Chapter 295 - To Repaint From Memory
Translator: Lav
Editor: Seliniaki Ilikia
The man surnamed Xu blatantly seized the opportunity. “You are clearly talking without restraint,” he sneered coldly. “An ‘instinct.’ Ha! If you base everything off of instinct, then I can use my instinct to say that the Mona Lisa isn’t that amazing when it is right in front of me.”
The man glanced at Wei Xingyue, already thinking about how she would ask for forgiveness from Old Bai because she was the one who had brought Shi Lei.
Old Bai was an elder and full of wisdom. How could he not know the small tricks the man had in mind?
Even if Shi Lei spoke like that, Old Bai didn’t think that he did so under Wei Xingyue’s orders, and it was impossible for that to have anything to do with the Wei family. On the other hand, he also wouldn't target this man surnamed Xu. However, with a mind like that, Old Bai would definitely make his daughters give up if there was a possibility of collaboration in the future. Put simply, the man thought that he was being smart, but he had actually offended both sides.
However, Old Bai was more or less unhappy with what Shi Lei had said.
He had experienced everything in life and only had the time and leisure to pick up his family origins after he retired. He had been extremely excited at the possession of this painting, and the reactions of the guests today convinced him even more that this painting copied by someone in the Song Dynasty was indeed of significant value. No matter how intelligent he was, he had some vanity, and that vanity all manifested in a painting that he had dreamed of possessing.
Now Shi Lei’s comment made Old Bai shake his head and sigh silently. Of course he wouldn’t make a fuss about it, but it more or less rained on his parade.
“I told you to cut the nonsense!” Wei Xingyue complained softly when she noticed Old Bai’s unhappiness.
“What’s wrong with you?” Shi Lei asked indignantly. “You told me not to say it and I didn’t. Then when you let me say it and I do, you tell me to stop again. What on earth do you want?”
His words were like a tongue twister and if it was a normal situation, everyone would laugh. But now, no one could. They all thought that Shi Lei didn’t know his position. Everyone looked toward Wei Xingyue, wanting to know how she was going handle it.
Wei Xingyue was gloomy and secretly blamed her father. Why did she have to bring him? Wasn’t it obvious that he knew absolutely nothing about art? She had thought that this guy had a high EQ before, but today, it seemed like his EQ had all been eaten by dogs,
“Well, forget it. One thing may be different from another person’s point of view, and instinct is a very strange thing. It is allowed to dislike even the best of paintings.”
Old Bai was helping Shi Lei take a step back, but he continued speaking, as if he didn’t know how to back off. “It’s not that I don’t like it. I don’t really understand painting in general and I neither like nor dislike them. I just purely think that this one is too different from the real thing.”
Uh…
The situation turned even more awkward. Wei Xingyue had planned on helping to resolve it after Old Bai’s words and leave with Shi Lei as soon as possible, but now that he said that, he nearly put her in danger.
“Stop it!” Wei Xingyue glowered at Shi Lei and quickly smiled at Old Bai. “Old Bai, please don’t be angry. My friend, he…Ah…” Wei Xingyue couldn’t find an excuse to explain and could only sigh.
Old Bai shook his head in disappointment. He had lost all interest and planned to end the gathering early.
Chen Yanü suddenly gestured at Shi Lei. Of course, he was confused, not understanding what she meant.
Chen Yanü made the same gestures at Wei Xingyue and pointed at Shi Lei, meaning for her to interpret it for him.
Wei Xingyue was also confused. “Sister Nü asked if you’ve seen another copy of the Buddha painting.”
She didn’t get her hopes up, but Shi Lei nodded. “I have!” What he thought was: Not only did I see it, but I can paint it for you right now!
Of course, Shi Lei was lying. He had already used the drawing app and selected Zhang Sengyou to possess him when Old Bai was revealing the painting.
Because he was possessed by Zhang Sengyou, Shi Lei could tell with a single glance that although this copy was amazing, it was far off from Zhang Sengyou’s original work. After he was possessed, it became obvious to him that the brush strokes and techniques used in this so-called “Dipankara Buddha” were copied by mimicking the same techniques and features from the “Five Stars of the Lunar Mansions.” This was also the reason why everyone thought that, from a different aspect, it was Zhang Sengyou’s style. But Zhang Sengyou was a master painter, the most excellent painter in the Southern Dynasty. How could he not differ the strokes and techniques in two completely different paintings with different concepts and themes? And the “Five Stars of the Lunar Mansions” was a painting of God, while this was was a painting of Buddha.
Shi Lei nodded earnestly. “Yes, I’ve seen another painting of the Buddha before. That painting was the real copy, based on Zhang Sengyou’s original painting.”
Everyone was shocked, including Old Bai.
But the man surnamed Xu snorted coldly. “Nonsense! Zhang Sengyou didn’t pass down any of his work. Only the ‘Five Stars of the Lunar Mansions’ is publicly recognized as perfection in both its spiritual and physical forms. Youngster, don’t make irresponsible remarks just to inflate your ego!”
Shi Lei gave him a deep look and spoke leisurely while everyone else was still frozen in their spots. “I can’t help it if that’s what you believe, but don’t you think that this painting is too similar to the ‘Five Stars of the Lunar Mansions’ in its form and style? How is this a Dipankara Buddha painting? It’s just something that’s changed from the characters in the ‘Five Stars of the Lunar Mansions.’ I don’t know too much about this, but I think that since he was such a famous painter, wouldn’t it be impossible for him to use the exact same techniques for two completely different paintings?”
Everyone was dumbfounded by his words. When they looked at the painting again, they felt like it was indeed too similar to the “Five Stars of the Lunar Mansions.” Although Shi Lei looked like he was forcing the logic, it somehow sounded reasonable.
Old Bai nodded. “What this young friend said is somewhat reasonable…”
The man with the surname Xu panicked. “Old Bai, this brat is just making things up. He is trying to confuse you with his small tricks. He has nothing else to say and is trying to step back with Sister Nü’s words.”
Old Bai gave him a deep look and then turned to Shi Lei. “Young friend, where is the painting that you saw?”
Shi Lei shrugged. “It’s gone. I accidentally burned it when I was playing with fireworks as a child.”
There was an uproar in the room. Old Bai’s expression darkened again.
No one thought that what Shi Lei said was real. He was definitely lying.
Wei Xingyue wanted to grab him and just run, but he spoke again. “But I copied that painting all the time when I was child and I still remember it. Old Bai, if you don’t mind waiting a while, I can basically repaint the whole thing.”
Whoa!
Shi Lei’s words were like a stone thrown into a pond, making the whole room explode into discussion.
The people believed this even less, since he was just a kid who understood nothing about painting. This was Zhang Sengyou’s art, not some manga. How could a youngster who didn’t know the basics of painting redraw it from memory?