Almighty painter

Chapter 689: End of the Volume: Destiny Flight (Part )
“But this is not the courage and calmness brought by religion, but the courage and calmness brought by faith.”

Gu Weijing looked into Chen Shenglin's eyes.

Looking into the depths of the middle-aged man's eyes, the fragile light could no longer be hidden or restrained.

"I believe I am a good person, and I believe I have done a lot of good things in my life. There are many people in this world who love me, and I also love many people in this world."

Gu Weijing said: "So, if this is my life, if a white light never descends from the sky to take me away, then I will accept it. Because I have done everything I can for my life principles."

“I will be filled with regrets, but I will not regret anything.”

He looked at the sunshine outside the window and the sky under the sunshine.

"You asked me if religion brought me peace. No, at least for now, I still don't believe in Buddhism, and I still don't believe in God."

"But I believe that if there is a heaven in this world, then I am a righteous person on earth. If God is unwilling to take me to heaven, then it is His problem."

"I believe that if there is a Pure Land of Buddha in this world, then I am a noble believer. If He is unwilling to take me to the Pure Land, then it is also His problem."

"If...if all this is nothing, everything will turn into dust after death, and thoughts will become lonely waste heat drifting in the universe. Then I can try to be brave enough to accept all this. I have never done good deeds in order to ascend to heaven or enter the Pure Land. I have never been a doer of good deeds according to the merit and demerit table (note)."

(A small account book used by monks and Taoists to record their actions every day and measure the accumulated blessings or karma gains and losses. Good deeds will gain merit, while bad deeds will deduct merit.)
Gu Weijing walked to his easel and looked at the man sitting on the chair.

"Maybe my purpose of doing good deeds is not 100% pure. Maybe I know that I have some little thoughts in my heart that I don't want to tell others. But I also know that in my heart, I really want to help the children in the orphanage. When I see the faces of those children, I really want to reach out and hug them."

“That’s what I thought, that’s what I did, and I did it.”

He stared at the drawing board, at the man's eyes hidden at the junction of light and shadow.

Gu Weijing was only very close to the painting.

Face to face, nose to nose.

The eyes of the person outside the painting and the person in the painting meet at the intersection of soft light and dark night.

It was as if they could feel each other's breathing.

"I believe that I have made a little difference to the world, maybe a tiny, insignificant difference, but a real and positive difference. I believe that some people's fate has become a little better because of my 18 years of life. I firmly believe that I am on the right path and doing the right thing."

"I believe that my life is meaningful, so I believe that my short life is a hundred times more magnificent than yours."

Chen Shenglin looked at the young man's profile.

It was a powerful statement, serene and transcendent.

The sun shines on his face.

At this moment, even he had to admit that this was one of the most awesome, toughest and calmest declarations he had ever heard in his life.

"I believe that my life is meaningful, so I believe that my short life is a hundred times more magnificent than yours."

this moment.

The other person's appearance was as bright as light.

"My life is so good, so beautiful, but it may end because I drew this picture for you. Is it worth it to exchange my life for the last years of your life, Mr. Chen, to be tortured and burned by emptiness, fear and anxiety every day?"

Gu Weijing's voice came from the front.

"not worth it."

"Of course not. The weight of each person's life is different. Maybe there shouldn't be a distinction between the upper and lower classes in society, but there should certainly be different levels of souls in the world. I'm a good person, you're a bad person, so of course my life should be more important than yours."

"You are richer, more powerful, and more influential than me. But I... Mr. Chen, I am more noble than you."

"Miss Koko told me that she would give all the gold in the world, all the bracelets, all these things, in exchange for her mother to be with her for one more day. Every minute of my life is more meaningful than the rest of your life lying on gold."

"So, this is not the result I want. What I want is for my family to happily go to Singapore to attend an art exhibition. What I want is for you to forget about me. So... I have been running away for the past six months."

Gu Weijing reached out and stroked the picture frame.

"But after receiving your call that day, I realized that I couldn't escape. I found myself tired of escaping again and again, so I came."

"I felt my heart beating, and I knew I was supposed to come. I felt something was surging in my heart, but at that time, all of this was just a vague feeling. I knew it was there in my heart, but I didn't know what it was exactly."

Gu Weijing turned around and waved to Koko.

"Until that night, Miss Koko jumped into the lake in front of me."

The girl walked to the boy, took his hand and gently kissed the side of his face.

"Not afraid."

Koko said it with her eyes.

"Not afraid."

Gu Weijing answered calmly with his eyes.

……

"Gu Weijing, do you know what the last scene of Swan Lake is about?"

——Koko

……

In the final scene of Swan Lake.

The princess found that she could never escape the curse and control of the evil wizard, so she and the prince embraced each other and jumped into the raging lake.

This scene has had a variety of different endings when performed on stage by different ballet companies around the world.

such as.

The traditional version of Swan Lake is a story similar to that of Liang Zhu.

After the princess and the prince both committed suicide by jumping into the lake, a miracle happened. Holy light descended from the sky, and justice triumphed over evil.

The princess and the prince were reborn in the light, and the power of love defeated the evil wizard with great power.

The curse is automatically lifted.

The lake water receded automatically.

In the beautiful sunset glow, like all the fairy tales in the world, the princess and the prince lived a happy and fulfilling life forever.

But there are plenty of other, less happy endings, too.

For example, in the American ABT and British Royal Ballet versions of "Swan Lake", the prince and the white swan princess died in each other's arms. The curse was lifted, and the swans turned into humans again, but the prince and princess did not resurrect.

At the cost of their own lives, they saved the other swans who were controlled by the evil wizard's magic.

There is a sadder version.

In the plot of "Swan Lake" choreographed by the Paris Opera or the Vienna State Opera in Austria.

After their death, no holy light to bring people back to life descended, and the curse was not lifted. The devil was so powerful that he was almost invincible.

The princess and the prince's embracing bodies were swallowed up by the lake.

The swans controlled by the curse are still floating on the lake.

It seems that nothing has changed.

The curtain falls on the final scene of the ballet.

The evil black wizard Rotbart stood on the lakeshore with his hands crossed, looking at the rippling water in front of him, and remained silent for a long time.

……

But whether the curse is lifted or not, whether there is resurrection from the dead or not.

Whether the dance ends with pink bubbles or a melancholy and profound adult fairy tale, there is one thing that all versions of Swan Lake have in common.

That is, after the princess found that the curse could not be lifted, she hugged the prince and jumped into the lake.

"A noble death." - This is the ultimate meaning of "Swan Lake".

Koko has always been a super smart and lively girl.

She saw through the detective cat.

She saw through Gu Weijing earlier than he did.

Maybe.

In a sense, she saw through Chen Shenglin even earlier than Gu Weijing.

"Be a brave person, be a noble person. She taught me the courage and dignity to face death."

Gu Weijing turned his head and looked at Chen Shenglin with deep eyes, his expression so calm that it was almost solemn.

"I came here to tell you. It's not worth dying to fight a bad guy like you. But if it really needs to happen, then I'm willing to die for the right thing. I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid of the coming of death."

“But I’m still coming.”

"I still have to do the right thing, I still have to do things that allow me to stand upright in the sun, do things that allow me to face death bravely. I came here, Mr. Chen, to tell you that I am different from you. I am willing to be a good person forever and ever. Even if fate is not good to me, there are many people in the world who are very good to me. I hope to make them proud, and I hope to make myself proud. I came here to tell you that I am different from you. I can die bravely."

"Chen Shenglin."

For the first time, Gu Weijing called Boss Chen's name without respect.

"Don't say you see yourself in me. I'm here to tell you that we are different. You said there are no choices in life, but fate. It is fate that arranges everyone's path. Good or bad, good or evil, are meaningless."

"No, I want to tell you, it's not like that."

"A good man is a good man, a bad man is a bad man, good is good, and evil is evil."

“People can choose to bravely fight against fate, and they can also bravely choose not to live like cockroaches.”

“This is human dignity.”

"As long as you want, there is always a way."

The young man's voice echoed in the room.

He said with a smile.

"Chen Shenglin, you are used to holding money in one hand and a pistol in the other. You think everything in the world can be bought with money. If that doesn't work, then you can threaten with a pistol. You think these two things can allow you to play the god of fate and get everything you want."

"Perhaps in your past life, in the dark underground world, this sentence has been verified time and time again. But today, I want to be here, I want to stand in this sunshine, I want to tell you that it is not like that. There are many qualities, many family ties, many loves, and many kindnesses in the world, which are more important than money and more powerful than bullets."

"If fate really wants to put a gun to my head and force me to become you, to be a bad person, then... I will look fate in the eye and tell it."

"Then please shoot, I'm ready." He looked straight into Chen Shenglin's eyes.

"Well, Chen Shenglin, if you want to kill me——"

"Then please do it. I'm... ready."

"You say that all wars in the world are a business, and you say that all bullets fired are the same. I don't think so. I believe that some people take up guns to deprive others of dignity and to make others slaves. I also believe that some people take up guns to protect dignity, to avoid being slaves, and to bring a brighter light to the world."

"Mamayev Kurgan, a small mound where 100,000 people died in order to resist the Nazis, I don't believe that all of them went there to make money. Some of them became puppet soldiers of the Japanese devils, and some chose to fight the fascists to the end. I also don't believe that all of them went there to get promoted or make money."

Gu Weijing thought of the paintings of Cao Xuan, and in a trance, he saw the faces of the old man Cao who passed by the child on the rickshaw.

The faith that flashed across the faces of those soldiers who rushed to the battlefield shocked Cao Xuan.

It shocked him too.

"I believe this is a deadly battle between angels and demons, good and evil."

(The picture shows the Mamayev Kurgan Monument.)
“History has proven time and again that rather than living a cowardly life and being a puppet of fate, people can choose to die nobly.”

"This is the death of the swan."

How long does it take to fall in love with someone?
Mr. Sloth said that the birth of love requires a moment of surprise, kindness in the heart, and of course... more importantly, it requires a tacit understanding.

Love can be a long race of five or ten years, it can be companionship from childhood to adulthood, it can be hundreds or thousands of blown bubble gums.

It can also be just a word or a look.

A brilliant and unforgettable moment.

Many, many years later.

By then, Koko had already become a very famous actress.

Her songs are on the radio, soap operas in which she plays the main role are broadcast on TV, and movies in which she stars are shown in theaters.

She has fulfilled all the dreams of her mother, a woman who was obsessed with becoming an actress.

That year.

Magnolia blossom season.

She suddenly had the idea of ​​dancing at the Paris Opera.

Dance "Swan Lake".

When the music started, the stage was packed with her fans and critics from all over the world.

Some people came to see her dance, and some people came to see her laugh.

Koko has had a dancing background since she was young, but to be honest, there is a big difference between being a movie star and the prima ballet leader of a top ballet company.

Critics believe that she is just crossing over for fun.

Koko has a nice and thin figure, but it's not the kind of figure that top dancers or top catwalk models have where you can clearly see each rib.

Her body shape is more suitable for musicals or stage plays.

It’s also popular on the big screen.

But for a girl who dances the Swan Princess at the Paris Opera, she is a little plump.

The best model bodies are often those that are flatter and more androgynous.

From the perspective of stage analysis.

For a catwalk, the curves of the body will not destroy the curves of the clothing design itself, highlighting the importance of the clothing rather than the body.

For ballet, such body curves will not destroy the curves of the dance movements themselves, nor will they distract the audience's attention.

Many people were not optimistic about her performance.

Even her manager kept trying to persuade her, "Auntie, please stop playing. There's no need to challenge such a difficult dance. What if you fall on the stage?"

But Koko just wants to dance.

Miss Koko has never been a person who would listen to others obediently since she was a child.

When the music entered the last scene, Koko stretched out her arms, pretending to be a flying swan, and fell on the stage.

There was no standing up, no applause, no shouts of "Bravo" from the audience.

The whole audience was silent.

They were all attracted by this moment, by this peerless beauty...

Being overwhelmed by this peerless dignity.

After the show.

From the opera house to the parking lot, every audience member walking out of the exit was talking enthusiastically about the performance and the dance that had just been performed.

The critics couldn't wait to take out their mobile phones, tap on the keyboard, and update their comments on social media.

A critic wrote: "People say that the shape of the Paris Opera is like a jewelry box of a rich girl. Since ancient times, it has been the place where the most brilliant and shining jewels in the world are stored. Paris Opera Ballet, New York Ballet, Russian National Ballet, Brigitte Lefevre, Uliana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva... Countless famous dance companies and dancers in history have performed here and brought their own Swan Lake.

Today, two hundred years later, the Paris Opera has welcomed a new mistress, a crown, and two hundred years later, Tchaikovsky has also welcomed a new soulmate..."

The agent rushed backstage holding his cell phone, and said with tears in his eyes, "It was great, the performance was a great success."

Half of Paris is talking about you on social networks.

Koko just used her fingers to fiddle with a bouquet of flowers sent from the backstage, nodded, and said calmly: "Yes, it is great."

She knew, of course it would be great.

She recalled again and again the summer when she was eighteen years old, the face of the young man bathed in the light of the rising sun, and said: "If fate really wants to put a gun to my head and force me to be you, force me to be a bad person, then... I will look fate in the eyes and tell it. Just shoot, I'm ready, you can kill me."

That noble, fearless dignity.

That would certainly be great.

This was the best and most attractive picture Miss Koko had ever seen in her life.

Balanchine said that the best ballet is not the desires and emotions that extend from the body, but the desires and emotions that grow naturally from the heart.

Compared to those top ballet prima dancers.

Her movements were not so standard, her figure was not lean enough, her jumps and rotations were not so standard, and she could not complete ten full circles of standing rotation by just touching the ground with the toes of one foot.

But these.

None of it matters.

She even deliberately cut out a scene from the traditional "Swan Lake" performance that showed the Swan Princess struggling and waving her arms in the waves of the lake, using the dancer's delicate body movements to express the swan's despair as it was on the verge of death in the lake.

Koko simplified those complex and difficult dance moves.

Use smooth, soothing and dignified body lines to show the Swan Princess' courage as she calmly walks into the lake.

Show dignity in facing death.

This interpretation successfully conquered the critics.

Koko certainly won over the critics.

Because she is a brave person, she has a heart of a swan, and she has also seen brave people and a heart of a swan.

and so.

She showed them to the audience.

She doesn't care whether the critics like her dancing or not, or whether half of Paris is "talking about her on social networks," as her agent says.

Koko was just paying tribute to those who had been in Xihe Guild Hall, who were helpless and weak in front of Brother Hao and in the face of fate.

The true beauty of a swan does not necessarily require complex body movements to interpret.

Maybe.

He can even dance and just wander around.

All it takes is a painting.

All you need to do is face the gang boss calmly and have the courage to say, "In your past life, in the dark underground world, this sentence has been verified time and time again. But today, I want to be here, I want to stand in the sun, I want to tell you that it is not like that. There are many qualities, a lot of family affection, a lot of love, and a lot of kindness in the world that are more important than money and more powerful than bullets."

that's enough.

Ordinary courage.

The courage of ordinary people.

Noble courage.

The evil wizard cursed the righteous princess, but the evil wizard could not defeat the righteous princess or restrain her.

Because a noble soul cannot be bound.

Koko is an extremely proud girl. She is quirky and ever-changing.

It is difficult for a man to guess her mind.

If Koko likes you, she will run over to hug you, lead the little deer, and stick her head out from the branches of the trees in the distant forest and stare at you secretly.

She will stay with you till the end without even frowning.

If Koko doesn't like you and suddenly gets tired of you, she will not even look at you, and will ride away on her deer without looking back.

Later, Koko met many boys who looked "dazzling". The entertainment industry is a place of fame and fortune, and there will never be a shortage of handsome men and rich people here.

Some of them are delicate, some are handsome, some are as fragile as willows in the wind and as crystal white snow, and some can easily bench press 200 pounds.

But none of them can have Gu Weijing's tranquility or his strength.

His inner strength.

Koko would keep such a person close to her heart and look at him with a smile.

This kind of people.

Koko is also willing to dance for him for the rest of her life.

(End of this chapter)