Chapter 21 Movie

"I really like the bird in the mural. Sometimes I think humans are like the bird, with two heads, one to observe reality and the other to create art..."

Having written this, Hang Liumei's head was stuck. She was obviously a painter, so why was she always asked to write articles? Even this Biennale required her to submit an exhibition preface.

She and Sister Xiuchun are like two birds with one stone, sharing the same fate. They live and eat together in Dunhuang, but their minds are completely different. Sister Xiuchun has aged, too. She used to be so energetic when she just glared! But her temper hasn't changed at all. Today, she dared to criticize Xiaozhu to his face. But Xiaozhu is indeed a bit mean-spirited...

Hang Liumei was just dropping anchor when Xiaomai gently pushed the door open and came in: "Grandma, are you busy?"

Hang Liumei gathered up the draft paper in front of her and waved it in front of her grandson: "I'm doing homework for the exhibition, or you can help me write it?"

"I can't do this. You can ask Sister Zhihe."

"Hey, you're right!" Hang Liumei took off her reading glasses, stood up from the stool, and took two steps out with a little excitement.

Xiaomai held her back: "Are you serious? I thought we were just joking!"

"Let's write tomorrow, I don't have any inspiration today." Hang Liumei leaned back on the stool, tossed the manuscript aside, and took a sip from the wood-fired cup. Seeing Xiaomai sitting there scrolling through his phone, she patted his leg and asked, "What's wrong? I can tell from your expression that something's wrong."

Xiaomai had just been looking through his chat history with his dad. He'd asked his dad if his grandmother had gone camping with him that day, and his dad had only replied this morning, looking quite anxious. Upon hearing that she'd been found, his dad comforted Xiaomai, saying, "You should spend some time with your grandmother. When I get back, I'll take you to the hot springs in Lintong."

Xiaomai put down her phone and discussed with Hang Liumei: "Grandma, can we make some rules? Don't do this again in the future. If you have any important matters, tell me first, okay? We even went to Grandpa's cemetery to look for you this time."

Hang Liumei felt a little sad when her grandson said that. She had been feeling dizzy and excited lately, like she was drunk, and she had neglected her sensible grandson. In fact, she realized that she must have worried Xiaomai, but she didn't think Xiaomai would tell her. He came to her like this today, and she felt even more sorry for him.

Hang Liumei held up three fingers and said, "Grandma, I swear to you right now. I promise to send my location information anytime and anywhere, report when I go out and come home, and I will absolutely listen to your lecture today. I'll also promise you the same thing when I go to your grandfather. Okay?"

Xiaomai nodded. Hang Liumei reached out and stroked his hair vigorously, like petting a dog. She hugged his shoulders and patted him gently, just like when she was a child, and sighed, "Oh, you were just a little over five pounds when you were born, and now you're so big, capable, and care about grandma. Grandma is old, confused and naughty, isn't she?"

Xiaomai hugged her grandmother's waist. Compared to him, she seemed to have shrunk into a child. He grew up little by little, while her grandmother became smaller and smaller. Her hands patted him again and again. When he was a child, every hot summer, her grandmother would fan him with a palm-leaf fan to coax him to sleep.

I remember one year when mosquitoes were especially numerous. Xiaomai was woken in the middle of the night by a buzzing sound in his ears, and his grandmother, who was beside him, came to help him swat them. Unable to find a fan, she waved the pillowcase under her head in the air, accidentally hitting Xiaomai in the face. The swat woke Xiaomai up, and the two of them simply turned on the lights and swatted mosquitoes all night. Back then, even mosquitoes he couldn't reach, his grandmother could just stand up and swat them. Thinking of this, Xiaomai's eyes reddened.

There was a "click" sound outside. Hang Liumei let go of Xiaomai and said, "Is Zhihe in the living room? Come on, let's go out and take a look. Don't leave her alone there." After saying that, she let go of Xiaomai and walked out of the bedroom. Xiaomai stood up, wiped her eyes, and followed behind.

In the living room, Pu Zhihe had just opened the window and leaned out halfway. Seeing Hang Liumei and Xiaomai coming out, she pointed to the central square of the garden and said, "There's an open-air movie tonight. Let's go down and watch it."

Hang Liumei and Xiaomai both agreed and turned around to look for a palm-leaf fan, a folding chair, and some toilet water.

Actually, Pu Zhihe had been painting since returning home today. Hang Liumei had been giving her extra lessons lately, so whenever she had a free moment, she'd throw herself at paper, brushes, and paints. After their unpleasant departure from the convention center, Zhu Fu hadn't contacted her again. Instead, it was her parents who called.

As expected, Zhu Fu lied and said that he and Pu Zhihe had discussed it and asked them to go directly to the restaurant.

It was his own decision again, and the slight guilt Pu Zhihe felt for offending Zhu Fu today disappeared.

Master Pu and Director Ou weren't angry. No one knows a daughter better than her mother. They knew something was amiss from their daughter's behavior at the dinner table today, and they'd called to ask what was going on. Marriage is inherently troublesome, but seeing the other woman's parents today seemed quite nice, it reassured them. They advised her not to get upset over the minor details Zhu Fu had concealed.

Master Pu thought that was enough, but the mother still grabbed the phone to give her daughter a few more words of advice: "People should do what they should do at their age, even great artists are no exception. Look, your teacher Hang Liumei is married and has children. You say we are traditional, but you are being yourself, and we are also being ourselves. This is how our generation has come through. You may not find another partner who is better than him. I know you will definitely argue with him when you go back today, so please don't be like this. Xiao Zhu is so proactive in this matter, it means he values you. There are so many men out there who just drag a woman to a certain age without any interest, and ultimately do not get married."

"But, marriage is for happiness. Sometimes it's just an impulse, and once the impulse is over, you really can't get married. Anyway, this is what your father and I mean. If you really don't feel that you love this person enough and don't want to marry this person, don't make do for us. Okay, I know you're busy at someone's house and it's not convenient for you to talk much, so go ahead and do your work. If Xiao Zhu comes to you, talk to him/her nicely and don't make things awkward. Is that okay?"

After hanging up the phone, Pu Zhihe was thankful she hadn't lost her temper at the dinner table. She was touched by her parents' words. After finishing her work here, she really needed to think carefully about how to get her family to accept her breakup with Zhu Fu. Zhu Fu's time was running out, and his stubbornness and ego were increasingly irritating her. Two forces twisted into a rope around her neck, constricting her chest.

So she went to the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room to get some fresh air. There was light in the center of the yard. She didn't expect that the community would start showing movies before midsummer.

Deciding to go downstairs to watch a movie, Hang Liumei changed into a tea dress and paired it with a straw basket bag. Xiaomai wanted to help her carry it, but she refused: "This outfit is my style. If you take the bag away, it will ruin my lazy feeling."

However, just after getting off the elevator, there were marks on Hang Liumei's arm. Xiaomai took it and saw that it was full of snacks: rice crackers, Sprite, shrimp crackers, potato chips, and several bottles of soda.

"Grandma, why did you bring so much food? The kids downstairs don't have as much as you do. Didn't you have enough for dinner? Wait, why is there a scented candle?"

Hang Liumei tore open an ice cream cone and retorted to her grandson, "We're just going there for the atmosphere. Even drinking requires snacks. What's the point of just sitting there and watching? You two should eat the ice cream first, it melts so fast."

"Be careful of stomachaches if you eat so much ice." Xiaomai carried the bag in one hand and held the popsicle in the other, and she was helpless to do anything about her grandmother.

"Oh," Hang Liumei squinted her eyes and looked up at Xiaomai, "Why are you nagging? You're so young and shouldn't be so serious. You can just relax a little when you're out having fun, right Zhihe?"

Today's screening was the old American film "The Bodyguard." The sky wasn't completely dark yet, with hazy clouds visible. The garden lights made the large screen appear less obtrusive. The speakers were blaring loudly, drowning out the chatter of the crowd and the children playing and chasing each other.

They found an empty staircase just outside the crowd and sat down. Hang Liumei lit a scented candle and intermittently fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan. The night breeze was cool, and the fan was mainly used to scare away small flies. She put on her reading glasses and glanced at the subtitles. "Today's movie is such a romantic one! The first time I saw it was with your grandfather. This movie is probably older than Zhihe. How beautiful it would be to watch Whitney Houston!"

The three of them opened their sodas, fine bubbles emerged from the glass bottles, and they clinked glasses and chatted, but the topic had nothing to do with the movie.

"Zhihe, are you and Xiaozhu okay?"

"It's okay, Grandma Hang, don't worry. It's just a minor quarrel. He didn't know about it today, and I'm sorry to bother you and Grandma Qi." Pu Zhihe rested her hands on her knees, her chin in her hand, to comfort her. Movies portray lingering love, as if two people together can overcome all difficulties, but in reality, all kinds of problems only arise after two people are together. Love doesn't collapse suddenly; it's eroded by trivial things.

Hang Liumei saw her expression and knew that this might not be the case, but it was not a good idea to ask further questions, so she turned to herself and said, "We? We've been fighting for most of our lives, and it won't be resolved in a short time."

Pu Zhihe and Xiaomai exchanged glances, while Hang Liumei lowered her head to sip her bubble soda. Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" played in the background. Hang Liumei hastily put down her bottle, saying she'd always loved it back then. It always lifted her spirits when she listened to it when she felt down.

"Yes, but this version is an adaptation. The original version has a country style and is also very nice." Pu Zhihe turned to introduce it to Hang Liumei.

"Really? You can sing, right?" Hang Liumei pulled Pu Zhihe's arm and showed off to Xiaomai, "You haven't heard Zhihe sing yet, right? Last time we went to the bar, she sang so beautifully! She made me want to sing, so I sang a song too. You said I haven't opened my voice in years——"

After she finished speaking, she noticed Xiaomai's look of surprise. He asked, "When did you go to the bar to sing?!"

"Oh, it's that time of the something-or-other time, Zhihe, why don't you sing the original version you mentioned to grandma?" Hang Liumei was shocked. How could she let the cat out of the bag when she was so happy?

Pu Zhihe didn't refuse and sang it for them both. The song was originally written by Dolly Parton, and Pu Zhihe had always loved her version, which was soft and delicate. Zhu Fu didn't like it, saying it was a good thing the arrangement had been made, otherwise the song would have been forgotten. Pu Zhihe didn't care; sometimes she would play it on repeat all day while she painted.

The song was quickly finished, but for some reason, Hang Liumei felt a little melancholy: "So this song was like this before. This one is also nice, Zhihe. But it feels so different, it makes my heart ache."

"Dolly's song was originally written for a friend, or rather, for an unrequited love."

"So it's written for a friend. That's right. There are so many songs about love, but so few about friendship." Hang Liumei muttered to herself, her eyes wandering as she looked ahead. After a few seconds, she seemed to come to her senses and thought of something: "Didn't you ask me what happened between me and Qi Xiuchun? Anyway, I can't concentrate on watching the movie today, so I might as well tell you a story."