The human psyche is like this, and it always seems to be; The more you can't get something, the more you want it, and the greater the difficulties encountered in the process of realizing this wish, the stronger the will to struggle.

- Giovannioli

I don't know what kind of festival it is today, there are many more people on the street than before, crowded and lively. I walked forward with the flow of people, and the shouting of the stalls on the street was several times louder than usual, some sold the clothes and hairpins that the girls liked, some sold the golden cage and jade that the boys and brothers liked, some sold the flowers, birds, fish and insects that the old people liked, and some sold the clay sculptures and candy people and tigers that the children liked. I looked left and right, trying to find something to buy back, otherwise I would be laughed at by the man when I got home, "Go out empty-handed and come back empty-handed, shameful".

Thinking of that person's disdainful look, I think it's funny, I'm half a head shorter, white and thin, obviously I have no power to restrain the chicken, but I always like to laugh at me and despise me, always like to come over to make trouble when I'm painting, sometimes the way I shake my head with a dog's tail and grass sometimes makes people hate itchy, but seeing his big watery eyes but can't bear to do it, it's really helpless.

"Sell umbrellas, sell umbrellas, paint with your own hands, stroke by stroke, shade the sun and rain on sunny days, drive away evil and avoid evil at the right time, two people will never disperse when they play umbrellas together!"

Umbrella? I followed the clamor and walked forward, it was a small wooden cart on the side of the road, with a pole on it, and all kinds of oil-paper umbrellas hung on it, and a neatly dressed old man stood in front of the cart with an umbrella and shouted.

This grandfather's oil-paper umbrella is really good, a neat arrangement, an umbrella and a color, the pattern is not repeated, the only thing that is the same is that all are tough skeletons, beautiful umbrella shape, and the lint paper coated with tung oil is said to be the pattern drawn by him himself, and it is a pleasure to go out on a rainy day.

"This young master, why don't you buy an umbrella? This is my new one, and it's beautiful! ”

When my grandfather saw me coming, he stepped forward enthusiastically, handed me the umbrella in his hand, and motioned for me to open it.

I looked down and touched my pocket, and then looked at the umbrella that Ah Gong stretched out in front of me, and under Ah Gong's expectant eyes, I had to take it. After gently opening, what is presented in front of you is an incomparably delicately drawn umbrella - the outer lint paper is verdant, shrouded in this cloud of smoke, layers of green bamboo reflect the blue pool, many dangerous peaks are inserted into the sky, and there are some birds on the top of the clouds, this scene is very elegant and beautiful.

Alas, although the man doesn't like to go out and basically can't use an umbrella, it's better to buy it back for him, even if you don't use it, it looks good on the wall.

"Grandpa, I want this umbrella."

"Hey, thank you, Childe! It's your umbrella bag, grab it! ”

I took the umbrella bag, reached out in the money bag and calculated the copper coins and took them out, and was about to hand them to the grandfather who bought the umbrella, when suddenly a gust of wind rose, and the money in my hand was blown away, and the money inside was blown away by the wind, and before I could react, another gust of wind suddenly rose, and the copper coins on the ground were blown away in an instant, disappearing into the bustling crowd.

By the time I came back to my senses, the only money I had left was the five copper coins I held in my hand.

"Grandpa, I only have these five copper coins left, can I afford your umbrella?"

"I want six copper coins for this umbrella! You can't do more, you can't do less, and this umbrella is now in your hands, my umbrella is an umbrella to recognize a person, it has recognized you, you must buy it, otherwise you can't afford to become an umbrella spirit in the future! ”

Just one copper coin away, I looked at Ah Gong, who was starting to have a black face and a little nervous words in his mouth, and I was a little nervous. What an umbrella recognizes a person, this is clearly a forced purchase and sale, looking at such a delicate umbrella, I didn't expect the stall owner to be so excessive.

Seeing that I was indifferent, the grandfather who bought the umbrella began to raise the volume and pull me with his hands, and the movement became louder and louder, attracting more and more onlookers. As a last resort, solutions flashed through my mind. The money bag is lost, the money in it is gone, the umbrella is gone, but you can't do without it, go home and get the money? Looking at this Ah Gong's posture, it is estimated that he will not let people go; Mortgage what you have? It's just that I went out in a hurry today and didn't bring valuable jewelry that can be mortgaged. In this situation, it seems that you can only borrow money from the people around you.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to the people around me, I suddenly saw a copper coin on the ground in front of me that had been missed by the wind. I immediately ran over and was about to pick up the life-saving copper coin with gratitude, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a withered hand grabbed my wrist—

"This is my copper coin, do you want it?"

What kind of sound was this, extremely harsh, as if it was made by scraping a bronze mirror with a needle, hoarse and sharp, not like a human being. I couldn't help but look up, but I saw a face that I will never forget in my life-

His purple skin, shriveled and withered like the bark of an old tree, his eyeballs sunken into his sockets, staring at me faintly, and the most terrible thing was that he had no nose or mouth, as if the lower part of his entire face had been torn off by something, leaving only a bloody neck to support the mutilated head.

"I'll give you the copper coin, you can give me people!!"

The strange man seemed to use all his strength to scream these words, and instantly turned his face over, and the hand that had been holding my wrist grabbed my neck at some point, and the blood in his neck mixed with minced flesh pounced on me in the face. I was frightened and kept slapping his hand on my hand, but it was firmly wrapped around my neck like a claw, and no matter how much I tried to beat it, it would not help.

I struggled to ask for help from the people around me, but the group looked at me indifferently, as if they were accustomed to the scene in front of them, and none of them came to my aid.

The hand on my neck became tighter and tighter, I slowly lost my breath, the things in front of me became more and more blurred, the faces of the people in front of me began to slowly melt, and slowly all I could see was the terrible face of the strange man in front of me, the faint eyes staring at me, which contained a thick hatred and contempt,

Who's this? Why do this to me?

The extreme lack of oxygen made my consciousness gradually dissipate, and I could feel my whole body trembling uncontrollably, and finally, the hand clapping his hand slipped to the ground, and my eyes went black.

I sat up straight.

…………

There were no old umbrella sellers who forced me to buy and sell, no indifferent onlookers, and no terrifying withered weirdos who pinched my neck, only familiar furniture, and golden retrievers staring at me with their tails dangling and drooling.

I touched my neck with palpitations, and I was relieved to make sure that there was no hand pinching it above.

What's wrong, how did you sleep with such a strange dream?