The Romance of a Young Painter

The towering Uhuru Peak is like a huge fortress, making a simple tent under the mountain look so small.

In front of the tent, Zhou Nianjiu gently wiped away the non-existent dust on the canvas. He would do this ritually every time before he wrote. It’s hard to say whether it was to commemorate the person who had this habit. He sent him away in the rainy season. He has stayed here ever since.

When the weather is good, he will find a place to pitch a tent and live there for a while, most of the time he can see a certain part of the mountain or just below the mountain, and he will live back in the village during the rainy season.He painted a lot of pictures of this land, about animals, plants, sky, earth, and dark-skinned aborigines, the cruelty and warmth of nature, the ever-changing death and new life, are integrated by him with an amazing talent. square inch canvas.The paintings won him such high acclaim that even the harshest critics were so tolerant of him that the local government offered him permanent residency.

It's just that he has never painted the mountain behind him, and there are no peaks in his world after that painting.

Just before noon John Farb drove up to deliver supplies.

"Zhou, I'll bring your friend." The young man has been learning Chinese with an extraordinary enthusiasm, shouting loudly.

Zhou Nianjiu put down his pen, opened the canvas for the shade and came out, squinting his eyes instinctively under the strong light.

"He's still alive." Meng Xing said.

"Thanks to you, I'm living a good life." Zhou Nianjiu had long been used to the annual cynicism. He glanced into the car and asked, "Where's Fang Leye?"

"Meng Meng just gave birth." Meng Xing said.

Fang Leye and Meng Meng have been together since retiring from the army. They got married last year. For some reason, they couldn't get a certificate, so they only notified their close relatives and friends to hold a wedding.Zhou Nianjiu used his memory to draw a very studio-style wedding portrait for them and sent it to them. Afterwards, he received a call from a couple overseas. The bride, Meng Meng, praised his "progress" in painting skills, but unexpectedly, it was not enough. She became a mother in half a year.

Zhou Nianjiu caressed her right hand unconsciously, and rejoiced in her heart: "Great, Meng Meng gave birth safely, the car accident did not happen, and all the misfortunes in that long and unexplainable dream did not come true."

Meng Xing noticed this movement, and there was a slight fluctuation in his ice-silent eyes. Instead, he looked at a certain direction on the mountain and said, "Is it interesting? Watching the day of a dead person."

Zhou Nianjiu found that this person could easily arouse his anger. Considering that the other party came to visit the grave as a routine, he suppressed his displeasure and said, "Let's go, you still have a few hours before the sun disappears."

After saying this, he turned and prepared to go back to the tent.

"Let's go together," Meng Xing pulled him forcefully, "Anyway, you have nothing else to do here except draw."

The opponent's hand was as hard as pliers, the moment Zhou Nianjiu was held, he thought his wrist was going to be dislocated, so he quickly eased the force on Fangyi, but the way of pulling was almost unambiguous.

"Let go." Zhou Nianjiu tried to withdraw his hand.

"Are you really not going to take a look?" Meng Xing said, "Or are you going to forget it again?"

Forget again?What's the meaning?

Zhou Nianjiu looked at him suspiciously.

Meng Xing didn't intend to explain, he took out the spare climbing gear from the car and threw it over, saying, "Put it on."

Zhou Nianjiu held the protective gear in a daze for a few seconds, and then skillfully put it on under the urging of the other party. When he was putting on the knee pads, he unconsciously looked up at the mountain in front of him. Places to go.

The snow cap is capped, reflecting an incredible white light on his pupils. ①

(End of the article)

The author has something to say:

①. Slightly modified from "The Snow of Kilimanjaro".

recorded after the completion of

Original Title: "Dream Awakening"

Title: "The Romance of a Young Painter"

Written time: 2017.4-20-2017.8.30