Trafford’s Trading Club

Yuri felt a headache.

As for the cause of the headache, he thought it was probably because he had been drinking himself last night… It seems that in recent times he has become more and more dependent on alcohol.

But he hasn't opened his eyes, he just gently presses his forehead with his hands and smells a dull, even a little stinky smell all around him.

Museum salaries are low, and monthly purchases of paint, brushes, painting paper, etc. are a huge expense, and he can only rent a dull, bleak basement like this.

“Is that already the point? ”

Looking up at the alarm clock placed in front of the bed, Yuri had to rush up to find clothes on the floor.

Clothes are thrown on the floor like garbage… this is probably the case for single men, even more so for single and poor men.

He finally found a piece of clothing that didn't smell very good and opened the door to the basement where he was staying when he put it on his body.

“One newspaper, one coffee, one sandwich, that's...”

“Here.”

As usual, Yuri bit breakfast while boarding a bus to the museum. The bus at this point actually found a seat to sit on, and he was forced to cheer him up.

“… The stolen Girl Doe was officially launched today and the museum opened normally. ”

Yuri was surprised to see the headlines on one side of the newspaper the other night. But he was completely in the mood for what was written in the news, whether he slept or not, and fell into another world.

The date of the newspaper is correct, indeed today.

I subconsciously bit my lips... well, I feel pain, I shouldn't be dreaming.

But...

As an art museum worker... even though he's just an exterior wall cleaner, why doesn't he know about the Stolen Girl?

And... or many days ago?

“Shit! ”

Yuri looked all the way at what was in the newspaper - "The Doe Girl" - a very famous councilwoman in the city, trying to steal it.

The police found the stolen painting directly at the Congressman's house. As for the method of theft, it was not reported.

The member of Parliament was later captured by the police, but in the course of the transport, the criminal member of Parliament was armed and abducted when escaped prisoners and gangsters broke into a suburban estate and clashed with the owner of the estate.

The owner of the estate defended himself and killed a total of three people, including Congressman Yefim, the prisoner. The stolen paintings have also been returned to the museum and officially reopened to visitors today...

“Damn...”

Yuri really feels that what this paper says is bullshit... he doesn't even remember that so much has happened.

His head was still a little heavy, making him feel like he was drinking too much last night, so much that the fragments forgot so much.

But no, even if it's a fragment, there's no reason to forget something that's been happening for a while.

He subconsciously continued to rub his forehead.

After waking up from the hangover, it lasted until the bus came to the station, and I didn't see much, but after Yuri came to the station, I really saw many more visitors in front of the museum, waiting for the museum to open.

“Is everything in the paper true?? ”

Yuri muttered and took a look at the time and found himself completely out of work… To do so, he had to do one thing he often did - drill in from a sewer outside the gallery street.

This is just a place inside the museum —— of course, that exit was blocked early in the morning. It's just that he's been cleaning it for a while, and he accidentally found it, so...

Anyway, even if he missed work hours after that, he was never found late.

Looks like it's time to open the door.

Before Yuri could make it to the staff room to get dressed for work, she was forced to hide for a while by the influx of visitors.

“Yuri! You're here again! ”

At this point, Yuri heard someone shouting his name - a member of the staff in the gallery, whose name seemed to be… forgotten, not too much attention anyway.

“Ah… I was going to change. But you see,” Yuri pointed to the guests, "so I couldn't get past it. But I did get here on time, you see, and I'm already here. ”

The employee bluntly said, "I don't care if you're late or not. In fact, even if you're late, you don't care! Have you forgotten that you've been fired for some time? ”

“What?”

“I said! You've been fired! Yuri, I'm telling you, we wouldn't care about you if you came in seriously! But if you keep mixing up like this, next time, we'll have to call the police!” Employee Straight: “Now, get out of here! Don't drain my feelings about the only ones you've ever worked with. ”

“You make it clear! What dismissal? Who fired? I was at work yesterday! Why did you quit?” Yuri had to rush forward.

The employee took a step back in disgust, "It stinks... how much wine did you drink? Please, please wake up before you walk down the street! ”

“Speak up!”

The staff waved their hands at this moment, and the two security guards came up, left and right, holding Yuri and dragging him out of the museum.

“Let go of me! Let go of me!! ”

In front of the museum door, Yuri was pushed open, and one of the guards said, "Let's go, let's not see you again! How many times this month, you say? You think you're really an artist standing in front of famous paintings every time? Who would look at that garbage you usually draw? ”

“What did you say?! ”

“Are you leaving or not? We can do it now! ”

Both guards raised their chests simultaneously. Yuri sputtered angrily: "You're unlawful redundancies! I'll sue you at the Labor Office! Wait! ”

Yuri took a deep breath and turned away hatefully, still feeling ridiculous.

Before finally walking out of the museum, Yuri subconsciously turned around and looked at the newspaper she had bought this morning.

He suddenly rubbed the newspaper into a bunch and threw it in front of the museum, shouting out loud: "Listen! Someday, I'll hang my painting inside!! ”

……

“Fine, oh... well, the job is fine now, don't worry, I'm fine. Girlfriend? Well, I get it, Mother. ”

Probably hasn't spoken to the parents in a while?

Yuri stood alone under an old building, listening silently to his family's nagging, "… well, I'm going to start working on my side. I love you, Mother. ”

Yuri stuffed the phone in her pants… said she would go to the Labor Office to tell the museum, but in fact, sitting around like this was just a waste of time.

With this energy, it would be better to find a new job as soon as possible... the rent for this month has not yet been paid.

The sky above Moscow was still as refreshing as it was when I first came here... was it still dreaming?

After exhausting the money brought out of the house, the works sold at home were not appreciated at all, and in the end they were able to paint portraits of street people and earn some living.

Remember half a year ago when it was cold and it was snowing, the streets were almost frozen to death.

With his hands in his trousers pockets, he walked the streets aimlessly, no longer wondering why he had been fired… what needed to be thought about was how to continue his future life.

“Dreams can't be eaten. ”

Yuri no longer remembers who said this… perhaps he is not gifted, but only with an impulse to support the so-called dream.

Now it's time to think about it... think about it and give up on your dreams.

“Here is…”

I can't remember how to get to this place. Yuri stopped... maybe that's why he thinks too much, and he came to this place again.

On the side of the old building with the red brick, Yuri stood there for a long time, staring silently at this speckled wall, a distorted urban pattern.

It always felt a little ridiculous... how did I persist in painting here every day in such a cold winter?

It's just that he's very impulsive to add some of the last lines that he eventually gave up... anyway, he's still idle today and doesn't have to work anymore.

Yuri found a rock on the ground and walked under the wall, closing her eyes.

It wasn't until later that he started to draw a light white mark on the wall with the diamond horn of the stone.

When it gave up, it was almost done… and now it just adds something missing, and it doesn't seem to take much time… and it seems to take a long time.

“Seems like… something else is close. ”

A slightly lower voice suddenly came from behind. Yuri turned around unconsciously and found out when, behind him, there was a man.

Wearing a duck tongue hat and a mask, a sportswear... probably a morning runner. But he always felt like he didn't know where to look: "Are you? ”

The morning runner's mask got a little shaky, and he seemed to smile, “Do you have a dream? ”

“Dream?” Yuri stunned.

"'Ah, you forgot,' said the morning runner. Last winter, I asked you, on such a cold day, why don't you burn the charcoal in your hand to warm it up? ”

The memories opened and Yuri laughed sophisticated: “Now, I think I'll burn the charcoal in my hand. ”

The morning runner seemed stunned and nodded softly. “That would be a shame. ”

Yuri shrugged her shoulders and looked up at this huge graffiti and said softly: “Not really. Nobody likes this stuff anyway. ”

“I'm not bothering you.” Morning runners are polite.

Yuri nodded her unconscious spot and watched as the runner turned around this morning, subconsciously calling each other off: “Wait, can you do me a favor? ”

“Sir, what can I do for you? ”

I don't know if it's an illusion, but Yuri always feels a little chilled. But he didn't care too much, “If you could, could you help me? ”

“Help?”

……

“Right, a little to the left, a little more, all right, right here! Don't move! ”

Under the old wall, the morning runner borrowed his own shoulder, while Yuri rode on his shoulder, allowing himself to reach higher up the wall.

He touched some pigment tubes from his clothes. This is his habit, he always carries some… at which point he squeezes out a tube of paint and applies his fingers to the top left corner of the graffiti.

Lemon yellow.

A circle… a sun.

A distorted city, a bright yellow sun. Black and sunshine, unusually weird... but after putting Yuri down, the morning runner stared for a long time.

He suddenly whispered, "Sir, I think you're thinking a little wrong. That's not what nobody likes, at least I like it. I think I finally waited for it to be perfect. ”

Yuri laughed. “You're a weirdo. ”

He shook his head: “I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm going to get a new job, or I don't think I'll even have charcoal next time... Goodbye, nice to see you again. ”

“Sir, can I know your name? ”

“Yuri, my name is Yuri. ”

“Do you like painting? ”

Yuri was silent for a moment and shook her head: “I'm not sure right now. ”

The morning runner suddenly pulled off his jacket and took out a fountain pen, "Give me your hand. ”

He wrote a phone number on Yuri's palm and told him, "I have a friend who likes to paint, so you can talk. I, by the way, suggest you learn from him. Well... say Vladimirovich, introduced by an old friend of his judo class. ”

“Judo? ”

“I hope to see your work in the future.” The morning runner calmly said: "Mr. Yuri. ”

……

“Turns out he's a rich man. ”

Yuri looked at the phone number on his palm and kept watching the runner end up in a black sedan this morning... is the driver driving a bit too strong?

Is that a bodyguard?

Yuri thought about it and thought it seemed to be nothing, so he dialed the phone number on his palm.

“Hello, this is Leben Academy of Fine Arts. I'm Professor Applem. How can I help you? ”

Yuri subconsciously reaches out and pats himself in the face... Leben Academy of Fine Arts... formerly Royal Academy of Fine Arts... Applem... this is the authority of the art world!

“Vladimirovich... Vladimirovich... Judo?” Yuri's heart suddenly beats violently: “Could it be... Him!! I actually rode on the shoulder of...! ”

Yuri suddenly turned around and looked at the graffiti on the wall.

He suddenly felt that he might be in the hands of a lucky god today.

“Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?”

“Ah... hello, I'm here! I'm here! My name is Yuri. Professor Applem, I'm sorry to call you, but here's the thing, there's one...”

……

……

Lochu is gently reading the contents of the sheepskin rolls on his hands.

“First, let Mr. Yuri forget everything about you and Yefim and restore his memory back to before he met you. Done.”

“Second, give him a chance to pursue his dreams… done. ”

“Thirdly, give Mr. Yuri another life of up to twenty-five years… Well, I'm sorry, Miss Anna, Mr. Yuri has already made a deal with us before, and your soul trading money is not enough to buy back his soul, even for a life of up to twenty-five years. ”

The sheepskin roll was gently rolled up, and in the house, which belonged to Oleg and was now easily occupied, Rocciu smiled and looked at Anna in front of her and said softly: "Excuse me, has the above met what Miss Anna wanted? ”

“That's enough.” Anna nodded softly.

Seems very calm.

Calm her down as if she had opened her eyes or closed them - and she closed her eyes slowly at this point, and she knew what would happen next, waiting for her.

Death… the soul belongs to the other party. She doesn't know what the soul looks like, but death does.

But after a while, Anna didn't feel anything wrong.

This forced her to open her eyes in confusion.

“Miss Anna, I'm curious about something. ”

Rochu asked softly, "You said that Yefim and the director of the museum conspired to steal The Unknown Girl with a fading paint. Hmm... the owner quietly applied this special paint to the real painting while maintaining the painting on a daily basis, and then hung it up again. This pigment is quite special and undergoes two changes, from appearance to resolution. ”

“Hmm...” Rochu laughed. “It was still normal when I hung it up, but after the special light, the color appeared, and the painting turned into the same color as the bottom frame. Looks like the real painting just disappeared. After that, just report the incident, then wait for the police to ask, and remove the only remaining 'frame' painting, God knows nothing..."

Anna said softly, "What are you trying to say? ”

“Nothing." Boss Lo took a few steps to the living room.

Here is a painting frame, he lifted the canvas on the painting frame and revealed it, and it is also an "Unknown Girl".

“This... did you get it out of the museum? ”

“No. This is not the second" Unnamed Girl "painted by Mr. Yuri at the manor... but the first one, which Miss Anna auctioned at the auction. ”

“Impossible, it was ruined by Yuri! ”

“Well, I picked it up later and fixed it up a little bit.” Rochu stretched his hand over the painting and looked into Anna's eyes: “During the restoration process, something interesting was discovered. I just said something about paint. ”

When the colour slowly dissolved into a smudge, it was washed like something.

The anonymous girl is gone.

It's just another woman with a smile on it... her eyes are moving and her smile is beautiful.

“Yuri...”

Anna stacked her left hand on her right hand, her trembling hands gently folded over her lips and looked at it like it was.

When a tear slipped down, she could only hear her whimpering voice, saying softly.

“Thank you… for loving me. ”

In black and white, a little color slowly spreads, not bright, not large in scope, just a little bit.

But enough to fascinate Mr. Lo and enjoy it quietly.

……

The light sphere of the soul, slowly flowing out of Anna's forehead, like a floating dandelion, eventually fell into the palm of Rochu's hand.

Its glow converges little by little.

“Above standard. ”

The maid, who was silently waiting, smiled with a slight smile and said softly next to the master: "Congratulations, master. ”

Rochu seemed to be in a good mood, smiling, picking up the painting from the painter, measuring it carefully, “Why don't you go back and hang it somewhere? ”

“Okay.” the maid replied softly, “Too bad Yuri has erased all her memories and hasn't had time to name them yet. ”

“Named?” Lochu stunned, then smiled softly: "Didn't it already have a name? Look, who's it drawing? ”

So there's the name of the painting.

Anna.