The Versatile Master Artist-Chapter 54 - 46: Girlfriend

Yangon, India Street.

"Hello, I’m looking for Miss Santanu."

Just like many historic Chinatowns around the world.

This Indian district, adjacent to the western side of Yangon, already saw Indian Sikhs in turbans settling here with the British during the 19th century colonial era.

The whole street has a very Indian vibe.

Here, you can hear exotic ethnic songs, see Indian-style floating lamps drifting along the Irawaddy River, buy authentic Mumbai hand-pulled curry rice and Indian flatbread, and numerous gold shops have opened as well.

As Gu Weijing walked into a gold store with the Hindi sign देवनागरी (Devanagari) hanging above it.

The young Mumbai man behind the counter was engrossed in a novel with a white tiger on the cover.

Gu Weijing recognized it as his classmate Shantunu’s favorite extracurricular book — "White Tiger."

It’s the dark and eerie Indian version of "The Pursuit of Happyness," telling the story of a low-caste worker’s rise through "bloody entrepreneurial spirit," considered the hottest popular novel in India today.

Netflix even adapted it into a series, and its popularity among Indians is akin to "Shanghai Beach" among Chinese communities in the 80s and 90s.

The reason Gu Weijing knows this book so well is because he once did a thematic report on it with Miss Santanu in an English literature exploration class at school, as part of the same study group.

Mona Shantanu, (Mona Shantanu), she is Gu Weijing’s classmate at a private international high school.

Just from her surname, you can tell her family is quite wealthy.

Having been classmates and good friends with Mona for so long, Gu Weijing still finds the complex Indian caste system baffling.

It’s not quite the broad concepts of Brahmin and Shatri mentioned in high school textbooks.

In today’s India, with its detailed caste divisions, there are actually several thousand.

Mona once told Gu Weijing that her surname, Shantanu, comes from the Golden King in traditional Indian mythology, and shares the same origin as the surname of the famous Indian CEO of the multi-billion-dollar company Adobe, Shantunu.

This is a typical high caste.

Like this glittering name, Mona’s father runs a gold jewelry store in Yangon, earning around one hundred thousand dollars annually, which is considered good anywhere in the world.

She’s very beautiful, one of Gu Weijing’s good friends at school.

Yangon is relatively chaotic, and since Gu Weijing is not yet of age, when thinking of selling some gold, his first thought was this female classmate whose family runs a jewelry store.

The young Mumbai man at the shop was evidently engrossed in the thrilling story of the worker’s rise, not even noticing a customer entering.

Gu Weijing rapped his knuckles on the glass counter several times.

"Oh, oh, welcome... Young Master Gu."

The young Mumbai man finally came to his senses, hastily hid the novel under the counter, and looked up, realizing it wasn’t a customer or the boss on inspection, sighed in relief.

He looked at the young man across from him for a moment, recognizing him as a schoolmate of the young lady, who had been to their home several times before.

"You’re here to see Miss Mona, right?"

...

"Could you tell your employee not to call me young master, it makes me uncomfortable."

Mona’s room is right behind the gold store, a large two-story bedroom facing the Irrawaddy River.

When Gu Weijing walked in, Mona was standing in front of an easel on the balcony, painting the view outside the window of the Irrawaddy River.

The winter temperature in Yangon is not cold, the girl seemed to have just finished bathing, her hair was wet and tied up at the back of her head.

She was only wearing a bathrobe, with her smooth calves showing under the white cotton robe, the sleeves were rolled up to her wrists and fixed with a pink clip.

The sunlight cast a golden sheen over her jade-like arms, and the three golden bracelets on her fair wrists jingled like bells with the movement of her paintbrush.

"He’s our chauffeur and servant, watching the shop is just his temporary job, you’re my classmate, what else should he call you if not young master?"

Mona asked in a calm tone, not turning her head.

The Indian caste system isn’t just a matter of social wealth, it’s also a strong bond of family forces.

Some social surveys suggest there are still more than three million professional servants in India today.

Even in big cities like Mumbai and Bangalore, there are cheap servant hotels specifically for them to stay when traveling with their masters.

The caste of the young man watching the store literally translates to chauffeur.

He was brought from the Indian countryside by Master Shantanu to help at the store in Myanmar, his father was Master Shantanu’s driver, his grandfather was Master Shantanu’s father’s driver, and even his great-grandfather made a living driving carriages for the Shantanu family.

One could say that the family history of this young man from Mumbai over the past few hundred years is a history of service to the local rural lord Shantanu family, terrifyingly stable.

Gu Weijing didn’t reply, the silhouette of the girl painting in the sunlight was gentle and lovely, yet the graceful curve exposed from the collar of her white bathrobe made him blush a little.

"Hmm?"

Mona didn’t hear anyone reply, so she turned her head and saw Gu Weijing’s somewhat shy face.

"Ah, I never understand you Chinese people, what’s there to be shy about?"

The girl turned around, put down the paintbrush, walked out from the balcony, and gave Gu Weijing a casual hug, "Welcome to my home, Boy."

"After New Year, I asked you to see a movie, but you were always busy. I thought we’d have to wait until school starts to meet again," she said.

Mona sat cross-legged on her pink-tinted big bed, patted the spot beside her, signaling Gu Weijing to sit down.

Gu Weijing sat down beside her.

The fragrance of the girl’s shampoo, along with the faint scent of a Bath & Body Works scented candle that had burned in the room, lingered in his nose, making it tickle.

He had known Miss Mona for a long time.

Yangon isn’t Paris; there are only so many international art classes here. Parents don’t have many choices if they want their children to study art.

When he first met Mona, he was still in elementary school,

Back then, Mona was just a little girl with a vermillion auspicious mole on her forehead.

They attended the same elementary school, the same middle school, and the same high school.

Mona grew from a little girl into a big girl.

She was the most popular kind of girl in school, beautiful but not aloof, cheerful but not arrogant. She was not only a member of the cheerleading team but also the president of the student council’s women’s branch, considered a prominent figure in the school.

And Gu Weijing... was always still Gu Weijing.

He was definitely not the kind of annoying guy hated by everyone, not a weirdo or nerd with no friends who only read books. He wasn’t the tall, handsome heartthrob from the school soccer team, unable to perform cool breakdancing that made the girls cheer at dances.

He just immersed himself in his world of painting, content with his work.

As for what precise relationship he had with Mona, even Gu Weijing might not be able to clearly explain.

Logically speaking, a girl who can invite you to her room without any reservations must have a special relationship with you.

But Gu Weijing had always lived like this. In elementary school, they would discuss homework together, and sometimes Mona would come to his house; both behaved naturally.

If you say they’re just friends or the girl’s male best friend,

Both nonetheless have some feelings and ambiguity for each other.

My Boy Friend — this is the term Mona often used to refer to Gu Weijing at school, which also describes their current relationship.

This term is more ambiguous than a male friend (Male Friend) but far from the clarity and directness of a Partner (lover).

Foreign schools are more open about the emotions of male and female students.

The most absurd tale circulated at the school would be about a fourteen-year-old senior who participated in a summer Scouts camp in Europe, where a young love during camping led to an older Hungarian girl unexpectedly becoming pregnant.

It’s said the girl took the initiative.

And it seemed, due to family religious reasons, the girl gave birth to the child, so he became a father at fifteen.

However, foreign schools are not as open as many imagine.

Especially in the prestigious local private high school that Gu Weijing attended; if a boy wants to sneak into a girls’ dormitory, or a girl into a boys’ dormitory, or if couples mess around on campus, they could be expelled.

Though it might not necessarily be considered a scandal, incidents like this could affect enrollment and financial reports, which the board of directors wouldn’t ignore.

Besides that, the school encourages the emotions of teenagers.

And they hold regular co-ed dance events.

This is also an old tradition of private schools; they need to learn not just knowledge but also about life.

If you can’t find a boyfriend or girlfriend throughout your school years, foreign parents who send their children to international schools would consider you a Loser and question the school’s educational philosophy.

In Gu Weijing’s school, students generally categorize opposite-sex friends into the following types.

[male/lady friend] — This term means I have a friend, he/she is male or female, which means a regular opposite-sex friend.

[Girl/boy friend] — This term implies a slightly ambiguous relationship, and a person can have many opposite-sex friends.

However, generally speaking, unless you play very casually, a boy or girl can only have one boyfriend or girlfriend.

This term has two written forms, BoyFriend or Boy (space) Friend. In English culture, the former means a male lover, while the latter means a male friend.

Above that level is Partner, which means lover.

In school, if you hear someone introduce their lover as a partner, it indicates they might not just be playing around and are close to living together or discussing marriage.

Perhaps due to cultural influence, Gu Weijing feels Miss Mona is like a drifting spirit.

Sometimes he feels she’s very close, close enough to hear the synchronized beating of their hearts. Other times, she seems to drift far away, acting distant and elusive.

At least when dealing with romantic feelings, he doesn’t handle it as skillfully as the girl does.