The Versatile Master Artist

Good Fortune Orphanage,

”Hey bro, what are you doing there? Collecting inspiration?”

Journalist Du Wen, wearing a volunteer badge, stood in the courtyard, curiously observing the young man there.

The other person looked like a student, holding a drawing board and sketching with his head down, appearing very out of place in the orphanage.

Du Wen was a newly hired young journalist at the Myanmar Mirror.

Ambitious, he was planning to write an investigative report on the local orphan community in Yangon over the next few months, aiming to make a big impact in the local news scene.

Such social commentary journalism that often highlights the darker sides of society has always been a favorite topic among political journalists, and it’s also the kind that easily wins various journalism awards.

As to why he didn’t go to the Golden Triangle to interview drug lords, or venture into unstable regions to document the wars and frictions between warlords...

Sorry,

he actually wasn’t that ambitious.

Since he wanted firsthand information, Du Wen couldn’t just wave his press credentials around, with a cameraman lugging heavy equipment while roaming around.

He drafted an interview plan and investigative process in advance, and almost every day he would blend into various welfare institutions in Yangon as a volunteer to conduct his investigation.

Today,

he met an eccentric character at the Good Fortune Orphanage.

In fact, the probability of encountering eccentrics in the journalism industry is quite high. Finding an art student in an orphanage, while rare, wasn’t enough to astonish Du Wen.

But the fact that after finishing each drawing, the guy threw the paper into a coal stove nearby to burn it.

This puzzled Mr. Journalist.

”Why burn them? The drawings... they look pretty good to me?”

Du Wen curiously craned his neck, watching the thin boy, who seemed about seventeen or eighteen, toss another freshly completed sketch into the water-heating coal stove.

Although he didn’t understand art much, Du Wen the journalist had the impression that the drawings seemed lifelike.

”The emotion isn’t right.”

The flames licked at the rough surface of the sketch paper, which quickly shrank and blackened, and within seconds, it turned into a wisp of dissipating smoke.

Gu Weijing gazed at the gradually dimming fire in the stove, shaking his head in frustration.

After taking a taxi to the orphanage today, he originally planned to complete a portrait sketch as an assignment.

Choosing portraits as a subject was not only because he excelled in Burman’s anatomy specialization.

But also because drawing portraits is undoubtedly the easiest way for an artist to capture emotion.

Every living person constantly carries their own joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. Even if one tries to be deliberately calm, the calm itself is a kind of emotion.

The artist’s task is merely to record this emotion.

Especially the children in the orphanage.

Innocence, childlike, simple, in theory, are the best models.

Yet he had already burned several drafts in a row.

For every drawing completed,

he would burn one on the water-heating coal stove.

Sometimes, he would just burn it halfway through drawing.

Gu Weijing did this because it seemed his works always lacked something.

The feeling was off,

and the final emotional assessment didn’t pass.

He contemplated, staring at the girl playing with a doll under the tree in the distance — his chosen model.

”I heard your family donated a lot of money here, maybe a few thousand US Dollars?”

Du Wen was somewhat interested in this boy who burned his drawings.

This kid wasn’t very old, but according to others, he often donated money and materials to the orphanage, amounting to a significant sum.

So young,

rare to see.

”My own money.”

”Your own money is basically your parents’ money. What do your parents do that allows you to attend Fitz? Your family must be earning quite a bit.”

Du Wen sneered.

As a well-traveled journalist, he recognized the letters Fitz on the dark school uniform worn by Gu Weijing, formed into a crest. This was a well-known local private school.

So a rich kid,

thought Du Wen.

He had heard of Yangon’s wealthy youths playing with cars, watches, models, or even drugs, but being into charity — now that’s a curious hobby.

”Are you applying to foreign universities? Getting some social service points, maybe add that to the application... you’re quite willing to spend money. Actually, it’s better to find a study-abroad agency.”

Journalist Du Wen thought he had found the answer.

To become a journalist at Myanmar’s biggest newspaper, he himself had studied journalism overseas and understood the twists and turns of foreign university applications.

Many foreigners prefer to admit students with a background in social services.

For instance, Harvard’s generally minimum requirements are a GPA of 3.6 and an SAT score of 1500, but if the social service is particularly outstanding, perhaps a GPA of 3.2 and SAT 1300 would do.

However, in general, such situations can be managed by simply finding a study-abroad agency to provide documentation. They can fabricate the whole background for you, ensuring you appear as a student keen on social philanthropy.

Why bother coming to an orphanage, where it’s tiring and thankless?

Du Wen felt that although this guy’s family was wealthy, they didn’t really understand how things worked.

He shook his head, ready to leave.

A wealthy kid out here for social service points really wasn’t worth reporting on.

As for criticizing such behavior in a report, there was no need.

At least he genuinely spent money on charity, and since Fitz International Middle School’s students are either wealthy or noble, it might even involve local high officials’ children, not worth offending.

Unexpectedly, just at this moment,

perhaps they had been looking at the little girl in the blue dress for too long, which piqued her curiosity.