fringe artist

Chapter 10 10. Darkroom
The yellow flames were burning, and the hot air waves evaporated the moisture in the air.

Chen Li'an sat cross-legged on the ground surrounded by flames, with a hair band on his head that read Today's Beginning of Spring.

After the simulated water burial, Chen Li'an rested for a while, and then started the simulated cremation.

It was exactly as Wang Xiaoshuai said, he took a bath first, and then warmed himself up by the fire.

Chen Li'an in the center of the flames was not as comfortable as Wang Xiaoshuai said, because the crew was very poor, and instead of using ether with a low ignition point, they used a small amount of gasoline to ignite dead branches.

The scorching fire waves scorched Chen Li'an's skin, and his long, jet-black hair was slightly curly.

Surrounded by such flames, Chen Li'an felt that he was experiencing the dual world of ice and fire, because the biting chill brought by the water burial was still raging in his body, and the surrounding flames made his skin feel burning pain.

This kind of experience really can't be described in words, Chen Li'an has only one feeling now, performance artists are crazy!
However, because of this feeling, Chen Li'an grasped what was missing in his heart. His heart was not paranoid or crazy enough, he hadn't really fit the character, he hadn't become Qi Lei.

On the outskirts of the flames, the camera recorded this scene. In the dancing flames, Chen Li'an with his eyes closed seemed to be waiting for the coming of death, peaceful and eerie.

The flame burns fiercely and goes out very quickly, and a small amount of gasoline does not last long.

The entire simulated cremation did not last long, only 5 minutes.

After completing three simulated deaths in one day, Chen Li'an's body had reached its limit, and he was also mentally exhausted.

After returning to West Village with the crew's car, Chen Li'an got out of the car exhausted.

Wang Xiaoshuai jumped out of the car, moved his round body a bit, walked up to Chen Li'an in a high-spirited manner and asked, "Qi Lei, let's have a drink together tonight?"

Wang Xiaoshuai now firmly remembers that his name should be Qi Lei.

The afterglow of the evening radiated a golden light, and Chen Li'an felt that his spirit was about to lose his strength to go down the mountain, so he replied in a hoarse voice: "No, I need to eat now, and then have a good sleep."

"That's all right, do you want to take you back?" Wang Xiaoshuai didn't force it, it was indeed tiring today, and he almost had an accident.

Chen Li'an shook his head, greeted the crew and left.

At the intersection outside the West Village, Chen Li'an put his hands in his pockets and was a little confused about which direction to go.

Go straight ahead to go home, and turn right to go to Baiqing.

The exhausted Chen Li'an really wanted to have a warm embrace to rest for a while.

Chen Li'an looked down at Bai Qing's self-portrait on the T-shirt, and looked away from the right.

If it continues to develop, Chen Li'an is afraid that Bai Qing will really fall in love with him, he is not a dedicated person.

It is good to let a relationship stay in the joy and desire before love, and it will hurt the other party if it really becomes love.

At this point, Chen Li'an will always exercise restraint, trying not to hurt any relationship, and not to disappoint every girl.

The West Village is a bit remote. There are many buses, but there are no taxis.

Chen Li'an stood at the crossroads, hoping to meet a taxi. As for the bumpy and crowded bus, he was not in his consideration.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Ma Xiaoqing appeared from behind Chen Li'an, her round face was flushed, and she seemed to be running over.

Ma Xiaoqing was panting slightly, just now when she realized that Chen Li'an had left first, she immediately chased after him.

She didn't know why she wanted to catch up, and she didn't know what she was going to do, but she just couldn't control herself, and there was always an inexplicable impulse in her heart.

Chen Li'an lifted the long hair that covered his eyes, exposed his eyes, and looked at Ma Xiaoqing with doubts in his eyes.

Ma Xiaoqing was a little embarrassed by Chen Li'an's eyes, and felt that she was too impulsive, so she said awkwardly, "I...why do you look at me like that?"

Chen Li'an shook his head and said, "It's nothing, I'm going to eat and go home to sleep."

"Can we go together? I'm going to eat too." Ma Xiaoqing said immediately. After she finished speaking, Ma Xiaoqing let go of her shyness. Before Chen Li'an could answer, she took Chen Li'an's arm and said, "Let's go, I know there is a family here. The marinade is great.”

Chen Li'an didn't agree or refute, and let Ma Xiaoqing pull him, thinking that she was a little too enthusiastic, but after thinking about it, the two of them were a couple in the movie, so it wouldn't be a problem to get acquainted with each other.

Without hearing Chen Li'an's answer, Ma Xiaoqing turned her head to look at Chen Li'an's side face and asked curiously: "You don't like braised cooking?"

"No, stewed is pretty good."

Silence is the main theme between the two, but Ma Xiaoqing quite likes this feeling, but she can't control her curiosity.

"Is your girlfriend painted on your clothes?"

"No."

"Did you draw it yourself?"

"No."

"Then do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

Ma Xiaoqing, who had been asking for a long time, was a little discouraged, and said with resentment in her eyes, "Do you not want to talk to me? You think I'm too annoying."

"No."

Ma Xiaoqing: "." Forget it, give up, this is just a piece of wood!

There are less than ten tables in the small fly restaurant. The owner is a chubby middle-aged elder brother, and the steaming cauldron is constantly exuding an attractive aroma.

Ma Xiaoqing pulled Chen Li'an to find an empty table and sat down, then turned her head and shouted to the boss: "Two nights of cooking, four fires!"

The stewed soup is very fragrant, the soup is rich, and the fire is not bad. Chen Li'an ate two fires and a bowl of stewed soup to make up for the lost calories.

Ma Xiaoqing ate slowly, Chen Li'an sat there and watched her eat after eating, Ma Xiaoqing's appearance is not very outstanding, she can only be regarded as an ordinary beauty, but her round face looks quite cute.

Chen Li'an's eyes showed a hint of admiration, and Ma Xiaoqing took a bite of the fire with some embarrassment, she had never encountered such an undisguised stare.

Ma Xiaoqing fiddled with the spoon in the bowl, and asked pretendingly, "Are you going home later?"

"Well, I'm waiting for you to finish eating." Chen Li'an replied.

Ma Xiaoqing put down the spoon in her hand and said, "I'm done eating."

"Well, let's go then."

Chen Li'an took out ten yuan from his wallet and put it on the table. Ma Xiaoqing didn't rush to pay after seeing it, since there wasn't much money anyway.

After coming out of the braised cooking shop, Chen Li'an stretched his waist, turned to look at Ma Xiaoqing and said, "Why are you back?"

"I live not far away." Ma Xiaoqing struggled for a while and then said, "Why don't you go to my house and have a look at the photos taken today?"

"Do you have a darkroom at home?" Chen Li'an asked curiously. He originally thought that Ma Xiaoqing only brought the camera because of the needs of the characters in the movie.

The role played by Ma Xiaoqing in the movie is a photographer.

Ma Xiaoqing nodded and said, "Yes, do you want to take a look?"

"Then let's go, I haven't seen how the photos are developed yet."

"Then can you let me take some more pictures later?"

Chen Li'an: "." How do you feel that you have heard this before?

In the dim darkroom, the red light was a bit dim and I could barely see. The smell of the developer was a bit pungent, not as good as turpentine.

Wearing white rubber gloves, Ma Xiaoqing held the photo paper with tweezers and shook it a few times in the developing solution.

Standing behind Ma Xiaoqing, Chen Li'an watched Ma Xiaoqing develop the photos seriously. It is not very troublesome to develop the photos, but there are more steps, but Ma Xiaoqing is obviously a veteran.

After about 20 minutes, the first photo was finished. Chen Li'an leaned over to take a closer look at himself in the photo.

"Why did you wash this one first?" Chen Li'an looked at his half-naked self in the photo. The angle of the photo was slightly backlit, showing his figure perfectly.

Ma Xiaoqing's hand holding the photo paused, and said with little confidence: "It happened to be that negative."

Of course it wasn't a coincidence. Chen Li'an saw that Ma Xiaoqing looked at the negatives before developing the photo. She must have chosen this photo on purpose.

Chen Li'an did not expose Ma Xiaoqing's "lie". After she had finished washing and hanging up all the film, the two of them came out of the darkroom.

As soon as she came out of the darkroom, Ma Xiaoqing picked up the camera and said to Chen Li'an, "I want to take a few more pictures."

"You can do whatever you want with the camera, but can I borrow your sofa to sleep for a while?" Chen Li'an sat on the sofa and said nonchalantly.

Ma Xiaoqing: "..." How can I take pictures while you are sleeping!

(End of this chapter)