Almighty painter

Chapter 633 Where to Go (Part )

“It’s a good place to be.”

Katsuko Sakai stood opposite the coffee shop on the sidewalk, waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Cambodia... Following his father, Shengzi often has the opportunity to participate in some art protection projects related to UNESCO.

When I was young.

During summer and winter vacations, Ms. Sakai often travels around the world by plane, like a frequent flyer.

Starbucks' communication ability is like its trademark print. It may be one of the most tenacious coffee chain brands in the world.

She had seen people of different nationalities and in different clothes in many places, from Arab businessmen in white robes to soldiers from the United Nations peacekeeping force with most of their bodies sticking out from armored vehicles, walking on the streets holding plastic coffee cups with mermaid and siren patterns in their hands.

Milan is the only one that doesn't.

Italy is the birthplace of European coffee culture.

Both latte and cappuccino originated from the beautiful Apennine Peninsula, and of course "Italian espresso" has its nationality written directly in its name.

According to Wikipedia.

As early as the 17th century, the first professional modern coffee shop that made a living by selling coffee originated in Milan, and from there it became popular throughout Europe.

Katsuko Sakai spent two months studying near Milan Cathedral.

She had never seen any coffee shops with a green Starbucks sign hanging in the numerous coffee shops densely packed in the streets and alleys.

Just like Shengzi has never seen the shadow of Pizza Hut or Domino's among the countless pizza or pasta shops densely packed in the streets and alleys.

Curious, she shared this phenomenon with the Italian girls at her summer camp.

The other party chuckled and sneered at this.

"Does Starbucks sell coffee? Don't be ridiculous, Sakai, that's just a cup of dirty black water from the sewer. You should try what we Italians make in our own coffee shops, they are real works of art. Wait, I can recommend you some interesting shops..."

"Dirty black water" - I guess Starbucks, which has always boasted about its carefully selected Ethiopian coffee beans, would be heartbroken by this Italian-style evaluation.

This feeling is probably like the fact that you can’t eat the American Japanese food chains that are sold on the streets of the United States in Tokyo.

The Dongxia people don’t like General Tso’s chicken very much.

However, whether it is the industrialized mass-produced products sold in chain coffee shops, or the cooking methods that replicate the taste in a stereotyped way, are they mass-producing the black dirty water in the sewers, or are they the decent medals that urban white-collar workers use to maintain their "bourgeois life" on their photo walls.

Katsuko Sakai feels that their existence has its own meaning.

Hand-made, each piece is a work of art with its own unique craftsmanship.

Whether it is the interesting century-old shop mentioned by the Milanese girl, or an oil painting with delicate brushstrokes and complex and varied colors, which was carefully carved by the painter in the studio over several months.

These things can never be replicated on a large scale.

Their mystery shapes their uniqueness to a certain extent.

in turn.

Uniqueness becomes part of the mystery.

These things are like the fine wine on Mount Olympus that the bards talk about when they feast on the gods.

Something "good" that people hear about on certain occasions but most people never taste.

"A treasure shop where the Milanese coffee grinding craft is passed down from generation to generation" is like "the Mona Lisa in the Louvre". It represents a certain cultural imprint, like the sun in the sky, shining and hazy.

You know the sun is bright, but you can't look directly at it.

You know they're good.

The painting is very good, and the taste is also very good, but exactly how good it is, that is unclear, except that - "Everyone says that it is the best."

No matter how prestigious.

Most people would never have the opportunity to walk into an old-fashioned coffee shop built in the 19th century on the Grand Canal in Milan, order a cup of authentic espresso, and slowly sip it while watching the boats passing on the canal in the sunset outside the window.

The Louvre is crowded with tourists every day, and the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds only allow you to stay in front of the Mona Lisa for a short three seconds.

Even so.

Ninety-nine percent of the people in this world, from birth to death, will never have the chance to stand quietly for a few seconds in front of the original Mona Lisa.

It will always serve as a brilliant and hazy cultural imprint.

Because you can't taste it or see it.

So it is the best.

Imagination will constantly shape something in a person's mind, making it better or worse... until the moment he actually faces it.

"Deeply shocked", "in tears", "lived the life".

These adjectives are of course the luckiest and happiest things a fan can feel when he or she is on a pilgrimage.

But the same thing.

Lost the mystery of imagination.

There is also a good chance that they will feel deeply disappointed.

"That's it?"

Perhaps it was the word-of-mouth praise that raised expectations too high.

Maybe it’s a problem of my appreciation level. I can’t understand the three-dimensional feeling of the “sour and astringent” coffee beans when they bloom on the tip of my tongue, and I can’t see the precise changes made by the brush tip.

There is still a possibility.

Perhaps they are really just things that are in name only and do not live up to their reputation.

This is the limitation of art that belongs to a minority.

Only when the attribute of "mass reproduction" is given primary consideration during the creative process can we promote this cultural imprint - perhaps not as bright, not as good, but a much more solid cultural imprint - to every corner of the world.

It changed from the sun into a small ball of light, into a paper lantern in the hand, into a firefly in the grass.

Compared to the unattainable sun.

Paper lanterns and fireflies both emit light, but they can fly into thousands of households in a friendly way, just like prints used as product packaging paper, or in chain coffee shops like Starbucks, Costa or Luckin Coffee.

What they sell is never coffee and packaging, but a sense of cultural identity.

Coffee shops or teahouses, throughout history, from east to west, from north to south, have always been a place of "information exchange". Travelers from all over the world sit down under the same roof, drink a cup of coffee together, and then part ways.

Its openness, publicity, and fluidity make it an important "public space" for discussing social culture.

The most classic example.

Legend has it that Freud, Mach, Gödel, Schrödinger, Carnap, Wittgenstein, Hayek, Menger, and even the great mentors Lenin and Stalin were all frequent visitors to Vienna's Central Café. It is said that Lenin once wrote articles for the famous Pravda newspaper on a table in the café.

We all come from different places and have different identities.

From Russian émigré to wealthy nobleman.

From revolutionary leaders to psychiatrists to physicists.

Maybe we all lived side by side facing each other at a coffee table, maybe we all held different political views, some of us became close friends, while others passed by each other and became strangers.

anyway.

They all have a small cup of coffee in their lives.

all in all.

If you have no way to define the relationship between yourself and the other person.

Define whether you are friends, strangers, or something else... then meeting in a coffee shop is usually a good choice. The traffic light turns from red to green.

Katsuko Sakai looked down at the message on her phone again.

She walked across the long street holding an umbrella.

Walk into the coffee shop.

Mona Shandenu was already sitting in a corner of the coffee shop, waiting for her.
-
Miss Shandenu was dressed very formally today, a women's jacket with a straight-line small lapel and a light blue cotton skirt.

When Katsuko Sakai pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.

She was reading a Sunday edition of the Myanmar Mirror in her hand, the newspaper almost covering her entire face.

"Hello."

Katsuko Sakai sat down next to him and greeted him, her voice neither warm nor overly cold.

"Hello, Ms. Sakai, I was just wondering if you would come today since it's raining so hard."

Mona put down the newspaper in her hand but didn't look at Shengzi. She stared at the heart-shaped cream carving on the latte in front of her.

"You are the king this year, so when in Rome, do as the Romans do. I heard that an invitation to dinner from the king cannot be refused."

Katsuko Sakai answered half-jokingly.

The admission results of the Dulwich College recruitment fair have been announced.

Long before she transferred to another school this year, her parents had already arranged for Katsuko to go to university in Tokyo.

After receiving the acceptance letter from the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts, Gu Weijing did not waste time in attending the internal recruitment fair of the international school.

Among the remaining students.

Mona Shandenu ranked first on the admission list. She performed very well at the campus recruitment fair, including video interviews, and received offers from a total of twelve schools.

Seek benevolence and gain benevolence.

Seek righteousness and you will find righteousness.

Mona has always dreamed of attending a prestigious school that would give her a good background.

Her transcript was impeccable, she took advanced classes, worked very hard on her portfolio, and even got a letter of recommendation handwritten by Mrs. Sakai.

Studying at the high school level is a stage that requires more hard work than talent.

She did her best in everything she could do and seized every opportunity that came her way.

So she deserves these.

On the list sent by the class assistant, Mona's name was followed by a small crown symbol, which is the honor for being the top student in each grade in each campus.

The person who receives the most votes at the campus dance is the "Student Queen" of this year.

The students who perform best and receive the most offers at the campus recruitment fair are the "kings" among this year's students.

According to the school tradition.

An invitation to a date from the King and Queen cannot be refused without a special reason.

There were also some other routine celebration activities, such as speeches by student representatives.

Who knows.

Mona turned down all these social engagements.

She did not attend the school's commemorative photo, nor did she attend any memorial parties held by her classmates.

She just sent a text message, inviting Ms. Sakai to have a cup of coffee with her at the Starbucks near the airport.

"Scan the code and order your own food. I didn't order your portion this time."

Mona held the latte in her palm.

"First, I know you won't be short of this little money. Second, I have been trying every possible way to please you for the past semester."

"But I actually know that you, Ms. Sakai, have never really cared."

Miss Shandenu pursed her lips and said, "Now that we are parting, I will not make myself unhappy any more."

Katsuko Sakai's eyelids drooped slightly.

She is very well-mannered.

I won't get angry over such a minor offense.

She could tell that Mona was not mocking her.

The other person's tone was full of calmness and relief, as if he had finally said something from the bottom of his heart.

Katsuko didn't actually order coffee.

She noticed that in addition to the wet umbrella, there was also a carry-on suitcase at Mona's feet.

"Are you leaving in such a hurry?"

"Yes, I booked a flight for tonight. I got an acceptance letter from the London College of Fashion to study fashion design. I have a long-term visa for the UK, so I will leave tonight, transfer in Dubai, and then fly to London."

"Very good school, I haven't congratulated you yet."

Katsuko Sakai nodded.

London College of Fashion is the flagship art school in the UK and is also ranked among the top ten universities in the world.

Many designers and art directors of luxury companies and well-known clothing brands are famous alumni of this university.

Getting an acceptance letter from it is almost equivalent to getting a golden rice bowl in the industry.

It is indeed something worth congratulating.

Even with Mrs. Sakai's letter of recommendation, Mona's admission to the London College of Fashion was also a result of luck.

Maybe it’s because the Yangon campus is about to be closed.

The school has allocated certain resources to the last graduating class of the local campus, hoping that the admission standards at the internal campus recruitment fair can be slightly relaxed.

Let everyone have a good future.

No matter what.

Being admitted to such a university is one of the best outcomes an art student can hope for.

"I know that I don't have any talent for being a painter. Fashion design is the flagship major of the London College of Fashion, so it at least has a small advantage in terms of employment."

Mona smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I hope you get what you want and be happy," said Katsuko Sakai.

"Yes, I got what I wanted, the London College of Fashion. My father was very happy. He didn't expect that I could be admitted to a university of this level. To be honest, I didn't expect it myself. I told my family that I was very happy, and I told everyone on my phone who sent me a blessing text message that I was very happy."

She leaned forward and rested her chin on the table.

"Some things are opportunities that only flash before you once in your life. I have been preparing for such opportunities since I was a little girl, doing well in every exam and seizing any social activities that can enhance my resume. So I grabbed it."

"I have always felt that I am a person who knows what is most important to me. I made my choice and I got it, so I should be satisfied."

Mona shook her head slightly.

"But in fact, I know in my heart that I am not happy."

(End of this chapter)