Almighty painter

Chapter 692 Ending: Destiny Flight (V)
"Then-then Mr. Gu, what do you think I should do?"

Chen Shenglin held Gu Weijing's hand and asked softly.

First time in life.

He began to ask others about their fate.

It's like the helpless baker in Mario Puzo's novel who seeks help from the Godfather.

In a man’s “boxing ring”, no matter how weak a person is, he will always have a chance to stand up after being knocked down.

No matter how powerful a person is, when he is defeated, he will reveal a fragile and confused side like a baby.

Chen Shenglin was defeated in this way.

Gu Weijing pressed the middle-aged man's shoulders from behind.

He looked out the window at the lavender fields and thought for a moment.

"Mr. Chen, all religions emphasize repentance and confession. You brought a golden Buddha from Thailand, you burn incense every day, and you recite sutras every night. But at the end of your life, have you ever considered truly repenting?"

"repent."

Chen Shenglin repeated this sentence, as if this word was so unfamiliar to him and yet so frightening.

Gu Weijing put his hand on Chen Shenglin's shoulder and nodded sympathetically.

He seemed to know that a person needs courage and support at such a moment.

"Yes, it's not about buying people's hearts with checks, nor is it about decorating the Buddha with gold. It's not even about confessing to fate. No, fate doesn't sell indulgences. But you still have a chance, even if it's only once in a lifetime, to truly confess, to confess to yourself, to hate yourself from the bottom of your soul, even if it's only once in a lifetime, to do something from the bottom of your heart to make this world a better place."

"At the end of your life, embrace yourself... your last rebirth. Even if it only happens once in your life, truly feel the price of life."

The young man whispered in Brother Hao's ear.

Chen Shenglin was silent again.

His face was hidden in the shadows, and his expression could not be seen clearly. Gu Weijing did not urge him, but stood beside Brother Hao and waited gently, with one hand on his shoulder all the time.

Koko knew that Chen Shenglin’s final choice was about to come.

The girl grasped the pistol in the bag very tacitly. Koko was not on guard against Chen Shenglin, but raised her head and quickly glanced at the bald man in the corner of the studio.

unexpected.

The bald man did nothing.

Koko saw that the bald man's fingers were trembling, but he still kept his head down, standing in the corner of the studio, doing nothing.

Perhaps they still underestimated Chen Shenglin's ability and the weight of Brother Hao, the "godfather" in the gang.

Don't look at him, he is holding his chest in pain and kneeling on the ground.

Don't look at him now, he is as fragile as a helpless baby.

But... as long as he is still here, as long as he is still sitting in Xihe Hall, as long as he can still breathe.

Then.

A strong man like Baldy can only stand by with his hands hanging down, waiting for Brother Hao's orders and instructions.

Koko nervously tiptoed secretly.

She looked at Gu Weijing.

Gu Weijing said nothing and stood beside Chen Shenglin like a sculpture.

a long time.

a long time.

After half a minute that seemed as long as a century, Chen Shenglin turned his head and spoke in a low voice.

"I know what you want to say, and I also know what you want me to do. Confession... Mr. Gu, you may still not understand that after getting to this point, I can't just back off if I want to. Even if I turn myself in, I might die today. It's more likely that I will be sent back without any problem."

"You know, if I wanted, even if I turned myself in, I could still live in the West River Club and live the same life as I do now, just like many Mexican and Colombian gang bosses."

"But I think it's different. And you said it's if you want."

Gu Weijing said to him.

This time, there was no sarcasm or ridicule in Gu Weijing's words.

Just gentle encouragement.

Godfather-like encouragement.

"You may also be willing, for once in your life, to do something... different from who you were before."

"You are the godfather of Xihe Club, you are one of the most powerful people in this city, you are the Hao brother who has never lost in his life. If you want, you can always find a way to truly make this world a better place, right? You know you are doing evil. If you don't know, then I tell you, this is wrong. Then, please face it. Like a real man."

"Go and truly repent." Gu Weijing's voice rang out in the morning sunshine, carrying the scent of sunshine.

Chen Shenglin fell silent again.

"Then let me ask you, Mr. Xiao Gu, if I really did this... then, I..."

The middle-aged man paused and turned his face away.

"At the end of my life, can I get true redemption?"

"If you are asking me this question, then I'm sorry, I don't think so." Gu Weijing's tone did not waver in the slightest because of Chen Shenglin's gaze.

"I said, I don't believe that if you put down your butcher knife, you can become a Buddha instantly."

"I don't believe that just finding a priest in a church, saying a few words in a confessional, and letting the priest put his hand on your forehead and say, 'Child, I forgive you' can wash away all the sins of a person and turn a person from a sinner into a righteous person."

Gu Weijing put his hand on Chen Shenglin's forehead.

"Sir, fate does not sell indulgences. Even if gods really exist, their salvation would not be so cheap."

"Put down the butcher knife and you will become a Buddha. You will become a Buddha and go to the Western Pure Land, but what about those who were killed by your butcher knife? But I also believe that fate should give people a chance to reform, no matter if they are evil or not, no matter if they have committed heinous crimes. Repentance is always meaningful."

"It won't bring you salvation after death, but it may allow you to find a little peace and tranquility at the end of your life."

Gu Weijing's words fell.

There was another long silence, almost a century long.

Chen Shenglin stared at Gu Weijing intently, as if he wanted to find any trace of lies and deception in the young man.

There are a few moments in between.

Koko was really sure that Chen Shenglin wanted to kill him, really wanted to kill them.

But eventually.

The fire in Chen Shenglin's eyes dimmed.

He turned to look at Koko and suddenly spoke.

"I do like you. Give me your father's phone number. I want to give him a gift." He seemed to be confessing, but also giving an order.

It also seemed like he was confessing in a commanding tone.

Gu Weijing put his hand on Chen Shenglin's forehead.

"I forgive you, Mr. Chen."

"But I... can only speak for myself." He looked down at the man kneeling on the ground.
-
「2023年7月10日，上午11:00整。」

Outside the customs gate.

Gu Weijing sat on the waiting seat next to the boarding gate, holding a fat tabby cat in his arms, and looked up at the TV screen in the waiting hall.

at this time.

It has been exactly ten days since he and Koko walked out of Xihe Guild Hall.

It had been exactly ten days since the Boeing 737 flight that was supposed to take him to Singapore to attend an art exhibition took off.

Unfortunately.

He was late for his first art exhibition in his life and missed the opening ceremony.

He really couldn't catch the flight on time because so many things had happened in the past few days.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong. It looks like you haven't been short of food these days. You've been eating so much! I brought you some food! It's not convenient to get this stuff through customs, so you can eat as much as you want."

Gu Weijing tore open the package of cat strips in his hand and fed the chubby King Awang on his lap.

Awang seemed very dissatisfied with his owner Xiao Guzi's behavior of secretly sending him away and not keeping him by his side to serve him.

The cat turned its head away arrogantly and ignored him.

but.

While Xiao Guzi wasn't paying attention, it turned around and took a bite of the cat food in his hand.

An expression that said, "Kid, just because I ate your food doesn't mean I forgive you, so hurry up and serve you well!"

Gu Weijing smiled and looked up at the time on the TV screen. At this moment, a special news specially produced by the TV station was being broadcast on the screen in the waiting hall.

"...The arrest of the famous local criminal group leader Chen Shenglin (AKA Haoge) has caused an impact that is still continuing. 'This is one of the heaviest blows to money laundering in Southeast Asia since this century,' said the national hero, Chief Inspector Dan Minming, to reporters. Chen Shenglin has always been a thorn in the side of the local government, but internationally... Just five days ago, Chen Shenglin, accompanied by Inspector Dan, surrendered to the Global Anti-Money Laundering Office under the United Nations Drugs and Crime Program (UNODC), the China-Laos-Myanmar-Thailand Joint Crime Investigation Team, and the Yangon government at the same time. This... Our reporter will send you a report on the scene..."

The camera lens swept across the scene of Xihe Guild Hall.

A wide variety of luxury cars.

A helicopter parked in front of the lake.

A grand and magnificent manor, and the famous painting "Bust of a Woman" by Picasso.

The reporter was standing in front of the frame of the painting, introducing to the audience this famous painting that had been stolen for nearly 3000 years and had reappeared in the world again. Its current estimated value was over million euros.

This caused waves of exclamations from the crowd in the airport waiting hall.

"If a person has many faults but does not repent, his sins will come to him like water returning to the sea, gradually becoming deeper and wider."

The reporter held a piece of paper in his hand, saying that this was Chen Shenglin's feelings written in Burmese before he walked out of the study room for the last time in his life.

Chen Shenglin even wrote a short line of text in English with a marker in the blank space on the Picasso's famous painting worth tens of millions of euros.

"Can people really defy fate? Become the Prometheus of the world. You will watch me, right, Mr. G?"

"According to reports, Chen Shenglin made only one request when he surrendered. He was willing to provide a financial account in exchange for the painting being handed over to the museum and the text on the painting not being smeared or covered up by any technical means."

Gu Weijing heard the discussions of the passengers in the airport waiting hall who were involuntarily looking up at the screen.

People are guessing the true meaning of this sentence and what Mr. G represents.

It is like generation after generation of researchers, looking at the note and guessing about the treasure left by Captain Blackbeard.

It is as if generation after generation of researchers have been studying the identity of Ms. K by reading the last pages of Oil Painting magazine.

"This is a victory for justice! During the investigation, we encountered many difficulties, but now we have at least more than 10 billion US dollars in our hands..."

The greasy face of Miss Koko's father flashed across the screen again.

Gu Weijing even saw the golden Four-Faced Buddha shining brightly in the camera.

He smiled and gently scratched King Awang's head.

There probably really is no Buddha in this world.

But perhaps "Buddha" is staring at everyone again.

It's not about religion.

Just about good and evil.

Just about courage.

Maybe if it were another situation in the world, maybe if Chen Shenglin was not already dying, maybe if Brother Hao had another 20 years to live, maybe... all kinds of things.

Then.

He probably wouldn't make the choice he made now.

But at this moment in the world, at this instant when the ephemeral cereus blooms, the dignity, courage and composure of Gu Weijing and Miss Koko in the face of death destroyed and crushed Haoge's fragile heart, which was full of holes and gnawed by emptiness, holes and anxiety when facing death.

This is a battle between good and evil.

This is a battle between courage and cowardice.

This is a battle of hearts.

Maybe justice does not always triumph over evil, maybe justice will come very late.

But in the hustle and bustle of the world, evil will be tortured and eroded by the strong wind and cold rain, and justice will find its home and eternal life in the warm spring breeze.
-
"Congratulations on becoming the Chief Inspector. You are now truly on the cusp of a great career. Just look at the reporters lining up to interview you, and you'll see..."

The entrance of Xihe Guild Hall.

At this point they had been pulled into the police perimeter, with people from various investigation offices coming in and out.

Uncle Alai said with a smile as he looked at Dan Minming, who was smoking and wiping his sweat while just finishing an exclusive interview with a TV station.

"A meteoric rise? Oh, I don't want to think about that anymore."

Inspector Dan thought about his experiences during this period and smiled bitterly.

"I was fired for no apparent reason, and was sent to be a traffic policeman. Then I became a national hero for no apparent reason. It was like a dream."

He handed Uncle Alai a cigarette.

"To put it bluntly, this is such a damn irony." Inspector Dan swore in Burmese.

"I really don't understand the current situation. I wanted to do something good, but ended up like this. I gave up completely, and as a result... I don't know whether to curse this world or praise it."

"My daughter said that I am just an ordinary person who lives a mediocre life and is caught up in the fate. I get carried away when I have a little bit of good luck, and I get discouraged when I encounter a little setback. People like me are not suitable to be high-ranking officials. I am confused and helpless, and I hurt others and myself."

"My daughter is right. I have to listen to her." Inspector Dan took a long puff of his cigarette.

"I plan to take advantage of this enthusiasm to seek a job in the United Nations or the Multinational Joint Combat Office, a less busy one." The man expressed his plan.

"Is that so? This is good too. At least we're safe now that we're away from the center of the vortex." Uncle Ale nodded with a smile, perhaps because he felt something.

"and you?"

Officer Dan glanced at the dark-skinned middle-aged man in front of him and said, "I know about your situation, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel. Do you have any thoughts of returning to military service? I can't say anything else, but I want you to resume your original military position. I should be able to do it now. Do you want to work for me? I want to take back everything you have lost."

He curled his lips in his heart.

Someone dug up his daughter.

He had to do some digging, too.

"Come back? No, I have come back a long time ago. I have a job now as a personal assistant and have a lot of work to do." Uncle Ale answered with a smile.

"Where is Miss Koko?" the lame man changed the subject.

"I didn't seem to see her when I sent Mr. Gu to the airport this morning."

"Koko?"

Dan Minming smiled, shook his head, threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it.

"Who at home can control her?"

The father sighed helplessly.
-
Yangon International Airport.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please: Check-in for flight SQ761 to Singapore will be closed at 11:25. Passengers who have not been checked in for this flight, please go to counter No. 09 immediately..."

(Ladies and gentlemen, we may need to remind you that the check-in for flight SQ761 to Singapore Changi International Airport will soon close. Passengers who have not yet checked in, please -)
Gu Weijing listened to the prompt tone coming from the radio.

The boarding gate had been open for a while and the check-in procedures were about to stop, but he still hadn't seen the girl.

He took out his cell phone and wanted to call Koko, but found that her phone was turned off.

Send a message.

No response either.

The cycle of heaven, the retribution is unhappy.

Ten days ago, it was Koko who sent a message to Gu Weijing, but Gu Weijing turned off his phone and ignored it. Now the situation is completely reversed.

"Strange, where did Miss Koko go again?"

The young man shook his head.

"Mr. Gu Weijing...is that you?" A voice came to my ears.

Gu Weijing turned his head and saw that it was an airport policeman. He was holding Gu Weijing's photo in one hand and a small package in the other.

"Is it about Brother Hao?"

Gu Weijing was shocked.

"Brother Hao?"

The young policeman was also stunned, looked at the TV screen next to him, and then shook his head. "Ah, what does this have to do with you?"

Gu Weijing smiled.

No explanation.

The policeman didn't ask any more questions, but just handed over the package in his hand. "This is something Inspector Dan's daughter specifically asked me to give to you before you board the plane."

Gu Weijing took the package.

He didn't know what Koko had instructed. Theoretically, he had already been 80% clear of the country after passing customs, but she actually caught up with him and delivered a package.

But...who made Koko's dad a celebrity in the news now?

Miss Koko is happy to do so!

Gu Weijing looked at the words on the package.

"Hey, Xiao Gu, go board the plane. You can open it after you get on the plane. Be good."

Koko wrote on it in a flamboyant style with a marker.

Gu Weijing had a vague uncertainty in his heart, but after hesitating for a moment, he still walked towards the boarding passage on the side, dragging the suitcase with one hand and holding Awang with the other.

……

Eighteen-year-old Gu Weijing sat in the seat of a Boeing 737 passenger plane. Although the business class seats were not as luxurious as the first class seats where one could lie down casually, they were also comfortable and spacious.

Awang squatted on the seat next to him and leaned his head out. That was supposed to be Miss Koko's seat.

Because there is no one.

So the flight attendant allowed King Awang to occupy that seat.

Gu Weijing tore open the outer packaging of the package, revealing a notebook with a pink "Lonely Rock" cover that looked very girly.

This is a work notebook with dates attached, used to record important schedules for each month and ten days.

Gu Weijing opened the first page of the notebook.

There was only a line of big numbers written on the cover of the notebook.

「+0033 05 37 28 91 XX」

This is a fourteen-digit mobile phone number, ten digits if you don't count the long-distance area code in front, and the last two digits are left blank, as if left blank to be filled in.

Gu Weijing was a little confused.

He turned the notebook to the second page.

Gu Weijing discovered that the front pages of this notebook had been cut off, and the calendar started from the first half of July 2023.

And on the page below the calendar, there is a line of words written like this.

"Gu Weijing, I love you, but you are grateful to me."

"I feel that you haven't thought about your heart yet. I feel... you don't love me enough. You are still hesitating and doubting."

"Hehe, this is not good. My love is not that easy to get."

"So, Xiao Gu, I've decided - I'm going to dump you!"

"I deleted all my previous contact information and changed my phone number. The number on the cover of this notebook is my new phone number. It has fourteen digits in total, but I will only tell you twelve. The remaining 100 possible combinations... I want you to guess them yourself."

"I want you to think of a reason to like me every ten days and write it down in this notebook. I want you to think of 100 reasons to love me and write them down in this notebook."

"Xiao Gu, I'm waiting for the day when my cell phone rings again."

"——Koko. "

"By the way: I guessed the detective cat thing myself. This is a secret that belongs only to me, a secret between you and me. You are not allowed to tell Ms. Sakai... Xiao Gu, you are not allowed to tell anyone. This is my detective cat."

……

Paris.

Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

"Fever dream high in the quiet of the night, You Know that I caught it..."

"Silent night, vague dreams."

"You know I captured my heart from the confusion and helplessness (oh, that's right), this is exactly what I wanted."

"..."

A young girl with her hair neatly combed back appeared on the street outside the airport dragging a large suitcase and waved to stop a taxi.

She wore a pair of big sunglasses on her nose, headphones in her ears, and hummed Taylor Swift's song "Cruel Summer".

In her suitcase was the admission letter from the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris, France.

She is Koko.

Yes, she rejected the offer from the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts.

Miss Koko is always a proud person.

If her efforts cannot get equal love in return, then she will hide the love in her heart and keep it for herself.

If the world were to end tomorrow, if there were no choices in the world, if Gu Weijing was standing in the mud, then Miss Koko would stand with you without blinking and accompany you to the end.

But if the sky is high and the sea is vast, the fields are lush and green.

Then the little heroine will wave her sleeves, ride the deer and leave, leaving you with only her back, and let you chase it by yourself.

She knew she wasn't very talented at drawing.

and so.

She rejected the offer from the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts because she wanted to be a better, more beautiful and more gorgeous person.

She knew she was no substitute for anyone, and she didn't want to be inferior to Sakai Katsuko.

She was too lazy to do anything to take advantage of the situation.

and so.

Gu Weijing broke up with Sakai Katsuko, and Koko waved her sleeves and dumped Gu Weijing.

She waited for Gu Weijing to find a hundred reasons to like her.

Miss Koko is so proud.

Miss Koko is so cool.

She always arranges other people's paths neatly and efficiently, whether it's her father's or her lover's.

Don't allow anyone to say NO.

In a weird sense.

What Chen Shenglin said is indeed correct.

Koko, like him.
-
The plane's radio was playing the voice from the captain's room.

The flight attendant once again reminded the passengers to fasten their seat belts as they were about to taxi and take off.

Gu Weijing seemed to hear Miss Koko humming a song amid the background music on the radio. The popular melody with a strong rock temperament made him unable to control himself as always.

No.

It shook his body and soul more violently than ever before.

In order to make himself feel more at peace, he hugged his body with both hands and placed the notebook on his chest against his heart.

The Singaporean flight attendant noticed this and asked Gu Weijing in English if he was feeling unwell.

Gu Weijing smiled and shook his head.

He looked out the window, at the workers in ground service uniforms, the flat flags above the terminal, and the English letters of Yangon International Airport on the roof of a building in the distance.

It rained countless times this summer in Yangon, but today, when he was about to leave, the sun was shining brightly.

Everything was sunny and bright, like the background of a bright Impressionist painting along the Seine River.

Finally heading to Singapore.

he thought.

The engine under the wing made a loud whistling sound, and the plane slid quickly along the runway and then took off into the air.

As soon as the plane took off.

Gu Weijing looked up and out the window.

He looked at the junction of the sea and the sky in the distance, at the city of Yangon behind him, this fallen pearl-like city, and at the primitive jungle in the distance.

Gu Weijing knew that his life over the past eighteen years was like a life placed in a crystal ball.

He went to school at Fitz and attended classes at an international school. Wealth sealed the sufferings of the world, and he had not actually experienced the hardships of the real people in the streets and alleys here.

He was a guest at the Xihe Guild Hall, and Brother Hao put him in a cage made of gold. The other party's hypocritical kindness also blocked and filtered out the real darkness.

In many places in this country, deep in the primeval jungle.

The endless war, the chaotic order, the frauds, the rampant drug abuse... countless things much worse than what he had experienced were happening.

Countless people are being displaced and countless people are dying in gunfire and artillery fire.

Gu Weijing knew that he was not a real warrior.

The real warriors should stay and, like the strongest and greatest men in human history, fight for the liberation and well-being of mankind and for such a cause all their lives.

He is just a painter.

He can only paint the painting in his hand well.

Will the country become better or worse? More happiness or more suffering?

Will people continue to hate each other and hurt each other?
Or after suffering, crying, reveling and rejoicing, at the very end, at the very end, some lofty ideal light will illuminate everything and liberate everything?
Like the fire in Prometheus's hand?
Will the sun eventually rise?

Gu Weijing didn't know.

He just hoped... that the world would become a little better because of him.

(Note: The beginning of the last paragraph of the last chapter of this volume imitates the first paragraph of the first volume, chapter one of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood, translated by Mr. Lin Shaohua. Maybe it's some kind of bad taste, right?)

(End of this chapter)