The Versatile Master Artist

Chapter 191 - 122: Agent Contract

"What?"

Mrs. Sakai turned her head.

"It’s that advanced class. I saw a sister’s work in Fitz’s student exhibition corridor. Her painting... I think she’s quite serious. Mom, could you consider recruiting her?"

Koizumi Katsuko contemplated her tone.

"Katsuko?"

Mrs. Sakai sat up from her lounge chair and squinted her eyes.

Katsuko’s nonsense,

The noblewoman didn’t believe a single word of it.

No one knows a daughter better than her mother.

Some high school girls lie as easily as eating and drinking, but her daughter Katsuko clearly belonged to the well-behaved type who doesn’t lie much.

Her head was bowed shyly, her gaze flickered under the fine soft bangs on her forehead, fingers pinching together, with an unnatural flush on her face.

Just short of writing "Mom, I’m lying" on her face.

Moreover...

Painting seriously?

What kind of nonsense is that?

Art is not about seriousness, or rather, it’s not just about seriousness.

Art demands talent, excellence, and those sparks that move people’s hearts.

The veteran painters at the renovation company also paint the walls very seriously and diligently, don’t they?

Unfortunately, they most likely won’t become artists.

This might sound a bit arrogant, but in Mrs. Sakai’s worldview, engaging in art has always been the privilege of the few with talent.

Seriousness, by Mrs. Sakai’s standards, is merely the baseline for learning to paint, not even the most fundamental passing mark.

This reason is utterly ridiculous.

"Who is it? A new friend you’ve made at school? Did she ask you to do this?"

Mrs. Sakai asked patiently.

She was a bit angry.

Mrs. Sakai wasn’t angry at her daughter, but at the scheming girl who manipulated Katsuko into doing this.

The art circle values connections,

and various exchanges of interests are unavoidable.

Especially in Japan, a society concerned with personal relations, Mrs. Sakai had seen enough of attempts to gain her favor for student recruitment.

Even at her husband Professor Jiu Kai Yicheng’s studio, occasionally, relatives of political elites or local Nagoya business magnates send their younger generation there for gilding.

But a daughter is always a mother’s treasure.

Katsuko, being a child with a relatively pure mind, worried Mrs. Sakai about her daughter being taken advantage of by others.

"No, I don’t really know her. Her name is Mona Sandunu."

Mona?

Mrs. Sakai was stunned for two seconds.

She got up from the lounge chair, placing her hand on Katsuko’s shoulder to prevent her from avoiding eye contact.

"Katsuko, tell me the truth, was it that brat Gu Weijing who asked you? Right?" Mrs. Sakai stared directly into her daughter’s eyes, asking coldly.

Koizumi Katsuko’s unsuccessful lie was exposed.

Under her mother’s intense gaze, she had no choice but to nod nervously.

"Are you mad? Please, Mom."

The girl looked cautiously at Mrs. Sakai’s unpredictable expression, pleading pitifully.

"Not too bad."

To Koizumi Katsuko’s surprise,

Her mother didn’t seem like she was going to lose her temper; the noblewoman just chuckled coldly a couple of times.

"Truly someone who cherishes past relationships."

There was a hint of sarcasm in Mrs. Sakai’s tone.

Despite her displeasure, she wasn’t very angry.

Mrs. Sakai, having navigated the adult world longer than her daughter Katsuko, had a broader view.

Different people have different values,

The former impoverished student from Yangon, Gu Weijing, in Mrs. Sakai’s eyes, wasn’t even fit to carry Koshiba Tarou’s shoes.

But her daughter liked him anyway.

Mrs. Sakai’s gaze fell on a painting frame at the side.

Not only was her husband fond of him, but after prolonged contact, she had to admit that he was a young man with the potential of becoming a great painter.

It wasn’t like a mother-in-law growing to adore a son-in-law.

But Mrs. Sakai reluctantly acknowledged, pinching her nose, that while he couldn’t bring the resources Koshiba could to her daughter, he wasn’t entirely unfit for her.

At times like this, her thoughts expanded a bit.

Mrs. Sakai didn’t want to make things difficult for her daughter.

More importantly, upon reflection, she found the matter somewhat interesting.

Gu Weijing requested her daughter to secure a spot in the advanced class for his childhood sweetheart Mona.

Admittedly, Mrs. Sakai never thought this local girl could rival her daughter Katsuko, but if she accepted the request,

surely,

Miss Sandunu would find it hard to hold her head high in front of Katsuko in the future.

Mrs. Sakai mused with amusement in her heart.

...

In Austria,

at the Gleiz New Art Center, the bustling art gallery was bustling with people.

In two months, this spacecraft-like shaped art gallery would host this year’s annual Europe Art Conference.

This is the Super Bowl of the art world.

Gerhard Richter, Cao Xuan, Damien Hirst...

The most outstanding and wealthy artists residing in Europe would gather here.

To prepare for this conference, the Gleiz New Art Center borrowed masterpieces from renowned art galleries worldwide to host a special modern art exhibition.

At this moment,

a breathtakingly beautiful girl sat in a wheelchair, copying a black and white landscape watercolor by Naomi Tydeman, winner of the 2013 Turner Watercolor Award, known for its cold and desolate style.

It seemed that people refrained from disturbing her painting, or perhaps they were simply mesmerized by her Greek statue-like beauty.