Chapter 50: On Painting (Seeking Recommendations and Bookmarks)

  Huang Yuwen smiled and said: "How can I compare with them? Like Qi Baishi painted shrimp, Xu Beihong painted galloping horses. Among the younger generation of painters, who dares to paint shrimp or horses? At my current level," Huang Yuwen glanced at Ye Zhenran and said, "Don't you know 'painting a tiger but ending up with a dog'?"

  Ye Ziran listened to Huang Yuwen's words, while teasing himself, he also admired these senior painters even more. He seemed to want to take them as an example and work hard on his paintings. Without realizing it, he looked at her and said: "To reach the level of these painters, the hardships they endured and the energy they spent are unimaginable for ordinary people. Why do you have to suffer like that?"

  Huang Yuwen retorted: "What kind of person am I?"

  "Intelligent and beautiful, just like her name."

  Huang Yuwen of course knew the meaning of the two characters "Yu Wen" in her name, "Yu" meant a beautiful jade, and "Wen" meant a beautiful cloud. When she heard Ye Zhenran's words, she couldn't help but blush slightly, but didn't dare to look up at him, only lightly tapping her feet and saying: "How can you also start talking like this to tease people?"

  Yeh Chien-ying said in a soft voice: "I speak from the heart and say what I feel. It's not empty flattery."

  Huang Yuwen felt her neck heat up upon hearing this, knowing she must be flushed with embarrassment. She couldn't utter a word, so she quickly turned around and walked to his front, not daring to let him see her face.

  Ye Ziran had already regretted saying those words, seeing Huang Yuwen's face flush with embarrassment as she walked quietly in front of him, he knew she was feeling awkward and silently reminded himself to be more mindful of his choice of words to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

  Fortunately, Huang Yuwen was not the kind of woman who would "not step out of the door and not leave the second door". After walking a few steps, her mood recovered. She stopped in her tracks and said to Ye Ziran: "Do you know? My teacher specially painted two paintings for you, saying that he wanted to give them to you as a thank you for saving his life."

  Ye Ziran exclaimed in surprise: "Really? I've always wanted to get Zhu's paintings, but his words are unbearable."

  Huang Yuwen smiled and said, "I don't know if you can accept it or not, but the teacher has been mentioning you every day recently. When someone comes to visit, they always make you a topic of conversation."

  Yezhen patted his head and said: "No wonder I've been sneezing several times a day recently, it turns out it's because of this."

  Huang Yuwen glared at him and said, "Don't make fun of the teacher, he's really grateful to you in his heart, unlike those officials who speak without any sincerity."

  Ye Ziran called out to Qu Dao: "Where have I not been sincere? Besides, I can be considered a seasoned official, can't I?"

  Huang Yuwen nodded and said: "You are currently not an old bureaucrat, but a small bureaucrat. However, after mixing for a while, you will become an old bureaucrat later."

  Ye Zhenran said discontentedly: "You are striking a large area, killing innocent people indiscriminately. You can't see the hard work and dedication of leading cadres for the people's benefit."

  Huang Yuwen couldn't help but laugh and said, "Your words are quite consistent with my dad's tone, as if you're trying to sound serious."

  "Is your dad also a leader?"

  Huang Yuwen gave him a cold glance and said, "Typical bureaucratic mindset, only seeing the superior leaders in your eyes. Let me tell you, my dad is just an ordinary citizen."

  Ye Ziran was made to feel embarrassed by her words and raised his hands in surrender, saying: "Alright alright, I give up, you win."

  Huang Yuwen couldn't help but laugh and stopped teasing him. She smiled and asked: "Little official, why did you come to J University today?"

  Yeziran replied: "I'm here for the postgraduate entrance exam, I plan to major in Economic Management."

  "Huang Yuwen said 'oh' and asked: 'Then you're not going back today? You've finished your exam and are strolling around the campus, not even in a hurry to catch the bus.'"

  Ye Ziran said: "I'm not going back today, our county's economic development zone has set up an office in the provincial capital to attract investment and talent, mainly to provide one-stop services for sci-tech entrepreneurs, I am the head of the economic development zone."

  Huang Yuwen was uninterested in his work, but asked with interest: "I heard from the teacher that Changjia County has a good scenery and many places to write about?"

  Ye Ziran nodded and said: "That's right! Xishan, Donglin Temple, and the river in the city are all great places with good scenery. There are empty valleys, lush vegetation, small bridges, flowing water, and ancient buildings with layered eaves and carved windows. They are all excellent subjects for painting. Whenever you want to come, just give me a call, I can be your guide."

  Huang Yuwen's face lit up with joy, and she smiled, saying: "Great, don't say you're too busy to ignore me when the time comes."

  Ye Ziran smiled and nodded, saying: "You are a future great painter, I should make some emotional investment first, and then ask you to paint for me later."

  Huang Yuwen scolded him with a sentence: "Little bureaucrat, indeed three sentences do not leave the profession." After a pause, she said again: "Are you going to my teacher's house tonight?"

  Ye Ziran smiled and said: "I'd like to go, but I don't know where he lives."

  Huang Yuwen said: "I'll take you there."

  "Thanks, but it's not a good time now. How about we go to the school cafeteria to eat first and then head out? I'll treat you?"

  Huang Yuwen retorted with a sharp tongue: "Indeed, the style of a small official. If I were an official from the provincial government, would you also invite me to have dinner in the cafeteria?"

  Ye Ziran was speechless and could only say: "Then where are you going to eat? Suit yourself."

  Huang Yuwen covered her mouth and smiled: "No way, if I said the place, wouldn't you make me pay? Today I'll eat at your expense, go to the cafeteria." Perhaps realizing that the phrase "eat at your expense" was a bit off, she straightened her pretty face, pointed towards the cafeteria, and said to Ye Zhenran: "GO! GO! GO!"

  Ye Ziran thoroughly lost the argument and didn't dare say another word, smiling as they walked together to the cafeteria. However, in her heart, she thought that Huang Yuwen's personality was not only straightforward but also a bit too familiar, she must be very popular, right?

  After dinner in the cafeteria, Ye Zhenran followed Huang Yuwen to Zhu Hua's home in the provincial capital.

  Zhu the painter didn't expect Ye Zhenran to come, and he was overjoyed to invite him to sit in the living room. He introduced him to his wife, saying: "Hu Yaping, this is Ye Zhenran, the village head of Ye Village who saved my life."

  Hu Yaping smiled and said, "Ah, you're Ye Chang! Old Zhu mentions your name every day. Indeed, you have a dignified appearance and are quite the talented individual." She then busied herself pouring him tea.

  Ye Ziran was flattered and humbly said, "Auntie Hu is being polite. A good person will naturally have a good fate, even without us, there might be others who can help. Besides, we are also fighting for our own lives."

  "What is auspicious? What is inauspicious? The Buddha said that good and evil, auspiciousness and inauspiciousness are all causes and effects. If you plant a certain kind of cause, you will reap a certain kind of effect." He seriously told Ye Zhen: "Ye Chang, you may not know that I have been friends with Sude Master of Donglin Temple for many years. On the second day after the incident, I went to the temple to thank Guanyin Bodhisattva for granting great Dharma power and protecting us from suffering at the hands of violent mobs. I also told Sude Master about the experience of the disaster, only then did I realize that we were able to escape the disaster because of your deep good fortune."

  Ye Ziran didn't expect that Zhu the painter was actually a Buddhist believer. Listening to him speak so devoutly, it's clear that he believes deeply. He couldn't help but say: "Zhu the painter, of course the monk's words are about cause and effect, karma, and the cycle of life. Actually, although we have a lot of luck, mainly it's because everyone works together, in critical moments they can all sacrifice themselves..."

  Hu Yaping didn't wait for Ye Zhenran to finish speaking, and interrupted: "Ye Chang, although what you said is true, the minds of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are indeed beyond human comprehension. There are people in the world who do not believe in Buddhism, that's because the Buddha's wisdom is not easy for people to understand. I heard Old Zhu say that Master Su De praised you for your single-minded pursuit of goodness, and having a connection with the Buddha, cultivating worldly Dharma, only then did all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from the ten directions come to protect you, help you turn disasters into blessings, and at the same time rescue Old Zhu and several others."

  Ye Ziran couldn't help but glance at her, and suddenly realized that Zhu's devotion to Buddhism was influenced by his wife. After listening to her abstruse words, he inadvertently brought up the conversation he had with Master Kude in Donglin Temple last time, saying: "The Buddha's teachings are profound, I'm just a layman, unable to deeply understand them. I once had the opportunity to have a long conversation with Master Kude and received a jade pendant that he wore for many years. Master Kude said 'to know the causes of the past, look at what you receive in this life', but I still can't comprehend it. Could it be referring to this great calamity, where the jade pendant blocked the blades of the two Lis, allowing me to narrowly escape danger? Is it because I sowed good karma in the past?"

  Zhu and Hu Yaping exclaimed in unison, "What jade pendant?"

  Yezhen took off the jade pendant hanging from his chest and handed it to Zhu, saying: "Last time I went to the temple to worship Buddha, Master Kude gave me this piece of jade and told me to always wear it on my body. This time when I encountered danger, if this jade hadn't blocked a fatal blow, I might have been finished, and the outcome would be hard to say."

  Zhu the painter looked at the jade pendant in his hand again, then handed it to Hu Yanping to look at, nodding and sighing: "Indeed, indeed." Ye Zhenran knew he still had something to say, so she quietly watched him. Zhu the painter sighed for a while, then continued: "This piece of jade was the treasured love of Sude Monk, I know that. Sude Monk wore it in front of the Bodhisattva and paid homage for decades, this piece of jade even if it hasn't become spiritual, must have acquired some kind of power, Sude said you have a connection with Buddha probably because of this."

  Yizhen was even more puzzled and asked, "If Monk Sude didn't give me this jade pendant, wouldn't I have no affinity with the Buddha? Is it because I had affinity with the Buddha that Sude gave me the jade pendant, or did I gain affinity with the Buddha only after accepting the jade pendant?"

  The painter Zhu was stunned by the question and couldn't answer. Hu Yaping smiled and continued, "All relationships in the world have causes and effects, so there's a saying 'you reap what you sow'. You were able to obtain Sude's jade pendant because you had a connection with him. Perhaps you don't know why, but things in the world happen for a reason, and it must be that Sude understood the cause and effect of this matter before giving you the pendant."

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