Hospital 444
Chapter 217 - 8 Drawing

Chapter 217: Chapter 8 Drawing

W City, Jiulin Art Gallery.

Dai Ming looked at the paintings displayed in the art gallery.

These were works by a group of up-and-coming domestic artists, mainly Western-style paintings. The exhibition was primarily meant to encourage young artists, but due to the absence of famous artists, it obviously attracted fewer visitors. Or rather, people only consider it a "renowned work by a renowned artist" when they see a foreign name. If the artist is not well-known, they subconsciously think the work is full of flaws.

This was Dai Ming’s second visit; he remembered that during his last visit, there had been TV reporters covering the event.

Jiulin Art Gallery is the largest art gallery in W City, bar none.

To hold an exhibition here, throwing money at it was not an option. One must possess a high level of artistic attainment.

Dai Ming scanned the venue, utterly mesmerized by the Western paintings before him.

Since his childhood, his favorite subject had always been art class.

Back then, his classmates would always gather behind him, admiring his artwork.

He was used to all kinds of lavish praise.

"Dai Ming is truly a genius..."

"My goodness, this is painted so well..."

"Dai Ming, tell the teacher the truth, has no one really taught you? If so, you must study art! You were born for this profession!"

As Dai Ming walked step by step, he was so engrossed that he accidentally bumped into someone.

"I’m sorry!"

Dai Ming looked towards the person beside him, but he was stunned.

She was a very fashionable woman with curly hair. Dai Ming was startled because she was extraordinarily beautiful. It seemed that she was only wearing light makeup, but she possessed a freshness and beauty completely different from that of internet-famous faces.

"It’s okay," the woman said, looking at the painting Dai Ming had been admiring. "Do you like representational Western paintings?"

"You could say that... I don’t understand those highly sophisticated abstract Western paintings."

"Is that so?" The woman nodded and said, "I feel the same way."

"Representational paintings?"

"To be precise, I don’t like abstract paintings. Many people’s idea of Western art tends to be a bunch of incomprehensible pieces. I don’t want to create such works."

"Are you also an artist?"

"Not really, it’s not my main career. It doesn’t make much money. Take your time, this exhibition will be closing down soon."

She clearly did not want to chat more on this topic with a stranger; having said that, she left the exhibition hall.

Dai Ming watched the woman’s retreating figure, feeling somewhat perplexed.

What did she mean by that?

Subsequently, Dai Ming continued to appreciate the paintings.

He reached the last exhibition hall.

Meandering along, Dai Ming looked at each painting in turn.

As he walked...

He suddenly stopped in front of one of the paintings.

He stared at the painting before him in disbelief, his eyes widened, and his expression was one of utter shock.

"Impossible... This can’t be possible!"

Behind Dai Ming, a few other people also stopped to admire the painting, murmuring amongst themselves.

"This is painted too..."

"Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t understand, this must be art."

"But it’s painted too realistically."

Dai Ming couldn’t help but step forward, reaching out his hands to touch the painting.

"Sir! Sir!"

At that moment, the security guard rushed over quickly, stopping Dai Ming!

"Sir, you may take pictures of the paintings here, but you absolutely cannot touch them!" If the security guard hadn’t been quick, Dai Ming’s hand would have reached the painting.

Dai Ming scrutinized the painting before him: "It’s too similar... exactly the same..."

However, under the painting’s description, there was no name of the piece nor the identity of the artist.

Then, he immediately looked at the security guard and said loudly, "Who is the artist of this painting? Can you help me get in touch with him?"

The security guard looked puzzled and asked, "Are you a collector wanting to buy the painting? But all the paintings in this exhibition hall are not for sale. Moreover, I’m just a security guard; how would I know the artist’s contact details?"

Dai Ming couldn’t be bothered with much; he insisted, "I must meet this painter, is there any way to contact him?"

"I really don’t know about that... In that case, go to our gallery’s administrative office on the third floor, they might be able to contact the artist."

It was only then that Dai Ming calmed down.

Alright... to the administrative office!

"Ok, thank you."

On the third floor of the Jiulin Art Gallery was the administrative office.

Dai Ming gently pushed open the door and saw that the office was filled with more than a dozen people.

"Sir, may I help you?"

A female clerk stood up and asked.

"It’s like this," Dai Ming came in and gently closed the door behind him, "I just saw a painting downstairs that... for some reason, I want to contact the artist who painted it."

"Are you looking to buy the painting?"

"No, no, it’s a painting from the non-sale exhibition hall."

Even if he wanted to buy, he couldn’t afford it. Although it was just a collection of emerging artists’ works, their prices were sky-high for him.

"Then I’m sorry, we can’t provide you with the artist’s contact information. If you simply appreciate the artwork and have something to say to the artist, you can leave a message on the official website of our art gallery’s exhibition. But you’ll have to hurry; the works on display are from a new generation of domestic artists, and the response isn’t particularly enthusiastic. In another couple of days, the exhibition will be dismantled, and you won’t be able to leave comments after that."

"I, I have something I must say to him... I can only speak with that artist."

"This is going to be tricky, sir, if you were looking to buy the painting, perhaps I could help you contact them. But since you’re not stating your reasons, it’s difficult for us to proceed."

Reasons...

Could Dai Ming verbalize his reasons?

It was a secret he had buried in his heart for many years.

Most likely, they would think he was mentally unbalanced.

After thinking for a moment, Dai Ming said, "Alternatively, could you relay a message to the artist for me? Perhaps upon hearing it, they might want to meet me voluntarily."

All the clerks in the office looked over.

A young man in a suit approached and said, "Sir, may I have your name?"

"I... my surname is Dai. The Dai from Charles de Gaulle."

"I see, Mr. Dai." The young man handed Dai Ming a business card, "My surname is Han, and I am the planner and the person in charge of this exhibition at the art gallery. Do you have a particular fondness for this painting?"

Fondness?

"Perhaps you can tell me which painting it is?"

"Exhibition Hall K12, that painting, it has no name, and the artist didn’t sign it, but the painting is..."

"I know which one you are talking about."

Manager Han’s face showed a slight change of expression.

Clearly, there was only one artwork without both a title and a signature.

"Mr. Dai, what do you wish to say to the artist? In that case, let me convey it for you. Or do you have any special requests?"

Dai Ming thought for a moment, and in a voice only he and Manager Han could hear, he whispered a sentence.

Upon hearing that sentence, Manager Han exhibited a rather astonished expression.

"This..."

"My mobile number is..." Dai Ming mentioned his contact information, then bowed to Manager Han, "Manager Han, please make sure to relay this to the artist, thank you!"

Manager Han took out his phone, saved Dai Ming’s mobile number, and said somewhat helplessly, "Well... alright then."

"Thank you... thank you so much..."

After Dai Ming left, a colleague came over and asked, "Manager, what did he say to you just now?"

"Manager, do you really plan to contact the artist?"

Manager Han looked at the number on his phone screen and said, "The response to this exhibition is far below the curator’s expectations. We’re about to dismantle it, and the number of visitors is decreasing day by day. Moreover, we’ve sold very few paintings. I’m wondering if this person could be a scion of some private collector, possibly looking to bypass the gallery and buy directly from the artist."

"I don’t think so?"

"Anyway, there’s no loss for us. I organized this exhibition, and I’m not quite ready to let it end this way. Forget it... let’s just try our luck."

Dai Ming left the art gallery with his emotions surging and took out his mobile phone to make a call.

"Hello, Dai Lin... Can you come out for a skewer tonight? My treat!"

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