Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 155 – Everyone Doing Everything They Can

Just as Ning Shaoyun’s art exhibition was nearing the end, Xiao Feng went to go see it one more time. Most of her twenty-odd paintings have been reserved by collectors, so this would be his last chance to see them in detail later.

For art students still in the learning stage, these paintings were very much worth appreciating over and over.

Xia Mian had arranged for the fund manager Ning Shaobai had introduced to her to meet them at the gallery, planning to accompany Xiao Feng through the exhibition and then go straight to talk with the manager about establishing the fund.

Even nearing closing, the exhibition was still quite packed with visitors. Xia Mian followed slowly behind Xiao Feng, trying to admire the paintings, but unfortunately, she truly had no talent for art. Aside from knowing they looked nice, she could not see anything else.

Before long, they ran into Wei Yuanhang and his classmates. Xia Mian immediately felt as if she had been granted amnesty. She handed Xiao Feng over to them while she herself planned to wait for the fund manager in the café next door.

As she passed a corner, she saw Ye Anran’s painting, ‘Pure White Angel,’ and paused.

This was the second time she had seen the painting. She still remembered Sun Shuming joking that its greatest flaw was how sparingly the paint had been used. At the time, she had never imagined he had been speaking the truth.

Recalling the interaction she had watched at the art academy, she could not help smiling. Ye Anran probably would not be short of art supplies for a while.

She had only just finished thinking about the youth when, a few minutes later, she unexpectedly saw him on the way to the café next door.

Behind the large pillar at the corner of the gallery, right beside the rear entrance where staff came and went fairly often, Ye Anran leaned with his head tilted back and his eyes closed. It should have looked like a relaxing posture, yet Xia Mian somehow felt as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

After hesitating for a moment, she bought two hot drinks from a nearby shop and walked over.

As she approached, she heard Qianfa’s voice coming from around the corner:

“Ooh, Assistant Wang, in any case, the auction needs a theme, right? Just perfect!”

“Don’t you art people all worship the beauty of imperfection? That Venus or whatever. Look at Anran’s paintings—there isn’t a single one that isn’t incomplete…”

“And not only is the theme good, even the publicity gimmick is ready-made!”

“A genius painter suffering from heart disease…”

“Stop, stop!” Assistant Wang was clearly very impatient. “Heart disease, heart disease. You’ve worn out the heart-disease gimmick, and besides, heart disease doesn’t work with us!”

“Our company is participating in the auction, yes, but what the company wants is reputation and profit. We’re not doing charity!”

“The owner of Red House Gallery is providing this month of free venue space because they want to win over promising and well-known emerging painters while also attracting traffic and building their own reputation.”

“Other than heart disease, what does Ye Anran have?”

“His paintings may not even qualify for a single exhibition spot, and you want to set the theme so all of his paintings can be hung up?” Assistant Wang said mockingly. “Your appetite sure is big.”

Qianfa showed no awareness of having been mocked. He still said with a cheerful smile, “How is he not qualified? His paintings really are quite good.”

“If you don’t believe me, take a look!” He pulled out three photos and handed them to Assistant Wang. “These were painted over the past few months. He’s even had guidance from famous teachers. Wasn’t that previous one hanging inside? It’s already been sold!”

“That was because he benefited from Teacher Qingyun’s reputation.” Assistant Wang’s gaze was forced onto the photos. After sweeping a glance over them, he said sarcastically, “He’s sick himself, so he wants to make everyone disabled too?”

“The beauty of imperfection and disability aren’t the same thing, all right?”

“No, no Assistant Wang, you got it wrong. There are so many disabled children in the world. Anran just thinks they’re all adorable too,” Qianfa said. “Isn’t Venus missing an arm too? Isn’t that also a disability? How is it different? If it’s painted beautifully, then disability becomes the beauty of imperfection.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?” Assistant Wang could not get through to him and said impatiently, “Enough. Stop pestering me. In any case, there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Ye Anran doesn’t even have a degree. Being affiliated with the Capital Academy of Fine Arts, even just as a student, would at least worth something. Since he doesn’t even have a proper resume, you’d better give up already.”

Qianfa immediately said, “Oh, but our Anran is from the Capital Academy of Fine Arts! He goes to classes there every day.”

“Professor Sun Shuming is his mentor. He often gives him guidance!”

“The story is there already: a genius painter with little time left, dragging his sick body through his final creations in order to fulfill his last wish. That’s a good gimmick, right? Aren’t you looking for a big break?”

As Qianfa thought of something, he suddenly gave a self-mocking laugh. “With that body of his, he really won’t be able to hold on much longer. Maybe these will soon become posthumous works. Aren’t posthumous works always very valuable?”

“Listen, if you put on an exhibition for him, you’ll not only make a bank, but also fame! There’s no way you’d lose from this!” Seeing Assistant Wang still staring blankly, Qianfa continued, “If you can’t decide, then let me speak with Manager Hu directly. I’ll convince him myself.”

“Oh, give me a break!” Assistant Wang finally snapped out of it and immediately blocked his way, his patience wearing thin. “Quit daydreaming. An exhibition like this requires at least fifty pieces.”

“Didn’t you say his body cannot hold on anymore? Does he still have time to paint? Can he put together fifty pieces?”

“Fifty?” Qianfa froze.

Now that he had finally found something to stump this insolent young man, Assistant Wang could no longer suppress his irritation. “That’s right. Fifty pieces. If he can actually come up with that many, not only will we host the exhibition for him, we won’t even charge a commission!”

Qianfa’s eyes instantly brightened. He seized Assistant Wang’s arm excitedly. “You said it yourself! If we can really gather enough paintings, you’ll hold the exhibition for us! Of course you should take the commission—I won’t make things hard for you.”

Looking at him, Assistant Wang felt as though he were staring at a starving wolf that had caught the scent of fresh meat. He instantly regretted speaking too rashly. Still, he quickly added, “Fine. But don’t think you can fool us by bringing in just anyone’s paintings. Didn’t you say Ye Anran is from the Capital Academy of Fine Arts?”

“Then I’ll only accept works from the Capital Academy of Fine Arts. I don’t care whether they come from students or professors. As long as the quality is good enough, if you can gather fifty paintings, I’ll consider it.”

Qianfa was struck speechless at once.

Seeing his reaction, Assistant Wang rolled his eyes. “Don’t overestimate yourself. There are unfortunate people everywhere in this world. If we tried to help every single one of them, even going bankrupt wouldn’t be enough.”

“Hurry up and leave. Stop acting shameless here. If he really has ability, he wouldn’t need to use some heart disease to beg for sympathy. There would naturally be plenty of people willing to help him hold an exhibition…”

“Who says he has no ability?” a voice suddenly cut in.

Qianfa and Assistant Wang both froze. Turning back, they saw a group of students who had come out from the back door at some point.

Qianfa asked, “Why are you here?”

Wei Yuanhang said, “We were viewing the exhibition, then saw you through the window, so we came over to take a look.”

Assistant Wang looked at the group of students before him. They were clearly nothing like Qianfa, and his confusion only deepened. “You are…?”

“We’re Ye Anran’s classmates from the Capital Academy of Fine Arts.” Wei Yuanhang stepped forward, “Do your words from earlier still stand? If we can gather fifty works from the Capital Academy of Fine Arts that meet your standards, will you hold an exhibition for us without taking a commission?”

Assistant Wang immediately sensed trouble. He had only made that promise because he was certain Qianfa could never pull it off. But now that so many students from the said academy had suddenly come forward, how could he possibly dare to make that call himself?

Just as he was trying to figure out how to respond, Manager Hu walked out after hearing the commotion. “What’s happening here?”

Qianfa grinned broadly, “Oh, hello Manager Hu! Assistant Wang said you’d hold an exhibition for us.”

Assistant Wang shot him a furious glare before quickly turning to explain, “No, that’s not what happened. This brat somehow found out that we’re planning to bid for the Red House Gallery exhibition next month.”

“He heard the venue would be free and that we’d only charge a commission for exhibition planning, so he came here pestering us nonstop, insisting that we exhibit Ye Anran’s work.”

At this point, he could not help saying sarcastically, “He even set the theme for us.”

Hearing that, Wei Yuanhang replied, “Then there’s nothing wrong with him coming to you. Red House Gallery wants to attract attention and build its reputation, right? And your company is bidding to organize this exhibition for the exact same reason.”

“So why can’t the theme Ye Anran proposed be considered?”

Wei Yuanhang continued, “Let’s stop talking in circles and settle this with results.”

“Assistant Wang already set the condition. Fifty exhibition-quality works from the Capital Academy of Fine Arts. If we can provide them, you’ll hold the exhibition for us. So tell us plainly. Does that promise still stand or not?”

Manager Hu glanced at his assistant. Panicking, Assistant Wang quickly pulled out the photos Qianfa had handed him earlier. “Manager Hu, take a look. His works follow a specific theme. Barely anyone paints subjects like this, so they might not even be able to gather enough pieces.”

Manager Hu examined the photos carefully for a moment before handing them to Wei Yuanhang. “Our bidding process is one month from now. That means within a month, you’ll need to produce fifty works based on this theme, all worthy of exhibition standards. Can you manage that?”

“And when I say exhibition standards, I mean genuinely exceptional work. Don’t try to pad the numbers with self-promoted pieces or vague abstract paintings. Our company has organized high-profile art exhibitions for years. We know how to judge quality.”

Wei Yuanhang accepted the photos and glanced through them, hesitating slightly.

For art students, a painting worthy of exhibition usually took months to complete, sometimes even a year or two. Add a requirement to follow a fixed theme on top of that. Gathering enough works on such short notice would be extremely difficult. Wei Yuanhang looked toward Qianfa, his eyes asking how many paintings Ye Anran already had.

Qianfa quietly raised two fingers toward him.

Wei Yuanhang: “…”

Even he had to admit this guy was unbelievably shameless.

Xiao Feng suddenly spoke up. “I can paint too! My teacher is Zhu Yuanhai, and I also attend classes at the Capital Academy of Fine Arts.” He looked up at Manager Hu. “Can my paintings count as well?”

Assistant Wang rolled his eyes. “You’re just a ki…”

“Xiao Wang!” Manager Hu cut him off before he could finish. Then he lowered his head toward Xiao Feng and said gently, “If your teacher approves of your work, then of course it counts.”

As one of the top exhibition planners in the industry, Manager Hu was naturally well-informed. He knew that Zhu Yuanhai’s youngest and final disciple was a painting genius.

At Teacher Qingyun’s exhibition this time, he had also personally seen how big names in the circle doted on this child. Any work he produced would come with tremendous endorsement.

In that case, this matter was not entirely impossible to consider.

However…

“One person alone can’t possibly complete fifty paintings in one month,” Manager Hu reminded him.

“Who said he’d be alone?” Wei Yuanhang blurted out. “There’s still me! I’ll paint too. I’ll paint them now!”

“I’ve had work displayed in exhibitions before. Even if it kills me, I’ll finish another one within this month!”

“Count me in!” Next to him, a girl named Han Juan chimed in. “I’ve had work exhibited too. I can also bring in my best friend. She’s ranked first in our grade, so there definitely won’t be any issue. I can contribute two pieces from my side!”

“I’m joining too! I may not have had any works exhibited before, but this time I’ll make a name for myself!”

“Me too!”

Xiao Feng lifted his head and looked at them with shining eyes. “Brother Wei, Sister Han…”

Wei Yuanhang smiled. “Our little junior uncle has already taken the lead, so of course we have to follow his example!”

Xiao Feng happily threw himself at him, hugging his waist and rubbing his head against him. Wei Yuanhang ruffled his hair, suddenly feeling full of confidence. “And if we still don’t have enough, we still have the entire art academy behind us. I’ll go ask people one by one if I have to. There’s no way we can’t gather fifty works!”

Assistant Wang pressed his lips together, his face turning red.

Manager Hu smiled faintly. “Very well. But let me make the unpleasant part clear first. You only have one month. During that same month, we’ll also continue preparing our own bid. If you still can’t gather fifty works by then, our agreement will be canceled.”

Wei Yuanhang immediately said, “You got the deal!”

Manager Hu glanced at Xiao Feng and said with a smile, “With your little junior uncle here as witness, you can rest assured.”

Xiao Feng looked utterly confused.

At that moment, Ning Shaoyun walked out and said with a grin, “That’s right. Let Xiao Feng be the witness. If Manager Hu goes back on his word, then we’ll all ignore him from now on.”

Manager Hu burst into laughter and extended his hand toward both Qianfa and Wei Yuanhang. “I hope we’ll have the opportunity to work together.”

Qianfa, who had looked like a stray dog just moments ago, now bit down hard on his lip, unable to say a word. Wei Yuanhang pretended not to notice his reddened eyes. Patting him on the shoulder, he turned to Manager Hu and declared confidently, “Don’t worry. We’ll definitely have the chance to work together!”

“Right, Junior Uncle?”

Xiao Feng nodded firmly. “Mm.”

The group gradually left through the back door. Xia Mian lowered her head and looked at Ye Anran, who was crouched beside a pillar with his face buried in his arms.

She gently reached out and stroked his hair.

“You have to believe that there are still many warm-hearted people in this world. What they’re doing isn’t charity. It’s simply because some people deserve kindness.”

She pressed the hot drink into his hands. “Do your best, child. At your age, you should still believe in miracles.”

After her meeting with the fund manager, Xia Mian immediately went to see Manager Hu.

The children had already done everything they could. As for the rest, it was time for adults like them to step in and do their part.

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