Old painting: 37

  After wandering around for a while, what attracted Qiuqiu the most was still a grocery store. There were all sorts of things inside, but none of them were brand new.

  Strictly speaking, this is a second-hand store, old clothes, old furniture, old books, old decorations, fake antiques and so on. They are all old. However, the quality is not bad, some of them look like new ones. Of course, there are also many old paintings and books in the store.

  Qiu Qiu didn't have such unrealistic beautiful dreams, like picking up a broken copper and iron from an old goods pile and it turned out to be some kind of powerful artifact, and from then on Qiu Qiu could summon the wind and rain, kill gods and Buddhas. Those kinds of things only appear in legends and myths, but the reason they only appear in legends and myths is that their credibility is very low, and even if they were true, the probability would be one in a million or billion.

  Qiu Qiu had scratched so many lottery tickets in her past life, but only won a single five-yuan consolation prize. With her kind of luck, the probability of finding treasure among these old goods was infinitely close to zero.

  The old goods all have a bit of flavor, Jingfei stood at the door and didn't want to come in: "What do you want to buy?"

  "It's okay, you and Shifu go ahead first, I'll stay here and take a look around."

  Jingfei poked her head into the store and took a glance: "Then we'll wait for you at the teahouse up front, hurry up and come."

  Qiu Qiu nodded with a smile, and Jing Lan asked her: "Is the money enough?" and again stuffed another purse into her hands.

  Qiuqiu started wandering around the store, and indeed, there were all sorts of things in it. She didn't know where these things came from. What interested her was some old books. Although the books in this rural town couldn't compare to those in the mountain library, some of them were still quite interesting. Qiuqiu picked out a few books, and then saw that behind the book pile, there were also some old paintings of various sizes, covered with a layer of dust, apparently no one had touched them for a long time, and the shopkeeper didn't have the heart to take care of them either.

  Qiuqiu picked up a scroll, the ropes on top were almost rotten. As soon as she opened it, a musty smell rushed out, making her nose itch. Qiuqiu couldn't help but turn her face away and let out two loud sneezes before turning back to look at the painting.

  Qiu Qiu was stunned.

  The outer surface of the scroll has grown moldy and can't see its original color, but the painting inside is surprisingly well preserved.

  The key is not this. The key is, how does the scenery in this painting look familiar no matter how you look at it!

  The quiet lake under the moonlight, the surface of the lake is like a bright mirror, the moon is round and low, as if it's about to fall into the lake.

  This scene is too familiar!

  Qiu Qiu never thought that after searching for it in the crowd for thousands of miles, this scenery would appear in such an old and tattered painting.

  She didn't have the mood to look at anything else, so she took this painting to find the shopkeeper.

  The shopkeeper was an old man who was dozing off behind the high counter, and it wasn't until Autumn called out to him twice that he stuck his head out to look at what she had in her hand: "One or two silver coins."

  Qiu Qiu stood on tiptoes to pay - her height was really her Achilles' heel, after all she had grown from three heads tall to five heads tall, but standing here she only just discovered that she still wasn't as tall as the counter.

  "Shopkeeper, where did this painting come from?"

  The old man shook his head, took the money and retreated back into the counter.

  Qiu Qiu couldn't get anything out of it, so she could only put the books and paintings into the Qian Kun bag and go find Jing Lan and Jing Fei.

  This painting must have a connection with the place she visited that day. The spiritual energy of that space was so strong, it's definitely not an ordinary place. But this painting was buried in such a small antique shop, and she actually picked up a big bargain.

  Maybe she can find more clues.

  Jingfei ordered a whole table of pastries, her mouth was stuffed to the point of deformation, and her cheeks were puffed up. She waved at him from afar.

  This girl's appetite is really good! She doesn't mind eating cold dishes, and she eats a mix of sweet, salty, and sour foods. From the time Autumn came in until she walked to the edge of the table, Jingfei had already stuffed at least three more things into her mouth.

  Qiu Qiu thought she was already quite gullible, but Jing Fei was even more exaggerated.

  "How much have you eaten? Be careful or your stomach will hurt."

  Jing Fei said vaguely: "No, Shifu gave me a digestive powder."

  Alright, Qiuqiu has nothing more to say.

  Jing Lan asked: "What did you buy?"

  "A few old books, some old paintings and so on."

  Obviously Jinglan and Jingfei were not interested in old books and paintings, and Jinglan didn't ask any more questions.

  Jing Fei ate enough to feed a cow, and even packed a big bundle to take back, saying that she would give some to her senior brother to taste, and the rest would be taken back to the mountain to eat slowly.

  Qiu Qiu didn't take the painting out of the乾坤bag, first because this thing was definitely not simple, and secondly, its appearance and smell were too poor, it needed to be cleaned up properly.

  It's already dark outside, and it's time to light the lamps. Jinglan Shizi found an excuse to leave, and Qiuqiu guessed that she probably went to find Jingyue Shixiong. Jingfei had gone to bed early, and she hadn't stopped running around all day, which was enough to exhaust her.

  Qiu Qiu spread out paper under the lamp and ground ink, drawing that picture on paper again according to her memory.

  In the afternoon, in the second-hand shop, Qiuqiu didn't take a close look. Now she is drawing it while comparing it with the lake in her memory.

  Almost identical, without a single difference.

  Qiu sat down, inch by inch, looking at this painting. The moon, the lake, and the tall ancient trees are the three main things on the picture. The most striking is the moon, while the largest area is the lake, but the tree is also not to be ignored, it grows on the lakeside, don't know how many years have grown, twisted roots entwined, green leaves stretching out.

  What kind of place is this?

  Qiu Qiu had no leads at all. She was a bit regretful, thinking that she should have dug deeper into the pile of old paintings in the afternoon, and maybe there would be more clues.

  It's dark now, but it doesn't stop her from going out.

  As Qiuqiu pushed the door out, Jingfei behind her turned over and muttered a few words, perhaps continuing to eat in her dreams.

  In the distance, the town was quite conspicuous in the darkness. The dense lights that shone from many windows made Xia Qiu feel a little dizzy. It wasn't like this on the mountain, where there were few lights and illumination mostly relied on luminescent stones.

  This is the difference between Xianfan. One side is cold and distant, the other side is lively but short-lived.

  Many shops have already closed, and only some wine houses and tea houses still have guests. Qiuqiu walked along the street all the way, and successfully found that old goods store in the afternoon.

  The store surprisingly hasn't closed yet, but it has already put up half of its shutters.

  Qiu Qiu stood at the door and didn't see anyone inside the store, the shopkeeper had gone somewhere.

  She stood at the door and asked: "Is anyone there?"

  After a moment of silence with no response, Qiū Qiū walked in.

  ——————

  It's been a week since I finished the root canal treatment, and the filling has also been done, but the medicinal taste in my mouth is still so strong, and it's getting even stronger. I really don't want to go for a follow-up appointment anymore...