When the sound sounded, I was stretching out my hand and bending down to insert the fragrance into the incense burner in front of the portrait. After hearing the sound, I subconsciously raised my head, and my eyes met the portrait of Chen Guzi.
There were thick candles on both sides of the portrait. In the swaying light, I saw two crystal clear water drops stuck to the glass of the photo frame. The corresponding position of these water drops was exactly at the lower eye socket of the portrait of Chen Guzi. It looked like, It does look like Chen Guzi's portrait is weeping.
The crowd present soon exclaimed, saying that Chen Guzi had resentment in his heart and was unwilling to die, which was why the portrait shed tears.
After they finished shouting, I don't know who started it. They bowed to Chen Guzi's mourning hall with their hands clasped together. They said, "Every wrongdoer has his debtor, and every debtor has his owner." Then he turned around and left. Seeing this, the rest of the people followed suit. , and after a while, the people who came to watch the excitement in the huge courtyard were almost gone.
Even the gentlemen who played gongs and drums for Chen Guzi each found an excuse to ask for leave from the dojo master and left in a hurry. Mr. Dojo ignored them and just stood in front of the bench, looking at the portrait in a daze, his expression very ugly.
Obviously, they have never seen such a thing as a portrait crying before, and once it happens, they think it is a bad sign, and they have to stay away from the place where it is right and wrong as soon as possible.
There were only four outsiders left in the huge courtyard: Mr. Wang, the village chief, me, and Mr. Chen Guzi’s dojo (the village chief invited him from another village overnight).
After hearing the comments from the villagers, the Chen family's mother and daughter inevitably burst into tears again, beating their chests and feet, and saying that their lives were miserable.
Although the villagers think that crying on the portrait is a bad sign, I think it is not a big deal - water droplets on the glass, isn't it a simple physical phenomenon?
Glass is cold, and there is a candle burning next to it. The moisture in the candle turns into water vapor and disperses. When it encounters the cold glass, doesn't it form water droplets? The most common thing is that after taking a shower in the bathroom in winter, the mirror will be covered with a dense layer of small water droplets.
With such a simple physical principle, what’s all the fuss about? As for why it happens to be in the eye socket, it must be just a coincidence. So as long as the temperature of the glass is raised and the water droplets are wiped off, there will be no more water droplets on the glass.
As soon as the idea came to my mind, I reached out and wiped the two drops of water on the photo frame. I thought to myself, as long as I wipe off these two drops of water and explain clearly to the Chen family and daughter the principle of formation of water droplets, I think they will not be so panicked again.
However, when I reached out to wipe away the water droplets, I was stunned for a moment - I touched it with my fingers without any hindrance. I didn't feel the presence of liquid on my fingertips, and the temperature of the photo frame glass was far higher than To my surprise, it wasn't cold at all, it even had a touch of warmth.
And the most unusual thing is that when you brush your fingers across the surface of the glass, the two drops of water do not disappear, but are still stuck to the glass, and the position is still in the eye socket!
I instantly understood that these two drops of water were not on the surface of the photo frame, but inside the glass!
Could it be that it was really Chen Guzi who shed tears? !
I was startled by my own thoughts and quickly retracted the hand I was using to wipe the glass, as if I had been pricked by a needle. Then the whole person retreated to Mr. Wang and told him that if the water drips into the glass, it cannot be wiped away!
Mr. Wang glanced at me sideways and said angrily, "Aren't you talking nonsense?" I may not be able to solve such a tricky thing as a portrait crying. If you wipe it off easily, why do you want craftsmen like us to clean your children (shoes)?
I heard the implication of Mr. Wang’s words, so I asked him, did you realize early on that these were not water droplets formed by water vapor?
When Mr. Wang heard this, he stretched out his hand and was about to knock my chestnut, but he stopped halfway. Instead, he sighed and said to me as if he hates iron, and said to me, Goudidi, are you reading? Pedantic (pedantic, stupid)? It's summer. Unless you put the photo frame in the refrigerator and take it out again, the water vapor may form water droplets?
Being scolded by Mr. Wang, my face instantly turned red and I felt that I really deserved the scolding. I only considered that water vapor will form water droplets when it is cold, but I ignored that it is summer, and no matter how cold the temperature of the glass is, it will not be high enough for water vapor to form water droplets.
Mr. Wang continues, let’s talk again. Ever since you were a child, have you ever heard anyone say that there will be water vapor droplets on the photo frames of portraits?
I thought about it carefully and found that I had never heard of it.
Mr. Wang said that this is because there are certain things to do when making portraits. No matter how cold the weather is, there should be no water droplets on the photo frame. This is a rule passed down from our ancestors, and no one can break it.
rule? Do your ancestors still have such rules passed down? How come I've never heard of it?
Mr. Wang said angrily, "If you haven't heard it, you can only blame your grandfather for not teaching you."
I didn't dwell on this issue, but asked him, what if it's winter? Can you ensure that water vapor (water droplets) does not come out of the glass in winter?
Mr. Wang said, don’t ask me this question, I can’t guarantee it, because I can only take portraits, not make portraits.
When I heard this, I thought of the series of techniques used by Mr. Wang to remove the portrait, which seemed very cumbersome. I wanted to ask him before, it’s just a portrait, why is it so complicated? It was just the wrong time, so I didn’t ask.
At this time, Mr. Daochang, who had always looked ugly, started to say that it was us who did the work of doing the portraits. Masters like Mr. Wang did not bother to do such rough work.
I don't know how to respond to this, but Mr. Wang's compliment to Mr. Dojo seems to be very useful, and he doesn't mean to be humble at all.
Mr. Dojo continued, everyone in our field knows that generally photos will fade as soon as they fade, but this does not apply to posthumous photos. Because the photos of the deceased are left for future generations to admire. If the photos fade in a few years, how will we, the masters, be able to see each other in the future?
At this point, he sat down, put his hand on the table of the Eight Immortals, and continued talking. Therefore, the black and white photo frame must be specially processed to ensure tightness. It’s no exaggeration to say that in terms of sealing, I dare say that no one can beat us with just their hands.
This was said very domineeringly and confidently. Only now did I understand why Mr. Wang did not intervene in making the portrait after Chen Guzi's photos were taken out, but instead left it to Mr. Daochang. It turned out that Mr. Wang was not as good as Mr. Daochang in making the portrait.
Mr. Dojo stopped here, looked at me, and said, in addition, the sealing of the photo frame for portraits is not only better than that of ordinary photo frames, but also to ensure that no moisture can escape from the photo frame. College students, do you know why this is?
Mr. Wang just said that this is a rule left by our ancestors. Since it was left by our ancestors, there is a reason for it, so I said, because water vapor will corrode the photos and make them fade.
Mr. Dojo nodded and said with a smile that college students are college students and they know a lot. However, this is only one aspect. The more important thing is that the ancestors left behind a word.
I asked, what kind of words?
As soon as I finished asking, I heard Mr. Wang and Mr. Daochang say at the same time, the portrait is in tears and the corpse monument is hundreds of miles away!
