"No, of course not. Thank you. It's a precious opportunity. I'm very grateful."
Mona hesitated for a moment.
She smiled very politely, neither kissed nor hugged, but shook hands with the blond boy in a measured manner.
It was difficult for her to express blame on such occasions.
If she was just the heroine of an ordinary micro-movie, Mona wouldn't care that much. But she couldn't refuse an award-winning short film that was praised by official newspapers.
Being selected into Mrs. Sakai's advanced class does not mean that applying to college will be smooth sailing.
Or,
If Mona's original goal was to be ranked at the bottom of the top 150 art and design universities in the world like the University of Rotterdam, or a "second-rate prestigious school" ranked between 150 and 200.
If this is still the plan now, she feels that the requirements are a bit too low.
A better university means better circles, better connections, and better development opportunities.
In the field of art, of course there are geniuses who attract everyone's attention upon their debut and shock the world when they emerge from a remote village, but they are only a handful.
The reason why those real talents who make a splash at the Biennale often make super galleries with annual sales of billions of dollars, such as Gagosian, Lisson, and PACE, spend astronomical sums of money chasing contracts is because of this. Such situations are too rare.
Talent that can influence the world is destined to have nothing to do with 99.999% of people.
Many times, two ordinary art students with similar levels compete for opportunities. Whoever can be closer to the world art center, whose school is better, can enter a higher-end studio for internship...
Anyway, everyone’s paintings are the same, neither good nor bad.
No amazing talent,
Whoever has a better circle, whoever has more opportunities, will be more likely to succeed in life.
With such a good starting point, Mona also has greater ambitions.
The higher the university, the more stringent the application requirements are. Everyone compares portfolios, grade points, and social service hours. Excellent students from all over the world are competing with you.
She really needs this social welfare resume.
But he didn’t want Jerry to misunderstand.
"Well, after school, I'll treat you to dinner to express my gratitude." She nodded to Jerry and said with a smile: "It's up to you to choose the restaurant, Mr. Jerry Lorenz, please try to choose more expensive dishes. Otherwise I would be really embarrassed to accept such a precious gift."
Jerry was slightly disappointed.
Mona's answer was too distant, not as intimate as he imagined.
Although adding a name to the staff list is a free gift for Jerry.
But the Girl Student Council President's response was too tactful.
To be polite is to be distant.
He could hear the other party's indifference from Mona's body language and special emphasis on the restaurant's prices, and he felt a little frustrated.
"Forget it, being able to have a meal together is a good progress after all."
Jerry smiled inwardly.
He was a star of the school team and had many good-looking girlfriends during his student days. He no longer had much interest in girls who could sleep with her just by giving her a bag or lipstick.
Difficult girls make men feel conquered.
He gently pulled Mona, and the two of them bowed to the applauding audience like the leading actors and actresses at the end of a stage play.
The students were a little disappointed not to see the passionate kiss scene, but this scene still made everyone applaud enthusiastically.
The whole place was filled with applause and laughter.
The atmosphere was good as everyone felt that the talented and beautiful couple on the stage seemed to be born to be together.
Pretty girls are a scarce resource in the school, and everyone subconsciously thinks that they should belong to boys as beautiful as Jerry.
"I thought you would be very unhappy at this time, and wanted to run over to comfort you, but I didn't know that you were secretly looking at the girl's photos in the corner! Is this how boys like the new and dislike the old?"
A teasing voice came to my ears.
Gu Weijing turned his head and saw a pair of very charming and bright eyes looking at him condescendingly.
"Coco?"
The lights in the auditorium were as dim as a movie theater, and Gu Weijing didn't notice when Kou Kou slipped over.
She lay lightly on the back of the empty seat in front of her, crossed her hands on the back of the chair, and stared at the screen of the IPAD in Gu Weijing's hand.
The screen was not turned off, and the swimsuit photo of Katsuko Sakai on INS was still displayed.
"Oh? I was thinking about the artwork..." Gu Weijing explained awkwardly.
"Tch, the artwork you are talking about is a photo of a girl in a swimsuit?" Kou Kou rolled her eyes and expressed disdain for Gu Weijing's sanctimonious remarks.
She said this, but her expression was still very gentle.
Koko stretched out a hand to rub the boy's hair, as if she wanted to comfort a little pet who had lost its favorite ball of yarn.
"Forget it, just watch it. Miss Shengzi is indeed a very cute, soft and cute girl. Not only little boys like you with restless hormones and difficulty in resolving sexual feelings like her. I feel very excited after seeing her. "
Koko grinned and waved her fist.
She tilted her head and looked at the tablet screen, and said in a tone like an old man watching the Victoria's Secret supermodel catwalk on TV: "Unfortunately, the style of swimsuits is too conservative. Such plump girls have such good curves." , you have to wear a bikini and show it boldly to be dazzling enough!"
Such comments were also made by girls with plump figures and curvy figures.
It doesn't look greasy, but rather cute.
Kou Kou raised her upper body, looked left and right, and found that the attention of her classmates and teachers were all on the stage, and no one was paying attention here.
She didn't bother to say anything.
Supporting the large velvet backrest of the auditorium seat with one hand, and holding the hem of the school uniform skirt with the other hand to prevent it from being exposed, Kou Kou turned over from the seat in front of her like a flexible big cat. .
This scene absolutely does not comply with the Dulwich College Code of Conduct for Students.
If Mona saw such an unladylike scene, she would definitely order the student union to deduct Kou Kou's conduct points.
Gu Weijing only felt a fragrant breeze lingering on his face.
Koko's body was extremely light. She turned over the seat, and the corner of her skirt gently hit his shoulder. The skin of her thighs under the flying petticoat was looming, like the snow that had just solidified in winter.
"so cool!"
He cheered quietly.
"Huh huh huh, that's awesome. Turning over the seat is nothing. The dance teacher who taught me was a Russian aunt. When she danced "The Nutcracker" in St. Petersburg, the last scene had to rotate 1080 degrees, all with one right foot. The strength of your thumb is really awesome."
Kou Kou sat next to Gu Weijing and hummed.
Unlike the understatement in her words, the girl's pretty eyebrows showed that she was quite proud of her heroic appearance just now.
"Actually... I just watched that short film, and I didn't think it was anything special."
Koko thought for a while and muttered in a low voice: "College student film festivals are all fools. This kind of local government cultural festival, my dad basically said that it is the best newcomer, the best student actor and actress. , the best caring award, these small awards for cats and dogs are all negotiated with the entertainment company and the public relations company."
"You can get it with a few thousand dollars. It's very easy! The more than 30,000 dollars you donated to the orphanage is enough to cover all these trash awards."
Kou Kou raised her brows and said softly: "As for Yangon Economic Weekly, it is indeed a bit difficult, but it only takes a little work. It mainly depends on connections."
"Back then I randomly participated in a fencing competition, and there was a similar newspaper that wanted to please my dad and write a small column for me. My dad thought it was inappropriate and refused..."
Gu Weijing said softly "Oh".
He wasn't actually jealous of Jerry.
Their micro-movies are indeed well shot, with eye-catching material selection, professional editing and soundtrack, and connections are also part of their ability.
If Jerry can win an award, he has nothing to be bitter about.
Mona and Jerry Lang were in love, and he couldn't control it. His childhood sweetheart had made it clear many times that it had nothing to do with him.
It would be boring to keep entangled.
Kou Kou was a little unhappy when she saw that Gu Weijing still looked calm.
Kou Kou thought that the other party must be feeling sad when he saw his "ex-girlfriend" having fun with other boys on the stage, so she kindly ran over to comfort him.
As a result, she thought about her words for a long time, but she only got an "Oh" reply that couldn't be beaten with three sticks.
This made Kou Kou feel like she was doing stand-up comedy in front of a sculpture, without any sense of accomplishment.
"Thank you, Koko."
Gu Weijing turned his head, looked into Kou Kou's big eyes, smiled and said seriously: "Although I don't actually need comfort, I still thank you very much."
"I am very touched."
"I know, I'm not here to comfort you. I'm just staying in my seat. It's quite boring. I might as well find someone to chat with..."
Looking at the other party's solemn eyes, Kou Kou was stunned for a moment, then turned her head slightly and explained in a low voice, but the corners of her mouth still curved upward uncontrollably.
The two of them sat side by side in silence for a short while in the deserted corner of the last row of the auditorium.
After Jerry walked off the stage, the old principal did not sit back in his seat. At this time, he was still talking at length about the construction of campus culture.
Kou Kou didn't want to listen.
She felt that sitting in such silence was a bit boring, so she lowered her head, played with a strand of hair sticking up by her ears with her fingers, and occasionally hummed a few unpopular English tunes.
"Huh?"
The girl seemed to have suddenly seen something interesting.
She suddenly grabbed Gu Weijing's sleeve, looked at the jade bracelet exposed under the sleeve, and blinked in surprise.
"Is this shape the consecration bracelet enshrined in the Shwedagon Pagoda?"
Kou Kou shook Gu Weijing's wrist, as if she had discovered a new world, and said strangely: "This kind of bracelet is very difficult to get, but you actually have one."
She carefully moved the ice jade inlaid on Gu Weijing's wrist bracelet with her fingertips, and looked at the word "Gu" carved on it by the jade worker with a very fine carving knife.
"Your surname is also engraved on it. Shwedagon Pagoda doesn't have many bracelets like this in a year." Kou Kou smacked her lips, "I don't even want them."
"Very rare and precious?"
Gu Weijing turned the bracelet on his wrist. He had not taken it off since Katsuko Sakai tied the bracelet on for him.
Remember, all the artists participating in the Shwedagon Pagoda restoration project should have such a bracelet.
"This is the bracelet you bought. Come and ask me if it's precious or not?" Kou Kou squinted at Gu Weijing.
"I didn't buy it, I gave it as a gift."
"That's right...that's a very thoughtful gift."
The national gifts given by the Myanmar government to famous artists should indeed be considered thoughtful gifts.
"So precious?"
“It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it must be rare.”
Kou Kou bit her lower lip and said softly: "Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not differentiate between living beings by rank, so the materials of these bracelets and beads are often good and bad. Your string is made of good material, but it is made of rosewood and cheap agate stone. Similar bracelets may only cost a few hundred kyats each, and even the porters carrying sliding poles on the Yangon River can afford them."
"In this case, why not just offer thousands or tens of thousands of strings and let everyone buy them as they please?"
Gu Weijing was surprised that although he grew up in Yangon, a place with a strong Buddhist atmosphere, he was not a believer, so he did not understand such details.
"Bah! Just buy it, you think it is the steamed buns in the cafeteria. This kind of thing requires sincerity. It is for the people you care about, and you wish you peace and success. How can it be considered sincerity if you sell it casually? Monk Tang went to the West He still has to go through ninety-nine and eighty-one difficulties to obtain the scriptures, why didn't the Buddha just give him the scriptures casually?"
The most famous of the four masterpieces in Myanmar is "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". It is said that the drug lord Khun Sa never leaves his side, followed by "Journey to the West", which almost everyone has read.
Kou Kou seems to be very interested in this bracelet and is very dissatisfied with Gu Weijing's statement that he doesn't take it seriously.
She stared at the small bracelet in Gu Weijing's hand and said softly: "There are only about fifty niches in the Shwedagon Pagoda for such consecrated bracelets and Buddhist beads every month, one for each niche. It is difficult for ordinary people to get them." Arrived."
"If you want to get a consecrated bracelet, you have to go through government channels. Then no matter how rich or low you are, you go to the golden shrine of the Buddha statue in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda early every weekend to register for watering. For three consecutive weeks, you have been ranked in the top five. Ranking ten means you are sincere enough to get the opportunity to own such a bracelet. If there is any interruption in the middle, just start from the beginning."
When people in Myanmar worship Buddha, they not only burn incense, but also offer water to the flowerbed in front of the Buddha statue.
When Gu Weijing painted the "Picture of Worshiping the Buddha and Protecting the Dharma" before, the adult artists were not there because they followed Mr. Cao to water the water and worship the Buddha.
Pouring the first bowl of water before the Shwedagon Pagoda opens every day is equivalent to burning the first stick of incense in front of the Lama Temple in Beijing. Legend has it that it is particularly effective.
So many people came early and lined up.
Wanting to be ranked close to the top fifty for three consecutive weeks is indeed a physically demanding job.
"When I was a child, my mother would go and beg me for a bracelet like this every year to keep me safe and healthy." Kou Kou looked at the jade string on Gu Weijing's wrist with a longing expression.
"Auntie is too lazy to run for you now?"
Gu Weijing raised his eyebrows.
He had seen Kou Kou's mother, a very coquettish aunt, and Kou Kou looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.
"No, my mother has passed away many years ago. The vixen you saw is my stepmother." Koko said with an indifferent expression.
(End of chapter)
