23 years old.

Hora, Kate, and Haidt jointly established the "Iceberg" studio, which included expressionism, English landscape painting, English romanticism, classicism and other styles.

Revenues for the year totalled £64.

24 years old.

Revenues totalled £54 in the first half of the year, and in the second half of the year, Haidt went home to inherit the family business with a total revenue of £46.

25 years old.

Because of her father's serious illness, although Kate still retains her identity as a painter at Iceberg Studio, she has already left home and no longer interferes in all the activities of the studio, but will send one or two paintings to Hola from time to time.

Revenues for the year totalled £32.

In November of the same year.

Before Kate left, she was responsible for finding a way to sell the paintings, and after losing Kate, Hola had few channels to sell the paintings alone, she once contacted the auction house, but in the end found that her paintings were basically unsold, even if the price was repeatedly lowered, no one bought her works.

The wind was bitterly cold, and the snow was piled up outside the window.

"Haura, I appreciate your skill and thought, but you must know that no one would hang such a painting in their own home. The old man took off his glasses and wiped them gently.

Haura is holding one of her proudest works over the years, and although there is still room for improvement in her painting technique, she thinks she has incorporated the charm she wants to convey.

A blizzard covers a blurry corner, and in the corner of this painting, a figure huddles outside the house.

This corner of the city was dark, and all the windows had no light, as if the man huddled by the wall was the only inhabitant of the city.

There is no fire, and there is no light.

The old man looked at the painting and said:

"It's so lonely, I have to admit that your work does show despair and loneliness, but compared to the real masters, you are still relatively unfamiliar with the use of technique, and those collectors with a unique aesthetic do not look down on your work, and the vast majority of them do not like your type of work. ”

The old man took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead:

"To be honest, it's not impossible for me to help you dispose of your type of work, and I do admire you, but your work is a little too good, and the loneliness is so strong that it makes people feel disgusted, and it discourages those who are not so discerning, and I can't buy your work all the time.

"And your other guys' works, why did you spend so long creating, but every time it's this kind of work that no one likes, if it weren't for Kate and I mentioning that your family conditions are good and you are very cheerful, I would have thought you had some psychological problems. ”

Hola muttered:

"I always felt like I had to draw them, and it was like my responsibility. ”

The old man shook his head:

"You are just a carefree young man, what responsibilities can you have, I know you all have your own bottom line, you don't want to waste time on those 'vulgar' works, but those works that are suitable for the public can be sold, but you have to learn to compromise temporarily, in exchange for a certain amount of fame, and those works you really love will appear in front of others. ”

Hola says:

"It's not that I don't want to make money, it's just that every time I lift a paintbrush, I go straight into the state of creation, and at that time I only think about how to draw what I want to paint, and I don't have any energy left to think about how much I can sell. ”

The old man put his glasses back on, and a thin layer of fog covered them:

"I advised you, you make your own choice. ”

Hara picked up the painting, said thank you, and turned to leave.

26 years old,

Four years away from college, this is the first time Hara has returned home.

Hora is amazed to find that her father is still as young as he saw it as a child.

And I never found out before that the family's manor was so big, and it was one of the largest manors in Wharton City, and it was also located in the West End, not to mention how much it was worth, this place was not at all something that could be bought with money.

Very rich.

Hervin looked at the young woman standing outside the door with a suitcase:

"Come in, what are you doing outside? ”

Hola cautiously walked into the place where she had been for a long time, and all these years had made her nervous about the extravagant décor that symbolized money.

Herwin poured her a cup of black tea:

"How did you think of going home. ”

Hola says:

"Because I don't have any money, I can't pay the rent. ”

Hewen laughed:

"It's okay, I said it, you can come back whenever you want, as long as you want. ”

The woman drank tea and talked to Herwen about the difficult life of these years, but it didn't take long for the exhaustion of the long journey to come to mind, and she spoke to Herwen and returned to her childhood room, lying on the bed.

Her room hasn't changed much from when she was a child, I don't know if Hewen expected it early on, her bed has always been able to accommodate an adult.

But Hola couldn't sleep.

Knock knock.

Hewen slammed the door, then pushed the door straight and walked in:

"Can't sleep. ”

The woman, who was already 26, hummed obediently like a child.

Herwin picked up the book in his hand:

"Let me tell you a story. ”

Hola looked up at the book cover with a few large gilded letters, "Alice in Wonderland".

She asked:

"What kind of story is this?"

Hervin says:

"It's a story of twists, absurdities, dreams, but ultimately finding happiness and serenity. ”

Hola nodded:

"I'm going to hear this story. ”

“...... Alice walked through the field, following only the rabbit, just in time to see the rabbit jump into a large hole under the hedge.

In the blink of an eye, Alice also jumped in after him, not thinking about how to get out again.

The first section of the rabbit hole, straight ahead, no different from a normal cave, then, without warning, suddenly downward, so suddenly that Alice fell into a deep hole like a well before she could close her feet......"

Snoring.

Herwin had only told a short story, and Hola had already entered a sweet dream.

Herwin looked at the woman's face, at this moment, he didn't know what the other party was dreaming, he didn't know what the other party was thinking, what her future would be.

But at least in this moment, and possibly in the future, she is happy.

Early the next morning.

Hola said to Herwin at breakfast:

"I want to paint. ”

Herwin smiled and nodded:

"Then let's go paint. ”

Before leaving, Hervin gave the woman two hundred pounds to cover her daily expenses, and he also gave her a fairy tale book.