Chapter 37: There's Something Wrong with the Prostitute (Part 1)
Shen Tang was displeased upon hearing this.
She can tolerate being told she can't sing, but she can't tolerate being told she can't draw—that was her livelihood!
Her expertise cannot be questioned!
He retorted directly, "Why is my 'painting' unacceptable?"
Qi Shan wanted to ask another question in return, —
How can she draw well?
It's almost like a three-year-old child scribbling randomly.
He bluntly stated, "It's no good at anything, there's nothing to it."
The painter who taught young Master Shen painting skills is simply misleading him.
Shen Tang slammed his hand on the painting table with a loud bang, his face blazing with anger, and he directly challenged, "Qi Yuanliang, if you're so capable, then you do it!"
Seeing that Shen Tang was still stubbornly refusing to admit it, Qi Shan's long-suppressed competitive spirit was also stirred. He immediately reached for a brush and spread out a new sheet of paper with his other hand. The brush tip was dipped in ink, and without thinking, he began to paint: "Since Young Master Shen has so kindly invited me, I can only make a fool of myself."
With just a few strokes, he sketched out the landscape, flowers, and birds.
Don't be fooled by the simplicity of his drawing; it's a casual stroke here and there that gives the illusion that "I could draw that myself." But compared to Shen Tang's little figure drawing, it's worlds apart. Qi Shan put down his brush with satisfaction. Thankfully, his drawing skills hadn't regressed too much.
Shen Tang snorted defiantly, "That's it?"
Qi Shan: "..."
With such a huge gap, why are you still stubbornly refusing to admit it?
"Although I have no talent, I have been traveling around for many years and my painting skills have deteriorated a lot. But compared with you, Young Master Shen..." Qi Shan hesitated, leaving the unspoken meaning for the listener to ponder. Anyone with eyes could tell which painting was better.
Few people know that he was an even better painter when he was a teenager.
A renowned calligrapher and painter once said that his paintings possessed the essence of Wang Wei's words: "From afar, the mountains have color; up close, the water is silent; spring has gone, but the flowers remain; people come, but the birds are not startled." It's a pity that there is no "spirit of painting" or "heart of painting" in the world; if there were, the quality would surely be outstanding.
To everyone's surprise, Shen Tang remained stubborn and refused to admit it, saying, "Hmph, it's time to show you my true painting skills."
Qi Shan became interested: "Let's wait and see."
Shen Tang picked up the little figure drawing again and started doodling on the draft, looking confident that he could impress Qi Shan. Qi Shan made way for Shen Tang, giving him room to work, and sat to the side watching, his expression becoming increasingly strange.
He thought that Young Master Shen was planning to use a contrast between praise and criticism to showcase his amazing painting skills.
result--
It's still the same little figure drawing, only now the little figure has many more details, but the figure still has that big black round head, and the body and limbs are still simple strokes. If there's any difference, it's probably that the overwhelming atmosphere of "anxiety" is more intense now.
She's also quite provocative.
Qi Shan spent half an hour watching Shen Tang finish drawing the little figure's series of actions—entering the room, undressing, climbing onto the bed to strike a pose, a second little figure entering the room, undressing in the same way, climbing onto the bed to strike a pose in the same way, and so on...
Qi Shan suddenly grabbed Shen Tang's wrist, stopping her from continuing to draw.
He stared wide-eyed and asked, "What are you drawing?"
Shen Tang replied matter-of-factly, "It's an erotic painting."
Qi Shan was almost speechless: "..."
He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, looking at Shen Tang's face, then at the seemingly animated figures strung together in the drawing, unable to utter a single word for a long time. Qi Shan never dreamed that the young master Shen had drawn a erotic picture with action.
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Qi Shan suppressed the urge to throb with anger.
For a moment, I didn't know whether to say that Young Master Shen was unambitious in painting erotic pictures, or that his painting skills were terrible but he had the courage to show them off.
He took a deep breath and gave a forced smile: "If erotic paintings were all of average quality, then men and women in the world would have no interest in them."
It lacks both artistic conception and ambiguity.
If newlyweds use these erotic illustrations as their introduction to the world, they probably won't know the meaning of yin and yang harmony even when they're old and gray.
Shen Tang: "..."
This guy's words are so harsh, how come he wasn't beaten to death!
She said seriously, "Yuanliang, it's just that you don't appreciate it."
Watching her wield the brush, her strokes flowing smoothly like clouds and water.
Look at the lines, the layout, the artistic conception!
If you can't draw well, how can you possibly make a living by painting?
Now it was Qi Shan's turn to be speechless.
He suddenly realized that Shen Xiaolangjun wasn't just being stubborn. This man, with his open and confident demeanor, and a look in his eyes that seemed to convey a sense of heartache at the "distorted aesthetics" of his character, didn't appear to be someone who knew the gap in their abilities but refused to admit defeat. Rather, it was as if—
Qi Shan had an absurd guess in her mind—that Young Master Shen was bad but unaware of it, and genuinely believed that he was good at drawing?
He subtly inquired, and it turned out to be true.
Another long silence followed, and I didn't know where to begin.
He looked at the young lady's head with sympathy and promised her, "When I have more money in the future, I will find a good doctor to take you to see a doctor. The sooner you get treatment, the better. If you delay, it will worsen your condition!"
Shen Tang: "..."
Her intuition told her that Qi Shan's words were not human.
Is he indirectly calling her mentally ill?
Qi Shan, being sensible, changed the subject before Shen Tang could explode: "Why is Young Master Shen suddenly interested in erotic paintings?"
If you say that Young Master Shen is a womanizer, then why does he think that such a painting is beautiful? What kind of playboy would have this kind of aesthetic sense?
But seriously... which respectable gentleman would remain unfazed and shameless when surrounded by people drawing erotic pictures?
Shen Tang replied, "I took the job from the bookstore to paint a portrait for a courtesan at Yuehua Tower. The pay is quite good."
Life is tough, Tangtang sighed.
Qi Shan's expression grew increasingly strange. He asked a crucial question: "Didn't the bookstore owner test your painting skills?"
When did those shopkeepers become so easy to talk to?
When he was struggling financially, he would take orders from bookstores, usually small jobs such as copying books of spiritual teachings or writing family letters for others. The pay for painting portraits was more generous, and the most lucrative jobs were in brothels and theaters, which were also highly sought after.
But this money isn't easy to earn.
People pay more, so their demands are naturally numerous. How did Shen Xiaolangjun manage to get the job with his terrible painting skills?
Shen Tang replied, "No."
Qi Shan was surprised. He was worried that Shen Tang might have encountered a swindler, so he said, "...Recreate the scene back then."
Shen Tang did exactly as instructed.
He understood what was going on as soon as he heard it.
It was all thanks to luck and the shopkeeper being blind.
If he could get past the shopkeeper by chance, the courtier wouldn't be so easily fooled. You see, these kinds of paintings are related to their future business, reputation, and face; naturally, they are meticulously crafted, demanding extremely high standards of skill from the painters. Young Master Shen was so poor his purse jingled; where did the paper and ink on the table come from?
Shen Tang was displeased: "This job was clearly something I got through my own abilities. It's really unfair of Yuan Liang to be so disheartening..."
"I'm only thinking of Young Master Shen's life. If you really use these drawings to hand in your work, do you believe that the courtesan will get angry and bring a bunch of thugs from Yuehua Tower to tear you apart?"
Seeing this means it's been revised.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
