★ Painted skin
Wu Xiaoya is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts. She couldn't find a job for a while, so she had to make a living by drawing illustrations for magazines. She was always painting and painting every day, and she hardly left the house. If some of her paintings were selected by magazines, she would receive a considerable amount of royalties, but most of her paintings were locked in an old wooden box. Wu Xiaoya's spine began to deform because she spent a lot of time lying on the table drawing. When she realized this, she almost despaired. She was not very beautiful to begin with. How could she get married if she became a hunchback? Just when Wu Xiaoya was discouraged and wondered whether to continue painting, a handsome boy moved next door. He was tall and looked very much like the movie star Takeshi Kaneshiro.
The boy seemed to have a good impression of Wu Xiaoya. Every time he passed by Wu Xiaoya's window, he would take a look inside. Sometimes when Wu Xiaoya raised her head and their eyes met, he would give her a friendly smile.
For some reason, Wu Xiaoya felt like there was a rabbit in her heart, hopping like a rabbit. She thought she had fallen in love with someone. On this day, when Wu Xiaoya got up, she found a basket of coal at the door and a note in the basket. The note read: Girl next door: Winter is here, I helped you carry the coal back, please pay RMB 20.
Wu Xiaoya has been worrying about how to carry coal back from the market, which is not far away. She gratefully knocked on the door next door, but there was no one in the room. I looked into the window, the curtains were hanging, and I couldn't see anything. In the evening, Wu Xiaoya stopped the boy next door who passed by the window. The boy did not accept the money she handed over, but said slyly: "I heard that you are a painter, can you draw a picture for me." Wu Xiaoya asked him to come in and sit down. On a chair. Wu Xiaoya finished the painting in a moment.
The boy held the painting and admired it. When he went out, he turned back to Wu Xiaoya and said, "Would you like to know my name?" Without waiting for Wu Xiaoya to express her position, he added, "My name is Li Mingdong." Wu Xiaoya chased after him and shouted, "My name is Wu Xiaoya." Li Mingdong's appearance completely changed Wu Xiaoya's life. Every day she would sit at the window and watch Li Mingdong pass by, and Li Mingdong would always look in to take a look at her.
At this time, Wu Xiaoya quickly lowered her head, like a child who was caught stealing words. After getting acquainted with Wu Xiaoya, Li Mingdong often ran to Wu Xiaoya's room. When he discovered that Wu Xiaoya's spine was deformed, he comforted Wu Xiaoya and said, "You just have a deformed spine, not really a hunchback. I know there is a product that can correct your sitting posture, and I want to give you one." With that, Li Mingdong ran out.
After that, Wu Xiaoya didn't see Li Mingdong for a while. Wu Xiaoya thought that he didn't buy that kind of thing, so she was embarrassed to see her and didn't take it seriously. Wu Xiaoya couldn't stand the days without Li Mingdong, and couldn't continue painting. She couldn't help but look up at the window, but Li Mingdong never appeared once, as if he had disappeared.
Will Li Mingdong move away? Thinking like this, Wu Xiaoya felt a little disappointed. She couldn't help but come to the next door. Just as she was about to knock on the door, the door opened and Li Mingdong came out yawning. Li Mingdong didn't mention any products as gifts to Wu Xiaoya, and his behavior began to become weird, which puzzled Wu Xiaoya. He almost never went out. Wu Xiaoya asked him: "Don't you have to work anymore?" He said cryptically: "I want to be a painter like you." Wu Xiaoya didn't know what kind of paintings Li Mingdong painted, and she was embarrassed to walk in on the man. room, but Li Mingdong's appreciation of paintings impressed her. The paintings approved by Li Mingdong were all selected by the magazine.
Wu Xiaoya didn't know how to thank Li Mingdong and insisted on treating him to dinner. Li Mingdong always said: "Just give me some brushes and paints." Then he took Wu Xiaoya's brushes and paints and left happily. As Wu Xiaoya's paintings were frequently published with ghostly figures , her status in the journal industry was increasingly consolidated, and many big-name magazines also rushed to hire her to draw illustrations. Really overwhelmed, Wu Xiaoya decided to take out her previous paintings and modify them. The box was placed under the bed. It was too heavy. Wu Xiaoya couldn't get it out by herself, so she ran next door and called Li Mingdong for help.
The landlord came over and said to her suspiciously: "Who are you calling? There is no one living in this house." Wu Xiaoya was confused when she heard this: "No way, I saw him walking out yesterday." Seeing that Wu Xiaoya didn't seem to be lying, the landlord brought The key opened the door. The room was fully stocked with daily necessities, but they were all covered with dust, showing that no one had lived in them for a long time. The landlord said nonchalantly: "The tenant named Li Mingdong hasn't been here for three months. I don't know if I still want these things, which makes it difficult for me to rent them to others." Wu Xiaoya's eyes fell on a painting on the wall. Above, that was what she drew for Li Mingdong, but it didn't look like it was drawn by her. This painting was so lifelike, with extremely expressive features. Wu Xiaoya looked at the painting and suddenly saw Li Mingdong wink at her, which startled her.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Although Li Mingdong in the painting was smiling and expressive, it was still a painting. Wu Xiaoya remembered that Li Mingdong asked him for brushes and paints. When he saw that the paint on the painting was still wet, it was obvious that it had just been painted not long ago. Didn't Li Mingdong say that he was learning to paint? There was not even a single painting in the room. Could it be that Li Mingdong only painted on this painting every day? Wu Xiaoya felt incredible.
At night, Wu Xiaoya didn't see Li Mingdong passing by the window, but she noticed that the light was on in his room. She was about to open the door, but changed her mind when she raised her hand. She walked to the window. Although the window was tightly covered with thick curtains, the light could still shine through. Although peeping is a bad behavior, Wu Xiaoya was too curious about Li Mingdong after hearing what the landlord said. She quietly opened the window and lifted the curtains, only to see Li Mingdong pick up the paintbrush and paint on the portrait on the wall.
Suddenly, Li Mingdong turned his head, and Wu Xiaoya was so horrified that she almost screamed. Li Mingdong's face was severely deformed, his skin and flesh were squeezed together, and his white teeth were exposed. Li Mingdong seemed to have noticed someone peeping and walked towards the window. Wu Xiaoya quickly fled back to her room. The next day, the landlord rushed in angrily and said, "No, Li Mingdong is dead." It turned out that she had just been watching the morning news and happened to see the investigation results of a traffic accident case. The deceased was Li Mingdong.
Wu Xiaoya was also very frightened. She went to the local traffic accident department to check and looked through the photos at the scene. It was confirmed that Li Mingdong had died three months ago. Three months ago was the day Li Mingdong disappeared. Wu Xiaoya returned to the room and couldn't help but be afraid when she thought of Li Mingdong's portrait. She asked the landlord for the key and took down the portrait. Li Mingdong winked and smiled at her again. She took a closer look, but there was still just a picture in front of her. Wu Xiaoya thought this painting was very evil, so she quickly found a lighter, tore off the painting, stuffed it into the stove, and lit it. Sparks flashed, and Li Mingdong suddenly appeared in front of him, pointing at Wu Xiaoya angrily and saying: "I crashed and died because of you. I am beyond recognition. Even the Lord of Hell refused to take me in.
I have no choice but to attach my soul to your painting. I work tirelessly to learn painting every day, so that one day I can paint my own portrait so lifelike that I can go to see the Lord of Hell. But you didn’t even bother me in the end. hope was also destroyed. I have no intention of harming others, why do you want to harm me? "As he spoke, Li Mingdong rushed towards him with his teeth and claws open. Sparks flashed again, and he dissipated like a ball of smoke.
Wu Xiaoya packed her things in shock, planning to move today and leave this ghost place. At this time, the postman delivered the package. Wu Xiaoya opened it and saw that it was a "back bag". She suddenly remembered that the day Li Mingdong ran to buy him a "back bag" was the day when he had a car accident. The background of the car accident scene was the post office building. Li Mingdong must have remitted the money and was in a hurry to get back and hit the car. With tears streaming down her face, Wu Xiaoya put on her "Beibeijia" and sat down at the table.
She spread out a piece of white paper, and in the hallucination Li Mingdong was sitting in front of her. She picked up a pen and started drawing stroke by stroke…