Fourth Sketch
This is a page from a children's picture book. The edges are filled with orange-red crayon, probably to express a scene shrouded in red maple and smoke trees. In the middle is a large house with simple lines, and it seems you can see through the walls to the people resting inside. Two people are playing chess in one corner, two are reading in another, three are gathered around a computer, seemingly looking at something, and another group of people are sitting together eating, drinking, and chatting. Outside the house, three people are cooking something on a small stove.
The house has an ancient tiled roof, and on it is a plaque drawn in black crayon with two childish characters: Maple Hut.
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Mu Yiran has met an opponent in Go, and he has to think carefully about almost every move.
Yue Cen played with relative ease, occasionally exchanging a few words with the other person: "Is this the first time Fenglu has received guests?"
"Hmm?" Mu Yiran, holding a black piece between his fingers, looked up at Yue Cen. "Yes."
"I see this is an old building, but judging from the interior decoration, the cups, plates, and the condition of the books, it seems like it rarely hosts guests; although the staff here are well-trained, their attitude towards guests is always a bit too polite, lacking a natural ease." After Yue Cen finished speaking, he looked at the chessboard and placed his white piece in an unexpected position.
Mu Yiran rested his chin on his hand and remained silent for a while before saying, "If you had entered the painting earlier, perhaps we could have avoided some sacrifices."
Yue Cen paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, "It's rare to hear Mr. Mu praise me so highly."
At that moment, the noise from Luo Tan's group was particularly loud: "You're so lame! This is a horror movie? It's not even as good as Big Ear TuTu! It seems entering the painting really did toughen me up."
Li Xiaochun, sitting in the middle, said, "I've always been indifferent to horror movies because I know they're fake, just props."
Wei Dong looked at Luo Tan, "You keep talking about entering the painting, how do you explain that to your girlfriend?"
At a tea table not far away, Luo Tan's girlfriend was chatting and drinking tea with her companions, showing no signs of being a loner. She even seemed to have made plans with Gu Qingqing to go to the lakeside to observe egrets over the weekend.
"I've never seen a real wild egret before," Luo Yu's girlfriend smiled sweetly. "When I was in middle school, I especially loved reading Jian Zhen's essays. I remember she wrote: 'When I can no longer comfort you, or you no longer care about me, please remember that in our fleeting years, twelve egrets once flew across the autumn lake.'"
"So beautiful," Gu Qingqing nodded repeatedly. "I remember copying Du Mu's poems when I was little, one of which was about egrets: 'Startled, they fly far away, reflecting the green mountains, a pear tree's blossoms fall in the evening breeze.' —If it were a metaphor for pear blossoms, it would be beautiful, but these pear blossoms are used to describe a large flock of egrets flying by, it's simply breathtaking."
The two girls seemed to have hit it off immediately.
Wu You, who was eating roasted chestnuts nearby, paused and whispered to Fang Fei, "Could you come up with a poem about egrets right now?"
"Sure, two orioles sing in the green willows, a line of egrets flies up to the blue sky," Fang Fei replied fluently. "You're something else!
If you put this question in the painting, I'd be completely stumped."
Fang Fei was about to finish reciting the poem: "A lone sail disappears into the vast blue sky, a light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains."
"You're something else!" Wu You gave a thumbs up, then looked at Shao Ling, who looked utterly bewildered. "President Shao, how come you don't even know how to eat roasted chestnuts? That's just the shell!"
Wei Dong: "...No, Luo Bo, how exactly did you explain 'Entering the Painting' to your girlfriend?"
Luo Cheng calmly watched the mother zombie on the screen howling as she gave birth to tens of thousands of slippery little zombies, taking a bite of a sweet persimmon: "We're a team, playing a large-scale 'Entering the Painting' adventure game called 'Painting Horror'."
Wei Dong: "..."
Li Xiaochun whispered, "Even if your girlfriend isn't interested in the game, what if she suddenly wants to search for it one day, or talks about it with her friends and finds out she doesn't have the game?"
Luo Cheng smiled easily: "So, I partnered with a friend who owns a game company to make one."
Wei Dong was surprised: "Damn, I absolutely can't play or search for this game."
Li Xiaochun: "Luo Cheng, you definitely truly love your girlfriend."
"Absolutely," Luo Cheng stretched, "My girlfriend has fallen in love with this place and plans to come every autumn."
"The boss said Fenglu welcomes us anytime." Li Xiaochun even considered getting a chef's job at Fenglu so he could live there every day.
Fenglu is a villa built in the mountains, with a glass-enclosed pavilion built next to it.
Everyone was currently in this pavilion, and through the transparent glass walls, they could see the beautiful autumn scenery.
Outside, the bright and swaying October autumn light was shining.
Ke Xun, Qin Ci, and Director Hua's nine-year-old son were brewing tea in an ancient way outside Fenglu.
Director Hua looked through the glass wall at his son, who was playing happily, and his seven-year-old daughter, who was drawing earnestly under a large maple tree, and suddenly felt a sense of peaceful happiness.
Zhu Haowen next to him was engrossed in reading a book. Ever since he had told Zhu Haowen some little-known facts about the New Year's customs and found a related book on the shelf, Zhu Haowen had been reading it intently.
Luo Yuwei and his group were the most lively over there. Director Hua couldn't help but laugh, "Thinking back to when we were on the glass walkway, Luo Bo was frozen in fear, completely different from how he is now. His appearance back then reminded me of my first time driving."
Zhu Haowen: "..."
Director Hua laughed and said, "The first time I drove, I went on the highway. Seriously, I didn't dare blink the whole time, and I was sweating all over. I don't know how I managed to finish those three hours."
Zhu Haowen: "..."
Li Xiaochun interjected, "Director Hua, don't you know that driving has other meanings?"
Director Hua: "Oh? Driving a car is just a simple thing, how could it have other meanings?" Then he asked Zhu Haowen beside him, "Haowen, you have to explain this to me properly. I need to learn more about what you young people say."
Zhu Haowen: "...Or should we continue talking about New Year's customs?"
#Fifth Sketch
On an oval piece of cardboard, it's hard to tell that it's actually a uniquely designed wedding invitation unless you turn it over.
The delicate brushstrokes, reminiscent of fine calligraphy, sketched a lively wedding scene on the back of the invitation. All the figures were dressed in their finest attire, with two men in suits standing out prominently in the center. One, particularly tall, wore a wide smile, a stark contrast to his aloof demeanor. The man beside him, however, beamed with a broad, radiant smile that captivated everyone in the scene.
Everyone in the picture was smiling; some seemed to be raising their glasses in blessings, others engaged in lively conversation. Two ladies in evening gowns stood out, surrounding a man holding a bouquet, seemingly complaining about why he had caught it. The man, meanwhile, stared thoughtfully at the flowers.
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...
(Applause! The End. Thank you for reading.)
Author's Note:
This story is now completely finished. See you in the next story.