Almighty painter

Chapter 1067 Breakout
"When the wand no longer chooses the wizard, then he becomes a ridiculous clown waving the wand around aimlessly, right?"

—This is how a reporter asked Gu Weijing during a news interview.
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Fortunately, Hunter Bull was not the super machine Mr. Sloth described. His eyes were not a scanner, and his hands were not a printer. He had no way to reproduce the artwork on the canvas molecule by molecule.

The bad thing is—

Hunter Bull did not reduce molecules; he reduced the essence.

Mr. Bull only stayed in the exhibition hall for a dozen minutes, scanning the canvas from top to bottom twice, and then he firmly memorized the work, every brushstroke, every light and shadow, and every color design.

Just like him...

Gu Weijing felt that it was as if Hunter Bull also had the ability to appraise paintings and calligraphy! He was not only appreciating the painting from the perspective of an outsider, but from the perspective of 'Gu Weijing'.

He thinks like Gu Weijing, and he paints like Gu Weijing.

He did not simply transfer all of Gu Weijing's brushstrokes onto the canvas, but he transferred everything that Gu Weijing wanted to express through his brushstrokes onto the canvas—in a way that was more outstanding and superior than Gu Weijing's.

"Good artists imitate, great artists steal," Picasso said, a quote that Steve Jobs used as one of his mottos.

The art industry is always like this. Gu Weijing has been influenced by some people and some paintings, such as Burmese murals, Cartier, Renoir, Cao Xuan, Tang Ning... and some people have also been influenced by Gu Weijing.

But none of those people could truly paint like Gu Weijing, and none of them could truly replace Gu Weijing's work.

This is Gu Weijing's most unique and inimitable value.

This is why Gu Weijing was able to become Cao Xuan's disciple, Anna Elena's contracted painter, the owner of the Ma Shi Gallery, a shareholder of "Oil Painting" magazine, a billionaire, and an art master. This is the reason why Gu Weijing is who he is, and why he is "Detective Cat."

Painters should let their paintings speak for themselves.

Gu Wei's past achievements, everything he has won, are all built on his paintings.

Hunter Bull glanced at it, and then he "stole" it. He didn't just steal a copy of "The Human Comedy," he also stole the concept of "Gu Weijing."

Who is Fucking Gu Weijing?
He completely humiliated Gu Weijing.

When he can think like Gu Weijing, paint like Gu Weijing, and even do better than Gu Weijing, then now, the question arises—answer me, who the hell is Gu Weijing?

You will prosper because of this.

They will surely perish because of this.

The system was the key for Gu Weijing to unlock Alibaba's treasure trove, opening one golden vault after another for him. Until Gu Weijing himself believed he was the master of these golden vaults.

Gu Weijing was there advocating that painters should speak through their paintings. He was able to achieve such success today because he was an outstanding painter. Miss Elena said to the world, "I chose Gu Weijing because only Gu Weijing could create such works."

Hunter Bull proved that this statement was utter nonsense.

Then.

Faced with this "Gu Weijing Pro," at least in terms of oil painting, how should this "Gu Weijing Lite" conduct himself? Does his oil painting still have any meaning?
Gu Weijing has no right to complain about unfairness.

This is the true nature of the world, this is the true nature of life; the world never revolves around you.

This kind of thing happens every day; in every competition, there are winners and losers.

When Gu Weijing became Cao Xuan's disciple, Tang Ning, who had been Cao Xuan's last disciple for over 30 years, woke up to find that the last disciple had changed. He hadn't offended anyone.

The new "Tangning Pro" has appeared.

Others also felt it was unfair; this issue had once been presented to Tang Ning.

While Gu Weijing's work appeared on Cui Xiaoming's father's phone, Cui Xiaoming was at home in Germany, eating hot pot, singing, and playing his own dominoes.

Young Master Cui picked up a paintbrush before he could even speak as a baby. He drew eggs that were rounder than Da Vinci's. He's been honing his skills for over 20 years, preparing to become famous overnight.

After playing dominoes, I looked up.

A new "Cui Xiaoming Pro" has appeared.

Others also felt it was unfair, and this issue had been raised with Cui Xiaoming as well.

If you're going to play, you have to be able to take the risks. If you lose, you have to accept it. Miao Angwen dared to take Hao Ge's money, drink, and play with women. He had fun, but when his father died, he had to go and cry.

If Gu Weijing believes that he paints better than others, and that it is only natural for him to replace others in value, then when it comes to his own turn, he cannot throw a tantrum, roll on the ground crying and wiping his nose with Miss Elena's dress, saying that it is unfair, begging for comfort, begging for help, begging Miss Elena to win this battle for him, begging Miss Elena to sell the estate and pay the bills owed to him by the Maes Gallery.

Hunter Bull is indeed a good painter, but... you have to love me, collectors have to love me, critics have to love me.

The world should love me.

Because I am Gu Weijing.

He wanted to stand up, to step into the boxing ring like a real man, to get up before the referee counted to ten, to throw punches, to block, to defend everything that belonged to him, to prove his worth, and to get himself out of the predicament of bankruptcy.

It's either win or die.

It's that simple.

He has so many phone numbers and so many friends in his phone, but this is a battle that no one can take his place in.

Finally, when the gong sounded, the one still standing on the stage was the boxing champion.
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"This matter must end."

"At this moment, Ron and Hermione seem to be in a very, very far place, in some distant land... No farewells, no explanations, this is his own path, a journey they cannot travel together."

—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2)
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In order to defeat Hunter Bull.

Gu Weijing has conceived two directions, the first being technique.

The system was his cheat code, his cheat code, a temple and altar unique to Gu Weijing.

From the day he sat at home, restless and thinking about how to deal with Hao Ge's situation, until a semi-transparent virtual panel appeared in front of him, it all began. He found "The Old Church on a Thunderstorm" at the flea market, read "The Little Prince" over and over in his study, and practiced his calligraphy in the Xihe Guild Hall's studio (at that moment, Gu Weijing truly thought it would be the last day of his life)...

Whenever Gu Weijing encountered difficulties, he would silently pray to the system.

As long as enough money is offered as a sacrifice at the altar, the system will always respond generously, rain or shine, and never fail.

Gu Weijing's current oil painting technique level is Lv.8 Master Level 2. Gu Weijing can even confidently say that, in terms of pure brushwork ability, he is one of the most outstanding oil painters throughout history, and he is not far from the "ultimate realm of art" defined by the system.

He glanced at the system panel—

【素描技法：Lv.8大师二阶（621，2619/10，000，000）】

【油画技法：Lv.8大师二阶（713，8136/10，000，000）】

Gu Weijing originally wanted to wait a little longer. He was already successful enough and didn't need to rush to upgrade his skills. He could use the money to do something more important... like buying a private jet or something.

Well now.

He took out his phone, dialed a number, and the call was answered immediately after only two rings. "Hello, Mr. Gu."

The voice of Dyson from the Schönbrunn Palace firm came through the phone receiver. Over the years, he had been Gu Weijing's investment advisor and was one of the few people in the world who knew the true identity of Detective Cat.

"Hello."

Gu Weijing said calmly, "I'd like to know approximately how much money I have."

“This…this is a bit complicated. You can check your email; there’s a dedicated wealth report every quarter…which includes…” Dyson explained.

"Hey."

Gu Weijing said, "I know, but I want to ask, if I were to use it now, approximately how much funding could I raise? I don't need an exact number, just a rough estimate will do."

"Raise?"

"Okay, just a moment, I need to use the computer."

Dyson appears to be retrieving data.

This includes all sorts of legal, tax, and investment matters… Over the years, Gu Weijing, posing as Detective Cat, has entrusted the vast majority of his wealth to the Meiquan Palace Office for management. Since the 19th century, they have been responsible for managing the personal and family assets of high-net-worth clients and have an excellent reputation.

"We currently have $126 million in cash in the accounts we manage, and approximately $2400 million in assets in the stock market. This figure isn't precise; to be specific, we hold 256 million shares..."

"How much is all of this in total? In cash?" Gu Weijing asked.

"Convert everything to cash?"

"Exchange everything for cash," Gu Weijing said.

Gu Weijing glanced at his system panel. "If I want to raise about $3000 million, can I do it this week?"

Dyson fell silent.

It has to be said that he still didn't quite understand Gu Weijing.

Schönbrunn Palace is highly confidential about its clients' privacy. Dyson initially didn't take the "Detective Cat and Mr. Sloth Contract" too seriously, thinking it was just a harmless joke between one of the firm's clients and someone else, like a "million pound" story.

Dyson witnessed firsthand how the money in Detective Cat's account snowballed and grew to this day.

That's already a very astonishing number.

Especially with the huge success of various co-branded products, in terms of money-making ability, the identity of Detective Cat is in no way inferior to the apparent identity of "Gu Weijing".

Despite Anna being a true billionaire, one of Austria's top ten richest people, the Irina family's family office manages assets exceeding 50 billion euros.

In terms of readily available cash, Gu Weijing had always secretly felt that, coupled with his identity as Detective Cat, he was actually richer than Anna.

"I will put all the sales orders up for sale... after deducting all kinds of stamp duties and such... it should be around this amount."

"I need three days to a week."

Dyson said.

“Well, forgive me for being blunt, but I shouldn’t have said that… After all, the firm is only responsible for managing the assets you’ve entrusted to us.” The finance manager thought for a moment and then subtly reminded him, “Renting a plane from New York to Vienna would only cost $50,000. $30 million is enough for 600 flights, sir.”

Dyson knew something about Gu Weijing and had seen the related news.

He felt that now was not a good time for Gu Weijing to buy a brand new private jet.

"Oh, I've already cancelled the order."

Gu Weijing said.

Dyson breathed a sigh of relief. He knew it. After getting to know Gu Weijing over the years, he realized that Gu Weijing wasn't the kind of person who would squander all his money on a life of debauchery when facing debt pressure.

"If it's a business investment, you could consider financial leverage. May I hear your thoughts? What industry are you interested in investing in? $3000 million in cash can actually leverage a significant amount of assets..."

"No need."

Gu Weijing shook his head.

“I’m going to donate it,” Gu Weijing said, stating the name of his charitable foundation. “I don’t think any bank would provide financial instruments for such a donation.”

Dyson fell silent again.

"Donate? You mean—"

He thought for a moment, then quickly fell silent, "So the situation has gotten this bad? Let's go for a face-to-face meeting."

Gu Weijing smiled.

He knew Dyson must have misunderstood, thinking he was trying to evade liquidation by engaging in a fraudulent transfer to avoid debt.

“It’s okay, it’s really a donation. I have a big project to do.”

Gu Weijing explained.

“Hmm.” Dyson nodded, indicating he was listening. “Okay, I’ll handle it. By the way, my wife really liked that painting you gave her back then—”

"Hey, hey, hey."

Gu Weijing said helplessly, "I'm fine, OK? I haven't been kidnapped, I haven't been controlled, and no robbers have pointed a gun at my head to force me to transfer money. Of course, I haven't given your wife any paintings either, so there's no need for these code words."

Dyson fell silent again.

This time, there was genuine silence.

He had considered that Gu Weijing was planning a switcheroo, and he had also considered that Gu Weijing might have been kidnapped by someone else, so he used the insurance code.

He genuinely hadn't considered that, under these circumstances, Gu Weijing was truly prepared to give up such a large sum of money in Detective Cat's account.

Are you sure you are of sound mind right now?

After thinking it over and over, Dyson asked the question again.

Gu Weijing stared at the beautiful sunset over the manor, nodded, and said in an affirmative tone.

"Yes, go do it."

“I will book a flight to Austria right now,” Dyson said. “With such a large sum of money, I need your formal written authorization.”

(End of this chapter)