"If you can let this little guy who doesn't understand anything see that grandpa drew Guan Gong, that's right."

"Huh?" The boy was still a little puzzled.

Without answering his grandson's doubts, the old man hugged the boy: "Come, Xiaoshi, tell grandpa what you know Guan Gong looks like." ”

The boy looked at the sky: "Hmm... Red-faced, long-bearded, thick-eyed, big-eyed......"

Every time the boy said an image of Guan Gong in his heart, the old man would tap his finger twice on his face.

Although the lines on the face were different from the traditional way of drawing faces, under the guidance of the old man, the boy seemed to understand something, but he couldn't say it.

Seeing that the boy wanted to speak and stopped, the old man laughed twice and sent the face mask to the boy: "Come, this face mask will be given to you." ”

"Really?" The boy had some surprise in his eyes, and shouted 'Grandpa, I'm out to play' and rushed out again: "Wang Fang, come and see, look at the mask my grandfather made for me, it's not good-looking!" ”

"Hey, you haven't eaten yet!" Behind him, the old man couldn't stop the boy, and could only watch the boy disappear outside.

...

Ten years later, a young man rushed over from outside the alley with a bright smile: "Grandpa, look what I have gotten!" I've joined the troupe! ”

Inside the house, the old man still had a pair of eyes, and he was engrossed in tracing a face, and when he heard the shouts of the young man outside, he reluctantly put down the paintbrush in his hand.

Over the years, there have been not ten but eight of his ruined yearbooks, all of which have been taken away by this bastard, and he once suspected that this bastard did it on purpose.

But when he heard that his grandson had joined the troupe, the old man's eyes still showed a hint of joy.

Rushing into the house, the young man saw the neatly arranged mask brushes at a glance: "Grandpa, are you still painting these faces?" Outsiders said that your face can't be on the table. ”

"You don't care if he can get on the stage, you say whether he is good, whether he looks like or not, and whether he is beautiful or not." The old man looked at the young man angrily and stomped his feet: "You liked this face when you were a child." ”

"Wasn't that when I was a kid?" The young man smiled: "Besides, I didn't say that your face painting is not beautiful. Some teachers in our drama team said that this face is magical, but it's a pity that they can't bring it on stage to show others. ”

"Anyway, grandpa, where did you learn how to draw this face, I don't think there seems to be any face painting of yours outside?"

"I learned it from a village." The old man seemed to think of something, sighed but stopped talking: "Okay, I know that you don't like my face painting skills, you should learn your singing in peace." ”

"Hey." The young man nodded, stretched out his hand and handed over a ticket: "Grandpa, there is a scene of mine in three days, you must go to see it." ”

"Got it, got it." Pretending to be immersed in the face painting again, the old man waved his hand impatiently, but after the young man left, he couldn't help but rub the ticket.

Three days later, watching the young man on stage participate in the play, the old man burst into tears below.

After a few years, the young man has grown into an adult, and the accumulation of years of training has allowed him to go further and further in the drama industry, and gradually, his reputation is no longer limited to a drama troupe, but spreads outward.

This year is the year when his drama career officially reached its peak, but it was also the darkest year of his life - the old man who accompanied him from childhood to adulthood is no longer good.

"Ahem, Xiaoshi..." Looking at the tearful man beside the bed, the old man pulled the corners of his mouth with difficulty, revealing a smile: "Grandpa is no good, in the future, you may be the only one." ”

Shaking the man's hand, the old man struggled to straighten up: "Listen to grandpa, grandpa is already very happy to watch you grow up, so, don't be sad for grandpa." ”

"Everything you wanted to know before, grandpa put him in a wooden box at home. Grandpa is glad that you can follow the path you love, and Grandpa wants to watch you keep going. It's just that.... Grandfather.... I can't do it..."

Reaching out and touching the man's head one last time, the old man smiled and closed his eyes.

"Grandpa!" The man burst into tears, but he could no longer wake up the old man.

A few days later, after taking care of the old man's funeral, the man returned to the old house and opened the box that the old man had never let himself open before.

There weren't many things in the box, except for an unforgettable Monkey King and some paint brushes, there were only two books.

One book has some faces drawn by the old man from time to time, and the other book is some things that the old man has written down.

The fourth day of October in the year of Ding Mao.

After an accident, my voice broke and I couldn't sing anymore, and a new role took my place.

The third day of the first month of the year of Ding Mao.

I was told that there was a place where my throat might be cured, and I cleaned up and got ready to hit the road.

April 25 of the year of his reign.

After more than a year, I finally found this village. Most of the people in the village have the surname Gou, so I call the village Goujia Village, maybe it's a problem of feng shui, and the village always gives me a strange feeling.

April 26 of the year of his reign.

I stayed outside the village overnight and vaguely heard movement in the village, as if something was going on. Early the next morning, the people of the village took me into the village.

I told the village chief about my problem, and the village chief shook his head, saying that I had come too late and that my throat had not been cured.

I was a little disappointed, but maybe because I wasn't expecting too much in the first place, I quickly accepted the reality.

April twenty-seven of the year of his reign.

I wanted to leave the village, but the village chief invited me to stay and wait until after the Dragon Boat Festival, so I chose to stay.

Three.

I stayed in the village for a few days, I don't know why, I slept very peacefully, it was the most restful day I slept in a year or two.

On this day, I saw a face mask at the village chief's house.

This mask looks very different from the opera troupe's mask, it is neither fair nor eye-catching, most of it is some black lines, which is cold to the touch. But for some reason, this Facebook mask left a deeper impression on me than I have been writing down my face for decades.

I asked the village chief, and he said that it was a craft that had been passed down from generation to generation in the village, and it was not passed down to the outside world.

Five.

It was the Dragon Boat Festival, but it seemed that there was no such festival in the village, so I was given a lunch and then sent me out of the village. The rice was delicious, especially the duck.

September 11 of the year of his reign.

I went home, gave up drama, married a daughter-in-law, and gave birth to a son, whom I named Zhang Liangsheng.

September 23 of the year of Gengwu.

The child is getting older day by day, but whenever I see those drama corners, I always can't help but think of the face I saw in Goujia Village, and I want to draw him.

The nineteenth month of the year of Gengwu.

I tried, I can't draw... I can't draw it anyway...

Why... Why...

The fifth day of the eighth month of the year of Xinwei.

I heard that there was a war in the northeast.

I gave up on the idea of drawing the face in the image, but I still can't forget the lines, and I want to try again.