83: save6 Critique
Liu Lili had also thought about simply giving up and going back.
She knew that in her faraway hometown, there was someone waiting for her, someone who would accept everything about her and give her infinite love.
However, Liu Lili ultimately did not choose to do so.
She was unwilling to admit her failure, and even more unwilling to admit the reality that she could not become a star like Lu Lele.
If she admitted it, then her efforts over these years would become a joke in the truest sense, the funniest joke in the world created over eight years.
If she admitted it, then Liu Lili would become an outright clown.
Dancing away on her own, then dancing back on her own.
Liu Lili dared not imagine what kind of expression Lu Lele would have if she, who had achieved nothing, went back to find her now.
But at the same time, Liu Lili was incredibly sober. She was very clear that unless she had some heaven-defying encounter, her future achievements would likely stop here.
Liu Lili had made many attempts.
She once ran through the entire city, trying to find someone who would recognize her paintings and provide her with funding.
But she, with no connections, was met with constant rejection. Once, she was almost deceived by someone who took a fancy to her youthful beauty. If Liu Lili hadn't been more cautious, she likely would have been drugged and knocked out.
After that, Liu Lili was once bitten by a snake and for ten years feared the well rope. She never looked for anyone willing to sponsor her again.
She had also submitted manga to various online platforms, hoping to harvest popularity and accumulate fans, thereby becoming a manga artist who could earn big money this way.
However, Liu Lili's works were soon buried among the many submitted works. Although there were readers who praised Liu Lili's basic skills as very good, that was about it.
Liu Lili didn't become famous. She just barely managed to feed herself.
Now, Liu Lili's main income also came from the manga serialized online, and it was unstable, sometimes high and sometimes low, often not making ends meet.
Setting up the street stall was to seek out people who could appreciate her work and to earn extra income, because these physical paintings would be priced much higher, and at the same time, it did not really delay Liu Lili from drawing manga.
Although Liu Lili's level of painting was quite good, it was the result of effort rather than talent.
She hadn't missed a single day of practice since starting university. She earnestly noted down every word her teachers said in class, and during practice, she reproduced them without a single error.
Over time, Liu Lili's paintings became simply the most standard template of Rose Academy, meticulous and by the book. Put nicely, it was as seamless as a handicraft. Put harshly, it lacked spirit.
Although it couldn't be called ugly, and one could even say that Liu Lili's paintings were more rigorous and serious than ninety percent of her classmates, because they lacked her own characteristics, they weren't viewed very optimistically.
In fact, quite a few people who had seen her paintings said the same thing.
"Your paintings have good basics, but they look like copy and paste."
Liu Lili had heard too many similar words.
Working in the arts, effort is certainly the most important, but that only determines the lower limit.
To stand out, one must possess an extremely high upper limit, and this so-called upper limit is often determined by talent.
Perhaps if Liu Lili were given a few more years to refine herself, she could also form her own style and become a mature, qualified manga artist capable of supporting herself.
But the current Liu Lili was in a stage of being neither up nor down. Moreover, she no longer had the money to support herself through this stage.
In other words, she didn't have that most critical time.
Before the arrival of the guest who called herself Cola, Liu Lili was already considering giving up the street stall and instead working a part-time job at a restaurant, so she could ensure she wouldn't be swept out the door by the landlord.
But Miss Cola's two consecutive visits and generous tips gave Liu Lili a temporary respite, so she decided to postpone that matter for now.
Would Miss Cola visit again?
This became the matter Liu Lili guessed about constantly for the next week.
Another week passed.
At the time of approaching twilight, Miss Cola visited Liu Lili's stall again, still wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a mask.
Liu Lili hurriedly stepped forward to greet her enthusiastically, but Miss Cola just nodded faintly, then quietly began to pick them out just like the previous two times.
Miss Cola quickly finished picking the paintings. Then, while Liu Lili was packing them, she suddenly asked:
"Miss Liu, aren't you curious?"
Liu Lili paused for a moment and answered:
"Do you mean you visiting my small stall repeatedly? I am indeed a bit curious, but if you aren't willing to say, I won't ask."
"Telling you is nothing, the reason is actually very simple."
"Because I also learned painting, but I didn't graduate from Rose Academy, and I don't have much contact with it usually. Miss Liu, your paintings are simply the best blueprint for studying academic-style paintings. So I plan to buy a few every week to take back and observe, learning the academic painting method."
Miss Cola paused, then continued:
"Miss Liu, I really like your paintings. I especially appreciate the earnestness and meticulousness they reveal. However, I feel that although your paintings are very standard and well-regulated, they also appear a bit rigid, almost as if they were printed out."