Only Through Effort Does One Know Despair

Unexpectedly, there were no other students in the art room except for Murong Qing. Si Ming carefully pushed the door open and found Murong Qing concentrating on her painting, not even reacting to the presence of outsiders.

Artists have a very high level of concentration.

With this in mind, Si Ming concealed his aura and slowly approached, coming to stand behind Murong Qing. He discovered that she was painting ink wash paintings, with a serious and solemn style, which was quite similar to the impression she gave off. Si Ming guessed that this style might have been influenced by her father.

On the left side of the drawing is a tall building, with someone on the upper floor covering their face with their sleeve, seemingly being hit by a strong wind. On the right side of the drawing are layers of mountains, clearly defined from near to far, with trees on the mountains appearing to be leaning over.

The painting is painted with heavy ink, creating a somber atmosphere. It evokes a sense of impending storm, with dark clouds pressing down on the city and threatening to crush it. Even though Si Ming doesn't know much about art, he can tell that this is an excellent work.

Half an hour later, Murong Qing a satisfied expression, put down her paintbrush, and then turned to Si Ming and asked, "Did you need something from me?"

Si Ming asked curiously, "You knew I came in?"

Murong Qing said, "Of course, although I have a high level of concentration when I'm painting, I'm not so focused that I wouldn't notice someone coming in."

Si Ming thought of Hongdou. When she was painting, she couldn't hear any outside noise, as if her soul was completely absorbed in the painting. Even in such a noisy environment as the street, she could still enter a state of focused concentration.

Why are you the only one here? Where are the other members of the art room?

"Everyone's gone home. I'm going to participate in the county-wide painting competition, Teacher Xu asked the other students to temporarily stop their extracurricular activities and clear out the art room for me so I can create in peace. Although I said it wasn't necessary to go to so much trouble, everyone hopes I can achieve good results and bring honor to the school... I'll have to treat everyone to a meal to thank them later," Murong Qing said gratefully.

Si Ming carefully observed the other person and, finding that it wasn't fake, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I thought you hadn't recovered from that defeat. It seems Qingqing was worrying unnecessarily."

Then he explained why Liu Qingqing had asked him to encourage people.

Murong Qing smiled and said, "That matter is long in the past. Although losing to that guy was indeed painful and a blow, I'm not someone who can't accept defeat. If you're not as skilled as someone else, you need to train harder and win back in the future. Dwelling on past failures is not the behavior of a qualified martial artist. The cause of justice is never smooth sailing; setbacks are inevitable. I understood this principle a long time ago."

"That puts my mind at ease. Qingqing is really making a mountain out of a molehill. I spent so much time in class trying to figure out how to comfort you without hurting your feelings, but still to encourage you."

Murong Qing thought for a moment and said, "It's not entirely Qingqing's misunderstanding. I've been painting this picture these past few days. In order to capture the mood, I put myself into the character, so my emotions were inevitably affected. To others, I probably seem to be in a low mood. Fortunately, the painting is almost finished; one more day will be enough."

Si Ming looked at the painting and pondered, "You're not using this painting to cope with the blow you're suffering, are you?"

"You guessed right. My dad said that painting is an extension of human emotions. The stronger the emotion, the better the work can be created. Although this might seem like using painting as an emotional dumping ground, I do need a way to release stress. This is a perfect solution, and I'm sure this painting will be my best work to date."

Murong Qing spoke confidently, reaching out and hovering her hand above the drawing paper, maintaining a short distance without touching the still-wet ink.

"No matter what, my paintings will never betray me."

This topic was too profound for Si Ming to handle, so he could only say, "Since it was all for nothing, I'll leave now with peace of mind."

Murong Qing, "Thank you for your concern, and please also convey my gratitude to Qingqing."

"I will."

After Si Ming left, Murong Qing stayed in the art room for a while, tidying up her various drawing tools and taking precautions to protect her soon-to-be-completed artwork.

By the time she finished all that, it was already dark. She opened the door to go out, only to find her art teacher standing right outside.

"Teacher Xu, is there anything I can help you with?"

Well...

Teacher Xu's face was solemn, revealing a very troubled and conflicted expression.

Murong Qing guessed it might be bad news, and then she saw Teacher Xu take a deep breath and continue, "I'm sorry, your work cannot represent the school in the competition."

Chapter 88 Only Through Effort Can One Discover Despair

Murong Qing surprised, but instead of making a scene, she calmly asked, "Why? Wasn't I the one who was supposed to participate? Does someone think my work isn't qualified to represent the school?"

She was very confident in her work and believed that none of the other members of the art studio could surpass her. However, art is a subjective thing, and unless the difference is so great that it is difficult to say who is better or worse, especially for laymen.

The situation is somewhat better in the world of ancient paintings, where it is relatively easy to distinguish between different levels of quality. This is especially evident in the world of modern painting. To many, some of the Impressionist works by masters look like children's scribbles, unless they are imbued with a soul or spirit that affects the viewer's five senses.

Teacher Xu looked away, seemingly unwilling to meet Murong Qing's gaze, and said, "That's not the case. Everyone is very satisfied with your work. Although it's not finished yet, the unfinished piece is enough to convince everyone that this is a rare and excellent work."

Why is that?

Seeing Teacher Xu's expression, Murong Qing wondered if a dirty favor had been made; such a thing was not impossible.

If Murong Qing can win first prize while the other person can only win second prize, from the perspective of school honor, Murong Qing should of course be sent to participate.

From the perspective of personal honor, another person who participates at least has the chance to win an award, while someone who doesn't participate doesn't even have the opportunity to win one. If this person is a relative of a leader, or if his elders have donated a large sum of money to the school, they might be able to get the school to back down.

While it's rare for people to profit at the expense of the public on campus, it's not entirely unheard of.

However, Teacher Xu said, "Because there are better works."

Murong Qing trembled, clenched her fists, and asked in disbelief, "Who is it?"

If there were students in the school who were more talented than her, the school would not have selected her to participate in the competition in the first place. Moreover, she knew the members of the art studio very well, and none of them could match her in terms of talent or effort.

When Teacher Xu announced that she would be participating in the competition, no one in the art room objected. Perhaps some people felt regretful, but no one was Qi Ingestion. The fact that no one stayed behind to paint during this period is the best proof. If it were Murong Qing, she would definitely have trained even harder if she felt unwilling.

"The participant is Hongdou. She rarely comes to school, so you might not know, but..."

"Of course I know her. She's a once-in-a-century genius in the art world, having won numerous international awards at a young age. She's hailed as the rising star most likely to carry the torch for the next century in the art world of Su State. Why would she participate in a competition of this caliber?"

Murong Qing couldn't understand why someone of Hongdou World's recognized artist status would participate in such a small regional competition. It was as absurd as asking Spirit Transformation expert to participate in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament organized by the Yuezheng Lineage.

Teacher Xu said apologetically, "The principal and others felt this was a good opportunity to promote the school and actively wanted her to participate. She also agreed to lend her work to the school, although I believed it was a desecration of art and had always objected..."

"I know, it's not the teacher's fault."

Murong Qing had great faith in Teacher Xu's character, knowing him to be a pure person with a deep love for art who would never act out of personal favoritism.

There was once a relative of Teacher Xu who asked him to take care of his child. As a result, Teacher Xu was very strict with the female student and told her that with her talent, unless she put in ten times the effort, she would never achieve anything in painting in her lifetime. Not long after, the female student withdrew from art activities.