The Versatile Master Artist

The death of a companion pet is an inevitable issue that every owner must face.

When an animal friend, embodying your joy, your sorrow, your life, appearing in every moment like a little tail, suddenly leaves this world.

It truly feels like a piece of a block has been pulled from your heart, a massive sense of emptiness rushes in, letting a person experience grief akin to losing a family member.

Some people can get through it.

Some people cannot.

No joke, every year around the world, there are occasional reports of suicides because of pet death.

So in psychology, there’s a term ”PET LOST” (pet loss syndrome) to describe a whole class of psychological issues caused by the depressive emotions of the owner after a pet’s death.

When a child with autism encounters the sudden passing of an old cat that grew up with him from a young age.

The heart’s defenses slightly pried open slam shut again.

This time, even the door seam is completely sealed with molten iron.

At the best of his recovery, Tony could even play cat toys with Amy, engaging in simple activities like tossing a ball around on the lawn with a caregiver.

With Amy’s passing.

He reverted to being that perpetual child, in a daze asking his father for a cat.

Jean Arnou and the psychologist certainly thought about getting Tony a new pet.

To be honest,

The old gentleman nearly bought every variety of cat in the New Zealand pet market.

As long as it could make his son happy, forget a purebred cat at 5000 New Zealand Dollars, even if he wanted a thirty thousand dollars baby leopard cub to play with, he could package his son off to a private zoo in Dubai to satisfy his wishes.

The tricky part is, young Tony doesn’t want a chubby Persian cat, a gracefully elegant Russian Blue, a slow-witted Ragdoll, or another Scottish Fold.

He only wants Amy.

”Clearly with the intelligence of only a few years old, yet so persistent in this matter.”

”It truly makes Jean Arnou and his boy quite the pair, one refusing to remarry or adopt, having only his autistic son. And the other... he only wants his cat.”

The assistant thought, both sighing and amused: ”Had Mr. Jean Arnou known this, he should’ve gotten Tony a Brazilian tortoise back then; those can live a long time.”

He noticed Jean Arnou was watching him from the corner of his eye and immediately composed himself.

After recalling, confirming he hadn’t shown any expression that the great artist could mistake for mockery,

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Religious faith, political leaning, physiological issues... everyone has their own taboo areas in their heart.

The most crucial rule for an assistant is to avoid any taboo topic.

Jean Arnou’s taboo is his son.

The elderly man’s previous assistant had been with him for over a decade but lost his job for jokingly comparing Tony to a familiar comedic character from the local newspaper comics during a casual private moment without thinking.

This incident provided the new assistant the chance to step up.

”Have you received any responses from the painting knife painting artists Dr. Jin asked me to contact?”

Jean Arnou wasn’t paying attention to his assistant’s mental activities.

He gently extracted his sleeve from his son’s grip, called a maid to take care of Tony for a while, and moved aside a few steps to ask softly.

Dr. Jin is the private psychologist hired by Jean Arnou.

He owns a well-known private clinic in New Zealand.

Apart from occasionally providing psychological counseling for the great artist, Dr. Jin has been in charge of designing and arranging Tony’s treatment plan for ten years.

This time it was Dr. Jin Anqing’s suggestion, who believed the news that ”The Little Prince” can treat autism might be credible, suggesting Jean Arnou to accompany his son in reading the book more often.

If some painting knife experts could be invited to participate in the treatment, it would be even better.

”Lady Anya, the co-founder of Zaohe Space Art Gallery, and Professor Boggs from Brooklyn Art Academy have both gladly accepted our invitation. They’re coming to New Zealand for a short vacation, and I’ve booked first-class tickets. They should fly over in the next few days.”

In the niche category of painting knife painting, there aren’t many renowned artists.

Anya Doherty is the founder of a gallery in Ireland called Zaohe Space, focusing on new art styles, primarily finger painting.

However, she’s also quite skilled with painting knife paintings and once sold an avant-garde artwork combining five different painting styles for 100,000 Euros.

On the other hand, Professor Boggs is a leading figure in the painting knife field.

Getting these two together is practically bringing half of the painting knife industry’s elite.

Probably only a giant in the art world like Jean Arnou could have such influence.

”Jade Lake is the most famous and beautiful tourist attraction in New Zealand; they won’t be disappointed. I’ll have the maids prepare two spacious bedrooms, and if they prefer, staying at the Queenstown Hilton is also an option, depending on the artists’ preferences,” Jean Arnou casually said. Then, his tone turned expectant: ”What about Lady Detective Cat? Did she accept my invitation?”

”Detective Cat...”

The assistant hesitated a bit, smacking his lips.