Chapter 19

At the Haicheng International Convention Center, a cutting-edge technology seminar on the forefront of high energy density battery materials has just ended.

Zhou Ping'an, the closing speaker, spent 40 minutes articulating his Anping Lab's latest breakthrough in "molecular anchoring technology." Numerous academic and industrial leaders in the audience nodded in approval.

The question-and-answer session was incredibly lively, and Zhou Ping'an's answers were concise and to the point. When the moderator announced the seminar's end, he was quickly surrounded by several eager listeners. After a brief exchange, he politely but firmly excused himself, citing a tight schedule.

Walking out of the lecture hall and heading towards the elevator, he answered his buzzing mobile phone.

"Mr. Su." His voice still had a hint of competence after the seminar.

"Mr. Zhou, did the seminar go well?" Su Ying's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Yeah." Zhou Ping'an responded and stepped into the elevator. The signal was slightly interrupted.

Su Ying got to the point, speaking a little faster. "Well, I just heard that Miss Dai Xiaoyi will be scheduled for an important interview at the Fashion magazine charity dinner tonight, and she'll be getting a lot of exposure. You're scheduled to fly directly to Xiangbei after this afternoon, so I'd like to ask if you need to adjust your schedule so you can make an appearance at the dinner tonight?"

"No." His voice was steady, with almost no hesitation. "As planned, I'll go to Xiangbei."

"Okay, I understand." Su Ying's answer was not surprising at all, as if she had already expected this answer. "Then I'll notify Xiangbei to prepare to pick you up at the airport. I'll confirm the flight information with you again."

"Okay." Zhou Ping'an hung up the phone.

The elevator doors opened, and he walked toward the waiting car. His assistant stepped forward and said, "Mr. Zhou, if you're going to Pudong Airport, the time is perfect. The flight to Xiangbei is estimated to take one hour and forty minutes. Someone from the Xiangbei Cinema Project Department will be there to pick you up on time."

"Let's go." Zhou Ping'an sat in the car and relaxed. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and blocked out all the fatigue from the journey.

That episode about the dinner and the phone call with a certain name was like a speck of dust dropped into a deep pool. It sank silently to the bottom without even causing a visible ripple on the surface of his thoughts.

The rammed earth walls of Xiangbei Film City loomed large in the night, illuminated by moonlight and a few makeshift spotlights, casting shadows of varying depths. The air lingered with the scent of new wood and lime, and the occasional clatter of tools returning to their places could be heard in the distance, making it much quieter than during the day.

A black car pulled up at the construction site entrance, its lights off, blending into the night. Zhou Ping'an pushed the door open and got out. He wasn't wearing his old jacket today, but a dark coat. The fabric was crisp, but still without any conspicuous logos.

He stood by the car, his eyes scanning the dimly lit construction site, as if to confirm whether he had come to the right place. His arrival could not actually do anything, nor was he required to do anything.

He came here simply because he felt he should come - since Rongcheng had tacitly agreed to that statement, he couldn't let Liu Yifan run around alone.

This seems inappropriate, as if the woman is chasing the man, which really affects her personal image. It would be more appropriate for the man to play this role.

Liu Yifan had just returned from rehearsal for a night scene, casually wearing a thick coat over her costume. Her face still wore the weariness and coldness that belonged to Bao Si. The executive producer approached with a flashlight and whispered to her that Mr. Zhou had arrived.

She looked up and saw Zhou Ping'an standing alone at the edge of an unpaved field, his figure outlined by the light of an antique lantern not far away. He was looking up at a worker adjusting the lantern's angle high above. His stance was steady, like a quiet tree in the empty construction site at night.

At the moment Liu Yifan raised his eyes, Zhou Pingan seemed to sense something and turned his head as well. Their eyes met through the darkness of the night.

He looked at her, not immediately looking away. The flashlight's halo flickered across her face. The heaviness of her costume and the casual layering of her coat made her look like she'd just escaped from some ancient time and space, yet also carried a touch of the weariness of someone letting down their guard. Her face still held the lingering distance of a staged performance, her eyes tinged with the fatigue of rehearsal, but in the hazy light, these were softened, revealing a real quality different from the bright light of day, and even more different from the perfectly frozen image on the poster.

Zhou Ping'an's gaze lingered on her face for two or three seconds, a little longer than a normal social gaze, but not long enough to be offensive. There was no scrutiny or evaluation in that look, more like a quiet confirmation, confirming that the woman before him, emerging from the night and the play, with a complex aura, was indeed the Liu Yifan he knew, yet there seemed to be something different about her.

Then, as if completing this silent greeting, he nodded to her almost imperceptibly.

She walked over, the sound of her boots clacking on the soft earth absorbed by the night.

"Mr. Zhou." She stood beside him, her voice hoarse after the night show.

"Teacher Liu." He nodded as a greeting, then turned his gaze back to the lit lantern. "Are you rehearsing tonight too?"

"Look for a different light experience." Liu Yifan also looked up at the lantern. The warm yellow glow was particularly eye-catching in the night. "Why are you here at this time?"

"Things in Rongcheng just ended," he replied, his tone steady. The night made his voice sound deeper than it did during the day. He paused, as if weighing his words, and added, "On my way. Thought you might be there, I came to see you. It's not appropriate to have you running back and forth all the time by yourself."

This sentence is still said directly, but in the night, it lacks the clear boundaries of the day and has a more vague gentleness.

Liu Yifan hummed softly, not asking further questions. The construction site at night had a distinct quietness from the daytime, which accentuated the subtle tacit understanding.

"Would you like to go in and take a look? The frame of the main hall looks different when it's illuminated at night," she asked.

"Okay." Zhou Ping'an nodded.

The two walked side by side toward the palace area. The road under construction looked even more bumpy in the night. Liu Yifan held a flashlight, the beam swirling ahead, illuminating the potholes. Zhou Ping'an followed her half a step to the side, using the light to keep pace with her, without any unnecessary words.

Occasionally, a staff member, on night watch or working overtime, would pass by, their flashlight sweeping across them, nodding in greeting before quickly merging back into the darkness. The two of them walked through the dappled night like a moving silhouette.

Entering the main hall, the main lights were off. Only a few stage lights, tuned for nighttime performances, cast beams of light from different angles, creating areas of light and dark between the massive wooden structures. Dust drifted slowly through the beams. The sense of emptiness was amplified at night, and footsteps echoed.

"There," Liu Yifan pointed his flashlight at the platform at the end of the hall, the beam falling on the pile of logs, "that would be King You of Zhou's throne."

Zhou Pingan looked over. The base and wood looked even more primitive and rough under the light and shadow. He tried to imagine it, but the night blurred the details.

"Are you often here at night?" he asked.

"Yeah. I need to get used to different lighting conditions." Liu Yifan walked towards the platform, his flashlight shining across the cold copper pillars. "Especially the feeling of darkness."

Zhou Pingan followed, standing in the shadows below the stage, looking up at her. She stepped into a beam of sidelight, standing on the unfinished stage. Her costume shimmered in the light, and the darkness behind her swallowed up the intricate traces of construction, leaving only her and the light. Her figure exuded an oppressive sense of isolation from the world.

He looked at her and suddenly spoke, his question sounding particularly clear in the silent hall: "Do you feel lonely standing up there?"

Liu Yifan was slightly startled, and looked down at him in the shadows. Against the backlight, his face was unclear, only his outline and voice.

She was silent for a few seconds, the darkness around her seeming to amplify all her senses.

"Yes." Her voice echoed in the emptiness. "In darkness, space seems larger, and echoes are clearer. Standing alone in the light, surrounded by darkness, it's like... the only thing left in the world is this stage, and you on it."

Zhou Pingan listened quietly, then nodded without further questioning. He seemed to simply want to know how different it felt to stand there at night.

"This feeling of loneliness," he paused and asked in a different tone, "will it be more helpful for night scenes?"

"It's what Baosi needs," Liu Yifan corrected, stepping down from the platform and returning to the shadows before him. "The palace at night might be more real to her than during the day. The splendor is for others to see, the freezing cold is for herself."

Zhou Ping'an's gaze followed her. When he heard her words, his eyes seemed to move in the dark, but it was not clear.

"I see," he said.

...The two of them were silent for a moment. The only sound in the hall was the faint chirping of insects in the distance, muffled by the walls.

Zhou Ping'an seemed to have accomplished the main purpose of his trip. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his phone. The light from the screen reflected on his face, casting a somewhat cold light and shadow. He glanced at the time.

"It's getting late." He put the phone away, the screen light went out, and his face was once again shrouded in darkness. "Are you still going to rehearse?"

"It's almost time to go back." Liu Yifan said.

"Okay." Zhou Ping'an nodded, "Then I'll go first."

"Be careful on the road."

The two men walked out of the hall, one in front of the other. The construction site was even quieter at night, with only a few corners still lit. As they reached the open space outside the hall, they saw the executive producer, accompanied by a slightly plump, middle-aged man in a work jacket, hurriedly approaching. He was the project owner of the studio, whose surname was Wang.

"Mr. Zhou! Teacher Liu!" Boss Wang smiled warmly, his voice resonating particularly loudly in the quiet night. "I just heard you two are here. You're so busy worrying about our project so late at night! I just got back and brought some local specialties for a midnight snack. They're light and warming. Would you mind sharing some? It's in the project department cafeteria, everything is ready. It's a chance for us to express our gratitude!"

He was very humble and spoke sincerely and thoughtfully. When the crew was on someone else's land, this kind of personal interaction was inevitable.

Liu Yifan didn't answer immediately, but subconsciously glanced at Zhou Pingan. In this situation, his attitude was crucial.

Zhou Ping'an's face was expressionless, showing neither impatience at being interrupted nor any polite enthusiasm. He looked at Liu Yifan calmly, as if handing the decision to her, and asked in a calm tone, "Are you hungry? Do you need some energy after rehearsal?"

Liu Yifan instantly understood what he meant. She turned to Boss Wang and gave him a polite, slightly apologetic smile. "Boss Wang, you're so kind! We appreciate your kindness. However, I usually don't eat during evening rehearsals, as I'm afraid it might affect my performance. Thank you so much."

Zhou Ping'an then followed her words, nodded slightly to Boss Wang, and said concisely: "She needs to maintain her condition. I don't need it, thank you."

Boss Wang was a wise man and immediately said with a smile, "I understand! Teacher Liu is truly dedicated! Okay, I won't bother you two anymore. Mr. Zhou, Teacher Liu, be careful on the road. Feel free to call me if you need anything!"

He exchanged a few more pleasantries and then tactfully took his people away.

Zhou Pingan looked at Liu Yifan and said, "Then I'll go first."

"good."

He turned and walked towards the car parked not far away. His figure quickly blended into the night, leaving only the low sound of the engine starting as he gradually walked away.

Liu Yifan stood there, watching the taillights disappear around the corner of the construction site. The executive producer whispered, "Teacher Liu, should we... go back to our place?"

"Yeah," Liu Yifan replied, pulling her coat closer. The night air seemed to grow even cooler. This brief evening visit, somewhere between work and personal, ended, but an indescribable aura of politeness, distance, and a hint of unfinished conversation lingered in the air. She turned and headed towards the crew's accommodations.