"What do you want?" the old man asked in the local dialect, leaving Dante stunned. He said kindly in Mandarin, which he didn't know very well, "Young man, what do you want to buy?"

"Oh, you're here...... It's all just for drawing. Dante replied absentmindedly, but his eyes did not look at the old man. He rolled his eyes to look at the furnishings of the shop, the row of large double-tiered glass cabinets with sliding doors between him and the old man, and the two wooden multi-grid shelves erected against the back wall, all of which were calligraphy and painting materials such as brushes, rice paper, ink blocks, paints, inkstones, and shaft heads. Shang Yiming has no artistic talent and skills, but he had a good relationship with an editor in the art editorial office when he was in the publishing house, so he knew a lot about it, and after a few glances, he felt that in this not very spacious shop, these materials were messy but not messy, and they were placed in a crowded and orderly manner in the limited storage space.

"Of course. What are you drawing, what are you looking for?" The old man's voice became a little unkind, interrupting his observation. He saw the old man's face look alert, and his hands clenched. The old man was dressed in crepe, short and thin, but his eyes, hidden behind thick spectacle lenses, were particularly attentive. "Do you have acrylic here?" Dante was afraid that the old man would really be used as a stepping point, so he hurriedly pretended to be a knowledgeable person to divert his attention. "Yes, yes. The old man smiled and said enthusiastically, "You are an oil painter? I have not only Chinese painting materials but also Western painting materials in my shop." Wait a minute, I'll show you. "No need, old man. Let me ask, do you have any paintings in your store besides the materials?" Oh, you're buying paintings. To be honest, I don't have many paintings here, but they are all very good, ink and oil paintings, but they are all put away, if you want to see them, ......"

"Oh, no hassle. I don't draw paintings, and I don't buy paintings. Dante already had the idea of putting an old man's words, "I actually make documentaries, humanities documentaries." "Oh, it's like Central 9?" "Ah, no, no, no. To be honest, the films we are making now are not up to the level that can be broadcast in the central 9, so they are sold to websites and some small columns. But we're also trying to reach a high level!" Dante pretended to pull out his pocket and said, "Yo, I forgot my business card." Mr. Lao, we are a documentary studio, and I am the topic planner of the studio, simply put, I am looking for what subject matter can be filmed. At present, we are preparing to make a new film, which is about small shops in different cities that are also old and have a sense of age. Seeing the light in the old man's eyes, he scanned the room again and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this art supply store of yours in this alley is a typical store, right?"

"Hehe, I see, come in and sit, come in and sit. The old man removed a small glass case as an entrance, invited Dante in, brought him a small stool, and made him tea. Although he still maintains a certain demeanor and reserve, once he recalls the past, the old gentleman still can't help but tell the old things accumulated in his heart. He said that he loved painting, and said that when he was young, he did study under the famous calligraphers and painters of Hunan, but unfortunately he was not talented and his skills were not refined, and finally entered the state-owned art supplies store near his home as a salesperson to continue his fate with painting, and then caught up with the tide of unit transformation, and he spent his savings to put the store down and operate independently, which has been nearly 30 years, and then told about the bitterness of tasting all kinds of bitterness over the years, such as at the beginning of the year, the people around him ridiculed that with his mind and method will definitely lose money, such as the three or two years there are not many customers in the store, and the business mainly depends on the old customers to do framing and processing, and now the children love calligraphy and painting are becoming less and less, for example, he divorced his wife almost 20 years ago, and his two daughters never came back to see him after they married in the big city.

"Alas, the price you paid for your pure love of painting is too heavy. Looking at the faded multi-grid wooden frame, thinking that after tonight, the old man might look forward to his obscure little shop one day on the documentary channel, Dante couldn't help but feel guilty, but after listening to him talk for more than half an hour, he finally came out with a crack, he had to see the stitches, "So, for twenty years, until today, have you been living alone in this shop?" The old man sighed and said, "Alas! Yes, I'm alone, and I've been unconsciously for so many years, and it was originally estimated that this old bone was in the ground, and the store was gone. But I didn't expect it - probably because of fate, just over a week ago, a young man suddenly came, haha, just like you walked in. Then, before I could have imagined it, he stayed in the store to accompany me and help me. ”

"Young man?" asked Dante, taking a deep breath, "is he here to make a documentary like I did, and why did he stay?" the old gentleman took a sip of tea and said, "He's not as lucky as you." He's a local of ours, and his family is gone. He also likes to draw, so he left us to study and explore, but as a result, he ran into walls everywhere and completely failed in his career. I had a girlfriend who was very nice to him, but I also left him - I don't know what kind of 'leaving' he was talking about, so I didn't ask much. So now he has decided to return to his roots, to his hometown, which, in his own words, is where he belongs. "Wow, you know him so well?" "Well, that's all he told me, the day he first came to the store. He talked to me for a long time, and I could see that he really liked to draw, even though he didn't seem to have received much formal instruction and didn't know much about many of his professional knowledge. We still talked very speculatively, and he made me feel like I was a teacher and instructed students, haha, for the first time in my life. In the end, he asked me if I could take him in as a small worker, and help me take care of my business every day, and the salary would not be too high, as long as I could let him live here and take care of his food. ""Stay here. So you just kept him?" "Yes, I don't think he looks like a bad person, and he and I have the same interests, and it's not bad to be a companion together, so I agreed." Don't say it, he was very diligent after he came, and he helped me do a lot of things. ”

Dante became more and more convinced that he had found the right place, and his energy was stronger, and the exhaustion of the long night walk was almost wiped out. He asked the old man what the young man was doing in the shop. The old man smiled and said, "It's just that the goods come in and help me move them, and then help me pack up the things in the store, and the other is to cook and clean up the housework." "Doesn't he greet the guests?" "No, I'll have to do it myself." This kid is shy, and he seems to have some ideas, and he likes to stay in the room when he has nothing to do, probably tinkering with some drawing, and I didn't bother him. ”

Dante couldn't help but glance at the back wall of the shop, where there was a small door between the two wooden shelves, almost halfway between them. He expected that there must be a hut or even a small courtyard leading to it, and that the "young man" in the old man's mouth must be living in it. In an instant, he had a whim: this kid was behind the door at the moment, maybe he was still holding the door to listen to himself chatting with the old man. This hypothesis made him excited and then panicked: what would he do if the "young man" was the person he was looking for, and he recognized his voice behind the door and pushed it out? What would he do when he saw him?

"What does he look like? I mean, does he have an elegant temperament like you?" "Haha, I'm a bad old man, what's elegant? As for this young man, if you only talk about his appearance, at a glance he really doesn't look like an artist. He's a thin man, and his fingers don't look as thick as the pen. ”

Dante stood up and said, "Is he there? I want to meet him!" Seeing that the old man was stunned, he quickly explained: "This young man and you are very similar to a kind of inheritance, if you interview him and let him talk about his own opinions, maybe he can express the meaning of passing on the torch." The old man suddenly realized, "Oh. But he's not here. "Doesn't he live here?" Can you let me go to his house and have a look?" "What for?" the old gentleman's vigilance came up again, "Do you want to make a documentary to see where people sleep?" Dante sat down and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, old sir, I was reckless." I thought this young man was very representative and eager to get to know him. With my eyesight, a glance at his living space can give me an initial impression of his character. However, the old man did not quite believe his words: "Hmph, when he is not there, it is not polite for me to show people his room casually." You want to get to know him so much, come and talk to him face to face tomorrow. "Well, isn't he coming back today?" "It's coming back, but it's going to be late." ”

The old man pointed out the window in the direction Dante came from and said, "There is a new very large and extravagant real estate over there, called Longsheng Manor, do you know? Tonight, the auditorium of that manor will hold an opening party." More than a month ago, they approached me and asked me to rent a batch of oil paintings from my shop to hang tonight. At five o'clock in the afternoon, he had already taken the paintings from the store to Longsheng Manor in their van, and he would return with the paintings after the party. Those big bosses, I'm afraid this kind of party will be tossed until late at night. ”

"Well, so to speak, I can only leave a small regret today. Dante struggled to control the turmoil caused by the most shocking and urgent information of the day, and then he considered the emergency plan and said, "By the way, after all this conversation, there is one basic question that I forgot to ask: What is the name of this young man?"

(End of chapter)