Almighty painter

Chapter 959 Four-Handed Piano Duet
A journey always unfolds in a way that is unpredictable.

On their first morning in Paris, less than five minutes after entering the city, before the wheels had even stopped, Gu Weijing and Anna had another argument.

The incident started with a very small matter.

Paris is teeming with tourists, and the roads in the main city are very narrow, making it difficult to find parking even on weekday mornings. The most common cars here are MINIs, Renaults, Swifts, and small hatchbacks like Gu Weijing's Polo.

Gu Weijing's large Mercedes-Benz V8 SUV, weighing 2.5 tons, is fast and stable on the highway. The sales promotion video claims it offers a luxurious, comfortable, and fast choice for road trips. However, not a single line of the advertisement mentions that it's a convenient, easy, and effortless choice for parking.

Gu Weijing is prone to nervousness when driving.

Driving through the city of Paris made my heart race.

What struck him most was that on the roundabout in front of the Arc de Triomphe, not a single car was following the lane markings. There seemed to be a unique set of traffic rules specific to Parisians. Everyone could squeeze through the gaps between cars, but he, like a housewife carrying a basket, stood wandering aimlessly among the chickens and ducks darting around him, looking around in bewilderment.

But these are minor issues.

They eventually found an empty parking space in front of a Chanel store window. The parking fee was 11 euros per hour.

not cheap.

But this is still a minor issue.

What really made Gu Weijing and Anna start arguing was something else—this parking space was larger than a normal parking space because it was a disabled parking space.

Anna thought it would be fine to just park there.

Gu Weijing believes that parking is allowed, but Miss Elena needs to drive.

Anna certainly knows how to drive; she has obtained a special driver's license. On the way to Paris, Gu Weijing and his agent took turns driving. Miss Irina was much more skilled at driving than Gu Weijing, who had only had his license for less than a year.

That stretch of country road in Reims at night.

When Gu Weijing saw the moonlight breaking through the sea of ​​clouds in front of the windshield, Anna was driving.

If Miss Elena were still driving, things probably wouldn't have been so complicated. But since Gu Weijing was driving, he insisted that the two of them switch seats first.

then.

An artist and his agent, who had come to Paris for a vacation, started arguing right there on the street.

Miss Elena thought her painter was just making trouble all the time and was incredibly dogmatic.

Gu Weijing felt that Anna was unruly and did everything according to her own whims.

The dog, August, looked around and ate some melon seeds in the back seat. He thought the two of them were really troublesome. He thought that if they had the time, he would have jumped up and stopped the car with his paws.

"I don't understand the point of this. There are several parking spaces over there, but no one is parking there."

After a lot of fuss, they finally parked the car. Gu Weijing took the wheelchair out of the roof trunk and pushed Anna while Anna walked the dog.

The two of them were still arguing.

“Those are disabled parking spaces,” Gu Weijing said.

“I am disabled,” Miss Elena said, pointing to the orange wheelchair symbol on the ground.

August barked.

"A disabled parking space refers to a car driven by a disabled person, not a car with a disabled person inside," Gu Weijing said.

"What difference does it make whether you're driving or I'm driving? There are several empty parking spaces here. I'm satisfied in the car, and the Chanel store with the parking space is satisfied too. Nobody cares, the security guards don't care at all, even August in the car is satisfied. It's just that some people insist on pretending to be unhappy, acting like they're superior." Miss Elena commented sharply, "If you don't believe me, fine, if you think I'm being unreasonable, then we'll go and ask that Chanel store right now if they'll let us park."

"Let's make a bet: if the clerk says even a single 'no'—"

"Why don't you file a complaint against him and make him lose his job?" Gu Weijing interjected.

Anna said unhappily, "Here we go again. Is that what I meant? What you said is really pointless. If the parking lot here were full, I could find another place, but it's obvious no one is parking here."

"Woof." August ran from one side of the wheelchair to the other.

"What do you mean by 'obvious'?" Gu Weijing retorted, displaying his argumentative spirit.

"It's obvious to anyone with eyes that it's visible."

"Did you find a crystal ball and tell your fortune? What if after we leave, three disabled customers drive up and can't find a parking spot?" Gu Weijing asked rhetorically.

"Do you yourself think this is possible?" Anna commented.

"If it's not going to happen, why are there three wheelchair parking spaces marked here?"

“It’s obviously not me who’s trying to make myself look superior,” Gu Weijing said. “This has nothing to do with the Chanel store, nothing to do with parking fees. Rules are rules. Rules aren’t about one thing; rules protect everyone in this society.”

"The rule is to make things convenient for disabled people, not because I am Miss Irina Shayk, a high-level VIP of Chanel, and I have spent a lot of money, so I want to park in the disabled parking space here, and I will park in the disabled parking space here."

August ran over and nibbled at Gu Weijing's clothes.

"Wang."

"So you insist we change our spot? Will it change the outcome at all? You don't really care about the parking space, you're just satisfying your moral conscience."

"Nothing has changed, but it's important to satisfy one's moral sense. The result is meaningful, but the process itself is also meaningful."

August: Woof woof woof woof...

Dogs are really tired.

……

It was because of this little incident.

Neither of them drove again.

Gu Weijing pushed the wheelchair, and Anna led the dog, walking along the Champagne Boulevard. As they passed the Tuileries Garden, Miss Elena finally found her decisive weapon for retaliation—

"Little painter."

"Ok?"

"I heard someone say before, what does 'disabled parking space' mean? Does it mean that the driver is disabled, not that there is a disabled person in the car?"

The woman spoke with the same tone a homeroom teacher would use to read, "A certain student in our class made a stupid mistake. You know who I am, so I won't name names."

“So—” Gu Weijing noticed the smugness in Anna’s tone.

"No. He clearly made a mistake from the very beginning."

Miss Elena swiped her phone screen and, with the same dedication she used to research Ms. K's true identity, read through all the legal provisions. Finally, she won the debate.

"He's not only dogmatic, he's also presumptuous."

Teacher Anna criticized, "According to the relevant regulations of the Paris local transport department, as long as the passengers in the car need to use a wheelchair and have the relevant documents, they can use the parking spaces marked with the orange wheelchair symbol."

Gu Weijing remained silent for a moment.

"so."

He pushed the wheelchair forward.

Miss Elena put her phone back in her pocket as a diverse crowd of people brushed past them.

If you ask me—

The woman said in a playful tone, "—Some people said not long ago that it takes courage to bravely admit one's mistakes, doesn't it?"

"Let me tell you."

Gu Weijing replied, "If this were a discussion about traffic rules, then I would apologize to the party that is more in the right. But you didn't know about this before we stopped, did you?"

"Oh, so the process doesn't matter anymore, your happiness is the most important thing," Anna commented.

"No, because I've made mistakes, I don't like making the same mistakes again."

August: Woof woof woof woof woof—

August stopped calling.

Do whatever you want. As long as you two are happy.
-
Regardless of how many twists and turns there were in between.

Paris is a very beautiful city. Borges has a novel called "The Book of Sand," which has no first page and no last page, and is as endless as sand.

Paris is like this "Book of Sand".

Endless.

Behind every door, perhaps, lies a thousand-page story.

Travel has its arguments, but it also offers new scenery.

The two argued, laughed, and criticized the street performer's playing skills. In the end, they sat together by the Pont des Arts, the place where Miss Elena had once called Gu Weijing, and watched the sunset together.

Anna whispered something to Gu Weijing.

The two of them stood up together and walked to a pianist by the bridge.

Gu Weijing put a coin into the violin case in front of the other person.

"Thank you."

The street musician, with white stubble on his chin, thanked the two men. "But I have to go back now."

"Could you please wait a moment?"

Miss Elena asked in French.

“We don’t need you to play the piano; we’d like to borrow it for a bit,” Anna said.

"Please take a rest on the bench over there," Gu Weijing said.

“My instrument is very expensive,” the musician said critically.

"Don't worry, he'll be pushing the wheelchair and I'll be sitting in it. If we both had to run while carrying the electric piano, we definitely wouldn't be able to run fast," Miss Elena commented aptly.

Anna's dry humor probably impressed this unique old pianist more than her beauty.

He smiled.

They gave the instrument to them.

After obtaining the pianist's permission, Gu Weijing helped Anna sit on the piano bench.

Miss Elena sat on the left side of the stool, only occupying half of it and leaving the other half open.

She patted the chair.

"sit down."

The woman asked Gu Weijing to sit next to her.

“Gabriel taught you a basic way to read sheet music, right?” Anna asked.

Gu Weijing sat down and nodded.

"That's fine then. Actually, it doesn't matter if you can't read music."

Anna stretched out her finger and pointed to the neatly arranged piano keys on the right.

"This is middle C, remember this. Then, this is Do in the high register. The black keys are a semitone higher than the white keys. You use your thumb for this key... you use your middle finger for this key, and your pinky for this key."

"When you press the keys at the same time, the sound of the piano will form an arpeggio."

Miss Elena demonstrated it once.

She stretched out her fingers, spread them out, and touched the strings. Immediately, the electric piano produced a sound of notes blending together.

"You try it, with your right hand."

Anna asked.

Gu Weijing stretched out his fingers and pressed the keys on the piano.

"No, it's not like that. It should be as clean as possible, and your fingers should be very independent. It's not just about using your fingertips to exert force, but about making your fingers and forearms completely connected, and putting all the force on the keys together."

"like this--"

The woman demonstrated once again.

“Gabriel said your fingers are very dexterous. That’s great, an advantage whether you’re playing keyboards or strings. Remember when you were drawing lines in the sand on the island? It’s essentially the same thing.”

"You can't let your wrist sink."

“When the wrist is concave, the entire power is broken. Look at the bridge of art in front of us? When playing the piano, the wrist should be like a bridge, connecting the power from the forearm to the fingertips.”

She demonstrated it again.

Miss Elena is not playing the piano this time.

She used Gu Weijing's arm as piano keys, her fingertips resting on the young man's skin, jumping and pressing down.

"like this."

"Boom, boom, boom!"

“Like this.” Gu Weijing tried pressing the piano keys: “Boom, boom, boom.”

Anna disciplined Gu Weijing several more times.

at last.

The agent was generally satisfied with his training. She put her fingers together and said expectantly, "Now, we can play Debussy together."

Gu Weijing blinked.

He was eager to know what logical criteria Anna Elena used to arrive at such a conclusion.

This is Do, this is Re, this is Mi.

The black keys are a semitone higher than the white keys.

Note that you should press the piano keys with your fingertips.

Very good, little painter! You have now mastered the piano playing skills very well. Let's play Debussy together!

The question is... did Debussy agree to let him play?
This is like this: this is the lever, this is the level, and this is the engine valve. Very good, my friend. Now you have mastered the skills of piloting a helicopter. Now, let's go and participate in Red Bull's helicopter stunt show.

Do you see that tunnel?

Keep it up, you'll be flying through there in a bit.

"rest assured."

Miss Anna said.

"It won't be too complicated."

"The third movement of Debussy's La Mer was originally intended to be played by an orchestra, but after being adapted for piano, the core section can be played by four hands. This section is called the Dialogue between the Wind and the Sea. With only one voice and one section, it can no longer be called a dialogue."

"Once you've mastered the viola, I'd like to form a family band. But for now, the simplest way is fine."

"Play the notes I just taught you, each syllable lasting a quarter of a beat."

"What is a quarter beat on a piano?" Gu Weijing asked, puzzled.

"It's related to the tempo of the music, so I'll play the rhythm a bit slower. It's something like, ding, ding, ding."

Anna began to play on the piano keys.

"Listen carefully when I play this part."

"You are, clang, clang, clang. Imitating the feeling of splashing water, do, la, me, re... clang clang clang, do, la, me, re... clang, clang, clang."

(End of this chapter)