week

By the time I got home, it was getting dark. The food on the table has been set, a transparent red candle flickering on the flame, and the room is filled with a warm family atmosphere.

He stuck it on Rainbow's cheek as usual.

"Shu Li's perfume smells as sexy as her people." Rainbow took his coat and hung it on the hook at the door. "Looks like you're narrowly out of the dead today."

"I almost roasted a whole lamb." Zhou You smiled reluctantly. He wanted to create a light-hearted and humorous atmosphere as much as possible, so as not to put too much emotional burden on Shui Hong.

"I thought you weren't coming back for dinner." Rainbow quipped. "I'm like those wives who have been left out in the cold, and they have to stay under the lamp until dawn."

"How can I be? I handed her the painting and talked about it again. I haven't seen you for two years, and I have a lot to say. Zhou You said lightly, picking up the bowl. He felt very hungry, as if he had just been through a terrible battle, and he was exhausted, but he had no appetite at all.

"Zhou You, no one asked you to repent. I'm not a priest. Shui Hong carried the food for him. I know that you feel bad in your heart, and it is normal to have an old relationship. Otherwise, it would be too ruthless and unjust. In these years, things tend to be newer and more fake, which makes everyone start to feel nostalgic, especially old lovers. If you're not too tired, talk to me about your problems and see if I can help you. ”

Zhou You's eye circles are a little moist. His heart was heavy, and the feeling of Shu Li's paralysis on him had not completely subsided, how would Shu Li spend the night after he left? Will she be able to accept this fact? From now on, how will the relationship between him and Shu Li be handled? He ate a few bites of food in a hurry, and alone in the kitchen he sullenly cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks for a long time, and absentmindedly splashed the water on the ground. It took a long time to re-enter the living room, sit beside Shui Hong, be silent for a while, and speak:

"Shui Hong, you can judge after listening to me. I would like to start with a picture of a woman's body, which I saw at the staircase of Shu Li's house this morning, and I will never forget it for the rest of my life. I really want to paint it, and if you see this painting, you know how difficult it will be for me and Shu Li to cut off this feeling...... However, I will only do this if you agree to do so, and I will not hurt you in the slightest......"

"Don't be so complicated, I'm a few years older than you after all, and I'm always a little more resilient than you emotionally. You just hurt me, and I can bear it. You say. Shui Hong listened to Zhou You's roundabout opening remarks, and felt that things were probably a little troublesome, so she took a deep breath to make herself as mentally prepared as possible.

Zhou You hugged Shui Hong by his side and talked in detail about what happened that day. In the process of narrating, he hoped several times that he could avoid the important and light, so as not to cause Shui Hong's displeasure. In his many experiences with his girlfriends, he knows that the relationship between a woman and another woman is even more important and complicated than the relationship between countries, and there are many traps that men cannot detect, and the slightest carelessness will make them turn over and fall off the horse. Besides, he is not an honest person by nature, and when he gets along with his former girlfriend, he often plays small tricks in order to allocate his time more reasonably. But looking at Shui Hong's gentle and clear eyes, he couldn't hide even a small detail, he spoke clumsy and stumbling, like a novice who was trying to paint for the first time facing the examiner. He had to let Rainbow know everything between him and Shu Li, and even everything that might happen, because Rainbow was not a grain of dew for him, but meant eternity.

It was late at night, and Zhou You told the story of two women to two women in one day, and he was really tired. By the end of the day, it was as if he was still struggling except for his mouth, and his brain and body had already fallen asleep.

"Sleep, I know you're too sleepy, let's talk about it tomorrow......" Shui Hong said lightly patting him on the back. He seemed to be struggling in a black quagmire, slowly sinking, sinking......

Zhou You let out a slight snoring sound, but Shui Hong did not feel sleepy. Her eyes widened in the darkness and she fell into a long contemplation......

In the middle of the night, the wind blew on the window lattice of the corridor, and the whole building seemed to be shaking in the wind.

The woman stood naked at the corner of the stairs and challenged Rainbow sadly.

Although Zhou You told him about his past with Shu Li without reservation not long after he met Shui Hong. Although for more than a year, Shu Li's lingering shadow has actually always existed in the lives of Zhou You and Shui Hong, and Shui Hong has always had a unique premonition that Shu Li will reappear sooner or later. But Shui Hong still failed to fully estimate that Shu Li's old love for Zhou You was so crazy and persistent. And in one day two years later, a vigorous emotional sprout burst out rapidly. Although this old root and new branch were far from endangering the big tree of her and Zhou You's relationship, it really diverted the nourishment near their roots. The big verdant tree no longer seems to be alone. Shui Hong deeply feels that the root system of love has encountered obstacles and disturbances in stretching. It is true that in tropical rainforests with abundant sunshine and rainfall, large trees and shrubs can coexist and prosper together. But there are also often green vines climbing the big trees, intertwined layer by layer, and the branches are forced against each other. Finally, like a python, the tree is strangled alive, and then the trunk is used as its ladder, vine trellis, and fertilizer.

Shui Hong knows her charm and Zhou You's true feelings for her, so what she is worried about is not Shu Li's temptation as a woman. If Shu Li was just an ordinary beautiful girl, she could only become a low bush under the big tree at most, and Shui Hong could tolerate her surviving under the tree without worrying. But now that she has returned to Kyoto, Shu Li not only has beauty, but also business skills and connections, as well as the means of an agent. Shu Li's strength is precisely Shuihong's weakness, and this is the launch vehicle that Zhou You's career urgently needs. So this advantage of Shu Li may become a kind of vine with strong strangulation power, and she can't get out after being entangled by her. Especially in today's situation of accelerating the entry of art works into the market, Shu Li's strengths will become stronger and stronger, and her weaknesses will become weaker and weaker. After all, Zhou You couldn't live in seclusion with her in the living room, and fantasized endlessly. His art will encounter a brutal competition for survival, and then he will feel more and more in need of, and even dependent on, Shuli. Shu Li's planning and planning will eventually become an indispensable part of Zhou You's career. This is the time of brokers and businessmen who dominate products, markets, prices, and even love. Could it be that she and Zhou You, a big tree that has grown up with great hardships, will end up being strangled to death by Shu Li's green vine unconsciously? A feeling of fear crept in, and Shui Hong was so breathless that she couldn't breathe. She couldn't defend herself against the ambitious agents, and she felt that her strengths were rapidly waning, oxidizing into a pile of scrap metal in the patina-filled air......

She carefully rolled over and gently stroked Zhou You's sleeping body.

After Zhou You came back from Shu Li, the inner boredom and contradictions also made her feel painful. So should we stretch out its luxuriant canopy in time to block the sun and suffocate it in the bud while its new branches have not yet grown into green vines? Or take advantage of its undeveloped roots, use its own underground developed root system to tighten the old roots, so that it will dry up and die? Perhaps, why not tolerate it, treat it well, coexist with it, go with the flow, wait for the law of natural selection, and let fate dictate?

Shui Hong was at a loss, she was stumped by her own question. For a long time after she fell in love, her worries came from Ah Ni, but she was still able to balance her feelings with maternal love, she would not let her own love, but she would never hurt her daughter for love. She seems to have been training in floor exercise on the balance beam, and she has not missed the ground so far. However, a woman's instinct told her that she would never back down from another woman, and that Zhou You was a canyon rather than a bridge, and she and she could only look at each other across the bank. If she retreats, she will be surrounded by the dry desert Gobi and the Desert of Death, but Shu Li will be like a zipline, building her flybridge over the moat, and from then on, like a fish in water......

Rainbow's pride and self-confidence were shaken for the first time. Her feelings are not fragile, but the love in this world is too fragile. She can't dominate the love between her and Zhou You, and even Zhou You can't dominate it. Earthly love will eventually escape the gates of hell, and any kind of earthly gravity may cause it to fall into the abyss of darkness. She wanted to be the last of the watchmen of love at the end of the century, but she was besieged by the center and the defenders, and she was so isolated and helpless that she could not see the attackers of the black press, like a swarm of locusts and ravens devouring the rice......

So, can't she be an attacker? Why can't she defend herself? Shui Hong suddenly thought excitedly. The thought flashed through me like a midnight moonlight in a dark room. - What if she played the role of that agent herself? What if she becomes Zhou You's agent? What if she came to help Zhou You manage those paintings? If...... She believes that she is not too stupid, and if she really wants to do it, why can't she do it better than Shu Li? Once the rainbow goes to the sea, with her appreciation of painting art accumulated over the years, perhaps she will soon be able to find another way to create a world of her own. At that time, the sky of Kyoto will also rise with a neon of Taihu Lake, which is amazing......

The moonlight was fleeting, and it was dark again.

Where was the moon that night? The moon always shines because of the sun.

The rainbow, which had briefly wandered on the seashore in distress, quickly turned ashore and denied his thoughts. She asked herself over and over again, what kind of woman she wants to be, and is there another content in a woman's life that is more important and precious than love? While she entrusted her love to Zhou You, did she also entrust her soul and career together? When she accepted Zhou You's love, was she confused and fascinated by love, or because of Zhou You's love, she awakened a kind of pursuit of the essence of art in the depths of her heart, looking forward to realizing her higher value in a new life?

Shui Hong carefully recalled the turbulent days of the past year. Her monograph "Love and Art" has already written 80,000 or 90,000 words, and another 100,000 words can be completed. There is also "A New Theory of Art History" in the making, etc., the accumulated materials and thoughts in her mind are enough for her to work hard for many years. She had many, many things to do, and she had a strong interest and anticipation for each of those future books. It was her independent, individualized career, could she really give up these things she loved to be the agent who had never had the slightest temptation for her?

If, like Shu Li, she already had an irrepressible desire to do business, it would be understandable.

But she went to the sea, maybe just for Zhou You. For Shu Li. In order to occupy Zhou You and eliminate Shu Li.

It's a pity that even Shu Li understands that she can't live on the love that Zhou You fed her, so she chose to go south to learn to eat by herself. When Shui Hong saw Shu Li's first face, she had a faint good impression of Shu Li in her heart, she liked Shu Li's independent character, Shu Li is not a moon or a satellite, Shu Li is a whimsical and lonely planet. And she, Shuihong, has to rely on the reflection of the sun to shine, rely on the gravitational pull of the earth to survive, and rely on the guards who do not leave an inch every day to consolidate her territory - then she has not yet fought against Shu Li, and lost to Shu Li in the first round?

She couldn't.

Shui Hong felt a heat in her heart. She sat up quietly, walked to the window, and gently lifted a corner of the curtain.

The sky has appeared a pale blue bright color, and the thin crescent moon is like a jade arch bridge, erected on the distant horizon. The wind stopped and the clouds dwelled, and there were only a few faint morning stars, twinkling with a faint light.

Shui Hong felt a surging current of heat rushing in her heart. She didn't want to passively wait for Shu Li's attack, like many women often make the mistake of guarding against the invasion of imaginary enemies all day long, but she didn't know where her gap was. Rather than let Shu Li covet her in the future, treating her as an elusive shadow or a poacher, why not invite Shu Li into their lives and have a frank and open time competition?

A strange picture appeared in her head. She decided to give it a try according to this idea, for herself, and for her and Zhou You's love. Perhaps it was a thrilling gamble, and few women would be willing to try such a risky experiment, but her gambling money was not money, but wisdom, a woman's ego and self-esteem; It may be an equal and friendly contest, maybe it will be a time-consuming and laborious rally, but at least there will be no more feeling that Shu Li always seems to be lying on the other side of Zhou You - there will always be winners and losers between them.

Zhou You slept until near noon before waking up. At that time, Shui Hong was walking into the bedroom, planning to wake him up for lunch.

Zhou You stretched out his hand to Shui Hong with sleepy eyes and said, "Come, come, sit next to me...... I just like to see you meditate quietly, not impetuous at all, so beautiful, I really want to draw you now......"

Shui Hong kissed him and said with a smile:

"Don't keep painting me, painting my human body, and now you can't take it out for exhibition, didn't you describe a picture for me yesterday, it's an interesting work......"

"What's the picture?"

"Sleep all night and forget? It's Shu Li's picture at the top of the stairs. ”

Zhou You stroked his hair and laughed. "Oh, I remember...... However, that's just talking, how can you really paint? As he spoke, he finally came to his senses and asked urgently, "Do you want me to draw Shuli?" Hey, isn't this deliberately going to take my army...... I see, you're punishing me, aren't you? ”

Seeing that Shui Hong didn't answer, he thought about it and said, "Isn't yesterday's incident already in the past, Shu Li has promised me that we will only be friends in the future...... If you're not happy that we're friends, I'll be able to cut ties with her right away. Shui Hong, as long as you say a word, your choice is my choice. ”

Shui Hong pressed the tip of his nose and said, "A man and two women, according to convention, of course, have to be chosen by men." It's a pity that women can't duel with each other, and the losing side is naturally unconvinced. Then there are hidden dangers. Therefore, it is not fair for women to let men arbitrate. ”

"Ha, I can't imagine that Ms. Qin Shuihong is still a feminist."

"It has nothing to do with feminism, I don't like anything anymore. It's really just a matter between me and Shuli, and I'm going to compete with her myself. Shui Hong seemed to say casually.

"Don't be so serious, you're kidding, huh?" Zhou You turned over, pillowed his head on Shui Hong's lap, looked up at her and said: "I won't let Shu Li be my agent, I'm not interested in any money and fame, I don't want them to hype me up as a sensation around the world, that's not hype." I'd rather be a free-spirited little painter and live the life of an ordinary artist with you, as long as you are enough...... It's just that you have to suffer with me for a few more years, and you can't live in a beautiful and spacious apartment for a while, as long as you can stand it, I don't care......"

Shui Hong said in a low voice but very resolutely: "It's not a matter of money and house. It's two people who love each other, and neither has the right to make the other sacrifice for themselves. Whether it's a relationship or a career, I don't like the word sacrifice. ”

"Okay, no sacrifice. What if you don't sacrifice? Are you willing to let her mess up our quiet lives? ”

"You're going to extremes again. In the formula of love between a woman and a man, either the lover is the enemy. But what do I think...... What I want is to be friends with Shu Li, really good friends. ”

Zhou You sat up all of a sudden, his eyes widening. He finally understood that Shui Hong was not joking, her demeanor was very serious, and there was a kind of intriguing meaning in her words. He said worriedly:

"You're friends with her? Shu Li, Shu Li, she is not a docile kitten, but a beautiful and fierce leopard. I can't control her, can you control her? If you don't get it, you'll be bitten by her in the future. She loved me very much, and we were the last old friends of our youth, but her love was terrible. She has a strong desire for dominance, everything is so strong, materialistic desires, lust, ambition, vision and social relationships are strong. Her plan was tempting to me, but I couldn't live the business-like life she had arranged for me. I'm tired, I don't want to ferment like crazy again, I miss the two of us on our honeymoon in space, I miss the smell of cellar wine in the days of seclusion. Shui Hong, I need to be quiet now, don't let Shu Li bother me again......"

"Business, you are only afraid that Shu Li will affect you, why don't you want to think about it, you can also affect Shu Li?" Shui Hong looked a little angry, but her tone immediately became softened again. "To be honest, if it weren't for me, Shu Li would have come back, and she would still be yours. I always have some regrets in my heart. Even if you don't have love for her, can't you even give friendship? Isn't that too childish and unmodern? A desperate woman is more ferocious than a leopard with cubs, can you really bear to force a woman you once loved to the cliff? ”

Zhou You muttered: "But this is not a joke, if you lure the wolf into the house, our career and the peace of this small family will make her mess up." ”

Shui Hong smiled and said, "I really want to dance with wolves." There are many wolf children in the world, which shows that wolves also have their kind and lovely side. I'm really interested in Shu Li, the male boss has a lot of money, and I've seen a lot; But I have never been in contact with a young and beautiful modern woman like Shu Li. I also know a few middle-aged women who have done a beautiful job, but unfortunately they lack the personal charm of women. I study love and beauty, and I will not let go of anything related to love and beauty. Just because Shu Li earned money and came back to you, I think she has a spiritual pursuit deep down in her heart......"

Zhou You rubbed his temples and said, "Women's questions are really long-winded. Don't forget, just a few years after I finished my master's degree, you want to test me with a postdoc topic, and it seems that in the future, my girlfriends will be less and more convenient......"

"Okay, I'm not going to amuse you, let's talk about painting first." Shui Hong went into the bathroom and wrung a wet towel to wipe Zhou You's face, then took out an official document from the table and handed it to Zhou You. He said: "You have probably forgotten about it a long time ago, this is the notice of several art publications and some influential galleries in the United Nations this year to solicit the works of outstanding young and middle-aged painters and hold a contemporary autumn oil painting exhibition. The preview will begin in two months. The organizing committee also wrote a few words on the notice, hoping that you can participate. I think it will be of great benefit to you that you have been at home for so long, and it is time for you to show up in the art world, listen to the reactions of art critics and society, and communicate with your peers, and try the market of your works again. ”

Zhou You asked stunnedly: "Exhibition?" What do I exhibit for? ”

"Although you have done a lot of modern works in the past few years, isn't your best at body painting? It's been more than two years since I saw your human body at a nationwide art exhibition. ”

"The human body? But the two body paintings that I am most proud of, the model lady named Rainbow, said that she is going to leave them for the 21st century. ”

"Isn't there a ready-made model?"

"Who?"

"Shu Li. You've already drawn out the composition last night. ”

"You're kidding again. That picture is indeed beautiful and moving, but it is a female nude, you will not let Shu Li be a model, right? ”

"No, it's Shu Li who was asked to be a model."

"Are you crazy?"

"It's art that drives me crazy, not you." Shui Hong smiled. "The picture you described was shaking in front of my eyes last night. I think there are many things to think about in that woman's body - personality, love, longing, pain, pursuit...... I don't know for sure, but I'm sure it's a novel and peculiar picture, with a deterrent effect on the human psyche......"

"You have to shake Shu Li with this move, you have shocked me." Zhou You was surprised. Then he was so excited that he rubbed his palms and looked eager to try.

Shui Hong said softly: "This painting must be painted well, the feeling of the old lover precipitates the sense of history, time, and the space of the times." I think you'll be able to draw something new. Really, I closed my eyes and thought about the way she stretched out her arms and called, it was so infectious, unlike all body paintings......"

"That'...... So how do I tell her? Zhou You felt embarrassed again.

"Actually, you don't have to talk to her about painting first." Shui Hong seems to have set up an ambush. "Didn't you say you wanted to invite her to me? You can call her first and make an appointment to come to our house as a guest. Let's get to know each other formally. When the time comes, if everyone feels good, how about you talk to her again? ”

"What if you don't get along?"

"Then it's up to your luck, let it be."

Zhou You said sincerely: "Shui Hong, I really didn't expect you to be so powerful, Shu Li is your opponent, it would be good if she understood this." In the future, I'll let you be my chief planner. ”

"I'm too lazy to mind your business." Rainbow dragged him out of bed and pushed him to the bathroom. "Go brush your teeth, breakfast and lunch together. I'm the chief planner in charge of these trivial matters, right? In the future, I'll have to take care of Miss Shu Li......"

Shui Hong seemed to want to say something, but stopped talking again.