"Bro … Brother Lin!" Gu Mengzhong cried out involuntarily. He was genuinely surprised. This wasn't the Jade Dragon Kingdom. It was at least a thousand miles away and he didn't expect to run into an old friend here.
"Master Gu, I was just passing by and happened to run into you. Did something happen?" Lin Jin asked.
Gu Mengzhong was different from others.
Back then, Gu Mengzhong was one of the few people who supported him. Lin Jin was a man who remembered kindness. Gu Mengzhong and Masterchef Liao held different positions in his heart. Hence, when Gu Mengzhong was in trouble, Lin Jin would help him even if it meant delaying his work.
Gu Mengzhong seemed to recall something and shook his head. "It's nothing. It's been a while since we last met. Let's have a drink. Waiter, bring some wine."
The waiter paled at this.
'Bring wine?
You drank it all yesterday and if you get drunk again, how could you just stay here and refuse to leave? Hence, the waiter didn't move. Of course, it was also because he saw Lin Jin shaking his head at him.
Of course, he chose to listen to Lin Jin.
"Master Gu, drinking tea is the same. You're right, it's been a while since we last met. Now that we've run into an old friend in a foreign land, we should have a good chat." Lin Jin had the waiter serve another pot of tea.
Gu Mengzhong nodded. He asked about Lin Jin's recent situation. Gu Mengzhong clearly didn't know about the recent happenings in the Jade Dragon Kingdom. This meant that he had been leading a befuddled life for quite some time now.
All the more reason for Lin Jin to leave. He had to figure out what was going on.
After a few more inquiries, Gu Mengzhong finally sighed.
"I wasn't going to tell you about this at first since I didn't want to drag you into it. But since you insist, I'll tell you about it." Gu Mengzhong took a sip of tea.
This time, he was using a cup.
After drinking the pot of tea, Gu Mengzhong's drunkenness had subsided significantly.
Once Gu Mengzhong said this, Lin Jin understood what was going on. As the saying went, 'Spending time with a woman makes one haggard'. Only a woman could make someone like Master Gu lose his composure like this.
"To tell you the truth, when I was young, I stayed in Heavenly Spiral Nation for a few years. Back then, Heavenly Spiral had a world-renowned art academy and I was one of its students."
At that time, Gu Mengzhong was sixteen or seventeen years old, a youthful age. There was a female teacher in the Academy of Fine Arts who was good at painting. She was dignified and elegant, a feast for the eyes. Gu Mengzhong learned painting from her, and after a long time, he naturally fell in love with her. This kind of thing was very normal. He was a hot-blooded youth, and he spent all his time with the female teacher. She was also good at painting and looked good. It was impossible for him not to have any improper thoughts.
According to Gu Mengzhong, most of the admirers at his age were the female teacher, and he was just one of them.
Later on, as Gu Mengzhong's drawing skills improved, the female teacher began teaching him on her own and they developed feelings for each other.
"Once I was done with my studies, I planned to return to the Jade Dragon Kingdom. At that time, I threw caution to the wind and confessed my feelings to my teacher. But she didn't agree, saying that I was still young and didn't understand the relationship between a man and a woman. Little did she know that my feelings for her were sincere. Seeing how serious I was, she told me to wait for another ten years. Once I've made a name for myself and can roam the world with my sword, I can look for her again." Gu Mengzhong seemed to be smiling and crying at the same time. Although he was sober, he was still tipsy. This was the only way he could speak his mind. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to say something like this when he was sober.
"But ten years later, my drawing skills improved so I went to look for her. She said that I lacked chivalry and asked me to wait another ten years. I came back in a fit of anger. Not only did I hone my drawing skills, I also practiced my swordsmanship." Gu Mengzhong looked determined.
However, Lin Jin could tell that the female teacher was rejecting him in a roundabout way. Ten years after that, she wanted Gu Mengzhong to back off. But who knew that Gu Mengzhong would be so stubborn?
"Now that the twenty years are up and I have the ink monster, I can transform into a sword at will. I can travel the world with my sword, but it's unfair. I wanted to look for her again. But this time, she didn't even see me. She just said that she was holding me back and that we weren't meant to be together." Gu Mengzhong was in a daze.
Onlookers see things more clearly.
Lin Jin understood what the female teacher meant. She wanted Gu Mengzhong to give up on his own for twenty years, but to think that Gu Mengzhong persisted.
That was why the female teacher said that she was holding Gu Mengzhong back.
After some thought, Lin Jin said, "There's something that I'm not sure if I should say."
"Brother Lin, you and I are best friends. You can say whatever you want," Gu Mengzhong said.
Lin Jin nodded. "Twenty years isn't a short time. Even the prettiest person will grow old eventually. Moreover, as your teacher, I'm only a few years older than you so it's normal for her to refuse to see you."
Lin Jin made himself clear. The female teacher was older than Gu Mengzhong to begin with, and after twenty years, she might have aged by now.
Not meeting Gu Mengzhong was for his own good.
However, Lin Jin didn't expect Gu Mengzhong to have such deep feelings for her that he couldn't even recover from this setback.
Speaking of which, these were definitely Gu Mengzhong's secrets. He had been holding it in for a long time and couldn't find anyone to confide in. Lin Jin was the only one who could tell him.
Who would have thought that Master Gu, who was known as the number one expert in Jade Dragon Kingdom, would have such troubles?
Of course, there was one more important point that Lin Jin left out.
She had rejected him time and time again. It was obvious that she wasn't interested in you, Master Gu. Why must you be so stubborn?
In the world before Lin Jin transmigrated, there was a phrase that suited the current Master Gu very well. What was it called again?
Of course, Lin Jin couldn't say this aloud.
Right now, Master Gu was pouring out his frustrations.
"I don't mind her aging. In my eyes, she's still how she used to be. She'll never change," Master Gu said.
Lin Jin shook his head. Master Gu saw this and assumed that Lin Jin didn't agree with his words.
"Brother Lin, you don't believe me? Alright, I'll show you. " Having said that, Master Gu took out a painting from a bag beside him. It was kept in a wooden box and Lin Jin could tell that Master Gu cherished it very much as he carried it around with him.
The painting unfurled and a woman appeared vividly on the paper.
Lin Jin had seen all sorts of masterful paintings but this one still managed to stun him. The artist's artistic skills were unparalleled. The woman's expression was vivid as if she was alive.
The woman was dressed in a long dress and was sitting on a rock by the river, combing her long hair. Just by staring at her, one would be drawn into the painting. As for her looks, this woman could be said to be devastatingly beautiful. She was even better than Shang'er now.
Of course, the real person might not look like this. Perhaps Master Gu had deliberately overlooked the woman's flaws when he was painting.
Beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
"I don't care about her looks. She's my teacher, and her drawing skills have long been superb. Even my current skills are nothing compared to hers," Gu Mengzhong said.
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