[System upgrade 58% completed... 95% completed... 100% completed!]
[Upgrade completed!]
[Initiated ‘Merchandise Exchange’ Ability!]
Gu Shishi couldn’t help but rubbed her fingers excitedly.
Was the system about to award her with some uber powerful cheats?!
She clicked inside and sure enough, other than the original two items on the main page “Status” and “Skills, Halo List”, there was an added label of “Merchandise Exchange”.
She held her breath.
There were only paltry two items available under the exchange list.
[As-Though-Assisted-by-God Drawing Skill (Beginner’s Level): 2 hours of life for 1 hour of effect.]
[Diluted Version of Summer Day (10% effectiveness of the pills): 24 hours of life for 10 ml.]
She thought she was prepared but she still couldn’t help but shuddered and gasped after reading the cost.
[As-Though-Assisted-by-God Drawing Skill (Beginner’s Level): The artist’s spirit will be attached to their work and make the viewers feel like they are at the scene themselves. The lines will come to life and make viewers feel they were living and breathing the drawing!]
Even her fingers were shaking from reading that.
As though one was living and breathing the drawing....
She had been learning how to paint for 20-some years. According to her master, her skills were mature, and she was almost there on the artistic conception level. But she was far from reaching the mastery level.
Even up to the point of her master passing away, he still said that his own work was barely enough for appreciation purposes but still not enough to move the viewers. They were of subpar quality!
Never mind about her work!
Was it really true that when one’s painting skill has reached the mastery level, it would be able to affect the emotions of the viewers?
She had grown up listening to stories about a stroke that’s worth 1,000 golds. She was always left longing and enving about that, but at the same time, she felt that it was very exaggerated.
At this moment, Gu Shishi didn’t even take a look at that Summer Day Balancing Lotion.
Her limpid eyes stared intently at the exchangeable beginner’s level painting skill!
“Should I give it a try?”
She only needed one hour to finish a small Chinese ink painting. All that in exchange for 2 hours of life. That’s reasonable?
After all, there was a cap to how much life she could store. Once it reached the cap, anything over that was wasted anyway. Might as well exchange it?
Gu Shishi was deathly afraid of dying, but she also wanted to give this a try.
It’s the level that even her master was never able to achieve; it was a level of legendary achievement that only existed in stories!
Plus, she had just received a large amount of recharge from the suit that she had received and was almost at her maximum life cap.
Gu Shishi gritted her teeth, stared at the interface for about 5 minutes, and slammed her hand down on the table.
“Exchange!”
“And I am going to record the entire process!”
If there were anything unusual during the process, she could also study her video afterward.
She wanted to learn this cheat from the system!
“Incredible! How am I so smart!”
Gu Shishi jumped up right away and pulled out the drawing paper, paint brushes, and ink that belonged to the original owner. And, she also poured out some water.
“Plus, I have been receiving so much from the boss man lately, it’s time to give back a little.”
She had no other skills. None other than painting.
Her original art school was not known in this book world. But she was confident that her painting would at least be pleasing to the eyes.
She set her cellphone up to streaming mode as she got ready to create a painting for the boss.
She had been streaming since her previous life.
Many modern-day people did not understand Chinese ink painting. They felt that it wasn’t as interesting or valuable as oil painting. It was her goal to introduce Chinese ink painting to more people and to change that misconception.
Plus, practicing could be very dry. Regardless of how many audiences she has when she streamed, she would at least have some company.
This was how she had gotten into the habit of streaming when she practiced or painted alone, and she had no reason to change that now.
She paused again before she started.
“Hmmm, what kind of a painting would the boss like?”
People from the ancient times enjoyed nature sceneries.
All troubles in one’s everyday life could be relieved by nature.
The boss always has this unhappy look on him.
If her painting could attract his attention occasionally and improved his mood, that wouldn’t be too bad!
She looked around the room, most of the decorations were in black and white.
“Hmm, I am going to paint a mountain topped with red flowers. And also add a fishing man. Hmm... that seemed a little lonely. Okay, I will add a crane to accompany him... also add a little girl with a red hairband. Cute!”
Picture: Mountain topped with red flowers
Source: static.yczihua.com
After she had solidified her ideas, she registered for a BB streaming account.
She started streaming as soon as her account was approved!
She didn’t talk, nor did she show her face. She merely leaned her phone up against a cushion, focusing it only on the table portion.
Then, she exchanged one hour of “As Though Assisted By God”.
“I don’t feel any different...!!”
Before she could finish dissing it, her body shook violently.
Within the time it would take to inhale, she noticed that she was at a different place altogether!
The black and white room was gone. Instead, she could feel the fog around her.... A breeze was blowing through the trees. There was a canopy of green, and the smell of flowers mixed with the fresh soil surrounded her.
Gu Shishi opened her eyes, and she was rightfully surprised.
What she was seeing in front of her was no longer the wall, but a mountain!
Mountain tops towering up and down, stretching out endlessly. The mountain tops were covered in fall maples and they were red like they were on fire! She felt small as she took in the entire majestic and vastness of the scenery.
Suddenly a crisp chirp of crane turned her attention to the endless water by the mountain... A small boat floating by itself in the middle of the river. A fisherman in his rain gear was rowing the boat forward. Next to him was the little girl with pigtails and the white crane that she had in her mind earlier...
Photo: fisherman in rain gear
Source: flickr.com
Gu Shishi’s mouth opened into a big “O”!
She could almost feel the water on her. Everything was so close to her!
It was so realistic!
So this was the virtual reality created by the system?
“Being in the scene” meant allowing the painter to experience what it was like to be in the painting?
Ink painting was about artistic concept, not bogged down by every photo details but the creation of the feel of the scenery.
It was about expressing the qi between heaven and earth and how the painter perceived them.
Was that why it was important for the painter to first experience the actual scenery in person?
Gu Shishi looked at the very realistic mountain and river in front of her. Feeling the vastness in the air, she felt that a whole new world had opened up in front of her eyes!
She closed her eyes slowly and reached out her arms. She wanted to hug the wind as she was enveloped in the qi of the mountain and the water!
Time passed by without her noticing...
When she opened her eyes again, Gu Shishi’s eyes beamed. She was back into her room and in front of her drawing paper!
She did not take another look at the screen but picked up her paintbrush and started painting on the rice paper.
With the ink she created the mountains and with the water, the river.
She waved her paintbrush and the boat and the boatman were created....
There were no pauses or hesitation in her movements.
[The Red Mountain was completed.]
[Suggested Retail Price: 300,000 RMB.]
SNICKERED.
Gu Shishi dropped her paintbrush and looked at her own work in disbelief.
Three hundred thousand... that would be the asking price of a somewhat successful artist.
She was just a nobody right now, an art instructor in a small workshop. Three hundred thousand was a ridiculous price.
There was no way she could sell it for that price!
“Eh?”
Gu Shishi focused again to look at the foothill and paused.
At the very moment in time, she seemed to have felt the breeze and heard the chipping of the birds.
She wasn’t sure if it was just her, but it almost seemed like the river that she had painted so casually was glistening under the sun!
And the majesty of the mountains in front of her was realistic and pressing!
She rubbed her eyes a little. When she reopened her eyes, she could still feel the qi of the mountain and the water exuding through the paper.
[As Though Assisted by God (Beginner’s Level) 60 minutes consumption was up!]
The sound from the system pulled her back to reality.
Gu Shishi felt like she had just woken up from a deep, long dream.
She looked at her life value; it had decreased by 2 hours.
She looked at her cellphone, and only 1 hour had gone by.
Which meant to say that the hour that her one-hour realistic experience prior to her painting was all virtual time created by the system?
No actual hour had passed in real life?
Her face was filled with excitement!
This was such a good deal then!
The life that she spent in the conversion basically bought her extra time to experience!
On top of that, she was able to save the transportation cost and entrance fee!
She didn’t even have to pay for modeling fee!
Where else could she possibly find such a cooperative crane?!
Gu Shishi was so happy that she couldn’t even keep her mouth shut.
She turned and looked at her Red Mountain with her limpid eyes.
“Master... is this the mastery level that you spoke of?”
She almost didn’t want to give this away as a gift to Boss Huo.
This was her very first creation!
Never mind $300,000, she wouldn’t even want to sell it for $3,000,000!
But a painting with such “special effect” should be able to cheer up the boss some?
“Never mind, never mind. I should be nice to the boss.”
“I could also draw another one for myself if I really wanted to.” Thought Gu Shishi to herself cheerfully. She was just about to exchange for another 60 minutes of skill before she abruptly turned pale.
She swung her arms and grabbed her own stomach!
“Oww....”
She was so excited that she didn’t even feel it earlier.
Now that she was done, she felt that her stomach was roiling. Her entire stomach was spasming in pain.
It wasn’t too long before she was covered in sweat!
“Did I... overeat?”
She didn’t eat a lot in the afternoon and purposefully saved room for dinner.
And she just drank the cold milk... oh, miiiiilk!!
The original owner seemed to drink cold beverages very infrequently.
Oww...
Gu Shishi’s hands trembled. She couldn’t hold it any more and dashed into the bathroom as she placed her hands over the stomach.
While she was being very quiet, her channel with only three viewers started to roll shortly thereafter!
[King of the Hill: This painting... wasn’t too bad!]
[King of the Hill: Where’s the Channel Owner? Was that a copy painting of any known artist?]
[King of the Hill: Hey, hey, hey? Anyone there? I am leaving then!.... Hey, Channel Owner, I am only going to wait for you for one more minute!.... At most 10 minutes. I am leaving, for real!]
A long time went by and, finally, one more weak message flow past!
[King of the Hill: Darn! Okay, I am following you! PM me when you get back!]
....
The night was very quiet in the mansion.
Inside the master bedroom on the second floor.
One could even hear clearly the slightest rustling noise made by the leaves from the wind.
Sitting on the couch right now, the man with a robe over him put down his wine glass.
He looked up coldly at the man in front of him.
“Boss, you have an 8 AM meeting tomorrow morning with finance and an International Exchange meeting at 10 AM....” Siyi was busy with reciting the schedule to his boss.
Abruptly, he was interrupted.
“Have you ever felt that someone’s clothes smelled good?” asked Huo Sishen as he squinted.
Siyi almost bit his own tongue accidentally, “Huh?”
What was the boss talking about?
Huo Sishen frowned.
“Nothing. Continue!”
Earlier, when she was standing outside his door, she said his clothes “smelled good”. Was she just rambling or was she purposely kissing up to him?
“Oh yes. After that, you need to be over at the Asia Pacific Building to meet up with ...” Siyi forced himself to carry on.
But when he looked up, he caught his boss squinting at the coffee table. His mouth shut tightly as though he was... spacing out?
He looked down immediately and talked even faster than he was earlier!
***
The same night, Zhao Xian, who was just about to crawl into bed and whine to her SGR boyfriend, was shocked by his words.
“Gu Shishi? How do you know about her?”
Zhao Xian was so shocked that she had forgotten to ask him about the 30-day anniversary gift.
“Hmm, one of my cousins was bullied by her. I will go pick you up from your shop tomorrow and wait to see some drama at the same time!”
Zhao Xian felt revived all of a sudden.
This new boyfriend of hers, Luo Zheng, was the nephew of the President of Luo’s Real Estate.
His cousin... that would be the real daughter of the Luo’s!
Gu Shishi managed to offend someone of that caliber?
And just how was she able to do that?
“But her fiancé seemed to be someone of power. Who is he?”
Zhao Xian recalled the handsome face that she saw earlier in the day and was a little dazed.
“That one... never mind him. But stay away from him!” There was a slight hesitation in Luo Zheng’s voice.
“It doesn’t matter. He didn’t care for her. He wouldn’t stand up for her!”
Zhao Xian frowned.
That didn’t seem like the case earlier.
He brought lunch for her and had his chauffeur picked her up afterward.
Was that just how the rich people would put up the front?
Just like star couples always looked like they were in love in front of the camera, even when they were already going through the divorce process?
“Well then, dear, what do you have planned for her? Do tell~” Zhao Xian couldn’t help but ask.
Luo Zheng snickered.
“These commoner girls all love money. I am going to have someone bring her diamond jewelry and flowers tomorrow and say that he had a crush on her for a while and see how she’d act!”
“I am also going to have a PI take some pictures and send them to the Huo’s and see how her fiancé feel about that green hat.”
His words made Zhao Xian’s smile freeze a little.
His words... did he mean her as well?!
Even though she was only with him for his money, she still felt that her face was burning right now.
But, still, she worked her delicate voice and said, “Ah Zheng, I will help you for sure. I’m sure Gu Shishi will most likely fall for that. She loves her designer brands. She came into work to show off all her designer brand clothes to me today!”
Luo Zheng’s voice softened as well.
“Darling, you are with me now. Nobody shows off in front of you. Whatever you want, text me the pictures. I will have my assistant go and get them.”
Zhao Xian gritted her teeth, but still responded in her delicate voice.
Her mind wandered off to the earlier conversation.
The Huo’s...
That handsome man. He was the successor of the largest retail giant – the Huo’s?
Gu Shishi was really good enough to find herself such a rich man?
A shred of crazy jealousy crossed Zhao Xian’s face, but she quickly smiled.
That’s alright. There’s a chance that her engagement would be called off by tomorrow.
Young Master Huo....
Zhao Xian couldn’t help the longing in her eyes.