Almighty painter

Chapter 1017 Gu Weijing's Gift
Let's imagine.

Your name is Williams, and your close friends like to call you by your nickname "Willie". As a violinist, you had a Mozart-like start. From a very young age, you were called a musical genius by everyone around you.

From kindergarten competitions and city-level selections for young musicians to national music competitions and prestigious traditional awards like the Sibelius and Queen Elisabeth competitions, the competitions have garnered worldwide attention.

Before the age of eighteen.

You have won almost every musical competition you could win in your life.

You will always be number one.

To all your peers, you are light, electricity, and a legend. All the elders around you like you, indulge you, and pamper you. At a young age, you signed with a management company, and your violin compositions are listed on Apple Music's classical music recommendation chart.

that's it.

Having never experienced the harsh realities of society and always getting whatever you want, after a full day of rehearsals with the Hamburger University of Music and Drama's campus symphony orchestra, you leisurely stroll out of the campus auditorium with your friends, have a meal at the nearby restaurant, and casually rant about a guy from the neighboring school whom you really dislike.

Like many other days, a perfect day has come to an end.

OH.

My friends——

Life is so beautiful!

Until one day, you sit at the table, gesturing wildly, with your friends, eating octopus and singing songs, enjoying this moment of leisure, simple banter, ultimate enjoyment.

At the height of your pride and satisfaction.

A wheelchair strolled out.

Then, with a "cool bang!", you're instantly crushed by Anna Elena.

She gently moved her fingers, and the burning giant sword fell from the high sky, chopping you into minced meat.

Years have passed since we parted.

With great difficulty, you crawled back from the hell of destroyed self-confidence, and piece by piece, you restored the meat sauce to ten pounds of lean meat, ten pounds of fatty meat, and ten pounds of tender cartilage that were neither too fat nor too lean, and finally molded them all back into the shape of "Williams".

then.

After a full day of performances by the campus symphony orchestra, I strolled leisurely out of the campus, enjoying the gentle breeze and the bright moon, feeling at the peak of my confidence.

You are full of pride and satisfaction.

Then, a small wheelchair was seen strolling out.

Anna Elena is sitting there waiting for you, as elegant and dignified as ever, as familiar as the cycle of time.

Williams was completely numb, and it wasn't just Williams who was numb.

Your turn.

You're numb too.

Williams seemed to taste the familiar flavor of braised octopus with onions. Octopus was originally one of Williams' favorite seafood dishes, but it was like the "shock syndrome" left after being hit by a burning cannonball, causing his hands to tremble uncontrollably.

Williams has largely recovered from that day, but he hasn't eaten octopus for a whole year.

"Uh."

"Uh--"

"Good evening, Ms. Elena."

Williams gave a dry greeting, his voice slightly hoarse, "I didn't expect you to be here tonight."

“Principal Marshall gave me an invitation, and since I had some free time, I… came over to take a look.” Anna flipped through the sheet music in her hand.

"An interesting performance."

Anna gave Principal Marshall, who was standing next to Williams, a polite smile.

"It sounds like you've rearranged the third and fourth movements. It's very innovative, and it's hard to compare it to the original in terms of quality. However, I like the use of the flute in it."

"During rehearsals, we hoped its colors would be richer than the original..."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two...

The principal then left, leaving Williams with only Anna and her private secretary.

"You...you came to see me today, is there something you need?"

Williams asked tentatively.

While he could still maintain a good mindset when facing Gu Weijing, he always felt like he was being meticulously shredded at any moment when in front of Anna.

"Gu invited you to his art exhibition?" Anna asked.

"Yes."

Williams said.

“He called me, just a week after what happened that day. He first called my agent and then called me.”

"It's very late, almost midnight."

Miss Elena calculated the time.

She guessed that it must have been the day they had a falling out in the car.

"He invited you to an art exhibition over the phone, and you said yes," the woman continued, "He didn't mention anything else?"

Williams hesitated, pondering his words.

"to be honest."

Anna was still flipping through the sheet music in her hands.

She seemed somewhat mocking.

"He secretly said a lot of bad things about me, didn't he?"

"Uh. No, not at all."

Williams thought for a moment.

“He said you are his agent and that you have done so much for him, for which he is always grateful. As for this time, he said it was entirely his fault and hoped I would not blame you for it.”

Ah.

Miss Elena gave a cold laugh.

Do you need it?

She never cared whether William resented her; it didn't matter to her at all. Only those hearts that aren't strong enough need such weak comfort.

This is the kind of thing that only someone like Gu Weijing, who is very fussy and overthinking, would care about.

"He also said that his viola playing was terrible, and he didn't shy away from talking about it, but the pleasure and satisfaction he got from playing music was always very real."

He also told me a story.

Williams said, "He said he played terribly, so badly that the audience couldn't stand it and wanted to run away. But last Christmas, while practicing..."

“He said he certainly played terribly,” Miss Elena said, knowing what Williams was trying to say. “But he’s still making progress, albeit very little, but someone can hear it. For example, around Christmas, someone listened to his music attentively and then put some money in his violin case, though it was only a few euros. He was still very satisfied, a satisfaction that far exceeded the money itself.”

"He thinks that's the best Christmas present?" the woman said.

Williams nodded.

“I’m not surprised.” Anna pursed her lips. “Gu Weijing is indeed a very easily satisfied person. He’s been bragging about this to me several times.” “Bragging to you?”

Williams looked a little strange, and the violinist looked confused.

"Is there a problem?"

Miss Elena pinched the corner of the binder.

“On the phone, Gu Weijing told me that he had always known, from the very beginning, that the uncle at the ranch was definitely arranged by you. He said that’s the kind of person you are.”

Williams said.

Anna's fingers paused.

“During that Christmas holiday, the staff member who came specifically to listen to him practice the piano, Gu Weijing said that you must have paid him. You specially arranged all of this, and even said that it was like hearing his younger self in the piano music. Gu Weijing said it was like a perfect drama, with actors reciting pre-designed lines.”

"That's totally Miss Elena's style. You probably arranged this scene because you were worried he was getting too discouraged while practicing the piano."

"But he was still very satisfied. He said Miss Elena had a warm heart. It was one of the most perfect Christmas gifts he had ever received."

"As for the little boy who listened to him play the violin later, he believed that the family who happened to be on vacation was real. That was another kind of unexpected joy."

"The two kinds of surprises are completely different, but both are very fulfilling. These two kinds of surprises constitute the indestructible meaning of his practice, allowing him to play music, even relatively clumsy music, to be filled with joy."

Williams repeated.

He said that everyone in the world has all sorts of flaws, Miss Elena has them, and so does he.

"But everyone must find the meaning of their own life, find the joy in working with art, and find the courage to face and love life through art."

"At first, I only took Gu Weijing's words as a kind of self-aggrandizement."

Williams thought for a moment.

"But after seeing his works at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, I slowly began to understand it all a little bit."

"I believe Gu Weijing's words are sincere."

Williams let out a sigh of relief.

Miss Elena remained silent for a long time.

finally.

She shook her head, put the hinge clip aside, and waved her hand.

Miss Anna walked towards the entrance of the lounge without saying a word, just like she had left the restaurant without looking back that day.

When the wheelchair reached the exit.

The woman stopped again.

"Williams?"

She read the other person's name aloud.

“Your performance that day was really terrible,” she said.

Williams' heart skipped a beat.

coming soon.

It's coming again.

Sure enough, the old story has come up again, and it's time to chop the meat sauce again!

"Gu Weijing told me that I was just killing people with heavy gold coins in a very cynical manner. No one could remain calm in that situation. It's inherently very unfair."

My assessment of your performance that day remains unchanged.

"But... regarding some things."

Anna thought for a moment.

“I apologize,” she said.

"At least your performance today was excellent; you truly showed the potential of an artistic master. I won't promise you the Vienna Philharmonic's concertmaster position or a Stradivarius violin, but keep up the good work—"

"If you perform well enough, I will give you a letter of recommendation from the Austrian National Symphony Orchestra when you graduate from university."

After saying these words, Anna went out and left.
-
When Miss Elena returned to the ranch, there was a magazine called "Fashionist" on the bedroom table.

On the magazine cover, a young man in a suit and a young woman in a long dress and lace gloves sit facing each other at opposite ends of a sofa, gazing at each other.

That was Gu Weijing and Anna Elena.

Just as the media was buzzing about it, people were surprised to find that it was difficult to find photos of the painter and his agent appearing together at art events in recent months.

and so.

It's no wonder that Robert Kent asked the two men whether they would continue working together after their three-year contract ended.

The relationship between Miss Elena and Gu Weijing is shrouded in mystery, giving it an air of great mystery.

According to the vivid rumors in some sensational tabloids, these two might even have a child together by now.

However, many well-informed people or those with a keen sense of smell gradually gleaned some clues from this thick fog.

Three years, a delicate point in time.

It's no wonder Sarah criticized her; from an outsider's perspective, Anna and Coco are somewhat similar—both lack perseverance in whatever they do. Miss Elena, since graduating, seems to have never held any job for more than a few years.

Her talent is undeniable.

Miss Elena could always reach the pinnacle of a career in a very short time, but once she reached the pinnacle, she would leave without looking back, without any lingering attachment.

The same was true of "The Oil Paintings." With her rescue, Miss Elena's influence in the magazine reached an almost unparalleled peak, and Sir Brown was finally overshadowed.

The dead are invincible.

The organizing committee of the Singapore Biennale hastily awarded Gu Weijing the gold medal.

The magazine, too, was no longer stingy with its praise for Anna. Sir Brown had even published a "commemorative special issue," so how could anyone argue with that?

It was under these circumstances.

Miss Elena still chose to resign.

Who says that at this very moment, when the two of them are once again at the center of a similar media storm, Anna Elena won't pull off the same stunt again?

She was able to leave the already submissive "Oil Painting" magazine without any hesitation.

She could also end her working relationship with Gu Weijing without any regrets.

All logic and traditional social rules are not designed for someone like Anna.

This nonchalant attitude is perfectly in line with the character of a wealthy young lady. She has a whole world of mountains to climb, so why linger on any one cliff?
Three years.

Miss Elena has long proven her own worth, demonstrating that even if she didn't become an art director, but instead became an agent and curator, she could still organize art exhibitions to be spectacular and highly successful.

It seems like it's time to embark on a brand new journey.

The question Robert Kent asked him a few days ago is also a question on many people's minds. Those golden partnerships in the art world often only last a few years before they pack up and go their separate ways.

There are many examples like Gauguin and Van Gogh, both of whom were top figures in art history, yet their lives ended tragically.

(End of this chapter)