Art Exhibition

Many years later.

Gu Nanxiao has become a well-known painter.

His painting style is unique in the art circle with its unique gloomy temperament, gray tones and narrative full of stories and pain. It is eye-catching and thought-provoking.

Critics say that his paintings "always contain the deepest and most suppressed emotional tension in the darkest tones", "every stroke seems to be telling the unspeakable past and eternal loss", and "it takes courage to look at his paintings, because it is a direct look at sadness."

His paintings always carry a lingering sadness, a deep and inconsolable loneliness, but they are strangely able to touch the hearts of those who have also experienced profound loss and eternal regret in their lives, becoming a kind of emotional resonance and catharsis.

At a personal themed painting exhibition titled "Fade Away Light," crowds of people flocked to the exhibition and lights were focused.

Art critics, collectors, media reporters and many art lovers gathered together, chatting in low voices, admiring the gloomy world depicted by this young but seemingly weathered painter with empty eyes.

Most of the paintings on display are in somber tones, mainly dark blue, gray-black, dark green and dark ochre.

The pictures often depict empty, rain-soaked streets, blurred, backlit, lonely figures, the never-ending rain outside the window, withered sycamore trees... full of symbolic meanings and suppressed emotions that almost overflow the picture.

The final painting in the exhibition is placed in the center of a separate, stage-like room with carefully designed lighting.

The dark blue velvet curtain solemnly descends, concealing the final mystery and waiting for the most exciting and curious moment of revelation.

People are wondering whether this finale will be even darker and more desperate.

Gu Nanxiao stood in front of the curtain, facing the crowd gathered below with expectant, curious and inquiring eyes. His expression was calm, like a pool of stagnant water.

The years have left deep and ruthless marks on his face, making his originally handsome features even colder and harder, like a rock polished by wind and frost.

Fine wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes, symbolizing countless sleepless nights, and his lips were always tightly pursed out of habit, as if locking up all words and emotions.

Only those deep eyes were still like black jade immersed in a cold pond.

But what is hidden inside is no longer the confusion of a young boy, but a vast and desolate wilderness that no one can understand, with only the figure of one person and a never-ending rain.

"The following will be the finale of this "Fade Away" exhibition. It is also a private work that Mr. Gu Nanxiao has never publicly exhibited and has treasured for many years..."

The host's voice rose slightly with excitement and anticipation, echoing in the quiet exhibition hall and attracting everyone's attention.

Under the gazes of countless people, the dark blue velvet curtain was slowly pulled open by the staff, like the opening of the final chapter of a stage play, revealing the hidden secrets.

A huge oil painting, which is completely different from the gloomy style of the entire exhibition, is presented to everyone.

In an instant, it was as if a beam of invisible, warm, and real sunlight suddenly penetrated all the haze and gloom, illuminating the exhibition hall and dispelling the previous depressing atmosphere!

The picture shows a girl wearing a clean blue and white school uniform with the logo of Nancheng No. 1 Middle School.

She sat by the window in a cafe, her head slightly lowered, concentrating on adjusting the paint in her hand, with a faint, peaceful, beautiful, and heartfelt smile on the corner of her mouth.

The warm and bright, honey-like sunlight of the winter afternoon poured in unreservedly through the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows, gently enveloping her.

It gave her black, smooth hair a fluffy golden halo, which danced on her drooping, long, thick eyelashes like butterfly wings, and cast a soft, moving shadow on her fair, delicate, and seemingly transparent profile.

She exudes a tranquil, focused, non-competitive, and almost overflowing gentle light, like an angel fallen into the mortal world.

It was Jiang Yile who was forever frozen in the most beautiful moment of his life at the age of eighteen.

The painting's brushstrokes are delicate and affectionate, the colors are warm, bright, rich and vivid, and it is filled with an extreme tenderness and cherishment that is almost overflowing.

It forms an extremely strong, shocking and almost subversive contrast with the gloomy and gloomy other works in the exhibition hall.

It is as if the painter poured all his repressed emotions, all the hidden tenderness that he dared not show to others, and all the deep love and longing that he had never expressed into this painting without reservation, and regarded it as the only outlet and as an eternal commemoration.

In the lower right corner of the painting, the title of the work - "Blessings in the Rain" - is written with his unique, slightly sharp but at this moment extremely restrained and gentle brushstrokes.

And a smaller line of words, written as if with all the strength and love of a lifetime:

"I forgive the rain, and I forgive you."

The exhibition hall fell into a brief, extreme silence, as if time had stopped.

Everyone was shocked and moved by the ultimate beauty and warmth contained in this painting and the words behind it that were full of huge stories, contradictions and deep love. They were speechless for a moment.

Immediately, there was a burst of low, suppressed exclamations, discussions and uncontrollable sounds of emotion.

Through this painting, people seem to glimpse a deep, sad, yet most precious and tender love story.

Gu Nanxiao seemed to be isolated from all the noise, praise and touching moments.

He just stood in front of his work quietly, just like he had done for countless days and nights in the past.

Across the thick and cold time, across the insurmountable life and death, he gazed deeply, greedily, and almost painfully at the girl in the painting, who was sealed by his brush, eternal memory, and a lifetime of love.

Subconsciously, with great care and a sense of ritual, his fingers touched the simple silver ring on his ring finger, which had no patterns but seemed to embody his life's emotions.

The touch of cold metal is the only warmth close to his heart in these years, a silent and eternal engagement.

Yile, look, I am living a good life.

I have walked a lot of roads for you and seen a lot of scenery for you.

I became a painter and held an exhibition. Many people came to see my paintings.

I...have not been sad all my life.

He spoke silently in his heart, just like every time he whispered to the photos and memories, as if she was right beside him and could hear the voice in his heart.

only……

In a world without you, even if the sun is shining and everything is growing, for me, every day is a long, endless, freezing rainy season.

And I will be trapped in this rain forever, carrying my longing for you and the heavy promise that I will have to fulfill for a lifetime, and trekking alone until the end of my life.

Against the backdrop of the painting's warm glow, his figure appears even more lonely and determined.

Like an eternal night watchman in the rain, guarding a dream that never fades and a silent love that transcends life and death.