I am not Ximen Qing.

Roosters are courageous. Yesterday's rooster turned to dust, returning to the earth to become nourishment. The remaining roosters forgot yesterday's tragedy, and continued to stand on the mountain, crowing at the rising sun to start a new day.

"Get up, it's dawn!" Like a night watchman, he struck the metal instrument.

"I'm hungry, what about breakfast?" After a hearty meal, everyone wakes up feeling like an ordinary person again.

"Children, Auntie has prepared millet porridge, steamed buns, and pickled cucumbers for you."

"Auntie, let's settle the bill."

"What's the rush? How did you feel last night?" How could I feel? I spent the whole night gazing at the stars and the moon.

"Auntie, this is the most beautiful dream I've ever had in my life."

"Dream……"

"Of course, to see mythological stories reenacted,"

"Auntie can tell you're something special, really special. Next time you come, come back here again!"

"certainly"

"You see, the total is 1200 yuan."

"what?"

"Is it expensive?"

"Auntie, it's not expensive,"

"Aunt"

"what's up?"

Do you have a shovel?

"what"

"Dig a hole,"

Are you going to kill someone?

"No."

"Then why dig a hole?"

"Filming buries the present moment"

"Child, what's wrong with you?"

"It's not about being crazy; the past must bury the present, and the future must redeem the present."

"Although I, as a young lady, served in the military, you young people are too avant-garde."

"Auntie's shovel"

The old man gave them a shovel as a gift from the aunt.

The auntie was undoubtedly a seasoned psychologist, adept at understanding people's psychology. The more the young people listened to her polite words, the more confused they became, and the price wasn't reduced at all. The auntie's smile revealed her to be a veteran of the peasantry and labor, a woman who, despite the passage of time, had managed to create a tranquil haven in the mountains. Indeed, she slept soundly. If it weren't for filming this nonsensical movie, she would have loved to stay here and breathe in the fresh country air. After resting and recuperating, her appetite returned; she drank some thin porridge, munched on some pickled vegetables, and had a tea egg—a genuine free-range egg from a green hen. Old Gou seemed to have never eaten eggs before. He stuffed two more into his pocket, and the couple from the "free-range family" followed suit, stuffing their pockets with tea eggs as if they'd never eaten eggs before.

"Dinner is ready,"

Old Gou even thought about it that night.

"You old man, how can you be so shameless at your age?"

"That old hag of a boss is really ruthless, so..."

"So what? Don't try to take advantage of older women, or you might not be able to get down the mountain."

"Really? She didn't see it, did she?"

"Who knows? Anyway, Lao Gou, we're a team, we can't be greedy for small gains,"

"Yes, yes, then I..."

"No need, just be careful."

They don't usually eat much, but they all have a huge appetite when they're in the mountains.

"Eat as much as you want, and take this bowl of tea eggs with you on your journey."

"Auntie, that won't do,"

"What do you mean 'okay'? We'll come back again next time."

"Okay, okay, Auntie, thank you so much."

"By the way, Auntie asked if your pretty fellow villager has a boyfriend? If not..."

"do not know"

"Young lady, it seems we have a connection. Could you leave your phone number or add me on WeChat?"

"Okay, Auntie."

"Another girl added to the list. I like girls like you. It's okay, come here."

"Don't forget the shovel, Fatty."

"I'm holding it; it's a gift from my aunt."

After descending the mountain, they got into the car at the crossroads and continued downhill, stopping frequently. Writer Tong and Wanwan searched for the most suitable spot deep in the dense forest beside the road. What were they doing? Digging up and burying Old Gou's present and future shadows. It was truly cruel; when people get old, they hate both the past and the present, and the future. Old age brings loneliness and isolation—a common fate for humanity. Writer Tong, a perfectionist, was impressed. Director Wanwan shook his head.

"How's Writer Tong doing?"

"I looked at several locations, but I wasn't satisfied with any of them; the photos didn't turn out well."

"How about we find a place with water, a big river?"

"Yes, I don't see any big river here,"

"There is a river at the foot of the mountain,"

"Yes, where there is a big river, there must be a beach. It's easy to dig a hole on the beach."

"Damn, it turns out it wasn't that there wasn't a place to dig on the mountain, it was that there was no way to dig a hole."

"Wanwan and I dug for a long time, but all we found were rocks and tree roots. We couldn't dig at all. Even if we dug until tomorrow, we still wouldn't be able to dig a hole big enough to bury a person."

"This is hilarious, it's almost a comedy! Old Gou, you old bones, even God won't let you die!"

"My death is contingent on you dying first, isn't it? For your safety."

"Old Gou is getting into character,"

"This is a good parking spot,"

"I've taken a liking to the feng shui here."

"Writer Tong, do you see if there's a good spot on this cliff?"

"Brother, Wanwan and I went downstairs. Here's the shovel."

"Fatty, give the shovel to the great writer, everyone else rest,"

There were wooden stakes by the roadside. The driver was quite agile; he quickly climbed onto one, squatted in a horse stance, clasped his hands together, and said, "Amitabha."

"Can that fat guy even go up there? He looks like a Maitreya Buddha."

Not wanting to lose to the agile driver, a man in his fifties who climbed like a young Shaolin monk for half a day, panting heavily, they could see the winding mountain road from the top. Besides Lao Gou, there were also child stars; basically all the men had climbed onto the wooden stakes, hands clasped together.

"Amitabha! An Arhat is alive!" they shouted in unison.

"Get into position, everyone. I'm going to take a picture of you all in a squatting posture."

The child star and his family also gathered around, looking at the photos of the monks squatting on wooden stakes, and the makeup artist standing on a rock. Below was a steep slope, but it was covered with lush trees and wild grass. The girl's long hair fluttered in the wind; she smiled, moved by these energetic older men. Age was no obstacle. She jumped off the stakes and followed the experienced driver up the mountain, using the momentum to propel herself up the steep slope.

"Don't try to show off, fat guy. You're making a fool of yourself. He's over 50 years old."

"Am I not going to charge forward?"

"Be careful"

The experienced driver grabbed her hand.

"That was close."

"You don't exercise regularly, right?"

"Yes, you're really something, not even out of breath. I'm completely impressed."

"Where? I love sports, let's eat my lamb skewers together then,"

"That's great, plus a few draft beers, it'll make me a little tipsy,"

"Brother, that won't do,"

"Why not?"

"We can't dig it up."

"Then hurry down the mountain, or we won't have enough time. Everyone get in the car."

Old Gou and the child star looked smug; making movies wasn't really making movies, it was practically a free trip—earning 800 or 3000 yuan so easily. The makeup artist was wiping the male lead's sweat in the car, not to flirt, but to do his makeup and get him looking his best.

"I want to do their makeup too."

The car stopped, and Lao Gou and the child star got out. The makeup artist went over to do their makeup.

Is it okay?

"okay"

"Hurry up and get in the car, we're in a rush. Have you imported all the data from the Memory Stick into the Apple?"

"Don't worry, all of them have been imported as dual backups."

"I'd like to add some content,"

"What writer Tong? That won't do,"

"Then, we'll have to use that gun."

"No way, it'll take forever to finish filming, the budget is way too high."

"We'll discuss it later,"

"Quickly find the Great River!"

"It's almost like Brad Pitt's Riverdance."

"We're still missing fishhooks,"

"Why don't we just go fishing by the pond?"

"The river, the river below the highway,"

"This is fucking bizarre! How come we didn't see this river when we went up the mountain?"

Not for love, nor for a girl's love, how many people in this world, weary of life, want to kill themselves, starting with a breakup?

"Let's get back together," Su Meimei texted.

"Let's get back together!"

"How can we allow resurrection? If we reunite, there will be no more ghost stories,"

"You were spying on my WeChat."

"It wasn't peeking; the phone screen is so big, and this WeChat message is really meaningful."

"That's absolutely unacceptable; what's done is done. She even got a boyfriend after the breakup."

"That proves I have a better feeling for him."

The makeup artist blushed, forgetting that there was another girl in the car.

"What's wrong? Makeup artist, could you give me some advice? Should we get back together or break up?"

"Well? I don't know, I have no experience in this area,"

"Writer Tong, do you want to lose your job?"

"No, no, I just think the story is more dramatic."

"In such excitement, the trigger was pulled," raising the Mauser rifle.

"The plot hasn't reached the point set in the script yet,"

"Unfortunately, this is a toy replica gun,"

"Old Gou is going to shoot himself now."

"Was it recorded by the camera?"

"The cameraman was in the van,"

"That was the best performance of my true self."

"Dude, you're spot on. In the end, women still think you're the best."

"They thought I was great, but we broke up. What am I supposed to do? I've only just started to get back on track after two weeks, and I don't want to fall in love again. Women all think I'm insecure."

"A man who can't get married,"

"That's right, I'm a man who can't get married."

Marriage was something he had considered, but a woman's intuition could see right through him; he was a man who didn't want to get married at all, seemingly unwilling to marry. Talking about love is considered frivolous, yet women are naturally drawn to men who don't want to get married, to the idea of ​​falling in love with such men. It's a final act of debauchery and madness before marriage; men want girls to experience love and romance, and girls want a wild, fulfilling experience. Otherwise, the experience of love is incomplete. He was a bit like the Cowherd. Women aren't like the Weaver Girl; that's a mythical tale. Standing on the riverbank, a strange thought suddenly occurred to him…

"Long live marriage! Hands up!" The experienced driver raised his hand and plunged into the river with a splash, getting completely soaked in the clear water with soft sand at the bottom.

"The fat guy is going to take a bath,"

"I must say, bathing here is actually quite nice, and there are even little fish,"

"He's desperate for attention, he's gone mad. Now he has an excuse to strip naked. You better not do anything reckless, or that guy will get jealous, and our movie will be ruined."

"What a lewd thought, look."

The fat man was wearing shorts underneath; I thought he was going to take his clothes off.

"Misunderstand,"

"Of course it's a misunderstanding,"

The sun was strong enough that it would dry quickly. Luckily, I was wearing sandals; sandals are the most breathable option in this heat. Writer Tong, finding a spot among the dense reeds on the riverbank, seemed to have discovered the perfect feng shui location for digging a hole and began digging vigorously.