Almighty painter

Chapter 626 Flag and Watercolor Breakthrough

Detective Cat is like an unknown dice, a lottery ticket waiting to be scratched.

She may be eliminated quickly and become worthless, or she may be worth a fortune before the final result is selected by the waves of time.

No one knows the answer.

Salma is once again an excellent observer.

She also had no way to accurately quantify and predict.

But since she is a businessman, she is a wealth hunter who relies on her keen business sense to wander in the vast ocean of the market. Once she smells a hint of money, she will rush forward and kill with one blow.

She was not willing to spit out the detective cat at all.

Salma is a woman who wants to be a tiger shark.

Tiger sharks are the most aggressive creatures in the ocean.

Their recipes are extremely diverse.

They eat everything from algae to fish to sea snakes, turtles and even tourists on surfboards.

Scientific research shows that great white sharks attack people because they mistake tourists for sea lions or seals. They do not like to eat people.

But tiger sharks are different.

Tiger sharks never care whether their prey tastes good or not, they will just take a bite to try it out first.

At worst, if it doesn’t taste good, you can just spit it out.

The shark has already smelled the sweet smell of blood in the sea breeze. No matter what the outcome is, no matter what kind of monster the other party is, what kind it is, a cat fairy, a little cat demon, or a dying cat rushed out of the sewage pipe.

Is it made of golden gold or black stone?

Soft, hard, fragrant, and smelly.

She always takes a bite first.

Try swallowing it and see if you can digest it.

A bite of the fat and slippery clam Kazunari Sakai can easily cause excessive cholesterol, leading to high blood lipids and difficult-to-deal with the big fat clam.

Isn't she ready to swallow it?

We are not picky eaters.

The detective cat's butt was twisted in front of her, so of course she couldn't let her slip away.

Salma wasn't worried that Detective Cat was a hot potato; she was only worried that she would get cold feet too quickly.

This kind of collaboration between art museums is seen as opportunistic in the eyes of serious art circles.

But trendy brands compete on exposure.

If Detective Cat's name can be displayed on the advertisement for one day, it will be free advertising worth billions of dollars. This kind of edge ball is played just right.

Give an example.

There are countless celebrities in the NBA. Jerry West may be just an ordinary one among the great players. He has only won one championship in his life. He is not as good as Jordan, Kobe, James... When the audience thinks of Goat (the greatest player), his name will not be the first one that comes to mind.

But his appearance has always been used as a registered trademark by the NBA.

With constant advertising bombardment, he is the athlete on the planet whose dribbling of the ball has been seen and remembered by the most people.

The eternal LOGO man.

In the minds of the public, the significance of his presence on the court has been replaced by his significance as a LOGO.

Just like Detective Cat, even if she is just an ordinary painter, the fact that she is used as the name of the family museum by the Elena family has already infused it with a unique meaning.

Ms Salma now also has a chance to get a "Logo cat".

but.

There is a way to buy lottery tickets.

No one will use the grand prize redemption amount written on the lottery ticket as the price of purchasing the lottery ticket.

This is such a loss.

The best way is to wait until Detective Cat joins Jane Arnold's studio.

Collaborate with each other’s studio.

Just like luxury brands often collaborate with galleries rather than the artists themselves.

If Detective Cat performs well, an artist series will be opened for her and she will be brought in to "work illegally".

Detective Cat is not behaving well.

Just leave the trouble to Jane Arnold and let him worry about it.

If you can use a "worthless" price to give an answer that is "worth a fortune", then you will really make a lot of money.

Throughout history, such opportunities to make a fortune have always been rare.

Salma also knew that her thoughts were a bit excessive.

But you always have to have dreams, right?

She stared at Jane Arnold, who was looking at her with a smile.

Salma knew clearly that this old man clearly wanted to take a bite of her.

She couldn't help but curl her lips in her heart.

"It's not like there are two famous horses in a stable. This is just like cracking an egg and suddenly finding a double yolk inside. Open your eyes and look at the vendors pushing carts and selling burritos on the street. If anyone dares to charge more for an extra yolk, he would have been beaten on the head by someone long ago!"

I am speechless.

Salma's tone softened again.

"50%? Jane, you know there is no chance of that happening."

She smiled sarcastically, "30% + 30%, please don't joke about that. You and Mr. Sakai, are you willing to let Detective Cat get the same shares? Please, we all know that even if your studio really gets 50%, you can't split it in half with Detective Cat. You can give her a dividend of 10% of the weight of the studio, which is very kind."

Just because she can handle the value of Detective Cats doesn’t mean other companies can do the same.

Detective Cat is in an awkward position now. Real large clothing brands are not interested in such "problematic characters" at all.

Nike, Adidas, Kering, Uniqlo, Zara, none of these would extend an olive branch to Detective Cat.

As for Hermès and LV, they are luxury brands that are very keen on collaborating with well-known artists.

They might work with Kazunari Sakai, and perhaps, in certain circumstances, with Jane Arnold.

But he had no interest in even raising his eyelids to look at the detective cat.

The top clothing brands will only cooperate with top artists who have long withstood the test of the market. Given the size of these clothing giants, the risks brought by Detective Cats are far greater than the possible profits from scratching the lottery.

Detective Cat also doesn’t fit in with their “noble” brand tone.

Even if you give me $100 million, it would be impossible.

As for those small clothing companies and newly established personal fashion brands, few of them have her marketing and promotion capabilities, and their resources are simply not enough to promote the influence of Detective Cat.

Than she needs detective cat.

On the contrary, Detective Cat needs her even more.

put yourself in.

If she came to talk to Detective Cat, she felt that she would give Detective Cat 15% of the sales profits of the "Artist Exclusive Series".

In fact, it is already a conscience price offered by the generous boss.

Most artists get about the same amount of money when working with brands.

Sales commissions are not the same as company shares.

The more your series can sell, the more money you make.

Because sales were low, the company discontinued your series.

The rest of the company has nothing to do with you.

Just like Kanye can get 15% of the profits of the Coconut series.

But he certainly can't get 15% of Adidas' market value of tens of billions of euros. No matter how much he earns, even billions of dollars, he is still equivalent to an Adidas employee.

After the accident.

The contract should be terminated.

in turn.

I have never heard of a company being able to deprive its board members of their shares.

People like Anna were kicked out of the board, but that was the limit of what Sir Brown could do.

The Elena family holds the shares for one day.

She is still the largest shareholder of Oil Painting magazine, and no matter how unhappy Sir Brown is about this, there is nothing he can do.

Salma's bottom line is that at most, if the other party's agent is powerful enough, he can give Detective Cat a restricted option reward of 3% to 4% of the company, which can only be used as dividends and can only be sold to the company, but does not have corresponding voting rights in the company.

Even if it is 2200% of the paid-in capital of US$4 million at the time of establishment, it is close to US$100 million.

This is a trap that fell from the sky.

It is enough to make this budding young painter so frustrated that he doesn't know what's going on and becomes so beautiful that he shows off his wealth on INS.

Actually.

If Jane Arnold hadn't been here to lend a hand.

Not $100 million.

With $50, or even $30 in cash, she was confident that she could get Detective Cat to draw a series of art designs for her and completely buy out all derivative rights for commercial use of the work.

This is the real value of Detective Cat at present.

She works at a publishing house, how much does it cost to get an illustration? $30 is a premium.

pity.

It passed through the hands of the black-hearted middleman Jane Arnold.

Salma knew that the other party would not be satisfied with $30. What they wanted was 30% of the shares and the power to have the final say in the entire company in the future.

"How much would you like to give her? Five percent? Or three percent?"

Salma asked tentatively.

"This is my business. How to deal with it is a matter for negotiation between my studio and Detective Cat. It should have nothing to do with you." Jane Arnold blinked and smiled.

“However, I am willing to pay more cash. For every 30% increase in the 10% stake that the illustration studio takes, I am willing to invest an additional $100 million. According to our conversation on the phone, the demand for working capital in the early stages of a trendy brand should be quite large.”

"A simple elementary school calculation shows that even with the current investment ratio, each 10% stake is worth more than 200 million US dollars."

Salma was amused again.

100 million US dollars.

For the clothing industry, it’s neither too much nor too little.

Dongxia, Thailand, Vietnam... In areas where labor-intensive industries are concentrated, 100 million US dollars is enough to invest in a small clothing factory that can produce thousands of pieces of clothing every year.

When opening a store in a small county town, one would wish to open a large number of stores densely packed together.

But if you open a directly-operated store in a major business district in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, and London, the cost of opening each store in the first year will definitely not be less than US$10, even if high-end brands offer discounts.

The flagship store that best represents the brand image is located in a prime location.

The cost of one family is millions of dollars.

“We are artists. The way artists create value cannot be replaced by money. More investment only represents my personal sincerity.”

Jane Arnold said.

"Then why not just let me pay an additional $500 million and you keep your original shares without making any changes?"

Salma asked back with a frown.

1200 million US dollars plus 500 million US dollars, this is almost all the liquid funds Salma can come up with after working hard for so many years.

If this business venture fails, then we will really have to start from scratch and everything will return to the time before liberation.

But at the moment of negotiation.

She also has the ruthlessness to risk everything.

After careful consideration, she was willing to take the gamble of paying an extra $500 million for Detective Cats.

Jane Arnold still smiled and did not respond.

Jane Arnold is indeed using Detective Cats as a bargaining chip to try to gain greater say in future business cooperation from the beginning.

Salma says good.

Even if the illustration studio got more shares, there was no way he could split it in half with Detective Cat.

Favors are one thing, contracts are another.

Brothers must also settle accounts.

This is not the case of the master illustrator taking advantage of his juniors.

Given the gap in status between Detective Cat and Jane Arnold, as Anna told Gu Weijing, many opportunities can only be obtained by joining the illustration studio.

This is a private game between the top artists.

Under a normal career trajectory, even if Detective Cat worked hard for another ten years and won two more "Master Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Writing and Art" and one "Master Award for Outstanding Contributions to Writing and Art", he might not have the ability to make equal demands at the negotiating table.

It may win another Hans Christian Andersen Award and be adapted into a big-budget animated film by Disney or Pixar Animation Studios.

Only then can you barely have such qualifications.

Just like the 5% share of the merchandise surrounding the musical "Cats", even though the studio can get three times as much as Gu Weijing.

But he can only get this 5% because Jane Arnold takes him out to play.

For Gu Weijing, that was already a huge leap in his career.

You can't be ungrateful and complain about the small pie just because the person who paid for the pie only cut a piece of it for you to share with you.

If it weren't for Jane Arnold's interference.

Detective Cats really only earned $30, so he happily worked as a part-time worker drawing illustrations and selling commercial licenses.

Just like most illustrators do every day.

No.

Most normal illustrators will never get a $30 contract in their lifetime.

Even this is a price that only top-level illustration studios can afford.

$30 was enough to buy the Wehrlein Studio to work overtime and print their works on T-shirts.

Even add another 0.

Thirty thousand dollars might be enough.

For illustrators in the industry, being able to own their own co-branded fashion apparel is a very prestigious symbol of honor.

There is only one KAWS.

For most e-commerce platforms, the licensing cost for limited edition patterns that small brands collaborate with "certain artists" is only about one or two thousand dollars.

I would rather make a chicken head than a phoenix tail.

This statement is true in many situations, except in the field of art.

The rule in the field of art is that a chicken is a chicken, a phoenix is ​​a phoenix, and a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

For an old phoenix like Jane Arnold, who is No. 1 in the industry, just pluck a tail feather from her butt, and it is enough for the detective cat to put it in the magic wand, spin around and shout: "Bala la, ulala, change, change, I want to become a cat girl."

The mixed-feather chickens were scattered all over the ground, and no one cared about them.

The phoenix is ​​a shining, unique divine bird.

Jane Arnold is the most important person in the three-party relationship.

Those who have the most weight are of course entitled to and should ask for more.

because of this.

Strictly speaking.

Currently, the collaboration between Detective Cat and Jane Arnold Illustration Studio on the "Cats" project is just a trial, testing the waters for a long-term contract.

Detective Cat has not actually joined his studio yet.

However, Jane Arnold was still not worried at all that Detective Cat would run away, or that Salma would bypass him and try to contact Detective Cat alone to sign him.

first.

Without him, the price Salma originally offered would not be even a few tenths of what it is now.

Secondly.

It's inevitable that everyone makes some small calculations, but this is not the time to engage in conspiracies and schemes.

He is not a human trafficker. He is currently the most important asset of this fashion brand company, the most important art IP, and the artist with the greatest mass appeal.

Salma had a related idea three or four years ago.

Because Jane Arnold was worried about her son's affairs, she gradually faded out of the front-line creative field and entered a state close to retirement, which delayed the trip.

If Jane Arnold were offended in order to sign Detective Cat, that would be truly picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons.

"What do you want? Be honest. You know that 50% of the shares is unrealistic. In this way, your decision-making power alone can compete with me and Professor Kazunari Sakai."

Salma is a little restless on top of the KAWS statue.

She stood up and looked Jane Arnold in the eye. "To be honest, even if I agree, Professor Sakai will not feel comfortable."

"Uh……"

The big clam spirit that could only make sounds like "Aba Aba" in the woman's heart suddenly spoke.

"I don't have any objection. You guys have already agreed that no matter how the equity changes, who gets more or who gets less, I only want the original 30%. Let's not hurt each other's feelings."

Kazunari Sakai rolled his eyes.

It is still the same kind of lukewarm, watch-the-fire-from-the-shoal type of speech.

The woman glanced at the fat man next to her and felt extremely angry.

She knew that the two men must have met privately before proposing today's conditions.

"Jane, we should consider how to expand the market and realize the bright future, rather than scheming against each other over conditions that are completely impossible to agree on. Don't you agree?"

Seeing this old guy not being persuaded by anything.

“Think about it, what do we want to have in ten years? One percent of the shares of a unicorn with a valuation of more than 10 billion US dollars is far better than all of a bankrupt company. We are people with a common vision. So what if you have the decision-making power of the company? Believe me, power that cannot be controlled is not power, but a burden.”

While talking.

Salma's tone gradually became stronger.

“Can you handle the complex market decisions, risk assessments, product marketing, advertising strategies, policy communications, mergers and layoffs… this series of complex issues? No way, artists—no offense—but artists are highly emotional creatures.”

The woman looked down at the two people below her.

"And emotions are the natural enemy of business decisions. You can just focus all your attention on artistic creation, drinking, sailing, riding horses—"

"Have a burger."

Salma glanced at Sakai Kazunari and added.

"At most, you can show your face and smile to investors at the cocktail party, and then concentrate on living a normal daily life as an artist, sitting at home and waiting for the dividends to come in. Isn't this what you are best at? Leave all the things that really need to be worried about to me. Different people do different things. In the art industry, you have already proved your success."

"In business, I am here and I have proven my success. Do you know what elements are needed for a fashion brand and what elements should be avoided? Do you know what kind of works are suitable for making toys and what kind of works are suitable for integration into clothing design? No, you don't understand these."

Her chest heaved.

"You two, you don't think that to create a successful clothing brand, you just need to print your paintings on clothes, right? No, I can tell you that the definition and requirements of art in the fashion industry are completely different. Promotion is everything."

Salma took a deep breath.

"In the art industry, you are the predators, but in the business industry, I am the shark. Without me, you are just a fat seal without a head in the business world, and will be eaten by others as prey."

She said word by word: "You told me that the way artists create value cannot be replaced by money. And then I hope you can realize that the meaning of my existence in the company cannot be replaced by investment. It is me who gives this company unlimited possibilities."

"Ms. Salma, I don't mean to belittle the significance of your existence, but I want to say one thing. Although I don't understand business matters, I think that no matter how good the design is or how sophisticated the marketing is, whether it can really impress consumers when they see it is the key to the survival of a fashion brand."

Jane Arnold shook her head.

"And this power to move people's hearts is given by us and art, which is also the reason why you invited us here. Publicity is more important than anything else? In your worldview, perhaps this sentence represents the truth."

“Growing up, there was a different perception of it.”

He smiled, "I must admit that your statement of sticking out the middle finger and saying Fuck You to the critics made me yearn for it. You may not like Oil Painting magazine, or care about Sir Brown or the Irena family, but their existence is not meaningless. At least, their motto printed in the magazine - [Noble works of art cannot be told by critics, they will speak for themselves. Noble souls cannot be bound by the world, they will find freedom], has influenced my life."

“The best works will speak for themselves, both at auction and in the mass media.”

Jane Arnold looked back into Salma's eyes.

“These are the values ​​I firmly believe in.”

“Commercializing artworks is of course a complicated matter, but if the painter is truly outstanding, their target audience will gather around them like fireflies chasing the light.”

"Miss Salma, you asked us to meet in front of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I thought it would be a great occasion. You wanted us to see this Kaws statue, and I wanted you to see the project that Detective Cat and I are working on."

He turned his head.

“This is a project I carefully selected before. In collaboration with Andrew Webber, I have designed a whole set of cartoon characters for the new global tour of Cats. Advertisements and stage promotions will be carried out around these cartoon characters. In addition, if the musical is satisfied with these characters, a series of fan-related products will be produced, including but not limited to plastic dolls, plush toys, and T-shirts.”

"Isn't what we are doing just like a preview of a trendy brand? As long as——"

"How can they be the same!" Salma frowned.

“How can this be different?” Jane Arnold asked, “The combination of the IP of the work, the technique of the painter, and the fan base. All the factors that make up the influence of a trendy brand are gathered together.”

"Is it your work, or Detective Cat's work? Painted with a knife? Painted with a knife has a lot of limitations. It shouldn't be possible to make a cartoon doll, right?"

Salma has stopped discussing the issue.

Instead, she got straight to the point of the project.

Obviously.

The moment she learned that Detective Cat had joined Jane Arnold's illustration studio, she had repeatedly considered what problems she would face when designing related artistic elements for Detective Cat.

"It's not convenient for me to tell you the specific contents of the contract. Why don't you wait quietly for the work to be released before making a decision? Sharks are patient creatures, aren't they?"

Jane Arnold once again adopted the attitude of sitting on the Diaoyutai.

Salma's face was gloomy.

Continuous transformation.

"This industry is changing rapidly, time is money, and sharks are patient, but sharks will only be friends with sharks forever."

Salma jumped down from the sculpture.

She put on her shoes.

"You better be sure that Detective Cat is really a shark that can hunt for the hearts of our audiences, otherwise, we have nothing to talk about."

Salma shook her sleeves and walked to one end of the street without looking back.

Look at that posture.

It is obvious that he is very dissatisfied with the results of today's negotiations.

"She's not angry, she's just moved. She's hesitant, so she needs time to think about her strategy."

Looking at the woman's back as she left angrily.

Kazunari Sakai came over with his big belly and whispered in Jane Arnold's ear.

Salma has a good grasp of the scale of "anger".

But who is Professor Sakai?

I have drawn all kinds of young ladies in my life, young, old, fat, thin, with black hair, golden hair, pink hair, and brown hair. The combination of their hair colors alone can make up the protagonist group of a Japanese girl group comic.

He is a master of observing people's words and expressions!
As soon as his wife pouted and gave him a look, he knew whether he should rush up to flatter her or turn around and walk away to avoid being scolded.

Kazunari Sakai claims that he is a true master in judging the expressions of models.

Even though Salma tried to conceal the subtle changes in her eyebrows and eyes well, she still couldn't escape his insight.

"Having said that, what Salma said makes sense. We are not familiar with the operation of the business. The rules followed by the fashion brand industry and the traditional art industry are different. You can't push her too much. It is difficult for us to find a more experienced collaborator than Ms. Salma."

Sakai Kazunari changed the subject and advised.

"I didn't force her. I was just showing our worth." Jane Arnold replied calmly. "Only when you have value can you get the corresponding respect."

"Are you so optimistic about this? You know, if the work receives mediocre response, things will be difficult to discuss next." Kazunari Sakai pointed to the theaters on both sides.

"'Cats' is the most anticipated, best-selling musical in the world, and I can't imagine the possibility of anything going terribly wrong."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm saying is, are you so optimistic about Detective Cat? Her usual painting style doesn't go well with stuffed animals like these."

Sakai Kazunari raised his eyebrows.

"I owe her a favor, and if you've seen the cats she's painted, you'd expect the same from her." Jane Arnold shrugged.

Kazunari Sakai chuckled twice.

"Then I hope she has good luck."

He threw the last bit of hamburger in his hand into his mouth, chewed it with endless lingering taste, said hello to Jane Arnold, and walked to the other end of the long street.

Jane Arnold stood there without moving.

He silently watched Sakai Kazunari's round figure rolling and rolling until it disappeared around the corner of the building, and sighed softly.

He didn't tell the truth.

Maybe Kazunari Sakai saw it, maybe he didn't.

But Jane Arnold knew that he was willing to help the detective cat not just because he owed him a favor or because the other party was good at drawing cats.

This is a question of discourse power.

Kazunari Sakai is still young.

People in their forties are considered to be on the younger side in the classical art circle, where the pace of renewal is very slow.

If Uncle Sakai was shameless enough, he could even call himself a young painter.

After these few contacts.

Kazunari Sakai lived a pretty happy life.

At the moment, I don’t seem to be ready to find a tree to hang myself on, or have a depression attack and shoot myself in the head.

This means that the other party's career still has a very long time to go.

And Jane Arnold is now semi-retired.

Even if he decided to return to the art stage, he was already at the end of his career.

The difference between the illustration industry and the art industry is not just the difference in the level of contempt.

If serious painters in the gallery system announce that they will stop painting, retire or pass away, the prices of their works will rise sharply.

Picasso had so many wives, lovers, legitimate children, and illegitimate children.

As soon as Lao Bi died, they started fighting to the death at the funeral.

Apart from the love-hate relationship between the infatuated man and the resentful woman, the paintings left by Picasso alone were enough for the family to live a carefree life for many centuries. The issue of who would be in charge of the estate management committee alone was the subject of a lawsuit that lasted for many years.

When Picasso died, the French government estimated that his entire art legacy was worth about 12 billion francs, or a little over million U.S. dollars, based on the market price at the time.

As a result, an inheritance tax of 25%, or million francs, was levied.

And now forty years later.

$2 million is just the auction price of two of Picasso's fine paintings.

The same thing is extremely difficult to happen in the field of pure illustration.

The moment when an illustrator is most valuable is when their work is most popular and seen by the most people.

The value of your works is completely linked to public memory. If 100 million people can see your works.

You are the best in the world.

But as the painters get older, their audiences age, and the IPs they create gradually fade in the public memory...their value will also gradually decline.

Every era has its national illustrators and national-level illustrations.

For example, Norman Rockwell's political propaganda paintings from ninety years ago.

For example, EH Shepard's The Wind in the Willows sixty years ago.

For example, Jane Arnold’s “The Miracle of Oz” thirty years ago.

Illustrators grow old.

Their works will also grow old. Without the blessing of sentiment and the artistic content of the works, old illustrations will not be popular.

Today, Jane Arnold's artistic status is still slightly higher than Sakai Kazunari.

What about another twenty years?

When the children who grew up reading his fairy tales thirty years ago have become grandfathers and grandmothers, he may become a monument to the memories of the old times, but his golden age will eventually pass.

There is no need to compare with Sakai Kazue.

Just compare it with the illustration industry.

Thirty years ago, he took over the title of "the most famous illustrator" from the previous generation's master illustrator Sheppard.

now.

The best in the world is still the best in the world.

But he is no longer leading by a huge margin, and the gap between him and people like Wehrlein and Van Doorn has been narrowed a lot.

The mark he left in the history of art will always be replaced by the next generation of young people.

unless--

He can find the next leader for his studio.

Just like the Hermès Gallery that has been passed down from generation to generation in the hands of Hermès III, it can become an enduring banner in the illustration industry.

"Can she do it?" Jane Arnold thought to himself.
-
At night, the street lights along the riverside shine on the two-story building of Gu’s calligraphy and painting shop.

An old man was standing by the window, humming a song to the moon and applying hair growth agent on his forehead.

The bright yellow street light shone on his body, and from the dark, he looked like a dark paper shadow cut out with scissors in a shadow play.

Only his big forehead.

Reflecting the moonlight and the lights, it was illuminated in a golden and white color, appearing both bright and eye-catching... and bald and eye-catching.

……

While taking care of his forehead, Gu Tongxiang hummed happily and watched short videos of the elderly.

"As long as my grandson is not at home, today is a good day!"

He hummed in his heart, put down the hair growth agent, and carefully combed the few tufts of hair on his forehead into a fluffy little side part that looked like it had a lot of hair.

His fragile hair is now precious!
There is an unwritten rule in the social circle of old men and women in the neighborhood.

Be it 60, 63, 65, or even 70.

Age doesn't matter.

As long as his hair doesn't fall out, he is a young old man, a handsome old man, or a senior old man.

But if you are bald, you will just be an old man, a low-level old man.

Everybody is competing with each other!
Single aunts often talk about which old man is prettier and more energetic in private, and they can clearly tell the difference in their minds.

Mediterranean-style baldness at the center is slightly better, and if you are tall, it can cover it up a little.

There is no way to deal with baldness on the forehead.

As for wearing a wig, well, not to mention how hot the weather is in Yangon, everyone in the neighborhood knows who they are. If you wear a wig, people will talk about you in private.

Gu Tongxiang felt that although his hair was a little thinner, it was still black!
The Gu family has good genes.

The hair is shiny and black, as black as sesame paste. The hair is not expensive but fine. This is what they call "one black is worth ten whites."

"We are born beautiful!"

Gu Tongxiang thought happily that as long as the last few tufts of hair on his forehead could hold the line, he believed he could be classified as a senior handsome old man.

The bell rings.

He picked up the phone, spoke a few words, and then hung up.

"Bah! This is a tourist area, with two floors and a huge yard. 300 million Kyats a month, who are you trying to fool?"

It was a call from the real estate agent.

Gu Tongxiang was too lazy to negotiate the offer.

In other words, he spent over 100 million Myanmar Kyats to renovate the gallery, even if he hired his own construction team and building materials. That's equivalent to tens of thousands of U.S. dollars, which is more expensive than his beloved car.

The money lost on renovation would be worse than renting it out like this.

but.

Gu Tongxiang actually knew that given the current turbulent situation in Myanmar, it was indeed difficult to rent shops in tourist areas.

If it’s not easy to rent, then don’t rent it.

Gu Tongxiang is now also a contracted painter of an international gallery.

For someone who wants to turn around and become a great painter in London, there is really no need to go through the trouble of running around for something worth millions of Myanmar Kyats.

It was not even a fraction of the overseas housing allowance that painter Marx gave him.

Hair loss is frustrating!
Gu Tongxiang continued to take care of his hair with great concentration.

He was always very careful when combing his hair, using a horn comb that he asked a friend to bring back from Dongxia, for fear of damaging the hair scales.

These days, I have been forced by my grandson to practice painting every day, and I have no time to take good care of my hair.

I have to dress up well today.

"A new study by world-renowned medical experts shows that drinking water can help you grow hair? Pay attention, here are five tips for hair care. Like and share with your friends and family on WeChat Moments——"

The standard beginning of a short video for the elderly came from the mobile phone.

Gu Tongxiang happily stretched his head to look.

suddenly.

A cold wind blew in from outside the window.

Gu Tongxiang exerted force with his hands and felt a slight pain on his forehead. He raised the horn comb next to him to his eyes and saw a hair entangled in the teeth of the comb.

He stuck his head out the window.

The Yangon River still flows quietly and slowly, and the moonlight is as usual.

But for some reason, Gu Tongxiang suddenly had a bad feeling.

It's like secretly playing with your phone in class, turning around and suddenly seeing a figure flash by the back window of the classroom. That feeling of uneasiness.

It seemed as if someone was looking at him gloomily through the inky night in the distance.

……

In the inky night.

After getting off the bus, Gu Weijing held the cat and stood on the greenway beside the river bank, staring at the figure watching videos by the bed on the second floor. His eyes were as cold as a class teacher patrolling the corridor. He casually leaned over the window and saw a naughty kid secretly playing with his mobile phone in the table hole.

He took another look at his system virtual panel.

[Watercolor painting technique: lv.5 professional painter, second stage (19/10000)]

The benefits of works that reflect one's heart and add the finishing touch are always two-way.

There is a dragon painted on the wall.

The painter splashed ink with his brush to add the finishing touch to the painting. In an instant, lightning broke through the wall, a dragon soared into the sky, and while moving the clouds and rain, the painter himself was also experiencing a baptism and transformation of life.

One must be extremely familiar with everything in the work at hand, all the techniques, all the emotions, and have insight into all the flow of breath and brushstrokes on paper, including the most subtle and delicate entanglements of love and resentment, in order to be a good teacher, be able to get to the heart of the matter with one stroke, engrave the dust of emotion on the colors and lines, and add the finishing touch.

After I had some free time during this period.

Although Gu Weijing did not use Menzel's painting techniques on any formal occasions.

But he also doesn't want to waste the 1000 seconds of usage quota every day, so when he has free time, he draws for a few minutes every day to practice his writing skills.

It's not about creating exquisite works of art.

Just draw the simplest scenes, regard the system skills as your teacher, and learn watercolor.

(End of this chapter)