Car-hailing Driver: Rewards from Complaints-Chapter 323 - 179: Twins—One Paints, One Composes Poetry (Part 2)
"But I’ve never heard of someone like Mr. Jinghu before. How did such a master-level painter suddenly appear out of nowhere?"
"Judging by his painting style, he must be the kind of master who has retired to the countryside. Such people certainly won’t appear publicly, and it’s normal for us not to have heard of them. I just don’t know where the organizers of this exhibition got these four paintings from. They probably won’t reveal it either, as the more mysterious the artist, the more precious they are."
...
Listening to the discussions of the nearby visitors, Yang Chen felt a secret joy in his heart.
"Hey, don’t push, guys; can you stand still in your own positions?" said a female passenger.
Coincidentally, she was pushed next to Yang Chen by other visitors.
"Oh, it’s you, the driver. You’re here to see the exhibition too?" the female passenger asked.
Yang Chen nodded with a smile and said, "I heard you saying these four paintings are pretty amazing, so I came to take a look."
Female passenger: "Hehe... how is it? Aren’t they well-painted? To be honest, I’ve seen many works of famous artists, but none are as good as Mr. Jinghu’s. I really don’t know what kind of master he is; I imagine he should have white hair and beard, like some fairy in seclusion."
Yang Chen felt a bit helpless. Do his paintings give off that impression?
To think the girl believed he was an old master with white hair and beard.
Yang Chen: "Spring, Summer, Autumn — the three paintings are indeed good, but ’Solitary Fishing in the Cold River Snow’ is somewhat lacking."
With Yang Chen’s comment, everyone’s attention was instantly drawn.
"Haha... young man, you shouldn’t speak carelessly. In my opinion, these four paintings are definitely contemporary masterpieces, almost impossible for other artists to replicate," said an elderly man.
Seeing that he looked knowledgeable, Yang Chen asked, "May I ask how to address you, sir?"
The old man replied with a laugh, "My humble self is Zhao Jingzhong. Friends in the circle give face and call me Layman Qingfeng."
Wow, Layman Qingfeng sounds really refined, and gives an impression of high status. Yang Chen suddenly felt his Mr. Jinghu sounded a bit rustic, clearly due to his lack of cultural depth.
At this moment, the onlookers were all shocked.
"Ah! You are Layman Qingfeng! The ’Bright Moon in the Wind’ that sold for 10 million is your work!"
"Layman Qingfeng, you are my spiritual idol! I especially love your ’Mountain Stream Washerwoman’ painting, seven women in seven poses, it’s so well done."
"Today’s so lucky, to actually meet Layman Qingfeng in person. This trip was totally worthwhile, a big win!"
...
Zhao Jingzhong laughed heartily and said, "Thank you all for liking my work. I’m also here, just like everyone else, to appreciate Mr. Jinghu’s paintings; I think his paintings are better than mine."
At this point, the female passenger very politely said, "Grandpa Zhao, do you also think these four paintings are very good?"
Grandpa Zhao?
It seems this girl is not simple either, being able to directly address Layman Qingfeng, Zhao Jingzhong, as Grandpa Zhao. She must also be the child of some big figure in this circle.
Zhao Jingzhong replied with a smile, "I do think they are quite excellent; Mr. Jinghu’s accomplishments should be above mine. It’s just a shame I can’t exchange insights with him face to face."
Yang Chen quickly said, "You’ve already achieved the level of Layman Qingfeng, your skills must be above his. The ’Solitary Fishing in the Cold River Snow’ is poorly painted, the old man’s fingers are crooked, and the fishing line is a bit curved, not logical at all. I’m sure Mr. Jinghu was inexperienced when painting this, thus such small mistakes occurred."
Everyone hurriedly looked closely at the old man’s fingers and the fishing line, but did not find any bends or crookedness.
"Where? I think it looks fine!"
"Yeah! I didn’t see any bends or crookedness, don’t talk nonsense."
"Hey handsome, what do you do? Are you professionally trained in painting?"
...
"I’m an online ride-hailing driver," Yang Chen truthfully answered.
"Haha..." Everyone burst into laughter.
"What do you as an online ride-hailing driver know!"
"Exactly! This is art; not everyone can appreciate it. Look at what the Huaqing University School of Art is doing; netizens are all saying it’s ugly and plagiarizing foreign works. But they don’t care about online comments; their works are art pieces, not something everyone can appreciate."
"Even Layman Qingfeng praises it, yet an online ride-hailing driver criticizes it — such contrarian behavior shouldn’t be shown in this affair."
...
Now, Yang Chen, at least recognized professionally, disdained to argue seriously with these bystanders; whatever they say goes.
Zhao Jingzhong took out a magnifying glass, carefully observed for a while, and then said with a smile, "Young man, you have a good eye. Strictly speaking, the fingers of this old man are indeed a little crooked, and the fishing line is somewhat curved."
Everyone was dumbfounded, this online ride-hailing driver actually guessed it right.
Subsequently, Zhao Jingzhong continued, "But! Appreciating art cannot simply be viewed from a logical perspective; you must consider the artistic conception. We know this poem was written by Liu Zongyuan after being demoted, emphasizing a sense of ’loneliness’. So you can imagine a little old man, having lost his job, fishing alone in the snowy river, lonely and desolate. Is he really fishing? No, he is merely passing time in solitude. Mr. Jinghu used slightly crooked fingers to emphasize Liu Zongyuan’s hardships in life, so exhausted that his fingers aren’t straight anymore. The curved fishing line expresses a sense of emptiness and release; he’s not fishing but passing time. Therefore, don’t use your current life condition to think about the old man’s life in the painting; otherwise, you’d misinterpret, thinking the poet or the artist made errors."
