"The name Elena is as important as life in everyone's eyes." Oler said with a gloomy smile: "Some people are eager to wash away all your marks."
Ana's eyes were cold and her breathing was heavy.
Oler stood up: "Cousin, look at what Sir Brown is doing. Now do you think that I really cared about you just now and that my previous suggestions were all for your own good?"
Anna felt sick to her stomach.
The dog August next to her barked even more loudly, and Anna gently stroked its top with her fingers to comfort him.
She thinks this world is really ridiculous.
So was Sir Brown, so was Mr. Kruger, and so was Cousin Oller.
They always sound considerate of you and discipline you as an ignorant little girl, wanting you to move forward in accordance with their instructions and will.
Whether with carrots or spurs.
Your resistance, your persistence, your struggle,
To others, it looks like nothing more than the bark of a puppy that can bar its teeth.
Miss Elena wanted to yell angrily, and wanted to throw the aluminum painting tube at hand at cousin Ole's shiny head.
But she couldn't do that.
Anna was not even willing to show any outrageous anger in front of the other party at this time.
It’s not that Anna isn’t angry,
But it's just like what she once told Detective Cat Ms. in the network connection.
Anger means you have lost control of the situation and represents your weakness.
As the owner of Elena Manor.
At times like this, you should always remain calm and calm.
It’s just that Anna is really tired.
"Is this your threat?"
Anna forced herself to laugh, even if it was a deep-seated sneer.
"Well, I will consider the offer of a joint lecture with Lord Browne."
She couldn't back down at a time like this.
Anna had anticipated that the annual meeting speech might turn into a public humiliation.
She might be able to take this opportunity to publicly accuse the management of "Oil Painting" of their faults, but this actually doesn't mean much.
Sir Brown is a veteran in the industry.
The other party was the director of the Eindhoven City Museum in the Netherlands, and is still an academician of the French Academy of Arts and an honorary professor of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
Regardless of stance and moral character, everyone must affirm that the other person is an academic authority.
In Sir Brown's academic career, he published three art papers at A&HCI level alone.
Because of his advanced research on ancient Egyptian murals and the social contribution made by Oil Painting magazine in the field of art, he was extremely rare as a foreigner to receive an OBE (Order of the British Empire) and was chartered The honorific title "Sir" can be added after the title.
In terms of social status, he enjoys the same honor as Sir Humphrey in the famous British drama "Yes, Minister".
In front of such an honorable old scholar, even the Prime Minister must treat him politely and politely.
Compared with the other party, Anna is just an ignorant girl with the surname "Elena" in the eyes of public opinion.
If people dare to invite you to the stage to give a joint speech after Sir Brown, they are not afraid that you will make a big fuss.
All of her over-the-top speeches, against the background of Sir Brown's speech and the capital injection from Kruger Brothers Bank, will look like some kind of poor performance on the stage by an incompetent clown who is about to be kicked out of the circus.
But,
Anna must still appear with her head held high and appear as the last heir of the Elena family.
If this year's annual meeting is a curtain call for "Oil Painting" by the Irina family.
Of course, she, the leading actor, has no choice but to stand on the farewell stage and speak out on behalf of her ancestors. This is an obligation that Anna cannot shirk from the moment she is born.
Ding dong!
Anna was silent for a long time, just when she wanted to say something more.
The cell phone next to me rang.
Only a few relatives and friends have my contact information. Unless necessary, most daily interactions are handled by the housekeeper, and only a few people will have Anna set a reminder ringtone.
She glanced at the screen of her phone.
[Miss Kate has sent you a new message! 】
Anna frequently uses two iPhones.
One is for daily social use as "Ms. Elena".
The other one is in the name of "Mr. Sloth", which she uses when she needs to make a show, contact recording guests, and log in to the Apple Podcasts backend for verification.
Both mobile phones are connected using the social integration software [Dual Messenger for WhatsApp], allowing her to send and receive corresponding messages no matter which IPHONE she is on.
Anna discovered that the ringtone now prompted new information on Mr. Sloth's social account.
Miss Kate?
Anna was slightly stunned.
The pronunciation of Kate's surname (Kate) is very similar to that of Cat Mi (CAT). It was the nickname code she gave to the painter Detective Cat after she thought about it after signing the contract to become the other party's agent.
The personal staff in the manor have confidentiality agreements, and Anna also believes in the professional ethics of these old people.
But in order to prevent unnecessary people from seeing the phone and making irrelevant associations, and to avoid trouble, Anna has always covered up the content related to Mr. Sloth's side of herself very well.
It's Anna's private little secret.
Will the other party contact me at this time...
I know it's not polite to check my phone when meeting guests. But Anna still didn't hesitate much, picked up her mobile phone and lit up the screen.
Whenever she is chatting with Ms. Detective Cat, the girl will feel very relaxed.
In conversations in the virtual world,
Anna only needs to play the role of "Mr. Sloth", without too much money or interests - everything is only related to art.
Even if it's just a moment's rest.
Anna also hoped that she could temporarily withdraw from the quagmire of messy and frustrating things in front of her and get a short respite.
"Hi! I suddenly had some inspiration and drew a new cover painting for "The Little Prince". I think the appeal of this painting is much stronger than the previous works. Take a look at the Little Prince project team of Scholastic Group , can it be convenient for me to change manuscripts?”
Draw another cover painting?
Anna tilted her head slightly and laughed a little when she saw Detective Cat's request.
"Don't dwell on the past. The project of "The Little Prince" has ended. You were very good at painting before. You can relax a little during this period, and I will keep an eye out for the next suitable contract for you. Forget about the cover painting. , there is never such a thing as actively changing the manuscript..."
Anna ignored Osborne beside her and just started typing on her mobile phone.
From the perspective of a professional agent, Detective Cat’s proposal actually seems very unprofessional.
The illustration industry has always been a business that is qualified if Party A is satisfied.
There is absolutely no reason for the illustrator to take the initiative to find trouble for himself.
Even if Anna is a person with high artistic requirements, she will not ask for a change of draft after a contract has been completed.
The daily work of a large publishing house is like countless star gears meshing with each other.
Everyone has their own set of work processes.
Industrial assembly lines are general.
After the artist's appointment is completed, each page needs to be carefully typed, proofread and edited for final review, and then the printing process begins, contacting the channel provider to warm up...
Whenever a manuscript is submitted and approved by the publishing house, the set of illustrations will be sent to the next work schedule.
At this point, whether to change the draft is not something that the working group of the "Little Prince" project can decide.
Many things have to be overturned, which will add a lot of unnecessary tasks.
Even the publishing house will not thank you for your excellence, but will think that you, as an artist, are a bit too superfluous and a troublemaker.
"This sister is really a rookie."
Anna can sense that Ms. Cat, the detective cat, has no understanding of many business processes in the industry.
These requirements are really unprofessional. If you have worked hard in the relevant industry, you will never say such things as changing the draft.
It's so young and stupid,
Silly……
"so cute!"
Anna would not blame the other party for this kind of thing.
She liked that about the other person very much.
Because Elena is not a professional agent who relies on commissions from the painter's contract.
Perhaps nine and a half out of ten illustration agents will criticize artists for wasting time on such meaningless things.
Anna quite appreciates the other person's simplicity and persistence in treating art.
She smiled softly.
After hesitating, Anna typed: "It may not be appropriate to change the manuscript, but since you have a new work, I will always be happy to appreciate your work as an ordinary viewer. Even if it is just to witness a beautiful work from an artistic perspective, I’m also looking forward to painting.”
"me too."
Detective Cat replied: "When I finished this painting, I thought that without your efforts, Mr. Sloth, I would not have been able to complete this work anyway. So even if you are the only viewer of this painting, I am very satisfied. Then , we simply toast to art.”
A heartfelt sweet smile appeared on Anna's lips.
[Even if you are the only audience, I am very happy. So, let’s simply toast to art. 】
This was the most comforting sentence Anna heard during this irritating and unpleasant afternoon. Like a ray of cool ice spring left in the heart.
The girl even felt,
I don’t need to look at the painting at all.
Just hearing the detective cat say such words that resonated with her made Miss Elena feel happy and relieved enough.
After a few seconds,
The other party sent a scan of the painting.
Anna's phone notified that she had received a large photo.
The Internet speed at Elena Manor is very fast, and within a few seconds, the cover painting was loaded on the phone.
"The new cover painting is not much different from the last one... huh?"
Anna froze slowly.
When she first saw the drawing, she subconsciously thought that there was no fundamental change between this painting and her previous works.
It has exactly the same composition and design, the same painting method, and even the shape of the man and boy sitting on the sand dune holding his knees is exactly the same.
However,
Almost instantly, Anna realized that the two paintings were actually completely different.
even……
This is not a work of the same magnitude!
That lifelike feeling,
The kind of deep affection and loneliness that seems to burst out from the paper,
Even though Miss Elena has been walking among the vast collections of famous artists in her manor since she was a child, there are only very few works that can give Anna such a feeling——
A tingling feeling that fills my heart!
Regardless of whether the author of these paintings is famous or not, or whether the techniques are outstanding, all the works that can bring a direct impact to Anna's soul are the most precious collections in her eyes, and cannot be exchanged for a thousand dollars.
These works contain the painstaking efforts of painters throughout history.
The surface of the canvas is not only covered with paint, but also condenses their happiness, their sadness, the passion and loneliness in their lives.
It is the ultimate culmination of a painter's efforts.
Even if the artist labeled on the scroll is just a little-known painter from the Milan School, or even its creator has not been able to leave his name in history at all.
Miss Irina still regards these collections as treasures.
This resonance of body and emotion made Anna realize even faster than her brain's thinking——
At this moment,
She held such a masterpiece in her hands! A masterpiece with the theme of her favorite "The Little Prince"! A masterpiece painted by Detective Cat Lady with her help!
"It's unbelievable, like a dream. From a technical point of view, this work is no better than the previous one. In other words, the original skill level of Detective Cat Sister's knife painting is already incredible. But it is so expressive and freehand. The gaze, this deep affection accumulated on the surface of the painting...how on earth was it painted?"
Miss Elena even felt that everything in front of her was like a dream.
Not long ago,
She also prayed under the walnut tree, hoping that one day Detective Cat Sister could draw a painting that could express the turbulent emotions hidden in her heart through the emotional resonance between two people.
A few hours later,
The picture of such a painting was held in her hands... no, it was even better than the one she prayed for.
Anna's biggest hope was actually just hoping that the detective cat could pick up a few scattered pearls in her heart.
Integrating them into each other's writing can occasionally stir the deepest strings in her heart.
Anna thought that she would be very happy and lucky.
But now,
The bullets are noisy and mixed, and big and small beads fall on the jade plate.
What Detective Cat drew is definitely not something that can be described by simply picking up two pearls and floating the strings in Anna's heart like a breeze.
Miss Elena felt that a gap had been opened in the seawall in her heart, and the tide was sloping down. She seemed to have turned into a swimming fish, able to blend into the screen in front of her without any barriers.
Every starlight in Detective Cat’s pen,
It's all what she thinks.
Miss Elena's heart rippled, the muscles in her back tensed, and she couldn't help blinking.
this moment,
Anna's mood swings were even greater than when she was forced by cousin Ole just now. The girl could no longer keep her expression calm, and her eye circles were a little red.
The first person to notice Anna's abnormal mood in the living room of the manor was her pet dog August.
The springer spaniel that was baring its teeth to scare Ole turned its big head back.
It found that there was moisture in the owner's eyes, but the dog also vaguely smelled that Anna did not seem to be sad, but exuded some kind of strange... relief and joy?
August is a smart dog, but Anna's strange mood changes still confuse him.
It stuck out its long tender pink tongue, licked the tip of its black nose, and turned its head in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on.
(End of chapter)
