The Versatile Master Artist

As expected, Mona stopped everyone from teasing her and Jerry, lowering her head to hide her facial expression.

"However, let me remind you again, that’s just a ’discarded draft.’ Don’t blame me if you’re not satisfied." Mona’s tone slightly emphasized the pronunciation of the word "discarded draft."

It seemed she was speaking to her classmates, yet also reminding herself—a discarded draft is just a discarded draft.

During the Spring Festival holiday, while designing the layout, Mona spent a significant amount of time meticulously creating two versions.

She used a warm color scheme and cartoon-style decorations for her portfolio layout, whereas the other design used a cool color scheme and a forest-themed monochrome style.

There’s no such thing as a discarded draft.

The difference lies only in one being more suitable for girls and the other being more suitable for boys.

Whether the layout design itself is a discarded draft is not important at all; Mona has already considered it something she has abandoned.

People always say,

All roads lead to Rome, and the paths to success and the upper class vary in length.

Some people, like Koizumi Katsuko over there, were born in the splendid palaces of Rome, overlooking the mundane dust and mud without being touched by a speck of dust, while others were born in places like Myanmar, ten thousand miles away from Rome.

The long journey requires a lifetime to catch up; choosing the right path allows you to finish it in ten years, while choosing the wrong one takes even longer than a lifetime, leaving you to die abroad only gazing at the mirage-like beauties of the distance.

So don’t blame Miss Sandunu for being realistic.

The journey is too long, life too short.

When Mrs. Sakai, riding on an Arabian Flying Carpet, happened to pass by her, Mona, who was originally prepared to take a donkey cart pulled by Gu Weijing’s little donkey, decided to jump onto the carpet no matter what.

Even if it meant using all her strength until her fingers bled from gripping the fringes of the carpet.

The little donkey may be very obedient and adorably clumsy.

Even if it was raised since childhood with a handful of straw and a radish by Miss Sandunu herself.

But so what?

Being carried for a day means traveling a path that takes the little donkey ten years to run at a trot.

Since this little donkey recently was languidly sniffing the wildflowers by the roadside at such a critical time.

Mona had no qualms about abandoning it.

It was just a bit painful, that’s all.

"I actually wronged Gu Weijing over the holiday." The thought crossed Mona’s mind.

From that day after returning home, through conversations with employees in Mumbai, Miss Sandunu learned that Gu Weijing really did go to exchange money to do good deeds at an orphanage during the holiday.

Alas, fool.

Even if you want to accumulate social activity experience for applying to foreign universities, there are much better, more effective methods than scattering real gold and silver at an orphanage.

For instance, Jerry’s approach was very smart.

Gu Weijing doesn’t have the resources to shoot a microfilm like others do, but he could use the same money to find a study abroad agency to arrange a "background enhancement" service and create some shiny social activity credentials.

Actually doing good deeds is such a low return.

But if the orphanage thing is true, then Gu Weijing painting in that studio outside and having a professor from the Central Academy of Fine Arts appreciate him should also be true.

"Hmph, doesn’t even know how to try hard. Painting a big picture? Does he not realize how high the sky is, thinking of participating in some art exhibition?"

Mona got angry thinking about this.

Besides those few master teachers, even the Central Academy of Fine Arts’ educators don’t compare to Mrs. Sakai’s connections and status.

Under the guidance of Mrs. Sakai and the two assistants, Mona felt her portfolio undergoing a near-rebirth transformation.

Even without a recommendation letter,

the portfolio she has now compared to the one before attending the Genius Enhancement Class can apply to entirely different tiers of schools.

Can Gu Weijing achieve such good results painting outside?

So what if she misunderstood her little donkey?

Gu Weijing didn’t jump onto Mrs. Sakai’s flying carpet back then; now they’re just on different paths.

Opportunities are fleeting, and missing them means a lifetime of regret.

Mona shook her head.

Just after she had driven thoughts of Gu Weijing out of her mind, she suddenly heard a crisp sound from outside the classroom.

"Gu Weijing!"

Miss Sandunu vaguely heard this name from the hallway, seemingly called out by Assistant Xiaosong.

A few seconds later, she saw Koshiba Tarou come in with an unreadable expression, stopping at the door, staring fixedly at Miss Sakai’s position.

Koizumi Katsuko either didn’t see it or wasn’t willing to pay attention, not even lifting her head.

Assistant Xiaosong didn’t go closer either; he turned around, unscrewed a water bottle, and gulped down water.

Again, it’s Gu Weijing.

Mona didn’t know if she heard wrong, but this name seemed to linger like a ghost.

Every time she resolved to drive him out of her mind, something related to this name would surface again.

Miss Sandunu hesitated for a moment, went to the podium, took her iPad, and pulled up a photo.

The winter break assignments submitted by art students were all pinned with pushpins on the bulletin board in Fitz Campus’s hallway after school started, placed together with plaster statues made by some sculpture classmates.

This was considered a part of the school’s promotional culture construction.

The school also had an intention of exposing under the naked sky both the works of students who earnestly completed the assignments and those who didn’t, letting everyone have a look.