Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 360 The Secret of Past and Present Life

"Da da da, da da da!"

On the TV screen in front of the two people, the climax of the final fight between Jay Chou and Feng Yuan was being played.

But at this moment, the incessant drumbeats made Boss Lu a little nervous.

We were just a little bit away from obtaining the right to develop impoverished mountainous areas. This is what happened.

Concubine Liu Yi naturally would not walk away timidly and pretend nothing happened. This was not her style.

The little girl slapped his An Lushan claw away with an expressionless face, and put her hands behind her back to fasten her bra.

He then very methodically paused the playback with the remote control, causing Jay Chou to stop in place with drumsticks in his hand, becoming the background of the embarrassing moment.

Then he took the phone, answered the call, and put it in Lu Kuan's hand.

Then she maintained her original position, lying on top of him, as quiet as a virgin.

A virgin indeed.

Boss Lu naturally remained calm in times of crisis, and besides, to be honest, Concubine Liu Yi knew Bingbing's situation...

"Hello? Bingbing."

The actress on the other end of the line sounded relaxed: "Isn't that bothering you?"

"It's okay. I'm in Italy. You can talk."

Bingbing paused for two seconds. The message conveyed by these words was enough for smart people to understand.

She also forwarded Xiao Liu's Weibo, so naturally she knew that she was in Italy relaxing and recovering.

The road is also wide...

That's not too strange.

It's just that she felt a little sad.

"Nothing, just that the filming of The Forbidden Kingdom is about to start, and I wanted to tell you."

"Have you...returned home recently?"

Boss Lu said calmly, "It might take a while, at the latest until the one-year mark of the Olympic countdown."

"By the way, we're organizing the performance list for the theme song of 'Beijing Welcomes You'. You'll have an important role there, so you can practice a few lines."

"Yeah, I know!"

Bingbing didn't know whether there was one person or two people on the other end of the phone, but she was very happy that this man was thinking about her.

"Then I'll hang up first. I have a meeting at the company today. The process of listing guidance is very tight recently, and Alispace is also going online. The artists all need to cooperate."

"Okay, let's do this first."

"Bye-Bye."

A normal work call.

Apart from the fact that Bingbing on the other end of the phone sounded as gentle and demanding as a little woman, there was not much else worth examining.

Liu Yifei in his arms was breathing steadily. She just tapped her fingers on his chest like playing the piano, pursed her lips, and no one knew what she was thinking about.

Boss Lu glanced at her expression and lamented that Xiao Liu was becoming more and more difficult to deal with.

Those who have thunder in their chest but a calm face can be worshipped as the Great Madam!
He picked up the remote and clicked "Continue". Jay Chou and Feng Yuanzheng on the screen came back to life, continuing the "da da da" sound as background music.

Lu Kuan playfully put his hand on her waist again and asked tentatively, "Shall we continue?"

As he spoke, he lowered his head and kissed her cherry lips, and then he smelled a faint smell of blood...

I got bitten again, but this time it wasn't unfair.

Liu Yifei pressed her palm hard into the velvet sofa, and the moment she propped up her upper body, the left shoulder strap of her silk nightgown slipped off.

The charming Xiao Liu let her cold white skin glow like glaze under the floor lamp, and just looked at the man in front of her.

His face was cold and his eyes were burning.

"I just want to ask you one thing. Was she the one who posted that photo on my eighteenth birthday?"

Boss Lu nodded slowly: "Yes."

"Actually, she and I..."

Xiao Liu suddenly covered his lips, like an extremely charming girl, and licked the blood on his mouth with her small tongue.

"You don't need to tell me. I just want an answer. This is between her and me. I can handle it myself."

To this day, she would never run away like she did two years ago.

The difference from that time is that after experiencing two years of ups and downs, whether it is the Fox incident or this "Sky" that carries the torrent of history, she has the feeling of fighting side by side with the man in front of her.

She was willing to sacrifice herself and defile herself to preserve his reputation, and he was willing to give up everything just to heal himself.

Trust each other and depend on each other through life and death.

She smiled at the man in front of her, her pretty face full of calmness and confidence.

From director Lu Kuan's perspective, the dim ceiling light in the room shone from the left, and the night and neon lights outside the curtains leaked in from the right.

All present in her face.

In movies, he has used this dichotomous lighting composition many times to highlight the characters' personalities and appearances.

And what about Concubine Liu Yi now?

The left side of the face is cut out with a cold light area, which represents the arrogance and pride of the celestial fairy attacker, who is not afraid of any opponent;
The right side of her face was immersed in the soft neon light of the night, dyed a warm orange, which was her lingering love for the man in front of her.

Boss Lu felt sad and didn't know how she would solve it.

But obviously, the most important thing now is how to change the subject...

"Whiplash" has ended, and the next one is "Shoplifters". Bingbing is particularly conspicuous on the DVD cover poster.

Before he could suggest watching the foreign land directly, Concubine Liu Yi had already gone barefoot to change the disc.

Forget it, just watch it.

"It's almost seven o'clock. Are you hungry?" Boss Lu hugged the little girl who had returned to his arms. "Do you want the hotel to make you a steak or a salad?"

The service at the Seven Stars Promenade is naturally top-notch, with dedicated chefs ready to serve customers at any time, and the food is of the standard of a top Western restaurant.

Concubine Liu Yi shook her head, hugged his arm, and watched the movie with her head resting on his shoulder with a calm expression.

Where did you get your inspiration for "Drummer" and "Thief"?

Artists are inspired by their own life experiences and accumulation, especially dramatic stories like film scripts.

Just like he was collecting materials at Milan Cathedral today.

Lu Kuan has made five films in the past five years. "Foreign Land" is adapted from He Xi's novel, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is adapted from a foreign novel, and "Tangshan" is based on real history.

The unfinished "The Sky of History" is also a true history and biography.

What about "The Drummer" and "The Thief"?

Boss Lu was stunned by her question. Thinking about what happened during the day, he was trying to find an excuse to get away with it.

After Fox, he no longer had any defenses against Concubine Liu Yi.

But as their relationship grew closer, it became difficult for him to control and stop the little girl from exploring her past and present lives.

Who wouldn’t be curious about their lover?

After all, she only knew herself after she turned nineteen.

Lu Kuan said thoughtfully, "The prototype of Feng Yuanzheng in 'The Drummer' is the original appearance of my master that I have heard from many people."

[Your master? He's also Zhuang Xu's master, right? You've never mentioned him.]

"We were very young when he was adopted, and he passed away within a few years of my memory. All we know is that he was a descendant of a hero of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression."

"In 1937, the Maoshan Taoist priests came down from the mountains to fight against the Japanese and delivered intelligence to our army. They also gave the thousand-year-old Taoist temple, Qianyuan Temple, to the army as its headquarters. These are all stories from that period."

"Everyone in the mountains knows him as a very strict person. He is more knowledgeable about worldly affairs and culture than the average Taoist priest, and he would take the initiative to go to the mountains to teach children."

"But he has always been extremely strict and harsh with his disciples."

"In the early 80s, the domestic atmosphere became increasingly open, and many of his disciples could no longer tolerate his strictness and the poverty of the Taoist temple, and left one after another."

Lu Kuan searched his mind for the memories of another soul: "Not long after he adopted Zhuang Xu and me, he died of illness."

This story has some artistic processing, but it is not fabricated at all.

"The budget for the first film was tight, and we needed some fashionable and universal elements to meet the tone of foreign film festivals, so we came up with this music-themed film."

Liu Yifei listened to his story in a trance, piecing together the puzzle of his life before he was nineteen in her mind.

Taoist temple, orphan, strict teacher.

The image of Lu Kuan in my eyes became more three-dimensional.

Zhou Xun just appeared on TV and stared in amazement at the girl played by Guan Xiaotong who was picked up by Zhang Yishan and Feng Yuan.

Fan Bingbing plays a high school girl who has fallen into working in a brothel and pushes the door open at this time.

What do you think of her acting? At that time.

"It's a mess." Boss Lu didn't even ask who she was talking about.

"She's not an actress who can calm down and focus on polishing her acting skills. There are many female stars, but everyone's pursuits are different."

"But Fan Bingbing, who was about 20 years old at the time, was very suitable for this role. She had both purity and charm."

Lu Kuan laughed and said, "Relatively speaking, directors like to find a face that can tell a story, and an actor who seems to have a variety of styles."

"A woman's body development at 20 is basically mature, and her waist-to-hip ratio begins to show, which is an element of sexiness and charm."

"But at the same time, she doesn't have enough life experience, her youthfulness and collagen haven't completely faded, and her frame is a bit slender. This is pure."

"Such actors have a diverse aesthetic that interweaves purity and desire, such as the high school girl in the movie."

The washing machine pinched the side of Liu Yifei's face in his arms, indicating that you are the best among them.

"You're twenty years old this year. As you get older, not only will your acting skills improve, but your acting range will also gradually expand."

"Before the age of 30, an actress's physical maturity and social experience are essentially briefly overlapped on the timeline, a window of semi-maturity in physical development and a plastic window of temperament."

"Like you, with your natural youthfulness combined with your acquired charm, there is a lot of contradictory aesthetic tension."

Concubine Liu Yi hummed faintly and said nothing more, watching Zhou Xun and Fan Bingbing's rivalry quietly.

But then again, Bingbing will be 9 in September, and Concubine Liu Yi will be 26 in August.

One is a blooming peony, and the other is a rose in bud, which can be said to be the most beautiful scenery in domestic entertainment.

As the film reached its climax, the strong dramatic tension made Liu Yifei, who was watching the film for the Nth time, burst into tears.

The unfortunate people formed a happy family, but in the end it was torn apart in front of others.

The emotional impact and appeal are extremely strong.

She pulled Lu Kuan's sleeve to wipe away her tears and snot, then curiously thought: "Is 'The Thief' a book you read? Or is it adapted from someone else's story?"

Suddenly, the subtitles started to move. Xiao Liu thought he didn't see the message and looked up in confusion.

Lu Kuan finished the rest of the red wine in the goblet. From Liu Yifei's perspective, his sharp jawline and towering nose bridge were full of masculine charm, but...

Why do his eyes look a little sad?

"Do you want to know who Zeng Wenxiu is?"

Concubine Liu Yi's back suddenly straightened, and the collar of her silk nightgown opened half an inch with the movement, revealing the fine sweat condensed in the depression of her collarbone, which glowed with a beeswax luster under the warm light.

How could she have imagined that the name she heard from his comatose mouth in West China Hospital, and the tombstone she accidentally encountered in Niu Shou Mountain in Jinling, would trigger her greatest curiosity and exploration of him...

But now it was easily said by Lu Kuan.

But even though he disguised himself well, Concubine Liu Yi, who knew the importance of this name in advance, still noticed the unusual look in his eyes.

He rarely has such mood swings.

Boss Lu stood up from the sofa, paused the subtitled version of Shoplifters, and poured two more glasses of wine on the counter.

"Come and have a drink with me."

Concubine Liu Yi was sitting opposite him, and heard the man talking with some nostalgia.

"Before... I told you that I experienced many different stories in my dreams and saw many people and things."

"In my dreams, I often dream about the life of another person, the same age as me, with the same name, as if it were another me in another world."

Boss Lu looked at her with a smile, took a sip of his own half cup and said self-deprecatingly, "During that time, I often wondered if I had a split personality."

He made his usual excuses, but decided to tell her the truth.

This is his biggest secret in this world, his deepest longing, the past that he most wants to talk about but has no one to share it with.

Now I can finally use the moonlight outside the window, the wine in my hand, and the Concubine Liu Yi in front of me——

A woman he firmly believed would never betray him.

Tell her confidently about your past and present life.

"The story of Shoplifters was adapted from this dream story, and Zeng Wenxiu is a character in my dream..."
-
The cold winter of 1982, Jinling.

A swaddled baby was abandoned under the Jinling Yangtze River Bridge with an anonymous note stuffed inside.

"I can't pay the fine, please take my son in."

In this context, some parents are indeed forced into a helpless situation.

But some parents are not worthy of being called parents at all——

In the coldest days of winter, you left your child in a place like this. Do you still want him to live?
This is not just the tragedy of helpless abandonment in this era, but a ruthless murder of covering one's ears and stealing the bell.

It’s just that the dying orphan met a soft-hearted God.

Next to the railway tracks beside the Jinling Yangtze River Bridge, a group of young men and women from the Jinling Film Studio were carrying equipment and walking forward happily.

Jinling Factory was founded in 1958 and was just restructured in 1980. This batch of people are newly recruited professional talents, young backbones, and full of energy.

"Wenxiu! Wait for me!"

A handsome young man was walking in front, chasing a girl, followed by a group of companions who were watching the fun and gossiping.

"Look at this Shen Xing, he really cares about Xiao Zeng. He doesn't want to be a good young master in Modu, but he has come all the way to Jinling."

"Haha, yes, a gentleman would love to marry a beautiful lady, that's normal."

"Young men and women, free love, it's no big deal. Do you still think it's the old feudalism of our time?"

"But Xiao Shen's family and Xiao Zeng's family, this is also..."

Zeng Wenxiu, who was holding a camera, looked back in a trance. Everyone kept silent, and the rich young man Shen Xing also caught up with them.

"Wait for me, Wenxiu. Today you're the photography assistant and I'm the screenwriter for the promotional video. You have to listen to me, right?"

A large team from Jinling Film Studio went out to shoot a promotional video for the studio's first anniversary.

Obviously, the Yangtze River Bridge is the highlight of today.

At this moment, a large group is setting up photographic equipment and devices under the bridge to conduct targeted framing and shooting of the bridge, train, river view, etc.

Zeng Wenxiu looked at the sticky candy in front of her with some helplessness: "I'm going to collect some folk songs and will be back soon. Don't follow me. People will gossip about me if you don't see me!"

Shen Xing said with a playful smile: "Just tell me! Why are you not allowed to have a relationship?"

Zeng Wenxiu was too lazy to argue with him, so she waved her hand and walked towards the bridge.

After the whistle of a train, she suddenly heard the faint cry of a baby.

"Wow! Wow!"

This is because I was scared by the train whistle.

The kind-hearted Zeng Wenxiu's eyes suddenly widened, and she followed the sound and walked under the bridge.

Frosty fog rose from the surface of the river, and the iron-gray bridge piers were covered with ice crusts, like a layer of moldy rice paper.

In the shade of the third bridge arch, a cotton quilt that had faded to gray-brown was rolled into a tube. The river breeze had blown it halfway around, revealing the baby wrapped inside.

Zeng Wenxiu approached.

The little face, frozen purple, was only the size of a palm. The sparse hair was covered with ice, which stuck to the forehead as it rose and fell slightly with breathing.

The lips were cracked into fine lines, and the blood that seeped out solidified into dark red ice crystals.

The blue cloth jacket he was wearing was obviously an adult's old clothes. The cuffs were frayed with cotton threads, and the patches under his arms had rough stitching, mixed with milk stains and excrement, frozen into hard lumps.

The kind-hearted Zeng Wenxiu's eyes immediately turned red, and she bent down to pick up the child.

"and many more!"

Shen Xing ran over with a terrifying look on his face and grabbed Zeng Wenxiu's arm. "Are you crazy? What's wrong with you?"

He wasn't surprised at all.

In other words, in recent years, everyone has seen such scenes many times, especially in hospitals.

"I want to save him, he's dying." Zeng Wenxiu shook off her boyfriend's hand and didn't even have the patience to argue with him.

Shen Xing looked back at the sparse crowd and was very glad that no one noticed anything unusual here and thought they were just a young couple chatting and bickering.

"Just pretend you didn't see it and let's go back, okay?"

"What's the harm in taking this child home? Didn't Aunt Liu from the factory also take one home last month? She had no choice but to give it away again."

He steeled his heart and stood in front of Zeng Wenxiu: "If you take her back and abandon her again, you'll be scolded to death. Just pretend you can't see her, okay?"

Zeng Wenxiu seemed to be meeting this talented boyfriend for the first time, and frowned: "Get out!"

"you!"

Shen Xing watched with bloodshot eyes as she bent down and picked up the child. His wrinkled little face had been exposed to the gloomy wind for a long time, and suddenly a ray of sunlight pierced through the river mist and shone on his face.

Somewhat itchy.

The baby's left hand suddenly twitched, and its five fingers spread out like a withered plum branch.

The frost on the eyelashes melted, mixed with the secretions from the corners of the eyes and slid down, leaving winding grooves on the frozen skin of the cheekbones.

Zeng Wenxiu knew she couldn't wait any longer, so she undressed the child to keep him warm as much as possible, and walked towards the crowd, one step deep and one step shallow, to seek help.

Only Shen Xing was left standing behind her, with his fists clenched and a gloomy expression.

From then on, there was a 22-year-old single "mother" with a child in Jinling Film Studio.

The old factory manager came to persuade us;

The older sister, the street director, came to persuade us;

The villagers from Niushou Village, Zeng Wenxiu’s hometown, came to persuade her...

But she decided to keep the child.

When Shen Xing, who was preparing to transfer back to the Shanghai Film Studio through connections, angrily questioned her reason, Zeng Wenxiu smiled at her college sweetheart for the last time.

This smile is not for him, but for the warmth that she misses.

"Shen Xing, thank you for liking me, but we are not what you would call like-minded comrades. It's a pity."

"I was adopted by my father. This child has a connection with me and the studio, so..."

Shen Xing from Modu Company interrupted her: "Your father!?"

"If it weren't for your father, you would be working at the Beijing Film Studio or the Shanghai Film Studio now. Why would you end up like this?"

Zeng Wenxiu was born in 1959 in the family compound of the Jinling Film Machinery Factory. Her father was the screenwriter of "The Sentry Under the Neon Lights". In 1969, he was sent to a cadre school for secretly possessing Antonioni's documentary film.

He died of depression soon after, leaving only his adopted daughter Zeng Wenxiu in the family.

Her academic performance and artistic talent once earned her an offer from the Beijing Film Academy, but she was rejected during the political review and was eventually transferred to the Fine Arts Department of Jinling Academy of the Arts.

"Shut up!"

Zeng Wenxiu was beautiful, but she was not a fragile female painter. With a raised eyebrow, she wanted to drive out this arrogant and incompetent young man. He was full of an arrogant sense of superiority, which was not very obvious in school, but seemed to have become a materialistic person as soon as he entered society.

The quarrel between the two grew louder, and the baby, who had been gradually raised to life, suddenly started crying. Zeng Wenxiu quickly turned around and picked him up to comfort him.

"Wenxiu, our fate has ended, but I still want to give you some advice."

"This child, even his own biological parents don't care about him, why do you have to do this?"

"Even if we don't end up together, please think about the rest of your life..."

Shen Xing left, but he still closed the door for her very gentlemanly and left an envelope with some money in it.

She was a female employee at a film studio. Although her salary was slightly higher than that of ordinary workers, it was still very difficult to raise a child.

The factory director was kind-hearted and allocated her a separate dormitory in the tube-shaped building in the family area.

Zeng Wenxiu held the baby in her arms and recalled the first day she rescued him.

That day, his screams were so loud that it was almost unbearable.

Until she held him in her arms and walked around in front of her canvas, which contained storyboards and location scouting drawings for the Jinling Film Studio's work "The Massacre Bloody Evidence."

The child stretched out his little hands and tried to touch the black and white and oil paint on the canvas, and miraculously stopped crying.

It seems that I have a connection with her and with movies.

Zeng Wenxiu, who went against the majority's opinion, or was seen as stubborn and stubborn, became a single mother who has not yet married.

What should I name him?
My grandfather’s surname is Lu, so I might as well use the surname Lu too.

He also quoted the saying "A broad mind leads to long journeys" and named him Lu Kuan, which is simple, catchy and easy to remember.

Zeng Wenxiu lived a hard life from then on. After all, raising a child alone was simply hellish in that era.

There is too much gossip and there is no way to stop it.

For example, this is her child with Shen Xing, who abandoned her after having an affair with her, so she can only live with her illegitimate child;
For example, this is the fruit of her love with a leader in the factory, otherwise why would the leader arrange a separate dormitory for her?
In short, this strong and kind girl became the target of gossip because of her artistic talent that was always envied and the courtesy of the old factory director.

She can turn a deaf ear and respond coldly, but she still has to face the economic pressure.

This girl who loves painting and movies even gave up her hobby——

Those paints and equipment are very expensive.

Now it has become children's diapers, milk powder and clothes.

But this path is wide, which has one advantage.

Whenever she was painting, drawing storyboards and location scouting, or even helping to edit film, her son never cried.

He would open his eyes wide and observe the colors, lines, and movements with great curiosity.

When he was older, he would play and be naughty all over the factory. Out of curiosity, he would go to various film production departments to stay and show off, and watch the uncles and aunts work.

Even though life is difficult, if they just keep going like this, the story of the single painter mother and Xiao Lukuan will be beautiful.

But a grain of sand brought by the vicissitudes of the times is like a mountain to ordinary people.

In 1986, Zhu Dake published an article entitled "The Flaws in Xie Jin's Film Model" in Wenhui Daily, criticizing the latter both artistically and intellectually.

At the same time, a "big discussion" was launched in the domestic literary and art circles.

Many literary and artistic workers chose to protect themselves and draw a clear line.

But Zeng Wenxiu, the stubborn girl, was once again at the center of the storm.

In 1982, he insisted on adopting the child;

In 1987, she was transferred to the printing workshop because she insisted on using the Impressionist style in the set of "Rain Flower Terrace", and it was doubtful whether she could keep her original position and salary as art director.

After all, she was always just a simple artist, just like her adoptive father who was sent to a cadre school and died of depression.

They are all fools in the eyes of their ex-boyfriend Shen Xing.

In 1988, Lu Kuan was 7 years old and began to remember things.

But the stain on his mother and grandfather prevented him from attending the factory's children's primary school.

Zeng Wenxiu did not have the financial ability to send him to a better school in Jinling, so he attended the first grade of Suojin New Village No. 1 Primary School near his rental house.

Zeng Wenxiu was 29 years old that year, but the liveliness and tranquility of a literary girl were gone, leaving only despair.

She still has passion for art, but no longer has the energy.

The only thing that can keep her going is to raise her son Lu Kuan.

So the mother and son began a hard and difficult life, embarrassed and helpless.

Zeng Wenxiu was ostracized in the factory and was basically idle.

After being laid off from her position as an art director, she was assigned to the editing workshop as a film organizer with a monthly salary of 78 yuan.

Every day at 7:30, she would wrap herself in a gray-blue cotton-padded jacket and ride a Forever 28-inch bicycle to take her son Xiaolukuan to Suojin Village Primary School. A stationery box made from waste film boxes picked up from the factory would be tied to the back seat of the bicycle.

After sending the children to school, I had to rush to the factory before eight o'clock to sort the waste films returned from the developing room into nitric acid film base and acetate film base - the former could be sold to Jinling Plastic Factory No. 2, and exchanged for cents per kilogram.

After work, Zeng Wenxiu would get bulk materials from the Jinling Match Factory and paste 300 matchboxes every night, earning 1 yuan.

Xiaolukuan would squat by the coal stove in the kitchen to help apply the paste, and his fingers were often burned red by the alkaline glue.

At that time, he did not understand the hardships of life and often asked:
"Mom, why aren't you drawing anymore? I loved watching you draw when I was little."

"Mom, when can we go back to the factory to watch movies? I really like the Soviet movie 'Ugly'."

This is a children's film introduced after the easing of Sino-Soviet relations. It tells the story of resistance to school bullying and courage.

He has been smart since he was a child and can understand the cold eyes of people around him. He likes the rebellious attitude of the little protagonist in this movie.

He also wants to be like that, a person who is not afraid of anything.

Zeng Wenxiu's face looked much older, but she never told her children about the hardships of life.

When other children went to the photo studio, she would use the paint saved from the factory to paint a portrait of Xiao Lukuan.

Zeng Wenxiu taught him how to splash ink on paper, and told her son what it means to outline lines, change brushstrokes, and artistically handle blank spaces.

Chinese painting, oil painting, watercolor, and sketching.

This artist mom knows it all.

But Xiaolukuan is most interested in movies.

This was his thought and habit since he was a child growing up in Jinling Factory.

Finally one day, the child, who was not very sensible at the time, burst into tears in the simple rented house:

"They've all seen 'Pili Babe', but I, a kid who grew up in a film studio, haven't even seen it! Everyone is laughing at me! Woohoo!"

"Pili Baby" is China's first children's science fiction film. It tells the fantasy adventure of an electric boy and satisfies children's imagination of super powers.

The film became a hit upon its release in 1988, with children scrambling to imitate the "discharge" gesture in the film.

Zeng Wenxiu felt extremely distressed. She gritted her teeth, took out a pen and paper, and carefully calculated the bill.

I left enough money for my son's tuition, the family's living expenses, and my own medical treatment.

Since she was criticized a few years ago, her health has not been good and she suffers from chronic bronchitis.

The attack will occur if the air quality is slightly bad or the environment is cold, and it is extremely painful.

After all the calculations, she managed to squeeze out 3 cents from the family's small account, which was already in deficit.

The student ticket cost 3 cents, which was enough to satisfy my son’s wish.

This was the first time that seven-year-old Lu Kuan entered a movie theater.

Before that, before he could remember, he had watched several open-air movies at the Jinling Film Studio.

Including "Red Sorghum", which won an award last year.

But the path was much wider at that time, and he was still more than thirty years older than the big brother from Beijing Film Academy, with whom he later became close friends.

The wide path is fascinating to watch.

Even though this is just a small attempt at a domestic science fiction film, he has become somewhat addicted to it.

An imaginative plot, vivid characters, and the ability to carry electricity that is super cool in the eyes of children.

After leaving the cinema, Xiao Lukuan excitedly told his mother the story.

Zeng Wenxiu was surprised to find that he had such expressive ability and logical thinking at such a young age.

"Mom, I've made up my mind." Xiao Lukuan pursed his lips.

Zeng Wenxiu waited for her son in the cold wind for over an hour, her bronchitis flaring up again: "What? Cough cough cough... What decision?"

"I don't want to be a painter anymore. I want to be a film director. I want to make science fiction films! That's so cool!"

"Okay, it's up to you. Mom will be your art instructor when the time comes, okay?" Zeng Wenxiu didn't take her son's words seriously.

Among the children who grew up in the factory, how many don’t want to be directors?

In the coldest days of winter, as cold as the day Zeng Wenxiu discovered the wide road, the figures of mother and son gradually walked away.

Xiao Lukuan was busy retelling to his mother how wonderful the movie was, but he didn't notice that his mother was coughing so hard that her eyes were bloodshot.

But on this day, the seed of Chinese films and science fiction films was planted in his heart.

It has to be said that the child raised by Zeng Wenxiu is extremely smart.

From elementary school to junior high school, he not only completed his studies quickly and well, but also seized every opportunity to go to the factory to search for and absorb knowledge related to film.

Zeng Wenxiu often hid him in the photo processing workshop. Xiao Lukuan would use the film box of Fellini's "8 1/2" as a pillow and stare at the waste film of Kurosawa Akira's "Rashomon" in a trance.

This was just a mistake made by the craftsmen in cutting it, not a mistake made by the master Akira Kurosawa. Watching the undeveloped film directly is a starting point tailor-made for a genius.

Xiaolu Kuan, who aspires to become a director, is obsessed with it.

Sometimes, when Zeng Wenxiu was free, she would take the developer from the workshop and teach him how to draw storyboards on the abandoned wall:

"Look, sadness is a cobalt blue gradient, and anger uses copper sulfate crystal patterns."

"This is the use of color in the lens. If you are interested, you can take a look at Zhang Yimou's color grading and set design in Red Sorghum."

The mother and son walked forward alone and helpless.

It was scorching hot and cold in winter, and there was no money left at home.

Only love nourishes Lu Kuan’s young heart.

But his poor family background also made him naturally more likely to be looked down upon, hear more gossip, and be more cautious than other children.

He couldn't understand why the uncles and aunts who greeted him with smiles when he was a child became harsh and cold to him after his mother lost her job.
He couldn't understand why, with his mother's artistic ability, she had to work in this dark and gloomy printing workshop for more than ten years and had difficulty getting better opportunities.
He couldn't understand why so many people who had nothing to do with him would point fingers at him behind his back, saying that he was an illegitimate child, a bastard, and an unlucky person.

Their reason was simple. Ever since they were found under the bridge, Zeng Wenxiu had lost her lover, her job, and everything she had as a progressive youth.

She has become the old and ugly middle-aged woman she is today.

At a young age, Lu Kuan had many misunderstandings, but he gradually understood one crucial point:
It turns out that people without money and power are looked down upon in this world.

In his world, apart from Zeng Wenxiu, he no longer had any extra warmth to give to anyone else.

Because no one ever gave it to him.

Time flies, and finally in Lu Kuan’s second year of junior high school, Zeng Wenxiu fell ill.

The year was 1997, when Hong Kong returned to the motherland.

This year, a 10-year-old girl named An Feng from Jiangcheng, Hubei Province went abroad with her mother and changed her name.

The little girl looked around timidly in an unfamiliar environment.

But life is still rich after all.

This year, a 15-year-old boy named Lu Kuan from Jinling, Jiangsu Province even thought about dropping out of school because he wanted to work hard to earn money to buy medicine for his mother's medical treatment.

The old people in the studio often said that Lu Kuan was a smart kid since he was young.

Not only does he have good academic performance, but he also has a high level of artistic accomplishment due to the influence of his mother Zeng Wenxiu.

The key is that this child has a very active mind!

At the age of 15, Lu Kuan did not foolishly sell flowers or make matchboxes. Instead, he relied on his familiarity with the Jinling Film Studio to find many interesting ways to make a living.

He would collect 35mm aluminum film reels discarded by the editing room, grind off the factory logos, and sell them to the Chaotian Palace flea market for 0.5 yuan each.

Once, he mistakenly sold an uncleaned negative reel of "The Opium War" and was tracked down by the Cultural Inspection Team. He paid out of his own pocket to buy a pack of Hongmei cigarettes to settle the matter.

He would buy goods on credit from the owner of a video hall outside the factory, use the discarded iceberg prop model from the promotional period of "Titanic" as a display stand, and sell compact discs for 5 yuan each at the school gate.

When he met the urban management, Lu Kuan stuffed the disc into the "Havoc in Heaven" film box and pretended to rehearse the Young Pioneers activities.

He would pick up scraps of hand-painted posters such as "Party A and Party B" and "Let's Talk It Out Nicely" from the Propaganda Department's garbage dump, piece them together into "limited editions" and sell them to the stamp collecting market for 3 yuan each.

They used the developer discarded by the factory to make it look old, and falsely claimed it was "the first draft signed by the director."

. . .

It is hard to say whether Boss Lu's subsequent series of operations of digging traps and burying people began to accumulate proficiency from this time.

It’s a pity that in this life, he seems to have really been cursed as a “lonely star” since childhood, and is a miserable child.

In the second year of the Chinese New Year, Zeng Wenxiu was seriously ill and was about to die.

In the attending physician's office, the old doctor wearing reading glasses helplessly analyzed his condition and looked at the only relative of this female patient.

"Your mother must have been overworked for a long time. In addition, due to her work in the printing workshop, she was exposed to chemical reagents such as developer for a long time."

"Silver nitrate developer may cause bronchial fibrosis, while acetic acid fixer can easily corrode the nasal mucosa and cause atrophic rhinitis."

"Coupled with the poor ventilation in the workshop, the possibility of inhaling these reagents is greatly increased..."

"I've had another follow-up checkup and it's confirmed that I have pneumoconiosis combined with lung cancer. I probably won't have more than a month left."

If you say anything more, Lu Kuan, with bloodshot eyes, will not listen anymore.

He returned to the bedside like a zombie, crying very cautiously and not daring to blow his nose loudly, for fear of disturbing his mother who had finally fallen asleep.

At this moment, many scenes came into his eyes.

Many early mornings, she came back in the middle of the night with a cough;

Every morning when she wakes up, she has already gone out to do odd jobs;

She always saves the most delicious food for herself, and she always saves money to buy herself paper and pen to study the lens and composition.

And, when I was 7 years old, outside the cinema, I was so excited that my face turned red, and I saw her, who was so cold that tears were streaming down her face...

He really wants to travel back to the year when he was 7 years old!

He would resist the urge to share "Pili Beibei" with his mother and ask one more question...

Mom, are you cold?
The tree wants to be quiet but the wind keeps on, and the child wants to support but the kiss does not wait.

A month later.

Before her death, Zeng Wenxiu struggled to sit up and held her son's handsome and tender face in her hands.

"You haven't met your grandpa. He is a man who loves to laugh. So am I."

"He raised me, and I raised you, but you don't like to laugh. I don't know who you took after... ahem..."

Zeng Wenxiu forced a smile: "Xiaolu, ahem... Mom is leaving. I won't be able to see your movies anymore, and I won't be able to be your art director anymore."

"Don't be sad. You love movies the most, but life is not a continuous screening. It is the selection of countless single frames—"

“Remember, press the pause button when you cry, adjust the focus when you are in pain, and when you love…”

The sentence was not finished.

But Lu Kuan no longer had any interest, patience, or mood to think about this topic of love.

Zeng Wenxiu, this beautiful woman who had no relatives or friends with him, gave her life for him just because of an encounter under the Yangtze River Bridge on that cold winter day.

No regrets until death.

The romantic and literary girl did not ask her son to deal with the daily necessities of life before her death, because she knew that Lu Kuan's intelligence and talent would not be a problem.

She was worried that the difficult life experiences of more than ten years had completely closed his heart.

The fifteen-year-old boy, who was looked down upon by the world, finally lost his only relative.

It seems that I have lost the ability to love forever.
-
In the room of the luxury hotel, seven empty red wine bottles were placed on the table.

Lu Kuan's tone was still as calm as at the beginning. Only when he talked about Zeng Wenxiu's death did Liu Yifei opposite him notice some emotional fluctuations on his face.

"This is my dream, the dream I had until I was nineteen. Real, isn't it?"

"I often think that this might be my life in another world, an experience that is unbearable to watch."

"To the characters of mother and child, I added some more dramatic characters, and thus a family without any blood ties was born."

“This is Shoplifters.”

So... Zeng Wenxiu is the character in your dreams, right?

"Ah."

Concubine Liu Yi, who was almost crying her eyes out, pursed her lips and said nothing.

After saying the last sentence, seemingly having used up all his strength, the drunk Lu Kuan stood up and staggered onto the bed.

He was muttering to himself.

Xiao Liu quickly wiped away her tears, went to the bathroom, moistened a towel with hot water, and knelt beside the bed to wipe him carefully.

The moonlight was filtered through the gauze curtains and turned into silver foil, spreading across Lu Kuan's angular face.

His brow bones were raised in a steep arc, and the shadows cast by his eyelashes were like crumpled penmanship, messily blurring the grayness under his eyes.

Seeing his loss of composure, the little girl's heart was already in turmoil.

Lu Kuan used the excuse that it was his experience and observations from a dream, just to have someone to confide in about this past.

Deep in his heart lies the eternal regret and pain.

He didn't think about whether Concubine Liu Yi would see through anything.

Because Lu Kuan didn't know that she had seen the tombstone, nor did he know that she had heard him call out this name.

But after hearing the whole story, how could the little girl not have tears welling up in her eyes?
How can I not be heartbroken?
This is not the life you dreamed of, you are your own life!

Otherwise, why would your eyes be so sad when you mentioned Zeng Wenxiu?
Otherwise, why would you, who had never been drunk before, be sleeping soundly in bed?
Otherwise, why would you write her as your adoptive mother in the movie?
And you insist on playing the role of her son yourself?

Even Liu Yifei wrote in her diary about his Machiavellian personality -

Use everyone without emotion as your own tool.

Was it born from such a tragic past with a touch of warmth?

When I thought of this, tears suddenly fell like a torrential rain.

Concubine Liu Yi no longer had time to think about the connection between his previous identity as a young Taoist priest and this experience.

If you say it is a dream, then it is a dream.

The moonlight filtered through Concubine Liu Yi's drooping hair, leaving two tear marks on her cheeks.

The eyelashes were soaked with tears, and every time they trembled, two crystal beads fell and slid down the delicate curve of the nose.

She looked at the man in front of her with great heartache. The remaining coral lip glaze on his lips was bitten into a chip, and the movement of wiping Lu Kuan's palm suddenly slowed down.

The mystery that had shrouded him in the past gradually dissipated with the rise and fall of his drunken breathing.

The person in front of her now is no longer some little god who knows everything, no longer a genius director who leads the times, and no longer a young wealthy man who is famous both at home and abroad.

He is just a poor man who lost his mother early, endured the ruthlessness and coldness of the world, and did not know what love is.

Concubine Liu Yi gently leaned her head on his chest and blurted out what was on her mind.

"It's okay, it's okay, I will love you from now on."

shock!
She suddenly covered her mouth in surprise!

(End of this chapter)