Chapter 23: The Troublemakers

Zheng Fei was quite baffled. They were all "people's artists," so why was the gap between them so vast that only he lived in a slum?

This defied logic!

...

The next day, Zheng Fei returned to Daxi Village.

Tao Tao was working quite diligently. The old walls of the temple had been scraped clean, revealing the yellow adobe underneath. Even for a small temple, the workload for restoration was immense.

Tao Tao had finally started "playing" with mud, but before two days had passed, he was being berated by Zheng Fei.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You need to temper the mud, understand?"

"This is too coarse! I need fine mud right now. Don't be so stingy—add more cotton fibers."

"There is no need for us to save on that little bit of money."

"I've told you so many times to tear the cotton fibers apart!"

Zhu Xiaotao was scolded into a state of withdrawal. He had initially thought playing with mud would be simple, but since getting started, damn it, not only were there a mountain of procedures, but it was also exhausting. His hands felt like they were going numb from the kneading.

And Brother Fei was truly fierce. He used to say his master often scolded him, but when he started scolding, he was no less intense than that master.

...

Although the restoration was not moving quickly, everything was proceeding step-by-step. Soon, they had finished a white wall.

Zheng Fei began sketching on the wall, starting the first episode of the Mazu story: "Receiving the Divine Pill and Conceiving."

It told the story of Mazu’s parents praying to Guanyin for a child, and Guanyin appearing in a dream to grant them a pill, leading to Mazu’s birth.

Religious murals cannot be made up at will. There has always been a standardized version among the folk, and the version Zheng Fei held came from the "Illustrated Deeds of the Heavenly Empress."

...

At this very moment, at a Guan Yu temple tens of kilometers away, Zhao Dagang had a dark look on his face. A project that should have taken one month had been dragged out to two because of Zheng Fei’s sudden departure.

Without Zheng Fei, the mud that Gao Xiaoshuai helped prepare frequently had various issues, and even the statues cracked, forcing him to redo his work many times. The more he looked at this apprentice, the less he liked him; the more he looked, the more he despised him.

Gao Xiaoshuai, however, was also depressed. He was starting to miss Zheng Fei a little—ever since he left, he was the only one left to take the scolding.

After the Guan Yu temple was completed, they returned to Panjiawan. Zhao Dagang continued, "Tomorrow, get ready. You’re coming with me to Chongming Island. A temple asked about me earlier; let’s see if we can land the deal."

"Master, shouldn't we take two days off?"

Zhao Dagang shot him a look of disdain. "A one-month project turned into two. We didn't even make any money on that Guan Yu temple, so what do you want to rest with?"

"If you were as capable as that Zheng Fei, I’d let you rest for a week."

Gao Xiaoshuai kept his head down. He really wanted to talk back like Zheng Fei, but having been an apprentice for so many years, talking back now would really put him at a disadvantage. The only path before him was to stick it out to the end.

...

Zheng Fei didn't have many virtues, but he loved whatever trade he was in—which was why his ventures were always successful. Back when he wanted to produce quality short dramas, he would even stay up all night discussing the script with the lead actress, showing just how responsible he was.

Nowadays, Zheng Fei was covered in acrylic paint, and his hair was dyed in various colors, though fortunately, he didn't use much green.

Seeing the young man so serious and driven, the village elders were quite satisfied. Someone even remarked from a tricky angle, "It's a good thing it was ruined back then, otherwise we wouldn't have found such a good painter." As soon as the words left their lips, they were glared at by others, but the comment made the brigade leader feel quite at ease.

The village children often came to play at the Mazu temple during this time, mingling with Zheng Fei and becoming little helpers. Some parents even planned to have their children apprentice under him—and truth be told, two of the children were exceptionally talented.

Zheng Fei felt that the vast land of China was not lacking in talent; it only lacked the greenhouse to cultivate it.

...

When the entire Mazu temple was about halfway finished, Zheng Fei unexpectedly saw two familiar figures.

Zhao Dagang looked at Zheng Fei, who was painting a mural on a ladder, with a face full of shock and confusion. Gao Xiaoshuai’s brain crashed for a long time.

"Oh my, what a coincidence."

"Isn't this Comrade Dagang? How did you know I was here?"

Zhao Dagang’s face was black, his whole body trembling with rage. He never expected that an order that should have been his had ended up in Zheng Fei’s hands. But at this moment, his attention was completely captured by the mural before him. He simply could not bring himself to believe these were painted by Zheng Fei.

Some time ago, he had heard people say that Zheng Fei was drawing portraits at the Bund to make money. Sketches like that could be learned from other teachers, but they had spent over half a year together, and he had never taught him mural painting.

Gao Xiaoshuai looked at Zheng Fei on the ladder and then at the murals, and his worldview began to crumble. His master hadn't taught him anything, only having him focus on "playing" with mud, yet it had only been half a year—how was he this good already?

Could it be that he could learn just by watching? He observed the mural; it was even better than what his master painted.

At this moment, Gao Xiaoshuai felt devastated. He had been learning for three or four years and couldn't even complete a single mural on his own. This guy named Zheng Fei had just watched from the side, and not only was he more capable than him, he had even surpassed the master. Was this not a genius?

What was this? It turned out he was the clown.

Gao Xiaoshuai refused to believe it. Looking at the mural, he figured someone must have helped Zheng Fei; it couldn't possibly be his own work.

Zhu Xiaotao, who was working the mud nearby, noticed the awkward atmosphere and couldn't help but ask, "Brother Fei, who are these two?"

"Oh, them? They’re here to pick a fight."

Tao Tao said with youthful vigor, "They dare pick a fight with us? Let's just take them on."

...

After learning the situation, Zhao Dagang and Gao Xiaoshuai went straight to the Daxi Village brigade office. Before long, the brigade leader, village officials, and the village elders were all gathered in a conference room.

They hadn't expected that a Mazu temple renovation would spark a dispute between master and apprentice. If this wasn't cleared up, it wouldn't sound good if word got out. After spending time together, they had all grown fond of young master Zheng Fei. But if he really were a shameless liar, they would have to cut ties.

Brigade leader He Guangliang asked, "Zheng Fei, I heard from Master Zhao that you were previously his apprentice. Is this true?"

Zheng Fei let out a long sigh.

"Brigade leader, this matter is actually a bit complex. You see, Master Zhao here was originally my grandfather's apprentice. But because of those indescribable times, my grandfather was persecuted, and I was still too young to learn anything from him."

"But I didn't want my grandfather's skills to be lost, and I happened to hear that Master Zhao had been taught by my grandfather. So, I asked a relative to help, hoping to learn some of my grandfather's skills from him."

"But who would have thought? I couldn't learn anything at all there. Later, I heard from others that he had actually been kicked out of the school by my grandfather for lack of talent."

...

When Zheng Fei reached this point, Zhao Dagang's face flushed to the color of a liver, his whole body shaking with anger.

Zhu Xiaotao turned away, his face twisted in a suppressed smile. He hadn't realized before that Zheng Fei could be so vicious—it wasn't enough to kill, he had to destroy the spirit too.

Zheng Fei’s words were like a knife, stabbing directly into his most painful spot. And that was just the beginning; what Zheng Fei said next would likely shave a few years off his life.

"It would have been fine if he hadn't learned my grandfather's skills, but who would have thought that this person, having been kicked out, would hold a grudge? I wanted to go there to learn, but he made things difficult for me at every turn, only letting me work the mud and often throwing things at me."

"But I... I endured it all. I didn't hold it against you. And yet, even after I cut ties with them, they still wouldn't let me go, traveling thousands of miles to cause me trouble. They say one should leave a path open for others to meet again in the future, but I never expected you all to be so ruthless."

Zheng Fei spoke with such sincerity that many present were moved, to the point where the looks they cast at Zhao Dagang were full of disdain. Yet, Zheng Fei’s story was a mix of truth and lies, and Zhao Dagang really didn't know how to refute it.

Gao Xiaoshuai was stunned. The Zheng Fei he knew didn't talk much; he never expected his eloquence to be this good—he could turn black into white. They had come to settle scores, but after his speech, they had become the villains.

"Zheng Fei, a teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime. To speak of your master like this is to be lacking in respect for the profession."

Zheng Fei gave a cold snort. "Respect? Respect for what? Why don't you let Zhao Dagang tell us what he ever taught me?"

Gao Xiaoshuai was instantly speechless. For the past half year, they had used Zheng Fei as a tool and hadn't taught him a thing. But if nothing was taught, and he became this good just by standing on the sidelines, wouldn't that just mean he (Gao) was stupid?

"You must have stolen the master's skills!"

Zheng Fei scoffed. "If you think these skills of mine were stolen from your master, why don't we have a competition? Let's see if your master is better, or if I am."

Seeing Zheng Fei so arrogant, Gao Xiaoshuai gritted his teeth. "Fine, let's compete! Who's afraid of whom? I don't believe that after half a year as an apprentice, you can beat the master."

At this moment, Zhao Dagang had the urge to throw his apprentice into the Huangpu River. He had seen the mural earlier; it was highly likely that Zheng Fei had painted it. Although he had been in this business for a long time, he really couldn't guarantee he could beat Zheng Fei.

Seeing Zhao Dagang remained silent, Zheng Fei goaded him. "How about this: if my painting isn't as good as Master Zhao's, I will hand over the entire Mazu temple contract to him, and I won't charge for the work I've already done. What do you think?"

Upon hearing such a good deal, Gao Xiaoshuai looked at his master with excitement, but Zhao Dagang’s face was so dark he looked like he might swallow him alive at any second.

The others thought it was reasonable. Seeing Zheng Fei put it that way, the brigade leader agreed.

"Fine, you two have a competition. Whoever wins gets the job at our Mazu temple."