Chapter 54 True Art Must Touch the Soul

Even though sunglasses covered most of her face, the young woman still looked striking with her delicate nose, red lips, and alluring long hair.

Having received Qin Mingze's affirmative reply, the woman even took off her sunglasses, revealing a bright and captivating face.

She looked Fu Qian up and down twice, finally nodded with satisfaction, and waved at him.

"Get in the car!"

As soon as these words fell, the eyes of the neighborhood seniors popped wide open.

Fu Qian didn't even twitch a muscle in his seat, keeping his eyes fixed on Qin Mingze, hoping for an explanation.

"Just get in first and we'll talk!"

The latter wore a look of utter despair.

Considering the two boxes of local specialties.

Fu Qian gave him a meaningful look and slipped into the front passenger seat that the woman had opened earlier.

It wasn't until the sports car drove far away that the seniors at the entrance finally snapped back to their senses, instantly breaking into a flurry of discussion.

They simply couldn't understand how Fu's little fellow, despite being an unemployed vagrant, could still attract such a gorgeous girl to look for him, and with such eager enthusiasm at that.

"Out with it!"

Fu Qian led the two uninvited guests all the way into his home and motioned for them to sit on the sofa.

Qin Mingze had lost his usual overbearing aura, wearing a ingratiating smile instead.

"You're not busy these next couple of days, are you?"

"Not busy."

Fu Qian shook his head.

"I have the next three days off."

"Didn't you just find a new part-time job?"

"Precisely because the part-time job is quite tiring, I work four days and rest three."

...

"Alright, here's the deal."

Young Master Qin pointed at the long-haired woman and let out a long sigh.

"I found a part-time job for you too."

Huh?

Fu Qian glanced at the long-haired woman.

Although this young lady deliberately wore heavy makeup, she was definitely not old, at most a year or two older than him, and might even still be in school.

At the moment, the latter was scanning him up and down intently, clicking her tongue with a rather wicked glint in her eyes.

"Step aside for a word."

Young Master Qin rushed over, grabbed Fu Qian's arm, and dragged him to the side.

"Do me a favor..."

"You better explain yourself first."

" Uh... it's nothing much, I just need your help to be a figure model for once."

"A figure model?"

"Yes."

Young Master Qin wore a look of unspeakable embarrassment.

"Remember last time I took a picture of you and Photoshopped my own head onto it?"

Ah!

Fu Qian understood instantly.

"The ruse was exposed?"

...

Qin Mingze nodded helplessly and pointed back at the woman.

"Getting exposed is no big deal; my thick skin can withstand that much. What I didn't expect was that the other party turned out to be this girl's roommate. When I was bragging to someone, she recognized it...

This girl's name is Tan Ying; we grew up together in the same circle.

She's blackmailing me to find the real owner of that physique to model for her, otherwise she'll make me the laughingstock of the circle."

Qin Mingze finally laid out the whole situation.

"All you need to do is simple—just act as a model and let her draw you. I've confirmed that you only need to expose your upper body at most."

"I charge extra for the lower body."

Unexpectedly, the young woman named Tan Ying had sharp ears and chimed right in.

"Is the Academy of Fine Arts really struggling that much to find figure models?"

Fu Qian looked at her in mild disbelief.

"They have them, but they're all elderly grandmothers."

Tan Ying sighed.

"Of course, I'm not saying grandmothers are bad, but as an art practitioner, having finally stumbled upon such a perfect human body, there's no way I'm letting it go."

Is that so?

"Alright!"

Fu Qian frowned and agreed on the spot.

Not expecting him to be so straightforward, not only was Young Master Qin overjoyed, but Tan Ying was also pleasantly surprised, covering her mouth with a chuckle.

"Thanks for your cooperation!"

My pleasure, my pleasure.

While exchanging pleasantries, Fu Qian spread his fingers, revealing the dream ring, and chose to activate it.

The next moment, the galaxy on the ring rotated, and an invisible veil expanded outward into the surroundings.

So this is the dreamscape created by the ring?

Fu Qian looked around.

If he hadn't known for a fact that he was inside a dream, he wouldn't have been able to tell any difference at all.

He had zero interest in being a model, so he had no choice but to resort to some special methods.

Considering he couldn't just knock these two out and throw them out, he ultimately decided to give this unused dream ring a try, which would also conveniently test its effects.

From the look of it now, this dreamscape seemed to be completely based on reality, with the three of them still sitting in the living room.

And both Tan Ying and Qin Mingze clearly had no idea they were already inside a dream.

In that case, there was a high probability that after waking up, they would treat everything that happened here as reality.

Fu Qian observed his own state and felt a sense of complete autonomy, as if he could arbitrarily alter the logical rules of this dreamscape.

Could it be this magical? Let's test this side first.

"Actually, I'm also half an art practitioner."

He approached Tan Ying first and initiated his mental violation.

"In my view, pure depiction does not fall within the realm of art."

Fu Qian recited the lines he had prepared.

"True art should unearth deeper things."

"Deeper things?"

Tan Ying asked instinctively. Under the influence of the dreamscape, her thoughts had visibly slowed down.

"Yes, such as the collision and tearing apart of the flesh and the spirit."

Fu Qian looked into her eyes, his tone unhurried.

In this dreamscape, Fu Qian found that his words had become exceptionally persuasive.

Meanwhile, the others were slightly dazed, having completely lost their vigilance and defense.

"What do you mean?"

"Wait a moment, I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Tan Ying agreed almost reflexively.

Fu Qian then approached Qin Mingze.

"As the old saying goes, one who initiates a deed must bear the responsibility; you're the one who caused this mess, right?"

"...Right."

"Then shouldn't you take the initiative to clean up the trouble you stirred up?"

"It should be, but how am I supposed to do that?"

"Simple, put this on."

With a wave of Fu Qian's arm, a black pleated skirt appeared in his hand.

This dreamscape really is handy.

"Women's clothes... why do you have women's clothes here?"

Qin Mingze questioned instinctively.

"A client's."

Fu Qian spouted nonsense casually, having zero desire to get bogged down in this question.

...

Fine!

Qin Mingze fell silent for a moment, then quickly agreed.

He really had caused this mess. Although it was sickening, a man had to take responsibility.

Qin Mingze had no doubt that this thought stemmed from his own mind and was his truest sentiment.

Five minutes later in the dreamscape.

"What is this?"

Looking at Qin Mingze standing before her in a black skirt, Tan Ying, who had been waiting for a long time, was left dumbfounded.

"True art must touch the soul."

Fu Qian's tone was soft.

"I believe that as an artist, you can perceive the ubiquitous sense of contradiction between this model's spirit and flesh."

...

Tan Ying was quickly persuaded.

She forced herself to face Qin Mingze, examining him through an artistic lens, yet her hand holding the paintbrush trembled so violently she couldn't make a single stroke.

After a long while, she let out a long sigh and threw the brush down.

"I find my artistic cultivation still lacking; I need to go back and hone it more."

"What a pity. Are you sure you're not going to draw?"

Fu Qian, standing nearby, let out a sympathetic sigh.

"Positive."