Dense Fog

"Extremely good classmate?" Tao Qiran repeated Lin Wu's words lightly as if joking, and looked into Wang Ye's eyes with a smile, "Let's stay and have a meal together."

The shape of Tao Qiran's eyes is a bit similar to Lin Wu's, but the feeling is completely different.

Lin Wu's eyes always seem to be surrounded by a faint mist, and those feelings and secrets that he does not want to express are all hidden in the misty forest.

In Tao Qiran's eyes, there is a sky, vast and clear, as if he can see everything, but let everything take its course.

Wang Ye didn't plan to stay, Lin Wu was away with relatives, he didn't need to join in the fun.

Just about to refuse, Lin Wu turned around and returned to the car first, and happily invited again: "Yes, let's come together."

For Lin Wu, this is not a family gathering, but a gathering that can cover all beautiful images.So the person closest to you sits on the left, and the friend who has a good time sits on the right, hugging the left and the right, how beautiful it is.

Wang Ye knew that Lin Wu's invitation was genuine, not a fake courtesy, but he still felt it was unnecessary, so he said bluntly, "No..."

Lostness flashed across Lin Wu's eyes.

Wang Ye: "There is no... place to park."

Lin Wu thought that Wang Ye was going to say "no need" to ruthlessly reject him, but immediately cheered up when he heard the words: "Yes, just in front of the coffee shop." After speaking, he was afraid that he would not be counted, so he turned around and asked, "Brother Zhao Li , is it possible to park in front of your store?"

Zhao Li: "No problem."

Lin Wu immediately retreated to the side, gave up the position in front of the store, and greeted Wang Ye: "Come on, just stop here—"

Wang Ye: "..."

What does it mean to lift a rock and smash your own car?

After Wang Ye parked the car, Lin Wu immediately introduced to him: "This is my uncle, Tao Qiran, and this is Zhao Li. Just follow me and call me Brother Zhao Li. My uncle's younger brother, the strongest buddy... ..."

"Let's talk in the room." Zhao Li didn't say much, but his voice was calm, "It's cold outside."

Tao Qiran was the most active supporter of this decision, immediately wrapped up his down jacket tightly, and was the first one to go back to the store.

Zhao Li followed and turned around.

"Brother Zhao Li opened this store," Lin Wu whispered to Wang Ye, "Every time my uncle returns to Shenyang, he always comes here."

Looking at Tao Qiran's back, Wang Ye was a little puzzled: "Your uncle's family is not a wolf?"

According to the awakening statistics, those who are usually related by blood will have similar families and genera.

"It should be... right." Lin Wu hadn't asked Tao Qiran about his awakened family yet, but looking at the back of Tao Qiran, who was afraid of the cold, he was a little less confident about the "Awakened Bloodline Theory".

Although wolves are not as frost-resistant as "Siberian animals", their cold resistance should be justified.

The interior of the coffee shop is decorated in a retro art style. When you enter the door, you will see an old-fashioned phonograph.

Wang Ye is not sensitive to this kind of tuneful things, but the paintings hanging all over the walls are quite interesting, oil paintings, sketches, impressionism, abstraction, all kinds and styles are called a hodgepodge, and they are rushing to destroy the style of the whole store. The deep retro style created by the exquisite decoration and the old-fashioned phonograph is completely separated.

"Brother Zhao Li, aren't you going to open the shop today?" Lin Wu found out that they had just entered, and Zhao Li locked the door again.

In the past, even if we got together in the store, business was done as usual.

"Not today," Zhao Li took off his coat and put it on his hand, "I won't open it in the future."

Lin Wu was surprised for a moment, and his first reaction was: "Did you rent the storefront to someone else?"

This store has one and two floors, and the property rights are all owned by Zhao Li. It is not easy to open a coffee shop, so renting it out would save worry and effort.

Zhao Li shook his head and said calmly, "It's sold."

"Sold?" Lin Wu was stunned.

"Okay," Zhao Li smiled, and his tough facial features softened a little, revealing a kind of profound handsomeness, "Let's talk when we eat."

Lin Wu was full of doubts, but Zhao Li didn't want to talk about it now, so he didn't ask, after all, it was a personal choice.

It's just that my uncle likes this place very much, I don't know if he knows about it.

Lin Wu raised his head to find Tao Qiran, and found him standing on the stairs to the second floor with Wang Ye.

The staircase leading to the second floor has paintings on one side of the wall, which is the place where the paintings are most concentrated in this cafe.

Lin Wu walked over, only to see that Wang Ye was looking at the painting, and his uncle seemed to be leisurely joining in the fun.

Also, Lin Wu could count the paintings in this coffee shop with his eyes closed, let alone Tao Qiran, which is really nothing new.

What Wang Ye was looking at was a sketch, with a few strokes, a mountain hut was outlined. The picture was very light, even a little scribbled, and it was extremely inconspicuous among the many thick and colorful paintings around.

Lin Wu was very surprised, because all the paintings on display in the store, this one was really painted by Tao Qiran. Although it was just a random graffiti in high school, the other paintings were all made by Zhao Li from the side of the road. bought.

Classmate Wang is quite discerning.

Just as Lin Wu thought this way, he heard Tao Qiran ask Wang Ye: "Like this one?"

Wang Ye put his hands in his pockets: "It can't be said."

"..." Lin Wu's heart stopped.

Tao Qiran: "Did you draw well?"

Wang Ye: "General."

"..." Lin Wu wanted to go up and get a sack to trap him down.

Tao Qiran suppressed a smile, pretending to be sad and said, "This is the only one I drew."

Wang Ye nodded, not surprised at all: "This is the only one I can still see."

Tao Qiran refrained from joking, and looked at Wang Ye with serious eyes: "You know how to draw? There is a studio upstairs, let's play together?"

Lin Wu hurriedly said, "He's a mechanic, so he can't draw. At most, he is mechanical drawing, which is not in the same category as yours."

Wang Ye looked over and didn't speak.

Lin Wu raised his eyebrows: What's the matter, isn't it right for me to take you down the steps?

It is the most stupid thing in this world to try to prove yourself for other people's opinions.

Wang Ye has always thought so.

"Where is the studio?" Wang, who always thought so, asked concisely.

Tao Qiran's studio is on the second floor of the cafe.

Although Wang Ye couldn't figure out why the cafe had a studio, he forgot everything once he walked in.

There is only one work in the studio, or in other words, it is a semi-finished product, which is placed on the easel, and the paint next to it is still wet. It is obvious that the creator has just left.

There are forests and streams on the canvas. Several sika deer are drinking water by the stream. The forest looks like it has just snowed, and the silver-blue paint is covered with rime.

The deer is not finished yet, it is just a faint outline, but it also reveals the lightness and agility of an elf.

Wang Ye was fascinated.

It's a good painting, even if it's unfinished.

"Come here." Tao Qiran put up a new easel at some point and asked Wang Ye, "Do you want paper or canvas?"

Wang Ye: "Paper will do."

The drawing paper was spread out, and Wang Ye took a pencil and drew casually without even thinking about it.

For a while, there was only the sound of pencils swishing in the studio.

Lin Wu watched a completely different forest appear under Wang Ye's brush... Uh, is it a forest?

Although the mountain forest looks like a mechanical structure, and all the beasts big and small are in the style of hardcore gears, the whole picture is completely steampunk, but the momentum and wildness of the beasts coming out of the mountains are vivid.

Lin Wu doesn't understand art, and usually at times like this, he can only say one thing, damn it, the painting is really good.

He never knew that Wang Ye had this kind of skill, so that now Wang Ye has added filters. Take the pen for example. He used to think that it was a scumbag who was distracted. Now, seeing Wang Ye spin the pencil, It feels like the painter is wandering in the thinking hall of inspiration.

Zhao Li went to the back kitchen of the store to tidy up first, and then went up to the second floor, and found that everyone was crowded in the studio.

Standing at the door and looking at it, he roughly knew what was going on, so he whispered to Lin Wu who was the closest to the door: "I'm going to prepare lunch, do you and your classmates like to eat meat or vegetables?"

After the awakening of the wild, no matter how familiar people are, they have to ask about the taste again.

Lin Wu pointed to himself: "Meat", and then pointed to Wang Ye, "A lot of meat."

Zhao Li smiled: "Got it."

In the end, Wang Ye did not really complete the work, at most 70% of the painting was completed, and many places were still roughly outlined and not finely carved, but he was too lazy to do it.

I haven't drawn for a long time, so it's all handmade.

But Tao Qiran liked it very much. As soon as Wang Ye got up here, he immediately sat in front of the painting, looked left and right, and admired it at close range.

Lin Wu cared more about Wang Ye. Apart from being shocked and amazed, he was also greatly confused: "Why don't you study art-related majors?"

Wang Ye looked at him inexplicably: "Why do you want to study art?"

you still need to ask?

Lin Wu: "You are so good at drawing, it would be a waste not to learn."

Tao Qiran in front of the easel heard them talking, looked over and asked, "Wang Ye, do you like painting?"

Wang Ye shrugged: "Nothing special."

It was a pity that Tao Qiran spread his hands towards Lin Wu, but he quickly relieved: "That's it, sometimes talent is not necessarily linked to love."

"Then you like machinery?" Lin Wu asked Wang Ye again.

Wang Ye: "I don't feel anything special."

Lin Wu sighed deeply: "Student, is there anything in this world that you feel and like?"

Wang Ye said without hesitation, "Animals."

Lin Wu: "..."

Tao Qiran was so teased that he leaned back and forth, feeling that listening to the two children talking would be a joy all day long.

When it was time to eat, he still had a smile on his face.

Zhao Li brought the ready-made lunch from the back kitchen. They were all simple meals in the coffee shop, and the semi-finished products could be processed—black pepper steak, curry pork chop, salted crispy chicken, slate grilled sausage, red beef stew, and Caesar salad.

Because each serving is not big, I made double servings, except for the salad.

As the only vegetable, it is lying alone on the edge of a plate, beautiful alone.

Four people sit down.

Lin Wu looked at the dishes, and the four carnivores didn't run away, and finally found a chance to ask: "Uncle, what kind of family did you and brother Zhao Li awaken?"

Tao Qiran deliberately kept things secret, and said to Lin Wu, "Let's talk about yours first."

"I am a jungle wolf," Lin Wu said without going around in circles, "he is a Siberian tiger."

Tao Qiran looked at his nephew, then at Wang Ye, and nodded in agreement: "The temperament matches."

No, how come it matches.

"With my height and my aura, I should be a big wolf!" Lin Wu still has some opinions on the size of the coyotes. They are more than chic, but not ferocious.

Wang Ye happily ate the crispy salted chicken without commenting.

"The coyote can not only adapt to the wild, but also survive in and around the city," Tao Qiran said, "it's pretty good."

Lin Wu didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Why are these words so awkward? I'm awakened, but I didn't really become a wolf. No matter what I wake up, I can survive in the city."

"I am a tundra wolf." Tao Qiran announced his genus.

"Tundra wolf?" Lin Wu blurted out, "Then you are still afraid of the cold?"

Tundra wolves are mostly found in tundra and Siberian coniferous forests where the temperature is low.

"It's not that I've been afraid all the time." Tao Qiran muttered.

"Where's Brother Zhao Li?" Lin Wu looked at the man who had been silent all this time, "What is your family?"

Zhao Li: "Goshawk."

For a moment, Lin Wu's mind was full of images of eagles soaring: "So handsome."

Wang Ye bit off half of the slate sausage in one bite.

I thought that after the exchange of families and genera, this lunch could enter the free chat time.

Lin Wu also wanted to tell Tao Qiran about interesting things about the school.

Tao Qiran said calmly first: "I resigned."

Tao Qiran said that resigning from a well-established university is as simple as throwing a Chinese cabbage on the side of the road.

Lin Wu just tried to stuff a mouthful of salad into his mouth, and almost bit his tongue.

Zhao Li obviously knew everything earlier and continued to eat in an orderly manner.

Wang Ye felt that he had nothing to do with this matter, so he concentrated on eating.

Lin Wu was the only one left struggling to digest the information: "Resigned? From college?"

Tao Qiran nodded: "En."

"And then?" Lin Wu tried to think positively, "Have you found a better unit?"

"I won't look for it anymore," Tao Qiran said with a relaxed smile, "Go up the mountain."

Lin Wu: "Up the mountain?"

Tao Qiran: "I have always liked the mountains, you know, only there I can concentrate on creating."

Lin Wu: "But you can go up the mountain during winter and summer vacations."

"Not enough." Tao Qiran said quietly, with a distant mountain in his eyes, "The longer I stay in the mountains, the less I want to go back to the city."

Lin Wu couldn't understand: "Then you don't have to quit your job, can you stay on without pay, or take a long vacation? Do you really want to stay on the mountain for the rest of your life?"

"Why not?" Tao Qiran rested his chin on one hand and blinked earnestly.

Also asked why...

"Let me make sure first, are you going to find a place where no one is self-sufficient and survive in the wild like going up the mountain during the winter and summer vacations, or find a village and enjoy idyllic songs with the folks in the village?" In Lin Wu's view, these two There is still a fundamental difference.

Tao Qiran didn't hesitate at all: "Of course it's the same as going up the mountain before. Find a place where there are no people. If there are people, then it's not called returning to nature."

"This is the problem." Lin Wu was dying of anxiety, afraid that his uncle's head would get hot, so he didn't care, "Everyone has social attributes. If you go to the mountain during winter and summer vacation, it's considered a retreat. That's fine, but you can't really stay on the mountain. Forever, you will come back."

Tao Qiran smiled, and in his unhurried voice, there was a thorough silence: "When I was creating on the mountain during the winter and summer vacations, I always thought that if the vacation didn't end, I could always live in that environment. But as you said, people have social attributes, and in many cases, it’s not what you want..."

Lin Wu: "Yes..."

Tao Qiran: "Let's talk about the most practical problem. It is very difficult to survive in the mountains and forests like animals..."

Lin Wu: "Yes, yes, yes..."

Now that you understand the truth, you should live your life well.

"But what if I'm not anymore?" Tao Qiran's voice was suddenly light and ethereal.

Lin Wu was stunned: "What is no longer?"

Tao Qiran moved the plate in front of him and put his hand on the table.

There was a sudden rustling sound in the air.

No, not in the air, but in Tao Qiran's hand.

That white and slender hand was rapidly growing silver-gray wolf fur, and as the bones deformed, it eventually became a wolf's claw.

Tao Qiran: "Since life gives me a second chance to choose, why should I turn a blind eye?"