“It’s okay. Sister Manman, could you do me a favor? Whether I will be able to see the sun next week totally relies on you!” Sun Ling’er holds Ding Manman’s arm in her hands with great tenderness and says in a tactful and exaggerated tone. In the meanwhile, she acts coquettishly, which gives Ding goose bumps in an instant.
“You have to make it clear what favor I can do for you. Don’t make it sound so serious. What’s the relationship between your being unable to see the sun next week and my ability to paint?” Ding is unable to figure out the relationship between the two. Looking at Sun like this, Ding feels that this request seems not that simple.
“It’s actually not a big favor. One of my acquaintances whose paintings are of great popularity is going to hold an art exhibition recently. I don’t get along well with her. When I met her a few days ago, we fell out and I told her boldly that I would present her a painting which is better and more popular than hers...”
While Sun Ling’er speaks, her voice gets lower and lower. She realized that she had got herself into trouble afterwards. She is not good at painting and has very few friends active in the art world, not to mention that she majored in finance while studying in the U.S., with no relation to art at all. Therefore, Sun Ling’er has no choice but to seize anyone she can find for salvation as the last straw.
“Ling’er, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. On the one hand, I’m afraid I am unable to compete with her. The one who can hold an exhibition and draw the most attention from the viewers with her works must have had a lot of training in basic skills in painting. On the other hand, you were indeed too impulsive in this incident.”
Ding Manman cannot see eye to eye on what Sun has done. People shouldn’t flaunt their superiority before others about what they are unable to accomplish. It is the most important thing to accomplish what they are able to.
“I also know about that, but that woman has really gone too far. She regarded herself as Vincent Van Gogh just because of a few prizes she has won for her paintings. Not to mention her arrogance, she kept degrading me by saying that without my brother, I was just an useless and unlettered woman.” Sun is also clear that she was too impulsive, but that woman has done far worse.
“She said in front of many celebrities that Zhong’s family tainted with money-stink has no interest in arts except for profits, which really irritated me right then. Therefore, I instantly fired back at her that there are brilliant painters in my family, too. To my surprise, she said,
‘Oh, really? Then bring over the paintings from the brilliant painter from your family and let us appreciate it. Next week I will hold an art exhibition in a gallery in the city center in which many famous artists will bring in their works. I believe Miss Sun will definitely come with your family’s works. Make sure not to bring child’s graffiti then.’”
Even now Sun Ling’er can still remember the woman’s arrogant look with her nose pointing skyward. She was so furious that she immediately said that she would bring better works than hers. She asked all her friends for help, but none turned out to be capable of drawing. She had no way out but to turn to Ding Manman.
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“Why not turn to your brother? He is well-connected and must know some professional artists.” At Ding’s words, Sun Ling’er instantly shakes her heads like a drum-shaped rattle, exerting all her strength to express her reluctance to inform her brother of this matter.
Sun rejects her suggestion with no hesitation. “Rather than let my brother find out my conceited behavior, I prefer to be ridiculed by that woman and those of her so-called artists directly. My Brother hates the one most who has no competence but is fond of flaunting.”
You know that being mocked by that woman she would just lose her face once, but letting her brother know what she has done, she would get into a “life-threatening” condition. She doesn’t dare to ask her brother for help, even though she can find no way out.
“All right, I’ll try as much as possible. But first of all, I have to mention that I haven’t painted for a long time. Thus, my works may not even reach one third of others’ levels.” Ding Manman is quite clear that although she is interested in painting, her basic skills are not good enough to compete with those of professional painters.
“It’s okay! One third is enough. It’s better than nothing.” Sun Ling’er doesn’t expect too much now. She might be satisfied with just one decent painting.
Sun Ling’er takes Ding to the studio where all the necessary items for painting have been readily prepared. Ding notices an unfinished draft discarded in the corner which arouses her curiosity. She picks it up, takes a look, and falls into silence immediately .
“Haw-haw, this is a draft I tried myself. It turned out to be dissatisfying. To be exact, it is so ugly that I myself even can’t bear to look at it.” Sun Ling’er scratches her head sheepishly. Originally, she really intended to try painting on her own.
She has seen some so-called great paintings that were auctioned for ten or even one hundred million dollars, which are just like spilled paint or child’s graffiti, or nonsensical paintings in her eyes. Some of them were even regarded as milestones for the art world!
Hence, she thought that she could also paint like that. Later, she realized that no matter how hard she painted, her paintings did look like a child’s graffiti, not only ugly but also ridiculous. Ding Manman doesn’t reply to her immediately. She hesitates for quite a while before she speaks.
“May I ask who has given you the courage to make such a bold offer?” Ding Manman doesn’t deliberately degrade her painting. It is really very bad. Even a 5-year-old child who has just started learning to paint may do as well as Sun has.
“Maybe it’s Liang Jingru” (a Chinese singer who has sung a song named “Courage”.) Sun Ling’er is like a stooge and takes over the words jokingly. They look at each other and cannot help bursting into laughter. Ding likes Sun’s personality because Sun won’t take any misfortune to heart, at least she won’t mind that much.
Picking up the paintbrushes after a long time injects new vitality into Ding’s broken heart. Creation requires inspiration. Although Sun Ling’er is not clear about the essence of painting, she knows that one shouldn’t be disturbed for the sake of inspiration while painting. Therefore, she retreats silently from the room so that Ding will be able to concentrate.
With no disturbance, Ding starts her creation. Since she hasn’t used the paint brushes for too long, she is not satisfied with the first few paintings and goes on with some others. It’s been a long time since she got in touch with something that interests her. It’s also rare that she looks so excited. She lets her inspiration sparkle out on the white canvas freely to her heart’s content.
Ding stays in the studio for a whole day until night falls. If it were not because of the sore feeling from her wounded palm, she might not want to come out. She is surprised to find that painting can change her emotions and clear the worries and concerns from her mind, while she devotes herself to painting heart and soul.
Seldom can she do what she likes wholeheartedly. In the next few days, Ding stays in the studio the whole time except for sleeping in the bedroom. Sun Ling’er guesses that if there were a bed in the studio, Sister Manman would not leave the studio at all.