Chapter 28: There are nine muses, but only one Apollo. Are you sure you are…

After Tang Man picked up the car, she found that it was about time and drove directly to pick up Si Jiahe.

She sat in the car and sent a message, asking him to come down.

After a while, she saw Si Jiahe’s figure. She didn’t know when he had prepared it, but he was holding a large bouquet of flowers in his hands. They were not packaged, as if they had just been cut, with lush branches and leaves, seemingly still carrying the scent of dew.

Tang Man hadn’t told Si Jiahe that she had picked up the car today before coming, so when he first saw it, he was a bit surprised.

After giving the flowers to Tang Man, he sat in the passenger seat and asked, “Man Man, you bought a car?”

“Yeah, I just picked it up today.” Tang Man glanced at the flowers in her hand. They were very beautiful, but holding them in her arms was a bit inconvenient. So she turned around, got out of the car, opened the door, and secured them in the back of the car. She then returned to the driver’s seat and curiously looked at Si Jiahe. “Why did you suddenly think of giving me flowers?”

“I went out to do some sketching this morning and passed by a flower field. It was full of flowers, so I wanted to give them to you.”

Si Jiahe was a bit shy. To be honest, this was the first time he had given flowers to Tang Man.

In his memory, Tang Man had never been very fond of such things, so he had never done anything like this before. However, this time, when he passed by that flower field, his heart still fluttered, thinking of Tang Man. In an instant, he had the urge to give her flowers.

Tang Man said with a smile, “I like them very much,” and kissed the corner of Si Jiahe’s mouth.

Her way of expressing her fondness had always been very simple.

This art exhibition was held in a very famous art museum, displaying the works of an internationally renowned painter whose commercial value had been continuously rising in recent years, with many businessmen choosing to collect his paintings.

Of course, it was also because this person was now advanced in age, and his health was not as robust as before. The number of his paintings in circulation was also becoming less and less. Many painters saw a significant increase in the value of their paintings after their death, so those businessmen collecting this painter’s works undoubtedly had this in mind.

This old painter was skilled in oil painting, but he was also proficient in fine-brush flower and bird painting. The exhibition displayed many of his works this time, some of which were very childlike. From the first floor to the second floor, it was as if it showcased a painter’s lifelong painting career.

Tang Man’s artistic cultivation was not high. She couldn’t evaluate too many technical aspects. Although she had a boyfriend who graduated from an art academy, it didn’t cultivate any high-class artistic taste in her.

There weren’t many people in the art exhibition, and it was very quiet inside. This exhibition was not open to the public, and only those who had received an invitation could enter. It was also to exclude some external media and people who didn’t come to appreciate the paintings.

Tang Man felt that she herself was not a pure art lover either. She couldn’t see any profound meaning and just stayed by Si Jiahe’s side the whole time.

Most of these paintings were figure oil paintings, and there were also some starry sky paintings. However, most of the starry sky paintings were from the early period of the old Yu, and later they gradually turned into figure paintings.

Tang Man liked one of the figure paintings very much.

This painting was hung in a corner on the second floor, not so eye-catching, but she caught a glimpse of it the moment she went up the stairs. She believed that many people should like this painting.

The painting was simple.

Mountains in the distance, a person with two crutches on the asphalt road winding through the mountain valley. The gender was indistinguishable. One leg was amputated at a high position, suspended in the air, walking with difficulty, but with a cigarette in the mouth.

The sense of vicissitudes was overwhelming.

Moreover, the perspective of this painting was also very strange, as if looking at the outside world through a frame. That figure with crutches also seemed to be going far away, and in the end, one’s gaze could only be placed on the continuous green mountains in the distance.

Si Jiahe also noticed that painting. He led Tang Man over and whispered in her ear, “This is a painting done by Old Yu in his middle age. It’s rarely exhibited. It’s said to have been collected by a private collector. This time, in order to exhibit Old Yu’s paintings as perfectly as possible, they reluctantly agreed to take it out.”

Tang Man silently looked at the person in the painting. The sense of vicissitudes that transcended gender was the reason she liked this painting the most.

Under the reflection of the distant green mountains, the person walking so unsteadily on the road also seemed so tiny.

She liked this painting very much and even had the urge to buy it.

However, this was obviously unlikely.

The paintings at the exhibition were not cheap. Many of them had reached auction level, let alone this painting collected by a private collector.

But when Tang Man turned around, she saw a person standing beside her.

It was an old man.

There was no one else around him.

This old man was thin, also leaning on a crutch. He was wearing casual clothes, with mostly white hair, giving off a somewhat unkempt and decadent feeling.

Si Jiahe also saw him. He called out with some excitement, “Old Yu.”

The old man smiled gently at Si Jiahe, his gaze lightly sweeping over the young man and woman. He sighed, “This painting, to be honest, was painted by me more than ten years ago.”

He didn’t expect it to be his most satisfactory painting in so many years.

Most painters emphasize inspiration when painting, which is why there is the concept of the Muse.

Young painters seek stimulation and inspiration from lust, intense adventures, and aimless wandering, but moments of excitement are always so few. Some people spend their entire lives trapped in a realm they cannot reach.

Therefore, in the long river of history, there are only a few works that can stun the human heart. Not many, not few. Without emphasizing technique, paintings that can impact people’s hearts at a glance can be counted on one hand.

Si Jiahe and this old man started chatting. Tang Man listened beside them. Sometimes, discussions about art were very interesting.

She had been to the home of a wealthy American businessman before when she was very young. She saw a painting hanging on the wall of the businessman’s house, like a child’s scribble, with just a few strokes mapped on white paper. She didn’t understand at that time and asked, but was told that the painting was worth millions and was done by a famous person.

She couldn’t comprehend it at that time.