Chapter 154: If You Want to See Black Stockings, White Stockings Will Do Too
"Hahaha... Stop messing around, I'm already married... It's a long story between me and Morning Glow..."
"I am Chen Wan'an, I heard you were looking for me?" Chen Wan'an asked from the other end of the phone.
Lin Shenlu had no time to ponder the emotional entanglement between Lin Qingchen and Chen Wan'an, nor why Chen Wan'an was currently with Su Youzhi.
Could she perhaps be one of his painting students?
"Yes, Brother-in-law... I'll just call you Brother Chen. I have some questions about painting that I'd like to consult you about." Lin Shenlu said, his gaze still fixed on the East Taijiner Lake.
"Go ahead, please ask. Although I'm not a professional, I'm very interested in travel painting!" Chen Wan'an chuckled.
"Then I'll be blunt, Brother Chen. I'm currently at East Taijiner Lake, and I want to paint Tiffany Blue..."
"Tiffany Blue... Hmm, I heard from Qingchen that you've become a traveler, a traveling painter even?" Chen Wan'an asked with a smile.
"I wouldn't call myself that. Sister Qingchen said you are the true great traveler, painting is just my personal hobby." Lin Shenlu smiled.
Chen Wan'an pondered for a moment and then said, "A few days ago I went to Lishui and saw your paintings. I heard people say the blue in your paintings is Sorrow-Free Blue, right?"
"To be honest, Brother Chen, it was only because I happened to see your Good-Night Blue back then that I began to ponder how to mix advanced shades of blue. Sorrow-Free Blue was just an accidental creation." Lin Shenlu laughed with a hint of embarrassment.
"There's a saying: 'Essays are works of nature, masters happen upon them by chance.' In the hands of us painters, it's naturally 'colors are works of nature, masters happen upon them by chance.' Whether it's your Sorrow-Free Blue or my Good-Night Blue, both are more sophisticated color palettes than ordinary blue, because emotion has been infused into the color... A color imbued with emotion is naturally sophisticated."
Pausing for a moment, Chen Wan'an continued on the other end of the line, "Of course, there are still many stunning colors in nature that make people fall in love at first glance. Nature's supreme craftsmanship is something we cannot rival; we can only draw close, trying to add insight, understanding, and inner feeling on the basis of emotion... Think back to when you mixed Sorrow-Free Blue, was it a sudden success?"
Lin Shenlu fell into deep thought upon hearing Chen Wan'an's words.
It seemed this was the truth!
Advanced blues were pure colors infused with emotion.
And the even more advanced colors of nature were emotions blended with the perception and understanding of nature, mixed straight from the heart!
He understood the principle in theory, but what about practical application?
Noticing that Lin Shenlu was deep in thought, Chen Wan'an continued, "The colors of nature are extremely difficult to formulate, which is why many paintings source their colors directly from nature... You know Thangka, right? Do you know how they use colors? Turquoise, lapis lazuli... they grind the colors of nature into powder for painting... That is the true color of nature!"
Lin Shenlu seemed to understand!
Yet it still felt like something was missing!
What was missing?
Lin Shenlu still remained silent.
"The point of telling you all this is to find the color from within your own heart. Only colors found within nature can match the true colors of nature... That's all I can tell you."
...
The phone was hung up, and Lin Shenlu looked at the various chaotic colors mixed together on his palette.
He seemed to understand what Chen Wan'an was talking about.
Good-Night Blue and Sorrow-Free Blue were both advanced shades of blue.
They were colors imbued with emotion.
Good-Night Blue was an ambiguous blue, a color that instantly evoked love and joy upon sight, incorporating elements of happiness.
Sorrow-Free Blue, on the other hand, was a color that banished worries, one that slowly erased sorrow the moment you looked at it, casting away unhappy elements.
Therefore, the difference in emotion between himself and Chen Wan'an was that Chen Wan'an retained the constant while adding something new.
Whereas he himself stripped away the useless elements from the existing foundation.
This was the difference in emotion.
Hence, Chen Wan'an must definitely know how to mix Tiffany Blue.
The color of nature!
Lin Shenlu gazed at the East Taijiner Lake before him, and a thought suddenly struck him!
The blue of the lake itself!
Lin Shenlu hurriedly found the lake blue among his pigments!
Lake blue mixed with white and tender yellow, proportioned to formulate Tiffany Blue!
Lin Shenlu saw right through East Taijiner Lake.
The white salt crystals and the lake blue itself were the very colors of nature.
Hmm?
Lin Shenlu frowned as he looked at the color on his palette.
Why did the color he mixed still lack a certain something?
Was the proportion wrong? Or was there some other color missing?
Lin Shenlu continuously adjusted the proportions, and the color grew closer and closer.
Yet something always felt just a little bit off.
The proportion couldn't be reduced any further; reducing it further made it even more incorrect. It definitely lacked another color!
Lin Shenlu put down his palette and squatted back down to gaze at the color in the lake.
What could it be? Lin Shenlu pondered.
The lake blue of nature... the white of the salt crystals.
A tiny touch of tender yellow... that was the illumination of light.
Wait!
It was minerals.
The elements that should naturally be present in the water.
He had forgotten them.
If he found a blue that matched those minerals and added it in... would it surely get even closer?
Lin Shenlu quickly walked over to his pigment box. Which blue was it?
Could it be... cobalt blue?
It was cobalt blue!
...
Lake blue, cobalt blue, a little bit of white, a tiny touch of tender yellow...
Continuously adding, subtracting, adjusting the proportions...
Finally, Lin Shenlu's brow relaxed.
The color presented on the palette...
Was identical to the intoxicating Tiffany Blue before his eyes.
This was Tiffany Blue!
A touch of Tiffany Blue!
Tiffany Blue beneath the sunshine!
Lin Shenlu took a deep breath and swept the brush in his hand across the canvas.
Still under the radiance of the sunlight!
Tiffany Blue had finally stepped out of the lake and onto the canvas.
For thousands of years, how many people had stood beside this East Taijiner Lake, hoping to dab this special divine color onto the mortal world.
And how many had succeeded?
Lin Shenlu did not know; however, Lin Shenlu today had indeed succeeded.
After struggling for so long and trying for so long.
He had finally formulated this touch of Tiffany Blue.
According to a precise proportion!
Today, Lin Shenlu had harvested a new color.
Apart from infusing it with emotion, he had also added reverence and insight toward nature.
An understanding and sensation of the world, a fondness and love for all things.
A color... born from the heart.
The movements of Lin Shenlu's hand quickened.
His painting gradually grew smoother.
This serene and comforting color transformed into a new lake, appearing on the canvas before him.
Lin Shenlu's eyes were filled with gentleness.
Today at East Taijiner Lake... aside from taking away a bottle of lake water, he had also taken away this beauty entirely.
The wind blew, white clouds drifted westward, water ripples gently danced across the shimmering lake surface—a journey of color.
...
"Truly beautiful..."
Unbeknownst when, He Ku'er had appeared by Lin Shenlu's side.
She watched as Lin Shenlu painted that stroke of Tiffany Blue.
Lin Shenlu glanced down at He Ku'er's legs.
Today, He Ku'er was wearing white silk stockings.
Truly white silk.
A loose white over-the-knee skirt, revealing white stockings.
Thighs were faintly visible at the boundary where they met.
Strange, hadn't she always pursued a sexy, long-legged style?
Aside from the first day when she wore JK attire and white silk,
Her stockings over the past few days had been predominantly black.
Perhaps she didn't want to ruin the beauty of East Taijiner Lake either.
Lin Shenlu smiled faintly and said, "The beauty of nature surpasses our imagination..."
Pausing for a moment, Lin Shenlu said with heartfelt emotion, "Take out your notepad, I have a poem titled 'Visiting East Taijiner Lake'."
He Ku'er hurriedly took out her pocket notebook and waited for Lin Shenlu to continue.
A lake of salt covers the land in silver,
Devoid of grass, fish, and soaring birds.
The vast expanse of the shore bustles with noise,
Mistaken by travelers for playing in ice and snow.
"My literary level can only go this far... But the description of East Taijiner Lake is still quite fitting," Lin Shenlu said calmly.
"That's really nice, Uncle! You even have the talent to compose poems on the spot?" He Ku'er savored the lines carefully.
"It's alright!"
"Uncle... write a poem for me too. I'm going to post it on Moments later," He Ku'er pleaded.
"This... no problem, write this down," Lin Shenlu thought for a moment and said.
Seeing Lin Shenlu agree so readily, He Ku'er asked suspiciously, "Uncle, it's not going to be like last time... 'Neither protruding nor flat in front... a tiny cup size, how laughable'—something like that, right?"
"No way, this time it's also a seven-character regulated poem!" Lin Shenlu declared with absolute certainty.
"Alright then!"
"Listen up!" Lin Shenlu thought for a moment and casually recited...
"Imagine the mountain peaks are all white,"
"Watching the illusory wind sway like silk,"
"Black clouds roll over as the swallows depart,"
"Threads of homesickness linger while the traveler stays"
...
He Ku'er read it over twice. Although it didn't quite roll off the tongue, the vocabulary seemed pretty good and carried a strong air of sophistication.
"Uncle, did you really give this to me? Then I'm going to post it on Moments..."
He Ku'er asked, having found no obvious flaws.
"Of course you can, go ahead and post it, it's yours."
...
Ten minutes later.
He Ku'er found that her Moments post had received no less than thirty or forty comments.
And everyone happened to coincidentally comment the exact same eight characters:
Want to see black silk? White silk is fine too?
What on earth was this?
He Ku'er held her phone and went to question Lin Shenlu.
By this time, Lin Shenlu had almost finished painting.
Lin Shenlu looked at He Ku'er with curiosity.
"How would I know? You'll have to ask me that? Maybe it's a unanimous evaluation from your friends... telling you that you should wear black silk..." Lin Shenlu said as he packed away his paintbrushes.
He Ku'er truly didn't understand what was going on.
She stood there in a daze, still lost in thought.
...
Another ten minutes passed!
"Damn Lin Shenlu... what kind of crappy acrostic poem did you write?" He Ku'er shouted.
"And there's a tail-acrostic too? I'm going to kill you! I'm posting this on WeChat!"
...
Lin Shenlu's drone was flying very far away.
From the captured footage, Lin Shenlu beheld an even more breathtaking scene.
Although this scenic area currently didn't charge admission fees and hadn't been heavily developed, the number of people coming here was truly substantial.
The further ahead he looked, the denser the crowds became.
And the scenery was jaw-dropping.
Along this miraculously straight highway,
The scenery on both sides was completely different.
Divided merely by a single road.
To the north lay a boundless, uninhabited Gobi Desert.
To the south stretched sunny beaches teeming with crowds of people.
As Lin Shenlu's drone ascended mid-air, it clearly revealed the wondrous spectacle of half-desert and half-azure sea! The vast, silvery-white salt flats divided the brownish-yellow desert and the azure salt lake into two distinct worlds, with throngs of tourists bustling across the silver beach.
This truly was paradise.
Upon arrival, tourists invariably braved the blazing sun and rushed headlong toward the lakeside. The sky here was exceptionally clear, and the mint-blue expanse of the lake delivered a powerful visual impact.
Naturally, this was also a paradise for beauties to take photographs, with red-toned outfits being the absolute first choice for most young women.
Hmm? In the video, the beauty quietly resting inside a transparent boat by the blue lake looked awfully familiar.
Who could it be?
Lin Shenlu lowered the drone.
...
Descending slowly.
As the camera focused on the water's surface, the person inside the transparent boat became clearly discernible.
It was... An Muxi?
And in the other boat was... Zhumu Reti?
When did these two run off to such a distant place to ride boats?
Indeed, the blue of East Taijiner Lake was also known as Tiffany Blue... because it represented romance and happiness, always interpreting only love and beauty.
Therefore, shrewd vendors by the lake had set up transparent boats available for rent by tourists for photography, allowing them to experience both the mirror-of-the-sky floating sensation and the soul-captivating Tiffany Blue.
Yet these two moved far too quickly; how long had it been before they went straight to playing on the boats?
Lin Shenlu smiled.
So what if one rode in a transparent boat?
Without a drone, it was a regret.
Only by overlooking from a God's-eye perspective could one truly appreciate the translucence and heavenly temperament of East Taijiner Lake.
"Let's go, let's head over too!" Lin Shenlu said to He Ku'er.
Alas, the three sisters had somehow vanished into the crowd.
Only He Ku'er remained by Lin Shenlu's side.
...
The further forward they walked, the greater the crowds became.
And they were predominantly beauties of all styles.
The beauties displayed their unique skills and talents on the silver beach,
Especially a beauty in a blue pleated skirt and sunglasses who suddenly pulled off a split... attracting a crowd of onlookers.
This used to be an uninhabited zone!
Yet who had ever seen so many beauties clustered together in a no-man's-land?
Lin Shenlu sighed.
Would this place eventually become the next ALS?
By that time, these girls probably wouldn't look as pleasing in people's eyes as they did right now, would they?
After all, ever since the story of a beauty and seven men circulated from the ALS hero off-road event, the internet had been rife with tales that girls returning from ALS were unmarriageable...
Of course, perhaps this was the charm of internet-famous scenic spots: a fleeting glance, yet deeply rooted in the heart.
Time flows gracefully and quietly; why not visit this place once?
Let the reds be rich and the greens slender, let the heavy makeup be plain; you finish singing your song and I take the stage!
By the shores of East Taijiner Lake, it seemed one could behold every nuance of feminine gentleness one by one!
Only, East Taijiner Lake right now was so wonderful.
Summer iced tea, fine days in early autumn!
People who love warmth always keep watch in the enchanting time, letting their smiling eyes brim with warmth. At this moment, they let happiness and joy slowly flow through their hearts...
...
Arriving beside the transparent boats.
An Muxi was lying in a boat wearing sunglasses, sunbathing.
Meanwhile, Lin Shenlu fiddled with his drone, preparing to take pictures of An Muxi.
Behind him, He Ku'er looked deeply unhappy as she carried the two white folding chairs Lin Shenlu had brought from the RV.
Gently placing a folding chair onto the silver beach at the side, Lin Shenlu sat down upon it.
One could say this... East Taijiner Lake was a fragrance bestowed by the heavens upon the Great Northwest. With a white folding sun chair, striking a pose, gazing into the distance—if you are well, it's a sunny day; if I am well, it's sunshine!
Amidst such beautiful scenery, sitting quietly alone in a chair and looking around,
One's mood instantly settled, feeling as though one were in paradise, in fairyland, simply not in the mortal world.
Lin Shenlu had heard many people say that upon arriving in the Great Northwest, one couldn't see the beauty described on the internet at all.
There was only one reason for that: they hadn't brought a drone with them.
Without a drone here, it was utterly impossible to witness the grandeur and beauty of the Great Northwest.
Precisely because this was the garden of the gods, its most magnificent side could only be viewed from a divine perspective.
And perhaps the drone could help people steal a fragrance from the eyes of the gods.
...
This truly was a rare gem and pearl within a radius of a hundred miles in the desert Gobi no-man's-land.
Thanks to the meticulous craftsmanship of nature's artisan hands.
The boundless azure lake surface made one reluctant to leave; that was a shade of blue absolutely impossible to see in the metropolis.
That was a mysterious salt lake belonging exclusively to nature.
When pausing before the crystal-clear azure lake water, time seemed to instantly freeze its flow.
The serene lake water made one's thoughts soar uncontrollably, casting aside urban worries spontaneously, as if instantly washing the soul—a kind of inner peace returning to nature.
The lake water of East Taijiner Lake relied primarily on the supply of the East Taijiner River, fed by the melting snow of the Hreto-Pariji Snow Mountain and the Bugedaban Snow Mountain in the Kunlun Mountains.
This was nature's miraculous water Yadan; under the sunlight, the lake water sparkled brilliantly, forming a breathtaking and touching masterpiece together with the distant sand dunes.
That soul-stirring beauty was perhaps impossible to describe accurately in words; only by experiencing it firsthand could one truly understand what a monumental spectacle meant.
Lin Shenlu sighed.
A natural scenic area entirely devoid of commercial atmosphere truly deserved to be witnessed by more people.
Yet he hoped it would not be ruined.
He only hoped that those who came to visit would preserve its former purity and revere nature's supreme craftsmanship.
Only then could one truly experience this Tiffany Blue belonging exclusively to East Taijiner Lake.
...
Lin Shenlu had no idea how many photos he had taken.
An Muxi by herself, He Ku'er by herself, the two of them together, the three best friends posing, the four beauties lined up, the five beauties jumping, the six beauties flying in formation!
This trip to East Taijiner Lake was a journey well-taken for Lin Shenlu.
If he ever had the chance to drive here again in the future,
Lin Shenlu hoped this patch of blue would still exist.
And that the relevant local authorities wouldn't close it down due to excessive human destruction.
After all, many places had been placed under government protection due to over-development and environmental issues.
For example, Erhai Lake in Dali, which once required rectification.
Or the Lotus Peak of Mount Huangshan, which had suffered severe anthropogenic damage.
And the Yellow River Garden...
Those former beauties had been severely damaged.
The heart of a traveler.
That is, during the journey, take away only memories, leave behind only footprints.
"Time to go!" Lin Shenlu packed up his chair and casually picked up the empty bottle of sparkling water he had just finished drinking.
Only footprints could be left here, and only memories could be taken away.