Mentor (1)

Lina could not believe her ears. She tried to laughing along with the old man's words. But stopped immediately observing the surroundings. She was the only one laughing at those words.

There was no way Yeye was going to teach her his master strokes. She suspiciously looked at her shifu, trying to find out any trace of prank he was trying to pull.

Seeing him being dead serious Lina's brows were furrowed skeptically. Her voice was full of questions.

" Why ... suddenly.. ? No! You can't be serious... Wait!!.... shifu?!!! what?! "

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Shock, confusion, anger, sadness, happy many types of feelings displayed on her face in those few seconds. Her eyes were darker than normal. She pleaded him with eyes not to make another joke on her.

The old man smiled at her and gently took her hands in his lap. Her eyes were full of affection and care. Lina knelt in front of his wheelchair. She was still recovering from the initial shock.

" Nana, your shifu is not young anymore. He is old now. Before going to neither world he wants her best pupil to learn his last trick which she had been pleading to learn for eighteen years." He gave her a small smile.

Lina's face was getting darker by now. Her eyes became watery. She had a hunch before that her Yeye was going to talk about those things. She mentally prepared herself. But, still, listening to him talking about death, Lina could not fight back tears anymore. She was having this urge to vent out her tears.

Lina lowered her face to compose herself. She was not gonna have a break down in front of him now. She had to be strong before him. She was his last straw.

Subsiding the feelings for now, Lina slowly rose up and looked up at him and rolled up her eyes.

" Yeye!!! If you talk like this again your Nana is not coming back here anymore. She is angry with you. She will never visit you A.G.A.I.N.!!!!"

Lina was truly hurt by his words. She couldn't even imagine a day without her shifu. And she didn't like anyone discussing this so causally.

The old man laughed at her words and stroked her hair gently.

" Nana, don't be sad. It's the life we are talking about. You Know it too right? Nothing lasts forever. We all have to go someday." Ye YuKhei tried to comfort her. "Hey hey.. there there... Nana... look at me.... your shifu will not spout nonsense anymore... Happy?"

" Yes, you just promised me. Remember that. Don't you dare to forget." She made a pout.

" Yes Ma'am. As you wish. " Ye YuKhei controlled his tears. He hated seeing her tears. She was too precious to him.

" Come.. let shifu teach you his greatest creation ever.... "

Lina called for few other workers to come over and bring the canvas, easel, colours to his personal studio. She herself stood behind the wheel chair and walked him towards the studio.

The studio was situated at another corner of the garden. The studio was made of glass and was surrounded by various colours of dandelions. The artworks on the entrance was influenced by ancient Buddhist temples. There was huge statue of 'Bodhisattva' in front of the building.

Ye YuKhei had his personal studio built inside the campus. He was the one who suggested Nanxian to build old age homes here. He was one of the major shareholders behind 'Happiness Hill project for senior citizens'.

Beside the art studio, Ye YuKhei had established his own school of art and an art museum. Children from the nearby villages and suburbs and the children of the orphanage used to come to learn drawing from him. The old man never took a penny for teaching.

The art museum was one of the best museums around in the province. It was a jewel of a place for true art-lovers.

After the death of his wife, an widower Ye YuKhei decided to live a peaceful secluded life. Away from the hustles and bustles of concrete filled city-life. So, when Nanxian Park was struggling to come up with an idea launch his dream project for the benefit of the old generation, Old Ye not only lend him a hand but also helped in designing the whole area and participated in the processes of establishing these homes.

' Happiness Hill old age home' was the result of immense hard works of Nanxian and Old Ye.

Lina walked him through the greenary pushing the wheelchair towards the studio.

The old man and the young girl was giggling the whole time without paying any heed to the surroundings. It seemed that they had forgot the age gap between themselves. In passer-by's eyes they looked like a pair of grandfather and granddaughter having fun among themselves.

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Meanwhile, a man in plain white formal shirt and black tailored trouser pants was busy in observing the whole scenario from another corner of the garden. His eyes were covered in sunglass from latest Gucci eyewear collection. The shoes in his legs were of hand made limited edition from an Italian fashion house. His appearance itself was screaming of riches loudly.

The man had just received a call from his assistant. The assistant just informed him that he again failed to get the appointment. It was crucial to get this appointment today itself. The man was frustrated by his words.

There was a undefined glint in his eyes behind those black sunglass.

He could not wait for him in the car anymore and came down of the car to look for him.

The man came here knowing that the world famous painter 'Lucas Ye' was now staying here in this 'Happiness Hill old age home'. His informant could not be wrong this time. He himself checked the source and decided to come here himself.

His grandfather was huge fan of Lucas Ye's artistry. I mean who would not be! This was Lucas Ye we were talking about. The undeniable top most artist of this generation. Whose paintings were praised by all over the world. His techniques were taught at famous art colleges all over the world. One piece of his paintings were treasure for collectors.

His grandfather, Lu ZiWang, always cherished his paintings. He used to visit Lucas He's every exhibition held in the country with his grandfather. Lu ZiWang even made a great relationship with him personally. It could be said that they were close acquaintice. For years they visited each other and played countless chess matches.

The man standing there grew up watching the two old men discussing the art, bickering over the chess, sipping teas on each other's house. He himself was quite close to Mrs. Ye.

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But after the death of his wife, Lucas Ye suddenly disappeared from the art world. There was no news of his anywhere for several years. Everyone assumed something might have happened to him but none could trace a news out of it.