Chapter 184 - 181: You Can Even Listen to a Professional Painter Talk About Art Live in This Shop
’So that’s how it is,’ Li You thought. He got up, walked over to the wine jar, and ladled out two bowls of wine.
One bowl was a generous pour.
If Ling Xiaoru was going to drink a full bowl, then he should at least drink a full bowl, too.
He returned to his seat.
Li You and Ling Xiaoru first toasted the old man together.
The old man was their elder, so it was proper for them to toast him.
The old man laughed heartily and accepted their toast.
The three of them each took a sip.
The moment the wine touched her lips, Ling Xiaoru was instantly thrilled.
’This wine is incredible! How can wine be this good?’
Although she had heard other customers exclaim how good the wine here was, she never imagined it would be *this* good.
She had never been particularly fond of wine.
But now, she felt like she was starting to enjoy drinking.
Of course, that only applied to the wine here.
Ling Xiaoru said excitedly, "Boss, I never expected your wine to be so delicious."
Li You smiled. "Don’t get addicted. You might end up coming here to drink every day."
Ling Xiaoru rolled her eyes. "No way."
After that, the three of them ate, drank, and chatted, all in high spirits.
After finishing his bowl of wine, the old man asked for another.
Li You and Ling Xiaoru, however, both stuck to just one bowl.
After they slowly finished their meal, the old man settled the bill.
Li You accepted the payment.
Just then, more customers arrived for a meal.
Li You went into the kitchen to cook for the new arrivals.
Meanwhile, the old man and Ling Xiaoru began a discussion about her painting.
Of course, it was less a discussion and more the old man pointing out the painting’s various shortcomings and offering suggestions for improvement.
Ling Xiaoru listened with intense focus the entire time, not wanting to miss a single word.
Every sentence from the old man was incredibly beneficial to her.
As she listened, she experienced a moment of sudden, profound clarity.
She knew that she was going to gain something truly immense this time.
This gain would allow her to reach far greater heights in the future.
Ling Xiaoru understood this deeply.
Therefore, she was thrilled from beginning to end.
’This is a huge opportunity!’
Because every word from the old man was tailored to her specific weaknesses and flaws. Every sentence was precious, something money couldn’t buy.
’I’ll benefit from this for the rest of my life!’
Such opportunities were a matter of fate, not something one could actively seek. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
’To think that gifting the boss a painting would lead to such a fortuitous encounter.’
Ling Xiaoru was filled with emotion. At the same time, she felt a wave of gratitude toward Li You and his restaurant.
If it weren’t for this place, she would never have come here to eat, nor would she have gifted him that painting to thank him for walking her home that night.
And then, of course, this opportunity would never have arisen.
Ling Xiaoru was immensely grateful!
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After serving all the customers’ dishes, Li You came out of the kitchen and saw that the old man and Ling Xiaoru were still deep in conversation.
At the same time, a crowd of curious onlookers had gathered around them.
They were all customers from the restaurant.
The discussion between the old man and Ling Xiaoru had, of course, quickly attracted the attention of the other patrons.
The customers didn’t know anything about painting, but they all gathered around with great interest.
This was because they all loved paintings.
There was no contradiction in not understanding art but still loving it.
And this was especially true for majestic and atmospheric ink wash landscape paintings; almost no one could dislike them.
Everyone loved the painting hanging in the restaurant.
Every time they came, they would stare at the painting for a good while before exclaiming, "What a great painting! So much atmosphere!"
Only now did they learn that the artist behind this painting was this very same young, beautiful woman.
Everyone was quite surprised and astonished.
They found it hard to believe that such a young and beautiful woman could create a painting so majestic and with such profound depth.
’Isn’t this something only a master painter with decades of experience could produce?’
’This young woman is incredible!’
Of course, they also knew that the old man beside her was even more formidable.
Although they didn’t fully understand what the old man was saying, they could tell it was something extraordinary.
’One look at this old man, and you can tell he’s definitely a professional painter.’
The customers were all very certain of this.
This made them very excited and thrilled.
Following the two great directors, Wei Yang and Jing Wenbo, now a professional painter had come to eat here.
Although they didn’t know where the old man was from, he certainly wasn’t a local from Wenxian Town.
This meant that the professional painter had also come from afar.
Why would he come from so far away? He must have heard about the boss’s restaurant through some channel and came seeking it out.
Otherwise, there was no way he would have ended up here.
After all, the probability of someone from another place stumbling upon this restaurant by accident was very small.
This meant the boss’s restaurant was becoming more and more famous, more and more incredible!
Once again, all the customers felt a sense of shared glory and excitement.
At the same time, their interest in listening to the old man talk about painting grew even stronger.
To be able to eat at the boss’s place and also listen to a professional painter give a live lecture on art—this was just too awesome.
While there was a lot they couldn’t understand, it wasn’t as if they couldn’t understand anything at all.
There were some parts they could follow.
Whenever they understood a point, the customers would nod their heads eagerly.
Li You also joined the circle, quite interested himself.
He didn’t really understand much either, but that didn’t diminish his interest.
If Ling Xiaoru was there for the professional insights, they were happy just to enjoy the spectacle.
The old man was very pleased to see everyone gathered around, listening so intently. At times, he would even deliberately use simpler language that everyone could understand.
While listening wouldn’t give them the practical skill to paint, they could at least grasp some professional concepts about art.
After the old man finished, Ling Xiaoru brought up some points she didn’t understand, and he patiently answered each one.
He even answered questions posed by the other customers.
The customers’ enthusiasm was high, and applause broke out repeatedly.
Finally, the discussion between the old man and Ling Xiaoru came to an end.
’It’s over?’
All the customers were left wanting more.
’You know, after listening to the old man today, we’ve actually learned a lot about painting.’
’We still can’t paint and have no practical skill, but in the future, we’ll definitely be able to see some of the finer points when appreciating art.’
’Before this, we were total newbies who didn’t know a thing!’
’The old man only spoke for a short while, and we already understand so much. Isn’t he just amazing?’
At this point, the customers realized that the old man was far more skilled than they had initially thought.
This made the customers even more excited.
Because the more amazing the old man was, the more incredible Li You’s restaurant seemed.
After all, the old man had come here seeking it out.
The customers were excited, and Ling Xiaoru, of course, was even more so.
Besides her own immense gains, she also realized that the old man was even more incredible than she had imagined.
Ling Xiaoru was even more certain that the old man held a significant position in the Art World.
A high position, even.
’I’m sure I know his name, even if I don’t recognize his face.’
Perhaps influenced by Guyi, the number one figure in the Art World, many of the more famous painters nowadays didn’t like to make public appearances.
This meant that for many famous artists, people only knew their names but not their faces.
’Which master could this old man be?’
Ling Xiaoru was desperate to know. She was filled with anticipation, but also a fair bit of nervousness.
’Asking for his name now shouldn’t be too presumptuous, right?’
Ling Xiaoru thought to herself.
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