"Fangfang, stop looking and eat."
Zhuang Mingcheng carried a plate of scrambled eggs into the house.
He placed the plate on the table, looked up at his wife, and saw that she was holding a letter and seemed quite excited.
"Fangfang, what's wrong?"
Zhuang Mingcheng wiped his hands and leaned closer.
"Mingcheng, I...I'm going to become an artist!"
"An artist?"
Zhuang Mingcheng became even more puzzled.
He knows his wife's paintings are beautiful, but what is an artist?
Lu Fangfang excitedly handed the letter to Zhuang Mingcheng.
"Gansu People's Fine Arts Publishing House? Deputy Director? And... comic books?"
Zhuang Mingcheng stared in astonishment as he read the contents of the letter.
The deputy director of the Gansu People's Fine Arts Publishing House invited his wife to draw the story of the Pallas's cat into a comic strip and then publish it.
He had previously thought of having his wife submit the story of the Pallas's rabbit to an art publishing house in Shanghai, but to his surprise, someone immediately invited him to contribute.
"Is the deputy director of the People's Fine Arts Publishing House Wen Hui's mother?"
"Well, it's quite a coincidence. The painting I drew for Wenhui just happened to catch her mother's eye."
Lu Fangfang nodded, still feeling excited.
Publishing a work was something she never dared to dream of, even though it was just a comic book or a children's book.
"Great news, fantastic news! Wait here, I'll go cook another dish."
Zhuang Mingcheng was even more excited than his wife. His wife's paintings were about to be published, and he felt like he was dreaming.
Who knows, my future wife might become a great painter.
"Don't bother, this matter hasn't been settled yet. They just asked me to draw a few pictures for them to see."
Lu Fangfang quickly grabbed him.
I've been busy all day and I'm exhausted. I should get some rest.
“My wife’s drawings are definitely no problem. Once the comic book is published, I’ll buy a few more copies to keep for our children.”
Lu Fangfang rolled her eyes at him, feeling quite pressured.
In this era, comic books are mainly for children and teenagers; they are considered children's books.
Don't think that just because it's for kids, the illustration requirements are low. People are serious about things these days. If you want to publish a children's book, you have to be quite skilled.
I looked at the letter again; it also contained the specific requirements for the illustrations.
Of course, the publisher wouldn't take the illustrations for free; they would pay her a fee, which was clearly stated on the label: three yuan per illustration.
Lu Fangfang pondered to herself.
A children's book should have at least twenty pages, which is forty illustrations.
Each painting costs three yuan, so forty paintings would cost one hundred and twenty yuan, which is quite a lot, equivalent to several months' salary for her. She'd better paint them well.
"Fangfang, eat quickly, you'll have the energy to paint when you're full."
Zhuang Mingcheng placed a bowl of rice in front of his wife.
Lu Fangfang put down the letter, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat.
Besides a plate of scrambled eggs, there was also half a bowl of cucumbers on the table. She had pickled them in the summer, and they were sour, crunchy, and delicious.
She was hungry after a busy day and ate two large bowls of rice.
After drinking some water and resting for a while, she immediately went into the inner room, took out a sheet of white paper, and prepared to draw.
Illustrations drawn for publishing houses are different from those drawn for fun; they require much more serious attention.
She first took out her previous sketchbook and picked out three pictures from it.
From the moment the cat overlord cared for the baby Pallas's rabbit that hadn't opened its eyes, to the moment the cat overlord taught the children how to hunt, and then to the moment the cat overlord left.
These three images represent the three key moments in the story.
Once she had decided what she wanted to draw, she immediately picked up her pen and began to draw.
To make the drawing more lifelike, she tried hard to recall the way the cat tyrant hunted, and carefully drew it with her brush.
"Squeak."
Zhuang Mingcheng took a glass of water and went into the inner room.
He leaned closer to his wife to take a look, then placed the cup on the table.
He pulled out a chair, sat down next to his wife, propped his head up with his hand, and watched quietly.
My wife, who is drawing intently, has a special kind of charm; she's really beautiful.
Time passed by, and soon it was nine o'clock in the evening.
Zhuang Mingcheng propped his head up, swaying back and forth, his eyes almost closed.
Lu Fangfang glanced at him, worried that he might bump his head.
She put down her pen and quickly woke up her husband, "Mingcheng? Mingcheng? You're so sleepy, go back to sleep."
Zhuang Mingcheng yawned, rubbed his eyes, and stood up.
"Okay, I'll warm the bed for you first. If you're sleepy, go and rest. Don't overwork yourself."
Zhuang Mingcheng opened the wardrobe, took out his cotton-padded coat, and draped it over his wife.
In the Qilian Mountains, the nights are very cold in autumn.
He went to the yard, got some firewood, put it in the stove hole, lit it, and then climbed into bed.
In no time, the kang (heated brick bed) became warm.
The heated kang bed his wife built was truly wonderful; he closed his eyes in comfort and fell asleep almost immediately.
Soon, it was 11 p.m.
After drawing for so long, Lu Fangfang was a little tired.
She stood up and stretched for a bit, then picked up her pen and continued drawing.
Fearing that things might change, she planned to finish all three paintings tonight and mail the letter tomorrow.
If she paints faster this way, she might be able to see her work this year.
...
In the outer room, Xiaohua lay in a bamboo basket, her ears twitching.
It opened its eyes, got up, and stretched.
Turning its head to look at the little Tibetan fox beside it, it slowly pulled out half of its tail.
"Awoo~"
The little Tibetan fox, feeling uncomfortable because its soft tail was gone, let out a groggy cry.
Little Flower wagged its tail, brushing it over its head, before jumping off the wooden bed.
It walked to the doorway, squeezed through the door, and went outside.
On the south side of the yard, a little wild donkey lying on a haystack looked up at it, then closed its eyes again.
In the darkness, Xiaohua's eyes gleamed green.
It turned its head to look at the window of the inner room, and saw that Lu Fangfang was still busy with her head down.
Walking up to the shed, it crouched down, leaped up, and used the pillar to climb to the top of the shed.
Walking to the courtyard wall, it looked down at the rapeseed plants wrapped around the outside of the courtyard.
"Squeak~"
A pika wandered into the family compound, looking for something to eat, only to be devoured by a leopard.
Little Flower wasn't hungry either. It walked to the side, spat out the pika from its mouth, then turned back to the tarpaulin and urinated on it.
At this moment, the family compound was completely silent, except for the sounds of animals calling out from the grassland outside.
Xiao Hua looked around and, finding nothing else, jumped onto the wall and returned home.
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