Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 294 I suddenly miss him

When Boss Lu, a gangster in the entertainment industry, was quietly helping a newbie to clean up his mess, the newbie girl was on her way to the University of Chicago to handle all the formalities.

On September 2005, 9, Liu Yifei will officially enroll as a Master of Business Administration student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Booth only admits graduate students and offers international students a two-year Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a five-year doctoral program in business such as accounting, economics, and management.

Considering Xiao Liu's life and work arrangements, the two-year program is the best choice.

She will start school in September and will join the filming of "Alien Land 9" in Canada in October.

Referring to last year’s filming experience, it took about two months, followed by studying while living with Iris Chang and preparing for the Holocaust film.

Xiao Liu, who had temporarily left the domestic entertainment industry, suddenly felt extremely fulfilled, as if he could temporarily forget some heart-wrenching experiences.

However, her interactions on blogs, the broadcasts of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and "Zhu Xian 2", as well as Pepsi's advertisements on various channels, will continue to have an impact in the film and television industry, so there is no need to worry about her disappearing from the scene.

"Xixi, wake up, we're almost there!"

Liu Xiaoli woke her sleeping daughter up.

It has been a week since she arrived in the United States, and her biological clock has not yet adjusted. However, after suddenly ending her three years of morning exercises, she has become more and more sleepy.

It feels like going back to my childhood.

"Are you there? I don't know why I've been feeling so sleepy lately."

Concubine Liu Yi smiled sheepishly at Zhang Chunru, who was driving, and said, "Sister Chunru, thank you for your hard work."

"I'll be your driver after I pass my driving test."

Zhang Chunru was particularly fond of this clear-minded little girl. She smiled and waved her hand, "I don't dare to ride in your car. I heard from your mother that you like racing."

"Haha, I'm just taking a look. I'm a coward, how could I dare to do that?"

Zhang Chunru thought about her conversations with Liu Xiaoli these days, and when she heard her talk about the glorious events of Xiao Liu's birthday party, she thought to herself, "You are too modest."

This is considered timid, there are few who are brave enough.

However, this behavior is quite similar to that of children who grew up in the United States, who are brave enough to express themselves and speak their mind.

It's about 200 kilometers from Champaign, Illinois to Chicago. The three of them parked the car and walked towards the campus. The sky was clear blue, which was refreshing.

As they had just arrived and had plenty of time, Liu Yifei and the others were not in a hurry to go through the formalities and just strolled around the campus first.

Zhang Chunru had studied here as an exchange student and had also given a speech here after becoming a best-selling author of "The Nanjing Massacre", so it was natural for her to take on the role of tour guide.

Soon after entering the campus, a Gothic building made of gray bricks and stones comes into view. The church has a unique style, with a spire towering into the sky, and it looks ancient and mysterious.

"This is the Rockefeller Chapel, built by its founder, oil magnate Rockefeller, in 1928."

"His idea was to bring people of different religious beliefs together in a traditional church, without saints, crosses or other religious symbols, just one or two very minimal architectural details."

"That's great, Sister Chunru. What's the story behind that Zhongqin?"

Concubine Liu Yi pointed somewhere on the church's bell tower.

"Oh, that was a gift from Rockefeller in 1932 in memory of his mother."

"At first, he walked backwards, representing Rockefeller's longing for his mother and his desire to turn back time and return to her arms."

Zhang Chunru turned her head and smiled at Xiao Liu. She was about to talk about the same image in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", but gave up after thinking about it.

The 37-year-old elder sister is more concerned about the fragile heart of the 18-year-old younger sister.

Along the way, Liu Yifei visited the main quadrangle of the core campus, the famous Harper Library, the Regenstein Library, and the Robie House...

She brought a camera with her and took a lot of photos, preparing to select the best ones to post on her blog.

Although she is not as bad as Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, Concubine Liu Yi has been filming and working in recent years, and she really doesn't have much time to measure the world with her feet.

Travel thousands of miles and read thousands of books.

Due to complicated reasons, eighteen-year-old Xiao Liu went to college again like other girls of the same age.

In this life, her spiritual world has been continuously matured by Lu Kuan over the past four years.

Just like those intelligent kids in the junior classes of the University of Science and Technology of China, most of them ended up being mediocre.

Concubine Liu Yi also needs to do the right thing at the right time. Objectively, this plays an important role in continuing to perfectly shape her world view and mature personality.

"Iris!"

The three of them entered the admissions office of the Harper Center, and Ellie, the staff member who had been waiting for a long time, gave Zhang Chunru a warm hug.

Iris is Zhang Chunru's English name, which means iris, symbolizing light and freedom.

"Wow, Iris, you're in better spirits now. You're like two different people from last year."

Zhang Chunru smiled and said, "Yes, I have a new goal now. I am very calm and gradually adjusting myself."

"Let me introduce you. This is my compatriot, my sister Crystal. You should have seen her in the movie."

"This is Crystal's mother, Ms. Liu."

Ellie is a tall, fat white woman. Her eyes lit up when she heard that: "Hello, Lan Yue."

"Please come to my house when you have time. I watched your video and bought a lot of tea from the Asian supermarket, but I don't know how to make it!"

Xiao Liu said calmly, "Of course. It would be my honor."

Liu Xiaoli also hugged and greeted Ellie, who enthusiastically introduced the courses and academic system of the Booth School of Business.

"You introduced Crystal to me, so I suggested she choose a two-year MBA."

“We have only one required course at the Booth School of Business, called LEAD, Effective Leadership and Development.”

This is a featured course at the Booth School of Business, which is ranked among the top three in the world. It mainly uses lectures and group activities to enable students to influence each other, handle crises, communicate fully, and enhance self-awareness.

"In addition, Crystal can choose other courses according to her needs. There are about seven major categories."

"Finance, marketing, operations, decision-making, interpersonal, strategy, business environment, etc."

Ellie pulled out a few forms and necessary documents from the table and handed them over: "You can take your time to choose."

"Business school uses a credit system, and there are many celebrities and Wall Street bankers who take a one- to two-month leave just like you. That's okay."

The meaning of words like group discussion varies greatly in different scenarios and configurations.

For example, who organizes student discussions and interactions at a world-class college like the Booth School of Business?
James McKinsey, founder of McKinsey & Company;

Eugene Fama, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his "Efficient Market Hypothesis";
Eric Hurst, president of the American Institute for Economic Research;

. . .

Xiao Liu couldn't contain his curiosity: "Aili, who is my group discussion mentor?"

"Wait a minute, let me take a look."

"Your advisor is Xi Kaiyuan, a scholar with outstanding achievements in fields such as behavioral decision-making."

Xiao Liu nodded in confusion. She naturally didn't know the background of this Chinese scholar, but Zhang Chunru looked at him with envy. This was a figure who had recently become famous in the Chinese American community.

Xi Kaiyuan is a tenured full professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Although he has never won a Nobel Prize, there are nine Nobel Prize winners among his fellow full professors.

In fact, what Liu Yifei didn’t know yet was that Xi Kaiyuan’s achievements in economics were relatively low, and his real forte was psychology.

In 1993, he received his Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.

Among the branches of psychology around the world, emotional intelligence is an area that is not easily explored.

But it was precisely in this field that his mentor wrote the world's first paper on emotional intelligence, and he wrote the second.

To make an inappropriate analogy, this scholar Xi Kaiyuan is a bit like Huang Lao Xie. His research field is very peculiar and very specialized, and most scholars are not interested in it.

"Psychology? Psychology is good, it's very interesting!"

On the way back in the car, Zhang Chunru introduced Xi Kaiyuan's achievements to her, and Xiao Liu looked envious.

Although she didn't want to admit it, Lu Kuan's extremely strange behavior during his coma and on his birthday had become a mystery that she could not forget.

Maybe...

Can you find some clues from this world-class master of psychology?
"My mental state wasn't very good the past two years, and the psychological clinic I went to was run by one of his students."

The three of them returned to Zhang Chunru's residence in Champaign. Liu Xiaoli found a house in Hyde Park in downtown Chicago, and she stayed there temporarily after returning to Champaign.

Concubine Liu Yi nodded in understanding, knowing what she meant.

Previously, in Lu Kuan's office, she had been warned to pay attention to her mental state and mental health when preparing for the film.

Over the past week, seeing that Zhang Chunru still had to take some sedatives occasionally, she realized that what he said was true.

Great personalities have powerful influence, just like the angel of justice, Ms. Iris Chang.

Through her words and actions, she sets a clear and concrete example for others, and interprets noble moral standards and a positive attitude towards life with her actual actions.

Although I came to the United States with the purpose of observing the prototype of a biographical film, I lived and studied with Zhang Chunru.

But Concubine Liu Yi truly drew a lot of strength from this great personality and also relieved a lot of depression.

After a simple Western-style dinner, Zhang Chunru played with the children for a while, and Liu Yifei returned to her room to video chat with Yang Siwei about work.

"How is it? Are you used to living there?"

"It's great, everything tastes delicious!"

Xiao Liu looked at the female agent in the video and said, "Siwei, your face seems to be getting rounder again."

"Bah! Take back what you said! Should I even have lunch?" Yang Siwei sighed. "It's really boring now that you're gone. I think the studio is redundant now."

Indeed, Concubine Liu Yi spent at least one to two years in North America.

There is still some work to be done in the studio's operations, media, and public relations, but the drivers, photographers, and makeup artists will be completely unemployed.

Yang Siwei's main job now is to maintain and develop endorsements, operate a blog, and operate a fan website.

Although she will not be appearing in public for a short period of time, it will only affect her domestic business activities, and she will not lack works to be released.

"Zhu Xian 2" has already started airing, "The Return of Condor Heroes" will premiere at the end of the year, and "Foreign Language 2" will be aired in the summer of next year.

In addition, the online game "Zhu Xian" operated by Shanda and officially launched in August took the Internet by storm as soon as it was launched. The number of simultaneous online users exceeded 8 a week after its launch.

Liu Yifei is the spokesperson. Although she is not in the world, her presence can be seen everywhere.

Of course, this data cannot be compared with "World of Warcraft", which officially started operating in the mainland in June. The latter has obtained 150 million top player traffic in just two months.

In view of this, even though "Zhu Xian" is more closely related to its own interests, Lian Blog.com has to reach a strategic cooperation relationship with 9you to divert traffic to each other.

In fact, Liu Yifei anticipated the current "difficulties" of the studio, and that was why she signed Liu Shishi.

only. . .

At this moment, Xiao Liu and Yang Siwei thought of this at the same time. Yang Siwei hesitated and said, "I have some news that I think I should tell you."

"what?"

"The cast and makeup for Chinese Paladin III have been finalized. Among the three main female characters, Xuejian plays Huayi's Yang Mi, Zixuan plays the Eagle Emperor Tang Yan, and Longkui plays..."

"Tong Liya from the world of inquiry."

"Tong..." Liu Yifei was suddenly startled and remembered what Lu Kuan said to her in the office that day.

Good people do their best to the end, and bad guys do their best to the end.

It was obviously his style to deal with this last hidden danger of Liu Shishi.

"Wulin Waijia" started filming at the Feilong Film and Television Base in Pinggu, Beijing last winter and took 8 months to complete, which is similar to the later generations.

For Tong Liya, being able to play Long Kui is a seamless transition.

After hanging up the video, Xiao Liu began to read Zhang Chunru's diaries and notes since middle school.

That was the first time that Zhang Chunru began to face and study this history after receiving patriotic education from her parents since childhood.

Zhang Chunru knocked on the door and came in, saying with concern, "Xixi, don't watch it for too long every day. If you feel uncomfortable, go out for a walk and enjoy the scenery."

"Well, I know."

Outside the window, the fat neighbor aunt Jessica knocked on the window sill and waved to Zhang Chunru and the others.

"Iris, Crystal, come out and look at this little guy!"

Concubine Liu Yi screamed and rushed out of the house excitedly.

Zhang Chunru looked at her back with a smile. The youthful vitality unique to an eighteen-year-old girl was also healing her invisibly.

"It's so cute! Jessica, is this your puppy?"

Xiao Liu was holding a small yellow dog, whose breed he couldn't tell, in his arms. Liu Xiaoli, who rushed out to see what was going on, said, "Mom, take a picture of me!"

Liu Xiaoli agreed with a smile. Seeing that her daughter really liked the puppy, she smiled at Aunt Jessica and said, "If the puppy has puppies, can you sell us one? Xixi really likes small animals."

"This is for you. We can't keep too many at home. Iris said Crystal loves animals, and I know you'll treat him well."

"what!!!"

Liu Yifei couldn't help screaming, took the puppy and started petting its fur.

Liu Xiaoli hugged Jessica gratefully, then turned around and shook Zhang Chunru's hand: "Chunru, I really don't know how to thank you."

"No way, I like Sissi very much and hope she can be happy."

Xiao Liu rushed over and gave Zhang Chunru an American kiss on the cheek according to Western etiquette, which made everyone laugh.

"Do you want to give it a name first?"

Concubine Liu Yi pursed her lips and thought for two seconds. She had an answer in her mind, but she was too embarrassed to say it in front of everyone.

"Let me think about it."

Zhang Chunru smiled and said, "Xixi, do you want to go out for a walk? Take it for a walk and cultivate your relationship first."

"Okay!"

The weather in Champagne in September is exceptionally pleasant. The summer heat gradually dissipates under the gentle breeze, and the air is filled with the faint fragrance of grass and trees, mixed with a hint of the approaching autumn.

The sky was like a carefully wiped canvas, blue and clear, with a few snow-white clouds floating slowly, dyed a light orange-red by the setting sun, like a beautiful oil painting.

Xiao Liu felt indescribably relieved as he held the dog leash. He had just arrived in a place where no one knew him, and it felt like he had entered a new world.

Not far behind him, a sturdy female bodyguard who had retired from the Navy Special Forces followed closely and was on guard.

Xiao Liu and Zhang Chunru sat down on the grass.

Concubine Liu Yi did not forget the fundamental mission of her trip, and began to observe, imitate and understand her while interacting with her.

"Sister Chunru, how old were you when you came to live in Champagne? How did you first come into contact with this history?"

Zhang Chunru took a photo with her new friend and frowned as she recalled the past: "In 80, when I was 12 years old, I went to Illinois High School."

"By then, I had already participated in the Central Illinois Young Writers Conference and had even accepted an award as a representative of the Urbana School District."

"Around 83, I relaunched a magazine called Maverick because I was interested in literature. But when I entered university in 85, I studied mathematics and computer science."

She smiled at Liu Yifei: "It's similar to you now. An actress studying business, her thinking is quite jumping."

Xiao Liu pursed her lips and said nothing. She never explained her purpose to Liu Xiaoli or anyone else.

“As for my interest in this period of history, it actually started when I was a child.”

"My ancestral home is Huaiyin, Jiangsu Province (now HA City), very close to Jinling. My grandparents have told me about this history since I was a child."

"It wasn't until December 1994, when I attended a meeting sponsored by the Historical Society to commemorate the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, that I saw the most horrific photos I had ever seen."

I don’t know if it was the rustling of the cold wind that made her feel cold, but when Zhang Chunru talked about this, she obviously entered a more depressed mental state.

The sensitive Concubine Liu Yi sat closer, put her arm around her, and covered Zhang Chunru's hands with her own hands.

She wanted to give her some energy and share some of her nightmares.

“That’s when it dawned on me that my childhood memories of the Holocaust weren’t just folklore, but real oral history.”

"But at the time, no one had written a non-fiction, narrative monograph on this subject in English. I was indignant at the deliberate distortion of historical facts by some Japanese people in order to reveal the historical truth, so I decided to write this."

A few brief and calm words echoed and floated in the quiet sunset of Champagne City.

Not many people know that this monumental work by Ms. Zhang Chunru was suddenly inspired by a kind impulse motivated by national justice.

"Sissi, people actually die twice."

"One is the death of the body, and the other is disappearing from the memories of others. That is the real death."

Zhang Chunru smiled at the little girl beside her and held her delicate hand: "History is the same."

Concubine Liu Yi looked at her delicate yet strong profile and felt a warm current flowing into her heart.

She thought of a sentence she had read in Zhang Chunru's diary last night:

May you have a prosperous afterlife, but what makes this stain particularly repulsive is that history has not written a proper ending for this story.

Just after this diary was written in 1994, the female soldier picked up her pen in anger!

If you don’t write it, I will!

In a trance, Concubine Liu Yi didn't even realize that her tears were streaming down her cheeks.

In a foreign land, in her observation and imitation with reverence and admiration, in Zhang Chunru's memories while suppressing her psychological and spiritual discomfort.

Concubine Liu Yi's spiritual world is woven and resonated in that bloody and tragic period of history.

In her amiable and respectable sister, she saw more of the truth, goodness and beauty in human nature, and absorbed more of the pure, strong and healthy spiritual strength of women.

What she didn't know was that in another time and space, such a work almost crushed Zhang Chunru, causing us to lose this angel of kindness and justice early.

In this life, for this Holocaust film to be released to the world, the creator Lu Kuan will undoubtedly face the same obstacles, difficulties, pain, and self-doubt.

Liu Yifei couldn't help but recall the scene two years ago when the young director watched "Schindler's List" alone in his Los Angeles office.

The brow that seemed to be tied in a knot, the cigarette that never left his hand, the dull coughs and sighs.

He must have been under a lot of pressure when he made the decision to shoot the film, right?

As if playing a movie, his study in Gongjian Hutong, which was always filled with smoke, appeared in her mind again.

Three years have passed since I first met Zhang Chunru in Berlin in 2002, and I have spent countless days and nights revising and improving the script.

Worrying deeply, thinking hard...

The evening breeze of Champagne City blows on your face, and the clock tower not far away shines with golden light in the afterglow of the setting sun. The bells ring on the hour, deep and melodious.

At this moment, Xiao Liu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly missed him very much.

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(End of this chapter)