Global Film Emperor

Chapter 446 It's Snowing (Part 2)

The pen writes and draws on the paper, the smooth ink slowly forming characters in the white blank space. It is now late autumn, and the wind has become much stronger with the weather, blowing the withered yellow leaves on the trees, the rustling sound is quite pleasant.

Lu Ze put aside his other work and focused on writing the lesson plan for the first session of the extras training class. He already had a good idea of ​​what to teach in the first lesson.

It's simply about emphasizing the importance of relaxation. He had previously said that the reason why the performance level of extras in China is so rough is, in simple terms, because they are too stiff. The intensive training they were going to give in the first lesson was to help the extras relax their nerves and bodies that are often tense in front of the camera.

But it's simple in some ways and difficult in others. It's simple because the performance only requires you to relax in front of the camera and doesn't need to show any sophisticated facial expressions. But the difficulty is that it's not Lu Ze who needs to relax, but a group of extras who are already used to being tense.

The detailed lesson plan process has been completed. He put his notebook away with his palms together, and flipped through the phone on the table. Wang Zixuan had already booked the plane tickets. They would depart the day after tomorrow for Hengdian, the place where Lu Ze's career took off.

When work ended, he glanced at the time and saw it was already evening. After several hours of inactivity, as soon as he stood up, his bones were cracking. The coffee in the drip coffee maker was kept warm, so even after several hours, it was still drinkable. He poured himself a cup and drank it. The coffee, without sugar or milk, would suppress his appetite, thus temporarily calming Lu Ze's stomach.

Deciding what to eat for dinner, or even any of the three meals a day, is always the most difficult choice for a man living alone. He browsed through restaurants on food delivery apps, but the variety of fast food options didn't really appeal to him. Finally, he decided…

Wait a minute.

Back at the bar, he plugged in his phone to charge and saw a toy car that had been disassembled and broken apart on the table. He scratched his temple with his little finger, then reluctantly sat back down and started working again. This time, however, he was going to work on the children's toy car.

The broken front bumper was glued back together, and some glue accidentally got on his hands, forming a thin layer of crust. This felt very uncomfortable. Fortunately, Lu Ze had thick calluses on his hands, so he scraped it off with a blade and removed a small amount of glue residue.

The damage to the casing was a minor issue; the main problem was the motor. No matter how he fiddled with it, the wheels wouldn't turn. To find the fault, Lu Ze even went to the computer repairman next door to borrow a test pen. After searching for a long time, he finally determined the cause of the problem.

Asking Lu Ze to fix a motor is nonsense. His father is a carpenter, not an electrician. He can certainly fix tables and chairs, but when it comes to repairing electrical appliances, he has to squint to change a light bulb.

So, the simplest solution was to go to the supermarket, buy a new motor, remove it, and put it into the badly damaged old car. This costly repair method finally brought the toy car back to life.

The rest of the work was much simpler. He installed all the parts on the chassis, put in two AA batteries, put on the re-glued and polished car cover, turned on the switch, and the car ran smoothly on the table until it fell off the edge of the table, where Lu Ze caught it steadily.

With a sense of satisfaction, he placed the four-wheel drive car on the bar and couldn't help but examine it closely. This kind of toy wasn't his childhood; picking mushrooms in the mountains and catching small fish in the river was. But this was Lu Nan's childhood. When she was little, the Four-Wheel Drive Brothers series was very popular. He still remembered the scene of her hugging his leg and crying loudly, insisting on having a four-wheel drive car. However, her little wish was not fulfilled at that time.

It wasn't until years later, when these four-wheel drive cars were everywhere, that he bought a box of four-wheel drive toy cars made entirely of parts for ten yuan at a market. Unfortunately, by then, Lu Nan no longer liked them.

I took a few photos and sent them to Lu Nan. Perhaps it was lunchtime, as she happened to be looking at her phone and replied instantly with a yellowish, grinning emoji.

"Where did it come from?"

"It was broken, and I fixed it for the kid from the school next door."

"Brother, I want one too!"

"It's at home, right on top of my wardrobe."

She seemed to remember both the scene where she cried and begged for a four-wheel drive car and the scene where she bluntly stated that she didn't like four-wheel drive cars. So this time, she chose to pester Lu Ze again, saying that she liked four-wheel drive cars again.

While chatting with Lu Nan with a smile, the wind chimes hanging on the door rang. Before Lu Ze could speak, the crisp greeting had already reached his ears.

"Hi boss."

"it is good."

"The food at school was pretty good tonight. If you haven't eaten, boss, I'd like to bring you some."

This was already the umpteenth time he'd managed to sneak into the school cafeteria. Seeing that food was being delivered, and not fast food, and more importantly, it was definitely hygienic, Lu Ze took it somewhat awkwardly, folded the food from the lunchbox into his bowl, and added a piece of stir-fried dried tofu with chili peppers.

"The car is all repaired. It's on the bar, to the left of the lucky cat."

The tavern wasn't large, but she knew the exact location of everything by heart. She slowly moved along the edge of the table, touching the lucky cat whose paint was rough due to the gold dust covering it. Then, she easily picked up the four-wheel drive car.

"Boss, you're amazing..."

Amazing? He was just about to throw away the new car cover and put the old one back on to finish the job. How could that be considered amazing? If it weren't for the fact that this toy car might have a different meaning for that child, Lu Ze would have actually done it. So after hearing her praise, he felt a little embarrassed and quickly shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of rice into his mouth.

"Can it still run?"

"Ah."

"Boss, you're amazing! Even school teachers can't figure this out."

She had gotten beer for Lu Ze before, so she remembered that Lu Ze liked to drink the beer on the far right of the second row in the second freezer. She knew he would definitely drink it, because there had never been an exception. So she went to the freezer, took the beer, and then took off the bottle opener that was sticking out of the freezer.

She used a lot of force to open the bottle cap because she was really weak. She frowned, as if the force was not flowing to her hands but to her face.

Bang! The bottle cap popped off, but instead of falling to the ground, she casually tossed it into the trash can. The bottle was placed in front of Lu Ze. She stood at the table, her body very straight, her hands behind her back, her face slightly flushed, like a child waiting to be praised for helping an adult.

The small bottle of Polar Bear is for one nightly dose only. You can't drink too much because you need to control your weight. It's only been opened so far. Bubbles keep rising and climbing up the brown bottle, gathering at the mouth to form a thin layer of white foam. Then, they pop and burst with a sound that people can't hear.

But it can be seen by people.

He looked down at the bottle opening, remained silent, picked it up and took a sip. Seeing her smile freeze slightly, he finally whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The frozen smile melted instantly, flowing through her entire body as if she were overflowing with joy. However, she remained motionless, standing by the table, because her female colleague, the teacher, had repeatedly told her this.

Be reserved.

It's not about being coy, but rather about waiting for a man's invitation even if you want to do something. If there's no follow-up, then you should resign, rather than being too familiar with someone else and doing what you want without being invited.

"Have a seat. What would you like to hear today?"

Just as she was about to say goodbye, Lu Ze finally responded. She felt overjoyed and, as always, let out a long breath, suppressing her pounding heart, and said, "It's all good."

It's all good, that's right, it's all good. As long as I sit here, I can listen to whatever I want. Sometimes, what I think is like a veil, and I need someone to point it out. After recognizing that this is admiration, she further realized what it means to like someone.

It was a strange feeling, but it was reasonable and well-founded. It was my first time liking someone. After a period of confusion, the fog finally cleared and I saw the truth.

She sat down in her familiar spot, the bench at the very back by the shop window, and happily swung her legs. Lu Ze saw through her every move. She couldn't pretend; she was too direct. Not to mention Lu Ze, anyone else could easily see through her.

Without saying a word, he got up and put a CD into the record player. Melodious music began to play, a jazz-style piano piece, which was also Lu Ze's favorite style.

He silently ate the food she had brought, feeling regretful as he ate. However, since she was still unsure of her feelings, Lu Ze did not consider the food as a means for her to communicate with him.

So much so that he always felt awkward at times like this, and he had told her not to bring any more food, but she seemed to take his words as a polite remark and selectively forgot about Lu Ze's gradually decreasing vocabulary.

As I washed the lunchbox she had brought, I kept glancing at her. She seemed different today, unusually uneasy, her head pressed against the shop window glass, her palms constantly rubbing together.

The two remained silent until the entire CD finished playing. Knowing it was time for her to leave, she got up to say goodbye to Lu Ze, took the lunchbox, and turned around. At that moment, Lu Ze noticed that she seemed to have forgotten something. He walked over and saw a piece of paper. There were no words on it, but rather a series of uneven, circular marks that were neatly arranged all over the paper.

This was definitely not something she dropped unintentionally, because she never drops anything. It's Braille; he can't read it, but someone else can.

……

"Blind man! Blind man!"

He shouted and ran wildly through the city, never getting tired, weaving through other people, until he reached a corner where a blind man, an old man, a mental patient, a driver, and a pianist had formed a small musical band.

At that moment, the old man was standing with his hands on his hips, straining his voice, while the blind man sat on a stone stool playing clappers as accompaniment. Hearing someone shout, he craned his neck and listened intently, when Lu Ze grabbed his collar.

"Do...what?"

"Help me!"

Lu Ze couldn't be persuaded to do anything tough, but nowadays, the easy targets could still be taken advantage of. Unfortunately, the blind man and the old man were the easiest targets among this group.

……

He suddenly straightened up, his eyes curiously scanning his surroundings. Then, as if remembering something, he picked up the paper and gently stroked the uneven, round particles with his index finger.

He read very quickly, perhaps because the text was too simple. In any case, after quickly reading the whole page, he shuddered again.

……

"What did you write?"

"Written...I like you."

"Gone?"

"I wrote 'I like you' hundreds of times, that's all. It must have taken a long time to write, it's a love letter."

"Oh~" "Dad, I know I was wrong!"

Unbeknownst to them, a number of people had gathered around them. Upon hearing the words, they all uttered "oh" in a teasing tone. Only the mentally ill person seemed to be having an episode, running around inappropriately. A small figure was calling out softly, chasing after the mentally ill person.

"Oh my god."

He cursed at the crowd and then ran wildly towards the long-standing spatial rift in the distance.

……

"Wait a moment."

"What's wrong, boss?"

She walked to the door and heard Lu Ze's shout. She stopped in her tracks, showing a flustered look, like someone who had done something wrong. And she could actually hear the sound of the papers rustling in the air.

"You left something behind."

She panicked completely, her face turning a frightening red. Even Lu Ze was worried that if she fell, she might suffer a brain hemorrhage. So, she could only pretend that she had really forgotten and take the love letter that she had left behind, a letter that she had imagined to be very romantic.

She stiffly put it away, thanked Lu Ze, and then, with the romance shattered, all she wanted to do was leave quickly and escape this awkward atmosphere.

"Wait a moment……"

In the end, Lu Ze decided to say that if someone likes you but you don't want to accept them, then don't keep them hanging on. That's not something a human being would do, especially for a girl who is much younger than you.

"I know what's written on it."

"Uh-huh?"

Her hand holding the cane began to tremble. She never would have guessed that Lu Ze could understand. Even her old-fashioned sunglasses could hardly hide her intensely fluctuating emotions.

"Are you... serious?"

"Um……"

"Mengchu, may I call you that?"

"Um……"

"I'm sorry, I believe that we should only be friends."

Lu Ze had some experience in rejecting confessions, but when faced with a young girl, he still hesitated, carefully selecting words in his mind that wouldn't easily hurt her, even though she would definitely be hurt.

He lit a cigarette, sat down in the chair, and held the empty White Bear liquor bottle in his hand, turning it around on the table. His gaze remained fixed on her, watching her face slowly turn from rosy to pale.

Is it because I...can't see?

"It has nothing to do with that."

"Is it because I'm poor? Actually, I've saved quite a bit of money, and I earn a high salary..."

"It has nothing to do with money either."

"Is it because I'm not good-looking...?"

She subconsciously touched her face, her fingertips still feeling the lingering warmth from her blush, or perhaps the coldness caused by Lu Ze's words. She rarely thought about her figure or appearance, but now she realized that just because she was unaware of beauty or ugliness didn't mean others couldn't perceive beauty.

Lu Ze looked at her, took a drag of his cigarette. She stood at the door, her skin had a jade-like texture in the warm light. Her skin was very good, almost frighteningly white, but not deathly pale. It was more like frost, and you could even see the blue veins flowing beneath the ice layer. At least that was the case with her palms.

Her long hair cascaded down her shoulders, making her already small face appear even smaller. Her cheekbones weren't high, so they didn't look stingy. Her nose bridge was quite straight, though. She wore old-fashioned aviator sunglasses, and her eyebrows weren't trimmed, so she didn't look as refined as an average woman. Her face was just a little thin; if she had a bit more flesh, she would definitely be even more perfect.

Her figure can only be described as average, after all, she is too thin. She is over 1.65 meters tall, but looks to be no more than 100 pounds, so she is inevitably a bit flat. Although her appearance is not top-notch, she is quite good at first glance. She has a very youthful baby face, which is very cute and has nothing to do with being ugly.

Lu Ze could only shake his head helplessly at her words, leaning back with only the back legs of the stool supporting him on the ground. He took out a bottle of beer from the refrigerator, opened it, took a sip, and then spoke.

"I am thirteen years older than you."

"It's okay, it's not like I'm thirty years older."

"Let's calm down and think about this, okay? Do you know what I do?"

"Isn't he the beer shop owner...?"

"Look, you don't even know what I do. Isn't it a bit too abrupt for you to choose me? This beer shop is just a side business for me. I work abroad and may only come back once every year or two. As you know, sometimes I don't open for a long time. If we were together, we might not see each other for a long time. Can you accept that?"

She hesitated, not because of time, but because in her mind, people who went abroad to work were all very capable, which made her feel inferior about her own profession.

Lu Ze also caught this slight hesitation, even though the two had completely different ideas.

"See, you also feel it's not quite right, right? Once I go to work, we won't see each other for a long time, and if something happens to you, I won't be able to take care of you..."

"I don't need to be taken care of."

This was the first time in her life that she had interrupted Lu Ze, due to her particularly sensitive words. Lu Ze also sensed something was amiss and quickly apologized to her.

"It's true that it's a bit inappropriate to say this, I'm sorry, but I feel that if we live like this, with me coming back only once every six months or even once a year, and doing this for the next ten years or more, it's unfair to either of us. So we're really not suitable for each other, and we need to calmly look at our own situation. What do you think?"

It was another sensitive word, her own situation, that Lu Ze unconsciously uttered. She bit her lower lip, but instead of thinking about the time issue, she kept thinking about her own situation. Yes, was she worthy of being with Lu Ze?

"Is it really not possible?"

“It’s not a question of whether it’s possible or not. I hope you can understand that the two of us are not suitable. Our ages, jobs, and schedules are all incompatible. So I hope you can understand unless you can accept all of this, and you also need me to accept all of this.”

For the first time, she felt lost. In matters of the heart, Lu Ze's reasons were too perfect, flawless, and she couldn't find any way to refute them. In the end, she stood there for a long time, then nodded. During this time, Lu Ze kept watching her face, but there were no tears.

"I understand, boss. Well... I'll be going now."

"it is good."

He remained taciturn, uttering only this one word, but she was already used to this side of Lu Ze, so she felt no resentment, and simply bowed in Lu Ze's direction.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble, boss, this has been going on for so long."

"Don't say that."

She sniffled, on the verge of tears, but ultimately held them back. She took the paper out again, put it inside her coat lining, and patted it gently twice.

She straightened the handbag that was sticking to her buttocks and put it on her waist. She pushed the door with difficulty. The wind was strong outside, and the door was hard to open for a moment. But the next moment, it was much easier to push the door open. She could also feel Lu Ze standing behind her, just like... when she first accidentally walked in.

She went outside and walked towards the school. The wind was indeed strong, blowing against her face. It wasn't so strong that she would be blown away while walking, but all she could hear was the sound of the wind.

So she didn't notice that Lu Ze was following her not far behind. Sounds can travel with the wind, and you can hear farther with the wind than against it. So Lu Ze was sure that she really wasn't crying. She was strangely calm. It's just that the sound of her cane hitting the ground was more frequent.

He walked with her for this distance until she reached the school gate. The two were about fifteen meters apart. He watched her stand at the gate and gently knocked on the glass of the guardhouse.

"Teacher Zhang, it's so windy, where have you been?"

"I'm going to play!"

"Don't go out alone in this weather next time, it's too dangerous. Be careful the wind doesn't blow you to Suren, hahaha, I'll open the door for you."

The old gatekeeper opened the electric gate, the kind with wheels, leaving a large gap for her, but she didn't go in. The gatekeeper was a little puzzled, but he didn't say anything.

She suddenly turned her head, facing the residential complex in front of her. Behind the complex was Lu Ze's shop. She stood there for a while, as if she could see something. After standing there for about thirty seconds, she turned around and stepped into the school.

Lu Ze watched her from behind, bending over and resting his elbows on the sidewalk railing, as she walked step by step into the teachers' dormitory next to the teaching building, a small bungalow.

The light was on; it was her room. She stood by the window, reached out and turned the wind chimes hanging on the window. When the sound stopped, she turned them again, repeating this three times before stopping and slowly drawing the curtains.

At this moment, Lu Ze got up, patted the dust off his sleeves, and walked into the store. Suddenly, he felt a coolness on his face, followed by a faint dampness. He looked up and, in the light of the street lamp, saw a flurry of white snowflakes dancing in the air. The snowflakes were small, no bigger than grains of rice, but they meant that Lu Hua's first snow of 2024 had arrived.

Snowing.

"..."

(End of this chapter)