Almighty painter

Chapter 999 Mission Completed
The next morning, Robert Kent, a distinguished graduate of the English Literature Department of the University of Southampton in the United Arab Emirates, arrived at the entrance of the Louvre at 10:00 a.m. sharp, still chewing on a deluxe Arabic burrito he had bought for 40 dirhams.

He had a silly look on his face.

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi was higher than he had imagined, and he regretted not bringing a few one-euro baguettes from Paris before he left.

how to say?
It was a magical journey, and he didn't know whether his plan was a success or a failure.

It's like playing an RPG role-playing game where you need to obtain a quest item from a quest objective—a legendary mage.

You excitedly rode off to the quest map marked with a "?". Then you listened to the old mage ramble on, recounting his adventures from his youth. He talked about everything from the Demon Castle to the Grand Palace, and the targets of your battles ranged from chickens running around in the village to fire-breathing dragons in the sky.

The old mage finally finished his rambling, and you looked at him pitifully with your big, blinking eyes. He scratched his face and told you, "Uh, sorry, the quest item you wanted... he accidentally lost it a few years ago." Just as you were barely holding back a mouthful of blood, contemplating whether to punch this guy in the face and make him at least reimburse your plane ticket...

The legendary mage rummaged through his belongings again and pulled out a scroll from under his buttocks for you.

"Or... why don't you go and try looking at Aunt Wang's place in the next village?"

The legendary mage snapped his fingers, and Robert was teleported to the front door of Aunt Wang's house in the next village.

Robert didn't come away empty-handed; he heard a great deal from Deckard Anlen about his experiences in his youth, his artistic journey, his path to success, his triumphs and confusions, his bewilderment, and his fears.

These were exactly the things Robert had been hoping for.

even.

This completely exceeded Robert's expectations.

Deckard Anlun says he is often regarded as one of the most representative artists of his time in the Chicago area, but he was not born in Chicago. Instead, he was born in rural Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the famous Rust Belt. His parents were the kind of people who would be called "white trash."

His artistic awakening came from Picasso. The corridors of the art school he attended were decorated with Picasso paintings, and he could always feel a kind of tranquil pleasure, almost like "flow," in these "ugly" works. Another part of his life was supported by his girlfriend, the typical girl next door, with flaxen hair. When she sat by the window, the sunlight seemed to seep through the gaps in her hair, a feeling that he found very beautiful.

This feeling is very strange.

Those days…Dike Anlun recalls…always with a pure, ecstatic joy.

Things gradually changed over time.

He slowly began to sink into escalating tension and anxiety. As Deckard Anlen became more and more successful, he became more and more bewildered. He was anxious and didn't know why he was succeeding.

Deckard Anlen was anxious when art critics criticized him.

While art critics were praising him—for a few years, newspapers were filled with adoration for Deckard Anlun—Deckard Anlun was even more anxious. He couldn't sleep at night, suffering from insomnia and tension. Sometimes, while driving, he would feel a racing heart and be unable to breathe.

He didn't know whether this was his own success or an element of luck.

"It's not that you acquire wealth, but that Manhattan makes you wealthy, and one day, Manhattan, this magical place, will defeat every artist."

"Dack Anlen said."

Therefore, he desperately tried to determine his place in the world through various means.

Every week, he checked various rankings and transaction records, needing to prove something in this way. In 2013, Deckard Anlun entered the top ten artists of the year. That year, in terms of the art market's heat alone, he even surpassed Hearst, who was severely impacted after the financial crisis.

But... he was still very nervous.

Then, he broke up with his girlfriend of many years, with whom he had an on-again, off-again relationship.

“My problem,” Deckard Anlen said, “is like… a string that’s been stretched tighter and tighter, and then one day, snap, it just breaks.”

Then came intense numbness.

Time passed day by day, and he was busy day after day.

The ventriloquist manipulated puppets attached to his fingers to perform for the audience. The puppets laughed and struck various poses to greet the flashing lights from the audience, but the ventriloquist's face remained blank.

Does he need money?

Perhaps so; people always prefer to earn more money.

Deckard Anlen knew that the wealth he possessed now was unimaginable in his youth, as was his social status. With his current money, he could live comfortably for hundreds of years.

he.

What he truly lacked was a sense of fulfillment.

Picasso once brought him satisfaction, but now Picasso brings Deckard Anron anxiety.

Deckard Anlen, Deckard Anlen.

When will you be the best in the world?

"Just today."

“Before you came to visit, I realized that the art exhibition had touched me.”

Deckard Anlen took a note from his wallet and handed it to Robert: “I still don’t think Gu Weijing’s exhibition was a great or immortal one. A great exhibition should have a power that transcends time. I think Gu Weijing’s exhibition still lacks a deep level of thought. However, that exhibition touched me, like—oh, so that’s how it is.”

While talking.

He slowly stood up from the sofa.

He looked like he hadn't slept for days; he was exhausted and could barely stand.

Deckard Anron was initially indifferent when he went to Gu Weijing's art exhibition.

He is a puppet in a play.

He suffers from dissociative identity disorder.

He traveled a long way to the art museum, struck a superhero-like entrance, and, with the air of the leader of the Maes Gallery, engaged in a battle of wits with the art critics in the room.

But he never cared about Gu Weijing's art exhibition, nor how well Gu Weijing painted... or even how bad Gu Weijing painted.

That's a powerful social inertia. When faced with competition, he should come, he should find a way to trample Gu Weijing underfoot. As for Daike Anlun, he came, performed his role, and did his best, for better or for worse... it may not necessarily have that much of a connection.

then.

Deckard Anlen slowly tried to "compete" with Gu Weijing. He began to really examine Gu Weijing's works, raised his fist, and tried to knock Gu Weijing's works to the ground.

It's an apple tossed into the air.

It is a pear-shaped ball hanging from the roof beam.

The apple thrown into the air will fall back to the ground. Deckard Anlen fiercely hooked the pear-shaped ball with a left hook and then a right hit, turned around gracefully, and the rebounding pear-shaped ball slammed itself to the ground.

again and again.

Deckard Anron repeatedly visited Gu Weijing's art exhibition, gazing intently and scrutinizing it for a long time, until he began to hesitate.

At last.

Deckard Anlen discovered that he hadn't truly experienced that feeling of being completely immersed in the work itself for many, many years.

Whether the art exhibition is good or bad, it's like drawing an ugly picture when you were young. This pure experience is enough to make you ecstatic.

The puppet's shell had a crack.

The real Deckard Anlen is slowly emerging from this tired and weak shell.

He drew back the curtains.

The sunlight streamed down, shining directly on the tired face of this superhero.
-

Robert stuffed the last two bites of the Arabian chicken burrito into his stomach and then queued at the ticket counter to buy a museum ticket.

He squeezed the note that Deckard Anlen had handed him in his pocket.

The artist said that the best way to experience an art exhibition is to see it in person, rather than just hearing about it from others.

Ok.

It seems he has no way to save the 60 dirham entrance fee.

but.

As expected of the top art venue in the Middle East, the related services are quite comprehensive. While queuing, there was even a live music performance.

The two-person ticket package was five dirhams cheaper than a single ticket. Robert and a black man next to him bought the tickets together. Robert counted his change while holding the two-person ticket package in his mouth, and listened to the performance by artists in the nearby square.

He took a look.

promise.

The person playing the violin was a young artist.

……

Mr. Williams never imagined that he would receive an exhibition invitation from this person.

He felt he must have lost his mind to take a seven-hour flight from Hamburg to Abu Dhabi.

Even as his feet touched the scorching sun-baked ground outside the airport in the UAE capital, Williams took it as a mockery and ridicule. Gu Weijing certainly had the right to ridicule him.

His life was so smooth: solo exhibitions in major art museums, media coverage, and worldwide attention.

Everything that an artist of this age could hope for was readily available to Gu Weijing.

And he.

Williams has been having a really bad time lately.

Whenever he picks up his violin.

He felt as if he were back in the restaurant next to the Baji Palace, the lingering aroma of onion rings and sauce with octopus still wafting to his nose, the woman's goddess-like majesty, and that hellish piano music.

The cricket in the bottle, the butterfly in the specimen book—Williams frantically flapped his wings, yet he could never escape the shadow of that day.

He was trapped.

Williams didn't just lose his position at the Vienna Philharmonic; he lost the magic of playing the violin. He didn't just play a bad piece in a restaurant.

Williams discovered it.

He couldn't even play some of the most basic tunes properly anymore; it was as if his deepest nightmare had suddenly become reality.

“Every time you perform, you must remember that everything you have dreamed of since you were young is right in front of you, but you are not capable of picking it up.”

The woman, beautiful as a muse, delivered the judgment.

"You will not become a good musician."

The violinist was pierced by the opponent's powerful will, struck down by the verdict, and collapsed to the ground.

In the racing industry, there's a saying that goes like this: before experiencing their first major accident, young drivers always think they're invincible.

It is said.

Some top drivers, after recovering from a major accident, are unable to fully adapt to racing when they return to the track. They are trapped in the accident, develop a fear of driving, and uncontrollably apply the brakes prematurely before the car has reached the proper braking point.

They couldn't handle the race car.

Williams began to lose control of the violin in his hands.

As he picked up the violin, a strong sense of remorse lingered in the shadow of that day. He had made the same mistake again and again, and his playing became increasingly disjointed and chaotic.

Yula—

The greater the obstacle, the more difficult it is to overcome.

A mere technical predicament wouldn't have caused Williams to be so distraught.

The essence of Greek tragedy lies in the fact that the goddess of fate has already woven the judgment, and you can struggle as hard as you want, but whether you succeed or fail, you can never escape the fate that has already been written.

Anna Elena had written his destiny.

Whether he succeeds or fails, Williams cannot escape the fate that the woman holding the cat has written for him.

Not only when he pulled badly, Williams was trapped in the shadow of that day.

Even when he was playing well, and for a few moments when Williams seemed to have rediscovered his old form, he was still trapped in the shadow of that day.

Williams completely ignored his agent's advice and, as if possessed, dragged Paganini along.

once.

He really gritted his teeth and managed to play the piece smoothly, overcoming all the difficulties that could have led to mistakes.

Why now?

If only I had pooped that day... if only I had that day... if only I had pooped that day!
What's the point of pulling now?
As he neared the end, he suddenly stopped playing the bow, stood there blankly, and a few seconds later, Williams, holding the bow, burst into tears.

He knew he was doomed.

From then on, Williams seemed to be allergic to his violin. When allergic people come into contact with allergens, their skin itches, turns red, and blisters. When Williams came into contact with the violin, his heart itched, turned red, and blistered.

He couldn't even practice well with the school symphony orchestra.

After he made a series of mistakes during rehearsals.

The conductor said he was too tired and suggested he take a short rest, and that the second violinist could temporarily help him.

The commander phrased it very tactfully.

Williams knew what this meant, and he begged the conductor to give him another chance. The conductor agreed, and then Williams made a mistake again in the following week of rehearsals.

Bringing up old stories is like waking up from a nightmare you can't wake up from!
Miss Elena raised her finger and said, "AGAIN."

The conductor waves his baton and says "AGAIN".

But no matter how many "AGAIN"s there were, the result was always exactly the same. On the day Williams was "demoted," he roared in despair in the orchestra and threw his bow far away.

"You people...you're all the same!"

therefore.

He almost got fired.

He was spoken to by the school's disciplinary department. Not to mention that the conductor has supreme authority in an orchestra, and no one can speak to the conductor like that, let alone that he was a highly respected old gentleman in the entire European music industry.

His industry standing is in no way inferior to that of Samuel Kertzens.

Imagine what it would be like if a student in the watercolor classroom suddenly stood up and threw his watch at Kozens's big face.
The discipline teacher told him—

This is a scandal.

The Hamburg Academy of Dramatic Arts and Music absolutely will not allow such a thing to happen, no matter what achievements the student has made in the past or whether he has a solo album on Apple Music. The school cannot tolerate such a thing.

Williams was given a disciplinary warning by the Hamburg Academy of Drama and Music.

Unless he can gain the understanding of his conductor, he can no longer return to the school orchestra.

Williams sat numbly in the chair.

Hearing the verdict delivered by the school.

One verdict after another, Williams was used to it. He looked at the bow broken in two on the table. His instrument was extremely expensive, far less valuable than a Stradivarius, but it was an old 19th-century violin. The bow alone cost 5000 euros.

But this isn't about money.

A violinist throwing his bow represents a profound despair.

At that time, whose roar was he actually directed at?

Was it the band conductor who demoted him, the cold-hearted Anna Elena, or... Williams himself?

From that day on, Williams did not play the violin in public for several months.

……

It all started from the day we parted ways.

For several months, Gu Weijing has not played the violin in public.

"Art is about knowing yourself, art is about finding yourself." These are the words that Brother Yang, Teacher Yang, said to Gu Weijing.

Gu Weijing didn't understand what meaning playing the violin on campus still held for him.

Gu Weijing sometimes misses the big cows on the ranch, wondering if they ever feel lonely.

Awang?

He confirmed repeatedly that Awang's family was living comfortably there and did not seem to miss him at all.

Gu Weijing spent most of his time at the porcelain shop. After completing the last set of porcelain cups, and after two years, the limited-time Impressionist project was finally completed.

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

[Quality: Legendary]

[Special Effect: Ghost Fragment type active skill... After activation, the master's intent carried by the brushstrokes will temporarily increase the creator's oil painting and sketching techniques by one level.]

[Current activation condition (3/3), 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 a simple, unpretentious work (100/100).

(End of this chapter)