Chapter 109:
Coming out of the dormitory building, they found a breakfast shop to eat breakfast, and after eating, took a taxi to the art museum in the city center.
Arrived before nine o’clock.
A cordon was set up around the perimeter of the venue, with four or five security guards at the entrance checking participant information and maintaining order.
The competition was highly valued by the art association, and it was said that the judging panel consisted of well-known figures in the art world to ensure fairness and justice.
Winnie stopped at the steps, “Yaoyao, good luck in the competition.”
Mia: “Keep a calm mindset, believe in yourself, you can definitely do it.”
Meng Shuyou curved her lips slightly, “Okay, you guys hurry back.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Winnie and Mia watched her go in before leaving.
Meng Shuyou entered the hall, found her seat and sat down, organizing her tools.
Participants arrived one after another, and at nine twenty, the competition started on time.
The association’s teacher announced the theme of this oil painting competition: life.
Just two words, with a lot of space for creativity, but also increased the difficulty.
The surroundings were quiet, everyone busy with their own tasks, conceiving ideas, color matching, applying color…
Meng Shuyou thought for twenty minutes before starting to paint.
Her ideas were complete, her brushstrokes flowed smoothly, skillfully outlining the general contour of the entire painting, then slowly applying color.
The sounds of palette knives clashing with color palettes occasionally came from beside her ears.
Meng Shuyou focused on her own painting, working hard to bring the image in her mind to life.
The hour and minute hands crossed and turned, and unknowingly four hours had passed.
She began the finishing touches.
On the painting was a wild lily growing on the edge of a cliff, emerging from a rock crevice, so small as to be inconspicuous, yet still blooming.
The first ray of morning sunlight sprinkled down, the morning light diffusing in the mountains, slender stems supporting a blooming lily, dewdrops gently swaying on the petals, seeming precarious but actually firmly rooted.
The more desperate the situation, the more vitality is shown.
Life can be very ordinary, but it can also be very resilient.
Endless vitality is the true essence that life conveys.
The final brushstroke completed, Meng Shuyou put down the brush, looking at this painting, faded memories pulled back to when she was six years old.
Summer vacation, her mother took her and her older sister back to grandma’s house, where there were clusters of mountains, winding streams, covered by dense woods, surrounded by greenery, far from the hustle and bustle.
One day, she followed her mother up the mountain to find some kind of herbal medicine, which was said to be good for grandma’s leg rheumatism.
Shuyun was worried, always watching her daughter, “Be careful, Yaoyao, don’t go over there, it’s dangerous.”
Meng Shuyou pointed into the distance, her childish voice saying: “Mom, look quickly, there’s a little flower on the cliff, what flower is that?”
Shuyun looked in the direction she pointed, a gentle smile on her lips, “Lily flower, very pretty.”
Meng Shuyou was curious, “Why can it grow in the rock crevice?”
“Because it has strong vitality, its roots can firmly grasp the rock crevice, and its bulb stores water and nutrients to survive.” Shuyun touched her head, “I hope our Yaoyao in the future can also be like the lily, no matter what difficulties she encounters, brave and resilient, blooming her own flower.”
Every life has its own belonging, no matter where, there is the possibility to bloom.
The power bursting from life can bring miracles.
–
The competition ended, Meng Shuyou left the venue.
Coming out from the doorway, just after going down a few steps, her mobile phone rang.
She looked down at the screen, it was Mister Pei’s telephone call, and she pressed to answer.
“Ended?” he asked.
Meng Shuyou was a bit surprised, “How did you know?”
She had just finished the competition and he called, too coincidental.
Pei Yuzhou spoke faintly, “Look up.”
“Hm?” Meng Shuyou instinctively raised her eyes, through the sparse crowd, dozens of meters apart, her gaze met his.
