Almighty painter

Chapter 681 The Secret of the Detective Cat (Part ) Happy National Day everyone!

"There is always a river at the doorstep, the Yongding River or the Jinsha River. Therefore, even if one day the Japanese force everyone to have no way to retreat and nowhere to go, the Chinese scholars will always have a way out."

——Ms. Lin Huiyin——
Koko suddenly pulled her legs out of Gu Weijing's hands, she sat up straight on the stone, and just stared at Gu Weijing.

Stubborn.

His face was stern.

like a statue.

She seemed to want to use her eyes to push back the words that Gu Weijing was saying.

Gu Weijing completely ignored the cold anger in Koko's eyes.

He didn't notice, or if he noticed he pretended not to know how to respond. He just avoided Koko's face, turned his head to look at the lake, and spoke in a low voice.

"Koko, I have something I want to tell you."

"I have an account in an overseas bank, and money may be deposited into it regularly. I have previously set up an account trust—"

The copyright share of "The Little Prince" can be collected for a very long time.

This is the benefit for illustrators to sign sales profit-sharing contracts for illustrating such famous works.

In one or two years, it will definitely not outsell those extremely popular novels or celebrity autobiographies.

The biggest advantage of this type of project is that sales are very stable.

After falling from the initial sales peak, even without the publisher's publicity and promotion, the book could still rely on word of mouth from readers to sell hundreds of copies a week for decades. If it was lucky enough to be included in the collective purchasing plan of some schools, it would make a huge amount of money.

And if the artist's illustrations are classic enough, there will be various licensing fees to be received.

Writing a successful book can allow a family to live a life of ease and comfort.

For example, The Wind in the Willows.

Nowadays, when countries around the world, such as Dongxia, Japan, South Korea, France, etc., plan to introduce "The Wind in the Willows" for re-translation and publication, the licensing fee for local publishing companies to use Sheppard's original illustrations is actually higher than the cost of purchasing the text copyright of the fairy tale text of Kenneth Graham, the original author of "The Wind in the Willows".

The illustrations are even more deeply rooted in people's hearts than the original fairy tales.

Gu Weijing called the Schönbrunn Palace Office and divided the copyright income into two parts.

If he doesn't cancel the escrow.

Seventy-five percent of the money will be transferred to Grandpa Gu Tongxiang, and the remaining quarter will be transferred to Koko as a gift.

"I hope you won't refuse this money..."

"Shut up."

"Then there will be—"

"I said shut up, shut up, shut up, don't you understand?"

Koko pushed Gu Weijing.

It was not the kind of gentle, flirtatious slap between lovers, but a very angry push.

If Koko hadn’t been quick enough to pull him.

Gu Weijing almost fell over and fell into the pond behind the stone.

He then stopped talking and looked up.

Miss Koko was staring at him with burning eyes.

The light in her clear and bright eyes was more angry than cute.

"I--"

"Shut up."

Koko said again, she stared at the young man's face and looked directly into his eyes.

"Gu Weijing..." The girl in the dress spoke slowly.

"No need to explain, your secret... I know it," she said.

"Maybe Ms. Sakai doesn't know, but I do."

"I know."

The air became quiet, with only the rustling sound of the grass stems and leaves swaying in the breeze.

a long time.

Gu Weijing nodded slightly.

"I believe it," he said.

He had no idea how Miss Koko knew all this.

But it doesn't matter.

Koko has always been such a cute, smart, lively and gossipy girl.

Anywhere, anytime.

She can always guess what's in my mind. There's no logic or method involved. She just can do it.

and so.

Even if Koko knew all this, Gu Weijing didn't find it strange.

"This is not a definite distinction. This is not, I'm not lying to you, really."

The young man looked at the girl's stubborn face and explained softly, "It's just that tomorrow, I will hand over my painting to Brother Hao. This is a showdown and my final answer to him. I don't know what the result will be, so I want to explain everything that needs to be explained in advance without leaving any regrets. I'm not saying that we will go our separate ways from now on, I'm just saying-"

"So I don't want you to say such disgusting things. I don't want to hear you allocate how much money to me like you're distributing an inheritance. I also don't want the little bracelet you gave me, saying it's a souvenir and reminds me of me when I see it. It's disgusting. Do you think you're acting in a romance drama? I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it."

Koko shook her hair, and her straight black hair swayed slightly in the wind like a roll of silk.

"I don't care what you engrave on your bracelet. Whether it's Open Sesame, a Buddhist scripture, or a Taylor Swift song, I don't care. It doesn't mean anything. Even if it can sing like a music box, it's meaningless to me, do you understand?"

"It's all bullshit, do you understand? Nothing can compare to a living person being by your side, smiling at you, talking to you, singing to you, and you singing to her, do you understand?" Koko grabbed Gu Weijing's sleeve.

"I am willing to take all the bracelets, all the gold, all these things in the world, in exchange for my mother to spend one more day, one hour, one minute with me. Do you understand?"

"Gu Weijing, you big pig head."

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Do you understand?"

Gu Weijing had never seen Koko so angry before.

Never.

She gritted her teeth in anger, without a trace of smile on her face, and held Gu Weijing's sleeve tightly with her hands.

Gu Weijing didn't say anything either.

He didn't resist, didn't explain, didn't answer, just looked at the other person silently, listening to the girl's words in his ear, he couldn't tell whether it was anger or sadness.

The young man's indifferent look at her without saying anything made Miss Koko even angrier.

She was so annoyed that she wanted to throw the small bracelet in her palm into the lake.

The moment before throwing.

Her eyes met Gu Weijing's.

Moment.

Koko felt soft-hearted for no reason.

She hooked the bracelet with her little finger, turned around, opened her arms, and gently hugged Gu Weijing.

"Hey, Gu Weijing, I'll be with you."

She stopped cursing.

Koko is a girl with a changeable personality. Suddenly, the rage and coldness just now faded from her face, perhaps they never really existed.

She just buried her head in Gu Weijing's chest and spoke to him softly.

"I'll be with you."

"That night, when you were dancing for me, you actually knew what I would choose, right?" Gu Weijing held Kou Kou in his arms and ran his fingertips through her long hair at the back of her head.

Koko's lips were pressed against his heart.

She didn't nod or shake her head, say yes or no.

She just comforted him softly: "Gu Weijing, I will be with you, don't be afraid."

Gu Weijing shook his head gently.

"So... Miss Koko, you should leave even more. There are still many people in the world who need your company, your father, your aunt, what would they do without you? They are not as strong as you, right? And my grandfather, the old man is old, if necessary, I also hope you can go to see him for me, and this... Fortunately, you just held me, otherwise I would have fallen into the lake this time, which would have been a bit troublesome."

Gu Weijing took out a small envelope from his pocket.

He opened it and found the plane ticket that the butler had picked out for him in advance.

"I asked you for your passport number and photocopy the night before last just for this."

In the past, a large number of art exhibitions did not reimburse travel expenses, and these costs were basically borne by the painters' contracted galleries.

After becoming famous, many artists from Africa or third world countries often complain in their biographies or in interviews with journalists that in the 1960s and 1970s, even if painters like them successfully entered some large-scale biennials, they would often be absent because they could not afford the cross-border airfare and hotel expenses.

But now.

As the scale of international biennials grows larger and larger, their levels become more and more high-end.

Some student exhibitions and external exhibitions require you to pay for your own expenses.

It is almost standard treatment to reimburse the round-trip airfare and hotel suites for the shortlisted artists in the main exhibition area and the master exhibition area.

Similar to some wealthy photography and art competitions in Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, as long as you are shortlisted, you will be served first class.

The Singapore Biennale is not like the previous Scholastic Publishing Group's Writing and Art Master Award. Because there are only a few candidates, the rich can allow all the candidates to bring their families to New York to eat, drink and have fun.

There are many more painters participating in this kind of international biennial, and their remuneration is correspondingly lower.

However, Lion City still provides two business class air tickets and hotel exchange reimbursement quotas for this type of Biennale invitation letter.

It is generally provided to the artist himself and his (or her) partner and children.

He and Shengzi each have two places.

During this period, Gu Tongxiang is going to the London branch of the Metz Gallery.

Therefore, Gu Weijing exchanged one ticket, and the other ticket was left idle as he did not need it.

yesterday.

He exchanged the plane ticket for Koko's passport.

“This is the first major biennial in my life.”

Gu Weijing hugged Koko and said softly.

He wanted to say in a joking tone, I hope this isn't the last one.

But he had only said half of his words when he felt the warmth of the girl in his arms and swallowed it back.

He just smiled. "Koko, you know so many of my secrets, so if... I mean if, if I can't go, you should go and see it for me, right? Go and see what my first international art exhibition in my life is like.

"Someone told me that I would win the gold medal of this Biennale. You should go and see if he is right."

"This is my wish. Miss Koko is so amazing, you will definitely fulfill it for me, right?"

Kou Kou said nothing.

Gu Weijing could feel the body of the woman in his arms rising and falling slightly.

Koko is a pretty and tender girl who always makes him think of words like flowing light or water waves.

But when I held her in my arms, she wasn't that soft girl.

Her body was taut but not rigidly tight. The lines of her muscles, honed through thousands of dances, looked like curves drawn by a sketch artist that condensed the essence of a person's soul.

When Gu Weijing held her, he always felt like he was holding a sea of ​​sand.

The dry, warm, clear and sweet sand dunes washed by the sun, with the fresh scent of sunlight, the curves of her body were the curves blown out by the natural wind on the sand ridges...extremely fine and soft, like quicksand with water waves.

Koko's body in Gu Weijing's arms rose and fell with the breathing of both of them.

It's like a sea of ​​sand resonating and vibrating in the flowing wind.

"Let your family leave today, please don't reject my proposal. And Awang, take Awang with you. If you don't want to take the money, just consider it as money for me to support King Awang in the future."

Gu Weijing said to the wind.

"She can be fierce, but she always listens to you."
-
『Time: 2023.6.30 evening』

"Time remaining until departure of flight to Singapore: +12 hours, 21 minutes and 36 seconds"

Gu Weijing finished writing the last letter to Mr. Sloth, put it in an envelope, sealed it with glue, and then put it together with several other letters he had written before and put them into a large express mail bag on the side.

"If there is no new arrangement, please open it after July 2023, 7—"

Gu Weijing wrote a note in English on the courier bag with a marker pen, then walked out the door and asked the personal butler of the club outside to send the courier bag to the address he had written.

This mailbag was given to Mr. Dyson from the Schönbrunn Palace Office.

If he does not contact the other party again, he will open the bag five days later according to the agreement he has written, and deliver each letter in the bag to the corresponding person according to the address he wrote.

Among these letters are those to grandpa and aunt.

One is for Koko.

There is one for Miss Sakai.

There is also a letter to Mr. Sloth.

Gu Weijing originally wanted to write a letter to his father and mother whom he had not seen for a long time. He picked up the pen, hesitated for a long time, and then found that they were too unfamiliar, so unfamiliar that there was really nothing to say.

Then gave up.

He left the Jasmine Foundation to Uncle Ale, left most of the money in the account to his grandfather, and gave the rest to Koko.

He gave the ownership of his works for the exhibition to Ms. Sakai.

Gu Weijing gave money to Grandpa and to Koko, but he did not leave any money for Miss Sakai because he knew there was no need for it.

Shengzi is much richer than him.

His money won't make any difference to the other person's life, so why bother putting on a show?

He wanted to leave something more memorable for Shengzi.

In addition to the paintings participating in the Lion City Biennale, Gu Weijing also left the old painting "Old Church on a Thunderstorm Day" to Katsuko Sakai in the letter.

He had wanted to specify at the time of the donation that if the painting was ever sold or auctioned in the future, half of the proceeds would also belong to his grandfather.

Think about it later.

Forget it.

There is no need for this either.

If the academic community does not recognize that "Old Church on a Thunderstorm" is the "first" existing work by a female Impressionist painter in human history, then this kind of painting would be sold as an ordinary old painting at a price of around 40,000 to 50,000 US dollars.

If in the future.

If the academic community really agrees with the conclusions of their paper, or finds more powerful evidence to support their point of view, then... this painting may be sold at a very high price, very, very high.

How much money can you spend to let your old man Gu wear suits, read Hemingway, listen to martial arts songs, and buy minoxidil hair growth product?
If there is no special cost.

The profits from "The Little Prince" alone would allow their family to live a wealthy life for half a century.

And if Gu Lin really can't change back... then leaving too much money may not be a good thing.

Based on Gu Weijing’s understanding of Miss Sakai’s family.

It is very likely that Shengzi will never sell this painting in her lifetime.

Uncle Sakai and Mrs. Sakai had no reason to force their daughter to sell paintings.

There is no way they would do such a thing.

But if Gu Weijing really stipulated a sales sharing or something.

Wait for twenty or thirty years.

The one who jumped out to force Shengzi to sell his paintings might be a family member. Then, the situation between the two families might become very ugly.

Don't even mention the two families.

In the estate management committees of great painters, there are many cases where family members fight to the death over whether to sell the paintings or how much a painting can be sold for.

Gu Weijing didn't want things to develop like this, but just like he didn't want his cousin to be exposed to gambling, it was better to consider the consequences of many things in advance.

Why bother?
He decided not to plant mines for his own family.

At last.

Gu Weijing gave all the original illustrations of "The Little Prince" that he had collected in his painting bucket to Mr. Sloth to express his gratitude for his help over the past few months.

Such gratitude is certainly not equal to the other party's efforts.

Unfortunately.

This is all he can do now, and he only has the original manuscripts of these illustrations.

Gu Weijing watched the butler bow to him and then disappear into the corridor of the guild hall. He thought about it quietly in his mind, making sure he had considered everything, and wrote letters and left messages to everyone who cared about him.

He tilted his head.

Look at the litter box and plastic cat bed in the house.

The cat's nest was empty. The fat, round cat had been put in a cage and taken away when Miss Koko left.

"I hope I'll have the chance to feed you a can of cat food next time."

Gu Weijing said softly to the cat's bed.

He turned around and walked into the deep corridor of Xihe Guild Hall.
-
『Time: Midnight on June 2023.6.30, 』

"Time remaining until departure of flight to Singapore: +8 hours, 19 minutes and 52 seconds"

Before finally putting pen to paper.

Gu Weijing spent several hours pacing in this empty studio. He stared at every work here for a long time and applied calligraphy and painting authentication techniques to every painting on the wall.

Finally, he once again stood in front of the portrait of "The Godfather" and looked into its eyes.

The wind blew in from the window that Gu Weijing opened after entering the studio. The curtains swayed slightly like a girl's belt, sweeping across the young man's face.

He neither moved nor laughed nor cried.

Poker face.

The young man in the studio and the old man in the portrait looked at each other, like two statues facing each other.

Before drawing the picture, Gu Weijing imagined Haoge's life, how a young man from the countryside became the owner of this huge guild hall step by step, and how he felt when he started painting in this studio.

"Godfather, don't fool yourself, Boss Chen."

He opened his mouth and whispered in the empty studio: "How much evil have you done to get to where you are today?"

Gu Weijing turned around and walked to the easel.

Lighted the last small candle of the Muse's blessing in stock.

He is very graceful.

He did it in one go.

……

Gu Weijing let go of the paintbrush, and the oil painting brush fell from his fingertips and fell to the ground, leaving a small mark on the smooth teak floor.

Gu Weijing seemed to be exhausted and slowly sat down on the floor.

Drops of sweat dripped from his forehead, sticking the young man's hair into wisps.

During the last half hour or so of painting, he felt like he had run a marathon, and his entire body was drenched in sweat.

But when the young man looked at the work in front of him, a relieved and happy smile emerged in the depths of Gu Weijing's eyes.

He knew his heart was beating fast.

He didn't know whether that was happiness... or fear?
Maybe he's afraid.

After all, he is only eighteen years old. How could an eighteen-year-old young man not be afraid when he faces Brother Hao alone and faces an unknown fate?

But Gu Weijing was probably happy too.

He is a painter!

How could a person who dreams of becoming an artist not feel happy when he actually draws a work like this for the first time?

How could he not want to laugh?

This is different from the skills provided on the system panel, which, after activation, seem to paint through another soul or another body.

The feeling is intimate and direct, with warmth and warmth like breath.

Every stroke on the painting was created with Gu Weijing's blood and sweat.

therefore.

This kind of pleasure seemed to be directly fed back to his soul, a higher level of comfort than the fear and terror in his heart... the ecstasy from the soul of art.

When his free experience points were reduced to less than two thousand points.

Gu Weijing completed the final touches on the canvas.

A hint about this painting also flashed on the system panel——

[Title: "Human Noise"]

[Sketch Technique: Level 7 Master Painter Level 1 (100000/)]

[Oil painting technique: Lv.7 Master Painter Level 1 (100000/)]

[Emotion: Brilliant Writing]

(End of this chapter)