Chapter 33 The Painting

"Wu Ji General Store? Never heard of it." The old man shook his head. "The bookstore used to be on Xuezhong Road. It's moved several times. Back then, it was my grandfather's father, my great-grandfather, who opened the store there for my grandfather's schooling."

He reminisced for a moment.

"Dongliu, that's right, Dongliu Experimental Elementary School, Experimental Middle School, my grandfather went to both. At the time, Dongliu was a well-known key school in the vicinity."

Hearing the name Dongliu, a sense of certainty settled in their hearts.

This was it!

This was the place!

"What are you asking about this for?" the old man asked, puzzled.

"You know Dongliu Experimental Elementary School, how could you not know about Wu Ji General Store on Xuezhong Road?" Zhong Ying asked, a little anxious. Their purpose in finding Bai Feipeng, the chubby kid, was to find Wu Ji General Store.

Because that slot machine was placed in front of Wu Ji General Store.

So, as long as they found this general store, they could be sure to find that mysterious slot machine!

But now, from this old man's mouth, he was saying he didn't know any Wu Ji General Store??

"Oh, right! Are you talking about Wu Laokan's General Store?" the old man suddenly smacked his head, realizing.

"Wu Laokan's General Store?" They were slightly taken aback.

"There was a Wu Laokan's General Store, I remember. They sold everything, all kinds of snacks, I used to go there often to buy things when I was little," the old man seemed to recall.

"Are you looking for Wu Laokan's place?"

"Yes, yes! Do you remember where Wu Laokan's place is now?" Zhong Ying's pretty face clearly showed a hint of joy. Both had the surname Wu, it must be the same place.

"Not sure," the old man shook his head.

"Do you remember if your grandfather, Bai Feipeng, ever said he played a slot machine at Wu Laokan's General Store when he was little?" Zhong Ying quickly asked.

"When he was little? What are you talking about?" The old man gave her a strange look. "When my grandfather was little, there was no Wu Laokan's General Store on the street. Back then, we relied on the Little Grape Supermarket for daily necessities. There was no general store at all."

"???" They were all stunned by this.

The chubby kid didn't have a general store when he was little?

Then, in Li Cheng Yi's memory flashes, how could Bai Feipeng say that he knew about Wu Ji General Store??!

"What about Zhou's Pastry?" Li Cheng Yi couldn't help but ask at this moment. "Did your grandfather steal anything from Zhou's Pastry when he was little?"

This was terrible… really asking for a beating. The others couldn't help but turn away.

"What kind of talk is that??" The old man glared at him. "Where did Zhou's Pastry come from?? There wasn't a single pastry shop on the entire Xuezhong Road back then! We relied on takeout for sweets, or we went to other districts five kilometers away. Steal something?? You must be dreaming!"

The old man was clearly a little angry.

But his answer left everyone present a little dazed.

If what the old man said was true, then not only was there no general store on the street where the chubby kid Bai Feipeng lived when he was little, there wasn't even a pastry shop.

Then how did he appear in front of Li Cheng Yi?

The key was, that chubby kid could see Li Cheng Yi, see him running around on the street, and even hear him talking?

"But... Wu Ji General Store... Zhou's Pastry?" The old man suddenly rubbed his forehead and lowered his head to think.

"I feel like I've heard it somewhere," he murmured.

This change immediately gave everyone present new hope.

They didn't dare to disturb him, afraid of affecting the old man's memories.

"Boss, buying books! Today's Dòngyīn Complete Collection! I want three copies!"

At this moment, a bespectacled teenager with a schoolbag rushed into the bookstore.

"Dòngyīn Complete Collection, it's here, it's here, just arrived today, you came at the right time," the old man said, immediately stopping and smiling as he took out a gaudy magazine from under the counter.

"But if you want three copies, I'll have to go to the warehouse in the back to find them, wait a moment."

But that was it, it interrupted his memory. The old man stood up and was about to walk into the depths of the store.

*Pa!*

Suddenly, Xindela waved his hand and slammed it heavily on the glass counter at the entrance of the bookstore.

"Boss, please help us think about our business first! He doesn't need so many as three copies!"

"But..." The bespectacled teenager just wanted to say something, but suddenly a red bill appeared in front of him.

He paused, looked up, and saw Xindela giving him a look.

The teenager understood, took the bill, and turned to run.

"Boss, never mind, one copy is enough for me!"

Before long, he had run to the street corner and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Come, come, come! Boss, think carefully, where did you see Wu Ji General Store and Zhou's Pastry?" Zhong Ying stepped forward and asked sweetly.

"I...." The old man was a little dazed, not understanding what these people were up to.

"Think carefully." Xindela took out another stack of bills and placed them lightly on the counter, his voice magnetic. "Believe in yourself."

"Oh... oh... I remember!" The old man's eyes lit up when he saw the money.

He smacked his head and quickly put away the money.

"Follow me!"

Turning around, he walked quite quickly towards the depths of the store.

They followed him in, and soon came to the innermost part of the bookstore.

Instead of books, the innermost part was hung with paintings of rich colors and somewhat distorted lines.

"Here!" The old man quickly walked to a dark-toned picture frame in the corner, reached out his hand, and pointed to a corner of it.

"Look, this should be the Wu Ji General Store and Zhou's Pastry you're looking for."

Following his finger, everyone saw that in a corner of the painting, two shops were clearly painted.

On the left was Wu Ji General Store, and on the right, a few shops away, was Zhou's Pastry!

What? What was this all about??

"Wait, what's that!?"

Suddenly, Zhong Ying pointed to a spot in the painting.

Everyone's eyes gathered.

Before they could be surprised that the two shops were in the painting, they immediately saw the colorful fruit slot machine placed in front of Wu Ji General Store.

This mysterious slot machine was actually found in this situation!!?

".....Which location is this in the painting?" Xindela was the first to recover and asked in a deep voice.

"Which location?" The old man smiled strangely. "This is a scene from a comic book that my grandfather used to love the most. Later, after he taught himself how to paint, he painted this scene. I was just saying, I thought what you were saying about Wu Ji General Store and Zhou's Pastry sounded familiar, take a look."

He pointed to a corner of the painting.

That was exactly the location of Zhou's Pastry's shop.

Li Cheng Yi looked at it, and the shop was lit with soft yellow light, two shop assistants were busy tidying up something with their heads down, and wooden drawers were placed in front of the shop, with newly made pastries of all kinds in the drawers.

This scene was exactly the same as what he had seen before!

He also saw a chubby kid, so fat that his eyes and mouth were just three slits, standing in front of the shop, turning his head as if looking out of the painting.

The chubby kid was very white, and compared to the surrounding streets shrouded in fog, his flesh was glowing white, and his complexion was particularly white.

Although his eyes were small, Li Cheng Yi looked carefully and felt that the chubby kid was really looking at himself standing outside the painting.

The chubby kid had a smile on his face, somewhat sly, but the light in his eyes was completely devoid of emotion.

Cold, vivid....

*Pa.*

"Don't stare at the eyes," the old man suddenly reached out and blocked the chubby kid. He looked at Li Cheng Yi seriously and said.

"Many people have come to see this painting, and they all feel that my grandfather painted this chubby kid a bit strangely. Looking at his eyes too much will give you nightmares."

"Isn't this chubby kid your grandfather himself?" Li Cheng Yi also felt a little uncomfortable, and felt relieved when he was blocked.

"Yes, and no," the old man shook his head. "When my grandfather painted this painting, he was already in his fifties. We hadn't seen this chubby kid when he first finished painting it. Later, suddenly one day, this chubby kid appeared in the painting. Then we asked him if he had added it. Because this chubby kid's style is completely different from the surrounding style."

The old man paused, and seeing that everyone around him was attracted, he smiled and continued.

"My grandfather replied, yes, and no."

"What do you mean?" Zhong Ying couldn't help but ask. "This is what he painted, how could he give that answer?"

"Hey, that's what I asked back then. I was young and straightforward," the old man laughed. "But my grandfather's answer surprised everyone."

He stopped here, took a breath, and seemed to be lost in the memories of that year.

Everyone was waiting for his answer, but the old man seemed to have forgotten and just stopped talking...

"And then?" Sima Gui asked impatiently.

"And then.... Cough cough cough..." The old man coughed a few times, "I can't remember...."

*Shua!*

Xindela put another stack of banknotes on the wooden shelf next to him.

"Ah, I remember," the old man immediately showed a look of sudden realization and slapped his head.

"My grandfather replied that there was originally nothing in that position. But one day, when he was moving the picture frame, he accidentally dripped a drop of white ink on it.

So, in order to cover up this drop of white ink, he simply expanded a chubby kid in that position.

This chubby kid was painted as himself when he was a child. But after painting it, he always felt that it didn't look quite right. I don't know why..."

Comic book.... The scene in the painting... A chubby kid suddenly appeared by accident... There seemed to be too many variables.

"Then which comic book is this painting based on? Where is this street in the painting?" Li Cheng Yi was concerned about the original location of the street, so he asked again at this time.

"I can't remember it anymore, but the street in the painting?" The old man laughed. "That's just a scene that the author imagined. Where are you going to find the original location? Isn't that ridiculous?"

"I remember that I've read that comic book. It's about a street with a strange fruit machine. That machine can fulfill people's wishes, but each time you play, you need to pay a certain price as a bet. Later... the street was hit by a fire, and the general store and the fruit machine were burned down together. Then the story ended," the old man told the story in his memory slowly.

Fire!?

Everyone present felt a chill in their hearts and instantly thought of the fire on Xuezhong Road before.