My girlfriend was reborn.

Chapter 63 Goodbye, Pear

night.

Zhou Heming returned to his room with his exercise book and pencil case, and stretched.

It was almost midnight, and he planned to wash up and then read a book for a while to help him fall asleep, enjoying a precious sleep that belongs to a senior high school student.

There are actually some things to consider when reading to help you sleep. You shouldn't read math or science books, as they will make you more alert.

For subjects related to Chinese language and literature, I might stay up all night studying.

It still has to be chemistry.

Chemistry was Zhou Heming's weak subject, so Cheng Shuangjiang gave him intensive tutoring in chemistry for a period of time, making him dream about the color of potassium permanganate.

After washing up, Zhou Heming picked up his phone and glanced at it, only to find a message on WeChat.

It belongs to Lu Bai.

Private chat.

After Cheng Shuangjiang's birthday, their secret nighttime contacts came to an end. Since then, Lu Bai has at most shared some food and drink or funny videos in a small group chat, and has never contacted him alone.

Zhou Heming hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should pretend he was asleep and hadn't seen it. But then he thought, maybe it's something important that they're looking for him so late.

[Lu Bai]: Are you free tonight? Can I borrow half an hour of your time?

[Lu Bai]: It could also be an hour.

[Lu Bai]: If it doesn't work out, then forget it. It's not an important matter.

The three messages were missed because Zhou Heming was washing up and getting ready, and a few minutes passed between them.

Zhou Heming became curious.

If I don't find out the details, I'm afraid I won't be able to get a good night's sleep tonight.

[Zhou Heming]: What is it?

[Lu Bai]: Can we use voice chat?

[Zhou Heming]: Yes.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, only to see that Lu Bai had made a voice call.

"What's so important?"

Zhou Heming inquired.

"Actually, it's nothing particularly important, I just suddenly remembered it and wanted to discuss it with you."

Lu Bai's voice came through.

"Okay, go ahead, I'm not going to sleep yet."

Zhou Heming casually opened his English vocabulary book, his gaze falling on one word: amber, meaning amber color, a noun.

"Yes, I mentioned it to you before, there's a movie that an acquaintance is working on next summer, and I'd like to ask your thoughts on the script."

Lu Bai considered his words for a moment before speaking.

For some reason, Zhou Heming felt that she wasn't as lazy and relaxed as when she taught him piano before. It seemed that she was still sitting at the table now, with some booklet open in her hand.

Perhaps, when it comes to acting, Lu Bai is indeed more serious and dedicated?

"my thoughts?"

"Yes, you don't need to worry. Screenwriter, um, it's that Mr. Cui Ming I mentioned before. I talked to him, and he said he could explain the ideas to you and ask for your feedback."

As Lu Bai spoke, he seemed to turn another page, and it looked like he was still holding a ballpoint pen in his hand, pressing a button.

"You trust me that much? Then tell me."

Zhou Heming turned the page. Pain, pain, suffering, noun.

"This drama is about hospice wards. Do you know what that is? It's for people who have given up on treatment."

"I know."

Zhou Heming's gaze stopped. Although it was only for a short period of time, his mother had indeed stayed there.

Silence, peace, and coldness—that was the impression he got from the ward where the person nearing the end of their life temporarily resided.

"Oh, you know that?"

Lu Bai paused for a moment before continuing.

"That should make sense. The drama is called 'Goodbye, Pear,' and the main character is named Pear. She is a rookie nurse who is assigned to this department. At first, she doesn't know anything and makes a mess of everything. But after a series of events, she gradually understands the significance of this ward and becomes an excellent nurse."

"It's a classic TV series formula; it'll probably be an episodic series in the middle."

Zhou Heming has watched many similar dramas, in which the protagonist's department faces a series of events, which may be interconnected and eventually linked together into a main storyline. It is a very classic and mature structure.

The advantage is that episodic dramas are relatively independent, requiring only a few relatively complete stories to be designed, and it is very easy to have outstanding episodes.

The downsides are that these kinds of dramas usually don't have many episodes, so there's no way to pad out the runtime, and they also require a lot of skill in ending the series.

"You're quite impressive, being able to figure that out."

Lu Bai rarely praised him.

"So, what is the significance of this ward?"

Zhou Heming suddenly asked.

Are you referring to the ideas in the script, or are you asking me?

Lu Bai paused for a moment, then continued speaking.

“I’d like to hear everything, but it’s okay if you don’t want to.”

Zhou Heming remained silent for a while before speaking.

"Well, the script says that life always has an ending, and if we can choose for ourselves, then perhaps a better ending is better than lingering in pain. Death is not a terrible thing, and we all have to learn to face it."

Lu Bai looked at the annotations in the script and said in a deep voice.

"As for me, I think that even without a perfect ending, it is still an ending. If one day I get a terminal illness and watch myself slowly walk towards death without being able to stop it, then I might also go to this ward and make my last days a little happier."

"It seems like the discussion from that day has come up again."

Zhou Heming smiled as he recalled their conversation that night.

"So you think it's meaningful to have a hospice ward?"

Lu Bai then asked a question.

"I think so."

Zhou Heming looked away from the vocabulary book and towards the doorway.

“My mother spent her last days in a hospice ward. Of course, that was because we didn’t have the money, and she didn’t want to go to the ICU. At least, she passed away peacefully, and she even had the chance to leave us a last message, instead of leaving in a coma with tubes all over her body.”

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that."

Lu Bai realized the significance of Zhou Heming's earlier pause and sincerely apologized.

"It's okay, I don't really care about it that much."

Zhou Heming's words made Lu Bai even more silent, but he didn't seem to notice and instead asked a question.

"Is there anything I can help with in this script?" "Well, there's an episode in the middle about a high school student with a terminal illness who goes to a funeral home to prepare for his own funeral. That's the general idea, but Teacher Cui feels it's missing something. Since I know you used to work at a funeral home, I wanted to ask you for your ideas. Hmm, if your ideas are helpful, I can give you credit for that episode."

Lu Bai then launched into a long and detailed explanation.

"This plot seems familiar."

Although Cheng Shuangjiang does not have a terminal illness, the situation in the script inexplicably corresponds to it.

"Because in previous episodes, we explored the good and bad of death. Some protagonists in the episodes faced death calmly, while others struggled to survive. So in this episode, Teacher Cui has two ideas. One is that the high school student remained calm, but his family and classmates were reluctant to let him go. In the end, the protagonist, Riko, helped to hold the funeral. The other idea is that the high school student didn't want to die at all, but because he was very sensible, he handled the funeral alone. In the end, moved by his classmates, he finally spoke his true feelings and bid farewell to the world with regret."

"It seems that the girl who was burned by the flames must have been written by Teacher Cui."

Zhou Heming couldn't help but think of the role that Cheng Shuangjiang had mentioned that Lu Bai would play in the future.

"What?"

Lu Bai was puzzled.

"It's nothing, it's just something I was thinking about, it has nothing to do with the script."

"Oh."

Lu Bai seemed to nod.

"If I were to write this episode..."

After a moment of thought, Zhou Heming thought of the script that he might never have the chance to write in this world again.

“I can design it. This high school student is actually quite immature. She resists death and is unwilling to accept the fact, but the doctor has already declared her dead. Her parents brought her to the funeral home, wanting to fulfill their last responsibility and customize a funeral for their daughter. However, she is picky and nitpicky, which makes the staff in charge of reception extremely frustrated.”

"Because I feel that high school students are still very emotional, and it feels unreal for them to be too calm when facing such a major event as life and death."

After explaining for a moment, and seeing that Lu Bai did not raise any objections, Zhou Heming continued.

"Later, Pear learned about the girl's situation and brought her to the hospital. They met the staff member who had received her last time. This time, the girl no longer put on a brave face in front of her parents, but she still clashed with the staff member. However, the staff member's words touched the girl, and even a little bit of affection developed between them. In the end, the girl decided to arrange a grand funeral, even with fireworks, to leave this world in a dignified manner."

"To put it simply, I cannot choose when I came into this world, but I can at least choose how I leave it."

After listening to Zhou Heming's line of thought, Lu Bai responded.

"Please wait a moment while I take notes and organize them."

She scribbled something on the edge of the script for a while before speaking again.

“I feel that we can design the girl to come to the funeral home three times. The first time, her parents accompany her and Pear is there to take care of her. The second time, the girl suddenly asks to come, and Pear accompanies her, which leads to a conflict with the staff, but the point of conflict is different from the first time. The third time, Pear brings the girl and finally reaches a consensus with the staff. It’s a series of twists and turns.”

Lu Bai's suggestion gave Zhou Heming a bright idea.

"This arrangement is indeed better."

The two quickly began discussing the details of the series, and before they knew it, almost an hour had passed.

"Thanks, I feel much clearer now. Even without this version of the script, I think Professor Cui will definitely be inspired."

Lu Bai seemed to stretch and yawn as he spoke.

"By the way, which character are you playing, Pear?"

Because in Cheng Shuangjiang's timeline, Lu Bai should be attacked by public opinion and have no roles to play for a long time, so she definitely won't be able to participate in this "Goodbye, Pear".

"The lead actress is a retired idol from an idol group, and I play the girl with a terminal illness."

Lu Bai replied.

"A teenage idol, is her acting okay?"

Zhou Heming admitted that he does have some prejudice against these idols and singers.

"But she's famous and investors are optimistic about her. That's how it is in film crews. Whoever pays the money is the boss. If you want to be truly independent, you either need to be rich or exceptionally talented."

Lu Bai was already a seasoned veteran of society, well-versed in the rules of the film crew.

"And I've seen her previous acting, she's actually not bad, better than the average young heartthrob. She's a perfect fit for a clueless, naive young professional like Pear. It all depends on the director's direction. Hmm, speaking of which, I wonder how Director Lu will torment that girl."

"Is it torture, or torment?"

Zhou Heming hoped that Lu Bai, the academic underachiever, had used the wrong adjective.

"what--"

Lu Bai yawned.

"Thank you for tonight, I'm sorry to have taken up your study time."

"No, I also gained a lot. I feel that the actual filming script is quite different from the novel and the like."

Zhou Heming didn't feel like he was being held back.

"However, well, I'll still report to Shuangjiang tomorrow. After all, it's not something I need to hide from her."

This happened suddenly, but Zhou Heming didn't have the bad habit of chatting with other girls late into the night after his girlfriend had gone to sleep.

“Okay, then I can bring you the script tomorrow so you can get a feel for it.”

Lu Bai hesitated for a moment before answering frankly.

"Tomorrow might not work. It's Wednesday. I'm going to see Teacher Cheng during evening self-study. He said he'd give me a mock interview tomorrow."

Zhou Heming thought about the arrangements. Next week was the November monthly exam, and the following weekend was the orientation exam. There was very little time left.

"Then it'll be the day after tomorrow, it doesn't matter."

Lu Bai seemed genuinely tired, and his tone became somewhat hurried.

"Okay, then go to bed early, it's almost 1:30."

Zhou Heming checked the time; even he was feeling a bit tired after more than an hour of brainstorming.

"Okay, goodnight, going to sleep."

"Good night."

Upon hearing Zhou Heming's reply, Lu Bai placed his hand on the hanger and paused for a moment.

"Anything else?"

The boy's voice came from the other end of the line. After making so many voice calls, she already knew that he was the kind of guy who would always wait for the other party to hang up first.

"No, sweet dreams."

"Then I wish you a good night's sleep, so that you don't carry fatigue and stress into the next day."

The boy seemed to chuckle softly.

"Even the doctor said I'm very healthy, right? I'm not talking anymore, bye."

Lu Bai finally pressed the hang-up button.

The apartment fell silent.

She put down her phone, got up, and went to the window. At this moment, Jiangcheng was already fast asleep, with only the deep and vast night sky enveloping the world.

His gaze swept in a certain direction, as if trying to find a light that was also still lit.

Unfortunately, only moonlight shone on the roof, making it look like it was sprinkled with salt.

*
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(End of this chapter)