

Hearing what he said, Tang Tu smiled gratifiedly: "That's why I said, you should be born to be an artist."

Ruan Youqing heard the hidden reputation in the words.When he first entered the industry, the other party said that artists have to fight against desires throughout their lives, not only the desire for fame, but also the desire for wealth.

Auctions promote the prosperity of the art market, but also make some people succumb to the temptation and succumb to fame and fortune.

In the next month, he did not continue to make the series of latitude and longitude that consumes his eyesight, but burned some gadgets from time to time.

Before New Year's Eve, he covered all the windows in the house with icicles.He promised his grandfather to go back and stay for a few days. The old man spends most of his life alone all year round.

The embarrassing thing was that Tang Tu was also alone.

"Or go back with me." Before falling asleep, Ruan Youqing thought about it, but couldn't find a way to get the best of both worlds.

"Your expression makes it impossible for me to agree..." Tang Tu poked him between the eyebrows, "I regard death as home."

Ruan Youqing sighed, threw off his quilt, got into Tang Tu's bed and hugged him: "I don't want to quarrel during the Chinese New Year. My grandfather...maybe can't accept it..." He couldn't help but think of his grandfather cursing Jiang Jilan ten years ago If so, he didn't want Tang Tu to hear that.

"Then I won't go. It's rare for you to go home, so don't make trouble." Tang Tu put down the phone, pulled the quilt so that the two of them were covered, "It's only a few days. We can video when grandpa sleeps."

"Okay." Ruan Youqing has never been worried, and Tang Tu will never bother with him, but the more understanding the other party is, the more he feels guilty, "I'll bring you dumplings. If you're bored, call Call me..."

In fact, Tang Tu couldn't be bored.Chuqing is currently preparing for a new unthemed exhibition of emerging artists.The collection of works is over, and now it is the stage of selection.

Tang Tu sent him to the station early in the morning. From New Year's Eve to the second day of the New Year, he stayed in Ciqing, cleaning, cooking, listening to operas with his grandfather during the day, and chatting with each other. At night, he closed the door and talked to his boyfriend. .

Before leaving, he pestered his grandfather to accompany him to make dumplings, hand-rolled the skin, and light fillings.They went to the supermarket early in the morning to buy fresh prawns and wild rice stems. They picked the shrimp threads, removed the shells, and cut the shrimp meat into sections. They chopped the wild rice stems tofu into cubes, fried them with eggs, and chopped them tenderly.

"Why can't you eat leeks and pork..." Grandpa stood in front of the chopping board and adjusted the stuffing angrily.

"Don't put so much pepper. You only need a little salt." Ruan Youqing ignored the old man's complaints, happily kneading the noodles in a large glass bowl, "Exchanging Jin Junmei for a meal of dumplings, no matter what you count, you won't lose."

"Who did you learn from, and your tongue has become sharper." Grandpa was obviously a little emboldened, and the old man himself knew that the two cans of tea were precious.

I haven't made dumplings for two years, and my hands are very rusty. Add more water to the noodles, add more noodles, and finally make a big bowl.The grandfather and grandson were busy until the afternoon, seeing that they would miss the return bus if they didn't leave, so they hurriedly packed two big boxes of dumplings into ice bags.

As soon as he got out of the car, he ran towards the location shared by Tang Tu. Tang Tu sat in the driver's seat in fear of the cold and didn't get out of the car. Ruan Youqing saw his bright coral red cardigan sweater buttoned with round wooden buttons from a long distance away. Cheerful but not tacky.

He quickly opened the door and got on the co-pilot. The car was very warm. Tang Tu only had a cream-colored turtleneck under his loose sweater. Seeing that he was still carrying a bag, he leaned over curiously: "Why did you bring things back?"

Ruan Youqing kissed him on the cheek that was burned red by the air outlet: "Dumplings, I made them, go home and eat."

Tang Tu raised his head and kissed him back, on the lips.Ruan Youqing ran out from the station to blow the wind, his lips were cold, Tang Tu warmed him with the hot and soft tip of his tongue, and stuffed something into his pocket.

"Hmm..." Ruan Youqing pulled out his pocket with his head sideways, "What?" A big hard red envelope was poked there.

"New year's money. Ask for auspiciousness, and I hope Teacher Youngqing will be healthy and happy in the new year." Tang Tu started the car, kicked the accelerator and rushed home.

"The buyer from the last auction contacted us a few days ago." While waiting for the red light, Tang Tu turned his head and said, "He said he wanted to meet you. He is in New York."

"Oh. Who is it?" Ruan Youqing was a little curious.

"Zhang Wenbin was contacted by a middleman. It is said that he is the executive director of a private art museum. I told him about our trip to New York in early April. If you are willing to meet him, we will arrange a time."

--------------------

(Ahead there is...)

Lost in thought... Forget it or not to talk...