Almighty painter

Chapter 659 The Weight of Courage

It was not the most expensive piece of art the man had ever purchased, far from it.

Even in this small room, in terms of price, it is not as expensive as the magnificent golden Buddha statue in front of the incense table. The Buddha statue is made entirely of gold rather than the traditional brass gilding craft. Therefore, although this Thai-style four-faced Buddha statue does not look very magnificent, it consumed a full 203 kilograms of pure gold in its casting.

In terms of fame, Mario Puzo's first edition book may have certain cultural significance, but it is neither a signed book of the author nor an original manuscript. In the field of book collection, it can at best be regarded as an "interesting" gadget.

Even if the man was holding Puzo's original manuscript, in the eyes of outsiders, it was inferior to the original works of Picasso and William Blake hanging in the corridor of Xihe Guild Hall.

What does it matter?

But this book is Hao Ge's favorite collection, and perhaps the most important one. When I first came into contact with director Coppola's "The Godfather" when I was young, I was attracted by the godfather Mike played by Al Pacino in the movie.

His handsomeness, his viciousness, his strength, his wisdom, his silence, his ambition and his ruthlessness...all his qualities make men fascinated.

This is the best work of art in the world.

Every second, every frame, every change of light and shadow tells a truth - what is a truly strong man.

For many years, Brother Hao has been deliberately trying to imitate the other person's unique elegant coldness.

That kind of quiet cruelty is like the turbulent undercurrent beneath the calm surface of a lake. According to film critics, it is "a mixture of a venomous snake and a ferocious tiger."

But as he gradually entered middle age, he became more and more successful and became more and more influential in the city.

Instead, he began to like Mike's father, the old godfather Vito Corleone played by Marlon Brando more and more.

A man who had nothing when he was young came to New York, started from scratch and had everything he wanted.

He has a family and subordinates, and while he has authority that cannot be ignored, he also has people he loves and people who love him.

A mafia boss, at the end of his life, was able to look at the clear sky and say, "Life is so beautiful", and then die calmly and peacefully like a believer.

How...

This movie is like a metaphor for life. Al Pacino tells the story of how a strong man faces choices, while Marlon Brando tells the story of how a strong man faces death after looking back on his life.

It was many years after watching the movie that Hao Ge started reading the original novel of Mario Puzo's "The Godfather".

There are good and bad.

Without Coppola's creation of light and shadow and music, and without the joint performance of two acting emperors Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, the novel is actually much paler than the movie.

But Brother Hao still likes it.

I like the cold rules of the underworld hidden between the lines of the book.

Heroes fall from the sky, and villains ascend to heaven in holy light.

Witnessing everything suddenly woke up Mike, a war hero of the Battle of Guadalcanal, and realized that the "American Dream of Justice" was ultimately just a pie in the sky drawn by senators on Capitol Hill to deceive society.

"Hey, Kay, the Mafia kills people, and so do the Senators."

finally.

He was no longer naive, took over the family mantle and became a true Godfather.

This scene was so magnificent that it looked like an angel of light no longer willing to succumb to false lies, falling from the clouds. The holy light that illuminated the heaven and earth transformed into a burning flame, setting the entire world on fire.

beautiful.

Over the years, Brother Hao has always carried this book with him.

This is his scripture.

It is his Old and New Testament.

Even though he had read every word in the book over and over again, he could memorize some paragraphs without even thinking about them.

Middle-aged men still like to open a book and read a paragraph or two silently when they have nothing to do.

There is a river running through the east of Xihe Guild Hall, which is part of the tributary of the Yangon River.

The riverside is lined with tall evergreen banyan trees, whose branches hang down and cut the sunlight into shiny fragments.

If it's quiet enough.

Whenever there is a breeze outside, or it has just rained, raindrops flow down from the leaves drop by drop and fall on the next layer of leaves. People standing by the window can hear the whispering of the leaves - like the low rustling whimpering in the spirochete of a church organ after the bass pedal is stepped on.

This is the middle-aged man's favorite background music when reading.

It’s damp, cold, desolate, and yet has a kind of low-key splendor.

And as long as he wants.

This huge den of extravagance and decadence, with hundreds of male and female employees, servants and subordinates, covering an area of ​​nearly a thousand acres, could be as quiet as death at any time, without making any sound, allowing him to concentrate and listen quietly to the sound of leaves swaying in the distance.

"Sir, I don't understand."

After a long time, the men behind him spoke, breaking the peace in the room.

"Don't you understand why I have such patience with Gu Weijing?" Brother Hao raised his head from the book, looked at the bald man behind him, and asked lightly.

"Yes, I don't understand. Even if he paints well, so what? The money laundering business of fake paintings only accounts for a small part of our current business. I know you want to promote him as our national painter, but even if it doesn't work, we have many alternatives to choose from. Besides, in this current situation, how many local art markets are there? Many parties are trying their best to win us over, sir -"

The bald man hesitated for a moment and asked, "I shouldn't say too much, but... we have countless more important things to do, don't we?"

"Just take it as my personal interest."

Brother Hao thought about it and replied.

"interest?"

"Isn't it interesting to watch a person make a choice at the fork in life? In this city, many people are waiting for me to make a choice, and I am also waiting for him to make a choice. A truly powerful person obeys his own will. Except for the God of Destiny, no one can give him orders."

"I want to see if our little Mr. Gu is a truly powerful person. I also want to try and see if I can play the role of the God of Destiny."

"But..." The bald man opened his mouth and was about to say something, but was interrupted by Brother Hao. "Let me ask you, do you know which type of people spend the most money in the temple? People with a lot of money, or people with a lot of debt?" the middle-aged man suddenly asked.

The bald man was stunned, not knowing what Brother Hao meant.

"I have observed something very interesting. When things are going smoothly for people, they tend not to believe in fate. They believe that everything is the result of their own hard work. They do not believe in gods, Buddha, Jehovah, or anything else."

"At the pinnacle of life, they believe that what they have is a natural reward from life. They believe that they are superior to everyone else in society - smarter, more talented, or more hardworking. But if their capital chain suddenly breaks, they get sick, they get old, they are on the verge of bankruptcy. Then, in an instant, they become devout believers in fate."

"When they find themselves powerless, they begin to beg for help from a higher 'will'."

Brother Hao smiled.

"I have seen fallen warlords kneeling before Bodhisattva statues, kowtow one after another. I have also seen bankrupt businessmen selling their imported luxury cars to build temples for temples. When some Hong Kong entrepreneurs were young, they talked about the Lion Rock spirit, hard work, diligence, and pioneering spirit. As a result, when they got older, they started to talk about fate, look at the almanac, and compete with others in feng shui. Their conversations were full of I Ching gossip. And these are the same people who told reporters 40 years ago with high spirits that as long as they work hard, they will succeed."

“Uncertainty makes people vulnerable.”

Brother Hao stroked his palm gently.

"From ancient times to the present, sailors have been the most superstitious group of people in the world, because their lives are surrounded by great uncertainty. There were no true non-believers among ancient sailors. Even the vicious Viking pirates would humbly kneel on the bow when facing a storm at sea, hoping that Odin could calm the anger of the wind. For this reason, they would not hesitate to throw the harvest of life at sea, whale oil, looted goods, and even people into the sea one by one as a sacrifice to the gods. And when they were lost and trapped in the depths of the ocean, they would do the same thing again, begging for a breeze to blow and take them back home."

"Just like in The Godfather—"

Brother Hao pointed to the book in his hand.

"Johnny Fontane, when he was successful in his career, when he stood under the spotlight of Hollywood, when he ran his own gang in Los Angeles, when he drank Scotch whiskey one after another in the magnificent presidential suite, would he think of Vito Corleone? Perhaps, but to him, he was probably just a kind and majestic old man. Only when he was wrapped in humiliation and despair would he return to New York, bow his head in tears, and devoutly seek the help of the 'Godfather'."

Brother Hao put the book on the tea table beside him, slowly walked to the shrine in the room, and looked at the golden statue of the Four-Faced Buddha opposite.

"The last time I called Gu Weijing, he told me that good and evil and moral judgments only make sense when one is able to make a choice. I think what he said makes sense. Not only do good and evil have meaning when one is able to make a choice, but only when faced with pressure and uncertainty will a person gradually reveal his true colors."

"When life is going smoothly and happy, people tend to act very brave, or mistakenly think they are brave, because it is easy to be brave. But only when facing misfortune and bad luck can people recognize themselves, and the bravery at this time is meaningful."

"If I were the god of fate, I would give everyone equal misfortune. In this way, I would know whether there are truly brave people in the world."

"An offer that can't be refused can be made in many ways. A check for three million dollars is one, unfortunately... well, it's also a form of offer. Perhaps some gods would actually rain fire and flood waters down villages, taking away wives' husbands and husbands' wives, just to get a piece of gold covering a toe?"

Brother Hao took out three incense sticks from the drawer and lit them in front of the flickering light of the eternal lamp in front of the Buddha statue.

He bowed three times to the Four-Faced Buddha.

Then he inserted the incense sticks into the small incense burner in front of the Buddha incense.

He stood up.

The incense smoke was curling, and his eyes passed through the smoke and calmly met the eyes of the Buddha statue.

In Southeast Asian folklore, the Four-Faced Buddha controls all the wealth and glory in the world, as well as the ups and downs of a person's fate.

"I really want to know what choice Gu Weijing will make. I also really want to know... whether there are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in this world."

The bald man looked at the thin face of the man in the smoke.

I felt a slight chill in my heart.

That’s what Brother Hao is like.

Forever unfathomable.

Sometimes, you may think that he is just a thin, hoarse-voiced middle-aged man with a slight cough.

Listening to Brother Hao's cough, Baldy even occasionally felt that the other party had grown old and no longer had the fearless "enterprising spirit" of the past.

And sometimes.

When you look at his face, you will feel that he is just like a god who is weighing everyone's life on the scales... or a demon or ghost in hell.

There was silence for a few seconds.

The muscular man didn't dare to say anything. The bald man just bowed slightly and tiptoed out.

Almost at the same time as the bald man walked out the door, the ringing of the cell phone once again broke the peace in the room.

The middle-aged man turned around.

He picked up his phone from the window and stared at the caller ID on the screen.

He smiled and looked up.

The setting sun outside the window shone on his face. I don't know if he was looking at the swaying banyan trees by the river outside the window, listening to the sound of rain hitting the leaves, or simply looking at his own reflection behind the glass.

"Life is so beautiful..."

The man sighed slowly and then answered the phone.
-
Gu Weijing didn't wait too long.

The call only rang a few times before it was connected.

"Good evening, Mr. Gu."

A hoarse voice of Brother Hao came from the other end of the phone. His voice was not loud, and if you listened carefully, it even had a hint of feminine slenderness.

It was hard to imagine that the person he was talking to was the head of a huge criminal group.

But that's the truth, just like old Godfather Vito Corleone.

Ordinary people yelled, rolled on the ground, and roared heartbreakingly, but no one paid any attention. But when the old godfather said in a vague voice as if he had a mouthful of spit, "I will give him an offer he cannot refuse," everyone had to hold their breath and listen carefully.

Brother Hao's voice still sounded very polite. He greeted Gu Weijing first, and then said, "I was just wondering when I would receive your call?"

"What a coincidence, isn't it?" he said with a smile.

"It's not a coincidence, it's you who didn't give me the power to choose, right?" Gu Weijing said softly.

(End of this chapter)