Almighty painter

Chapter 1030 Domineering!

(I'm usually so socially awkward, but I actually showed it on the train!)
How many years did it take me to get to where I am today?

Tang Ning asked a question.

then.

She recounted in a calm yet proud tone, “Out of 10,000 people in this industry, 9,999 will not reach this position. For the rest, some have spent half a century, some fifty years, and some forty years. Counting from when I won the gold medal at the Shanghai Biennale, it took me about 20 years to achieve what I have today, and to open my own gallery after many stumbles.”

"This is already an extremely remarkable achievement."

The female painter recounted.

Tang Ning is that kind of person; she can speak the words of a self-promoting vendor without any shame or guilt, and with complete honesty.

Those petty people will feel shy and blush when someone praises them, and they will look away.

Tang Ning said, "This isn't social anxiety; it's a lack of mental attributes."

Tang Ning knew she was a superstar; she loved herself and was obsessed with herself.

She herself is such a wonderful person, and that is an extremely remarkable achievement.

There's nothing to be embarrassed about.
This proud spirit and this powerful, slightly narcissistic mindset are the wealth that Tang Ning has accumulated step by step to get to where she is today, more valuable than the awards she has won in her art exhibitions or her private gallery in London with a total investment of over ten million.

The daughter is gone and come back.

As long as her vital energy and spirit flow within Tang Ning, she is indestructible.

"Gu Weijing accomplished all of this with just one art exhibition. His path to becoming a 'master' ended before it even began. It's like omitting all the calculations and directly filling in the answer."

"This is cheating."

"It was the Elena family, the Hermès Gallery, and all the gossip and tabloids surrounding them that helped him cheat. I saw a feature article about Gu Weijing in *Fashionista* magazine a while ago. The reporter reported that Gu Weijing participated in some kind of 'Master Program' at his teacher's school. I didn't pay attention to the details, but I remember that at the end, the reporter concluded in a very obsequious tone—"

"Although the art residency program is not over yet, I think it is no longer that important. Whether or not the thief stole Gu Weijing's work, it will not change the inevitable result, which is that this art program, which is named after 'Menzel' and 'Turner', already has a brand new master."

"vomit."

Tang Ning made a nauseating sound.

"I'm about to throw up from all this, it's absurd. Yang Dekang, if you ask me, how can these art academies in Europe cultivate true masters? It's like trying to find a real bull in a bunch of trophy racehorses for show. From the very beginning, the direction is completely wrong."

"You can get a perfect score in school by cheating, but you can't prove a difficult mathematical conjecture by cheating because you lack your own creativity. What's omitted in this process is not just the process itself, but also the tempering of the spirit. Just like Gu Weijing, he has talent and technique, but he just keeps picking up scraps from others and painting those over-painted works over and over again."

“It’s alright, Miss Elena always manages to help him fill in the answers.”

Tang Ning shook his head. "He can easily win small awards, minor honors, and neither major nor minor awards or honors. That's about it. Holding a solo exhibition in an art museum and selling his works for very high prices in Europe. In the context of the entire European art world, these are all great honors."

"Compared to the Elena family... to say it's insignificant would be an exaggeration. At most, it's just something of moderate importance. Because truly great things cannot be obtained through such cheating methods. What the Elena family truly desires cannot be obtained by simply filling in the answers."

in other words.

If the Elena family knew the right answer, they would have already obtained it. For example... that century-old bet with the Hamburg Federation of Painters and Musicians.

Faced with this complex problem.

The Hamburg Arts Association doesn't know the answer.

Elena's family also didn't know the answer.

No one even knows if the legendary answer really exists, or if it is simply an unsolvable problem.

Before the mystery was revealed, both sides held not the answer, but a vague hope in their hearts.

The arts association hopes that this question simply has no answer.

It's simply impossible to participate in and win awards at three of the most prestigious art exhibitions in Central Europe, each with a distinct style.

Too many unpredictable problems, too many certainties.

The Elena family hoped that this question would be answered.

Because the mountain is there.

Because art exhibitions and art awards are there, then... it's possible for someone to achieve something.

In the traditional German opera Wagner, the famous trial of the twelve golden rings is almost an impossible task until the appearance of the dragon-slaying hero Siegfried.

The three art exhibitions are like three golden rings arranged side by side.

Arrows flew in from all directions.

The clanging and tinkling sounds never ceased, and occasionally an arrow would pierce through one of the gold rings, only to bounce off another.

If given enough time, a master archer will indeed one day pierce through all three golden rings with a single arrow and strike the radiant golden apple behind them.

Downing was full of confidence.

She didn't know if such a master archer really existed, but her confidence stemmed from Tang Ning's belief that if a master archer truly existed, then she must be closer to this "hero" than Gu Weijing.

It requires more courage than archery skills.

More than technique, brushstrokes, light and shadow, and color, form—to shoot such an arrow—requires conviction, the determination to believe that the arrow in your hand will pierce through everything.

Only those who have shot a thousand or ten thousand arrows on the archery range can possess such determination.

A person who casually shoots an arrow into the sky and Miss Elena helps him plant it on the target doesn't deserve such determination.

Master Project?
Shit.

He may have the status of a master, but he lacks the core qualities of a master.

Water spinach can survive without a heart, but artists can't, at least not great artists.

"Gu Weijing's starting point was too high, and his path was too smooth, so he became increasingly bored. Apart from complaining all day long, he couldn't find anything more meaningful to do. In the short term, this is not important; he can still win. I believe Gu Weijing has the potential to go even higher; I'm even willing to believe it. Gu Weijing may have the opportunity to continue to win one or two major European awards, just like he won the gold medal at the Singapore Biennale. After all, he has excellent technique as a foundation."

"But that's his limit."

"When more and more people realize how boring he is, when no one wants him to keep winning, when the Elena family can no longer fill in the blanks, such a person will simply break down."

"He has lost the ability to think, to explore, and to write out calculation processes. Miss Elena would be furious, disappointed, and regretful that she had wasted so much time and energy on such a person."

Tang Ning sighed, feeling very sympathetic.

"Pitiful."

“I sympathize with him. It is certainly Gu Weijing’s own problem. But to be honest, I must say something fair as an elder. It is not fair to attribute all the reasons for his predicament to Gu Weijing alone. Miss Elena also has her own reasons. She is even more than half of the reason. Because she chose such a weak person as the vessel to carry her powerful ambitions.”

“Miss Elena never allows any failure.”

Downing believes that if she were to collaborate with Ms. Elena, they would certainly have the opportunity to create an unprecedented feat in the entire history of art.

Yang Dekang didn't know how to answer. The middle-aged man remained silent on the phone.

“You can tell Gu Weijing what was said on that phone call,” Tang Ning said. “Tell him that if he’s not satisfied with his current gallery after Miss Elena leaves, he can come to my gallery.”

“I won’t give him a ten million dollar contract, and I won’t give him the opportunity to exhibit at the British Museum or The National Gallery. My share of the profits won’t be very generous either.”

"But if he still has even a little bit of genuine idealism about art, and doesn't want to just keep going 'ahhh' all day, then I'll give him a crash course as a senior, have him as my assistant, and teach him... how to do something more interesting..."

"..."

Old Yang sniffed.

He poured the grain feed from the jar into the jar under the parrot's cage.

"Give this to the old man, shall we call him?"
He looked at his macaw with the eyes of someone looking at a dumbfounded bird, and the macaw looked at Yang Dekang with the same eyes of someone looking at a dumbfounded egg, then poked its head out and pecked at the grains of grain with its long beak.

Take a look.

Listen to it.

Yang Dekang diligently cultivated its artistic temperament every day, buying 20-euro cans of millet feed for it and taking care of it for more than half a year, but in the end it wouldn't even make a couple of "ah ah ah" sounds.

How could I have earned such a nickname as "Yang the Skinflint"?
The real "Tang the Skinflint" is clearly right beside me.

Judging from Ms. Tang's words, although the signing bonus was low and the resources for the art exhibition were limited, she... took a huge cut!
A term of respect for an elder.

They poached the prized painter from the Ma Shi Gallery and brought him to their new gallery to work as a junior artist.

That's it.

It sounds like Gu Weijing should thank his senior sister instead.

And you know what? After a thorough evaluation, it actually made a lot of sense. Yang Dekang originally thought that Tang Ning's call was to put down Gu Weijing and steal Anna Elena away.

Only then did he realize it.

So Ms. Tang actually wanted two people to pry it off together.

She hoped Anna Elena would become her new agent, and the other one shouldn't be left idle either; after all, he was valuable, so she could make use of him and bring him on as a subordinate. Tang Ning's real plan was to pack up and take both of them away.

Then.

Her newly established personal gallery will surely draw away all the attention and buzz currently surrounding Anna and Gu Weijing, taking over that popularity and becoming the most eye-catching entity in the short term.

The vision has become too narrow, truly too narrow.

Thinking back to how I chased after Gu Weijing, getting up early only to arrive late. I didn't get to hold the "Wisteria Flower Painting." And I didn't get a copy of "The Lucky Orphanage on a Thunderstorm."

In the end, even Gu Weijing ran off with Anna.

Yang Dekang, the domineering CEO, never imagined that one day he would first feel that he wasn't slick enough, then realize that he had lost in his attempt to be cool, and finally understand that he had completely lost in the matter of being "domineering".

turn out to be--

"Is this the true, domineering power?!"

Yang Dekang was filled with inward amazement.

“Okay, Miss Tang, I will pass on your message to Gu Weijing.” Yang Dekang said slowly, “I can’t guarantee what kind of reply Gu Weijing will give.”

"Do you think he will refuse?" Tang Ning asked.

"Most likely... yes."

Yang Dekang replied.

To a normal person, no matter how eloquently Tang Ning described it, her conditions and the prices offered by the well-funded galleries currently in Gu Weijing's inbox still did not offer any apparent advantage over the past.

A simple comparison will make it clear to any normal person which one is more reliable.

"That means he's just like you, an ordinary person."

When Tang Ning speaks, she doesn't give anyone any face at all.

Old Yang is thick-skinned and doesn't seem to care at all.

"So be it if it's vulgar." Tang Ning subtly changed the subject. "Remember my suggestion before?"

"Did I invite you to be a partner in my gallery?"

the woman said.

"Uh--"

Old Yang was a little embarrassed. Tang Ning had indeed mentioned this matter back at the European Art Conference, and later... he even thought that Tang Ning's gallery would not be able to open.

"My proposal is right here, and it still stands."

Downing brought up the old story again.

"The reason I'm calling you today isn't just because of Gu Weijing, but also because of you. Let it be mundane, Gu Weijing is indeed talented, and Yang Dekang, you are indeed very smart."

"I still welcome you with open arms. I can't guarantee you'll earn more immediately than you do now, but I can guarantee it will be an interesting, challenging job that will bring you real satisfaction and fulfillment."

Tang Ning said.

There was a brief silence on the phone. The woman wasn't in a hurry; she just waited patiently.

Until Yang Dekang's voice rang out again.

"Thank you so much, Miss Tang!"

Tang Ning immediately interrupted the other person's speech.

“So the answer is 'No',” she said.

Yang Dekang remained silent.

"why?"

Tang Ning frowned; she was very dissatisfied with Yang Dekang's answer.

"Because of Gu Weijing?" the superstar who set a market record at Christie's auction three years ago and opened his own private gallery said softly.

"Yang Dekang".

“I know you once thought about becoming Gu Weijing’s agent.”