Chapter 12 - Collecting The First Pot Of Gold (2)
Sheng Jiaoyang first headed to the stationery store near the school and bought a small paint board, a stack of white paper, and a simple paintbrush with a few pots of paint. With the remaining few dollars, she then made her way to the old part of town"s bustling business centre. This place was near one of the leading universities, and several of the older university campuses weren"t far from here; about twenty minutes by bus.
[Starting price from five dollars (no maximum)]
Sheng Jiaoyang sat beside one of the flower beds and placed a piece of paper at her feet with those words written on it. Then, holding the drawing board, she began to idly draw.
Little by little, a person"s facial features revealed themselves within the graceful brushstrokes. An elegant countenance, a straight nose, the sharp curves on a pair of lips…
After she"d finished the drawing, it was only then that Sheng Jiaoyang finally realised what she"d created.
Her fingers gently stroked the outlines of the features while she whispered, "Lin Yan…"
"Is this handsome guy real?" Suddenly, a voice beside abruptly pulled her from her memories.
Sheng Jiaoyang blinked and then turned her head to see a girl standing beside her with her tied up in a high ponytail. She was biting on a straw from her soy milk and staring intently at the drawing in Sheng Jiaoyang"s hand.
"Miss, is this handsome guy your boyfriend?" The girl tilted her head as she asked curiously.
"Unfortunately, he"s not," Sheng Jiaoyang quickly managed to regain the calm expression on her face.
"Then he must be your crus.h.!.+"
Sheng Jiaoyang"s calm expression cracked.
The girl who"d so bluntly exposed the truth in one brief remark sucked on the straw, and beamed as she said, "If there was such a handsome person around me, I would also secretly be in love with him."
Look at your age first! Sheng Jiaoyang laughed. The girl"s straightforward nature couldn"t help but remind her of her younger self. Why had she liked Lin Yan anyway? In the beginning, it had seemed like love at first sight. Once she"d seen that handsome face...
"Cough," Sheng Jiaoyang plastered a neutral look on her face. "Do you want to get a sketch done?"
"What do you mean by "no maximum"?"
"As long as it isn"t less than five dollars, I don"t mind how much you pay."
The girl c.o.c.ked her head, and easily said, "Then, draw a picture for me; draw me in this pose." Following that, the girl leaned closer to a branch that was extended out of the flowerbed and posed as if she was about to smell the flowers.
"Please hold that position for ten seconds," The paintbrush in Sheng Jiaoyang"s hand rapidly glided across the paper.
"Ten seconds?" The girl thought that she"d misheard, so she turned her head towards Sheng Jiaoyang to confirm.
"Don"t move; ten seconds is enough."
Ten, nine, eight…three, two...
"One," The girl finished counting and excitedly walked back to Sheng Jiaoyang. Watching her silhouette appear on the paper, she was so surprised that her eyes widened in astonishment. She was confident that there no one as capable as Sheng Jiaoyang, who was able to sweep a brush across the paper as smoothly as flowing water. The girl greatly admired her.
Nowadays, with the amount of information easily accessible, the capacity most people were able to retain was equal to approximately the size of a bean. A large number of people would be capable of saying something; yet forgetting it within the next second. In fact, just having the competency to memorise several amounts at once was a problem many struggled with. It was hard to imagine that there was a person who only needed ten seconds to remember another person, and was then able to draw them entirely from memory. This was already beyond the realm of a simple skill; this was an innate skill. It was a gift that many would envy!
"Amazing!" Several people had stopped to watch, which slowly built into a crowd as more people began to notice the commotion surrounding the pair.
Once Sheng Jiaoyang had finished her drawing, she signed it in the lower right corner out of habit. Then, the girl was instantly examining the portrait even though Sheng Jiaoyang had barely placed her brush down.
"The design of your signature is really artistic! Is this read as Jiaoyang or Jiao Yang? Did you design this yourself? Could you help me design one?"
"You"re asking so many questions at once; which one do you want me to answer first?" Sheng Jiaoyang speechlessly looked at the girl. After completing such a big sketch, the part that was unexpectedly praised was the signature in the corner! Should she now be laughing, or crying?
"Oh...uhh, help me design a signature first! I"m willing to pay more money as long as it"s cool!" The girl blinked her eyes, trying acting cute.
In order to earn money, the Sheng"s Eldest Miss had no other choice but to sell her drawings in the street, so of course, she wouldn"t miss an opportunity to make extra.
First, she got the girl to write her name on a piece of paper and asked if she had any idea of what she wanted. Then, Sheng Jiaoyang artistically painted the girl"s name in a few brush strokes besides the name the girl wrote.
"Are you satisfied with this, Liu Lu?" Sheng Jiaoyang"s finger pointed at the signature.
The Chinese character for "Lu" in Liu Lu"s name used many brush strokes, but under Sheng Jiaoyang"s hand, it became a name that was simple and full of artistic flair, with a refres.h.i.+ng sense of beauty.
"I"m satisfied; super satisfied!" Shouted Liu Lu as she laughed, unable to conceal her happiness. Delighted with her commissioned artwork and signature, she quickly withdrew several banknotes from her wallet and handed them to Sheng Jiaoyang.
Although this amount of money was utterly incomparable to the amount she used to sell her paintings for, this money was still something that she"d earned by managing to sell her work for the first time without the ident.i.ty of "Sheng Jiaoyang". The thin banknotes gripped in her palm instantly became something precious in Sheng Jiaoyang"s eyes. At this moment, she genuinely felt that she understood the real worth of money and had entered the world of an everyday person.
"Ahh! I almost forgot to tell you! The picture that you drew of me is much better looking than what I look like in person," Liu Lu said as she brought out her cell phone and took a few photos of the portrait and signature. Then, with one hand, she posted the images onto her social media account.
Hearing that, a corner of Sheng Jiaoyang"s mouth raised slightly. "What I drew is how you look to me."
Liu Lu stared blankly. The short-haired girl before her looked younger than herself, but those smiling eyes seemed as if they were filled with starlight, making her look particularly attractive.