Almighty painter

Chapter 823 Gu Weijing's Pumpkin Cart

"The tailor cut the clothes for the young officer of the Guards Cavalry Regiment. He deliberately made the waist very narrow. The man's reflection in the mirror looked like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath."

—— (Russian) Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
-
Ding ding ding.

five minutes later.

There was a knock at the hotel door and Gu Weijing opened it.

Standing at the door was a middle-aged man, who looked to be around fifty years old, dragging a small suitcase.

The dark suit he was wearing was ironed so neatly that there wasn't a single wrinkle visible. The standing collar beside his neck exuded a marble-like, hard luster.

"Well, a man like that will never be laughed at for his indecent clothes."

This was the first thought that came to Gu Weijing's mind when he saw the other person.

Lao Yang said that clothes are men’s swords.

The middle-aged man in front of him was obviously wearing a shining sword.

He felt that if the other party was not a formal wear lover like Gu Tongxiang, he was a cold-blooded killer like John Wick in "John Wick".

"Mr. Gu Weijing, right? 18 years old. I have an interview the day after tomorrow morning."

Gu Weijing nodded.

Sure enough, he is from the organizer, he thought to himself.

"Are you here to--" The young man looked at the middle-aged man with a questioning look.

The middle-aged man did not answer.

He looked him up and down with a scrutinizing look and frowned.

"Yes. Uh, yes." He muttered something.

"To be honest, time is a bit tight—"

The middle-aged man spoke to himself.

"176cm tall? Just over 60kg? You have a small frame, so you should be a little thinner than your normal weight."

"But it's not a big problem. Don't worry, I'm the best. It will be fine in no time." He then smiled.

Gu Weijing subconsciously took a step back.

The other party's eyes were too sharp. It was more like a critical look than an examination, the kind of critical look a killer would have when staring at his prey. It was as if he wanted to measure Gu Weijing's weight, pound by pound, in the other party's eyes.

God!
Have you ever seen anyone start a conversation by saying "You have a small frame"? Who would habitually use the modifier "frame size"? Either a hot pot cook or a killer, right?

In line with the previous sentence, time is tight.

This clearly looks like a perverted killer who is currently evaluating whether it would be convenient to cut his body into pieces after killing him.

It will be fine in a moment?
Yes.

For the best professional killer.

With a small frame like his, in half an hour, he might be broken into pieces of bones, and then packed into the suitcase dragged by the middle-aged man and taken away to sink into the sea.

No matter how Gu Weijing looked at this man, he looked like he could pull out a machete or a sharp bone saw from the suitcase behind him at any time.

He suddenly realized that he didn't know Anna at all. In the real world, they had only met once, which ended in disaster.

How could he be so sure that other people's methods were not as cruel as Brother Hao's?

Could it be...

Miss Elena was not satisfied with just eating him up in the interview show, so she really sent a John Wick from somewhere?

Gu Weijing's mind sank.

The middle-aged man had already walked into the room through the space he had stepped back to make way for, dragging his suitcase. He squatted down, unzipped the suitcase, and casually pulled out a weapon that was gleaming with a cold light.

"Why did you take it! What are you going to do with it? Put it down."

Gu Weijing raised his hand warily.

He made his voice sound calm: "Let me tell you, the front desk knows you're here. If you want to--"

The middle-aged man was stunned.

The young man was stunned halfway through his words.

Gu Weijing saw that the other party took out a pair of large metal scissors as long as an average person's arm from the suitcase with one hand, and took out -

A rolled-up tape measure?

Huh?
The big scissors can be understood as a strange weapon to facilitate security inspection, but what is the tape measure for... Could it be that the other party wants to strangle himself with the tape measure first? Is it so perverted?

"What do you do?"

Gu Weijing looked at the scene in confusion and realized that something was wrong.

"Me. I'm a tailor."

The middle-aged man also spread out his hands in confusion and pointed at the suitcase at hand. As a professional tailor, it was normal for him to put a pair of big scissors in the suitcase.

He didn't understand why the young man was making such a fuss.

I heard he is an artist, so I don’t think the leaves will fly away.

Gu Weijing looked in the direction his finger was pointing.

When the suitcase is opened, it becomes a small folding tool bench.

In addition to the large scissors and tape measure, there are also a protractor, chalk in a plastic box, small trimming scissors, marking ribbons, curved narrow belt teeth and a bunch of other tools. The rest of the space is filled with board after board of cloth and wool sample examples like books.

think carefully.

Indeed, compared to the perverted killer, this middle-aged man looks more like a tailor.

“Are you a hand-tailor?”

Gu Weijing never expected that in 2023, he would actually see people engaged in such an ancient profession.

"correct."

The middle-aged man with a pointed chin smiled, looking very confident in his craftsmanship.

“Best in Singapore.”

He gave Gu Weijing a thumbs up.

Once he accepted the assumption that the other person was a professional tailor rather than a professional perverted killer, Gu Weijing discovered that the other person actually smiled quite cheerfully.

The middle-aged tailor handed the young man a business card that read "Raffles Tailor".

A few days ago, when Gu Weijing went to the Raffles Hotel to attend an artist dinner, he vaguely saw this name on the hotel's promotional board.

Lao Yang said it was a very "top-notch" place.

As a subsidiary tailor shop that provides clothing services for top hotel guests, Raffles Tailor Shop has a long history. Gu Weijing can't remember the details, but he only remembers that the names of MJ and Winston Churchill seemed to be on the cover of the promotional page.

Gu Weijing had an impression because... Teacher Yang licked his lips and pressed his hat to make a classic MJ pose.

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand."

This made Gu Weijing even more confused.

"So, what do you want from me?"

"Uh. Mr. Gu, didn't you place an order with me?" The middle-aged tailor was also confused. "We received an order and need to rush to make a suit for you for a formal occasion the day after tomorrow. So, I came to take your measurements. You have an interview lecture, right?"

Gu Weijing nodded, then shook his head.

"Yes. But I didn't hire a tailor."

"Did someone else order it for you? The money has been paid. Wait, there is something for you, you need to sign to confirm it."

The middle-aged man scratched his chin.

He rummaged in his suitcase, took out an envelope with the Raffles Hotel logo on it, and handed it to Gu Weijing with both hands.

Gu Weijing took the envelope.

Mixed in with it was an order from a customer who placed an expedited order with the concierge at the Raffles Hotel, requesting a double-breasted, peak-lapel, solid-color, dark-patterned suit jacket be tailored for an eighteen-year-old male artist.

A dark navy jacket paired with mid-rise straight-leg trousers.

The fabric of the clothes must be from Holland & Sherry's Golden Empire series, and the remaining shirts, vests and leather shoes are optional to attend the subsequent formal events.

The total price of the order is S$55.

Gu Weijing took a deep breath.

Someone generously spent the price of a small Mercedes-Benz to give him a set of clothes.

It’s not that he hasn’t made money, nor has he never seen money.

According to Gu Weijing's view on money, he could accept spending $50,000 on a car, but spending $50,000 on a set of clothes... was still too extravagant.

Who placed the order?

Gu Weijing discovered that in addition to the order form, there was also a small envelope sealed with glue in the large envelope.

He tore open the seal, and inside was a note with the same hotel stamp.

"I regret that I rudely laughed at your shirt the other day."

"sorry."

"I'm so sorry."

"Please don't misunderstand me. This is not a show-off, nor is it a bribe. I bought this with my salary as the manager of Oil Painting magazine. You have the right to refuse, but I hope you can accept it."

"I want to express my apologies. This letter is short, but it is my true feelings. Whether it can move you or not is not up to me to say."

"Go prepare well for the interview the day after tomorrow. Speak freely. I look forward to having a wonderful conversation, little painter."

At the end of the note, there was an abbreviation of his name written in cursive letters.

A.E.

Anna Elena. …

"Do you always write such touching letters to her, Mr. Darcy?"

“My letters are usually very long, but whether they can move the other party is not up to me.”

——Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

……

Gu Weijing stood there in a daze, holding the note paper in his hand.

"To be honest, I personally rarely rush semi-custom orders for ready-made clothes. But who asked the customer to pay double the rush fee? You need it the day after tomorrow, and considering the try-on, there is really no time to make a traditional Bespoke from scratch. (Note)"

(A term used in the clothing customization industry, which refers to the process of sewing clothes by hand from raw fabrics. It is in contrast to semi-customization, which is to use ready-made clothing patterns and then do manual secondary cutting and sewing according to the customer's body shape.)
"Don't worry, you can still express your personality in many ways." The middle-aged man introduced casually, "For example, do you like mother-of-pearl buttons or jade buttons... By the way."

As the tailor was taking cufflink samples out of his suitcase for display to the customer, he suddenly remembered something.

"Please sign here to confirm, and then we can start working. I'm here mainly to measure your body and determine your figure... Around this time tomorrow, you can come to the Raffles Hotel or we can send someone here to try it on. If there is anything you are not satisfied with, we still have 12 hours to modify it..."

"Wow, is this your cat?"

The middle-aged man noticed the cat on the windowsill.

The tabby cat on the windowsill was concentrating on eating the canned food that Gu Weijing had just bought.

After Gu Weijing had starved it for twenty-four hours.

King Awang had decided to kick little Gu Zi out and run away from home, but -

It’s not that cats are spineless.

Awang took a big bite and mashed the thick soup meat snack pack into soft wet cat food.

Meow.

The cat licked its lips.

Oh, it smells so good, meow.

It thought that it would be better to keep little Gu Zi for the time being, and there was no need to drag him out and kill him in a hurry.
-
Liu Ziming sat in the yard at dusk, smoking his pipe.

Since childhood, Liu Ziming had a bad habit. He was a person who could not sit still. He was scolded countless times by his teacher Cao Xuan for shaking his legs and leaning on his chair.

later.

Although he was very young, he was already ironing walnuts in an adult-like manner.

I play it while reading, drawing, and writing.

Two yellowish thick-skinned white lions were turning around in his palms with a creaking sound. At that time, some gossip media said that he was "deep and dignified" because of this.

When Cao Xuan was a few years old, his title of "child prodigy" became famous throughout the country, and he appeared in the media as a little adult.

So people say that among his fellow disciples, he is most like Master Cao.

Liu Ziming himself found it funny.

He didn't know what the media were thinking, but he really just felt itchy.

after that.

When he was in his twenties, Liu Ziming stopped chewing walnuts and started smoking instead.

Four brothers and sisters.

Lin Tao likes wine, Liu Ziming likes cigarettes. Rich people cherish their health, Liu Ziming never smokes too much, only one pipe a day, smoking one pipe is not a good habit, and the pipe does not fill the lungs but it has nothing to do with health.

But the addiction has already become serious.

Between oral cancer many years later and the itchiness of the heart every day.

He chose the former.

Another twenty years passed like this.

This afternoon, when he was having a small gathering with his fellow brothers and sisters in the yard, his tobacco quota for the day had already been used up, so the pipe he was smoking and occasionally exhaling a few times in a formal manner was actually an empty pipe.

He gently licked the butt of the sandalwood pipe with his tongue, and with the faint bitterness, he used the empty tobacco to soothe the lonely emptiness in his heart.

"To occupy a single bucket."

On the pipe in Liu Ziming's mouth, there are four small characters engraved in seal script. It was written by Liu Ziming himself, and it was also engraved by Liu Ziming himself.

Cao Xuan never belittled northern painting just because he was the successor of the southern literati painting system, nor did he belittle other types of art forms just because he was the master of Chinese painting.

He always likes to encourage his students to try and understand different artistic styles.

Among the four brothers and sisters, it seems that the two youngest ones are the most talented.

Tang Ning learned the most.

Liu Ziming is involved in the most diverse matters.

He can do Chinese painting, oil painting, watercolor, gouache, sculpture, printmaking... According to his own description, he can "play" with it all, and he is very good at it.

Even just calligraphy.

Not to mention cursive, running and regular scripts, Liu Ziming can even write a good seal script. Of course, among seal script, clerical script, cursive, running and regular script, seal script is the oldest, but there is not necessarily a difference in difficulty. Many people think that if you want to write well, the running script, which looks elegant and swift, may be the most difficult one.

Of course, there may be a father factor.

But even if Gu Weijing is counted, Liu Ziming is really the only one that Cao Xuan decided to accept as his disciple the first time he met him.

Even Mr. Cao himself praised Liu Ziming's "inner talent".

Just like the four characters on the pipe, which are written in smooth and rigorous strokes - "Monopolize One Pit", Liu Ziming carved these four characters with a carving knife, and came up with four completely different interpretations in his mind.

The most straightforward understanding is that it is a warning of self-discipline.

He only smoked one pipe of tobacco every day, and when it was finished, he would not light up again.

The second is a quote from Shishuo Xinyu: "All the talents in the world are worth one dan. Cao Zijian alone has eight dou. I have one dou. From ancient times to the present, we have all shared one dou."

Liu Ziming is proud but not conceited.

He knows that it is more about artistic talent and technical sophistication.

Compared to Tang Ning, even among the disciples of Master Cao, he probably could not become Cao Zijian. He could only learn from Xie Lingyun, the protagonist who said this sentence.

Cao Zijian alone obtained eight pecks.

He monopolized the whole bushel.

The word “alone” here means lonely. It is a unique experience in which pride and alienation are completely mixed together.

It is divided into within art and outside of art.

Within art.

He doesn't like Lin Tao, Wei Yunxian or Tang Ning.

Tang Ning is good at painting and his skills are better than his, but this kind of dislike, this feeling of walking alone in the woods or sitting alone in the yard, is the source of Liu Ziming's pride.

Beyond art.

It’s another kind of loneliness.

Traditional Chinese people value their hometown the most and love their hometown accent the most.

When the young man left home and his elder brother returned home, his local pronunciation did not change and his hair on his temples faded.

The British colonists cancelled the registration of Chinese schools. When the Japanese occupied Malaysia, they massacred the local Chinese who supported the war of resistance. Then came the Barne Report, and then the local suppression of Chinese schools. Then came the massacre in Indonesia in 1998...

In Southeast Asia.

Everything seemed to have passed many, many years ago, and everything seemed to be in the past. Those atrocities of oppression of overseas Chinese and the deliberately propagated racial hatred seemed to be the evil background of the old times, belonging to the story style unique to the 19th and 20th centuries.

But it is still today.

In certain critical situations, some elderly people will still subconsciously feel insecure and subconsciously want to leave their hometown.

It is always not easy for Chinese people living overseas.

Lonely people always need to gather together to feel warmth.

These are the third and fourth different solutions.

Liu Ziming has never told anyone the meaning of these four words. At most, he has only given the first explanation, which is a slogan he used to remind himself to stop smoking. The rest are his own lonely secrets.

Only Mr. Cao.

The first moment Cao Xuan saw the pipe in his hand, his eyes lingered on the four seal characters on it for a long time.

Liu Ziming lowered his head in embarrassment, like a child whose secret had been discovered.

He mumbled, trying to explain something.

Cao Xuan waved his hand and patted his shoulder gently.

The teacher understands.

The old man didn't say anything, but Liu Ziming understood and the teacher understood.

This feeling brought Liu Ziming great comfort.

He thought again of the letter that Cao Xuan had handed him. Liu Ziming shook his head and shifted his attention away from the tempting secret.

I took out my phone and played the video for the umpteenth time.

“It’s the relationship between fire and smoke… You see the smoke, and I see the fire.”

Liu Ziming stared at the screen and took a deep puff of his pipe, as if there were really burning sparks and curling smoke coming out of the pipe.

at this time.

His cell phone rang.

The caller ID showed it was Cao Xuan.

(End of this chapter)