C1

Name:Skin Painter Author:Fu Yao
The portrait, also known as the "image", was a photograph or portrait left behind by the deceased, intentionally or unintentionally. Although it was separated by the two sides, it could be used for reminiscence.

"The Three Kingdoms"? Wei Zhi? The story of Kawasaki mentions that "years of soldiers, the mournful feelings of the people like bereavement relatives, picture its shape, think of its afterimage."

It meant that the man had died during his term of office, and that the people of his district were grieving as if they had lost their loved ones, and had drawn his image as a kind of longing.

This indicated that there was an image in the distant Three Kingdoms period, and its function was no different from today. From this, it could be seen that this image had a long history.

Grandfather was the painter of the portrait, a wolf pen, a blank piece of paper, to raise me and send me to the county high school.

From my point of view, even though Grandpa's skill was quite good at earning money, it was too unlucky. I didn't really like it and always had a conflict with it.

It's a pity that fate is always so mysterious. What I didn't expect in my life was that I actually had an unbreakable affinity with my grandfather's craftsmanship.

He had to start from his senior year of high school.

I remember that noon, I was sitting in the classroom with my classmates chatting, when a person suddenly ran in, saying that he wanted to see me.

I know this person, and we live on the same street, not far from each other. He told me that my grandfather is very sick and that I'm afraid time is running out.

Grandfather is my only family, how could I dare to hesitate for even a second. As a result, I directly returned home without a leave.

However, when I returned home, my grandfather was lying leisurely on his teacher's chair, reading a newspaper. He was even more spirited than me, where was there even the slightest sign that his lifespan was coming to an end?

Grandfather looked at me and said, "I don't have much time left, the Ma Family technique is passed down to me from my ancestors. You don't need to read this book anymore, come back and learn how to use it from me."

Although I don't want to learn, but even more so, I don't want to study. I might as well just push myself a little and jump into the hole that my grandfather dug.

However, the process of learning my skills didn't go as planned. When I wholeheartedly stayed at home, I realised that my only mission was to look after the shops.

But it didn't matter. I would just be messing around anyways, so I made up my mind. But, the thing I really understood about my grandfather's work was that it would be in the next half a month.

I remember that day I was sitting in a daze with my head down in the shop when a woman's voice appeared in the store: Is anyone there?

Hearing this, I was immediately displeased. What did he mean by "is there anyone here"? Did he not see such a huge living being here?

However, when he thought about it, it had not opened for more than half a month. It was not easy to get a customer to come over and say that he shouldn't have any temper.

So I chuckled and raised my head to reply. There's someone here, what can I do for you?

"May I ask if Mr. Ma is in?" The woman was no more than forty, and her voice was soft and delicate. Her face was grieving, her eyes red, and she forced a smile as she asked me the question.

"I am." I returned without hesitation.

"Little bastard, don't be muddle-headed!" Grandfather's voice came from within the room. He glared at me with a dark expression, then looked at the woman and smiled faintly. "I am, tell me what it is!"

The woman's eyes reddened as she asked this question. She was about to burst into tears. I had to speak for a long time before I understood.

It turned out that this woman's husband had died in a car accident. Although his face had been mended by the makeup artist from the funeral parlor, he didn't look that scary. Compared to his real face, he was two different people.

Moreover, the woman's husband had a weird personality when he was alive. He really didn't like photographs and rarely left any suitable pictures behind. However, when people were dead, images must be left behind. There really was no way for the woman to find her grandpa.

Pappy nodded and consoled the woman while he whispered that I was responsible.

The woman thanked him profusely, and without a word took out five furs. Pappy thrust them into Pappy's hand and said it was a deposit, and a thousand more when it was done.

Grandfather seemed to be very indifferent. He stuffed the furs into his pocket and said softly, "Money doesn't matter. The living have peace, while the dead have peace. The most important thing is, I will prepare them right away."

The woman quickly said, "If you are ready, let me know. I will bring you there."

Hearing this, Grandfather nodded his head and didn't say anything more. He walked to the back room and started cleaning up.

"Alright, let's go." In less than five minutes, my grandfather came out with a broken wooden box slung over his shoulder. He was the one eating there, but I didn't know what was inside.

"Okay, Master Ma, please", the woman seemed very anxious, and immediately pointed at Audi outside the door.

His grandfather rolled his mouth, but didn't say anything. He casually got into the Audi and sat on it, as if he was very familiar with the route.

But I didn't want to do it. Look at him, he's saying he won't take me there. I'm so bored at home that I'm almost out of work. I finally got the chance to see him work, so how could I let him go?

So I grabbed the door and said, "I want to go too!"

Hearing that, his grandfather glared at him, blew his beard, and scolded him, "You are messing around, get lost and go back to the store."

How could I be willing to do that? I still refused to give up. I thought to myself, don't talk about how angry you are. Even if you were to use a cannon to blast me, I still wouldn't let go.

His grandfather was really helpless. In the end, he lightly sighed and snappily said, "Close the door and get in the car."

I was overjoyed when I heard this. I hurriedly closed the door and sat on the car.

I have to say, this Audi is quite comfortable. It's soft and gentle, shaking and swaying on the mountain road. This is the first time in my life that I've ridden in such a luxurious car.

My grandfather, who was sitting next to me, had already started to doze off with his eyes narrowed. It didn't take me long before a wave of sleepiness hit me and I fell into a deep sleep.

"Master Ma, we have arrived." After who knows how long, a woman's voice called out to me. I squinted and pushed the door open to get out of the car without saying anything.

But when I looked closely, I was dumbfounded.

He saw a huge crane standing by the door. It had its wings spread wide and looked like it was about to fly away. "Drive the crane to the west" were written in large golden characters. It turned out to be a funeral home.

"How is it a funeral home?" The moment he got out of the car, his grandfather's face darkened. He looked extremely discontented, and he didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, he muttered to himself.

"Master Ma, is that a problem?" When the woman heard this, her expression changed into one of extreme worry.

"The Yin Qi are all over the place, it's going to be troublesome." His grandfather sighed lightly, looking extremely worried.

When I saw this, I was amused. I wondered what kind of tricks you were playing. It was just drawing a portrait. Although this funeral home is a bit unlucky, it shouldn't be as' despondent 'as you said, right?

However, this woman seemed to believe it. Her expression changed as she looked pleadingly at her grandfather. Although she didn't say anything, I could tell that she was in a very difficult situation.

Grandfather didn't say anything for a long time. He lowered his head in thought, and kept rubbing the broken wooden chest that he had used for who knows how many years. He murmured something as he shook his head.

As for the woman beside him, her grandfather's actions caused her expression to waver. She hesitantly opened her mouth, but didn't say anything in the end.

I turned to see a thick cloud of smoke rising from the tall chimney of the funeral home, then drifting away in the wind, dispersing the stench.

I frowned as I looked at my grandfather. I thought to myself, if you really don't want to accept it, why do you have to stand here?

"Master Ma, please do good, my husband died too miserably, only you can help him," At this time, the woman looked at the funeral home anxiously, then took out a few red heads from her bag and shoved them into her grandfather's embrace. She begged with her red eyes, making people's hearts ache.

Let alone grandpa, even if I saw him, my heart would have softened. I just hate myself for not having the ability to do so.

He saw his grandfather sigh as he glanced at the woman. He opened his mouth, but eventually shook his head, as if he was extremely conflicted.

"Grandpa, I really can't stand it any longer. I called him grandpa a little, firstly, to remind him, and secondly, to urge him on.

"Ai, even if I have to come, I will try." Grandfather sighed. He still had a worried look on his face. His hand that was constantly rubbing the broken wooden chest was already tightly holding onto it. His knuckles had even turned white due to using too much strength.

"Okay, then I'll be troubling you." The woman let out a sigh of relief, "Please wait a moment, I'll take the item down."

The woman opened the door again. It looked like it was in the car.

At the side, my grandfather kept looking up into the sky with a face full of worry. As for the woman, I didn't know what she was doing in the car, but after going in and dawdling for a long time, she still hadn't come out. So, my grandfather and I turned our heads to look at that car of hers.

However, at this moment, his grandfather's face suddenly changed, and he couldn't help but shiver. When the woman came out, he pushed the money he was still holding in his hand towards her without saying anything, and tremblingly said, "I won't take this job, I will return the money to you."