"Art comes from life, understand?"
Wang Xiaoliang refused to believe it.
Turning a Black man's dreadlocks into flowing long hair made you think you were all that.
If no one would design it, he could copy something!
He took out his phone and typed a few words into the search bar-"urban night market design."
A pile of pictures came up. Red lanterns, wooden stalls, retro signs, and neon tubing bent into four big Chinese characters reading "the bustle of everyday life." He scrolled through three pages, getting more sick of them with every swipe. They were all cast from the same mold; swap out the city name and they were ready to use again.
Then he searched for "old building exterior renovation."
Even more ridiculous. The screen was full of office building makeovers, aluminum panels and glass curtain walls, with budgets running into the millions. They had nothing whatsoever to do with his rundown building.
He put his phone facedown on the desk and leaned back.
The building was short and old. Nobody walking down the street would give it a second glance. And he was supposed to catch people's attention with tiles and a coat of paint? Who was he kidding?
He had to do something different.
What counted as different?
He closed his eyes, and an image suddenly popped into his head.
Bugbug Internet Cafe.
The first time he went to Li Laifu's Supermarket, he had spotted it from far away as soon as he turned onto Commercial Street-five dragons covered an entire exterior wall, coiling from the ground floor to the top, baring their fangs and claws. Their colors were so vivid they hurt his eyes, turning the drab surroundings into a backdrop. He had forgotten what every other building looked like. All he remembered were those