The Versatile Master Artist

Since Gu Weijing is willing to trust me.

No matter how unbelievable it may seem, Uncle Ah Lai is also willing to trust that the other party’s money is clean.

Forget about the secret of one million dollars.

That has already far exceeded the scope of ordinary employment relationships.

An old man who has suffered too much and experienced the vicissitudes of life has his own scale and principles for doing things.

Some secrets must be protected with one’s life.

Now that Gu Weijing is donating money, I am working for him at a low salary, this kind of equivalent exchange is quite pleasant.

Gu Weijing doesn’t care to say it, but the gatekeeper knows the weight of it, and is unwilling to elevate their relationship to many levels above employment.

A worker turning into a trusted slave, that would be too tiring.

”If there’s a lot of money, it represents a lot of issues. I may spend a lot of time on the foundation and may not have time to pick you up every day. Are there any safety issues to worry about?”

Uncle Ah Lai changed lanes, overtaking a shabby Toyota, and proactively changed the subject.

”It should be fine.”

Brother Hao is really quite trustworthy, he does as he says, and said he wouldn’t disturb my peace of mind in creation.

Not only has the bald guy stopped bothering me, even Miao Angwen at most runs over to talk and then stops.

Gu Weijing hasn’t had safety concerns for a long time.

”Also, Koukou told me... Do you know Koukou? I was classmates with her at Fitz. Her father is a high-ranking superintendent at the Yangon police department. She said Brother Hao is about to have bad luck.”

”Brother Hao, is about to have bad luck?”

Uncle Ah Lai raised an eyebrow.

”Probably the police have some kind of thunderous operation,” Gu Weijing speculated.

”Seems like Brother Hao is still unaware, probably not far from downfall.”

From observing Miao Angwen at school still with an arrogant, insolent demeanor, Gu Weijing could infer insight into the broader situation.

He could roughly speculate that Brother Hao is still in a ”tranquil times” sort of peaceful mode.

There is no tense atmosphere at all.

Born in distress, die in complacency.

The same applies to large crime syndicates.

It is estimated that this famous Brother Hao is not far from stepping down from the top position of Yangon’s underworld stage.

”Understood—”

Uncle Ah Lai hesitated for a few seconds, but still spoke: ”But Mr. Gu, you’d better also pay attention to safety during this period, don’t be careless.”

”You don’t look favorably upon this matter?”

Gu Weijing heard another layer of meaning in the man’s tone, frowned, and asked: ”Uncle, you’ve been out of politics for so long, do you still have your own network for hearing information?”

”It’s not that I have any news, it’s just that the atmosphere of this city is not quite right.”

Ahlai stared through the windshield at the city rushing by outside, quietly said.

”Atmosphere?”

”You painters, when painting, emphasize the artistic atmosphere that portrays characters. A city also has its own atmosphere and temperament.” The man measured his words carefully, ”Some cities are gloomy, some cities are cheerful, some cities are slowly decaying, while others have liquid of perpetual restlessness flowing in their veins. Yangon’s temperament is... a smoldering stove.”

”Wait a moment.”

Gu Weijing casually opened the voice log on his phone.

Knowledge, technique, emotions—these are the three elements Teacher Cao believes comprise a work’s level.

Knowledge isn’t just the architectural blueprints of the Great Golden Pagoda, or anatomical muscle line diagrams, these knowledge cards are called knowledge.

The customs and nature of a city are also an important part of knowledge.

A painter’s life only happens once, no matter how exciting one’s own life is, it’s impossible to experience every variety of life at different ages and environments.

So it requires fieldwork.

Literary and art workers do fieldwork, besides gathering some real scenery, the texture of this environment and the mindset of nearby residents also constitute the important foundation of a work’s ”granularity.”

For instance, the most fundamental perception of the city environment is the profound and deepest part inside a literary work. When creating a certain piece, the master Yu Hua from Dongxia often accompanied by a great deal of field interviews, he records folk songs and customs.

The fundamental core of literature and art is always interlinked.

An excellent portrait painter can draw the soul aura underlying a person’s surface.

An outstanding portrait painter paints portraits of animals, cities, capturing the essential characteristics of the animals and cities.

Uncle Ah Lai’s rich life experience leads to his understanding of a city, deeply insightful like amber-colored wine sealed for decades under the osmanthus tree to local painters.

Priceless.

He knows these are all important original painting materials.

From the start when Professor Lin Tao joined Teacher Cao’s door until now, he always carried a paper notebook to jot down various observations and field inquiry insights.

Gu Weijing sometimes takes a shortcut, using phone recordings for substitution.

”Yangon’s temperament is a smoldering stove. Uncle, you describe this city like this, is it because of the wartime reasons? Like heaven and earth as a furnace, the people as kindling?”

”No, my focus isn’t on burning, it’s on smoldering.”

”Yangon is an ancient city, accompanied by gentle Buddhism and good crop production conditions for the past ten centuries. So the city’s characteristics are different from other cities. Tel Aviv is also perennially shrouded in the clouds of war, racial segregation, killing, undercurrents pervasive, the scene there is much larger, national-scale army confrontations, the shadowy nuclear war threat, a world’s powder keg.”

”But there it’s like a burning flame.”

Uncle Ah Lai released the gear handle of the steering wheel, gathered and then spread his fingers, making a gesture of burning.

”Armed security forces patrolling the streets, undercover Mossad agents, customs officers staring each Arab down as inherently guilty, secret police. F15 heavy fighter jets roaring flames at the airport day and night. In coffee shops, grocery stores, female soldiers wearing brown-green uniforms with standard automatic rifles manufactured by the Belgian FN company at their side, everything about war there. Even the worst scenarios, including Israel bombings of those hospitals, buildings. Or terrorism attacks by extremists, it’s all laid out on the table.”

”Whether rockets screech across the sky or fighter jets scream past, dropping laser-guided bombs raising colossal dust in the isolation zone, they often seem dry and direct like bamboo joints cracking in flames.”

”Yangon, on the other hand, is a sauna room shrouded in steam by the furnace’s roast, everything is foggy.”

”When something changes here that will cause a huge shift to make a underworld Godfather like Brother Hao topple, it happens silently but tensely. Nothing happened, yet everything happens. Like smoldering coal blocks, the core temperature at the bottom has reached melting alloy, still looks gray and dull on the outside.”

”I still remember the weeks before Kunsha decided to surrender in January 96. At that time, I was transferred back to Yangon, my office was just next to the Federal Government Office Building. Those days, it looked like people’s lives were unchanged, but everyone could feel a sense of tension, high-ranking government officials hurried in and out of the building, military vehicles and police cars were roaring down the streets.”

”But no precise information was passed on.”

”I often heard the rotor sounds of Mi-24 armed helicopter formations flying overhead from the clouds, but when I looked up, I could only see thick clouds. The grey-blue clouds seemed to weigh on everyone’s hearts, disturbing everybody.”

Uncle Ah Lai gazed through the windshield, looking at the crowd and traffic outside, speaking slowly.

”Whether it’s Kunsha or Brother Hao, figures of this magnitude won’t simply topple silently. That inescapable humid heat in the air, is the feeling that precedes great changes through the night. I don’t feel that sensation around now in the surroundings.”

”Moreover, I don’t know the details of this police action, but I just feel, a secret operation that even schoolgirls can know about, doesn’t sound too reliable against an underworld tycoon like Brother Hao.”

Gu Weijing nodded uncertainly.

Whether Koukou’s information is accurate or Uncle Ah Lai’s experienced observations are more accurate, he is powerless over such major issues.

”I see, I’ll be careful.” He is quite willing to listen to advice.