The Versatile Master Artist

The principal didn’t actually seek Professor Walter’s opinion and immediately made the decision.

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Spring is blooming.

A football was kicked high from the soccer field, soared over the fence by the grassy field, bounced a few times on the concrete ground, and finally landed in the empty space at the school gate.

The forward, wearing his school team jersey, wiped his sweat and ran after the ball, slowing down gradually, with a face full of confusion.

In his field of vision,

students leaving school were gathering at the cultural bulletin board at the school gate, and it didn’t take long for a large crowd to assemble.

Some students were tiptoeing to look at something inside, while others were chattering about something.

Coupled with the sound of cicadas and birds, it was as lively as a themed festival.

The campus’s cultural bulletin board was just like this.

Usually left there, nobody would even bother to glance at it.

But if suddenly there was some interesting news, starting with the first person stopping to look, like a chain reaction, everyone subconsciously wanted to see what was on it.

Could it be an announcement for another competition?

If there could be a social event with a girls’ school this year, that would be wonderful.

The forward hesitated for a moment, but couldn’t resist his curiosity, so he hugged the ball he found and, using his sports club physique, darted left and right through the crowd, squeezing himself to the front row amidst the complaining voices of his classmates.

"Gu Weijing - Young Artist, an excellent example for Fitz People?"

He sniffed and slowly read the words on the bulletin board.

The forward was a little disappointed.

He didn’t see the news about the youthful and beautiful young women he hoped to see, but instead saw the figure of a senior wearing a Fitz School Uniform who was rather slim.

There are many campus activities in the private high school.

The big bulletin board at the gate is often filled with announcements for various robot competitions, social dances, planetarium tours, and paid study tours to European and American universities during winter and summer vacations.

Only the bulletin board at the very front is an exception.

That belongs to the principal’s private collection.

Principal Fitz likes to put the most impressive promotional content there, and a while ago it was occupied by the opening notice and admissions list of Mrs. Sakai’s improvement class.

He heard she was an extraordinarily wealthy lady.

Now, the board was replaced with a full-body photo of this guy named Gu Weijing, along with the dry label of "Young Artist" and a photocopy of a document stamped by the Cultural Bureau.

"Wow, a formal member of the Calligraphy and Painting Association at seventeen, doesn’t this ensure entry to all universities in Myanmar directly?"

"This Senior Brother Gu, being able to paint with Cao Xuan, I wonder what kind of background his family has. Probably doesn’t even care about the local universities in Myanmar."

...

"Hey, this recognition as a formal member of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, is it really that great? Can it ensure direct entry to all our local universities? Even Myanmar’s best, Yangon University? Just by joining this Calligraphy Association? You art students really have an advantage."

The football club forward, like Gu Weijing’s cousin, Gu Lin, was a regular student of the school, not in the arts class.

So he didn’t have much concept of this identity.

Listening to the discussions, he somewhat jealously patted the shoulder of a fellow student, who was staring enviously at the "High-Level Artist" recognition certificate, and asked.

"Advantage?"

The bespectacled chubby student was clearly an art student.

He turned, glaring at the forward holding the football, dissatisfied with his attitude of speaking without knowing the difficulty.

He tilted his eyes: "You football players can take this advantage too. If you can reach Myanmar’s U16, you can also be directly recommended to domestic universities without exams. Even European prestigious schools aren’t hard, do you have that level?"

"That talented."

The forward, hit with a soft comeback, quickly understood the significance of this senior.

Those who can play in the U16 youth professional football league are monsters, and those who perform well are seedlings for future national teams, Asian Cup, and World Cup qualifiers.

A hobbyist in a club like him is at most semi-amateur, far too lacking.

Of course, those who can play in U16 generally pursue professional club routes and rarely choose to go to university.

"You can’t compare like that, you’re art students, I’m not a sports school student."

Seeing that this affair had nothing to do with him, the forward was ready to leave, but before squeezing out the crowd, he stopped and casually asked.

"This old guy called Cao Xuan, what does he do? Is he famous?"

Principal Fitz cunningly posted the mural co-created by Cao Xuan and Gu Weijing on the bulletin board as well.

He even bolded, darkened, and enlarged the [Cao Xuan/Gu Weijing] creator’s signature.

In the entire bulletin board, aside from Gu Weijing’s half-length photo, this joint signature was the most conspicuous.

The Canadian might as well set up a small speaker here, repetitively playing: "Big news, big news, our student co-created with Mr. Cao Xuan. Big news, big news, our student co-created with Mr. Cao Xuan..."

The art students observing the clipboard were willing to discuss when they saw that certificate from the Yangon Calligraphy and Painting Association.

But upon mentioning Cao Xuan, everyone fell into an inexplicable silence.

"Oh, Cao Xuan."

"It’s actually Cao Xuan."

"Is it really that Cao Xuan?"

"Mr. Cao Xuan seems indeed to have come to Yangon some time ago."