CHAPTER SEVEN - MAGICAL STROKES

After leaving the hospital, Yi Chen wondered around for a while, bought a bunch of stuff, ramen, soda, yogurt, candy (a lot of candy), gum, biscuits etc, no beer cause Chen doesn't drink, which were what he ate as he walked. He got on a train and went to his grandma's villa, on the outskirts of the city. He got there and saw someone coming out of the gate, he hid immediately. It was Mr Park, his dead grandma's trusted steward from Korea. After her death, he would come and clean up her favourite villa, every 3 to 4 months. He maintained the house very well, there was electricity, gas, water running, water in the fridge, cooking utensils were still in the kitchen, everywhere was clean, the place was like someone was still living there. Mr Park typed in the passcode to lock the gate and then left. After he left, Chen rushed over and typed in the password, all of Chen's grandma's passwords is her favourite grandchild's birthday, Yi Chen is her most beloved. He typed in the password, and the gate opened. He was happy and went in. Right after opening the gate, there was a long straight staircase, he climbed them and when he got up, he saw his grandma's traditional style villa. It was a pagoda built in a beautiful garden, on the other side of a small waterlily pond. There was also a willow tree close to the house, growing near the edge of the pond. Everything other than these were just trees and green grass, that complemented it as it's surrounding. The scenery was beautiful, like one out of a fairy-tale. There was a small bridge that went over the pond, onto the other side, one could still go around, but the bridge added extra fanciness, so what's the point.

Chen crossed over to the other side and entered the house. "It was like how grandma had left it" he thought to himself. Chen still had memories of visiting that place when he was younger, and nothing had changed. Chen's grandmother was a big art collector and decorates with them. He went around the house and did some check-up, to his amazement everything was still in place. Like someone lived there, there was still water running, gas and electricity, the one that amazed him the most by the time he realised it. He took a sigh of relief. He went to shower in his grandmother's bathroom and wore her sports cloths, a pair of YIWEI knee length sports shorts and a polo. She would often wear this for outdoor games like golf. In the wardrobe, there were 3 outfits her favourite sports wear, her favourite suite and her night gown. He went to the kitchen and cooked the ramen he bought. He had initially bought them to cook at De Guo's house, but then realised that wouldn't be possible. That was why he wondered for a while before getting the idea to go to grandma's place. As he ate his ramen, he began to reminiscent all that happened that day. He thought about what his mother said and felt truly he would forever be without achievements. He began to cry and the more he tried to control it, the more tears flowed out of his eyes. He really is a fool, he is an ambitious failure, these are the thoughts that went through his mind. When he finally calmed down, he had lost appetite to continue eating, so he covered the remaining food, to keep for later. He went to the sink and washed his face, after which he started walking around the house again, but this time he was going through various art pieces and antiques, they were all beautiful and proved his grandmother adored art and culture.

As he walked around the house, he saw a room, he remembers that room, it was his grandma's studio. His grandmother wasn't a painter or something, she was an author and wrote many amazing books. She didn't like the idea of her workplace being called an office, so she called it her own studio, because just like Chen she also flopped drawing and painting, but still wanted a studio. She is the reason he persisted for so long, he felt his case was like that of his grandmother's. She couldn't do anything else, just like him, but perfected the art of storytelling. Chen had hoped to make his own breakthrough, but that wasn't working out. He entered the room and saw a shelf full of the many awards his grandmother won in her lifetime. He was depressed and turned to leave, that was when something caught his eye. It was his grandmother's brush. It is a traditional style brush, with illustrious patterns made of real gold at the sticks end. The brush was next to a traditional style book on the small tea table that his grandma used to write on. He remembered that brush and what his grandmother said about it. Apparently writing is magical with that brush.

Curious Chen wanted to try it out for himself, he really wanted to try it back when he was a kid, so now is his chance. He went over to the other side of the small tea table and sat down, he opened the inkstone covering and started to grind the ink. The ink wasn't dry thanks to you know who, so it was perfect. He opened the book, dipped the brush in ink and wrote 2 to 3 sentences. After which he paused, he was amazed about how good, smooth and light that felt, like there was no stress at all, each stroke felt magical. He dipped his brush in ink once more and continued to write. It felt so good, the ideas were just flowing, streaming into his head. His wrist just kept moving, he couldn't stop, and his ink never finished nor did it dry.

Chen wrote and wrote and wrote for 5 whole days and 5 nights. He wrote and finished that book, he finished on the afternoon of the 6th day, that was when he finally dropped that brush. He was exhausted, the circles under his eyes were very dark and he was weak from exhaustion. He stood up and went to the kitchen sink and drank some water from it. He goes to the living room, walking sluggishly and dragging his feet, on the small tea table in the living room, he took a gum he left on it. He began to chew it, turned around and saw the time, it was 2:23pm. Chen lost control of his body, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.