Almighty painter

Chapter 990 The Divine Edge is Shadowless
My first solo art exhibition—

Gu Weijing raised the brochure in his hand. "It's a small-scale exhibition, with only about ten works. I've been preparing for this exhibition for almost two whole years. You've also been preparing for it for two whole years."

"You're welcome," Anna said coldly, knowing what he wanted to say.

Anna's cold face failed to shut Gu Weijing up.

Gu Weijing continued, “During this period, the art exhibition was postponed twice, and we had many arguments. I made many mistakes and hesitated and struggled with them. I have always been sorry about these things.”

“So—” the woman asked.

"So I don't know the effort required to put in a violin concert. I play the viola, and I know it's difficult. I've organized art exhibitions, and I know that's difficult too."

"so?"

"So, I guess it must be very technically difficult for a performer to polish a violin piece to a performance level and give a formal public performance."

Anna sat upright in the chair.

She sensed the implied condemnation in Gu Weijing's words, and she found such blame unbearable.

Her hands were ice cold.

She raised a hand, directly interrupting Gu Weijing.

“I didn’t ask Williams to pull me,” the woman said, emphasizing each word.

"Mr. Gu."

She repeated, "From beginning to end, I never asked Williams to play that piece, never."

"Should I let a lion chase him, wielding a sword, and force him to perform?"

Anna deliberately ignored Gu Weijing and stared at the leather pattern on the partition inside the SUV.

“Go ask anyone here. Go ask Eliot, if you don’t believe Eliot, if you think I’m a habitual liar—”

“I didn’t say I didn’t believe it, and I didn’t accuse you of lying.”

Ignoring Gu Weijing's interruption, Anna continued, "—Then you can go ask Williams if he insisted on rushing up to pull me up."

“He played, and he messed up. He didn’t play well; he didn’t meet my expectations, nor even the minimum requirements for playing this piece. Then I gave him another chance, and he messed up again. The whole thing was out in the open, and it was all consensual. Williams could have easily refused my invitation. So, I’m sorry, but I can’t stand you sitting here with that sour face, making any accusations against me.”

the woman said.

“I absolutely do not accept this.”

“I’ll repeat myself one last time on this topic. This is different from what happened in the Singapore theater. I didn’t do anything excessive; I just gave him a chance. A chance that 10,000 violinists in the world would dream of.”

Gu Weijing pressed four fingers together against the brochure, his thumbs overlapping to form an isosceles triangle. The young man rested his chin on the web between his thumbs and four fingers, breathing softly.

The exhibition brochure smelled of coated paper.

It looks like grass leaves.

"There are 10,000 violinists in the world who dream of having this opportunity." Amidst the scent of grass, Gu Weijing softly repeated the woman's words, his voice tinged with melancholy.

Miss Elena just couldn't stand it.

No.

Where did this guy learn his sarcastic and sarcastic manner from?

Anna wasn't afraid of debating or arguing, but Gu Weijing simply repeated his words verbatim in a dreamlike tone, which made her feel that he was full of sarcastic and cutting remarks.

"What, is there something wrong with what I said?" Anna was annoyed.

"No."

Gu Weijing shook his head.

"No problem at all."

There's no problem at all; perhaps that's the problem itself.

"When lying can bring enough profit, why tell the truth?" Gu Weijing said. "When a performance can bring enough profit, who can refuse it? I can't imagine Williams being able to say no in that situation."

“Then he lacks self-awareness. A great artist should be able to overcome difficulties and trials. If he can do that, then the rewards are rightfully his. If he can't, doesn't know how to refuse, and lacks self-awareness, then he has no reason to blame others,” Anna said. “That means Williams is not the great artist the world expects him to be.”

Gu Weijing smiled.

What do you mean by laughing?

Anna asked.

“It’s so strange,” the woman said to herself. “...Some people clearly say they don’t like Williams, but the next day they’re all grieving over it. Don’t you think that’s a classic case of schizophrenia?”

“Oh, I see. You don’t really care about Williams that much. The reason you’re unhappy is because that day in the concert hall, I told you I wouldn’t be angry with Williams because of you. But I still got angry.”

"You feel I haven't kept my promises to you. So you nitpick over every little detail, finding fault with this and that. I gave Williams an opportunity worth millions, and what did you do? You just went to the concert hall complaining about this and that, saying you didn't like Williams. In the end, you're the one complaining that I'm being unfair."

"Anyone who doesn't know better would think you're the one who's taking Williams to the concert hall for a solo recital."

Anna asked with a mocking laugh.

“Mr. G, has anyone ever told you that you are not generous at all, lack a sense of security, and are a very controlling person?”

"No, Anna."

Gu Weijing turned his head to look at his female companions.

"You'll never understand." Something in those words stung Miss Elena deeply.

“Please don’t flatter yourself, Mr. Gu. You’re not that important at all. There are plenty of interesting artists in the world,” Anna said. “I’m your agent, and I’ve arranged a solo exhibition for you. You’re welcome.”

“But outside of work, I also have my own life. I am very wealthy, and I have a family trust office that manages a lot of assets for me personally. I also have my own art foundation to manage, and I sponsor some artists that I think are worth looking forward to.”

“This is both my life and the business I want to run. The Elena family has been running these businesses for centuries. It has nothing to do with you. In the last hundred years alone, we have sponsored Klimt, the Impressionists, the Romantics, and many, many musicians whose names you have heard of and whose names you have never heard of.”

The woman said coldly.

"That day at the restaurant, I was just thinking about whether to add another name to the sponsor list, and that name was Williams, that's all."

“I like Williams very much, I’m not angry at all. Even if I were angry, it would be because of the Elena family, not because of you.”

"Stop fooling yourself, Anna."

Gu Weijing said calmly.

“We all know that you don’t like Williams at all, and you’re angry,” Gu Weijing said. “That day, you were angry not because of the Elena family, but because of me, and only because of me.”

Anna sneered.

Gu Weijing said, "To be honest, when I first learned about this, I was almost overwhelmed with a feeling of emotion that is hard to describe in words."

“Thank you, I’m very grateful,” he said.

Anna stopped sneering.

"But I can't help but wonder, if I were Williams, would I have made a different choice?"

Gu Weijing said.

“If someone came up to me and said, ‘Give me a chance, let me paint a picture right now, a technically complex work, a masterpiece that takes a lot of heart and soul. If it’s good, I’ll give you the gold trophy of the world’s most important art award.’”

"Can I do it? Can I draw it? Can I say 'No'?"

"What if it's $100 million? $300 million? $1000 million?"

"What if it's $5000 million?"

"Years ago, I received a call from Brother Hao. He wanted to befriend me. First, he wanted to help me get rich. Then he wanted to give me a Bentley worth $20, followed by a check for $100 million. Then the price was raised to $300 million."

I told him, "Thank you, but no need, sir."

"I keep asking myself, why did I reject Brother Hao?"

"Because I know he's a villain, a devil. All his politeness and manners are just a disguise for his evil, just like all so-called innocence is just a disguise for money launderers. If I take his money, he can take my life."

“I should be honest with myself.” Gu Weijing smiled wryly. “The fact that I was able to say no to $300 million back then is completely different from Uncle Alai saying no to $200 million.”

“Uncle Alai was much braver than me. He did it out of justice, out of conviction, and because I promised my father I would be a good person. If I were to turn a blind eye to the drug trafficking network, how could I face my father in the afterlife? So he shook his head and said, no.”

"I'm different."

Gu Weijing said.

“I’m smart. I refused Brother Hao out of fear rather than morality. I was afraid that if I took the money, my family would be ruined. One day, my grandfather and I would be drowned in the river in sacks.”

“I’m so lucky. This is the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. If I had hesitated even a little bit, I wouldn’t be here today. This conversation wouldn’t have happened. I would have lost the most precious thing in my life for this money.”

"You know what? Miao Angwen's father died. I met his father when I was in junior high school. He was a taxi driver. He even invited me to their house for dinner. He was a very kind and gentle man. He was so proud of his son. I believe Miao Angwen also wanted to make his father proud of him."

“There’s no going back in life. If Miao Angwen were given another chance, I believe he would definitely refuse Hao Ge. I believe Miao Angwen would rather shoot himself in the head than refuse Hao Ge. He thinks he loves money, but in reality, he loves his father more.”

“Give him a little more time, let him see things more clearly, and perhaps he will understand what the truly right choice is. I won’t even use good or bad to describe Miao Angwen. Instead, I will use the word tragedy.”

"He worked so hard. He could be sitting here. He earned money by doing other people's homework, he earned money by running errands for others, he helped his family sell fruit after school. It's just that at some point in his life, he didn't realize that money, money, money, for him, the most important thing was not money. He might have had the opportunity to become a master, but the tragedy was that he lacked a serious moment of reflection during his growth."

"Did he know that working for Brother Hao was wrong? I believe he did. But he didn't really realize it, he hadn't had time to truly understand. He thought that so-called morality was just a chain that bound people. So, he lost all these opportunities."

"What right do I have to criticize Miao Angwen?"

Gu Weijing sighed.

“How much better off is our family than Miao Angwen’s? My cousin, Gu Lin, lost a million dollars in just a few months. Good heavens, a million dollars. Doesn’t she know what that amount of money means? Doesn’t she know how terrible it is? I believe she does know. But she hasn’t really realized it yet, hasn’t had time to truly understand it. I believe that when she used her first winnings to buy things for her aunt, she must have wanted to make her parents proud of her.”

“I also believe that when Gu Lin was kidnapped and begging helplessly, she must have understood that there are many things in the world that are more important and precious than money. I believe that when Gu Lin hugged me at the airport that day, it must have been from the bottom of her heart.”

"But... do you think Gu Lin will really never touch these things again in the years to come?"

“I prayed to Buddha, to God, to all the gods and Buddhas in the world for this matter. But, to be honest, I have absolutely no confidence, I don’t know.”

“I have utter contempt for Brother Hao. I despise him, I despise him.”

“He told me that I was too young, that young people are naive and have a childlike innocence towards the world. He kept telling me, Gu Weijing, everyone has a price, everyone has a price.”

"I'm always worried. What if, what if."

"What if Brother Hao is right?"

"If, on that day, right after the New Year, Hao's men came to my door with not a few million kyats and a fruit platter, but several million US dollars, ten million US dollars, twenty million US dollars, would I really, absolutely be able to refuse them that day?"

"Why must I go to save Gu Lin? Why does Miao Angwen's matter affect me so much?"

Gu Weijing also stared at the leather trim panel in front of the SUV.

"Because I had to do it, because I felt the same way."

(End of this chapter)