Chapter 41 There will be no progress without studying.
That night.
Lou Hongjian set up his easel, picked up his palette, and glanced at the old lady sitting on the sofa opposite him. He still felt like he was dreaming.
He pinched his thigh behind the easel.
It hurts.
He looked again, and sure enough, the person sitting on the sofa opposite him as his model was his old-fashioned and feudal grandmother!
Lou Hongjian dipped his brush in paint and began to write cautiously.
He has painted so many pictures, each time seizing inspiration to wield his brush freely and spontaneously, but this time he was somewhat hesitant to put pen to paper.
Across from her, Old Madam Lou adjusted her posture and asked, "Can it really be drawn exactly like the photo?"
“Not only will it be exactly the same, I can even paint you more beautifully than the real person,” Lou Hongjian said casually. “No photograph can compare to my painting.”
Madam Lou nodded: "I've seen the drawing you made for Mao Mao, and it does look very much like her."
"..." Lou Hongjian clenched his teeth tightly.
The pressure is mounting.
My hands are starting to shake.
Outside the door, the First Madam withdrew her gaze, walked out quietly, and went downstairs.
She returned to the living room and said to everyone, "They've already started painting."
Lou Dashuai couldn't help but stand up, then sat down anxiously again: "Really? She didn't hit Ah Hong?"
"It seems that Grandma has truly accepted this matter." Lou Heming adjusted his glasses and said with a smile, "That's good too. Grandma won't object if Ah Hong wants to open an art gallery."
Lou Yansui: "I also saw my grandmother using an English tea set today."
These words surprised everyone again.
Lou Fengju: "Why did Grandma suddenly change her mind?"
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
No one could give a reasonable explanation.
Immediately afterwards, everyone turned their heads in unison and looked towards the distance.
At the edge of the horizon, Mao Mao was lying on the carpet playing with toys with the big white cat.
The little girl was completely unaware, happily shaking her head, her little tuft of hair bobbing back and forth.
Although they didn't know what had happened, their intuition told them that if something strange had happened in their home, it must be related to Mao Mao.
Lou Dashuai walked over and picked her up in his arms.
"Little Mao Mao." Lou Dashuai pressed his forehead against hers affectionately, "Tell Daddy, how did you do that?"
Mao Mao giggled in his arms, "What?"
"How did you do that?" Lou Dashuai asked. "Why did Grandma suddenly want a portrait?"
"Mao Mao doesn't know."
Mao Mao turned her little head and thought for a moment, then said innocently, "Brother's drawing is beautiful, everyone likes it, and Grandma likes it too."
Lou Dashuai laughed heartily and patted her little head with his big hand, "Mao Mao, you are truly our family's little lucky star."
Although everyone respected Madam Lou, they did suppress their own feelings while she was around.
Just like Lou Dashuai.
He actually really enjoyed using the gramophone, and would occasionally play music on it while dancing ballroom dances with his wives.
However, with the old lady around, there was no music in the house. As a filial son, Commander Lou never disagreed with the old lady on trivial matters.
Now that the old lady has suddenly come to her senses, everyone, including Commander Lou, breathed a sigh of relief.
The others sitting in the living room started discussing it amongst themselves.
"Actually, I've wanted to say this for a long time. Although Grandma is not wrong, her thinking is indeed too conservative. Those feudal rules have been abolished, but she still clings to them. Although foreigners have many bad points, they really have many good inventions and creations."
"Aren't cars, trains, and airplanes all made by foreigners?"
“My second brother studied Western medicine. Our traditional Chinese medicine has a long history, but Western medicine is ahead in surgery. My eldest brother went to military school. Many military theories and new weapons were introduced from foreigners. Our country is far behind the West. We must learn from the West to control them and make up for our weaknesses so that we can catch up with them on the international stage.”
“Without learning, there will be no progress. Sooner or later, we will make foreigners learn from us. At that time, we won’t need Grandma to remind us. Everyone will be proud of our country.”
"only--"
Lou Heming looked around at everyone and asked the crucial question: "Does Grandma only want a portrait, or has she really accepted it?"
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
...
Lou Hongjian spent several days painting this picture.
He wished he could use all the skills he had learned in his life on this portrait, drawing each stroke with utmost care, working day and night. When the portrait was finished and presented to Old Madam Lou, the once dashing and handsome Third Young Master Lou looked somewhat haggard.
Fearing that Old Madam Lou would find fault with him, he was trembling with fear when he was sent out.
Old Madam Lou held her portrait and looked it over from head to toe, her eyes wide with amazement: "It's so lifelike."
It's like looking in a mirror; I see myself even more clearly than in a photograph.
It's different from looking in a mirror.
Lou Hongjian did not describe the wrinkles on her face in detail. The old lady in the portrait looked gentler than in reality, and appeared kind, amiable, and much younger.
Youthful beauty has faded, irretrievable. Old Madam Lou stroked the unevenly textured portrait. She wasn't always this serious and rigid; it was just that the world was too chaotic, and the heavy past had etched wrinkles onto her face.
After admiring it for a long time, Madam Lou said to the maid, "Hang it up."
Thus, an incongruous oil painting appeared in Madam Lou's antique-style room.
When Mao Mao came to play with Mao Mao, she saw it and ran out the door to tell the others.
Everyone started to test the waters.
The first one to test the waters was the third concubine.
She had been caught by Old Madam Lou when she went out, but hadn't been scolded, which undoubtedly emboldened her. She took off her old-fashioned jacket and skirt and dressed in her original attire at home.
The cheongsam accentuated her slender figure, with the hemline raised to her knees, revealing her fair and beautiful calves. She had also deliberately sprayed perfume, and while everyone—especially Mao Mao—was present, she gracefully circled around the old lady a few times, leaving a trail of fragrance.
Old Madam Lou's eyelids twitched heavily.
She put on a stern face and looked over with a harsh gaze. Just when the Third Concubine thought she was about to be scolded again, Old Madam Lou pursed her lips and uttered a sentence: "...Sit down, what are you doing, wandering around like that?"
The third concubine, busy with her own affairs, sat down on the sofa next to her.
The first wife exchanged glances with the other wives and tentatively spoke up, "Is this a new dress? I've never seen you wear it before. It looks very nice."
Mao Mao, sitting to the side, chimed in, "Fourth Auntie is beautiful!"
The third concubine smiled broadly, sat up straight to show them: "That's right, it's brand new, it took a tailor two months to make!"
Xia Xiaoxiang touched the smooth, soft brocade fabric and the exquisite embroidery with envy: "It's so beautiful...it must have cost a lot of money."
"That's right," the third concubine said proudly. "Look at this material, it's very rare. I've been holding onto it for years, and I couldn't bear to use it."
Since Madam Lou didn't say anything negative, the other ladies went along with her and praised her a couple of times.
For a moment, the living room was filled with a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere.
The First Madam glanced at Old Madam Lou's expression, then at Mao Mao sitting beside her.
She tentatively asked, "Mom, you've been in Haicheng for a long time. Should I make you some new clothes?"
The new clothes that the First Madam was talking about were certainly not the old-fashioned jackets and skirts that Old Madam Lou usually wore.
Old Madam Lou understood what she was saying.
She first frowned, as if about to refute.
Before he could finish speaking, he noticed the little girl sitting next to him.
Mao Mao blinked her big, round eyes and listened to her mothers chatting with an adorable expression.
The words lingered on Old Madam Lou's tongue, and under the gaze of those eyes, as if possessed, she uttered, "Okay."
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