This is both good and bad.

On the positive side, the attention on this Lion City Art Exhibition is unprecedented.

Any artist who can make a name for himself on this stage will find his reputation infinitely magnified under the spotlight. From being unknown yesterday, participating in this exhibition can attract the attention of the world’s top gallery agents and art promoters.

Participating in an art exhibition can save thirty years of hard work.

The bad news is,

The competition is intensifying and the difficulty of the award competition is also on the rise.

Which great painter doesn’t have a younger generation anymore? All kinds of influential art galleries are also hoping to squeeze their emerging artists into this Cyan Cloud Ladder.

Everyone having connections is equivalent to no one having connections.

The organizing committee is now strictly controlling the number of special invited artists, and it’s basically difficult to get a spot through private connections unless you have an exceptionally strong relationship.

Koizumi Katsuko also seriously considered participating in the Lion City Art Exhibition.

Professor Jiu Kai Yicheng suggested his daughter to hold off a bit.

Koizumi Katsuko’s current level of painting technique is somewhat awkward.

In student competitions, she is outstanding and finds no rivals.

But when it comes to the prestigious and historically rich art exhibitions in Shanghai, Taipei, or Lion City, competing with older artists, mostly in their forties and with mature artistic styles, the chances of even making it to the finals are uncertain.

Emotional expression in works is Miss Shengzi’s weakness, and she might not even pass the preliminary selection.

It might be better to wait another year,

With Uncle Sakai’s connections, it’s not too difficult to secure a spot as a special invited artist for his daughter through the organizers at the local art exhibitions in Japan next year.

"I actually have some of my own understanding of the Lion City Art Exhibition."

Gu Weijing smiled as he noticed Koizumi Katsuko’s gaze sweeping over his easel covered with a garbage bag multiple times, and he walked over to the easel.

"Shengzi, do you want to see my design?"

"I want to see it, I want to see it, may I?"

Koizumi Katsuko quickly and playfully nodded, showing a curious expression.

Since coming into the room, she had noticed the easel covered with a dark plastic bag, her mind itching as if scratched by a little cat.

She resisted her curiosity, refraining from lifting the plastic bag or expressing her desire to see it to Gu Weijing.

She was well-mannered.

If Gu Weijing wanted to share his creation with her, he would naturally show it to her.

If he didn’t want to, she needed to give him enough privacy.

Becoming a couple is one thing, respect is another.

Many artists are secretive about their unpublished works, like guarding the password to a personal bank account.

Even a lover or wife browsing through them could make them furious.

On one hand, it’s because the connection between a creative work and its creator is profound.

Some works might be painted just for the artist themselves. Being suddenly exposed to an outsider might make them feel as vulnerable as if their private photos were seen.

The main reason is the fear of leaks.

Unfinished pieces could easily be stolen if one isn’t careful.

In the art world, plagiarism isn’t new. It’s news if, in a year, no artists argue over plagiarism online.

Picasso’s greatest and most "infamous" blemish in his lifetime was not his callousness towards his lovers.

By the societal standards of the time, what was it for a great artist to fool around with women? Some girls even took pride in having slept with Picasso throughout their lives.

What made contemporaries most despise Picasso was that he was an artist who loved "stealing".

During Picasso’s creative years in France, he often liked to visit the studios of young artists.

He’d steal inspiration from unfinished works, seeing whose design was good, then rush back to outdo them himself.

Honestly,

Picasso was an extraordinarily great artistic genius.

His plagiarized works often surpassed the original artist’s design, with more exceptional techniques.

However, this can’t hide the "evil" nature of his acts, nor the exploitation of young artists’ talents.

Back then, many peers were exasperated with him, and when they heard Picasso was visiting a public studio, they hid their works like villagers fearing a raid.

Picasso himself also had an artistic saying: "Good artists borrow, great artists steal."

This quote was later adopted by Jobs as one of Apple’s guiding principles.

Koizumi Katsuko did not want to overstep.

Mutually respectful lovers can go further together.

"Of course, you can, I welcome your guidance." Gu Weijing gently pulled off the bag over the piece, "I just finished the base drawing."

Koizumi Katsuko folded her fingers together in front of her chest, eagerly stating, "The base drawing gives a good idea already."

As the covering on the easel was moved away, the preliminary sketch on the linen canvas was fully exposed to her eyes.

Having witnessed the amazing technique just now while copying "Old Church on a Stormy Day", Koizumi Katsuko thought Gu Weijing would choose oil painting for the exhibition, given his impressive Chinese Painting skills on the Great Golden Pagoda’s mural, but oil paintings were clearly more in vogue at the Lion City Art Exhibition.

Unexpectedly,

She got a glimpse of such an enchanting base drawing.

Those intertwining and exquisite lines, are they created with ink brush techniques? How did the focal point of this flat perspective get expressed? Clearly echoing with the colorful allure of an oil painting, it also hinted at an Eastern poetic charm.

The composition was exquisite, with a slanted triangle resembling the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Clearly, it seemed that the composition would soon lose balance and topple to one side, yet it gave the audience a peculiar sense of stability and peace.

The girl breathed slowly, her eyes fixed on the canvas, not blinking, as if drawn into a black hole vortex.

"I love you."

The words slipped gently from Koizumi Katsuko’s lips, and it was unclear if she was speaking to Gu Weijing or the painting before her.

Western flair, Eastern grace.

The painting in front was unfinished but resonated within Shengzi, giving a sense of mutuality.

Koizumi Katsuko slowly reached out her hand, her fingertips skimming the coarse surface of the canvas fiber centimeter by centimeter, sensing the lines in the painting rhythm with her breath.

She looked at the painting as if seeing herself.

This work is truly marvelous!

Within Koizumi Katsuko, the dual souls and heritage of East and West felt called upon.

The intertwining lines on the canvas wove a wonderful vortex, constantly drawing the girl’s gaze deeper and prompting exploration.

Different paintings appeal to people differently; those who are melancholic may prefer Van Gogh’s works, while children might favor Monet’s strokes filled with sunlight, freedom, and fresh air.

Koizumi Katsuko had a special fondness for the painting style before her, seeing in it a cultural collision and fusion that sparked an enchanting magic that captivated her.

She even felt an urge to cry.

After a while,

Koizumi Katsuko withdrew her gaze from the easel.

Without a word, she walked over, gently spread her arms, wrapped them around Gu Weijing’s neck, and gave him a deep hug.

"Only at Mr. Wu Guanzhong’s exhibitions have I found this feeling before. How did you paint this? I can tell that the lines here have some connection to the pen portrait you drew for me before, right?" Shengzi asked softly.

"Under Elder Cao’s guidance, combining a line drawing style with the characteristics of Lang Shining’s New Style Painting, do you know Lang Shining?" Gu Weijing explained.

"I’ve only heard of him; I’ll look up his paintings when I go back."

Koizumi Katsuko shook her head.

Her education focused on Western modern art, and she is familiar with Wu Guanzhong, the fusion painting master who once stirred up a storm in Paris.

But painters like Lang Shining, a Qing Dynasty Palace Painter, are somewhat unfamiliar to her.

Shengzi buried her face in Gu Weijing’s embrace and sighed, "It’s truly beautiful, I love this painting."