07

Finally, a stronger wave of dizziness struck me, my body swayed gently a few times, and I was on the verge of falling. In a flash, I vaguely saw someone parting the crowd and rushing towards me. The next moment, my body was lifted into the air by a pair of arms. Just as I lost consciousness, I faintly caught a whiff of a cool mint fragrance at the tip of my nose

I furrowed my brows and, after examining it several times, was suddenly taken aback; the feeling of this scene... was so familiar. However, when I stepped into the final exhibition hall, the artwork hanging directly in front of me completely left me dumbfounded, and I could no longer move my feet.

In the next moment, the people around me gathered closely, their gazes upon me as unabashed as if they were observing animals in a zoo, and then they began to chatter among themselves.

However, the life of the summer solstice is far from being as fortunate as his. He is an orphan abandoned by his parents, working as a handyman in an art training class to offset the expensive tuition fees. At the age of 15, he began drawing portraits for passersby in the riverbanks, squares, and parks of this city, which is a means of survival for a wandering artist

And who is the girl in this picture that seems like my twin? What on earth is going on? Is it really you, Xia Zhi? Suddenly, I feel as if I have fallen into a grand and intricate maze

Indeed, it can be compared to a masterful level

Truly remarkable

"It really is! They look exactly the same!" the girl couldn't help but raise her voice

I originally intended to invite Yulan to the art exhibition, but she has been at the hospital taking care of her mother these days and cannot spare the time, so I gave up on the idea. Moreover, I am afraid she would scold me for being crazy again

I watched as the crowd grew larger and larger, instinctively retreating slowly. Waves of chest tightness and dizziness washed over me, and large beads of sweat had already formed on my forehead. My palms were cold and sticky, and as I tried to move my lips to speak, it felt as if my throat was filled with dust, dry and burning.

How could it be

That was the painting he made for me three days before the summer solstice disappearance, a gift for my 16th birthday. At that time, he was quite serious about thinking of a name for this painting, but in the end, it never got a name, and then he vanished.

I rubbed my eyes, opened them, rubbed again, and the painting on the wall remained the same. I felt my body trembling, and the murmurs beside me seemed to be transmitted from a very distant place to my ears

The art exhibition was quite grand, with three interconnected rooms on the second floor dedicated to the display, and the walls adorned with large oil paintings. As I walked through, although I was not well-versed in the world of fine arts, my prolonged interaction with Xia Zhi had somewhat influenced me. Upon entering the second exhibition hall, I immediately sensed a significant change in the artist's style. The delicate freshness of the previously seen works was replaced by a wild and unrestrained expression, characterized by bold and vivid colors, and a very rough technique, all of which conveyed a striking sense of tension.

It is said that this painting "Jenny" made Jiang Li famous overnight in Lyon

Oh, are you the model for this painting? Suddenly, a girl standing to my left exclaimed. I turned my head in surprise; she glanced at me and then at the painting on the wall, repeating this several times.

As I stood once again at the entrance of the Municipal Art Museum and looked up at that advertisement poster, my heart gradually calmed down. In this world, people share similarities; moreover, I had searched online for information about this boy named Jiang Li. He comes from a good family and has been studying painting in Lyon, France. With exceptional talent, he gained some fame at the age of eighteen and has been praised as a 'genius young painter'.

It is indeed very good, better than any painting here. Look how vivid the girl in the painting is

My gaze gradually focused, slowly projecting onto the painting on the wall. The girl in the painting, with her bare back turned, has a face that is exactly like mine. If it weren't for her magnificent golden hair, I would almost think it was me. Yet, I am well aware that the person in the painting is absolutely not me. However, in the cabinet of my bedroom, there is a treasured painting that is identical to this one in both the model's pose and the brushwork technique; the only difference is perhaps the expression and the aura emanating from the figure in the painting.