Stone sculpture
"There's a stool over there, sit down first, let me find it for you." The shopkeeper looked up and gestured for him to sit down and wait, while he searched through the rows of shelves.
Chen Miao looked around the store. At five o'clock in the afternoon, many children, accompanied by their parents, were sitting on small stools drawing stone dolls. A couple in a corner caught his attention. They were drawing Stitch together. Although they were two different styles, they were surprisingly harmonious.
The bold color combinations are well-handled, and the details are also handled very well.
It takes three or four hours to paint a stone doll like this. He and someone else wanted to try it, but each time they were either worried that it would take too long, or one of them would always have something to do.
Now, no matter what, I need to make up for the small things I haven't done before within the limited time I have.
Seeing that the boss was still searching, he pulled out a small stool and sat down. His 1.8-meter height sitting on the stool created a striking visual contrast that immediately attracted the attention of those around him.
He was still wearing the suit that Yu Xi had sent from the cruise ship. It was a classic black style with no extra decorations. It was nothing special, but it made him look aloof and noble.
"Lately, a lot of people have been coming to draw Hello Kitty items. I'll go to the warehouse and see if we have any left. We're out of them on this shelf." The shop owner jumped off the stool and turned to walk towards a small yellow door inside the store.
Chen Miao wasn't in a hurry to go back. Meng Qingze's piano lesson wasn't over yet, and Yu Xi hadn't gotten off work. If he went back alone, he would inevitably feel a little lonely.
"Okay, no rush." Chen Miao replied. The paint and scraps of paper left by a customer on the table in front of him had not yet been cleared away by the owner and were messily occupying the table. He picked up a paintbrush, and his rather slender fingers found a piece of paper with a large blank area among the pile of paper. He dipped the paper in the paint and began to paint.
Painting was one of the extracurricular classes he was forced to take since childhood, but he later found that he didn't really like it, so he gradually gave it up. From his life to his death, he didn't pick up a paintbrush again for many years.
The paintbrush, smeared with purple paint, stopped in front of the white paper. He didn't know what to paint; he just wanted to test whether the little painting skills he had learned were still there.
That way, we can go back and color the stone sculpture together, so it won't turn out too ugly.
"How about we draw a little fish?" He suddenly remembered the iconic logo of Jin Xuexiao clothing, a minimalist little fish that was a homophone of Yu Xi's surname.
With a few strokes, he easily sketched a small fish. Inspired, he drew a larger fish of the same type next to the smaller one, wagging its tail and circling around the smaller fish at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, as if it were silently protecting the smaller fish.
What you think about during the day, you create in your paintings.
When putting pen to paper, one inevitably infuses their emotions into the writing.
Chen Miao stared at the two small fish, completely unaware of a drop of paint dripping from the paintbrush.
"Handsome, this is the only Hello Kitty doll with a torn corner on its dress left." The shopkeeper pushed open the small door, holding a broken stone doll in his hand. "We've been out of stock lately. If you don't mind, I'll give you this one to paint for free."
Chen Miao quickly stood up and refused, "No, no, no, the price is what it should be."
The boss immediately waved his hand, "Oh, these damaged ones are just sitting in the warehouse anyway, so just think of it as painting them back on and giving them a new life."
Seeing that the shopkeeper had already neatly packaged the stone sculpture, Chen Miao took out the money from his pocket and handed it over.
"This is..." The shopkeeper didn't take it. He looked down and was immediately startled. What the person in front of him was handing him was a hundred-yuan ghost money note.
"Handsome, are you kidding me? I don't think it's April Fool's Day today, and it's not even dark yet. Is this all you're doing?" He turned pale with fright, his arm holding the stone doll froze in mid-air, and he hesitated to make a further move, carefully examining Chen Miao.
Chen Miao's skin was sickly white, and his long, jet-black hair almost covered his eyes. His face was devoid of any color. A sudden glance at him, coupled with his act of handing over ghost money, really startled him and left him at a loss for what to do.
Realizing what he had taken out, Chen Miao immediately put the ghost money back into his pocket. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."
"Just kidding, I took the wrong one, haha." He chuckled awkwardly, wishing he could disappear into a crack in the ground right then and there. He was used to taking money to buy things in the underworld, but he didn't expect that even after changing his clothes, he would still take out the ghost money.
But after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find a single banknote in the other pocket.
The rapid rise of electronic payments made it difficult for him, who was still living in the era of paper money payments five years ago, to get used to it all at once.
Times are changing rapidly, but he remains in the past.
Without a cell phone, he couldn't contact Yu Xi, and even cooked for her in the kitchen of the cruise ship's cabin. The only thing he could be thankful for was that he still remembered the way home.
The shopkeeper saw through his embarrassment and waved his outstretched arm, saying, "Take it."
Seeing the steps down, Chen Miao said, "Thank you."
He hurriedly took it, turned around and left the shop.
As the shop owner watched him disappear through the doorway, he sighed, "Young people these days have it tough. Back in the day, even those who wore suits and sold insurance wouldn't have ended up like this."
—
As Chen Miao arrived at the villa gate carrying the stone doll, the butler was already waiting for him. He carefully opened the door and led Chen Miao inside, saying, "You must be Mr. Chen Miao, whom President Yu mentioned?"
"Yes, it's me." He followed the butler's footsteps, and when he passed the pond in the garden, he couldn't help but take another look. The koi, which he remembered as fry, were now so plump and round that they lazily stayed still in the water.
"President Yu told me about your job position, and these are some points to note." The housekeeper took out a stack of printed documents. "Apart from working hours, you can arrange your own time as you like. There is no overtime. The monthly salary is 10,000 yuan, and room and board are all included. There will be an additional monthly joining allowance."
Chen Miao casually flipped through the documents. "Okay, I'm fine with anything."
He responded with "okay" to every word the butler said.
He and Yu Xi reached an agreement on the job content. As for salary and benefits, he didn't care. As long as he could stay by Yu Xi's side, these things were unimportant.
"Is that Mom back?" Meng Qingze, who was observing dragonflies by the rockery in the garden, rushed over after hearing footsteps. His movements were so fast that the housekeeper who was looking after him didn't even have time to react.
"Young master, slow down."
"I'm going to tell my mom that I got everything right on today's test and got a perfect score." He took out a neatly folded test paper from his pocket, unfolded it as he ran, and came face to face with Chen Miao.
“Zeze”.
Chen Miao looked at the tiny figure running towards him and instinctively squatted down, opening his arms to hug him.
He had never called Meng Qingze before, and had never seen him run towards him like this before.
Even these things have become things that can only be realized in fantasy.
When Meng Qingze saw that it wasn't Yu Xi who had returned, he stopped. There was no fear in his eyes like a child seeing a stranger. Instead, he moved forward slowly, walked into Chen Miao's arms, put his arms around his neck, and whispered in his ear, "I know who you are."
"Zeze." Chen Miao called his name again, holding him tightly in his arms, as if the person in his arms would disappear in the next second, and this illusion would be shattered.
“You’re the uncle I saw at Dad’s birthday party last time. I remember you.”
Chen Miao shielded his head with one hand and embraced him with the other, his chest heaving violently as his emotions surged up and his eyes reddened.
He smiled wryly: "So Zeze still remembers me."
Meng Qingze nodded, wriggled out of his arms, and stood in front of him. "Look, I got a perfect score on this test."
Chen Miao carefully took the test paper from his hand. The handwriting was neat and the paper was clean. There was not a single mistake on any of the questions.
"Zeze is great." Chen Miao rubbed his head and took out the stone doll from the bag. "Do you like drawing? Look what I brought."
“It’s Mom’s favorite Hello Kitty! That’s great! Mom will be so happy when she sees it when she gets back.” Meng Qingze happily took the bag and took Chen Miao’s hand. “Come on, let’s paint it and dress it up in pretty clothes.”
"Okay." Chen Miao let him lead him inside. The butler, seeing this, didn't say anything, but hurriedly told him about the accommodations arranged for him and then left to attend to his own business.
"We need to paint its skirt pink, and the bow should be pink too. That's Mom's favorite color." Meng Qingze opened the paint and talked to himself. He wasn't shy at all and even handed the paintbrush to Chen Miao, "Uncle, you can help Zeze paint too."
"Okay." Chen Miao's gaze lingered on him for a long time. He had not participated in Meng Qingze's growth, nor had he witnessed Meng Qingze's birth.
When it's a little dumpling, it must be very cute.
She looks a lot like Yu Xi, but her eyes are exactly the same as Meng Chou's, making people unconsciously think of Meng Chou as soon as they see her.
"Its skirt is torn, just like the doll that Mom keeps on her bedside table." Meng Qingze pouted as she said this. "Hmph, Mom is stingy. She won't let me touch the doll on her bedside table. Zeze can have all of her toys with Mom, but she won't let Zeze touch that doll."
Chen Miao was amused by his angry stomping of his feet and asked, "Really? Then your mother is really a 'stingy' person."
"Mom said that Dad gave it to her and no one is allowed to touch it. Even though the doll was very worn and its skirt had been sewn, Mom couldn't bear to throw it away."
Meng Qingze gestured for Chen Miao to come closer with her chubby little hand, and then whispered in his ear, "Actually, Zeze knows that what Mommy is reluctant to lose is not the doll, but that she is afraid she will forget Daddy's love."
Hearing this, Chen Miao's eyes welled up with tears. He quickly turned his head away, secretly wiping away the tears that spilled from the corners of his eyes, and picked up the paintbrush with trembling hands. "Let's finish painting it, so she will be very happy when she comes back and sees it."
"Zeze!" As soon as Yu Xi entered the door, she saw the two of them painting stone dolls together, a scene that was indescribably heartwarming.
This warm atmosphere was broken when the person following behind her entered. "What are you looking at, sister-in-law?"
Meng Yun skillfully changed into her slippers, and following Yu Xi's gaze, the smile on her face instantly froze.
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