Monster Apartment

Gu Bai had a dream.

In the dream, he was floating in the sky. Underneath him was Jiuzhou Sea Estate. It was dark in the dead of night, except for the streetlights.

The surrounding area was quiet and peaceful. Occasionally you could see cars driving by outside the district. The lights flashed by, and there was no sound coming from the community.

The night sky is clear, and in this somewhat polluted S city, it is surprising that one can look up and see a bright river of stars across the night sky. The silvery glow of the moon gently envelops the city at night. In the distance, you can see that the city is still as bright as daylight until late at night.

This apartment complex, which was like the only silence amidst a blazing fire, looked extraordinarily peaceful and calm in the moonlight.

Gu Bai floated foolishly high above the ground, looking around and then down at his bare feet.

He was still wearing the Doraemon short-sleeved pyjamas.

He had heard a clear dragon roar.

Gu Bai looked towards the sound and saw a mass of light that illuminated the darkness of the night hovering in the sky. It was as if it was patrolling a territory, walking several times around the huge city.

The light was full of righteousness and solemnity, hanging in the sky and moving slowly and swiftly. Finally, it ran towards Gu Bai’s direction with swift speed.

Gradually, Gu Bai could see clearly what was wrapped in the light.

Its head and tail resembled a dragon, its horse-like body, its lion’s feet, its shape resembled that of a tiger and a leopard. Its body was clad in scaled armour that resembled gold and jade. When it walked, it seemed to contain the momentum of a great army and was terrifyingly powerful.

Gu Bai watched as it came from high above and slowly descended. It appeared to turn its head to look at him and then quietly stopped on the roof of the flat where he lived and tilted its head to let out a clear and long dragon roar.

Gu Bai woke up.

He turned off his alarm clock in a daze, yawned, rolled over and got up. He stared out of the window blankly for a while.

It seemed that he had dreamt of something last night. While changing his clothes, Gu Bai reminisced about it, but the dream seemed to be covered in a mist, and all that remained in his memory were the two dragon roars.

He washed up, fried an egg and a few slices of bacon. He made two sandwiches with a few slices of toast from the fridge and then climbed up to the first floor.

The 4 drafts were packed up and were left on the first floor without being taken down because of Si Yiming’s surprise visit yesterday.

Gu Bai was going to take them with him today and ask his teachers and senior brothers for their opinions.

He picked up the four scrolls that had been wound up into one, and as soon as he looked up he saw the only scroll still hanging on the wire rope on the first floor today.

The picture in black ink with strong use of form and meaning, with the head of the dragon roaring in anger, was showing its power to the people outside the painting.

Gu Bai tilted his head slightly, the dragon’s roar from his dream still lingering in his ears.

He felt that the dream he couldn’t quite remember last night was most likely influenced by this painting.

The spiritual perceptibility of practitioners of literature and art was always considerably higher than that of practitioners of other aspects.

They are always able to grasp some details from small and ordinary things that others do not see. They extend and expand them, and finally use that thing as a starting point to complete a work. Thus, they express their thoughts and feelings.

The so-called design and creation is also the embodiment of such ideas.

Dreaming of something within a painting because of seeing an excellent painting was a very common occurrence for Gu Bai.

Gu Bai carefully held the rolled-up painting in his arms, took another look at the ink painting, slipped on his slippers and went downstairs. He stuffed his newly purchased laptop into his backpack and left the house.

It was the peak time for people to leave for work.

Gu Bai had just closed the door when he turned his head and saw Si Yiming, who was also going out.

Today, without Zhai Liangjun and Huang Yining, there was no hustle and bustle upstairs and downstairs. Although it was equally lively, it was kept within an appropriate range.

Gu Bai was not against such a lively atmosphere. On the contrary, he felt very relaxed and happy.

The unsolicited kindness that he received from others these days made Gu Bai, who had always been an introverted and passive person, feel a sense of joy and irony from within.

He couldn’t resist flashing a broad smile to the big man across the hall and offered a greeting across the patio, “Good morning, Mr Si!”

There was an eerie pause for an instant both up and down the floor.

And it seemed like Si Yiming was unaware of it.

He turned his head to look at Gu Bai, feeling pricked by Gu Bai’s smile that was as brilliant as a small sun. After being slightly stunned, he gave a slight nod to Gu Bai, who was standing opposite, and was just about to walk away when he stopped again and returned, “Morning.”

Gu Bai heard the residents of the building sucking in cold air.

He couldn’t help but look up and down the floor and found that the raw faces he didn’t know were looking at him with incredulity. The eyes of those watching him were those of a cherished creature.

The smile on Gu Bai’s face faded a little under such a stare, and abashedly pressed himself against the wall. Avoiding the eyes looking over from the upper and lower floors, he slowly walked towards the lift.

He went downstairs in the same elevator as Si Yiming.

When Gu Bai left the elevator, Si Yiming suddenly said, “Sleep well at night, don’t run around.”

“Huh?” Gu Bai showed a dazed expression.

But the lift doors had already closed, and it went down to the underground car park.

Gu Bai walked with his backpack to the Art Expo Centre, still a bit confused about Si Yiming’s words.

The good thing is that it is not necessary to figure things out. Gu Bai has never cared much about it. If he can’t figure it out, he doesn’t have to think about it. A man should be able to take it and let it go.

Gu Bai threw away his doubts and walked down the road, unable to resist taking a deep breath.

The air seems to be much fresher today, and even the grass and trees along the roadside are giving off a relaxing fragrance.

He took his permit and headed into the lawn first.

There was a special studio set aside for them on the lawn, for them to do their designs and materials and so on.

Gu Bai arrived early today, and when he entered the studio, he found that he was the first one today.

Their daily working hours were very standard 9 to 5, and it was only 8 o’clock at the moment. The group of brothers who were addicted to working on the fly were not in a hurry until the last second.

Gu Bai put his draft on the table, took out his newly bought computer and connected it to the campus wifi. He was ready to fiddle with the design and examine the PPT for the final design while he waited for the others.

The final design was due at the end of June, a few days away. In the meantime, Gu Bai had already prepared for it.

Professor Gao is one of the supervisors for the final draft, so now that Gu Bai has a computer. He’s prepared to take advantage of the professor’s guidance. It would be best if he could get an excellent ranking or something. His resume would look good and the university would give him some money as a bonus.

A mosquito’s leg is still meat*. Especially after Si Yiming agreed to introduce a stock to Gu Bai, the amount of capital he has can mean the amount of profit he will make afterwards! (T/N *蚊子再小也是肉 Wénzi zài xiǎo yěshì ròu is an idiom that something is better than nothing)

The legend was that he could get back a million by picking up a dime and throwing it out!

Gu Bai felt that if he put in all the petty cash he could get in the past two months, he might come out with money that could buy a toilet in the suburbs of S City.

A full toilet!

It’s surprising to think that it’s a little exciting!

Professor Gao was not young and had long since passed the age of staying up late and indulging. He had entered the old cadre style of retirement early, so he was the second to arrive at the studio.

When he arrived, Gu Bai was sitting with his back to the door, searching the web for information.

Professor Gao knocked on the door to notify Gu Bai that someone was coming.

Gu Bai looked back over, and after seeing that it was Professor Gao, he revealed a smile, “Good morning, Professor!”

“Good morning.” Professor Gao nodded and sat down next to Gu Bai, “What are you looking up?”

“Looking up some information on dragons, my neighbour came to me to buy a painting.” Gu Bai explained, then clicked on the minimized PPT and touched his nose a little uneasily, “This is my design material. Can the teacher help me look at it?”

Professor Gao liked Gu Bai and had brought him out to try to work with his team, so he naturally didn’t mind doing him such a small favour.

By the time Gu Bai had revised and refined a number of areas at the suggestion of the professor, several brothers had also arrived one after another. After they asked Gu Bai, they unrolled the four designs that were rolled up on the table and gathered around to look at them.

Gu Bai’s understanding of the concept of inheritance was actually quite naive, but the good thing was that he had a lot of guts when it came to drawing.

He draws whatever he understands and thinks of.

The theme of inheritance is a theme that he has learned from whoever is in the painting.

His design ideas are straightforward and clear. A straight kick to the nuts and not to mention the fact that he scares the shit out of people. Nonetheless, he makes the group of older men standing in the studio today feel a little helplessly moved.
The younger brother recognized their help and fed it back into the drawing. It was nice to be clearly remembered after helping others.

But in the end a few of the senior brothers mulled it over and chose the one with Professor Gao in it.

Some of the drafts can be seen in the design.

For instance, in the one with Professor Gao, the composition and general colouring are much clearer than in the other three. It is obvious that Gu Bai already has a complete drawing in his mind.

There is a saying in the art of war that one should never fight an unprepared battle; and the same applies to painting. If one does not have a plan in mind, there will always be flaws in the painting.

Gu Bai’s first big exhibition, in which he has just graduated. It is very important to him that it be a big success.

It will help him quite a lot in building up his confidence and cutting through the fear of his work at this point.

Everyone has been there before and knows the influence of the mindset on a literary artist.

No one wants to see a young student who is full of talent and is a good person, who can make delicious snacks and who is just starting out in society, fall on the wrong side of the tracks.

According to the teacher, Gu Bai had no mother and was not supported by a father. It was completely different from their situation where they had a father and mother to support them when they fell down.

Especially when the young brother was still particularly poor.

So after the afternoon’s work was over, and the teacher had patted him on the back and left. Gu Bai was surrounded by the loving eyes of his seven senior brothers, who were not hesitating to give him a mini-lesson. They taught him the small details of the revised design.

The group stayed in the l;awn until the sun went down, and then swarmed off to have a meal at a small restaurant.

Gu Bai had never found group activities to be so enjoyable. When he was a child, his father always did not come to his parents’ meetings and the other children did not want to play with him. This made Gu Bai alone at every group activity, and over time, he did not look forward to such activities.

But the feeling that Gu Bai got from being together now was a very different one.

Clutching a bottle of Fanta, Gu Bai smiled with a straw in his mouth as he watched his brothers making a scene. He felt that even his heartbeat was becoming more and more active and vigorous, and a sour taste of satisfaction was churning in his chest. Something felt as if it was going to overflow out, as if it was also affecting his vision.

Gu Bai now looked at his senior brothers with a three-meter thick soft light filter, as if they were the best and most handsome people in the world.

As they were about to go their separate ways, the oldest senior brother suddenly stopped in his tracks and suggested, “Why don’t we let Xiao Bai try to do those two broken walls alone?”