Shu Qin (photo provided by the author)
Author: Xia Qing
Although I don’t know much about painting, when I saw the watercolor paintings and Chinese paintings created by Shu Qin , whether it is the koi under the lotus leaves or the quaint northern Guizhou folk houses , each line is drawn very seriously and realistic. The admiration that makes people feel natural is not the painting itself, but the piety of the creator from the heart.
A stack of drawing paper, a brush, and a dark blue security suit. How far is the ideal and reality? In the eyes of the world, there is a distance between ice and fire. For Shu Qin, ideals and reality are only separated by a layer of belief.
When I saw Shu Qin, the security guard of Fenggang No. 3 Primary School in Fenggang County, Guizhou Province, a heavy rain had just stopped. The concrete floor of the playground was washed by the heavy rain, which was particularly clean and bright, and there was mist among the trees in the garden. Shu Qin stood under an camphor tree, shook hands with me, smiled slightly at me, revealing two dimples. Then he lowered his head and looked at his reflection in the puddle on the ground, looking shy, shy and restrained.
Writer Han Dong said that good literary works are created by shy people. In fact, it is not just literary works. Most of all good literary works are created by shy people. At least, shy people have the potential to create good literary works.
1980, Shuqin was born in a poor farmer's family in Fuxing Town, Dejiang County, Tongren City, Guizhou Province. Among the three brothers and sisters, Shuqin ranked the youngest. He loved painting since he was a child. Since the second grade of elementary school, Shu Qin copied flowers, plants, insects and fish and began to learn how to draw by himself. At that time, there were no professional art teachers in the school, and no one provided professional guidance to Shu Qin. Everything was all thanks to Shu Qin's copying and self-studying scenery around him. Shu Qin was also very clear about his own financial situation, but he still couldn't suppress his love for painting and his desire to learn painting. Finally, once, Shu Qin plucked up the courage to ask his father to learn painting. His father looked at Shu Qin with a frown and said, "Look at the situation in our family. It would be good to support you to study. How can you have money to support you to learn painting?"
Shu Qin still clearly remembers that it was a summer dusk. He walked out of the house and walked into a bamboo forest on the back mountain alone, sitting under an Nanzhu . The sunset shone on his face through the bamboo forest, which also burned his eyes. Shu Qin rubbed his eyes with his hands, and tears wet his face. Since then, Shu Qin has never mentioned learning to draw with his father again, but he has painted more diligently. Without money to buy painting paper, Shu Qin cut out the homework books that he had not used up every semester, cut out the blank title page of the waste book, bound it into a picture album, and then painted it until he graduated from junior high school.
After graduating from junior high school, Shu Qin traveled to Guangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places to work. During his more than 20-year-old working career, Shu Qin worked during the day and returned to the dormitory to practice painting at night. No matter how tired or sleepy he had to paint for an hour or two every night. With the rise of the Internet, mobile phones and Douyin , Shu Qin's learning journey took a turn. He began to learn painting with some painters' teaching videos through his mobile phone. During this period, Shu Qin's painting technology was greatly improved.
Shu Qin has always had a special feeling for mobile phones. In his words, mobile phones are his teacher, and he respects mobile phones.
In 2021, Shu Qin worked as a welder in a shipyard in Fujian. An accident caused Shu Qin to decide to return home to work. That time, while Shu Qin was burning electric welding, a forklift crushed the wire. Shu Qin pulled down the electric switch and broke the power. He used an electric writing test to test the broken wire. After confirming that the power was out, he began to connect the broken wire. At that time, a worker with unknown conditions saw a power outage, ran to the power gate for inspection, pulled up the power gate, and a strong current instantly penetrated Shu Qin's whole body...
The accident left a scar on Shu Qin's hands that could never be erased. Whenever Shu Qin thinks of that past, he is scared and sweats. His dream has not yet come true. He has been rushing forward all his life and staggeringly on the road to his dream. If he really leaves like this, it will be his biggest regret in his life.
In June 2021, Shu Qin returned to Fenggang County and boarded at the home of her sister and brother-in-law. After several bumpy job searches, Shu Qin successfully applied for a job in a local security company and became a security guard at Fenggang No. 3 Primary School.
After entering a new job, no one knows his past, and no one knows that he can draw. The security guard works long hours every day, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but there is one advantage. After school every day, the security guard is relatively relaxed. As soon as he was free, Shu Qin had the idea of painting again. According to relevant regulations, security guards are not allowed to engage in all matters that are not related to school security work during work, and Shu Qin has to extinguish the idea of painting again and again.
Shu Qin still couldn't control himself. One evening, the students all got off school. Shu Qin took out his brush and paper and started painting in the guard room. Shu Qin was too devoted and selfless. When a painting was finished, he raised his head and saw the principal Liu Kaiguo standing in front of him.
Shu Qin stood up in a hurry, feeling panic-free. He didn't know how Liu Kaiguo would deal with him. He was fined, and the whole school reported, and might even return him to the security company... Unexpectedly, Liu Kaiguo looked at Shu Qin's paintings and asked Shu Qin how long he had been learning to draw and who had learned to draw... After asking a lot of questions, Liu Kaiguo left.
The next morning, Shu Qin had just arrived at the guard room to work, and Liu Kaiguo also arrived at the guard room. He brought Shu Qin a lot of brushes, paper and paint. Not only that, Liu Kaiguo and several school leaders agreed after the meeting to give Shu Qin a relatively free space to play, exercise and grow - every day after school Shu Qin can create paintings in the guard room.
Shuqin's monthly salary is about 2,000 yuan. After learning about Shu Qin's situation, Liu Kaiguo and the school leaders held another meeting. The school invested more than 1,000 yuan to buy a refrigerator for the four security guards in the guard room, and specially opened a kitchen for the security guards. The school bears the water, electricity, and gas, and the food for cooking is purchased by the security guards themselves.
Shu Qin went to Fenggang for just one year. During this year, he created more than 30 paintings. After experiencing so many difficulties and ups and downs, he also felt the warmth of the world. His painting materials are also more open, from the beautiful scenery of rural revitalization to the heroic journey of the mountain on the road, from the outposts in the snow to the depth of the bright moon and pine forests, he used his brush to depict the beautiful rivers and mountains of the motherland, becoming a well-known "painter security guard" in the local area.
"I have been working in school for a year. During this year, I feel very warm and lucky. This is something I have never experienced since I worked." Shu Qin said: "I will continue to learn and paint. Not only do I paint mountains, rivers, flowers, birds, plants and trees, but also the prosperity of the motherland, the warmth of society, and the great love of the world."
Editor in charge: Zhihengwen
Source: China Youth Daily Client
