Chapter 96
Xie Jing went upstairs and saw a painting he had finished last night in the living room.
This is an oil painting. In the painting, there is a small hill above. The lower part of the hill is yellow, and the mountain gradually turns green as it goes up. The top is flat and planted with green bamboo.
Beneath the hill, on a concrete slope, stands a woman in a black short-sleeved shirt and purple floral pants, holding a hat. A smile adorns her face, her short hair flowing. The sun shines brightly in the painting, enveloping her in a riot of color. At first glance, these appear to be blocks of varying colors, basic accents. A closer look reveals that the blocks have shapes, and these multicolored lights resemble spirits, circling her.
He had found a beech frame to frame the painting last night, and the painting was now placed on the sofa.
Xie Jing sat down and reached out to touch the edge of the picture frame. His deep pupils reflected the figure in the painting, and his thoughts were in a mess.
Recently, a few more voices have appeared in his mind. These voices would weaken when he was painting, but once he stopped, these voices would emerge silently from the bottom of his heart like stubborn weeds emerging from the ground.
Maybe he only had more contact with Shen Jiangfu here, so he had different feelings towards her. Maybe it was because he had been in contact with her for a long time and his body had adapted to her presence, so he thought about her often.
"beep--"
Xie Jing's cell phone rang. It was Li Qingsheng calling.
"Hey! Wudu."
"Uncle Li."
"The rules for this exhibition have been changed. Participating artists must bring in paintings that have not yet been put on display. They cannot bring paintings that have already appeared in other exhibitions. In addition, they must paint according to the theme."
Fengcheng, October Restaurant.
Li Qingsheng went out for breakfast today with the founder of an art exhibition, accompanied by several secretaries from the Young Painters Exhibition Hall.
After everyone left, he immediately told Xie Jing the news. Li Qingsheng looked around and spoke in a low voice as he walked, "This news will be announced in mid-September. Just now, when I was having dinner with them, they told me that the theme of my exhibition is [Advent], and there's no limit to the subject matter. You should prepare early!"
"If you draw well this time, you won't have to worry about the market in the future. Your value will increase several times than it is now! Study it well, and then you can surpass them!" Li Qingsheng became more and more excited as he spoke. He hoped that Xie Jing could be like Zuo Xiaolin, or even surpass Zuo Xiaolin.
When most people mention Xie Jing, they think of Zuo Xiaolin first. Initially, Li Qingsheng marketed Xie Jing's paintings in this way, with significant success and numerous buyers. However, over time, Xie Jing became increasingly tied to Zuo Xiaolin, making it difficult for him to establish his own independence.
If Xie Jing does not have the ability, doing this can increase Xie Jing's popularity and increase market heat, which is not a bad thing and can drive up the price of the painting.
However, Xie Jing has the ability, which is why Li Qingsheng wants to change his marketing strategy.
Li Qingsheng also knew that except for the paintings with predetermined themes, the other freely created paintings that Xie Jing gave him were the ones he didn't like very much and were therefore given to him to be put into the exhibition for sale.
He had seen the room where Xie Jing stored his paintings. There were a lot of paintings, hundreds of which were framed, and some of the unframed paintings were stacked up to his thighs.
At that time, Li Qingsheng took a fancy to several paintings. If these paintings were sold on the market, Xie Jing and he would definitely make a lot of money. He estimated that these commissions could allow him to buy a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment on the first floor of Fengcheng.
But Xie Jing was unwilling to do so, saying that these were his favorite works and he did not want to sell them.
Li Qingsheng didn't understand Xie Jing's behavior. If he liked them, why didn't he put them in a beautiful and magnificent house for others to admire and appreciate, so that they could realize their value? What's the point of putting them in a small room where only he could see them, without seeing the sun?
During that period, Li Qingsheng tried to persuade Xie Jing for a long time. Every time he came to see Xie Jing, he would mention the paintings in the room, hoping that he would hand over a few of them to him.
Xie Jing had been unwilling and had not changed his mind, so Li Qingsheng gave up and respected Xie Jing's wishes.
"It's best to create works with educational significance. This young painters' exhibition hall is co-organized with a local social organization, and some local leaders will come to view it. This exhibition has a judge, including local department heads and painters from associations, and the media will also be invited to broadcast live coverage."
Li Qingsheng's heart surged with emotion when he thought of this scene. He didn't care whether Xie Jing heard him or not, and continued to speak to himself, "In short, this is an important opportunity, very important..."
Xie Jing turned on the speakerphone and placed his phone on the sofa. He did not speak, but was thinking about the theme of the exhibition - [Advent].
For a moment, Xie Jing didn't know where to start.
Advent, advent, the birth of something new, something new...
Li Qingsheng, speaking earnestly to Xie Jing on the phone, spoke until his mouth was dry. While waiting for the traffic light, he called out to Xie Jing, "Xiao Jing——"
"Xiaowu, are you listening?"
Xie Jing adjusted his glasses and picked up his phone helplessly, "Here."
"Paint well in these few months, and I'll pick you up and take you to Fengcheng when the time comes."
Xie Jing did not refuse Li Qingsheng's kindness and agreed, "Okay."
The green light came on, and Li Qingsheng strode forward. He had nothing more to say after he finished speaking the important information. He knew that no matter how much he spoke, Xie Jing would only do what he wanted. He sighed silently in his heart and said, "I'm done. I'm hanging up now. Take care of yourself."
"Okay, you too." Xie Jing paused and said, "Uncle Li, thank you."
"You're welcome. Take care of yourself."
After a few seconds, the phone came back with a voice, saying in a serious tone: "Actually, uncle is not short of money. He just wants you to have some vulgarity. That way it will be easier to support you and give you some goals and hope. Don't be like your father."
Xie Jing said with relief: "Okay."
"Okay, hanging up. See you then."
After Li Qingsheng hung up the phone, Xie Jing took the painting to the room where paintings were stored. He opened a cardboard box, stood on a stool, lifted the painting and put it into the box.
Since it hasn't been delivered yet, he might as well deliver something else first.
*
Today is the first day of school. In the morning, Shen Jiangfu asked the students to clean the classroom, distributed textbooks and exercise books to the students, and asked them to write their names on them. In the afternoon, the students were allowed to study on their own.
During their study time, Shen Jiangfu prepared for the lecture. Second and third graders were fine, but she needed a plan for how to teach the preschoolers.
After finishing the lessons for each class in the afternoon, it was almost time for school to end. As usual, the students lined up at the bottom of the stairs according to their area.
Because Shen Jiangfu saved a drowning student during the summer vacation, the principal specially asked Shen Jiangfu to give a speech after school on the first day of school, asked her to talk about the situation, and handed the microphone directly to her.
Shen Jiangfu took the microphone, looked at the students below, and said seriously, "Dear students, this summer vacation is over. I hope you will continue to study hard in the new semester."
She paused for a few seconds, then said sternly, "This summer, a few students went swimming in the river without permission and drowned. Fortunately, they were discovered in time, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous. I hope everyone will remember the school's advice and not swim in rivers, lakes, or other places without permission. Everyone should cherish life and not take it lightly."
Shen Jiangfu deliberately looked for the children who went to swim in the river. When they met her eyes, they immediately lowered their heads. She didn't say much, "That's all for today. School is over."
After the students left, Shen Jiangfu put the microphone back in its place, picked up her packed bag and went home.
Shen Jiangfu has become accustomed to this kind of life that revolves around three points: home, school, and the vegetable market in town.
For the next month, Shen Jiangfu followed the routine, teaching four classes daily. Teaching first and second grade was easy, but teaching preschool required more patience and hands-on instruction on how to hold a pen and write. The class consisted of just twenty-one students.
Shen Jiangfu hadn't seen Xie Jing for a long time and didn't know what he was doing.
The second period in the afternoon was art class for the kindergarten class. She asked the students to take out drawing paper and pencils and let them draw by themselves.
"Classmates, in today's art class, you can draw the home in your mind, or you can draw your family, your parents, grandparents." Shen Jiangfu gave them a general direction and let them express themselves freely.
During art class, students were much happier, and some of them chatted with their deskmates.
"Okay, okay, everyone, be quiet and don't talk too loudly. The homework for this class is to draw a picture and hand it in to the teacher."
Shen Jiangfu sat there, a ruler in hand. She saw the students immediately quiet down, each lowering their heads to start drawing on their paper. Each had a different expression on their face: some pouting, some smiling, and some holding their pens without moving, seemingly unsure of what to draw...
Seeing this, Shen Jiangfu couldn't help but smile secretly. Sometimes these children are quite cute.
Suddenly, Shen Jiangfu herself felt like drawing, so she went back to her office to get a piece of white paper and a pencil. During this process, Shen Jiangfu also borrowed a few colored pencils from the students below the podium.
Halfway through the class, Shen Jiangfu noticed a few students had stopped drawing. From a distance, it looked like they had finished their paintings. She straightened her back and said, "Has anyone finished their paintings? You can write your names and hand them in."
After he finished speaking, some people in the audience were ready to take action.
After a while, a girl came up with a painting. Shen Jiangfu smiled and nodded, took it, and touched her head. "Well, you are the first one to hand it in. Great!"
Jiang Xue smiled shyly and returned to her seat happily.
"Does anyone else want to turn in their drawings? Those who haven't finished yet, please work hard. Don't rush to turn in your drawings just because you see others have already done so. Just finish your drawings within the allotted time and remember to turn them in after class."
After Shen Jiangfu finished speaking, several students walked up to the podium one after another.
Shen Jiangfu took a photo of each painting and sent them all to Xie Jing.
What do you think of their drawings? These are from the preschool class. I asked them to draw their homes and families.
[It seems that children can draw very simple things in a very creative way.]
After Shen Jiangfu posted the photos, the other party immediately replied to her: [The first photo has great use of color]
[This line drawing is good, a bit of talent]
The student in this photo observed very carefully, and he must know his home very well.
[This one...]
Xie Jing gave his own opinions on every painting that Shen Jiangfu photographed and sent out, from his own perspective.
Shen Jiangfu found the painting she had drawn, took a picture and was about to send it over, but then she changed her mind and decided to wait.
After class, Shen Jiangfu collected the paintings, took photos of them one by one and sent them to Xie Jing. She placed the photo of her own painting among the photos.
Xie Jing saw Shen Jiangfu's message and expressed his thoughts one by one, just as he had before, but he skipped the nameless painting. He enlarged the picture and looked at it. He didn't even notice that the corners of his mouth were raised and there was a faint smile in the corners of his eyes.
The painting features two houses and two people. A girl is walking down the road, looking at a boy who is watering flowers. A small line of text reads: "My home and the home of my best friend."
For some reason, these words touched Xie Jing deeply. Perhaps he still longed for someone to appear in his life occasionally.
He finally sent a message to Shen Jiangfu.
After collecting the paintings, Shen Jiangfu took them back to her office. She then went to another Chinese class and didn't have time to read the message.
After class, Shen Jiangfu saw the message from Xie Jing - [This painting makes me feel warm]
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