The Versatile Master Artist

"Those thousands of skewed pottery pieces he made, the strangely shaped silver plates, and the works even the ghost couldn’t understand — aren’t they all just to fool the laymen."

Elder Cao shook his head, speaking disdainfully.

"Pablo is the name of Pablo Picasso."

"When Elder Cao was young, he had contact with Picasso himself in France, and the two were acquainted."

"At that time, Elder Cao had just won immense esteem in the Western art circle at the Autumn Gallery, while Picasso was in a period of reflecting on his career, preparing to reinterpret the styles of historical painting masters in a ’pastoral’ phase."

"Rumor has it, the encounters between the two great painters were not very pleasant, with some friction in several ideologies."

"Oh, oh, oh, my ancestors, you can say this to me but definitely don’t speak like this outside." Old Yang was somewhat panicky, "Critics can rant, but with your status, saying such things will stir up a storm."

Artists sniping at each other is nothing new, saying it privately doesn’t matter.

But if Elder Cao suddenly mentions this casually during a formal public occasion like an art symposium, Old Yang doesn’t know whether the low-end Picasso art market will be reshuffled.

But the paparazzi will undoubtedly go crazy.

Old Yang thought he might go crazy too.

"What, what are you afraid of? Back then, I said the same thing right in front of Pablo’s face." Elder Cao sneered.

"You go and tell Gu Weijing to refocus and not think about those irrelevant things. Despite illustrations appearing low on the art disdain chain, they are a profound discipline in themselves. Just the ways to express the employer’s thoughts through painting are manifold. Look at those great illustrators basking in glory — it’s not simpler than serious art."

"Understood, I’ll instruct Mr. Xiao Gu to concentrate on his primary work."

Old Yang understood: "So I needn’t bring this up with Ma Shi Gallery?"

"Why not mention it?"

Cao Xuan asked in surprise: "Since Gu Weijing wants to draw anonymous illustrations, it’s my business even if I don’t have high hopes for him. I can request Gu Weijing to refocus and devote more energy into exploring serious art, but what rank does the gallery have to take a share from Gu Weijing’s illustrations?"

"With matters unrelated to that gallery, Ma Shi should not intervene." Elder Cao said with an air of authority.

Old Yang could only smile wryly.

Having been with him for so long, sometimes he almost overlooked that beneath his childish exterior, Mr. Cao Xuan remains a short-tempered, protective top-level art master.

"By the way, when you notify Ma Shi Gallery, you can inform them I’m considering personally guiding Gu Weijing, maybe... formally accepting him as my last disciple."

Just as Old Yang was about to leave the study room, Elder Cao called him back and spoke softly.

Old Yang paused and turned, slightly opening his mouth in surprise.

He wanted to say something but didn’t know how to begin; after several seconds of silence, he had to finally ask again: "Are you sure I should say this? Elder Cao, you know how crazy the gallery will become with this news."

"Just tell them that. And remind them not to leak the news."

Cao Xuan laughed lightly, "After all, I just said maybe."

As Yang left the study, his first thought was...

Tonight,

there will be a group of sleepless people at Ma Shi Gallery.

-----------------

Starting from Yangon,

The next morning, as Gu Weijing was about to push the door open for his morning run, he was startled.

The door just opened, revealing a pair of blue eyes filled with red veins.

It looked as if he had seen a ghost!

"Mr. Hanks Ma Shi?"

Gu Weijing took a step back and scrutinized for a few seconds before recognizing the figure of the blond agent across from him.

Yangon already has spring mosquitoes by March and April, it’s unclear how long Hanks stood outside, but he was covered in bumps, including a swollen lump on his neck.

"We... we..."

Upon seeing Gu Weijing, Hanks threw the briefcase to the ground and gasped, saying, "Mr. Gu, let’s sign the contract now."