Almighty painter

Chapter 961 The Soul of Impressionism (Thanks to Yu Jian Chi Su for being the Alliance Leader)
Thank you, Yu Jianchisu.

I started writing a bit late recently, and I haven't had time to add extra chapters for the previous patronage from You Luting. Sorry about that.

……

That night.

They watched the sunset together by the bridge, thanked the old pianist who lent them the keyboard, and then dined together at the Golden Snail restaurant not far from the Louvre.

I sat down at the table.

A waiter in a dark uniform placed the coffee cup on the table. Gu Weijing and Miss Elena stared at the waiter.

"Excuse me, is there anything I need?"

The waiter found the couple's gazes rather strange, so he picked up the kettle again to take a closer look and make sure it wasn't leaking.

Anna and Gu Weijing looked away from the coffee pots and exchanged a glance.

Do you remember the day we first met?

As Miss Elena took the menu, she recalled absentmindedly, "We sat facing each other in a similar coffee shop, and then—"

"We had a huge argument, and you just threw down a banknote and left," Gu Weijing summarized. "I hope I can pay the bill today."

"Oh. You're still thinking about that?"

Anna offered a sharp critique without hesitation: "Has anyone ever told you, little artist, that being petty is not gentlemanly? Or are you trying to show off your gentlemanly manners in this way?"

"Is that not allowed?" Gu Weijing held the cup and poured coffee for the two of them.

“A good attempt. Well, let me give you a suggestion: instead of insisting on paying, you have a better way to try, for example… I’m so sorry, Miss Elena, I was really wrong. I should have listened to you about the parking space this morning.”

obvious.

Gu Weijing wasn't the only petty person at the table.

“No,” Gu Weijing replied, “I think it has to do with power. It’s precisely because you are much, much richer than me that I insist on this.”

Anna shook her head: "There's no need for that. You're the painter, and I'm the agent. Let's just treat this as a working dinner. Why make such a big difference?"

"It's necessary because it's a working dinner."

Gu Weijing shook his head.

"You have to put yourself in my shoes. If I've been eating and drinking your food all along, I'll always feel that I have an obligation to give something in return to make you happy."

"So, you don't want me to be happy?" Anna successfully found a tricky angle.

Gu Weijing thought for a moment: "I do care, but that should be because you're my agent, you're my friend, not because you're paying for meals every day. I know you don't care, but please understand, I do care."

Gu Weijing and Anna, both wealthy heiresses, have completely different views on money.

This journey.

Miss Elena provided the €20 SUV, while Gu Weijing insisted on paying for all fuel costs and the expenses incurred crossing the border from Hungary to France. Many parts of the EU's Schengen Area do not have physical borders, but highway tolls vary between countries, and some places have border crossing fees.

Gu Weijing knew that this was not a true equivalence.

Many things cannot be measured by numbers.

Miss Anna's trip cost far more than what is on the surface. At least, Gu Weijing knew that because of the previous attack, the Elena family's butler had been following them in a different car from a distance.

"I won't explain why you were able to book a spot during the busiest time of the day."

Gu Weijing shrugged.

This place is right next to one of the world's most bustling tourist attractions. It's not that it's expensive or not—the prices of the food aren't outrageous by Parisian standards—but rather that even locals have to wait at least a month to make a reservation.

Anna came in.

Soon, a clean, empty dining table will be waiting for them here.

“So please let me pay,” the young man said. “This is obviously much easier than making a reservation.”

Have you ever encountered this situation when you ate with girls before?

Anna ordered grilled snails, handed the menu to Gu Weijing, and asked casually.

“Generally speaking, splitting the bill is more common. Or maybe you treat once, and I treat once,” Gu Weijing replied. “Of course, you can treat me, or I can treat you. But I think the purpose of treating someone should be to make the other person feel happy, not pressured.”

“If you care a lot about this dinner, about the money you're paying for, or about the significance of this meal, then this kind of dinner is meaningful. You're happy, and I'm happy too. But if this is just a regular working dinner, then since you've already made a reservation, please let me pay,” Gu Weijing said.

"So—you used to frequently go out to eat with girls. Ms. Sakai, or someone else?"

Miss Elena was concerned about something else.

Gu Weijing spread his hands and asked.

"So—OK? We've reached an agreement."

"We'll see." Anna took a sip of her coffee and smiled playfully. "If you perform well enough to satisfy me, I'll give you the chance to treat me to dinner."

……

soon.

The waiter then brought out the special escargots in a dark brown color, along with garlic baguettes and French onion soup as side dishes, and a bottle of white wine.

Gu Weijing isn't used to drinking alcohol, and considering he'd be driving later, he ordered a glass of orange juice.

They ate and chatted at the same time.

The conversation was aimless, about the seasonal sights of Paris, art exhibitions, the names and past lives of great artists who once sketched and painted along the Seine, and life at school.

Gu Weijing and Anna also talked about photography, and why Anna became interested in photography and ultimately decided to study photography in Hamburg.

When the woman came to Paris for vacation, she carried a very small Ricoh camera with her. It was about the size of her palm, had a fixed lens, and could easily be put into her handbag or pocket.

"The photography is beautiful too."

Anna said.

She casually picked up the camera on the table and pressed the shutter button on Gu Weijing, who was using a fork to poke at small pieces of bread.

Burp.

Anna pressed the browse button, placed the photo she had just taken on the screen, and turned it to show Gu Weijing.

"This is a painting. But it's not a successful one. I just put the camera in manual (M) mode."

“Exposure time, composition, white balance… everything is wrong,” Anna said. “It’s like a painter rushing to scribble on a canvas. An artist should deeply imbue his work with his inner emotions and spirit. As for photography, what I want to do more is to capture the emotions and spirit that permeate the environment itself at a certain moment.”

What does photography require? Waiting. Waiting for that moment when the scenery appears before you.

Anna pressed the selection dial on the control panel, looking at the photos she had taken during her trip to Paris: "My teacher said that photography requires three seconds of gazing and one second of pressing the shutter; the rest of the time is spent waiting." "Waiting for the scenery to arrive. And waiting to step into the scenery."

The woman held the glass and took a sip of wine.

“When I pick up a camera, I always feel that photography is very similar to writing art criticism in many ways.”

Gu Weijing thought about it seriously.

"It's also similar to painting, images with thoughts, eyes with thoughts. This is the difference between romanticism and simple natural scenery."

Gu Weijing opened the system panel and took a look—

[Active Skill: Ray Noah - Fragments of Human Souls]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Special Effect: This is a Ghostly Fragment type active skill. Under the following conditions, it allows you to imbue several future paintings with a trace of the true essence of a master's work. Note: The requirements vary each time it is activated and are related to the current skill holder's oil painting technique level. After activation, the master's essence carried by the brushstrokes will temporarily increase the creator's oil painting and sketching techniques by one level during the painting process.]

[Current activation condition (2/3), upon completion, you will receive (10 hours) of skill usage time.]

[1. Stand on the Pont des Arts (Bridge of Arts) between the French Academy of Fine Arts and the Louvre River and watch the sunset. (Completed)]

[2. In a private room after sunset, listen to a 30-minute informal piano performance by a female pianist under the age of 30. The repertoire must include piano selections from Debussy's "Clair de Lune" and the third movement, "Dialogue between Wind and Sea," of the Symphony "La Mer." (Completed)]

3. Go to any porcelain factory and complete the painting of 100 porcelain pieces. There are no restrictions on type or length, but the emotional expression in the painting must not be inferior to that of a simple, unadorned piece. (Incomplete)

The first two tasks have already been completed.

After Gu Weijing and Anna finished playing the piano and watched the last rays of the setting sun sink into the Parisian river, they heard two notification sounds in succession.

Including his Master's Path quest, he completed three quests in a short period of time during a single sunset.

When Gu Weijing opened the panel, in addition to the Chinese painting and oil painting techniques reaching "Lv.7 Master Level 1 (000001/100000)", the limited Impressionist mission was also two-thirds complete, with only a small portion of hand-painted porcelain left for him to paint.

It was quite a miracle, though not a huge one.

The young painter never imagined that he could complete both the first and second tasks in the Impressionist assignment simultaneously.

One of the tasks was to watch the sun set.

One of the requirements was that the task must be completed after sunset.

Judging by cold, rational reasoning, these two things are clearly in conflict.

Gu Weijing didn't know if their piano playing lasted 30 minutes, but it certainly wasn't a concert in a private room after sunset. Strictly speaking, he wasn't actually on the Pont des Arts, but rather sitting on a bench at one end of the bridge.

However, this task, which had previously tormented Gu Weijing and Anna, was miraculously completed.

The system does seem a bit crazy.

"The spirit of romance is not simply about capturing an entire landscape in a lens or a canvas. It's about a feeling. The purpose of art is to experience beauty. The artwork is the medium of beauty," Gu Weijing said. "The audience or art critic then experiences beauty through this medium."

The same applies to the system's tasks.

It doesn't incorporate a specific landscape, a sophisticated machine, or a rigorous courtroom trial.

只要完成了1、2、3、4、5，就能收获A、B、C、D、E。

It contains the spirit of Renoir and Impressionism.

Renoir and the soul of Impressionism cannot be gained by leaning against a wall, clapping, and saying, "Miss Hélène, you played so well, thank you for your hard work." You must truly feel, you must truly touch.

You must truly embrace the body of another soul through the body of one soul.

Gu Weijing must truly listen to music like Debussy, and truly feel, like Renoir, the honey-colored sunlight and air that envelops the entire city in the beautiful twilight.

Why can't art be beautiful?
There is already enough suffering in this world.

Why can't life be about resilience?

He has shed enough tears already.

That's why you become immersed in "The Girl Playing the Piano," and in "The Seine at Sunset." Did the sun really set? Was it day or night? Were you sitting on a bench by the Pont des Arts? Were your feet actually on the surface of the Seine?

They are all no longer important.

It is an understanding, not an imitation; it is using Renoir's soul to create new colors within Gu Weijing's heart.

"Miss Elena, I think you played the piano very well today."

Gu Weijing said.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Anna smiled gently. This time, she didn't show any impatience; instead, she seemed quite pleased.

"I can tell you're trying hard to get the chance to pay the bill tonight. Very good, please continue."

the woman said.

Come and praise me!

"I think the piano sound is very colorful, and the whole piece is flowing..."

Gu Weijing and Anna discussed the piano for a while.

He thought about it.

"Oh, right, I'll tell you a secret."

"What."

“Slapping the water’s surface,” Gu Weijing said. “That day at the villa on the ranch, when I heard you playing the piano, I thought of Awang slapping the water’s surface in the bathtub.”

……

When paying the bill.

Gu Weijing ultimately failed to secure the opportunity to pay. Instead, Anna made an agreement with Gu Weijing, as simply splitting the bill was too boring.

She paid for this meal.

Then, Gu Weijing went to practice the viola and asked him to perform music, to earn money by performing on campus or on the street, as a way to test his learning progress, just like the old violinist they met on the banks of the Seine today.

On the day that Gu Weijing's solo art exhibition officially opened.

Gu Weijing used the money he earned to treat Anna to meals, and she ate whatever he took her to eat.

Today Anna treated Gu Weijing to snails near the Louvre. If he earns 500 euros, they'll have a fancy meal. If he earns 50 euros, they'll eat at a regular restaurant.

With one euro earned, he could buy a baguette at the grocery store, break it in half, and eat it. Anna never complained about what he offered Miss Elena.

(End of this chapter)