"I'm going to start, Mr. Weinerson, um, you can look more relaxed."
"Relax your expression... is it too stiff?" Weinerson suddenly felt a little embarrassed, and he quickly adjusted his posture.
"I have read in books that the body dynamics of the model determine the quality of a painting. Whether the model is happy or unhappy, the result of the painting is completely different." Faye Edwardna explained to herself, Suddenly she paused, "Sorry, I almost forgot, you studied art."
Weinerson smiled in response and said nothing.
This was the first time that a beautiful lady looked at me, and I had an indescribable feeling, just like a piece of cake being watched.
But he didn't show it, only maintaining a calm expression and the current atmosphere.
...
call! Fei exhaled heavily, stood up, looked at the screen, and her golden eyebrows relaxed quickly.
"Done!"
"So fast?"
Weinerson asked curiously with some surprise. He took out the pocket watch in his pocket and opened it with a click. The time showed that 10 minutes had just passed.
"It's a bit slow. I'm painting very seriously. It usually only takes 5 minutes." Fei replied thoughtfully.
"Well...if the original owner was half as good as you, no, one-third as good as you, he wouldn't have failed."
"What are you muttering about?"
Fei tilted her head and looked at Weinerson. A pile of golden bangs hung down in front of her forehead, looking particularly beautiful under the sunlight.
"No... nothing." Weinerson answered vaguely.
"You are a great model. All your expressions are so perfect that I can't believe it. If I have the chance, I would like to paint a portrait of you."
Fei glanced at the silver pocket watch hanging on the easel, her expression changed slightly, and she sighed and continued:
"Um...Sorry, it's almost time for me to go out and paint."
"Me too, it's almost time to board the steam train. I look forward to meeting you again." Weenerson used Ghent-style implicit rhetoric, which is a common farewell phrase used by gentlemen to ladies.
Fei said "Yeah" and smiled very happily:
"I also believe we will see each other again, in the near future?"
Near future?
Weinerson chewed on this word silently, always feeling a little strange.
When he raised his head again, he found that there was no one under the sycamore tree. The beautiful lady just now had left.
Faye Edwardna... After Weinerson recited the name silently in his heart, he turned from Indus Avenue into the street full of elm trees, Elm Road!
This ancient stone brick road, which can accommodate three horse-drawn carriages running side by side, alternates with Silver Cross Road and Wutong Avenue. It is one of the landmark roads in the North Cross District. It has gone through two entire eras and is made of dense elm trees beside the road. Got its name.
Most of the low-class people living in this street are street girls. Although a large number of women themselves are not willing to sell their bodies, in the end, due to various reasons such as hunger, cold, disease, etc., they choose the one they are least willing to sell. that way.
Regarding this kind of problem, the Kingdom has promulgated laws that explicitly prohibit obscene transactions, but in fact it has never really implemented controls. Many single male police officers have even had the experience of looking for street girls.
On the one hand, there is the face of the kingdom, on the other hand, there are chaotic desires. It seems that no matter which world, it is inevitable.
Weinerson sighed softly, dispelled the unnecessary distracting thoughts in his mind, and walked towards the bustling steam train platform not far ahead.
"Pie, a delicious French potato pie, only 2p!"
"Fresh oyster soup, good oysters, sir, would you like a bowl? I'll be energetic all night long..."
"Fresh vegetables sent by Ronge..."
"Uncle, do you want to buy flowers?"
Weinerson stopped, lowered his head, and saw a little girl in ragged clothes, a dirty skirt, and a sallow complexion.
She held a bamboo basket on her chest, which contained several white Faslanca roses, winter irises, and Orleans blue-leaf vanilla.
Weinerson was stunned, then bent down with a smile, stroked the frizzy short hair on his little head, and took out a white rose.
"How much?"
"1 penny."
The little girl opened her bright light blue eyes, and there seemed to be a glimmer of light on her numb cheeks.
Weinerson took out a copper penny from his pocket, put it in the little girl's hand, and then sniffed the white rose.
“It smells great and it’s beautiful!”
"Thanks."
The little girl opened her bloodless mouth, her face was full of happiness, like a little angel...
...
Like Mink Street, there are various mobile street vendors here. They shout loudly and take the trouble to greet travelers coming out of the steam train platform, just to sell something.
Weinerson held the brim of his hat with his right hand, lowered his head and walked forward quickly through the noisy streets.
We walked to the gate of the steam train station. It was a three-arched gate made of majestic boulders. Behind the gate was a huge ticket square, with many low tents set up inside, which seemed to be selling small souvenirs. Most shops.
"Is it similar to riding a high-speed train on Earth? There are many merchandise shops inside the station." Weinerson glanced at the bustling waiting square in front of him and whispered to himself.
The admission notice said that platform 9643 was hidden among the third pillar of the steam train platform. I had to find it and get in.
With his thoughts flashing, Weinerson moved closer. Just as he was about to count the pillars inside, a hoarse voice suddenly came from beside him.
"Want a divination?"
Turning his head subconsciously, Weinerson saw a man wearing a pointed hat and a black hooded robe sitting in a low tent.
His face was smeared with three-color paint, his eyes were dark, but his legs were not very agile, and there was a crutch beside him.
"No, no, thank you." Weinerson shook his head and replied.
I have a shadow of Irene's divination now, not to mention that I have to find the 9643 extraordinary steam train platform, so there is no time for divination.
The man grinned and said:
"My divination is very accurate. I can see many things that you can't see, such as destiny. Are you sure you don't want to give it a try?"
"destiny……"
Weinerson was stunned for a moment. This magic trick seemed to be very similar to his own in some aspects!
During the previous gathering at the old royal court, it was this similar set of words that frightened the princess, Shen Hai, and Destiny...
Thinking of this, he suddenly had a new idea, to see how the professional master deceived him, and then he could fully reproduce it and prepare to use it at the next party.
"You can give it a try, provided the price is reasonable."
The middle-aged man wearing a pointed hat and face paint immediately shook his head: "We have signed a contract with the steam train station to provide free fortune telling for passengers. There is no charge."
free?
When I was in China, I understood a truth: free is the most expensive!
Weinerson muttered silently. He bent down into the low tent, put his suitcase and a white rose aside, and sat on the soft cushions.
There are many wooden shapes like hanging tags hanging inside the tent, including birds, stars, moons, doors, etc., with many strange symbols drawn on them, shining brightly in the dim environment.
The fortune teller wearing a pointed hat took out a match and lit three silver candles. The dim and flickering candlelight instantly gave the entire tent a mysterious feeling.
Weinerson swept the three candles calmly, and his spiritual intuition told him that there were no drippings of essential oils, herbal powders or other spiritual materials on them.
"It's not a priest with extraordinary power. He should be a person interested in divination, or a charlatan?" Weinerson thought with a slightly raised corner of his mouth.
"Hold this thread!"
"Thread?" In a daze, Weinerson suddenly found that he had picked up a thin black thread in his hand.
"Don't worry, this is called lead divination. It comes from pendulum divination. It just removes the pendulum and directly connects the human body with a thread to act as a pendulum. The fate will be more specific."
The middle-aged fortune teller said in a low voice. He pulled the other section of the black thread with his right hand and his fingertips were constantly twirling.
"Do you feel anything?"
"No?" Weinerson replied subconsciously. Apart from feeling that the black line was constantly shaking, he felt nothing else.
The mixed-color oil paint on the diviner's face kept squirming, showing a smile and saying:
"Now, I am communicating with your destiny and interpreting its symbolic meaning."
Weinerson was obviously startled and immediately asked warily:
"Wait...you won't charge extra for interpretation or anything, right?"
The fortune teller wearing a pointed hat was suddenly stunned for a moment, his face was slightly ashen and he said:
"It's all free."
"That's fine, I can accept it without charge." Weinason felt relieved and returned his gaze to the black line. This time, he felt an inexplicable sense of dizziness.
"alright."
The dizziness passed away in an instant. The middle-aged fortune teller withdrew his black thread, looked at it carefully for a while, and suddenly said:
"Your destiny..."
As a clergyman, Weinerson was somewhat in awe of the power of prying eyes produced in mysticism. Although the man in front of him was not a clergyman who had touched the supernatural power, he still wanted to hear the results.
"Your destiny is very good, there are no other problems." The fortune teller nodded first, then raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
I feel like you are playing tricks on me...
The muscles on Weinerson's face twitched and he took a deep breath.
"The present and the future are very harmonious destiny, but... your past seems to be covered by some kind of fog."
"The past shrouded in mist?"
Weinerson stared at the face hidden under the dome hat directly in front of him. The candlelight reflected on the oil paint looked so incongruous.
"Can you pry into my past?"
"It's not me, it's it!" The diviner opened his palm and showed the black ball of thread in front of Weinerson's eyes, his voice became hoarse, "It's just a divination technique."
"The thin black thread was called the thread of voyeurism in ancient times."
"In the past, present, and future, everyone's destiny is connected by a black thread. This black thread intersects with other people's black threads to form a web of destiny. Everyone is in the grid, somewhere. Pulled by destiny.”
The fortune teller pressed the end of the black thread with his fingertips and stirred one end. The other end also trembled slightly. Slowly, the entire thread trembled rapidly, as if it were a long, lively black threadworm.
After turning for a while, the finger left, and the thread immediately lost the power to support the movement. After doing all this, the fortune teller raised his head again and looked deeply at Weinerson with his black eyes.
"do you understand?"
"Great divination." Weinerson thought for a while.
The fortune teller nodded slowly, stood up and opened the tent's cloth door. Strong sunlight shone in, causing Weinerson, who had his back turned, to instinctively squint his eyes.
Woo——
A whistle echoed in every corner of the platform, and on the railway track not far away, the huge monster-like steam train came to a slow stop.
