Almighty painter

Chapter 956 Maggie's Gift

Midnight.

Gu Weijing is still studying his own work.

He took down all the works he had hung on the wall, one after another, and laid the frames and long scrolls on the living room floor.

Sunrise, midday, sunset.

Dusk, midnight, dawn.

A wild fantasy about the moonlight.

A wild fantasy about the colors of the sun.

And the beginning and end of a “concert” performance—a prelude drawn from the drops of “Geng Lou Zi” and an epilogue whose tone he does not yet know.

What is drawn, what is not drawn, what exists in the real world, what exists in the world of imagination, and what does not even exist in the world of imagination.

The ten works that Gu Weijing conceived for his first small-scale art exhibition, "Time," present this kind of appearance.

The young painter arranged all his works in an arc shape, leaving blank any works that did not yet exist, as if piecing together a giant circle with gradually unfolding fans.

Time became continuous in this process, flowing across the floor from beginning to end, from end to beginning, from sunrise to sunset, and from sunset to sunrise.

Each painting is a rivet point in time.

The empty spaces within this circle reveal a striking pallor, like the moon in the night sky that has been bitten by a celestial dog.

Maybe it's Tmall?
Cats and dogs are equal. As far as I can remember, Awang chased after August more often than August ran over Awang.

Gu Weijing piled all the paintings in the living room on the floor.

He stepped out of the non-existent "sunset," went up to his studio on the second floor, pushed open the door, picked up his sketchbook, and came back. He knelt on the floor and placed the watercolor painting from the sketchbook in the "Sunlight Rhapsody" section.

Looking out the window, the young man's profile was illuminated by the living room lights, immersed in the ambiance. His neatly combed hair fell across his forehead, resembling ink spreading silently on a painting.

Gu Weijing bent his body backward.

Slowly, I lay down on my waist, nestled within the surrounding landscape, in the ever-changing flow of time, as if lying on a colorless, silent bonfire and dry wood.

Human life exists between heaven and earth.

Who isn't constantly being scorched by time?

When teenagers are around ten years old, time often flies by brightly, full of passion, and sincerity can move mountains. As they grow older, they realize that life always has its insurmountable obstacles. Even those who seem carefree and cheerful have their share of disappointments and frustrations.

understand this.

You've just transitioned from a child, a teenager, to a truly independent adult.

Mas III said he had planned to make Gu Weijing a superstar who would hold a solo exhibition in a major art museum before he was even twenty years old.

Today is August 10, 2018. Instead of being surrounded by spotlights in an art museum and holding his first art exhibition as he had imagined, Gu Weijing was alone in an empty, deathly silent house, lying on the floor staring at the ceiling.

My birthday is still a few months away.

Gu Weijing was already twenty years old.
-
Gu Weijing didn't know how long he had been lying on the floor.

He felt his phone vibrate.

The young painter took out his phone and saw the number. He thought it was his grandfather calling, but it wasn't.

He answered the phone.

"Shall we take a walk together?"

Miss Elena didn't mention their previous argument at all, speaking into the receiver.

"of course."

Gu Weijing said.

“I’ll send you the location,” Anna shared with Gu Weijing.

"20 minutes?" she asked.

"What's wrong?" Miss Elena noticed his silence.

"It won't arrive within 20 minutes."

Gu Weijing said in a strangely calm tone, "Google Maps says that the distance between you and me is about 1,000 kilometers. If we drive, it is expected to be around 9 a.m. tomorrow."

Anna also fell silent, which was unusual for her.

"I was on a bench by the Pont des Arts in Paris, and you kept saying you wanted to see the Parisian sunset and night view. Where are you now?"

“I’m at Burton Ranch… right now I’m lying on the carpet next to the piano… drawing.”

Gu Weijing replied.

"I canceled my flight to Paris."

There was another ten seconds of silence on the phone. He heard Miss Elena's laughter, very soft, almost blending into the background noise of the call.

"I rarely make such a blunder."

Anna said.

"Do you mind waiting until nine o'clock tomorrow morning?" Gu Weijing asked.

"Do not."

Anna said.

"Wait for me."
-
Gu Weijing fell asleep on the sofa in the living room.

He heard movement in the living room, which woke him from his dream and made him open his eyes.

It was unclear what time it was; the sky was still dark, and dawn was breaking outside the window. Anna stood in the room, leaning on her cane, wearing a soft, sky-blue shawl, her chestnut hair piled up behind her head.

August sat obediently at Miss Elena's feet, a rubber-colored pet collar around his neck, scratching his chin with his hind legs.

The man and his dog seemed to have just finished a long journey and returned home, or perhaps they realized they had forgotten to turn off the gas and had just paused their long trip, rushing back home.

August noticed the noise coming from the sofa.

It scanned the room warily, stretched out its neck, and sniffed hard with its pink nose to make sure that its sensor radar had not detected the cat that looked like a gas cylinder.

It strolled over leisurely, wagging its tail.

With a push from the front leg.

August jumped onto the sofa as well.

"Hello."

Gu Weijing held the spirited Springer Spaniel in his arms, scratched its ear, and greeted it.

Anna's gaze shifted from the scroll spread on the floor to the PVC panel hanging on the wall—

"Life is a bullfight..."

The woman read out each word one by one.

"That's quite ambitious."

Mr. Gu

“My grandfather,” Gu Weijing explained, then sat up from the sofa and spoke to Anna very seriously.

"Miss Elena, I'm sorry."

Anna did not turn her head.

"why?"

She asked.

"Because you feel your drawing isn't good enough?"

“I’m scared,” Gu Weijing said slowly. “I’m scared of my body, I’m scared of my illness. I’m scared that I won’t be able to present a good enough exhibition. I’m scared that Ma Shi III will lose money, I’m scared that I’ll let down Ma Shi III’s efforts, I’m scared that I’ll let down your efforts. I’m scared that I’ll let down the expectations of so many people…”

“Hey, little painter, you already said something similar the other day.”

Anna said gently, "Then I'll say it again."

Gu Weijing said, "Miss Elena, I am truly, truly, truly sorry. I'm so sorry.

“This is what I had to go through. I am a contracted painter, and my job is to hold an exhibition or to create good works. I felt the pressure and felt that I couldn’t bear it, so I wanted to transfer it to others, which is a very cowardly thing to do.”

Anna hoped he would put on a good art exhibition.

Gu Weijing said to her.

"Miss Elena, thank you—"

Thank you so much.

What more do you want from me?
Gu Weijing realized that this was a very cowardly thing to do, and he could hardly tolerate it.

What young painters truly find intolerable is not the difficulty, not the pressure, and not even the fact that he has not painted a good work.

Life is always full of difficulties, and everyone experiences pressure. So what if you can't paint a good picture? Picasso also had some terrible paintings.

This is all part of a normal life.

What Gu Weijing could not tolerate was his own weakness.

Compromising with Brother Hao is a sign of weakness, an inability to withstand the pressures of life, and dumping those pressures on the agent who is genuinely trying to help you is also a sign of weakness.

The latter type is no weaker than the former type, and is no more manly.

It's not his fault that he was powerless to do anything.

But being cowardly and afraid to face it is absolutely true.

“Don’t say that.” Miss Elena turned her head away.

“No, Anna, I’m not saying this out of some sense of compensation. People just need to face their own problems.” Gu Weijing held the dog beside him.

He recalled the article he had read in the magazine "Oil Painting".

The new female director, Sarah, accused Miss Elena of being spoiled, describing her as a female student trying to take a cooking class, flipping a pot a couple of times, discovering that "the pot smokes," and then preparing to throw down the spatula and quit.

She found the whole thing utterly unbearable.

Miss Elena's capriciousness doesn't just concern herself; it makes everyone's efforts go to waste.

Do you know who's the one who flipped the pan a couple of times, threw down the spatula, and was ready to quit?

No.

Anna Elena.

It was his concern that led to this.

Unable to bear the expectations placed upon him by those around him, he decided to find a pot lid, put the pot on, and let whoever wanted to serve it to him with their eyes closed.

This is not someone else's problem.

This is his own problem.

It's one thing to cook bad food, but it's another to lack any tough guy spirit and whine and throw tantrums at those who are trying to help him. That's what Gu Weijing can't accept.

"My grandfather."

Gu Weijing pointed to Mr. Gu on the wall, "He wasn't a very good cook, nor was he a particularly talented painter, but he did have better opportunities. Locally, in Mandalay, abroad. In painting, in business, he had them all. My grandfather gave them up for his family and his children."

"From childhood to adulthood."

“My grandfather never uttered a single word of blame, not even to me or my cousin, for preventing him from having a better life because of us. He never made us feel that way. He believed—”

“That’s life. Life has its ups and downs. He should bear it, there are no excuses or reasons, that’s a man’s responsibility. My grandfather didn’t have a very successful life, but he always had a fighting spirit.”

"A painter who can't even paint well, how can he blame others for having too many expectations of him?"

Gu Weijing said.

How could he push all these things and responsibilities onto someone else?
How could he possibly expect to come back with a masterpiece after going to Paris for a trip when he doesn't even know what he's supposed to paint?
Deep down, this is cowardice.

His grandfather may not have been a good painter, a good teacher, or an outstanding educator.

There is only one point.

His grandfather never taught Gu Weijing to be a coward.

"My grandfather was a real tough guy."

"Feel sorry."

"It's my fault. I'm so sorry for what I said to you, I regret it. Whether you're tired of hearing it or not, I should say it again."

"I'm sorry, Miss Elena. This will not happen again."

Gu Weijing patted the dog's chin and stood up.

He walked over to Anna's side.

"No matter how long it takes to prepare, I will keep drawing."

He said.

Miss Elena took a soft breath.

“We’ll talk about these things later. You haven’t had a proper rest in so long. Go upstairs to the guest room and get some more sleep. I have appointments with someone this afternoon.”
-
“Gu, this is Gabriel, and next to Gabriel Hems is his sister Kerry Hems.”

“Gabriel, Carey.”

"This is Gu Weijing."

In the afternoon.

Gu Weijing met Gabriel at the farm gate. A few days ago, Gu Weijing had seen Gabriel's figure with Anna on the photo wall in the campus photography workshop. Today, he was accompanied by his sister as well.

Gabriel was a rather handsome young man who visited Miss Elena at the age of 18.

His sister, Kerry, looks about the same age as Gu Weijing, but is a bit more energetic.

While Gabriel was pale and looked like he was about to vomit, Kerry shook hands with Gu Weijing first.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you, Gu."

Kerry pointed to his older brother beside him.

"Don't get me wrong. He's not acting like this at you. He got airsick on a plane last night and vomited like he was going to explode."

"Hello."

Gu Weijing said.

“I won’t ask for your opinion,” Miss Elena said. “Gabriel will be your new teacher.”

Gu Weijing looked at Anna.

"what?"

“Teacher,” Anna repeated, “I think you need to learn a musical instrument instead of just listening to me play the piano.”

"Learn... the violin?"

Gu Weijing asked.

“More or less,” Miss Elena said. “Your age…”

"How old are you this year?" Kerry interjected from the side.

"Less than 20."

“Well,” she shrugged. “Learning the violin at this age can be a bit difficult; finger dexterity is harder to develop. At the very least, you can’t play too badly. Anna said she recommends you learn the viola. It’s much easier for adults to pick it up.”

"Minimum requirement?"

"Didn't Miss Elena tell you? She wants to form a family band."

"Instead of listening to others play the piano, you have to actually move your own fingers."

(End of this chapter)