Ivan was stunned, and ran over to salute with a confused face, still wondering how he had become the "big man" in the mouth of His Royal Highness the Prince?

Peter covered his mouth behind his back and snickered, while Daya and Vladimir looked nervously at Roland.

"Ivan, I heard that you are quite familiar with Peter, and you are going to take him to the barracks to visit the tryouts today?"

"Well, Your Highness, that's true!"

"It just so happens that I also want to go in and have a look, you are familiar with this place, so lead the way."

"Yes!" Major Ivan gave another military salute and turned to lead the way.

Roland took two steps accompanied by General Alexei, and then turned to Peter, Daya, and Vladimir and beckoned with a smile: "Don't be in a daze, I'll take you to find a viewing seat with a wide view." ”

On the way to the tournament, Roland listened to Ivan talk about the background of the Bunin brothers, and Peter was also very familiar with adding details on the side. Hearing Ivan say that Nikolai did not hesitate to give up the broken arm in order to restore the light to his younger brother Vladimir's eyes, and exchanged the military merit points accumulated from years of military conquest into an opportunity for his younger brother to receive "regeneration" to treat his eyes, he couldn't help but be moved. Later, Peter said that Vladimir was a well-known illustrator in Krasburg, who had participated in the anti-tax movement, and had led young revolutionaries to set up an underground printing house, printing leaflets and prints calling on his compatriots to resist the tyranny of the empire, satirizing the brutality of Krauz, so he was arrested and imprisoned and tortured, and his eyes were blinded by torture.

"Vladimir, you are the patriotic painter? I think I've heard your name somewhere......" Roland paused to look at Vladimir Bunin and mused, "do you know John Pritt?" If I'm not mistaken, he once told me about your deeds. ”

"Of course, Mr. Prit was the editor-in-chief of the evening newspaper before he took office, and I was hired by him to illustrate for the newspaper." Vladimir replied respectfully and cautiously, "I am very grateful to Monsieur Pulit for recovering Krasbourg after His Majesty Rudolph recovered from Klesburg, and for the newspaper to publicize my little deeds, which led to me being awarded a medal by the Government and a large annuity." ”

Roland smiled and nodded, "That's the case, when John proposed to award medals and bonuses to revolutionaries who shed their blood for the independence of the Far East, he used your deeds as an example, which left a deep impression on me, I didn't expect to see a real person here today." ”

"It is a privilege for me to meet Your Highness, not only for the favor I have received from you personally, but also for the care you have taken of Peter, who has been without parents since he was a child, and Nikolai and I treat him as if he were our own brother." Vladimir bowed deeply to Roland.

Roland had a good impression of this young painter, who had experienced the test of the revolutionary struggle and was quite sophisticated, waved his hand to show that he did not need to be polite, and asked him warmly: "Vladimir, you are an artist and also work for a newspaper, I would like to ask you a question, what do you think of art and journalism, two seemingly unrelated professions, and will illustrations for news reports make you feel that you have tarnished the sacredness and purity of art?" ”

"Your Highness, you have a thought-provoking question, but allow me first to clarify my position on what you call the 'sacred' and 'pure' of art...... This may be endorsed by mainstream artists who advocate 'art for art's sake', but as far as I am concerned, I have never felt that art has any sacredness at all, and there is no essential difference between artistic creation and peasant cultivation and workers' labor, it is nothing more than a craft, and sacralizing a craft is either a vain attempt to raise the threshold and grasp the right to speak on the evaluation of artistic value, or self-touting and selling fame. Vladimir smiled a little shyly, and continued, "As for the so-called purity of art, it seems to advocate that art should be free from the influence of money, politics and even popular preferences, and pursue a creative method that is unconventional and faithful to the inner feelings of the creator. Since the public preference is regarded as vulgar, most people are afraid that they will not understand, and the standard for evaluating the quality of this kind of art can only be in the hands of a few authorities in the circle, and the self-entertainment in this small circle is worthless to social progress, and will only separate these so-called artists from the public and become a group of self-absorbed spiritual orphans, I cannot agree with this creative concept, and if someone criticizes my work for not being pure enough, I feel very gratified. ”

Roland was also very pleased to hear his confession, "So your creative concept runs counter to the sacred and pure, advocating reaching out to the people and using artistic creation as a carrier to reflect social reality?" ”

"Indeed, as you said, in addition to this, I also have a little ambition, and I hope that when the public sees my work, it will trigger some thinking, thinking about whether there is a problem in our own life, our family, our nation and our country, and how we can make it better. Vladimir's eyes were shining, and he was no longer nervous when he spoke.

Roland nodded thoughtfully, walked out silently for a while, and suddenly asked him: "It's been almost a month since you regained your eyesight, what are your plans for the future?" ”

"During this time, in addition to painting things at home, I was doing housework, Nikolai trained very hard in the barracks, Peter's training was also very intense, and I was idle, so I helped them with laundry and cooking, as for the future...... I still hope to have the opportunity to work for the newspaper. Vladimir said.

"Have you been in contact with John Pulit during this time?" Roland continued to ask.

Vladimir was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said: "I haven't been contacted, I heard that Mr. Pulit has been promoted to national information director, and he must be very busy with work, so I don't want to disturb him." ”

Roland laughed and said lightly: "No matter how busy he is, he is not as busy as me, you should take the initiative to talk to him about your thoughts." ”

John Pullett is unattainable in the eyes of Vladimir, like a big man with a lot of opportunities. Roland knows his details, this is the most unobtrusive of the cabinet ministers, he is quite conscientious in his work, and he can let himself go in his spare time. I don't have a family when I'm old, I enjoy the life of a bohemian bachelor, I am busy attending parties all night long, drinking all night, hooking up with celebrities and ladies to fall in love under the banner of engaging in art, and I am simply an old hooligan mixed in the literary circle.