The Versatile Master Artist

Good Fortune Orphanage,

Gu Weijing walked briskly through the large doors of the Old Church.

Nearly three months later,

Yangon was already slightly warm, yet the courtyard remained mostly unchanged. Only the shirtless construction team leader and the female director stood with blueprints, discussing something.

Thanks to the assistance of the wealthy businessman Chen Shenglin,

With the approvals obtained and Gu Weijing’s donation funds in place, the modernization renovation was soon to commence construction.

Thirty thousand dollars in Yangon was enough to make a small construction team work tirelessly for half a season.

The project’s overall complexity was not high. Regarding electricity, the orphanage would be connected to the city’s power grid shared with the nearby industrial district.

The water supply renovation required more extensive work,

But during the gradual installation of underground pipes, the construction team studied the Old Church’s blueprints and decided to first install a set of pumps and purification equipment on the old well in the yard for temporary living needs during this period.

In addition, rooms within this century-old European-style building and its brick exterior walls would be fitted with insulation layers and reinforced external walls.

The only thing that could be considered a regret,

was that by then, the Old Church depicted in painter Carol’s works should no longer bear the same ancient and faded historical shadows of the past.

”Goodbye, Old Church.”

Gu Weijing stood in the courtyard,

gazing at the walls sprawling with moss and climbing plants, gently shaking his head.

He wasn’t particularly saddened, just a bit pensive.

This was a choice that had to be made in such impoverished areas, helpless but very realistic.

Gu Weijing merely felt this literary sentiment due to having reproduced too many pieces of ”Old Church on a Stormy Day”.

In the orphanage, from the children to the volunteers, to the female director and the contractors, everyone was elated, indifferent to the disappearance of the historical site.

If they had a choice, they would surely prefer to completely flatten this historical building and construct a modern, brightly lit orphanage.

To Gu Weijing, the Old Church was a scene; to the children here, it was life.

Cultural preservation is something that can only be considered after one’s stomach is full.

Everything is moving in a better direction,

This Old Church, where time had solidified for two whole centuries during the colonial era’s pre-modern society, would finally transform into a modernized appearance in the forthcoming months.

Gu Weijing lingered in the courtyard for a moment, opened the virtual panel, and glanced at the task notifications.

[Chain Task: Fusion Painting - Sea of All Rivers (1/3)]

[Current Task Content: Complete one hundred thematic character line sketches. (Note: Out of which, more than twenty must achieve a Heartfelt rating)]

[Current Task Progress—]

[Character Line Sketch: (100/100)]

[Heartfelt (19/20)]

Just one more piece needing to attain the ”Heartfelt” evaluation was missing to complete this task.

Gu Weijing checked the time; a plan had already formed in his mind to conclude this task today.

After contemplating for a moment, he did not enter the church’s nave but turned to knock on the doorkeeper’s room.

”Uncle Ah Lai? Can we have a chat?”

Gu Weijing asked softly.

The orphanage’s gatehouse was a shabby little brick room, with a military cot inside, and on its iron rack lay pots, pans, and a kettle for boiling water.

In the outer room lay a wooden table.

On the left side of the table, there was a lamp and a stack of notebooks belonging to Little Girl Mo Li. On the other side, lay a half-read book.

The tall, lame uncle looked like a small giant sitting inside.

He seemed accustomed to silence.

Upon entering, Gu Weijing said nothing, merely gesturing for Gu Weijing to sit down casually, while he continued engrossed in his book.

Glancing at the book, Gu Weijing saw it was an English original edition of Joseph Conrad’s modernist novel ”Heart of Darkness”.

He clicked his tongue secretly.

As a former British colony,

Myanmar’s official languages include English and Burmese, but essentially only government high officials and those with higher education can adeptly use English, while locals still habitually speak Burmese.

Literacy rates were also not high, with people not knowing even how many English alphabets dotting the landscape.

To fluently read English originals and enjoyably read a dense classic employing polyphonic narrative technique,

Gu Weijing always believed that Uncle Ah Lai must have been quite a cultured and learned figure.

It’s no wonder that among so many people in the orphanage, only this gatekeeper could find and recognize the colonial-era missionary archive documents.

”In the late 1990s, I was dispatched by the Myanmar military to France and Tel Aviv for exchanges, so I learned several languages,” Uncle Ah Lai seemed to have mind-reading abilities, knowing what Gu Weijing was thinking, and he spoke calmly without raising his head.

Because wars have been ongoing, or many regions of the African Continent are traditionally relevant to interests.

Tel Aviv and some military training bases of France’s GIGN undertake VIP protection or special operations training globally.

Many small countries lack the conditions and instructors to train special forces, so they invest heavily to send elite officers overseas for training at operational bases.

Some have been entirely commercialized.

It’s known as the cradle serving political dignitaries and top Forbes billionaires’ security teams.

Many small African nations, typically perceived as poor fighters, might not have great training outcomes, but they’re quite willing to spend on VIP protection.