Oh Mr General - Chapter 204

While Gray’s grandmother greeted the two boys, the older looking man stood up from his seat and headed towards the group. The man who was Gray’s grandfather, Byron Tobion, had a slightly hunched body. Even though he was aged 80, the man still had boundless vitality and did not have much wrinkles on his forehead. The only giveaway feature would be his silver white hair that was neatly combed back.

Gray watched as his grandfather got closer to them. He greeted first, “Hello grandfather. How have you been lately?”

“I have been doing just fine, but now that you are back to visit, I feel even better! Hahaha!” Byron laughed heartily. Truly, even Sato who had met Byron for the first time, could not tell that the loud old man was 80 years old this year.

“It is nice to meet you too, sir.” Sato could not help, but be slightly nervous again when meeting Gray’s grandfather. After all, he was the one that created all of what they had now.

“Hahaha! If it isn’t the youngling, Sato Takahashi. There is no need to be so formal like how Gray’s grandmother had said. Just call me, grandfather.”

“O..Okay” Sato looked at Gray for confirmation. His boyfriend gave him a knowing smile.

“Well, don’t just stand around. We have plenty of seats in the living room. I heard that Sato’s body has yet to recover. Let’s not overexert his body.” Gray’s grandmother quickly gestured for everyone to take a seat. Although she was normally not involved in any of the work matters in the family, relationship news like Sato would always enter her ears. After all, what was a lady if she was not allowed to gossip.

Gray had given a short introduction on his grandmother to Sato. Most of the time, the stories that were told to Sato were usually related to Byron, Gray’s grandfather. In terms of his grandmother, Gray never really got the chance to talk about her. Gray’s grandmother’s name was Sarah Upstill. She had met her husband in university. She was the undisputed campus belle at that time and Byron did not lose out on looks or talent either. With his quick wits, he had managed to get Sarah to fall in love with him. Till this day, they were still the same lovey-dovey couple from 60 years back.

At that time, Byron promised Sarah that she would not have to suffer for the rest of her life. She was allowed to focus on her art and Byron, her husband, would help make her the most famous artist of their time. And the man really did follow through with his promise.

When Sato went online to search up Gray’s grandmother’s name, the young man’s eyes almost popped out when he saw her artwork. Sarah Upstill was one of the most highly sought after contemporary artist 21st century. Her art pieces were minimally sold at the price of 50-60 million dollars. Her most expensive piece, La Disparité Des Revenus, was a sculpture that represented the growing income disparity between the rich and poor. It was sold to a billionaire in Country R for over 350 million dollars.

The boy never really looked into modern artists and was more of a fan renaissance art. However, it was common knowledge that most painter’s artwork were only worth a lot after he or she passes away. Gray’s grandmother defied all logic and had climbed to the pinnacle of contemporary art with the help of Byron’s connections. Obviously, Sarah’s art pieces had to truly be worth that sort of money. Sato got a closer glimpse on La Disparité Des Revenus and the young man was in awe at how much detail, Gray’s grandmother, who at that point in time was 60 years old, was able to squeeze into one sculpture. With age, Sarah took longer periods of time to create her work. It was with reason as to why that art piece was sold at such a high price.

Gray told Sato that when he was a young boy, he would always sit in his grandmother’s art room and accompany her. The atmosphere in there was slow and tranquil. Gray would usually do his own things by the sofa chair, while Sarah would be working on that same sculpture. The human in the sculpture was perfected over 2 painstaking years. Gray watched it become more and more life-like. When his grandmother had finished the art piece, Gray was absolutely in awe. At one point, he had even asked his grandmother as to whether they could just keep such a beautiful sculpture at home.

However, what his grandmother said afterwards had truly stumped the little boy. “The art pieces I make has underlying meanings and issues that people in this world need to know about. Me keeping this sculpture in the confines of our home would not help raise awareness to others.”

The 10 year old Gray was a smart little boy. Understanding that his grandmother was trying to make the world a better place, he accepted her decision respectfully. Till this day, after painting and sculpting her whole life, Sarah had only kept one art work that she had created at home. That art work was a painting. A painting that captured the Tobion’s family when Gray, his brother and his cousins were still little children. It was a detailed family portrait that was hung up in the living room space and remained unmoving ever since then.

Sato turned to look at the right wall of the living room. It was as Gray had said. There was a large rectangular painting of his family. Sato could tell the little boy with a melancholy cool looking face was Gray. Even in the painting, Sarah managed to capture the suaveness of Gray as a little child.