godfather

There were more than 700 candidates who lined up at the entrance of the Academy of Fine Arts and entered the examination room in sequence, not including the Beijing local art majors who were recommended from the attached high school, as well as the candidates who took the college entrance examination and the self-examination.At that time, there were no fashionable majors such as animation design, multimedia, and advertising in the school. Most of the candidates had to apply for the Department of Painting, the most traditional Chinese painting and Western painting majors.The number of students enrolled in painting majors fluctuates every year, and this year may not exceed 40 at most.

Standing in front of Meng Xiaobei, the girl wearing a big flower down jacket rubbed her hands and said, "Oh, I'm so nervous, it's cold, I get more nervous when I'm cold!"

Behind Meng Xiaobei was a buddy with a short ponytail, who said, "I'm shivering, I've practiced thousands of paintings at home! I can't do anything else, how can I draw?!"

Meng Xiaobei tossed and turned and whispered, "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, don't be nervous..."

"Sweet candy, candy! Eat, eat, eat!"

Meng Xiaobei was actually also nervous, his tongue was trembling slightly between his teeth, but he was also excited for no reason during the big exam.He casually took out his pocket, grabbed a handful of big bubble gum, and distributed it to his brothers and sisters.There was a commotion in the team, and everyone laughed in a low voice!Everyone chewed candy in their mouths, their mouths were sweet, and in the wind was a row of frozen red faces full of life's expectations...

Candidates from the same province were shuffled in order and placed in different examination rooms. Meng Xiaobei was surrounded by fellow travelers in the examination room who spoke different dialects and accents.Stepping into the spacious and bright classroom, looking at the doors, windows, and walls with a sense of age and cultural atmosphere handed down from the Republic of China era, the depression in his chest suddenly became clear, and the large glass windows in front of him shone seductively.

He is familiar with this place. He has attended the Academy of Fine Arts for two years before, and he already has an innate advantage over most foreign candidates.

The room is well-heated, and more than 40 people squeeze into a classroom to paint, and there is a trace of dryness in the oppressive air.

The girl in the down jacket took off her jacket, and sat in front of Meng Xiaobei, with a big thick and shiny braid behind her head, dangling like a living thing.The ponytail dude sat behind him.

The girl took out a bunch of refreshing oils and essential oils, and rubbed them on her head to refresh her mind.Meng Xiaobei also borrowed it later.After a while, the warm air in the room was filled with the pungent and pungent smell of essential oils!

Regardless of the provincial art examination or the separate entrance examination of CAFA, the first subject that must be taken is generally sketching.

In class for three hours of sketching, this time I didn’t take the exam for sketching, but for Comer’s painting. It was required to draw a full-body portrait of a man in a three-quarter profile sitting posture, and a close-up of the hands was required.

The boy with the ponytail groaned in a low voice, "I'd rather draw from life, it's easy to go astray when painting silently!"

In fact, Meng Xiaobei would rather take the sketching test. Plaster painting and real-life sketching can better reflect the basic skills of painting, and the slightest difference in height can be extracted in the examination room.As for Commer's painting, you only need to memorize a picture in advance, and no one knows what "like" or "like" you draw.

The invigilator said to them: "Want to draw and sketch? There are too many people in this examination room. Let's get a plaster head. The students in the front row can see the students in the back row, but they can't see clearly at all. The light angles are different. Someone must be at a disadvantage and someone is taking advantage of it. How will our teachers judge the grades?... Real life sketches? We have nowhere to find so many suitable living people as models for you!"

On Meng Xiaobei's left hand, he wore that woolen glove with exposed fingers to keep it warm.In the front breast pocket of the jacket, four pencils of 2H, HB, 2B, and 4B are inserted side by side.

He didn't think for more than five seconds, and quickly wrote and composed the picture.A certain person was sitting sideways at the table, with one arm casually resting on the back of the chair, his eyes were as calm as water, looking out the window, this image kept flashing back clearly in his mind.

The sun outside the window hit the man's face, inlaid with a layer of moving gold, light and dark shadows appeared immediately, and there was a cigarette butt between his fingers.

At that time, a pair of wild mandarin ducks met in Xi'an for a tryst.Lao Liu’s mutton steamed bun restaurant, the square tables and wooden stools in the store are plain and simple, surrounded by the bustling crowds, and the mutton soup has a strong aroma.At that time, Shaotang patiently broke the buns for him with lowered eyes, breaking out a bowl of uniform "honey head" buns.Then Shaotang let out a breath, the small mole on his lips trembled, leaned back easily, lit a cigarette, and looked at the light and shadow flowing outside the window...

The classroom was filled with the sound of suppressed breathing, the noise of clothes rubbing against each other, and the sound of pen tip and paper being polished.

When Meng Xiaobei raised his head by chance, he could see what the people around him were drawing.The girl with big braids must have drawn her father. Because of his professional habits, Meng Xiaobei is very accurate at observing people, and he has a poisonous eye. He can tell at a glance that the facial features of the middle-aged man are carved out of the same mold as that of the girl.This girl is usually at home, so she must often use her own father as a sketch model, with clear eyebrows and features.

When people are in this most tense, urgent and tangled time, they subconsciously want to seek the closest and most reliable people around them.The one on the right is the school tutor, and the one on the back is the roommate in the dormitory.And Meng Xiaobei's painting is the person next to his pillow, the most familiar image deep in his soul.

The three-hour tug-of-war is a test of physical strength and energy, and many people can't even last for three hours.

The situation in the examination room, from the end of the first hour, is a clear demarcation point. Since then, candidates have gradually been divided into levels.There are some candidates in this examination room, who belong to the "art test commando" of the third year of senior high school. They usually have insufficient grades in cultural subjects. I heard that this year's undergraduate admission rate may reach a new low. Therefore, from the summer vacation of the second year of high school, the first semester of the third year of high school was temporarily changed to art. Want to find another way, "curve to save the country".

Some people sitting in the front row are holding pens in a stiff posture. They can't hold on for an hour with their wrists hanging in the air, and their thumbs can't press down on the pencils, so their gestures become chaotic, as if they are holding a pen.With one stroke, a hard line is poked out on the man's chin, and the elegant handsome guy quickly becomes a "scarred man" with one stroke!People who are not good at basic skills can't take care of wrist strength and brushwork, let alone the depth of lines, the direction of pleats and the shade of shadows.

When Meng Xiaobei was overly focused, his palms would sweat, his mouth would become thirsty, and after drinking water, he would habitually rub sweat on his thighs of his trousers.

He went out to relieve his hand halfway, and he was so tired and hungry when he came back!

Long-term cervical fatigue, concentrating on painting, and instantly falling into fatigue and numbness physically and mentally.

He opened the bag and began to eat the bread with sauced meat that Shaotang brought him, which was a homemade meat bun.At this time, I regretted that I didn't have enough breakfast, and I should have an extra bowl of noodle soup made by Shaotang.

The buddy on his right let out an "ah" while drawing, then hugged his head anxiously and muttered something, as if he wanted to tear off the drawing paper and draw again.This person was too anxious at the beginning, and he didn't grasp the proportion of the composition of the full-body portrait. He had no room to draw the hand, hand, and hand stipulated in the title! !This dude is about to cry.

The classroom fell into an awkward silence, occasionally someone whispered.Meng Xiaobei chewed the bread with his mouth closed and tried his best not to make a sound, squinting silently at the unlucky boy next to him, who was walking around the easel in frustration, which was of no help.

The girl with big braids in the front painted very quickly, but the coloring was too dark, and one of her father's eyes was almost painted as a black bump, showing "yin and yang eyes" in the picture.Do not paint too black when you start sketching. It is easy to paint, but difficult to erase. It is dumbfounding.

The buddy behind Meng Xiaobei used too much force with the pen, the force was so great that he poked the edge of the drawing board, and with a pop, the tip of the pen broke.

The boy touched Meng Xiaobei's shoulder: "Excuse me buddy, do you have spare 2B?... 4B is fine too!"

Meng Xiaobei handed the pencil sharpener to the other party, and said in a low voice, "I can tell that you are using too much force."

"You don't sound like a sketch. You are almost catching up with carving. Are you holding a knife?"

"When the tip of your pen breaks, I get a dent in the back of my neck!"

Several people around burst out laughing!

Meng Xiaobei ate the bread and continued to complete the half-drawn outline.He closed his eyes and imagined the appearance of the person in his heart, and opened his eyes to draw.

Silent painting is like this. It depends entirely on the painter's subjective impression and understanding, and he can freely express his feelings about a character.However, the more beautiful a person is, the more difficult it is to draw, because he is too handsome, too perfect, and every aspect of his eyebrows, eyes and body is in the right proportion.

Shaotang is one of those good-looking people, so that Meng Xiaobei can't grasp the key points when drawing his men on many occasions. It's hard to say what is the most dazzling feature of Shaotang's appearance.Shaotang's facial features are slightly soft and the bridge of the nose is slightly soft. When he is silent, his eyes are watery, but his temperament is not feminine or feminine. The roots of his temples are flattened, making him look masculine.

It took Meng Xiaobei almost an hour to paint that pair of eyes, carefully sculpting the upper eyelids and eyelashes. The time was like the rapidly beating numbers on a stopwatch, so that he couldn't bear to tear off the watch and threw it into his schoolbag. Look at the time again.When he was drawing Shaotang's hand, his lips couldn't help but bend into an arc, thinking about it secretly.He is so familiar with that right hand, the protrusions and curvature of each finger joint, the rounded nails, and even the swirls on the fingerprints of each finger, he can use all his senses to draw patterns...

Meng Xiaobei reckoned that Shaotang rushed back to the army to be on duty today, so he must have been sneezing a lot this morning, and he felt uncomfortable all over!For three full hours, he kept trying to describe this person with the pen in his hand.

It was already noon after the sketch test, and I had a quick lunch in the school cafeteria, and there was another key subject in the afternoon.

The girl with big braids who was eating at the table smiled wryly: "I have been drawing my dad for three years, and this is the worst picture of my dad! My dad doesn't look like that, he is dark, rough and has a big rosacea, I really want to Hand in your homework."

The ponytail boy looked up and lamented: "I am even more miserable. I can't even sharpen my best pencil. If I cut a section, it will have a broken core. If I cut another section, it will still be a broken core! I am dead, it is not a war." sin!!"

The buddy sitting in the back asked Meng Xiaobei: "Hey classmate, who did you draw?"

Meng Xiaobei said, "I'm godfather."

The buddy commented: "I sit at the back, and I can almost see the people in front of me. I think you draw well."

At noon, Meng Xiaobei called Shaotang at the entrance of the alley where the cars were coming and going, and couldn't help but want to hear the other party's voice, asking for peace of mind.

Shaotang seemed to be standing in front of the office telephone, the bell rang once, and there was absolutely no second ring, Shaotang answered immediately: "How is it?!"

Meng Xiaobei asked: "Godfather, are you itchy on duty today?"

Shaotang: "...what?"

Meng Xiaobei: "Are you itchy all over, Shaotang?!"

Shaotang was so anxious that he wanted to thump the phone: "Stop talking nonsense, it's more than itchy, my whole body is fucking wrong, and I made mistakes in the morning training! How did you do in the exam, tell me quickly!!"

Meng Xiaobei whispered in frustration: "It's so-so. To be honest, I'm also quite nervous, and I only play at 70.00% level."

Shaotang was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously comforted him: "It's okay, relax, I will recognize you in any exam, and I won't let you go... What did you draw in the exam?"

Meng Xiaobei finally couldn't pretend anymore, he was so happy: "I drew you!!"

Shaotang frowned, and couldn't help laughing: "Fuck, if you didn't get a high score in the exam, wouldn't I have to bear half of the responsibility? Did you make me look good, baby?"

Meng Xiaobei said: "I dare not say whether the painting is good or not, but from the expression of the female teacher who collected the test paper, I can tell that the model on my test paper must be the most handsome among all the models in the class!  … ...She held it and looked at it for a long time!"

Shaotang scolded in a low voice on the phone, can you be more serious and don't hurt me?Your father is more tired than you on duty all morning, and he has an old heart.

After re-entering the examination room in the afternoon, one-fifth of the number of candidates in the classroom had been wiped out.A few parallel importers from Beijing’s local “commandos” were directly put down by the sketch department in the morning. Knowing that there is no competition, they will not take the exam when they go home in the afternoon!The remaining candidates, even those who have attended pre-examination training classes and have practiced pen for many years, will win or lose in the face of this kind of big exam, and they will fight for years of accumulated skills.

Candidates who have traveled long distances to Beijing for the exam, and many children who have come out of mountain villages, are still persisting, and there is a glimmer of hope in everyone's heart.

The invigilator came down to issue questions, causing commotion in the examination room.

The group of boys in the back immediately collapsed, howling in a low voice, hungry fuck, isn't it painting a still life? This year's exam questions are going to go crazy! !

The second compulsory subject is color.Everyone went to the pre-exam training class and had painted still life fruits at home for several months. Fruits of various tastes and seasons, everyone is good at drawing fruits.

However, this year the school did not take the test of painting fruits. The invigilator hung up several copies of black and white landscape photos in the classroom, and the test was "color restoration of black and white photos".

In this battle, half of the horse was lost.

The girl with big braids murmured in tears that she had practiced hundreds of fruit paintings, and the watercolor landscapes she had practiced were never more than one slap.

A row of boys in the back are wondering what color to wear.The pre-examination training made my brains stupid, and I entered a dead end. I only filled the color blocks with the real fruit, and my mind was blank for landscape painting.Meng Xiaobei didn't prepare for this topic either, he stared at the photo in a daze.After staying for a while, he hugged the wooden easel in front of him and banged his head three times, taking pleasure in the bitterness, and then bravely picked up the brush and painted.

This is a real photo of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River of Hui style, the town scenery of Hongcun, Xidi.The unique Anhui folk houses with black eaves and white walls, the houses are scattered among the mountains and rivers... The old black and white images exude the fragrance of the years, and the lush mountain forests appear in Meng Xiaobei's mind, with towering trees in the forest, and the sun shines through the leaves The gap spills into the path in the forest, and there is a small pool with sparkling water.He painted the corner cornices with appropriate shades of ink, whitewashed the walls, and dyed the distant mountains with yellow and green autumn colors.The colors are progressive, the yellow leaves are stacked, and the strokes are distinct.

Meng Xiaobei wore a red headband during the exam, and tied his long, obstructive hair to his forehead, frowning.Excited and focused, he looked very motivated and funny, and the invigilating teachers on the stage all looked at him.

He draws quickly and does not have much room for devious thinking.Several brushes are used alternately, and the green paint splashes out of the palette and onto his hands.

The setting sun slanted, casting light and shadow on the corner of the white wall.The golden-orange sunlight dotted the river in front of the house, like broken gold sprinkled into a river.

Very beautiful.

Let it be fate, Meng Xiaobei thought.He has worked hard for ten years, and he has done his best today, and he has no regrets.

……

After finishing the examination on the first day, Meng Xiaobei took the bus home, and there were girls on the bus staring back at him, making fun of him.

He is also happy with each other.

Outside the third ring road of Nancheng, there used to be a large area of ​​old bungalows, but now there are many tower cranes, and high-rise construction sites stand in the cold wind.

Meng Xiaobei walked to the gate of Xinjia District, and saw his good buddy from afar!

He waved his hand violently, and shouted in the street with excitement: "Liangliang!!!!!!!"

Qi Liang carried a schoolbag on one shoulder and wore a woolen coat with horn buttons. His little hairstyle was blown up by the wind, and a tuft of hair fluttered wildly on the top of his head. Rich and handsome" superior expression.Qi Liang was also happy, their eyes fixed on each other at the same time, they strode towards each other, and then bumped into each other firmly, it hurt so much, they hugged tightly.

Meng Xiaobei almost wanted to hug Liangliang and kiss him fiercely, expressing his miss.

Qi Liang met Meng Xiaobei face to face, smiled, and pointed at Meng Xiaobei's face: "Look at your face, it looks like a colorful palette! I can tell when I see your face. What did you draw today!"

"Damn it!..." Meng Xiaobei hurriedly wiped his face, and wiped out a few pieces of yellow, yellow and green: "I said why there is a little girl in the car who keeps looking at me and smiling at me sweetly. I thought it was because I grew up It's so handsome, so attractive!"

The two ran against each other, laughed, and quickly recovered the true colors of the two big bastards when they were together all these years.

Meng Xiaobei walked home with Liangliang in his arms, took half of the cigarette in Qi Liang's hand: "Hurry up and give me two puffs."

Qi Liang: "What's wrong, addicted?!"

Meng Xiaobei said, "The examination room is strictly controlled. Smoking is not allowed in the toilets in the hallway. I have been holding on for a whole day. I feel so uncomfortable. I feel sleepy in the examination room!"

Meng Xiaobei is used to staying up all night, relying on cigarettes and coffee to support himself, which can be regarded as an occupational disease in this line of work.Sitting for a long time, eye trouble, work and rest disorder, the body will deteriorate.Moreover, he has a bad cervical spine, scoliosis, and a slight hunchback when walking.From then on, Shaotang began to worry about her baby's schedule and health.

As soon as Qi Liang entered the house, he looked up and down, and exclaimed: "Tsk tsk, Meng Xiaobei, you have today, big money! You're rich!"

Meng Xiaobei shook his head: "Actually, I feel like I've been taken care of by others, and I've been treated like a horse for someone else, so it must be me who will take care of him in the future."

Meng Xiaobei took Qi Liang to visit the bedroom, pointing to the big bed: "For the time being, there is only this one piece of furniture, it's a place for the two of us to do business!"

Qi Liang pointed to the wooden sleeper in the living room: "Then what about this bed, where you two have a side job?"

Meng Xiaobei wasn't shy either, and said with a smile on his face, "Cough, cough, I'm laughing at you, why are we switching rooms?"

Meng Xiaobei asked Liangliang: "How do you know our address?"

Qi Liang said: "I'll call your man directly! He told me, he said he would come back in the evening."

Qi Liang took Meng Xiaobei's CALL machine from the table to play with, opened the message of yesterday's call, and said at a glance: "I didn't call this sentence yesterday! What I said was'Meng Xiaobei, you are so awesome, I miss you so much'! I told the paging lady to say that, but she still called me 'You are awesome, I miss you', this Miss Hutai is really boring."

Qi Liang's beautiful eyelids rolled up, and his lower lip curled up.

This person hasn't changed at all, he's still the sleazy and cheap little villain he was back then.Meng Xiaobei liked it so much, he couldn't help hugging and kissing Qi Liang's ear.He didn't have any deeper meaning, just happy, happy, and having fun.Instead, Qi Liang raised his arm, propped him away, hid, and refused to kiss him: "Don't make trouble, don't make trouble!"

Meng Xiaobei flirted with the other party: "As for it, who kissed me when I was in elementary school? It was my first kiss back then."

Qi Liang seemed uncomfortable: "How old are you? Are you still in elementary school?...Don't kiss randomly!!"

When Qi Liang was out, he wore a light blue cashmere scarf around his neck, showing a clean and elegant style of literature and art.Meng Xiaobei looked very familiar with that scarf, as if there was someone in the past who liked to wear a scarf around his neck when he had nothing to do.Like who?He didn't remember it for a while.

The two sat side by side on the wooden bed in the living room, and the glow of the sunset outside the window shone in, sprinkling beautiful colors on their shoulders.Qi Liang opened his coat, and Meng Xiaobei suddenly discovered that this little local tyrant had three BP machines hanging on his waist belt!

Meng Xiaobei couldn't bear it anymore and said: "It's too much, is your home a wholesale CALL machine?"

Qi Liang narrowed his eyes and nodded: "Meng Xiaobei, you are really right, I am now a wholesaler of CALL machines."

Meng Xiaobei: "...@#￥%&*!"

Qi Liang looked calm, and said in a businessman's tone: "I'm doing this business after school. All I sell are good brand CALL phones. Motorola and Panasonic are all imported products. I don't sell sub-brands! What's more, the prices I sell are higher than the market price. It’s cheap, and there’s a [-]% discount on Internet access fees for people in the school, and our grade teachers buy their computers from me.”

Meng Xiaobei shook his head: "You're such a bastard... You have three on your waist, and if you walk on the street, if the three machines bi-bi-bi-bi ring at the same time, you won't notice it when you're all bi-bi-bi." Are you fucking snarling like a crazy person!!"

Qi Liang burst out laughing, and then was strangled and ravaged by Meng Xiaobei.