Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat-Chapter 43 - 40 Snatching the Painting
Chapter 43: Chapter 40: Snatching the Painting
Chapter 43 -40: Snatching the Painting
Shanshui Gallery.
It had been a while since her last visit, and Deng Tao found a new painting displayed here.
She stood in front of the Peony and Bee Picture for a long time, admiring its vibrant brushwork, natural elegance, solid yet spirited execution, creating a harmonious interplay.
Such meticulous and rounded craftsmanship can’t be achieved without a decade or two of practice, so this must be Teacher Song’s new work?
Glancing down, Deng Tao noticed the signature in the lower right corner: Xiaosi!
Xiaosi?
With such a casual signature?
She then saw a familiar seal below the signature—Teacher Song’s personal seal.
Deng Tao furrowed her brows. Had Teacher Song taken on a new student?
Having their own signature, and Song Qingping’s personal seal to boot, it meant that apart from his student, he wouldn’t do this for anyone else.
Deng Tao’s father had considered asking Song Qingping to mentor Deng Tao, but the man was selective about his students, relying on affinity. Even though her father had visited him multiple times with valuable gifts, he would just laugh it off and change the subject.
He never mentioned taking on Deng Tao as a student.
In the end, he only agreed to occasionally offer her some tips; nothing more.
Indeed, over the past two years, he had offered Deng Tao many pointers, but in her view, each session with Teacher Song involved criticism that was more prevalent than the advice, which she found unbearable.
Had it not been for her father’s repeated reminders, she wouldn’t have wanted to come here again.
“Brother Huang,”
Noticing a round-faced man walking out from a room inside the gallery, Deng Tao hurriedly called out to him. She asked with a smile, “Did Teacher Song come today?”
The round-faced man, Huang Kai, knew what she was here for as soon as he saw Deng Tao.
“Teacher Song is inside, but Deng Tao…” Huang Kai paused, giving her a look, sighing, “Have you done any new paintings recently? The one you brought last time, Teacher Song mentioned that with that standard, you wouldn’t be able to participate in any major competitions.”
This was already very tactfully put, yet Deng Tao still felt embarrassed.
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The painting was delivered two weeks ago; it was not possible to make significant progress in such a short time. So, was Teacher Song implying she still wasn’t eligible for a recommendation?
Deng Tao’s complexion grew visibly unpleasant.
Seeing her reaction, Huang Kai also felt helpless, thinking to himself, if her skills aren’t good enough, whom can she blame?
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the Peony and Bee Picture nearby and pointed at it, “See that painting? If you could paint something that’s even close to it, then surely you could enter major competitions without any problem.”
Deng Tao retorted discontentedly, “Brother Huang, are you joking with me? How could I possibly reach the level of such a masterful painting?”
“Masterful level?” Huang Kai laughed out loud, “You also think it’s very good, don’t you? But do you know? She is actually about your age, no, a year younger than you, and she hasn’t been studying painting as long as you have. Yet, she has this kind of talent, this spirit… Deng Tao, sometimes certain things can’t be forced, unless you’re willing to put in several times the effort or have an extreme passion for it. Otherwise, it’s very hard to achieve.”
As for Deng Tao’s paintings, the teacher’s critique was that she was too eager for quick success while also being overly conceited. Every time the teacher gave her advice, she seemed to be listening earnestly, but in reality, she didn’t follow the teacher’s suggestions.
This resulted in her slow progress.
And her talent was just average, not to mention lacking creativity. Under these circumstances, wanting to participate in Beijing’s national traditional painting competition was, frankly, a fool’s dream.
In the end, Deng Tao did not go to see Song Qingping. Her eyes were red when she left, filled with a mix of shame and annoyance.
……
On Saturday, senior three students had their regular classes.
Meng Qing asked Xu Yan to borrow a painting, and Xu Yan looked at her warily, “What do you want it for?”
She knew Meng Qing shared a dorm room with Song Jiawen and that the two didn’t get along well. So when Meng Qing asked her for one of Song Jiawen’s paintings, Xu Yan’s gut reaction was that she was up to no good.
You’re not even an art student, why do you want someone else’s painting?
Meng Qing replied irritably, “Don’t you always go on about how good her paintings are? I want to see for myself just how good they are, and if they live up to your praise. It’s just a damn painting, no need to hide it like it’s some great treasure, right?”
Xu Yan rolled her eyes, “If you think it’s just a damn painting, why bother looking at it? Besides, would you even understand what you’re looking at?”
It wasn’t that Xu Yan looked down on Meng Qing; it’s just that non-professionals like her only watched the fun in painting. For example, her deskmate thought her own paintings were almost as good as Song Jiawen’s, but in her eyes, there was a world of difference.
Xu Yan ignored Meng Qing and obviously didn’t lend her the painting.
However, during the break when she went to the bathroom, Meng Qing actually sneaked into her desk and took the painting away.
When she came back, her deskmate said with a distressed face, “I couldn’t stop her. I didn’t dare pull too hard when I tried to take it back, fearing I might rip the painting.”
She knew Xu Yan treasured that painting immensely, handling it with care to prevent any other books from pressing on it, so when Meng Qing got her hands on it, she really didn’t dare to snatch it back.
Xu Yan’s face instantly fell, and through gritted teeth, she asked, looking at Meng Qing’s seat, “Where did she go?”
“I don’t know, she just took the painting and left.”
“Which direction? How long ago did she leave?”
Her deskmate told her the direction and time, and Xu Yan immediately dashed out at a speed that left her deskmate in awe.
Meng Qing was close to Deng Tao from class six, which was no secret among the senior three students, and Deng Tao was skilled at painting. So did Meng Qing take Song Jiawen’s painting to give to Deng Tao?
Xu Yan was furiously thinking that all her fellow art students wanted one of Song Jiawen’s paintings, but none of them had the nerve to ask for one. She was the only one who got a painting because she was favored by proximity, and she didn’t lend it to anyone else.
This Meng Qing… was outrageous!
Xu Yan hurried to class six, peered in, and sure enough, Meng Qing was handing the painting to Deng Tao, and the two of them were currently leaning over it.
“Give me back the painting.”
Xu Yan quickly approached and reached out to snatch the painting back from Deng Tao’s hands, but then there was a ripping sound—the painting tore.
A third of it was in Xu Yan’s hands, and two-thirds remained with Deng Tao.
Deng Tao looked up, her eyes coldly fixing on Xu Yan, fingers tensing as she crumpled the part of the painting in her hands.
Xu Yan stared blankly at the torn sketch, her eyes slightly reddening—not entirely out of distress but from sheer anger.
She didn’t bother with Deng Tao and simply turned her gaze straight to Meng Qing.
“You’re the one who tore it, what does it have to do with me?”
Meng Qing curled her lips disdainfully, greeted Deng Tao, and turned to leave.
But as she was halfway through turning, the ponytail tied at the back of her head was suddenly grabbed by a hand, then fiercely yanked. Caught off guard, Meng Qing let out a scream, and then her body fell backwards—thud! First, her upper body hit Deng Tao’s desk beside her, then it crashed down onto the floor.
The touched desk shook for a while before tilting forward, and then all the books and stationery on it cascaded to the floor, while the desk itself hit the one in front of it, causing it to topple over as well.
For a moment, there was a cacophony of bangs and crashes, and the entire classroom was in disarray.
