The Romance of a Young Painter

The light suddenly went out, and the moment Zhou Nianjiu looked up at the light, the door was violently smashed open, a strong figure restrained him neatly before he could react, and a hard cold thing was pressed against his forehead.

"Caught Shen." The man rushed out the door and said in broken Chinese.

Looking for Shen Guangji?Zhou Nianjiu's heart sank.

The footsteps of another person approached, and the person who came came chuckled and said, "Tiger, you arrested the wrong person."

Zhou Nianjiu was puzzled by this long-lost voice, "Yuan Xun?"

"Meet you again," Yuan Xun motioned Tiger to let go of him, and said, "I'm really sorry for the reunion in this way."

Zhou Nianjiu stretched his shoulders, and said to the unexpected visitor, "This is the third time."

"It's only three things, there won't be a next time," Yuan Xun sent Tiger outside, then pointed to the sofa and said, "Would you mind sitting down and chatting?"

Zhou Nianjiu frowned and said, "If you came looking for Shen Guangji, I'm afraid you will be disappointed, he's not here."

"I can see it, otherwise how could he not show up when you are in danger," Yuan Xun sat down on the guest seat and said, "Don't be so vigilant, I won't do anything to you."

Zhou Nianjiu sat down at the farthest place from him, and said, "Why did you arrest him?"

Yuan Xun said: "You really don't pay attention to current affairs at all. If you read the news for a while, you will know why I came here in this way at this time."

Seeing Zhou Nianjiu's puzzled expression, Yuan Xun said: "In the past six months, Huaguo has investigated and dealt with more than 2 incidents of violations of discipline and regulations, and has dismissed thousands of public officials, including more than [-] people above the provincial and ministerial level. Unfortunately, my younger brother Yuan Zhang is also among those under investigation. He was invited by the Disciplinary Inspection Commission to drink tea last month and has not returned yet. The old man at home is very worried. He heard that I have some friendship with the Fang family and asked me to come and inquire about it. When will you let him go?"

Zhou Nianjiu said: "Shen Guangji has not interfered with these matters in recent years."

"Not getting involved doesn't mean you don't know about it," Yuan Xun said leisurely, "What's more, his existence is a very good bargaining chip, after all, his surname should have been Fang."

Zhou Nianjiu suddenly thought that if he simply asked for news, it would be impossible to do anything. Most of Yuan Xun's trip was to take Shen Guangji as a hostage. He stared at Shen Guangji's face, which always seemed a little careless, and asked, "Fang? What do you mean?"

"It seems that he still has reservations about you," Yuan Xun motioned him to sit over, and said, "Mr. Fang only has two sons on the surface, and our Yuan family only found out a few years ago that he has another like Fang Huaimin and the others." A much younger child, that child is the product of a political deal, and Mr. Fang has kept his existence a secret."

Zhou Nianjiu had a vague premonition that the next story would be an uncomfortable one. There was a voice in his heart urging Yuan Xun to continue, but reason kept him calm as usual. He hesitated, unable to decide for a while. Do you want to continue listening.

"The child secretly grew up from a baby to a child. He has amazing talents, but the long-term confined life has caused him to have serious psychological defects. After thinking about it, Mr. Fang finally gave him a reasonable and reasonable identity, and put him on a regular basis. Sent to a private institution for treatment..." Yuan Xun looked at him with a half-smile, as if observing his reaction.

This feeling of being manipulated by the other party made Zhou Nianjiu calm down, and he interrupted hastily: "If that's what you want to talk about, then there's no need for us to continue talking."

Yuan Xun said with a smile: "What? Afraid of knowing the truth, would rather be kept in the dark?"

Zhou Nianjiu had calmed down completely, he said: "Whether you want to tell me is his right, or do you want to know that it is my...freedom, none of this has anything to do with you."

There was a real smile in Yuan Xun's eyes, he noticed that Tiger had returned to the door and gestured to him, he stood up and bowed slightly, and said: "Then please allow me to apologize again for the abrupt and shameless just now." I apologize and I think I should go."

Zhou Nianjiu blankly watched the other party leave in the night, like a gust of wind passing through the courtyard quickly, and when he tried to search again, there was no trace, except for the unrecovered electricity and the damaged door lock, there was no sign of the house at all. Signs of trespassing.

Zhou Nianjiu moved a chair against the door, took out his mobile phone and called Fang Leye. After a few rings, it was automatically transferred to the voicemail. He didn't leave a message. After hanging up the phone, he returned to the studio again.He sat down on the chair that Shen Guangji used to sit on, and his eyes unconsciously fell on somewhere opposite, which was a blank wall, shone like pearls under the desolate moonlight.

Zhou Nianjiu watched for a long time, and suddenly found an inconspicuous shadow on the glowing wall. Some kind of force drove him away from the chair, pressed his fingers on that spot, and the wall slid away silently by a width of one person. size, a step leads to an unknown place.

It is a place where light cannot reach, and the eyes are full of darkness. Zhou Nianjiu stood at the entrance for a while, then turned on the light of the mobile phone and walked down. The black steps are soft and elastic, and the walls on both sides are also pitch black. Holding the light in his hand, he seemed to follow the veins of a certain black monster and penetrate into its viscera. The sound of footsteps was absorbed by the thick carpet, and he could hear the tranquility of his own breathing, but he didn't feel afraid.

It is impossible to calculate how long the steps are. He felt that he had walked for a long time, but it seemed that he only had a very short time. Suddenly, there was a slight rustling sound in his ears, like wind blowing through the treetops, or like waves lapping on the beach. At that time, the steps had come to an end, and there was a door in front of him, and the rustling sound came from behind the door.

Zhou Nianjiu pushed it away without hesitation, a beam of light dazzled his eyes, and the very familiar smell of paint hit his nostrils. When he got used to the light in front of him, he found Shen Guangji sitting behind the easel in the black room.

He hadn't seen him for a month, and he came here uninvited, but Shen Guangji didn't show any surprise at all, he didn't even look up from the painting to look at the visitor.

Zhou Nianjiu didn't think there was anything wrong with this. He and Shen Guangji had been together for so long and had never really seen each other's creations. He had guessed about this, so reuniting in such an underground secret room at such a time was a mistake. , or is it inevitable.He took a few steps forward to see what was on the canvas.

The sky is so blue that it is almost transparent, the light flows like a real silk thread, the white dove lands, its wings stretch like angel wings behind the person in the painting, the eyes in the deep blue eyes fall on the viewer with nostalgia, and it seems like Projected through the body to an unknown place.

So near, so far, within reach, yet out of control, like a dream of form realized in the daytime of thought. ①

Zhou Nianjiu felt Shen Guangji's strong self poured into the painting, and it was the purest self without any pretense, unaffected by needs and desires.It is difficult for him to take his eyes off the canvas, is this his projection in Shen Guangji's eyes?Zhou Nianjiu suddenly realized that he was very cruel. He moved his eyes from the canvas to the hand that was still correcting the color, and then gradually stopped on the haggard face—the lips were chapped and the eyes were bloodshot. There was no rest for a long time.He knew it would be best for him to stop first, but he didn't, he just stood there quietly, slowing even his breathing.

Zhou Nianjiu didn't know how long he stood there, and when Shen Guangji raised his head from his work, his feet were already numb.

The two did not greet each other, Shen Guangji stood up slowly first, Zhou Nianjiu hugged him forcefully, and the other party's weak hand also fell on his back lightly, and then the two of them lay stiffly on the thick carpet together, they Like children who found a companion in a lost way, they hugged each other and fell asleep.

After waking up, Zhou Nianjiu said, "We are together."

Shen Guangji kissed his forehead as an answer.

They walked up the narrow steps arm in arm, and the moonlight was still shining in the pearly white studio. Shen Guangji didn't show any surprise at the damaged gate. He turned on the backup power supply, and the house was lit up again. .

Zhou Nianjiu charged the mobile phone that had automatically shut down at some point, and when the clock turned on, he found that it was already the third night. When he realized this, he felt hungry.

The two ate some simple food, and after all this was done, Shen Guangji finally said the first words after the reunion: "Before this, I should talk to you about myself."

He hadn't spoken for too long, and his voice was hoarse.

"I had severe autism, and I couldn't communicate with people normally for a long time. At that time, the only thing I was willing to do was to draw. I didn't eat, drink, sleep, and draw endlessly," he unfolded himself. The fingers are slightly bent, which is caused by the excessive use of the hand-held paintbrush during the bone formation period. "They sent me to therapy. Saying a few proper words at the time can reduce these annoying disturbances, so I began to hide the real me, pretending to be gradually cured by them, and finally I got rid of that place as I wished.”

Shen Guangji showed his usual warm smile, then pointed to his face, and said, "See if he hides it well."

Zhou Nianjiu held his deformed knuckles and pressed that hand to her chest.

Shen Guangji let him hold it, and continued: "But the hidden person has always been there, he is introverted, gloomy, arrogant and inferior, you should have noticed it a long time ago, from your understanding of "Gui Yan" when."

Zhou Nianjiu said frankly, "Yes."

Shen Guangji's eyes were still calm and peaceful, and there was a touch of sadness hidden in this tranquility, he said: "Even if I am like this, are you still willing to say that we are together?"

Zhou Nianjiu suddenly remembered the encounter when he was 17 years old, and some inexplicable emotions flooded out. This time, he keenly discovered that the so-called subtraction, which habitually eliminates self-perception, is trying to put these messy thoughts together. Devour bit by bit.He hugged Shen Guangji tightly before all his emotions disappeared.

"Yes I do."

The engulfment stopped, the magic of subtraction was gone.

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Note ①: From Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray", slightly modified.