The Versatile Master Artist

After Dr. Jin recorded it, he tapped the table with his knuckles: ”Well, let’s leave it at that. Lady Detective Cat, I look forward to your work. Whether it’s me, Master Jean Arnou, or that poor Tony, we all sincerely hope you will be the one to make magic happen.”

”Goodbye, feel free to communicate if you have any questions.”

Despite the courteous words, Dr. Jin spoke with great politeness.

But before hanging up the online video call, without the need for the Mind Reading Technique, just by listening to the tone, both Gu Weijing and Mr. Tree Sloth could tell that Dr. Jin was not very confident at the moment.

In fact, Gu Weijing himself wasn’t very confident either.

The Painting Knife Technique bestowed by the system naturally had its extraordinary aspects.

The issue was that the artistic skill of Elder Jean Arnou in creating fairy tales might also be unparalleled in the world.

And Tony was the old master’s own son.

Even that didn’t succeed.

Gu Weijing had a premonition that if his work were to achieve what Greenfield Miracle had not accomplished.

It would definitely not be as simple as finding a few photos of Amy and reproducing them on paper.

According to the emotion table system’s evaluation, it would need to reach at least the level of Heartfelt or even Heartfelt (Perfection).

Unlike when he painted Ah Wang.

When Gu Weijing painted Ah Wang, the liveliness depicted was mostly of the external form.

This time it should be more about pursuing a deeper spiritual immersion.

It’s easy to paint form, but hard to paint the essence.

This made it more complicated.

He currently had no clue.

”Wait a moment, I have something I’d like to discuss with you, Lady Detective Cat.”

Seemingly sensing Gu Weijing’s confusion and hesitation, Mr. Tree Sloth did not leave the chat room with the psychologist.

When only the two of them were left in the Zoom meeting.

She spoke up and stopped Gu Weijing, who was about to turn off his computer.

”Do you also think my choice of Amy as an entry point is not very good? Even Jean Arnou didn’t succeed, and me trying does feel a bit overconfident. But actually, in painting Cat...”

Gu Weijing prepared to patiently explain his choice’s rationale to Mr. Tree Sloth.

”No need to explain. No matter what subject you choose, I trust you.”

Mr. Tree Sloth softly interrupted Gu Weijing: ”Personally, I am a pet enthusiast, and I have some insights that might be helpful to you if you’re interested in hearing them.”

In the bedroom of the distant Yilena Manor, Anna, wearing headphones, gestured to the dog lying on the carpet at the door.

August had just been bathed by two servants.

Its fur, dried by a blower, was fluffy and smooth, and its large black eyes displayed human-like comfort and aloofness.

August was indeed a dog born in luxury, and even the carved copper bowl it used for drinking water was a genuine antique.

If you ignored August occasionally gnawing on its cartoon teething toy colored like a small watermelon.

The cold and indifferent demeanor was like that of an emperor fresh out of a bath.

It was just missing two Imperial Consorts to attend to its rest.

Upon seeing Anna’s greeting, the dignified and aloof aura of August instantly vanished.

It spat out its teething toy, rolled over on the floor to stand up, and wagged its tail happily.

Trotting over to the girl’s side.

The dog propelled itself with its hind legs to jump onto a nearby soft, classic carved four-poster bed.

August made a pleasing whimpering sound, rolled over, and exposed its snowy, pure white belly to its mistress for a rub.

Gu Weijing heard two barks in the distance during the online meeting.

”Do you have pets? I’m very curious about your perspectives.”

He didn’t know what the typical dynamic was between other agents and artists.

In the surrounding examples, his relationship with Mr. Tree Sloth was completely different from the dynamic between Hanks and his grandfather or the relationship between Elder Cao and Old Yang.

The magic of Mr. Tree Sloth lay in that he could not only bring him unfathomable quality contracts like Little Prince.

Moreover, he was like a scholarly friend.

Mr. Tree Sloth could always interpret a story or a painting from perspectives deeper and more profound than his own.

Sometimes, the nimble mental response and youthful expressions made Gu Weijing feel that the cartoon avatar of a brown sloth hid a peer not much older than himself.

More often, his speech and knowledge made Gu Weijing feel that his age exceeded that of the middle-aged voice he perceived.

A person,

How many books must he have read, how many things must he have experienced, to have such a profound accumulation of knowledge?

It’s quite magical that a gentleman from such a privileged world would choose to be the agent for a small painter like himself.

One could say that without Mr. Tree Sloth, he would neither have obtained the Little Prince illustration contract nor created such profound works.

”Mr. Tree Sloth, may I ask... Do you think pets truly understand human emotions, or are they merely anthropomorphized emotional attachments for us?”

Before Mr. Tree Sloth could respond, Gu Weijing asked the question he most wanted to know.

”That’s a very good question. Lady Detective Cat, asking this question shows you’ve already grasped the core element of human-animal relationships.”

Anna bowed her head and scratched August’s warm, soft belly.

The area beneath the skin of a dog’s abdomen is where their nerves are most richly concentrated, and the Springer Spaniel was now rolling its head in pleasure, sticking out its tongue on the Simmons mattress.

”My answer to that question is—pets are both conduits for human emotions and entities with rich emotions of their own.”

”Have you considered the question of why, except for a few insect enthusiasts, no one chooses a cockroach as a pet?”

”Disgusting?”

Gu Weijing tried to imagine having a cockroach as a pet.

He immediately felt uneasy.

Except in the comedy scenes in Zhou Xingchi’s Tang Bohu Points to Qiuxiang, keeping a cockroach as a pet is an unacceptable idea for normal people.

”The feeling of disgust comprises both physiological and psychological aversions. The physiological aversion is easy to understand; historically, creatures like cockroaches are often associated with decay, filth, and sources of disease and negativity.”

”That’s the emotional portrait we’ve ascribed to them.”

Anna said lightly: ”In today’s society, this physiological aversion isn’t insurmountable. In many places, cockroaches are bred for medicinal purposes, and these American cockroaches are cleaner than most vagrants you might see on the street.”

”Even if there were an entirely germ-free and dust-free cockroach, I still wouldn’t choose it as a pet—that’s the psychological aversion.”

”The psychological repulsion might be because it’s not outwardly cute, but more so because it’s hard to ’domesticate.’”

”Domesticate?”

Gu Weijing mulled over the meaning of the word.

”Remember the Little Prince Chapter I read to you over and over?—What you tame belongs to you. Saint-Exupéry’s famous quote is a fitting metaphor for the relationship between humans and pets.”

Anna extended her hand.

August, very attuned, got up from the bed and rested its head on its front paws, licking Miss Ilina’s fingers.

”The existence of humans and animals interpenetrates, along with humans’ intricate emotions and behaviors. The moral dilemmas between humans and animals abound in life.”

”When I was young in a boy... girls’ school,” Anna nearly misspoke, ”I had a close friend. He once read an animal rights campaign ad and believed that pet ownership was selfish and immoral. So he released the multicolored macaw his father had given him before Christmas.”

”To this day, he’s still an ardent animal rights advocate, a vegan who consumes nothing containing animal meat or animal fat seasonings. His only exception is fish, as he believes fish lack animal emotion and don’t feel pain.”

Anna smiled: ”I always thought he exemplified the ’emotionally satisfying yet objectively absurd’ behavior people have towards animals. Because while a valuable pet parrot can live up to 60 years in captivity, it seldom survives more than two months in the wild. Concurrently, recent research shows that fish not only feel pain, but even the plants he eats exhibit biological reactions similar.”

”I think he misunderstood the nature of domestication.”

”Domestication is a mutual trust between humans and animals. Amy is Tony’s cat, and Tony is Amy’s ’person.’”