1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Wu Guanzhong kept clapping and cheering for the encore with everyone. He didn't know what to shout. He just clapped and moved his mouth without making any sound.

After so many encores, Wu Guanzhong's legs felt a little sore. He was so old that it was really difficult for him to sit down and stand up like this.

His wife Zhu Biqin's legs were not much better than hers. After standing for several times, her legs became sore. Finally, she couldn't help but said, "Can we not stand up too?"

Wu Guanzhong turned around and saw that there were also audience members who had not stood up.

“There are some who don’t stand.”

There were indeed some people who didn't stand, but everyone in the first row was standing, and they would have been quite conspicuous if they hadn't.

Forget it, I'll just take advantage of my seniority for once.

Later, the two of them stopped standing.

However, that was also Zhou Yan's last return to the stage. Zhou Yan did not come up again afterwards, and the lights on the scene also lit up.

Seeing the light on, Zhu Biqin asked, "Is it over?"

"Seems to be."

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Although the encore music was very nice, they were really too tired.

Wu Guanzhong turned around and saw many people walking out quickly.

This...isn't this exit a bit too aggressive?
Just now everyone was calling for Zhou Yan to come back, but now he's so impatient to leave?

"Are they running so fast because it's late and they can't get on the bus?" Zhu Biqin asked.

"I don't know." Wu Guanzhong shook his head.

At this time, Luo Meiwei next to her finally found an opportunity. She smiled and said, "Mr. Wu, they are rushing out to listen to the extra show outside."

"Extra session outside?"

When Luo Meiwei heard what Wu Guanzhong said, she knew that this was the first time for the old couple to attend Zhou Yan's concert.

She explained with a smile, "Well, Zhou Yan will continue to perform outside after almost every concert, which is equivalent to a free benefit for everyone. Many people who didn't buy tickets will wait outside the concert hall early to see the extra performances outdoors. The earlier you go out, the better the seat you can get. There are a lot of people here today. If you don't go out early, you may have to stay on the shore."

"Oh, I was wondering why there were so many people queuing outside when I came in. It wasn't a ticket check queue."

"That's right, those people are waiting for the extra show." Luo Meiwei smiled and asked, "Old man, are you Zhou Yan's friend?"

Wu Guanzhong shook his head. "Actually, I haven't met him yet. Our two tickets were given to me by a friend... The friend who gave me the tickets is here."

It turned out that when the two were talking, Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng over.

Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng's seats were closer to the front than the first row, but slightly to the side, not in the middle.

Seeing that Zhou Yan was not returning, Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng over to say hello to Wu Guanzhong and the others.

When Luo Meiwei saw Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng, she recognized them immediately.

"Teacher Yu Hua, Teacher Shi Tiesheng."

Hearing Luo Meiwei calling Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng, Zhang Xueyou next to her turned around curiously.

Just now, Jacky Cheung was talking to Du Zichi on the other side and did not notice the situation on Luo Meiwei's side.

"Hello." Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng over and replied to Luo Meiwei first, then smiled and greeted Wu Guanzhong, "Teacher Wu, Teacher Zhu, did you enjoy the concert?"

"It feels great, thank you both for your tickets." Wu Guanzhong said with a smile.

"You're welcome, Mr. Wu. We are also very generous to Zhou Yan. After giving you the tickets, Zhou Yan also arranged seats for us."

"That's good. I was worried that the tickets would be given to us and you would have no tickets."

At this time, Luo Meiwei smiled and said, "Teacher Wu, you are joking. Given the relationship between Teacher Yu and A-Yan, we have to arrange a seat for them no matter what."

Yu Hua looked at Luo Meiwei, a little surprised, "Do you know each other?"

Luo Meiwei smiled and said, "I didn't know him before, but after seeing Teacher Wu's paintings just now, I recognized him."

"Painting? What painting?"

Wu Guanzhong laughed and said, “Just now in the middle of the performance, I casually doodled two sketches.”

"Really?" Yu Hua asked in surprise, "Teacher Wu, can you paint in this environment?"

"What's wrong with this environment? When we go out to sketch, we often encounter very bad environments. The concert hall is pretty good. Except for the poor lighting, there is nothing else wrong."

"Teacher Wu, could you show us the two paintings you just drew?" Shi Tiesheng asked. He was very concerned about the two paintings.

"No problem." Wu Guanzhong was very straightforward. He took out his sketchbook, turned to the two pages he had just drawn, and handed it to Shi Tiesheng.

Shi Tiesheng took the sketchbook and saw the drawings on it. He couldn't help but exclaimed, "Wonderful, really wonderful. Teacher Wu's sketches are really worthy of their reputation."

Even though the two of them didn't know much about art, they could still see that the painting was indeed wonderful. Many times, the artistic feelings are the same.

Hearing Shi Tiesheng's words, Luo Meiwei smiled and nodded. It seemed that she was not the only one who thought this painting was good.

Zhang Xueyou also took a closer look at the painting.

To be honest, at first glance he didn't think there was anything special about the painting. It was just some sloppy lines. The people on the stage were not drawn very clearly, and many of them were blurred together.

But after looking at it for a few more times, Zhang Xueyou felt some cold sweat on his back, because in his mind, the scene of "Journey to the West Fantasy" being played on the stage just now suddenly emerged, as if he had returned to that moment just now.

It’s completely different from looking at a photo.

Although this painting is not very similar, it captures a certain special feeling. This feeling is very accurate, but others cannot grasp it or see it clearly.

Several people here were gathered around a sketchbook and kept exclaiming in amazement, which soon attracted the attention of those in the front row who had not yet left.

Zhang Guorong and Xu Guanjie came over quickly.

"What are you looking at?" asked Sam Hui.

"Look at the paintings." Zhang Xueyou replied.

“Hey, this painting—”

The first thing Sam Hui noticed was that the painting depicted the scene of "Journey to the West Fantasy" being performed on the stage.

Although the lines seem messy and the characters are not drawn clearly, one can tell at a glance that it is the stage performance just now, and one can also tell that the performance is "Journey to the West Fantasy".

Then Sam Hui felt that the style of this painting was somewhat familiar.

"Why does this style look a bit like Wu Guanzhong?"

Yu Hua looked at Sam Hui in surprise. He didn't expect that Sam Hui could also see Wu Guanzhong's style.

Being able to tell the style at a glance, even if one has no deep attainments in art, at least one has a certain understanding of Wu Guanzhong's paintings.

Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "Take a look at the signature."

Sam Hui looked at the signature on the lower left corner and was surprised. "It really is a painting by Wu Guanzhong. Where did this painting come from? Was it painted on the spot?"

There is a time on the signature, which is today.

"Wu Guanzhong painted this inside the concert hall? He's here today too?"

After hearing what Sam Hui said, Yu Hua and the others all laughed.

Luo Meiwei smiled and said, "Teacher Wu is right next to you."

"Next to me..." Sam Hui turned his head and saw the old man next to him.

Sam Hui did not know Wu Guanzhong, he had only heard of Wu Guanzhong's name and seen Wu Guanzhong's paintings.

When he came here just now, he didn't notice that there was an old man and woman next to him, let alone think that Wu Guanzhong was here.

"Mr. Wu?" Sam Hui looked at Wu Guanzhong in surprise.

"Hello." Wu Guanzhong didn't know Xu Guanjie either, so he could only reply with a hello.

"Mr. Wu, I'm so sorry." Xu Guanjie shook hands with Wu Guanzhong respectfully, and then praised, "This painting is so good."

"You're too kind," Wu Guanzhong said modestly.

Several people gathered around the two paintings, discussing endlessly, and more and more people gathered around.

First it was Sam Hui, then Tsui Hark, Nansun Shi and his wife, and later Anita Mui, Manyu Cheung and Joey Wong also came over.

Seeing that Wu Guanzhong had drawn two paintings for Zhou Yan, Wang Zuxian smiled and said, "Teacher Wu, since it's a painting of a band, why don't you show it to them?"

After Joey Wong said this, others also echoed her.

"Yes, such a good painting must be let Ayan know."

"He must be very happy to see the picture."

"He was very happy to know that Teacher Wu was here. If he saw these two paintings, he would probably smile before he went to sleep tonight."

"Not only will he laugh tonight, but he will probably wake up laughing in his sleep in the next few months."

"Yeah, hurry up and take it backstage, they probably haven't reached the door yet."

Generally speaking, after the concert inside is over, Zhou Yan will not go outside immediately, but will wait backstage for a while.

The concert lasts so long, they must go backstage to rest for a while and adjust their state.

On the other hand, the show had just ended and the audience were running outside, so the situation at the entrance was very chaotic.

It would be better for them to wait for a while until everyone inside has gone out and found their own positions before going out.

They acted right away. A group of people surrounded Wu Guanzhong and his wife and walked towards the backstage.

Zhou Yan was explaining something backstage to the band members who were going to perform outside soon. Yu Hua and his group walked in, staring at the band members in amazement.

Zhou Yan turned around and saw Wu Guanzhong in the crowd. He smiled and walked towards him.

"Teacher Wu, I have heard of you for a long time."

While greeting Wu Guanzhong with a smile, he quickly glanced at Yu Hua and the others, trying to figure out what was going on.

What's going on with these people? Why are they surrounding Wu Guanzhong?

"Hello." Wu Guanzhong smiled and shook Zhou Yan's hand. "We share the same aspirations. Today I am in the audience and you are on the stage. You have given me a lot of shock."

"Thank you, Mr. Wu. I am honored that you are here."

At this time, Yu Hua laughed, opened Wu Guanzhong's sketchbook, and turned to the page of "Journey to the West Fantasy", "There is a surprise."

When Zhou Yan saw the painting in the sketchbook, he couldn't take his eyes away.

He never expected that Wu Guanzhong not only showed up, but also painted a picture for them on the spot.

No, not just one picture, there’s more behind it.

Yu Hua turned to the painting "Bauhinia March" at the back.

Fang Xiu and his friends were close by and saw the painting in the sketchbook. They quickly gathered around it, and soon, there were dozens of people gathered around the painting.

"Wow, the picture is of us."

“This is such a great painting.”

"Awesome, you are worthy of being Mr. Wu."

"so amazing."

“How was this drawn?”

……

The members of the band are all young people, and the emotional value they provide is very high.

Wu Guanzhong is usually praised by too many people, but when he saw these young people surrounding his paintings, all of them looking very excited, he was also very moved.

Although artists always believe that good works should first follow their own heart and should not consider too much the views of the audience.

But people are people after all, and they will be very happy to see that their works can infect others.

No creator will remain indifferent when seeing others sincerely like their work.

Holding the sketchbook and looking at the two paintings on it, Zhou Yan couldn't put it down.

Zhou Yan really likes Wu Guanzhong's sketches. Compared with Wu Guanzhong's other works, his sketches appear more casual and more natural.

These two sketches were both drawn with pen, without any other colors, and without any smearing or smearing. Although some lines may not be very well-placed, the tension of art often comes from such seemingly flawed areas.

Every line above expresses the painter's mood at that time.

In other words, this painting not only records Zhou Yan and others, but also records Wu Guanzhong himself.

"Mr. Wu, these two paintings..."

Zhou Yan wanted these two paintings, but he felt embarrassed when the words came to his lips. He was usually very thick-skinned, but now his face became thin.

But he didn't need to say it explicitly, Wu Guanzhong knew what he meant.

"These two paintings are my return gift for the two tickets."

After saying that, Wu Guanzhong took the sketchbook and took down the two pages.

Wu Guanzhong's sketchbook has single pages fastened together with clips. If you want to remove a page, just loosen the clips. It is very convenient and will not damage the painting.

As soon as Zhou Yangang took the painting, Ma Dongfang next to him reached out to take it, "Brother, let me see it..."

However, before his hand touched the painting, Zhou Yan slapped him in the face.

"Just look, why do you want to touch me? Your hands are sweaty, don't you know?"

Ma Dongfang looked at his hands in grievance. There was no sweat on his hands.

Seeing this scene, everyone present laughed.

Zhang Guorong smiled and said, "Ayan, go back and frame these two paintings."

Anita Mui also teased Zhou Yan, "Yes, there is moisture in the air, don't damage the painting."

Zhou Yan curled his lips and ignored them. He just smiled and said to Wu Guanzhong, "Teacher Wu, thank you so much. It's just two tickets. I really can't afford such a generous return gift."

Wu Guanzhong smiled and said, "I think it's worth it. Today's experience is great. If you really don't want to bother me, you can give us some tickets for the next few concerts. I would like to support the concert box office, but I heard that it's impossible to buy tickets now."

Zhou Yan laughed, "No problem, I'll arrange the tickets." (End of this chapter)