Chapter 716: Dingdong Ringing (Part 2)

But that kind of peaceful temperament realized through love and pain, with deep and steady eyes, doesn’t need to pretend to be wild or carefree, behaves with free will, and even if the fat jiggles and the corners of the mouth are smeared with roast meat oil stains, still appears dignified.

Compared to the little boy who used to like to cry and sniffle sleeping beside the pillow, this makes the Blond Auntie feel much more at ease.

Crazy and dirty, ignoring artists who scream about wanting to die are fake artists, and many people are just putting on a show for others. Someone like Yakai Ichiro, with a noble and stable temperament, is always Mrs. Sakai’s Byron.

Don’t be fooled by Professor Yajima becoming round and fat, in fact, he is still very popular among women circles today.

Those plastic old sisters who outwardly mock and jest about whether Mrs. Sakai is crushed by his fat, yet secretly jealous of her luck, wanting to take her place, are not few.

Once a little wolf dog turned into a fat goat.

If anyone were to swap the once melancholic and youthful handsome Asian boy with the current round husband, Mrs. Sakai would not be willing to change.

The saying about talented men and beautiful women has suspicions of gender bias.

However, the inner transformation, breaking the cocoon into a butterfly, is indeed a person’s most precious medal, the most charming quality in men.

In Catholic legends.

God sent some angels down to Earth as humans, each born handsome and powerful, carrying a special mission, with a radiant halo visible only to mortals hanging above their heads.

Such people are specially named Apostle (the apostolic messenger).

Apostles are merely a religious legend.

Mrs. Sakai always believed that truly dignified men are the ones most like apostles in religious stories, their temperament is the eternal halo burning above their heads.

Intangible yet able to instantly attract everyone’s attention.

Now, she felt that her daughter’s young boyfriend had such a halo shining above his head.

“Is our attire strange, why are so many people looking at us?”

Gu Weijing held Koizumi Katsuko’s hand and threw the used first-class inner-city train day ticket into a trash bin beside the marble pillar at the station, casually asking.

“I don’t think so, maybe it’s the patterns on my face?”

Miss Sakai held her boyfriend with one hand and Jasmine with the other.

The girl looked around at the passing crowd for a moment, then shook her head gently: “I think it’s quite normal, no different from when we came in the morning.”

“Mr. Gu, you’re right, you seem more confident.” Uncle Ah Lai, usually taciturn, couldn’t help but speak up suddenly, “That might be the reason.”

Uncle Ah Lai doesn’t possess the keen insight into temperament as the artist Mrs. Sakai does.

But he is meticulous in observing his environment.

The doorman noticed something different about his young employer on their way back.

Gu Weijing felt quite good, indeed, many people were subtly observing them.

Koizumi Katsuko didn’t notice any change because her looks and posture.

Since entering puberty, from Asia to Europe, nearly everywhere there have been passersby who couldn’t help but cast a glance at this porcelain-doll-like charming young girl.

She was already used to such inquisitive gazes, so she naturally didn’t feel today was any different from usual.

Gu Weijing used to be invisible, he didn’t have the ability to attract attention, even at school, he was merely an unremarkable ordinary person.

Even holding hands with Miss Sakai now, his tag simply changed from “nameless” to “nameless guy holding hands with a pretty girl.”

He was previously just a subsidiary of his girlfriend.

Apart from envious and surprised eyes, he hardly received any attention.

To put it bluntly.

Seeing this pair walking down the street hand in hand.

People’s first common reaction is “What good cabbage rooted by a pig, why him? Damn it. Why don’t pretty girls choose me?”

The second reaction among a few is “Mom, I believe in love again.” But more people probably think “This guy’s dad must be very wealthy.”

Exactly.

Even though Koizumi Katsuko is probably a thousand times wealthier than Gu Weijing.

People’s first impression is instead that Gu Weijing is the richer one.

Due to the common societal stereotype of seeking equal status.

Mutual resource balance.

In a couple with a huge appearance gap, the uglier one is definitely the wealthier one.

People don’t care how outstanding Gu Weijing’s painting techniques are, they just think that he could woo such a pretty girl, this darn guy must be no ordinary spender.

Mental state directly influences a person’s body language.

And now.

Maybe Gu Weijing’s strides are more expansive, gaze more serene, posture more upright, body language more confidently composed.

Overall,

More eyes started shifting from Koizumi Katsuko to Gu Weijing, and coupled together, even seemingly made them… appear finally somewhat matched in appearance.

“Really, I thought I was pretty confident before too.”

Gu Weijing self-mockingly remarked.

He surveyed the train station’s surroundings, but his attention wasn’t on people’s gazes, instead he was “gathering inspirations” with his own eyes.

When Gu Weijing was restless, even in the tranquil surroundings of a botanical garden, he was too bothered to start sketching.

At this moment his mind was calm, even in the midst of a bustling crowd, with the acidic and sweet Burmese noodle smell from a nearby snack cart wafting through his nose, and the quarreling of elder folks over seats resonating nearby, he nevertheless felt such scenes could be captured in a painting.

[Oil Painting Experience +131]

[Watercolor Experience +29]

[Sketching Experience +35]

[…]

The system’s crisp sound was like little wind chimes hanging under the eaves.

As Gu Weijing’s gaze moved with a steady tinkle, it hardly stopped during their whole trip back from the botanical garden.

Previously it seemed odd, many artist biographies, even some ancient Ming and Qing notes on artists’ painting moods mentioned that certain painter realized while facing a branch of plum blossoms, a red-crowned crane’s side profile for three days and nights, or simply by occasionally watching tide and sunrise, resulting in a great leap forward in technique, transforming.

Back then Gu Weijing found it a difficult thing to comprehend.

They say similarly enlightened, infusing emotions into the brushwork, creations resonating with audiences, this can be understood.

Yet.

Painting techniques themselves require time and hard effort to improve, what insights could one gain by staring at plum blossoms?

As a child, he specifically asked his grandfather Gu Tongxiang about this.

Gu Tongxiang sniffed disdainfully, considering these sayings all nonsense, merely ancient whims or self-glorifying in artists’ personal biographies.

The old man believed that a treasure sword’s sharpness comes from refining, plum blossoms’ fragrance from harsh cold.

Gu Weijing should be steady and not think about these shortcuts that don’t exist.

An artist’s painting techniques must be honed one brush stroke at a time on paper to feel assured.

When the system experience points sounded like pearls falling on jade plates, tick-tocking in his mind, Gu Weijing realized that his grandfather was still too naïve!

Gu Tongxiang held a brush all his life.

But ultimately was just a rustic local artist, limited in painting techniques and ideological realm, limited in vision and scope.

The old man perhaps never experienced a similar mental breakthrough all his life.

Just doggedly painted till exhaustion.

Therefore saying out of sour grapes that such a thing could never happen.

Masters painted well simply due to their better talent.

No, it’s not like that.

Gu Weijing found that after experiencing suffering’s accumulation, his mindset on viewing the world changed, gained tranquility, many previously boring things became fascinating.

Observing more meticulously, yields certainly increased too.

Even leading to phenomena like walking on the street with experience points jumping out on the system panel.