Chapter 852: Mona Lisa's Smile

The book that was thrown back to the painter's chest interrupted his chatter, and the young painter held his forehead and laughed softly at the straight back of the hostess.

……

The clown who tossed an apple but let it hit his face, the giant who stepped on stilts, the fire-breathing dwarf, and the servants of the castle looked at the makeshift stage in the garden, pointing, and laughing.

But the baroness turned away, and the young painter immediately pursued him, and he rushed ahead of the baroness, and went backwards, smiling in his eyes: "Hey, don't go so fast!" I spent the last penny in my pocket to get this famous circus over! ”

The baroness paused, frowned, and looked inquiringly at the painter in front of her: "What do you want to do?" I was honored that you said the Baron asked you to paint a portrait of me, but you haven't done it for so long—"

The young painter stood in place, the smile on his face narrowed little by little, he stared intently at the beauty in front of him, and said softly: "I promised him that I would draw you with a smile-"

The Baroness immediately showed a polite social smile, and the young painter looked at her eyes that were as frozen as ten thousand years, sighed, and shook his head: "No, what I want is your heartfelt, real smile, not this fake, hung up, mask." ”

The baroness's smile immediately rose, she was silent for a moment, and said lightly: "I'm sorry, I really can't laugh now." ”

But why do you have to laugh? Sadness, melancholy, even indifference, aren't they also human feelings? As a painter, you should know better than me that a good painting pursues to reproduce the inner emotions of the characters, and should not be limited to smiling joy. ”

"In a person's life, from the beginning of crying at birth, to the end of life, compared with joy, sadness and sorrow are the main theme of life."

From the baroness spoke again, the young painter looked at her without saying a word, and when she had finished speaking, Fang said: "Listening to your words has strengthened my mind. ”

"It's true that I can record your sad and painful appearance, but I don't want to do that, I want you to always smile in front of the world."

"Maybe in a long life, it is true that sadness and sorrow are the main theme, as you said, but there is always a moment when you rejoice from the heart."

"And what I'm going to do is fix this moment and make it eternal."

After this conversation, the young painter stopped deliberately making the baroness laugh, and began his quiet companionship.

Every day after dinner, the two of them would walk along the stone path among the roses, and the topics were varied, sometimes talking about the geometry problems she had just seen, and sometimes discussing the significance of constellations in astronomy.

After the walk, the painter says a polite goodbye, the baroness returns to his living room, and the painter returns to the studio that the baroness has prepared for him.

He pulled back the white curtain that covered the painting, revealing the contents of the canvas, a young noblewoman in a long dark dress, her arms up, her hair slightly curled, and her shoulders down.

It's just that the facial features are blank.

The young painter stared at the portrait and muttered, "Soon, soon—"

……

The news came unexpectedly, and the young painter had been promoted to become a close friend of the Baroness with his unique charm and profound knowledge.

Even she could appear in front of him in a nightgown, a simple morning coat, and long brown hair.

The two men were each holding a book and were discussing it fiercely when a knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

The baroness tugged at the morning coat that had slipped to her shoulders, frowned slightly, and exclaimed, "Come in." ”

The door to the study was pulled open from the outside, and the gardener, whose face was full of vicissitudes, appeared before her, his clothes were so dirty that he seemed to have rolled in the mud countless times, and his hair that had been supposedly smooth was knotted.

To make matters worse, his right arm was hanging from his chest.

Looking at the Baroness, he lowered his eyes gloomily: "I'm sorry, ma'am—"

The Baroness's hand rested on the desk, her body shaking uncontrollably, "My Edward—"

The young gardener took a big step to the side, and the young man, who was blocked by his tall body, was revealed, he didn't look good, even worse than the young gardener.

He was on crutches under his armpits, and he was empty under one leg, and he was thin and pale

A timid smile smiled at the Baroness, "Mother—"

The Baroness covered her mouth and walked slowly like a dream, until she was only one step away from the young man, she opened her arms sharply and took him into her arms: "Edward! My son! My baby! ”

Without asking the boy what he had experienced, and without much comfort and tears, the mother prepared hot water for the child, a warm and comfortable bed, held his hand, stayed by his side, and gently watched him fall into a deep sleep.

But she could not fall asleep, and went back to the living room, where the young painter looked at her with a worried look on his face, and confessed: "He has lost a leg, and I am afraid it will be difficult in the future." ”

The baroness looked at him, the corners of her lips curled slightly, and her voice was soft but exceptionally clear: "He's still alive." ”

The young painter looked at her intently, her brow still slightly locked, as if she was carrying the weight of the whole world, but there was a smile on her lips, like a ray of sunshine in the summer, piercing through the dense clouds and shooting straight down, letting people know that the dark clouds would eventually disperse.

He stood up sharply, rushed straight into the studio, ripped off the white curtain, picked up the oil pastel, and began a quick sketch.

As the painting progressed, his hair and beard grew a little longer, and his originally neat shirt and vest became dirty and messy.

Finally, the pearl in the history of world painting was born under his pen - her eyes were melancholy, as if there was a sad face, but there was a smile on the corner of her lips!

Mystical smile!

Scene after scene, accompanied by Roy's constant "OK! ”“NICE！” "E get it!", and quickly complete the shooting.

The content, which was expected to be filmed for at least half a month, was miraculously shortened to five days.

During the five days, most of the time was spent on building backgrounds, actors applying makeup, and there was very little time for actual shooting.

Cyril got up refreshed, five consecutive days of high-intensity shooting, and finally could sleep well, he stretched comfortably, put on his clothes neatly, and after washing, he didn't go to breakfast immediately.

He asked for two sandwiches and a large pot of coffee and pushed open the door to the video room.

Well, it's November, and the end of the semester is not far away, so you should work hard.

(End of chapter)