Almighty painter

Chapter 723 Miss Sakai is unhappy

"Oh oh oh... I remember that year in London, it was the Queen's celebration or something, I was in the hotel next to the Taylor Center for Fine Arts, oh, there was a kind of donut there-"

From the office behind me, I could hear Uncle Sakai's classic Japanese English accent.

He was talking to the curator Tonks with a laugh, patting the table from time to time, and his tone was as cheerful as that of a hero from the Warring States Period.

Some words were spoken very loudly, some laughter was loud, and the obedient people listened very carefully.

But it was like a huge rock falling into the lake.

With a splash, there is no trace left after the splash - such as the "Hao Tai Lu" in London, Festival and the Thames.

It is just the necessary medium oil and lubricant in social occasions.

Katsuko Sakai felt that it was like the "particle" in Japanese - a function word embedded in a sentence without any actual meaning, or the "zhihuzheya" in ancient Chinese.

Ms. Katsuko Sakai's Chinese level is not very high, but Japan's classical literature mostly originates from the origin and deformation of "Chinese classics", so she will be exposed to a certain amount of classical Chinese in Japanese junior high school classrooms.

It's quite interesting.

It's quite interesting.

They have no actual meaning, but if they are deleted from poems or songs, the atmosphere will be blocked and the poem will become dryer and dryer.

Sages and teachers can use them to write articles on the classics in a majestic manner, and can make the laws of the world conform to the rules of etiquette with every word of their meaning.

Even ordinary people with fat heads and big ears can use it to show off and appear to be full of artistic aura in interpersonal relationships.

It is neither good nor bad, neither gold nor stone.

When set on gold, it is gold; when set on dead wood or gray stone, it is dead wood or gray stone.

When it is embedded in the body of a 230-pound middle-aged man who loves donuts, it will emit the smell of donuts baked and fermented with flour and milk.

The key is not the words.

The key is just the person who speaks.

The sound of her father talking to the curator came from the door, and they seemed to be mentioning her over and over again.

Kazunari Sakai was talking and Tonks was listening.

Kazunari Sakai wasn't talking, and Tonks wasn't listening.

As long as her father is still a heavyweight artist, as long as her father's net worth is still ranked in the top ten in Japan, as long as curator Tonks still wants to expand his network and make friends with Uncle Sakai. And Uncle Sakai also wants his daughter to get some attention and exposure at the exhibition.

Then the two of them will naturally sit in the office and laugh together.

The person who speaks gets satisfied, and the person who listens gets a response. After a while, they become "friends", and that's enough.

The words in the sentence can be replaced with any synonyms in the world.

Uncle Sakai tells the story of himself eating donuts while watching the Queen's Festival in a hotel by the Thames River.

Both of them will laugh together.

Uncle Sakai tells the story of how he was in the rain forest of Equatorial New Guinea, watching brown bears and hippos fighting in the mud and eating donuts.

Both of them will laugh together.

The important thing is that Kazunari Sakai appeared at the art exhibition with his daughter, and everything was different.

even……

As long as her last name is "Sakai", her name is "Sakai Katsuko", and her name appears on the booth, everything will be different compared to ordinary contestants.

The Singapore Biennale is not some quack exhibition.

People won't give her the award just because of her name, even if her name is Yayoi Kusama instead of Katsuko Sakai.

But she can get a better booth, better publicity resources, and even make a last-minute decision to bring an extra oil painting to the exhibition.

That's different.

The fame effect - it is the dark side of awards that many of the most well-known and long-standing international art exhibitions cannot avoid.

The more commercialized it is, the more so.

Even if Shengzi knew, she was completely a vested interest in this effect.

But she also knew that this was still the dark side of unfairness. Others had to pay much more, much more, to stand on the same starting line as her.

There were also some words that were spoken very softly, and the listeners seemed to be preoccupied as well, with their heads down, not listening very seriously.

But it was like a huge rock falling on the sand.

At first there was only a muffled "puff" sound.

But no matter how the wind blows, how the rain falls, whether there is spring frost or autumn rain, or the alternation of cold and heat, it will still be there.

It’s not just the person who’s speaking that’s important.

And then there is speech itself.

Even if you don't understand the meaning of the words at first, you will still feel its weight until a moment long, long later.

A sudden opportunity.

suddenly.

You burst into tears.

The later you understand, the more tears you will shed.

For example, my mother said to my father, "I can't stand the sight of myself going back to my father crying and admitting defeat... If you are really ready to end your life so hastily, please push me down first, and then jump down yourself. But you must always remember that I gave myself from my father to another man who I believe will protect me. Your cowardice will not only kill yourself, but also another person who loves you."

For example, Miss Mona said to her, "Choose coconut or rose? When I held the coconut in my hand, even though it was a heavy golden coconut, I was still thinking about the past. At this time, I suddenly realized that maybe I had made a mistake about what I wanted from the beginning."

Another example.

She and Gu Weijing, and the words "I love you" that Gu Weijing said to her, and the silent farewell that was never said.

When Shengzi was born, he had the family background that Mona Shandenu longed for but could not achieve.

Go to a good university.

Win an art competition.

Signed with a gallery as a painter.

……

All of this while others were standing on tiptoe, crowding together, and trying their best.

When Katsuko showed her talent for art, it was already within her reach, even when she was just born.

Mona needs to choose between a rose or a coconut.

She is the princess in the other person's words who lives on a hot air balloon, surrounded by a hundred roses and a hundred coconuts.

"If you want to transfer to Yangon, then transfer to Yangon. If you want to go to any university, then go to any university. If you want to sign with a gallery and hold an exhibition, then sign with a gallery and hold an exhibition." Miss Sakai's ears reappeared the scene in the coffee shop that day when Mona sang like a song before leaving: "I am Sakai Katsuko, my father is Sakai Kazunari, my family is worth billions, and I can have whatever I want."

No.

If it were today.

Katsuko Sakai would tell Mona that even if she was born with a hundred roses and a hundred coconuts, she couldn't always have what she wanted.

At some point in her life, she will still have to face a choice between two options, such as "ten thousand coconuts" or "ten thousand roses."

Another example is an artist’s career and the love between lovers.

Is it to become a perfect painter?

Or become the perfect lover?
Katsuko Sakai was born with artistic resources that are beyond the reach of ordinary people, but she does not feel confused about this.

Don't say that in an understated way.

Shengzi has always believed that her pure yearning for art far exceeds that of her ordinary peers.

In the past eighteen years.

Painting is her friend, teacher, and even lover.

Brushstrokes are like music. They do not have a mathematically precise rhythm like the Western twelve-tone equal temperament.

It is the rise and fall of boat songs and calls sung by the fishermen at the dock, carrying the natural laws of the tide, rising and falling with the waxing and waning of the moon, and echoing forever in dreams.

While other girls were playing with Barbie dolls, Katsuko was drawing.

While other girls were watching idol dramas and discussing who was more handsome, Furukawa Yuki or Oguri Shun, Katsuko was drawing.

When Uncle Sakai was eating grilled chicken legs with scallions, grilled chicken with basil and plum, grilled chicken tenderloin with mustard..., Katsuko was drawing. When Uncle Sakai was eating chocolate donuts, Oreo donuts, cinnamon pumpkin donuts, raspberry jam donuts..., Katsuko was still drawing.

Because it grows on hot air balloons, it can rise into the clouds without climbing vines.

So her personality is calm and detached.

She doesn't paint for fame, to win awards, or to sign with a gallery; she paints just to express herself.

She just simply likes to draw.

She believes she can give everything to achieve greatness in the art world.

The same reason.

She didn't fall in love with someone for wealth, fame, or status, she just simply liked Gu Weijing.

She thought they would be together forever.

Just a few months ago, Katsuko Sakai even thought that she and Gu Weijing would become mutually dependent signposts on the artistic road.

in case.

Are these two things in conflict with each other?
in case.

The price of achieving greatness is to betray perfection and happiness, and to be like countless great painters, painting marks left by pain on the drawing paper?

Katsuko Sakai didn't know what to choose.

“Whether you have regrets or not does not depend on whether you have won the award, but on whether you have tried your best. If you have done so, then... no matter what the result is, you have no regrets.”

That's right.

She did the best she could for the art exhibition.

and so.

Regardless of the outcome of the Lion City Biennale, whether she becomes famous with one painting or gets nothing, Katsuko Sakai feels that she should have no regrets.

However, does the absence of regrets on the artistic path mean that another path is full of regrets?

Some painters are so powerful that they are indestructible.

They are the most tenacious, determined and devout climbers.

In order to move forward, they can give up everything, give up feelings, give up friends, give up lovers, and even give up... happiness itself.

The ups and downs of this worldly life are not important; what is important is to be able to reach the top and have a bird's eye view of the world.

Katsuko Sakai once thought that she was such a devout mountaineer.

She came to Singapore.

She then realized that she was wrong.

Choose coconut or rose? When you hold the coconut in your hand, even if it is a heavy golden coconut, and you are still thinking about the past, you will suddenly understand that maybe you have made a mistake about what you want from the beginning.

She didn't like Mona.

But at this point, Katsuko Sakai suddenly realized the girl who was dragging her suitcase towards the airport terminal in the heavy rain in Yangon.

What the other party said... is very right.

The wind seeped in through the gap in the window, blowing up Katsuko Sakai's neatly trimmed bangs.

Katsuko Sakai took out her cell phone from her pocket.

Staring at the black screen in a daze.

The girl had done this many times in the past two weeks. A few months ago.

When she was watching the rain by the floor-to-ceiling window of the hotel, the moist wind blew her hair in the same way.

The wind was slightly cold at that time, but her body was warm.

The wind is hot now, but her body is cold.

She stood dignifiedly by the window, her plump body yet revealing a kind of suffering like a relief on an altar.

"You can go give Xiao Gu a call!"

When the blonde aunt saw her daughter's appearance, she reached out her hand, rubbed her soft hair hard, put her arm around Shengzi's shoulders, and pouted.

She has been secretly following the news from Yangon.

Mrs. Sakai naturally saw the news of Brother Hao's downfall.

She didn't know what had happened here, nor did she know whether it was related to Gu Weijing. If it was, she didn't know how Gu Weijing did it.

It doesn't matter.

For someone like Brother Hao, the fall of that person would be good news worth celebrating.

The rest are all trivial matters.

Even if Brother Hao didn't fall, it wouldn't necessarily be a big deal. Mrs. Sakai always felt that the world was big, and it was best for her daughter to live happily.

"It's all over anyway." The blonde aunt persuaded, "Cao Xuan actually secured a lecture for your paper a week later. What a great opportunity!"

"Ask him out to play. I also got VIP tickets to the Aston Martin Racing paddock racing P-room. Boys like this! When the F1 Grand Prix comes, you can go watch the race together." Mrs. Sakai snorted.

"If you want, you can meet more often. I heard that he should arrive in Singapore today."

Her daughter clearly wanted to see the other person, but she didn't call and didn't allow herself to call. Her unhappy look made the impatient Mrs. Sakai very anxious.

"It's different, Mom." Katsuko Sakai leaned her head on her mother's shoulder and said slowly, "It's because it's over, so... it's different."

Katsuko Sakai has a devout heart for painting.

Until she discovered that there were some things in life that were more important than painting.

And her demands for love are extremely pure.

When Gu Weijing stood under the eaves lights on the Yangon Riverbank and waved at her.

Katsuko Sakai just cried.

She didn't try her best to look back.

When she received Gu Weijing's breakup text message at the airport, she had a thousand words in her heart but didn't know what to reply.

She didn't try her best to keep him.

and so.

Katsuko Sakai felt that all the suffering she was experiencing now was what she deserved.

She talked about trying to be an unwavering anchor for each other, but she failed to do so.

No one would ask an eighteen-year-old girl to give up everything for a relationship she has just known for half a year.

No one would regard the sweet words whispered to each other by a pair of 18-year-old young lovers on a black boat on a lake as an unchangeable scripture cast in gold and iron.

No one is qualified.

No.

Shouldn't.

That's not fair either.

The emotions of young people should be like summer rain, stopping suddenly and coming off suddenly.

Only Miss Shengzi demands this of herself.

A person's initial understanding of society often comes from their parents.

Children are the shadows of their parents in the sun.

The boy became a man.

The girl became a woman.

They grow up, get married and start their own families, but the scars of the past often continue to accompany them throughout their lives.

Some people grow up only when they walk out of the pain and shadow left by their parents.

There are also some people who, as they grow up, have been chasing after their parents.

When the blonde aunt loves someone, she will try her best, fight and compete for that person, and make all the efforts she can without leaving any regrets.

Until she stood on the rooftop, she had never abandoned Shengzi's father.

Shengzi's imagination of love also comes from this.

Katsuko Sakai has a kind of stubbornness and persistence towards love.

If when a rainstorm was about to come, she turned around and chose to leave alone by car.

Then when the clouds disperse, the rain stops, and the sun shines.

What qualifications does she have to make a phone call and say, "The moonlight is so beautiful today, let's go out for a coffee together"?
too ugly.

She didn't want to make herself look so ugly.

Brother Hao fell, Gu Weijing came to the exhibition, and Cao Xuan seemed to have arranged a lecture at the Esplanade through personal connections to build momentum for them.

It seems like everything is the best arrangement.

Everything is incredibly good.

It is precisely because of this "good" that Katsuko Sakai has already understood what she wants, but she cannot make a call because the other party no longer needs her help.

"Break up" is what he said.

Then he should be the one who wants to make the call.

The rain is yesterday's rain, and the clouds are yesterday's clouds.

With the downfall of Brother Hao, the dark clouds hanging over Gu Weijing's head dissipated, and she forever lost the ability to turn around, pick up her high heels and go back to the past to hug him in the rain.

Will the next rain come?
Does she still have a chance to hug each other in the rain?
Hope to come?
Still don't want to come?

Come tomorrow?
Or never come?

Katsuko Sakai frowned in pain.

Mona had more than ten years to figure out her feelings, but she only had five short days left.

"Let me handle these things myself, please, Mom," said Shengzi.

"It's not necessary. It's really not necessary. Not everyone has to go through this, really."

The blonde aunt seemed to understand her daughter's thoughts.

She sighed.

He held the girl in his arms, rested his forehead against her hair, and whispered softly.

"Yoshi, let's go and let Shengzi come in——"

The door of the organizing committee office suddenly opened, and Kazunari Sakai's round body rolled out of the room, sticking half of his body out and then stopped, looking as if he was stuck in the door frame.

"Katsuko! Wife! Mr. Micah Tonks invites you in. He is very interested in hearing Katsuko talk about her understanding of Impressionist works..."

The fat uncle waved to his wife and daughter.

"Uh."

He observed the expression on Shengzi's face and noticed something strange on his face.

then.

Kazunari Sakai twisted his way out of the curator's office and walked to his daughter with his big belly.

"Uh, are you thinking about that kid Gu Weijing again? It's okay, it's all over. During the exhibition, I can catch him easily by myself..."

Katsuko Sakai shook her head.

She walked into Tonks' office without saying a word.

Katsuko Sakai is unhappy.

The blonde aunt was not happy.

The blonde aunt was unhappy and looked at Uncle Sakai with a bad face. She rolled her eyes at her husband and walked into the office.

Kazunari Sakai felt a chill all over his body when he was stared at by his wife. He rubbed his chin with a wronged look on his face, then quickly rolled over and chased after her.

Katsuko Sakai walked into the house.

She glanced at the sea breeze outside the window, then glanced at the screen of her mobile phone.

No new messages lit up on the phone screen.

The pitch-black screen reflected the girl's slightly bluish eyes, like two lilac flowers.

The wind blows.

The lilac flowers are swaying.

As if stained with tears.
-
Gu Weijing was sending messages on his mobile phone.

In the past few minutes.

His conversations with the curatorial assistant told him two things.

First and foremost, the curatorial assistant still gave a negative answer to his action of taking "Human Noise" to participate in the art exhibition.

She told herself in a rather impatient tone.

This is totally impossible to do. All the works participating in the exhibition were decided by the curator himself, and its works did not meet the exhibition requirements at all.

Even if the exhibition requirements are met, because the exhibition has officially opened, the list of all participating works has been announced and all exhibition booths have been allocated.

"Do you want to adjust the booth again now?"

So, she told Gu Weijing that the other party's request was destined to be a fantasy and a pipe dream.

Second.

Gu Weijing was very sure that something targeting him was happening during this exhibition.

The curatorial assistant's response was generally polite; it is unlikely that such an official assistant would use particularly extreme words to mock the participating artists.

However, Gu Weijing still felt alienation, hesitation and impatience from the tone between the lines of the other party's words.

There is obviously something wrong with the other party's attitude.

Gu Weijing is not a self-righteous person. He does not think that everyone should meet his demands or be respectful to him.

of course not.

The problem is that.

The organizing committee of the Singapore Biennale recently changed the schedule of activities during the exhibition and cancelled an academic discussion session on "whether art exhibitions should accept title sponsorship from controversial companies, such as tobacco companies, heavily polluting chemical plants and energy companies, and the ethical issues implied therein" and replaced it with a dialogue session on the cover paper he and Katsuko Sakai wrote on Asian art.

Would it be more difficult to arrange the booth more compactly and put one more painting in it than to temporarily change the schedules of at least dozens of guests?
Don't consider your own face.

We should also consider Mr. Cao's face.

He even held a large-scale interview to make a name for himself and respond to disputes, so why wouldn't he be allowed to change one of his exhibited works?
The attitude of Singapore's exhibition is very strange.

unless--

That was not an interview to make a name for myself or respond to disputes.

(End of this chapter)