Chapter 727: The Elder Grandpa Who Does Nail Art

“What’s happening outside?”

Cao Xuan adjusted his glasses, glanced at the commotion outside the classroom window, and casually asked his assistant.

“Hold on… I’ll explain later, I have something else to handle first.”

He waved a hand at Assistant Old Yang, who was about to come over to gather teaching materials, then turned to a female student with thick glasses and chestnut-colored hair, smiling as he asked, “I remember you’re Kleiser? The exchange student from France.”

“Yes, yes, Sasha Kleiser.”

“I remember, it’s a nice name, and your grades are good too.”

The student Sasha didn’t expect that a great artist like Cao Xuan would actually remember her name, and even her usually shy eyes behind thick lenses brightened a bit.

“I’m from a single-parent family, living in the countryside of Provençal. I took my mother’s surname since I was a kid, Kleiser is my grandfather’s surname, surname, surname…”

The girl became a bit nervous, stumbling through her self-introduction.

Halfway through, she suddenly realized that someone as important as Elder Cao wouldn’t have time to listen to her mess of trivial details, feeling she had ruined this rare private interaction, and became even more flustered.

Being an art student with a bit of social anxiety, she lowered her head deeply, staring at her toes, stammering nervously.

“Relax, young lady. I think I present myself as quite approachable in class, do I look scary?”

Mr. Cao Xuan, having seen such scenes often, smiled helplessly.

“No, no, no, it’s just that I admire you a lot.”

“Then hold your head up while speaking. As the only student in the class today who remembers that the four-character inscription ‘Future Interaction’ in Qi Baishi’s painting ‘Little Chickens Fighting Over Worms’ relates to the Xunzi’s ‘Theory of Human Nature’s Evilness’ in Eastern philosophy, this personal conversation is well-deserved for you.”

In the world of art, after achieving fame and success, almost anyone who wishes can easily snag an honorary professor position at an art or music academy.

This is similar to certain economists winning the Nobel Prize and then managing to hold visiting or honorary professorships at seven or eight universities or business schools around the world.

These titles are mostly honorary.

The individuals don’t truly dedicate themselves to researching or teaching, and some even handle their rare lectures online, just reading the script for a few minutes to get by.

The school brochures add prestigious trademarks to attract quality students, while scholars get more honorary titles, earning additional salaries effortlessly.

It’s a win-win situation.

Uncle Sakai is a professor at Tama Art University, but at his level, the school rarely assigns him any teaching duties, nor do they often let him select students to mentor there.

He’s just a revered figure symbolically supported by funds.

Only when invitations from places like the Great Golden Pagoda arrive at the beginning of the year, demanding attention specifically, and if Uncle Sakai finds the project interesting, he would graciously move his roughly two hundred kilograms of weight to lead a team on behalf of the school.

Throughout the Japanese artistic community, the individual with the best reputation, highest artistic morality, and the most seriously respected celebrity is the Asian Rock Godfather, Tanimura Shinji.

One of the most talked-about achievements of Mr. Tanamura is how, after receiving the honorary professor title at Dongxia Magic City Music College in the early 2000s, he proactively and diligently traveled to the city to prepare lessons and teach students.

He’s considered the epitome of “exemplary of virtue and artistry.”

Elder Cao is also such a person of exemplary virtue and artistry.

He possesses the temperament of an old-school Eastern traditional scholar, and people of his generation highly value the meaning represented by the title “teacher.”

Once a teacher, forever a father.

For both the teacher and the students, it’s a sacred and inviolable relationship.

In the late 1990s, his second disciple, Lin Tao, was busy accumulating wealth during Dongxia’s economic boom. He agreed to become a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, thinking it would just be a title, and the titles of Professor Lin or Teacher Lin would sound pleasant outside.

He was just going to muddle through the courses.

However, once Elder Cao found out, he called Lin Tao over and gave him a stern reprimand. Even though Lin Tao was in his thirties, he almost ended up crying after being scolded by Elder Cao.

A well-renowned great painter within Asia was sternly disciplined by Elder Cao like a misbehaving child, standing in the corner for a whole night.

The next day,

Professor Lin Tao flew back to the Capital City to prepare for being in charge of a studio for the upcoming semester, fully dedicating himself to teaching students.

Mind you, at that time, agents from Gagosian had already started reaching out to Lin Tao.

For the sake of this teaching position at Central Academy of Fine Arts, he upended his entire career plan.

He also missed the opportunity to tour Europe and make money, perhaps letting go of the chance to become the first Dongxia resident artist with historical significance represented by Gagosian Gallery.

He might have missed out on a hundred million.

Considering Gagosian’s world-leading promotional marketing capabilities, a genuine hundred million could be had, whether in RMB or US Dollars remains uncertain.

Professor Lin also regretted it, but Elder Cao didn’t allow wavering.

No one forced Lin Tao to sign the contract, but since he agreed to be a teacher, he must wholeheartedly and steadfastly guide the students. It was a matter of principle.

The Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts invited Elder Cao to be the department head, just hoping to gain some prestige from this top-tier Asian figure.

The man is nearly a hundred years old, who dares to assign such an elderly gentleman a teaching mandate?

Are they crazy?

If something happens in class out of students’ annoyance, who would take the responsibility? Who dares?