Soul Painter

When Gao Fan appeared on the downstairs square of the medical center.

Saw hundreds of enthusiastic faces.

Their sincere joy radiating from the heart is so unscrupulous that they don't hide it at all, and the Gaofan names that come out of their mouths even have a taste of piety.

It made Gao Fan feel like he was in the center of the spotlight and walking on the runway for a while.

Gao Fan clearly felt that these people liked him, respected him, and even...worshiped him.

It's just that compared with the love for the target's appearance, knowledge, and identity, the Bostno citizens' closeness and love for Gao Fan originated from the depths of their souls and came from the mysterious attraction, as if Gao Fan reshaped their lives. Soul... no, it's not shaping, it's stealing.

Gao Fan stole the souls of 600,000 Bostno people and embedded them in the most proud paintings of his life. Now, under the eyes of everyone, this thief walks the world like a god, accepting the support and love of everyone.

This behavior may be called the work of demons, but gods and demons are one and the same. The 'indulgence notes' sold by medieval religions in Europe are essentially the same as the '$100 reward' paid by Gao Fan to the Bostno people. Whether donating or receiving, as long as there is a deal with gods or demons, the human soul will no longer be free.

And under the watchful eye of a great being, there is no god or demon in this world, and behind all the holiness is just the madness of belief.

Standing in the crowd at the moment, Gao Fan deeply understood this point.

The crowd crowded around Gao Fan like believers. Because of Gao Fan's arrival and Gao Fan's silence, they gradually subsided their cheering and fell into a collective silence, like a group of lambs waiting to be fed. Inspired by God.

So, you want to keep The Bostonian? Gao Fan asked them.

Yes. A citizen replied.

I'm sorry, but its pre-emptive right already belongs to a consortium. Even if I want to give it to you for free, they still have the pre-emptive right to be gifted. Gao Fan said.

No, it's definitely not free of charge. The citizen even said with some panic, he didn't know why he was panic, but when it comes to this great work, this kind of emotion always comes to mind from time to time, as if that A God not easily offended.

The word gratis is a kind of blasphemy.

I... No, we are willing to buy it. As he said that, the citizen took out 100 dollars from his pocket, spread it out, bent down and carefully placed it at Gao Fan's feet.

After doing these actions, the citizen took a few steps back, bowed deeply again, and showed his respect, because the $100 was not a charity, but a return.

Yes, I'd like to buy it.

Yes I do.

I would too.

We should buy it.

The first citizen raised his head.

Then came the second citizen, the third citizen, the fourth citizen... Almost all the Bostno people who gathered in the square began to imitate his action, or rather, it was not imitation, but a surge in their hearts. A kind of throbbing, a kind of gushing enthusiasm, a kind of pilgrimage-like ceremony.

Their $100, which had been their payment for being a model for the painter, had to be returned to the painter, the first step in their right to own The Bostonian.

Soon, the 100 dollars at Gao Fan's feet were piled up.

Then, more Bostno people came after hearing the news and gathered in the square. They put their $100 at Gao Fan's feet as if completing a wordless ceremony.

The flow of people gathered into an ocean, and soon the small square could not accommodate such a large crowd. After the police arrived, they began to maintain order, while the citizens were unusually quiet. They would leave obediently after being driven away, but the expression on their faces Very gratifying, like a sinner who has been redeemed.

Gao Fan noticed a homeless man walking in front of him, he put down the crumpled one hundred dollars, then he carefully looked up at Gao Fan.

I remember you. Gao Fan smiled, You took more than a hundred dollars from me.

The homeless man knelt down at Gao Fan's feet. He knelt down on his forehead in trepidation and wanted to kiss Gao Fan's toes: I will return the other three hundred dollars to you as soon as possible.

No need. Gao Fan took a step back, avoiding the piety and awe of the homeless man, It's done when you want it.

...

Anna was upstairs, watching the scene.

This scene made her feel awed, and a wordless shudder spread on her skin. She couldn't imagine what kind of magic power was hidden in her lost memory, which could make the whole city kneel and submit before Gao Fan.

She picked up a paintbrush and began to record the scene.

...

Lawrence stood behind Gao Fan. He was always worried about what promise Gao Fan would make to the excited crowd, or that the crowd would envelop Gao Fan, which would cause some unexpected danger.

And when the first citizen took out $100 and put it at Gao Fan's feet, he felt puzzled. When the tenth citizen took out $100 and 'returned' it to Gao Fan, Lawrence realized what the $100 meant ...That is the 'price' that Gao Fan once gave to these citizens.

After realizing this, the same tremor ran and roared in Lawrence's nerves. What did he witness, what is this, a fundraising spontaneously conducted by the Bostno people in order to keep Gao Fan's paintings in this city?

And when the homeless man knelt at Gao Fan's feet, the trembling running in Lawrence's brain had already made him tremble all over. He didn't understand what happened, but when so many human beings, with inexplicable reasons, When forming such a spontaneous and unified collective action, it only reminded him of two words, pilgrimage.

It seems like returning the $100 is just to wash away the sins of the Bostno people.

The entire pilgrimage process lasted for most of the night.

After Gao Fan left due to physical reasons, the money that was piled up at the entrance of the hospital was still accumulating and increasing. When the LP organization made statistics the next day, the number had already exceeded 1 million US dollars. The entrance of Bostno Medical Center is only increasing, not decreasing.

The camera faithfully recorded this scene.

When the crowd gathered, there were already reporters from TV stations and newspapers filming here.

Afterwards, the ‘fundraising’ spontaneously carried out by the citizens, the gradually taller mountain of dollars, also became the headlines of the next day’s news, as well as the NBC morning news material for live interviews here.

Therefore, the entire beautiful country saw this spectacle in Bostno on the morning of December 3: a mountain of dollars contributed by thousands of Bostno people.

Chapter 1~I am an automatic update without emotion~