Chapter 280: Chapter 279: Trading a House for an Inkstick? Let Me Show You What True Integrity Is with an “Animal City

Gu Lan swallowed and relayed the client’s request.

“The other party said, do not paint a picture like ’Above the Snow Mountain’.”

“Nor do they want such a grand and majestic scene.”

She repeated, word by word, the sentence that puzzled her all the way.

“He only wants one painting.”

“A painting that represents ’nobility’.”

“Sister-in-law…”

Gu Lan looked up, her face full of confusion and unease.

“What is ’nobility’?”

“How is that to be painted?”

Nobility?

How to paint it?

Gu Lan’s face was full of confusion.

Lin Wan Yi didn’t immediately answer her.

She stepped forward, reached out, and gently picked up the Inkstone from the Purple Sandalwood Box.

The inkstone felt heavy and smooth like jade in her hand.

The fragrance mixed with herbs became more intense.

“Sister-in-law?” Gu Lan asked cautiously.

“Lanlan, do you know how much this piece of ink is worth?” Lin Wan Yi asked.

Gu Lan shook her head.

She only knew it was precious, but she had no concept of exactly how valuable it was.

“In the previous dynasty, this piece of ink could have exchanged for a house in Beijing.”

Gu Lan gasped.

A house!

Her arms holding the wooden box began to go numb.

“So,” Lin Wan Yi gently placed the ink back into the box, “the person who sent this piece of ink is not looking for a pretty picture.”

“Then what do they want?”

“They want to see my brain.”

Lin Wan Yi’s words left Gu Lan completely dumbfounded.

“They want to know what this ’daughter-in-law of the Gu Family,’ this painter of ’Yiyi Painting Workshop,’ is thinking.”

Lin Wan Yi looked at the ink.

“Painting well is a matter of technique.”

“But what to paint is a matter of thought.”

“The other party is testing me.”

For the next two days, Lin Wan Yi locked herself in the study.

Gu Lan was anxiously pacing outside, wanting to knock on the door several times but being stopped by a gesture from Gu Yanshen.

Inside the study.

The floor was covered with painting paper.

There were paintings of bamboo, half-done, crumpled into a ball.

Bamboo, with its knots, is nobility.

Too common.

There was a painting of plum blossoms, just one branch, discarded to the side.

Plum blossoms, standing proud in the snow, are nobility.

Too shallow.

The other party sent a masterpiece by Wang Jinseng, ancient ink that could exchange for a house.

To use such ink to paint things that anyone could think of is not nobility, it’s perfunctory.

It insults the ink.

Fidgeting, Lin Wan Yi put down her brush and paced the study.

What exactly is nobility?

Is it dying rather than submitting? Is it supreme isolation?

Neither.

These are too personal, too small.

She walked to the window, opened it for some air.

In the small courtyard below, Gu An was sitting on the carpet, in front of him a row of small cardboard cards.

These were drawn casually by Lin Wan Yi when painting the Animal City for him.

A German Shepherd in a police cap.

A big black bear in suspenders.

And a rabbit in a little dress.

Gu An reached out with chubby hands and placed the rabbit card in front of the German Shepherd.

Babbling as he did.

Rabbit.

In front of the German Shepherd.

It was as if something struck Lin Wan Yi.

She rushed downstairs.

Gu Lan was anxiously waiting in the living room, about to speak when she saw her come down.

But Lin Wan Yi immediately grabbed her hand.

“Lanlan, tell me, what can a rabbit do?”

“Huh?” Gu Lan was taken aback, “A rabbit… eats grass? Cute?”

“No.” Lin Wan Yi shook her head.

“A rabbit can be a sentry.”

Gu Lan was even more confused.

“What about a fox?” Lin Wan Yi asked again.

“A fox… cunning, stealing chickens?”

“No.” Lin Wan Yi shook her head once more, “A fox can be a shrewd merchant.”

“A lion?”

“A lion is the king of beasts!” Gu Lan knew this one.

“Right.” Lin Wan Yi finally smiled.

“A lion is a leader, but it also needs a rabbit to keep watch, a fox to trade, an elephant to build, and a monkey to climb.”

“In a forest, every animal, regardless of size or strength, has its place and does its role.”

“Together, they uphold the forest.”

“Lanlan.”

Lin Wan Yi looked at her, speaking slowly and clearly.

“This is nobility.”

Gu Lan was stunned.

She seemed to understand, yet not fully.

But seeing her sister-in-law’s incredibly bright face, she had only one thought in her mind.

Her sister-in-law was going to paint an extraordinary picture!

“I’ll go prepare!” Gu Lan turned and ran to get the tools.

Lin Wan Yi returned to the study.

This time, she hesitated not at all.

She carefully placed the “Evergreen” Inkstone on the ink slab.

Gu Lan brought in a small bowl of clear water.

But Lin Wan Yi waved her hand.

She turned into the inner room, coming back out with a white porcelain bowl.

The water inside looked the same, yet was extraordinarily clear.

It was spiritual spring water.

She dripped the spiritual spring water, drop by drop, onto the ink slab.

Then, she picked up the inkstone and began grinding.

Round and round.

The ancient inkstone that had been dormant for hundreds of years seemed to come alive under the influence of the spiritual spring water.

An indescribable, exquisitely elegant ink fragrance instantly filled the entire study.

It was no longer just ink fragrance.

It was a living, life-infused aroma.

Standing at the door, Gu Lan, upon smelling it, felt she became several pounds lighter.

The ink was ground.

Dark, glossy, with a faint purple glow.

Lin Wan Yi spread out a new sheet of rice paper.

She picked up the brush and dipped it in the ink.

The brush tip touched the paper.

It was not a mountain, nor a tree.

But a rabbit’s ear.

This rabbit, wearing tiny armor, held a spear taller than itself and stood vigilantly on a tree’s lookout post.

Behind it was a vast forest.

Lin Wan Yi painted swiftly.

A fox shopkeeper doing calculations.

A group of strong black bears transporting wood.

A crowned lion patrolling its territory.

A magical and harmonious animal world gradually came to life on the page.

At the door, Gu Lan was utterly mesmerized.

She had never imagined painting could be done this way.

Each animal in the painting appeared so vivid.

You could even perceive the tension and pride on the rabbit’s face.

You could discern the calculation and cunning from the fox’s paws.

Finally, the last stroke fell.

Lin Wan Yi finished the painting.

She set down the brush and exhaled deeply.

The entire painting was complete.

At that moment, Gu Lan had a strange illusion.

She seemed to hear the wind in the forest and smell the earth’s fragrance.

The animals on the paper seemed about to walk out of the painting.

They were breathing.

They were alive.

Lin Wan Yi looked at this astonishing, self-created masterpiece.

She turned to Gu Lan, who appeared dumbstruck and said.

“Lanlan, wrap it up nicely.”

Her voice was calm.

“Sending out this painting might bring tremendous opportunities to our family.”

“Or, it might bring immense trouble.”

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