The Versatile Master Artist

A person’s aura is a mysterious thing.

Indescribable, intangible, yet it exists so genuinely.

Mrs. Sakai remembers.

For her fifteenth birthday, she wanted a beautiful ballroom dress, the kind with sleeves adorned with blue velvet floral embroidery and a pearl brooch, handmade.

Even as a little girl, Mrs. Cruz hoped to make a stunning entrance at her first high school dance with it.

A custom-made dress from a private tailor like this one cost over fifty thousand pesetas, equivalent to half a month’s salary for a working-class person.

Such luxury clothing, as a birthday gift for a girl student, might seem overly extravagant. Nonetheless, her father was a Mercedes-Benz dealer in the Les Corts District of Barcelona, so given the family income, this little wish wasn’t too excessive.

She had been anticipating it for months, hinting to her mother for ages, yet on her birthday, she only received a novel by Margaret, “Gone with the Wind,” worth less than a hundred pesetas.

Mrs. Sakai showed a harsh face for several days, sulking and ignoring Shengzi’s grandmother until one night she finally opened the book.

The opening line was, “Scarlett wasn’t beautiful, yet men seldom realized this when caught up in burning desire for her.”

This prelude was highlighted in lemon yellow by her mother, who wrote a dedication—

[A woman’s aura is an eternal allure to men, more so than angelic features or seductive curves. Certainly, more important than a dress.]

[A pretty girl in a backless dance dress may not attract boys; a grand, graceful aura is the eternal winner in love. Finish this book and make the boys at school fall head over heels for you. When you truly bloom like a rose with thorns, you will get the dress you want.]

[A splendid dress should be the robe of a queen’s coronation, not a tool for a socialite to entice men.]

A ballroom dress valued at fifty thousand pesetas couldn’t remain fashionable for more than a few summers.

Yet, a five-hundred-page novel became a gift accompanying Mrs. Sakai through the next thirty years of her life.

She is a Latin beauty, yet like Scarlett from “Gone with the Wind,” she is self-minded, daring to love and hate, determined to achieve her goals at any cost, and willing to give it her all.

Mrs. Sakai could think her daughter’s boyfriend wasn’t “classy” enough and call Koshiba Tarou over to tear up his painting in front of him. She could also choose Yakai Ichiro as her husband without hesitation, not minding to gamble her life, poised to leap for love from the edge of a seventeen-story building.

This independent and mysterious aura has been her “ballroom dress” over the years, more enchanting and alluring than her looks and figure.

Back when Uncle Sakai was studying in Spain, he was a drop-dead gorgeous man, an innocent yet tempting young wolf.

There were many hot-bodied, sultry-eyed little hussies on campus trying to have a one-night stand with this Asian stud, possessing “poetic sorrowful eyes” and “samurai-like chiselled physique.”

Yet she managed to keep her boyfriend enchanted and obedient.

In Japan’s upper-class art circle, examples like theirs of family harmony, conjugal love, happiness, and loyalty are almost unheard of.

Other than Mrs. Sakai’s ability to teach her husband, mastering the art of husbandry.

This allure on her, which does not fade with time’s passing or aging appearance, is also a tool, like a magnet, securely attracting her husband’s restless heart.

There will never be a beauty eternally young, but there will always be young beauties emerging.

However, whenever Mrs. Sakai steps into a studio full of young female models striking poses.

Even if those girls in their twenties have bigger busts, slimmer legs, perkier rears, and wear less, everyone from the lighting director to the art assistant inadvertently casts their gaze upon Mrs. Cruz.

When women of the same age start discussing behind closed doors how long they’ve been secretly separated from their husbands, or if the gigolo they’ve kept is up to the task, Mrs. Cruz, who has had two children, casually slips into a Victoria’s Secret ensemble, making Uncle Sakai’s heart race and flesh jiggle, even though he’s seen countless beauties.

This is the transformation and empowerment that aura bestows upon a person.

A woman’s aura is her best makeup, and this principle applies to men as well.

An amusing fact.

In the history of the Cold War, the “male color” spies exposed for seduction missions, whether from the Stasi or Military Intelligence Six of the two opposing sides, rarely qualified as handsome, many appeared plain, unremarkable, with unsightly physiques.

The James Bonds in “007,” both gentle and cunning, are clearly Hollywood’s romanticized and artistic rendition of spy-thrillers.

A truly mature and strong man can make a girl feel deeply moved with a simple look, even more so than Leonardo’s boyish smile.

They are warriors who have overcome life’s challenges and inner turmoil, providing a powerful sense of security.

Although now Uncle Sakai has become a warrior weighing over two hundred pounds… well, who says sumo wrestlers aren’t warriors!