The Romance of a Young Painter

It rained all night.

Shen Guangji opened his eyes. This was the first time he woke up earlier than Zhou Nianjiu since his insanity, and his whole body was very relaxed. He got out of bed with the smallest movements, and walked briskly to the window. The black clouds from last night dissipated. The sky is completely clean, the sky is a clean blue, the sun shines unscrupulously on the wet ground, soon a thin layer of mist evaporates, the white mist rises, and soon the mist dissipates to reveal a light yellow-green Wilderness - some grass shoots have sprouted this evening, and a peacock-blue bird sits on a stake in front of their window, chirping, with an indescribably clear and melodious voice, after singing a song , it suddenly flapped its wings and flew up, like a blue arc of light, this light guided his sight to the distant mountain top, where the snow was covered, and the sun shone with a dazzling white light, as if there was an inexplicable Attractive, he couldn't take his eyes off it at all.

After watching for a long time, his whole body became cold, his chest felt tight, and his limbs became disobedient, drooping heavily and powerlessly.

"Shen Guangji, Shen Guangji..."

A familiar voice rang in his ears, but he couldn't see the other party clearly.He closed his eyes forcefully, then opened them with difficulty, Zhou Nianjiu's appearance gradually became clear.

"You have a fever." Zhou Nianjiu said worriedly.

Only then did Shen Guangji realize that he was still lying on the bed, the rain outside the window was still falling, and the sun, mist, blue birds and white mountain tops were just scenes from a dream.

"What time is it?" His voice was a little hoarse.

"After eight o'clock, you should eat something first, and take your medicine after eating." Zhou Nianjiu brought over milk, cereal and fried egg sandwiches.

Shen Guangji reluctantly ate a few mouthfuls and pushed the tray aside, asking, "You made it?"

"Yeah, can't you eat it?" Zhou Nianjiu took a bite of the piece he had eaten, and the taste was not bad.

Shen Guangji said: "I don't have much appetite, just a little padding will be fine."

Zhou Nianjiu put cold medicine, anti-inflammatory medicine, antipyretic medicine and so on in order, and said, "Look at what to take."

Shen Guangji shook his head and said, "There is a black waterproof bag in the box where the clothes are placed, you can bring that to me."

Zhou Nianjiu gave him a puzzled look, and brought him the bag as promised.

Shen Guangji took out a dispensing medicine box from inside, poured the white, blue and powdered pills into his mouth, swallowed them whole with water, and skillfully took out different quantities of pills from several pill bottles. The tablets are returned to the dispenser box.

Zhou Nianjiu looked at it curiously, and then asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Just after taking the medicine, there was a tumbling in his stomach, Shen Guangji calmed down a little, and said, "The medicine is good for me."

Zhou Nianjiu said, "It looks like a Sanwu product."

Shen Guangji smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's not the kind sold by the Maasai people."

Zhou Nianjiu quickly realized that they drove to the nearby Masai village last month, and a local boy named John Farb was very enthusiastic about selling them aphrodisiacs. They didn't buy anything in the end, but Shen Guangji was about to leave Zhou Nianjiu was still puzzled at the time when he stuffed some money into the boy, but now thinking about it, he feels even more suspicious.He asked: "What is the medicine? Does it work? Did you bring it from China?"

Shen Guangji rubbed his forehead and went straight to sleep.

Zhou Nianjiu had no choice but to tidy up the dinner plate and medicine on the bed, and found a place in the room to bite down on the sandwich. He had been paying attention to Shen Guangji's condition all day long, and he was a little absent-minded about painting.

"What did you draw?" Shen Guangji's fever subsided in the evening, his voice was a little fluttering, but he tried his best to stabilize himself.

Zhou Nianjiu turned the easel towards him.

The rain was clear, the mountains and rivers were clear, and it was the scene when the sun cleared at noon. Shen Guangji fell asleep at that time, and did not see a scene that was very similar to his dream.

The clouds had already gathered for a while, and soon there was another heavy rain. The two drank porridge and ate vegetables together. It was Chinese cuisine that Zhou Nianjiu collected available ingredients from the kitchen. Shen Guangji ate more than in the morning.

It was raining heavily after dinner, and they clung together like Siamese twins under a blanket.

Zhou Nianjiu asked: "How long will your painting take?"

"Feeling bored, do you want to leave?" Shen Guangji asked him.

Zhou Nianjiu shook her head slightly and said, "You are much thinner than when you came here."

Shen Guangji originally wanted to make up any excuses to prevaricate him, such as not getting used to the food here or being unaccustomed to the environment, but a voice came out maliciously in his heart: Tell me, tell me about your dying, look at him Is to pity you, or can't wait to leave you.

But in the end he just said: "Let's have a drink, I remember the hotel sent a bottle of red wine."

"You're still sick." Zhou Nianjiu said disapprovingly.

"No problem." Shen Guangji had already got up to get it.

No candles, no flowers, not even starlight, just the endless night and the sound of rain, for which they drank a bottle of wine and exchanged enough kisses.

"I plan to move to the village tomorrow." Shen Guangji said before going to bed.

"What village?" Zhou Nianjiu asked.

"It's the Maasai village. I asked that boy to find a suitable place to live. He told me a while ago that he had found it." Shen Guangji said.

It turned out that it was really not for buying medicine, Zhou Nianjiu glanced at the rain outside the window that showed no sign of getting smaller, and asked, "Is it safe there?"

Shen Guangji said with a smile: "Masai people are the masters of the grassland, and they have enough experience to deal with the rainy season."

"Where are you going to finish your painting?" Zhou Nianjiu remembered that it was closer to the mountain.

"You can say that." Shen Guangji said.

"Can I go together?" Zhou Nianjiu asked.

"Of course," Shen Guangji kissed the corner of his mouth tenderly, and said, "Little question mark, can you sleep now?"

Zhou Nianjiu closed her eyes and fell asleep after a while.

Shen Guangji slept for a whole day, and now he is lying quietly with his eyes open. There is a vague shadow in front of his eyes, like a human figure with his jaw supported, adjusting his posture from time to time, just floating in the sky and looking down at him coldly, waiting for him to close his eyes. When I opened my eyes again, the shadow disappeared.

Hell, he always knew when to show up was the easiest to sway him.

Shen Guangji turned over and burned his lover's sleeping face into his pupils, and after a while he felt tired again.

When the sun cleared the next day, they took their usual things and drove to the village. John Farbe was waiting for them at the entrance of the village. Although the house he was looking for was not as big as the hotel, it was very clean.

"The food will be delivered every morning, and it's cleaning time before dinner. If you have other errands, such as running errands, call me. I live in the hut over there." John Farb said.

"Thank you for your hard work." Shen Guangji handed him the prepared tip.

The boy bowed to them with a smile, turned around and ran away like a gust of wind.

Zhou Nianjiu noticed that his feet were a little limp.

"Bite by a leopard," Shen Guangji followed his gaze and said, "Although he saved his life, he can no longer hunt."

Is that why he started the tourist business like the women and girls in the village?For a Maasai boy, this should be a rather dishonorable thing, but the smile on his face is not a bit cloudy.

"Did you know when you came last time?" Zhou Nianjiu asked.

Shen Guangji smiled and said, "I've been with you all along, haven't I?"

"Don't tell me you know the future." Zhou Nianjiu looked at him suspiciously.

Shen Guangji was quickly defeated under such gaze, and said: "Well, I actually came here a few years ago, and I sponsored his operation."

"Did you conceive of this painting at that time?" Zhou Nianjiu saw that Shen Guangji placed the half-painted work in the middle of the room.

"No, earlier," Shen Guangji said.

"When exactly?" Zhou Nianjiu wanted to know how many years a mature idea can span in Shen Guangji's place.

"When you slept on my bed for the first time," Shen Guangji said narrowly, "the inspiration for this painting came from you."

"What?!" Zhou Nianjiu was in great embarrassment, and sentences like "Yushan fell" suddenly flashed in his head after being poisoned by Chinese for four years.

Shen Guangji saw enough of his embarrassment, and then he laughed and said: "You must have thought of some strange place."

Zhou Nianjiu, who was told his thoughts, could not refute at all.

In the following days, Shen Guangji devoted himself completely to the creation. The majestic mountain peaks were given his personal interpretation with his paintbrush, and his body was also deteriorating day by day. Even the dull Zhou Nianjiu could see that something was wrong. Once he stopped During a short break, Zhou Nianjiu held those skinny and deformed hands and said, "Shen Guangji, you have to go to the hospital."

Shen Guangji knew it was time, he shook his head and said, "I don't have much time."

Zhou Nianjiu asked worriedly, "What's wrong with you?"

Shen Guangji said lightly: "I'm going to die soon."

Zhou Nianjiu was stunned, it took him a long time to find his own voice, he heard himself asking: "Why?" He didn't know whether to ask Shen Guangji why he said he would die, or why he didn't tell himself this matter until this time.

Shen Guangji didn't explain, he took out his hand and wiped the corners of his lover's eyes, and then sat down behind the easel again with the residual warmth from his fingertips.

Zhou Nianjiu didn't ask any more questions. From that time on, he sat in a corner of the room and stared at Shen Guangji for a long time, looking for opportunities to remind him to eat something or take a rest. At this time, Shen Guangji would stop for a while, and then devote himself to that Zhang gradually took shape in the paintings.

Half a month later, the painting was finally completed. Shen Guangji turned his stiff neck and looked back at his lover who had been waiting by his side. He knew what he wanted to say before Zhou Nianjiu even opened his mouth.He quickly came to his side, and moved his gaze to the canvas under his hopeful gaze.

The snow on the high mountain is as vast as the world, the snow is me, and I am the world.

Zhou Nianjiu's heart was agitated, and tears overflowed unconsciously in his eyes.

Shen Guangji hooked the corners of his mouth, as if he had exhausted his last bit of strength and leaned on his lover wearily.

This time he never got up again.