The Versatile Master Artist

As long as you have money, no matter how quirky your request is, your agent or gallery can easily find it for you; they can find models as beautiful as you want.

A hundred thousand dollars spent, and it’s simple to find a Victoria’s Secret supermodel to pose for a nude portrait.

Especially if you happen to be an internationally renowned Great Painter.

No need to spend any money; countless model agents will contact you.

The big sisters might even proactively set your portrait sketch as the top profile on their social media.

In the hierarchy of elegance and snobbery,

In modern society, perhaps only some Palace Level classical symphony Musicians and royal family members can compete with Great Painters.

After Prince Harry and Meghan started heading down the Netflix dramatic soap opera path, even the royal family might have lost some ground.

A slender waist, a pert bottom, being a model for a Great Painter is such a proud thing!

Much more stylish than hoping for fame by stripping in a TV drama or shooting a high-end clothing ad as a cover model. If a Painter is willing to paint you, it really means they think highly of you.

But if your request is, ”The model’s soul has layers, and their eyes convey rich emotions,” these vague terms—

Your agent will be exasperated.

Whether you can find such a model, and if they do, whether the model can truly express the emotions the painter requires—

Ha,

It’s completely like finding a needle in The Sea, leaving it to fate.

Even when Gu Weijing painted portraits for Jasmine and Bu Dao, the two youngsters, he didn’t feel any magical connection when painting their eyes.

Jasmine’s eyes are indeed very beautiful.

But kids are kids—joy is joy, grievance is grievance.

Their minds are still childlike, very clean and pure, like a clear spring.

Touching, yet lacking in depth.

Especially young Bu Dao,

Gu Weijing often feels all he can read from his eyes is—wanting to eat, wanting to play, wanting to be lifted high—such simple Emotions.

At this moment, seeing Uncle Ah Lai’s gaze gives Gu Weijing a surprising feeling.

Like a piece of deep blue to almost black mineral watercolor thrown into a pool,

Slowly, gradually, layer upon layer of azure mist colors seep out, painting the environment in melancholic blue.

”This is a rich gaze!”

As if a monk strikes a bronze bell in his mind, Gu Weijing instantly understands what Professor Lin Tao had told him—the layered richness of a gaze.

Clearly, Uncle Ah Lai’s expression now is no different from usual.

His eyes don’t show any neurotic hate against unfair fate or resentment against the world.

His eyes are so peaceful, so hollow,

Yet there’s a subtle sadness flowing out, and in a moment of eye contact, one can see thirty years of Uncle Ah Lai’s past.

I once had glory, thought I could change my fate, was the master of this city, this country’s future.

I drove a car issued to senior officers down the bustling streets, in the rearview mirror were faces of envy and respect.

I also hit rock bottom, lost my faith, lost my honor, lost everything, like a pitiful creature with a broken leg.

In the end, there was no enemy to hate, just left to recognize this filthy world.

So,

I don’t want to get rich, don’t want to be above others, just want to live well as a volunteer at an orphanage, to be a truly good person.

Uncle Ah Lai stopped speaking,

But in the moment of eye contact, one couldn’t help but want to tear up.

Gu Weijing suddenly understands.

He grabs his pen and starts to draw quickly, holding the pen so tightly that the skin on his fingers turns slightly white.

Gu Weijing even dares not breathe deeply, afraid that this precious insight will escape his mind before he can capture it on paper.

Uncle Ah Lai tilts his head, looking at the student’s paper, recalling half a life’s worth of memories and thoughts abound.

Unlike many muscle-bound semi-literate soldiers in Myanmar’s warlords’ armies,

Ah Lai has a high level of cultural education; he was admitted to the best national military academy locally. His academic qualifications surpassed ninety percent of the people on this land.

Furthermore, Uncle Ah Lai had participated in exchange programs for VIP member protection in various countries, including Tel Aviv. In a foreign land, he experienced varied feelings and reflections.

Tel Aviv is a city long shrouded in the shadow of war.

Much like Berlin, which became a center for avant-garde art post-war in Europe.

Some sing praises of gunfire and slaughter, while others loathe death and killings; hypocritical politicians preach mutual hatred, but there’s always some hope for reconciliation among civilians, hope for ending wars, hope to stop killings, hope for racial segregation under darkness to be completely eradicated someday.

Hope for fairness and justice to be maintained internationally.

Hope that children can live a peaceful life.

Israelis rely on the Two-State Solution—one Arab state, one Jewish state, on the Middle Eastern lands, to gain the territory they desire.

But where is that promised peaceful state for the Arabs?

On November 15, 1988, Palestine announced its establishment, and the vast majority of Eastern countries, Arab countries promptly accepted it.