Almighty painter

Chapter 667: True Warriors (Part )

Strange to say.

The tabby cat, which the aunt had just tried to coax out no matter how she scratched or hugged it, suddenly stopped making trouble after it jumped into Gu Weijing's arms.

Gu Weijing used the fingers that were supporting Awang's tail to touch the small piece of soft flesh near his back.

This is the "hypnosis area" of the cat king.

Kittens that are more than a month old like to lie on their side on their mother cat's belly and knead the milk when they are feeding.

If it were smaller.

For example, when they are just one or two weeks old and have not even learned to walk, many baby kittens of this age like to lie in their nest with their four legs facing up, their bellies exposed, and meowing for their mothers to feed them.

"Pet Mind Reading".

Humans and cats are both mammals.

Mammals may not be able to clearly remember events from their infancy, but they still have innate physical memories preserved.

When people hold a cat's hips and hind legs like a baby, or put their hands under its front armpits - these touches make cats feel safe and like they are back in the nest with their brothers and sisters, or as if they were snuggled under their mother's belly to feed.

Every time it jumped into Katsuko Sakai's arms and gently stroked its back, Awang's eyelids would gradually squint uncontrollably.

If you scratch the soft flesh on its chubby chin at the right time, it will immediately "faint" in front of you, making a small snoring sound in its throat.

But this time…no.

Awang turned his head slightly, seeming to feel comfortable.

However, the cat's eyelids were still wide open, and it looked at him with a hint of doubt and inquiry, its pink nose rubbing lightly against his clothes.

"This cat still clings to you. It has no conscience. I have secretly fed it many times, fried hairtail and other things, and I always left some for it. But every time, it won't even let me hold it."

I guess I felt that the atmosphere at home had been too depressing for most of the day.

The aunt looked at the fat cat in Gu Weijing's arms, pursed her lips, and made a gentle joke.

"Let Awang stay and go with you." Gu Tongxiang looked at the time, then at the customs gate, and suggested, "Aren't you originally planning to take it to Singapore? You even got the documents required for the pet to travel in the cabin, right? There's no need to make any changes."

Old Man Gu sniffed.

"It's just two days late. Let Awang stay. You can stay at home alone for the next two days and he will have someone to keep you company."

He stared at his grandson.

"It's just two days anyway, right?"

"Yeah, it's just two days late anyway."

Gu Weijing finally nodded and said, "That's right, I'll take it back. Anyway, there are some unfinished canned cat food at home. It's quite expensive, and it would be a pity to throw it away."

He stood there holding Awang and said goodbye to his family members one by one as they passed through customs with their passports.

"Let us know when you get home," said Gu Tongxiang.

"Remember to contact me every day on WeChat. I left you a self-heating hot pot. Just add water and heat it up every day. Yangon is not very safe recently. Don't go out and run around."

The aunt waved her hands and kept chattering as usual, and she pulled her daughter's hand.

Gu Lin lowered her head in the chair, and her reaction to the outside world was very dull. This was the instinctive reaction of humans after being greatly stimulated by the outside world - her body was released, but her heart was still trapped in the cage of the past.

For Gu Lin, this matter may end here.

This is the best result.

It is also possible that Gu Lin's return home is just the beginning of the end of this matter.

In the future, she will need long-term psychological counseling and supervision from her family to slowly return to normal life.

Maybe even.

Gu Lin will never be able to return to normal life. Leaving Yangon is not even the beginning of the end, it is just the end of the beginning.

But no matter which possibility it is.

She is still far from getting over the shock of yesterday. She sits huddled in her chair in a daze, not knowing what she is thinking.

It wasn't even clear if she heard her aunt.

On the way to the airport today, Gu Lin looked like this the whole time, like a puppet.

She only moves if you pull her.

You're not kidding.

She just huddled there.

When going through customs, the staff at the counter suspected that she had a mental illness.

"Gu Lin? What should you say?" Aunt frowned and pulled her daughter's arm.

Gu Lin still sat there without moving.

Gu Weijing smiled and said, "Forget it, let her take her time. You guys go through the customs. When the time comes, we can talk on WeChat if we have anything to say."

The aunt shook her head helplessly. She pulled her daughter and dragged the suitcase, and walked towards the gate with her father-in-law.

"Wait a moment."

When he was about to pass the level, Gu Lin suddenly shook his head.

She turned and ran over.

Gu Lin reached out her hand to Gu Weijing, but because Gu Weijing still had Awang in his arms, she could only hug Gu Weijing lightly.

"I'm sorry, brother. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..."

Gu Weijing looked at Gu Lin's black pupils which looked very similar to his.

He didn't say it was okay.

This is not an unrelated thing.

From any angle, any meaning, any concept -

None of it matters.

"Thank you." said Gu Lin.

"Well, we are a family." Gu Weijing said calmly.

……

"When you go to the UK, remember to practice painting and check in every day, great painter!" Gu Weijing waved at his family members who were gradually going away outside the customs channel.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, take care of yourself. Remember WeChat!"

Gu Tongxiang agreed readily.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion.

Gu Weijing felt that Mr. Gu's steps as he walked away seemed to have become more brisk all of a sudden.

He smiled as he watched them disappear at the end of the customs channel.

That morning.

Gu Weijing stood in the airport hall for a long time, staring in the direction where his family was leaving, like a sculpture.

"Are you going to stay with me?"

Among the travelers flowing around like water.

The sculpture-like young man lowered his head, looked at the cat in his arms, which had suddenly become very quiet today, and stretched out his fingers to scratch its jaw.

"Meow."

Awang just cried out and licked his fingertips with his tongue.
-
『Time: 2023.6.26 noon』

"Time remaining until departure of flight to Singapore: +105 hours, 30 minutes and 26 seconds"

“This is the final three-view drawing of Gus the Theater Cat, and the whole project is basically complete.”

Gu Weijing took a page of watercolor paper off the drawing board and put it into a folder on the side.

Because the skill time is limited, his time is also limited.

So the last few pages are three-view drawings of the musical project "Cats". Gu Weijing skipped the coloring step and directly adopted the fastest drawing method of pure pencil sketching.

but.

The watercolor drawings that were really going to be taken to the exhibition were mailed out in two batches a few days ago, along with his "Good Luck Orphanage in the Sunlight".

"Good Luck Orphanage in the Sun" was sent directly to the organizing committee of the Singapore Biennale.

The drawings of the "Cats" series were handed over to the Schönbrunn Palace Office, who then passed them on to the organizing committee of the Singapore Biennale.

The rest are some odd and ends peripheral design drafts.

For works that are not going to be entered into an art exhibition, the requirements are not that high.

For factories making molds and manufacturing dolls, if there are exquisite design drawings, it is not a big problem to just use pencil to draw the structural lines of the three views.

Regarding the color matching of this kind of doll, 30% depends on the artist's design, and the remaining 70% depends on the craftsmanship of the production line.

Gu Weijing sat in a chair, thinking about what he still had to do that day.

After a moment, he turned on the computer.

While using his home thermal price label printer to write notes on every page of the folder, Gu Weijing made a voice call to Mr. Sloth on the chat app.

……

"Down, down, down. Place it on the foundation next to the fountain. It can't be wrong at all. This statue weighs more than five tons. If the center of gravity is not right, it will cause the ground to sink—"

Elena Manor.

It was still a sunny morning.

A large crane was slowly placing the bronze sculpture of the old earl onto the pedestal in front of the manor's fountain. Under the crane's iron hook, four bright yellow load-bearing cables were hooked onto the straps on the sculpture's chest and armpits. The engineering team leader, wearing a safety helmet, was loudly directing the crane's lifting operation via a walkie-talkie.

"It looks like it's made of cloth, but each of these load-bearing cables can carry more than ten tons. It's very stable, sir." The engineering team leader looked at the tall man in a dark suit beside him.

He noticed that the other person had been frowning, so the engineering captain turned around and gave him a thumbs-up, indicating that he could rest assured.

Mr. Adrar nodded.

Before becoming the steward of Elena's Manor, he had served in the airborne troops and had some knowledge of lifting and hoisting large equipment.

He couldn't help frowning as he stood by, not because he had any concerns about the professionalism and safety of the project.

The housekeeper's eyes fell on the tracks of the crane.

This special vehicle weighing dozens of tons drove around the manor, leaving muddy tracks on the flat lawn where people could play football, and crushed several marble tiles on the steps.

In the eyes of the butler, whether the lawn in front of the manor is beautiful and tidy is as important as whether there are stains on the collar of a suit shirt.

It represented the dignity of the Elena estate. He frowned mainly because he was worried about whether the gardener could maintain and renovate his beloved lawn before the next party at the estate.

Many guests will gather here tomorrow night to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the old Earl.

Nominally.

This bronze statue was "returned" to Elena's family by Oil Painting magazine to celebrate this anniversary.

Sir John Brown will also be here to deliver an important speech.

Of course, that's what it says on the surface.

In fact, whether it is Elena's family, Oil Painting magazine, or even the media, everyone knows very well what this matter is.

Sounds better.

To use Sir Brown's original words to the public, "Let history return to history. I invited Miss Anna to be the manager of the visual arts section because she is a respectable female elite in the workplace, not because of her last name. This would be extremely unfair to her and to the magazine."

To put it more bluntly, Sir Brown continued to erase the family imprint of Elena's family in the magazine.

The media has taken notice.

In the latest two issues of Oil Painting magazine, the back cover slogan "Noble works of art cannot be described by critics, they will speak for themselves. Noble souls cannot be bound by the world, they will find freedom on their own. - Salute to Ms. K.!" has been replaced with a brand new version: "Let the Muse witness everything about you, not with your words, but with your true self - Oil Painting Magazine·New Era Project".

"What? It was originally such an elegant and courageous motto. After Levinson Brown changed it, it became as cheap as a supermarket sale slogan. The purpose of promoting his own project is about to hit the audience in the face."

By the fountain.

Secretary Elliot noticed the look in his young lady's eyes when she looked at the huge statue of her ancestor, and spoke up to complain on her behalf at the right moment.

"No, Elliot."

Anna sat in a wheelchair, looking at the huge sculpture under the crane. The wind blew the tulle on her skirt and made it sway.

Thin and crispy like ice crystals.

"It is true that it is advertising, but it is also true that Sir Brown wrote a good motto for the back cover of the magazine."

"I think he must have put a lot of effort into choosing this sentence."

Miss Elena smiled.

"If you want to publicize every thing about you, you don't need to use you words, you need to use your true face——"

She recited the original words from "The Solitary Walker" off the top of her head.

It is derived from a sentence in Rousseau's classic prose collection: "You should publicize everything about yourself, not with your words, but with your true face."

After a slight modification.

It was selected by Sir Brown and became the back cover language of the new era "Oil Painting" magazine. It is also the new motto, new slogan and new code of conduct for the Muse Project.

"Of course, this seems to mean that from now on, whether it is Oil Painting magazine writing reviews or selecting artists for the Muse Project and providing sponsorship, everyone will adhere to the concept of fairness and objectivity. The magazine will not look at how those painters brag about themselves, but look at their "true face"."

"Inside, Sir Brown is also saying to the public and to those artists that although the opening speech of the Muse Project was a disaster, 'Don't dwell on the mistakes of words. Look, at least I took action and gave sponsorship and subsidies, and I was still very generous!'"

Anna smiled.

"As for the deeper level. Did he say that Miss Elena was good at giving speeches, and he couldn't compete with her, but donating the art collection..." The woman paused, "You could also say that it was just moved from the Elena family's private exhibition hall to the Elena Foundation's public museum. A darker guess is that it was just a matter of transferring money from the left hand to the right hand."

“Has she really done anything practical for the art world?”

Miss Elena recited softly.

"I'm not even sure if he was being sarcastic. The Elena family has always been good at talking, being good friends and protectors of artists, but when the time comes, they arrest people, lock them up in a dark cellar and torture them to death. They're ruthless when it comes to that."

"These things may only be known by Sir himself." Anna pulled a strand of slightly curly hair on the side of her face behind her ear.

Once a conceptual gap arises, the gap will grow wider and wider.

The Irina family and Oil Painting magazine are also on two different paths that are drifting further and further apart.

The 150th anniversary of the old Earl's birth was just a way to give both parties a decent way to break up that they could accept.

"This old guy has a really vicious mouth, spitting blood all over me."

Elliot stamped his feet slightly there.

She regretted that she did not curse Sir Brown again when she organized people to take a walk in front of the Oil Painting magazine.

"Do not."

Elliot was stunned for a moment.

Miss Elena crossed her hands and calmly placed them on her knees, holding down the hem of her skirt that was blown up by the increasingly strong wind.

"I just said that advertising is advertising, but Sir Brown did choose a slogan with a deep meaning. This sentence can actually be applied here as well."

Anna shook her head slightly.

"Whether it is malicious or not is another matter, but Sir Brown is not slandering. Transferring the ownership of the paintings from the manor to the Elena family foundation does look like a transfer from the left hand to the right hand to outsiders. Not to mention, we also got the castle palace of the Prince of Hanover at almost free price, as well as an interest-free loan of tens of millions of euros. This is indisputable."

She pursed her lips.

"My ancestors used to be the protectors of artists, while at the same time locking people in cellars and torturing them to death. Some things are wrong and they are wrong, and some things are evil and they are evil, and this is also indisputable."

Anna said.

Some times.

I have to admit that Miss Elena is really a person with a very sharp tongue, both to outsiders and to herself.

Both.

Mrs. Sakai also has a poisonous tongue.

But the blonde aunt's sharp tongue is not the same as Anna's sharp tongue.

Mrs. Sakai's kind of mean and sharp tongue is the kind that if she doesn't like you, she will jump up, snort, and stomp on you with her high heels.

When I step on you, you scream in pain and cry out.

Anna's sharp words are different. Rather than being sarcastic, it is better to say that, in the eyes of outsiders, there is a natural coldness in her character, a quality as pure as snow.

She is sharp, just like her coldness and her beauty.

seem.

These are not her problems, but she is just too beautiful and too far away from the world.

Flowers that bloom on snowy mountains in areas of thin air.

When you see it, you will feel the suffocating pressure.

and so.

You are destined not to be able to enjoy her.

When Gu Weijing woke up yesterday, he looked out the window at the vast river that looked like an oil painting, and suddenly realized that what he saw was a kind of eternal beauty, a kind of beauty that "the universe is constant and does not exist for the sake of Yao or Jie."

If there is any beauty that exists outside of nature, the beauty of the world, it is also "the constant of heaven and earth, it does not exist for Yao and does not perish for Jie."

Then it would be someone like Miss Elena.

Just like the action of her holding the hem of her skirt in the wind just now, if someone else did it, for example, the famous photo of the beauty Marilyn Monroe that made men all over the world shout "Sexy", everyone would think that such an action is both charming and seductive.

But Miss Anna won't.

It’s not that she is not “sexy”, but the word “sexy” is such an electric word that it seems difficult to describe her.

The engineers who were gathered by the fountain discussing the lifting matters, and the servants who were walking around the manor, were not all "moral gentlemen" in the absolute sense.

Many of them may be like many Europeans, who go to the bar after get off work to have a few drinks, tell dirty jokes, and hunt for beauties.

but.

When they saw Miss Elena holding up the hem of her skirt, no one dared to stare at her with a seductive look, not even a secret glance.

They will just lower their heads unconsciously.

Written in the textbook.

Most of the water in the world is conductive, but if all the ions and impurities in the water are removed, a glass of absolutely clear water will become an insulator.

Miss Elena is like such a glass of "absolutely clear water".

She became immune to the word "sexy".

It was not good enough for her.

"I'm not worried about Sir Brown. I just feel a little sad. The words on the cover of the oil painting magazine are the last mark that Kara left on the world in her lifetime."

Miss Elena said softly.

Elliot didn't know how to interface.

She had heard the young lady tell her the story of Ms. Kara and the origin of the old motto in Oil Painting magazine: "A tribute to Ms. K."

This means that with its replacement, this female painter has nothing left from her entire life.

Perhaps it seems inappropriate to say anything comforting now.

Or maybe.

Miss Elena wasn't talking to her in the first place.

The two young women watched together as a crane slowly lowered the bronze statue onto its newly placed bronze pedestal.

Such a project has gone through multiple rounds of inspections before the actual lifting and transportation, so it should not be a difficult task.

Unfortunately, the wind seems to be particularly strong today.

So even though the statue itself weighs more than five tons, it was still blown so hard that it swayed slightly on the iron hook.

The swing is not large, but it makes precise work quite difficult.

In the silence, the cell phone in the bag beside her suddenly rang. Miss Elena opened the bag and took a look.

"Elliot. You stay here and watch. I'm going to go back first."

"Ok."

Elliot nodded and watched the nurse behind him push Miss Elena and turn towards the building.

She noted.

The mobile phone Anna just took out of her bag was not the one she usually used, and she didn't know if it was an illusion.

The secretary thought.

Just now, Miss Elena's eyebrows suddenly smiled.

The laugh was short.

But the glacier suddenly broke.

(End of this chapter)