Mr Grant, Please Be Gentle

Coming out of the Japanese restaurant, the sun was shining on them, and the streets were full of pedestrians coming and going. They were wearing exquisite suits, holding either mobile phones or laptops and packs of files in their hands, walking hurriedly among the crowd, all with a confident expression on their faces.

This was the busiest area in Oakshire.

Blanca was so envious of them…

She suddenly showed a smile with bitterness. When would she find her value?

“Miss, would you like to purchase a painting? It only costs you thirty dollars!”

Blanca followed the cries and saw a man wearing rivet pants and a peaked cap was constantly soliciting people. He had set up a stall by the fountain. The clothes he was wearing were very casual, with a pigtail behind his head. There was a golden frame hanging on the bridge of his nose. He was sitting on a small stool with a lot of portraits, and there were a lot of brushes and other tools next to him.

“How much does it cost?”

“Thirty dollars!”

“I’m in a hurry… maybe next time then.”

A woman in a fashionable dress asked about the price, shook her head, and walked away with an awkward look on her face. The man smiled politely and then went to ask others.

In a huge city like this, there were many street artists and street painters…

Blanca didn’t know what was wrong with her but she walked up there to the stall. The man noticed her. Perhaps because he had been turned down enough times, he didn’t hold any hope – He spoke with worn-out excitement, “Miss, would you like to buy a painting? It only costs you thirty dollars for one, fifty dollars for two.”

“Yes.”

She looked at the portraits of people listed together on the floor. There were elders, babbling babies, and loving couples…

And you could tell that the man’s paintings were all very good!

“You painted all of these?” Blanca took one up in surprise and looked at it carefully. She hadn’t learned painting from school, but this person’s painting was simply mind-blowing… And the details, the expressions, and demeanor of the characters were reproduced perfectly!

It’d be awesome if “I” could paint as well as he did!

“I painted them, you want one or not?” The man said impatiently.

Blanca just found out the man’s name was Peter. And his signature was on the lower right corner of each painting!

“Yes, I would like two portraits of myself. Do I take a seat here?”

Blanca found the most satisfactory spot, and then she posed the same way as the model did in a picture she had seen on the internet, which she assumed would look great. She stood in front of the fountain with one hand on the upper arm of the other side. And at the same time, she had one finger pointing at the sky, with her head looking down slightly…

“Puff!”

Peter cracked up, and Blanca frowned and looked at him, “What’s the matter? Is this position a bit difficult for you? Or do you need me to change to a simpler one? This position looks so beautiful, though.”

“…”

Blanca looked at Peter, embarrassed. She saw this posture from Instagram. She assumed it’d be a beautiful scene if she was standing on the beach, her hair was blown by the wind, and she raised her arms with ease with her head tilted in the ocean breeze!

Even if there were no ocean breeze now, it could be replaced by a breeze in the city!

Blanca adjusted her posture happily, and even took out her mobile phone to take a look at herself. She was revealing a sweet smile, “I’ll pay more, but let’s go with this posture, OK?”

“Sure…” Peter twitched the corner of his mouth and agreed. He was making money either way!