Chapter 350 One Hundred Years of Solitude and One Hundred Years of Romance The Gao Jianfu Cultural Memorial Hall is located on Zhuzi Road, Yuexiu District, which is actually not far from Chen Zhuo's home. However, this was also Chen Zhe's first time here because it was so inconspicuous. It is right next to a gray residential building. If it weren’t for the powerful and bold characters “Gao Jianfu Cultural Memorial Hall” on the plaque, it would be easy to miss it. It is said that this was rebuilt on the former residence of Master Gao Jianfu, so the area is not large, only about 1000 square meters. 1000 may seem not small, but it is actually just 50*20, not even as big as a tiered classroom in CUHK, not to mention that the memorial hall is divided into two parts, front and back. In front is the exhibition hall, and in the back is a small courtyard - where Gao Jianfu practiced painting in the past, named "Spring Sleep". However, with this division, the memorial hall appears even smaller. The exhibition hall is crowded with various paintings, as well as an introduction to Gao Jianfu's life. Chen took a quick stroll around and found that there were "Flowers and Birds", "Ladies", and "Landscapes", but there was no "Flowers" that Zheng Wenlong liked.

It is estimated that this type of paintings are more valuable, so they are not exhibited or donated at all. It only took a few minutes to finish the quick tour. There were very few tourists and the only one I saw was a mother with her child. The mother was introducing Gao Jianfu's life and the meaning of those paintings to her child, but it was too quiet here and the child kept clamoring to go out. The mother had no choice but to carry the child out helplessly. After the mother and son left, the empty memorial hall suddenly became quiet. Apart from Chen Zhuo, there was only an old man guarding the door. Guangzhou is not that cold in winter, but he still wore a thick cotton coat and sat on a bench with lifeless eyes. His aging appearance echoed the lonely memorial hall. Chen walked over and greeted him twice: "Uncle, uncle..." The old man looked at me in confusion. He seemed not to have communicated with anyone for a long time. His lips moved but he mumbled something. Chen Zhuo sighed. The superior guiding department of this kind of memorial hall should be the district cultural bureau before the merger. However, the Cultural Bureau is a very poor organization, and they are very frugal even when organizing some activities, in order to keep as much money as possible to pay the year-end bonuses to the civil servants. There is no money to renovate an exhibition hall for a deceased painter. Therefore, the construction of this memorial must have been funded by someone else. Maybe after it was completed, the leaders of the Cultural Bureau used the reason of "comprehensive management, forming synergy, and creating a model" to try to take over the memorial hall for their own use and count it as their own achievement. As for this old man, he was probably just a temporary janitor assigned by the bureau. It will not exceed 500 yuan a month, which is an explanation to the investors of the memorial hall. Chen Chu, who came from a big dye vat, naturally knew all about these methods. Chen stood in the dark and narrow corridor of the memorial hall and sighed for a while, then turned around and went out to buy tools such as rags, brooms and mops. When he came back he began to wipe every display case carefully. At this moment, a glimmer of curiosity flashed in the eyes of the old gatekeeper.

But he didn't come over to ask anything. He just watched this stranger cleaning from the front exhibition hall to the small courtyard at the back. The next day, the "Gao Jianfu Cultural Memorial Hall" opened as usual. There are still very few tourists. The old man guarding the door is still there. He found that the young man from yesterday came again, but this time there was another person behind him. A beautiful baby girl. The old man rubbed his cloudy eyes. This girl is so beautiful! Her long burgundy hair sparkled in the sun, her figure was tall and graceful, her pink eyes were slightly upturned at the ends, and her eyes moved like the sound of aged wine. Because she looks delicate and fashionable, the clothes she wears are not actually very high-end. They are just the common jeans and casual sweatshirt set for female college students, plus a baseball cap. But when she casually matches her outfit, she looks like a model, and the artistic aura seems to be overflowing from her. "Coincidentally", she also brought a drawing board and a stand. The young man is Chen Zhe, and the pretty girl is naturally the cosplayer. Guangmei's final exams ended yesterday, so Yu Xian also had a day off. When he heard that Director Chen was working as a cleaner here, he immediately came over to accompany him. If nothing unexpected happens, I will be with you for these seven days. Fortunately, Professor Lu wanted to put Song Shiwei under house arrest during the winter vacation, otherwise Chen Zhe would have no way to explain why he suddenly disappeared for 7 days. As for why Yu Xian brought a drawing board, it was because she was going to participate in the "Yingchun Cup" calligraphy and painting competition jointly organized by the Provincial Department of Culture and the Communist Youth League when she returned to school after the winter vacation. The finals are live painting, so you have to practice every day to keep your touch. "Gao Jianfu is your ancestor." Chen squatted down to help set up the scaffolding and said jokingly, "I didn't expect that this is your first time here, does this count as betraying your teacher and ancestors?" "What do you know~" Yu Xian reached out and twisted her boyfriend's ear. “I’m not very clear about some things, but the inheritance of the painting school is very complicated.” Yu Xian spread the white paper flat on the drawing board, shook his head and said, "Professor Guan sometimes sighs when she talks about the grievances and disputes between the previous generation and the previous generation. She doesn't let us ask more about these things." Chen Zhuo nodded slightly to show his understanding. Professor Guan did not allow his disciples to ask more questions, most likely to protect the reputation of his predecessors in the painting school or their families. If you say that there are no disagreements and disputes in a painting school with a century-old history, it is better to believe that the sun rises in the west. The simplest point is that Master Guan Shanyue clearly has a daughter, but she is not the current helmsman of the Lingnan School of Painting. Of course, those collections were not left to her, but given to Professor Guan Yongyi, who was more talented.

Professor Guan never married and had no children. He devoted his entire life to art, which also proved that Master Guan was not wrong. "But... this is a good thing for Cos Sister. She will have fewer obstacles from family ties when she takes over in the future." Chen was thinking, "Judge a gentleman by one's own mean character." In fact, whether it is Professor Guan or Yu Baibai, their artistic pursuits are very pure. Only vulgar people like Chen Chu would consider things in such a utilitarian way. "I'm going to do something." Chen put away all these miscellaneous thoughts, walked to the small yard and took out the cleaning tools. He just gave it a rough clean yesterday, and today he started to work on some of the nooks and crannies. "Director Chen, you really don't want my help?" Yu Xian followed him into the courtyard, stood under the eaves and asked gracefully. "Forget it, this kind of rough and tiring work has to be done by us men!" Chen refused loudly. Although he said it in a high-sounding manner, he actually glanced at the old man guarding the door. Chen was not sure whether he had any relationship with Professor Guan, and was worried that he was a "spy" planted here by the old lady. She did not agree to let Yu Xian help. Chen did not want to delay the progress of "conquering" Senior Brother Zheng Wenlong because of a little laziness. "Okay~, then come over and take a rest if you're tired." Yu Xian couldn't think of so many complicated things, so he placed the drawing board and the stand on the steps in the small courtyard. While facing Chen, he practiced attentively. The sky is high and the clouds are light in Guangzhou in winter. The memorial hall is sparsely populated. If it weren't for the noise made by Chen Mopping the floor, you could almost hear the sound of the earth rotating. Occasionally, a breeze blew through the hall, and Yu Xian's long black eyelashes trembled. The yellow-flowered trumpet trees planted in the yard fluttered down and fell all over her. When she noticed it, she reached out and took off the yellow flower on her shoulder and gently placed it on the drawing board. She looked up and found her boyfriend was wiping the floor with his butt raised. "Is this Director Chen doing housework?" Yu Xian held up his chin with one hand, tilted his head and watched silently, a smile involuntarily curled up the corners of his mouth. If there are people who like photography here, they will definitely think this is a beautiful composition. Warm sunshine. An old studio from decades ago. A girl with an oval face. A young boy sweating profusely. There was also an old man sitting at the entrance of the memorial hall, staring blankly at the young couple.

For a moment, I felt as if time was passing by in this small courtyard. After a moment, the girl with an oval face suddenly remembered something and took out a water cup from the small cloth bag she was carrying. She unscrewed the lid of the cup, tested the temperature with her lips, then waved her hand and called tenderly, "Director Chen, come and have some water." "Good~" Chen agreed verbally but was unwilling to move. Normal people seem to have a little procrastination problem, and Director Chen is no exception. Even though I know my girlfriend is waiting for me, I still have to finish the things on hand due to my obsessive-compulsive disorder. Three minutes later. "Chen Zhe, come and drink some water!" The girl's tone changed from gentle to a little bit aggressive, and she started calling out the man's full name. "Come on, come on!" Chen didn't dare to delay any longer and quickly put down everything he was doing and ran over. It seems that if it is a little slower, "Laozi Shudao Mountain" might appear. The old man guarding the door grinned. It turned out that no matter what time, the young people's quarrels always followed the same pattern. "I don't drink hot water, let it cool down." Chen Zhuo also had to find an excuse for his procrastination. The girl with an oval face stood under the eaves, holding a water cup in one hand and with the other on her waist. The slender waist is like the bow of a violin, elegant and energetic, exuding a unique oriental feminine beauty. "I've tried it before! Warm!" Yu Xian said in a reproachful tone, as if saying, "We've been in a relationship for so long, and I don't know if you're used to it?" "Hehe~" Chen smiled embarrassedly, took the cup and took a sip. It’s a bit sweet, as if the sweetness of cos sister is also mixed in. "What did you just draw?" Chen took a few big gulps happily and then asked. "Today's clouds are very beautiful, so I wanted to record them." Yu Xian pointed to the sky and said to her boyfriend with curved eyes. "Really? Let me see."

Chen moved closer to take a look. The painting he imagined should be under a blue sky, dotted with a few cotton candy-like clouds. In fact, he still underestimated his girlfriend, especially after Professor Guan's gradual guidance and development, her talent was fully demonstrated. On the rice paper of the drawing board, there are layers of clouds, some thick and some thin, which are mountains, rocks, seas and peaks, which are majestic and very imposing. There are obviously only two colors, black and white, but when the brush is dipped in thick ink, the countless changes in postures seem magical, making it look like a powerful freehand Chinese painting. Chen was secretly frightened when he saw it. Last time at the Painting Center of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Yu Xian’s “A River of Spring Water Flows Eastward” gave people a sense of depth and story that extended beyond the picture. This time, with just a few strokes, that kind of "artistic conception" once again comes to life on the paper. "what do you think?" Yu Xian placed the other end of the paintbrush on his chin, waiting expectantly for Director Chen's comments. "I can only say it's okay." Chen said calmly, "It's because I didn't choose to be an art student, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to become Professor Guan's last disciple." "goose……" The girl with the oval face was amused and started laughing. The clear and pleasant laughter was like a sporadic fire, bringing a warm light to this cold memorial hall. …… When it was almost time for lunch, Chen was thinking about what they should eat, when he suddenly saw the old man guarding the door take out an aluminum lunch box from somewhere. There was no microwave or gas stove, so he just opened it with a "bang", and inside was cold rice with a few pieces of pickled radish. "Director Chen..." Yu Xian held her boyfriend's fingers and shook them gently, as if she wanted to say something. "I know." Chen nodded, indicating that he knew what to do. After a while, Chen Zhuo packed three meals from a nearby fast food restaurant. Two copies were for himself and Yu Xian, and the other one was for the old man who was guarding the door. The uncle was very surprised, and looked even more embarrassed when he saw the hot lunch box being served to him. Perhaps because he has been guarding this "deserted" memorial for too long, he doesn't know how to respond to other people's enthusiasm. But Chen didn't say anything, just smiled friendly, put down the lunch box and started eating lunch with his girlfriend. "Sister Cos, my dried tofu is spicy, I can't eat it."

"Really? Let me try it." “Is it spicy?” "Emm... Director Chen, do you want to consider this? It may be because you are too weak." "Our tastes are so different, what are we going to do in the future?" "Idiot! I will definitely follow you and eat light food. Do you want to suddenly have a stomach that can eat spicy food?" In this old courtyard where yellow trumpet trees are swaying, there is finally a hint of life. It was as if it was a hundred years ago during the Republic of China, when a wife in a cheongsam softly called out to her husband who was copying in the studio, "Father Gao Jian, have dinner." …… (End of this chapter)