With the release of the third trailer for "I, Nameless," the tense and exciting competition among films during the Spring Festival season has intensified even further. Among the many films, the sci-fi blockbuster "Star Ring" leads its competitors with an overwhelming number of screenings. In the past week, "Star Ring" has carried out a large-scale online and offline promotional campaign. However, even so, in the Spring Festival season, where the box office trend is unpredictable, no film is confident of having the last laugh.
While "I, Nameless" didn't have the same budget as "Star Ring," the presence of Li Xiang's name and the increasingly exciting trailers still left a deep impression on the audience.
Ji Yan's appearance in the film "I, Nameless" has also attracted a lot of attention.
Although he only appeared for a few dozen seconds in the trailer, his handsome young face and bright, resolute eyes shone so brightly that it was impossible to look away. At least in this role, the audience did not see any sense of incongruity. Ji Yan's performance did not seem immature. On the contrary, he blended into that era and became the embodiment of a patriotic and ambitious young man of that time.
As the tagline for the film "I, No Name" says, "No Name" can refer to one person or everyone.
...
It wasn't until that evening that Ji Yan finally popped up on Weibo, casually retweeting the latest post from the "I, Nameless" production team. He hadn't been checking Weibo at all lately, and if Ye Ying hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't even have known that "I, Nameless" was going to be released during the Spring Festival.
This was the first time Ji Yan had seen a scene of himself appearing in a movie.
His deepest memory of filmmaking is director Li Xiang's repeated "Let's do it again." He has lost count of how many times he has done it again. It feels like every time is a nightmare. Even though "I, Nameless" has been filmed for a long time, Ji Yan still feels a conditioned reflex of panic whenever he thinks of director Li Xiang's voice.
In his eyes, directors were clearly a group of non-human beings.
However, the quality of the trailer for "I, Nameless" was much better than Ji Yan had imagined. In just three short clips, the themes of peril, faith, and hope were clearly outlined. The grand theme was condensed into tiny details, yet its impact was not diminished in the slightest.
Ji Yan thought his performance would not be outstanding, after all, he had no acting experience before, and Director Li Xiang could find seven or eight flaws in a single scene. He even suspected that his scenes would be cut by Director Li Xiang.
However, in the trailer, he saw a scholarly yet hopeful He Tang, a resolute and pure He Tang... which even made him feel a sense of unfamiliarity for a moment, as if this role was not played by him, but by someone else.
—It was much better than he had imagined. In the gray background of the movie "I, Nameless", He Tang was truly a ray of light.
"Ji Yan is awesome!!"
"I will go to the cinema to see 'I, Nameless' this Spring Festival, after all, it is Ji Yan's first movie."
"I truly felt Ji Yan's handsomeness in this trailer. These are movie shots, and he not only held up well, but he also looked amazing on camera!"
"Ji Yan, please stop being so lazy and come out and do more business, okay?"
"Looking forward to 'I, Nameless'!"
...
On Lunar New Year's Eve, the Spring Festival film season officially kicked off. There were a total of 7 films with a budget of over 100 million yuan that were released on the same day as "I, Nameless". The film genres were diverse, and all kinds of audiences could find their favorite type. Of course, the increase in ticket prices was also quite considerable.
Ji Yan got out of bed lazily. He was considering whether to buy a ticket to see "I, Nameless" in the cinema. After hesitating for three minutes, laziness won out. He really didn't want to go to the crowded cinema during the Spring Festival. He would rather sleep at home than spend that time in the cinema.
Xie Mingxuan, Lu Wei, and Fang Yu all returned to their hometowns, leaving only Ji Yan in the apartment. Before going home, the three of them invited Ji Yan to spend the New Year together. They even tried to drag Ji Yan out of the apartment, but Ji Yan clung to the door tightly, demonstrating his similarity to monkeys.
Ji Yan lay in bed like a lazy bum, watching cartoons early in the morning and even munching on two packs of chicken feet and an ice cream—the ice cream was secretly kept in the refrigerator by Fang Yu. Not only did Ji Yan steal some, but he also provocatively sent Fang Yu a picture of the ice cream stick.
Fang Yu: "...Heh, shameless ice cream thief."
He bought it secretly, and if Ye Ying found out, she would definitely confiscate it. So Fang Yu has recently been considering the possibility of buying a refrigerator with a lock. In response, the other members of "Wing" said: "Sister Ying will take your whole refrigerator away."
Fang Yu imagined the scene, and yes, given Ye Ying's consistent style, she was indeed capable of doing such a thing.
The morning of New Year's Eve was very quiet. The apartment was empty, several shops on the nearby street were closed, and Ji Yan didn't receive many messages on his phone. Only the "Yi" group was still flooded with silly photos—Lu Wei and Fang Yu were showing off their modern floral cotton pants, paired with a pair of old cotton shoes, their hands tucked into their pockets, and the handsome idols instantly transformed into country bumpkins.
"This is fashion, you know?"
Ji Yan: "..."
He doesn't understand, but as long as they're happy, that's all that matters.
When he woke up, he received a phone call from Uncle Zhou at the Ji family's old house. Uncle Zhou asked him if he was going back home for the Chinese New Year this year. Ji Yan was unsure whether this was Uncle Zhou's own idea or Ji Wei's will, but it didn't affect Ji Yan's decision.
As soon as the afternoon ended, just as Ji Yan was agonizing over what to have for dinner, his phone suddenly rang. The caller's contact was saved as "Brother." Ji Yan instinctively reached to hang up, but then he remembered that he had blocked the numbers of Ji Wei, Ji Yushi, and Ji Xuekong. So, the caller could only be—
"Xiao Yan, Happy New Year." The male voice on the other end of the phone was still as gentle as ever. "...Am I bothering you by calling you at this time? My colleague showed me the news yesterday, saying that you and their family... don't get along very well."
Ji Qing is known for his gentle nature, whether he is teaching students or taking care of his younger brother. He practically raised Ji Yan single-handedly, which almost prevented him from starting his own family.
When Ji Yan was recognized and returned to the Ji family, Ji Qing was actually very reluctant to let him go. However, the Ji family was much better off than theirs. Considering Ji Yan's future, it was better for him to go back there. Besides, Ji Yan was their biological child, and it was neither reasonable nor moral for him to stay in their small county town.
Ji Qing never expected Ji Ruan to come back with him. Even though she was his younger brother, when he sent Ji Yan back to the Ji family, Ji Yan's brothers and Ji Ruan all left a deep impression on him. Ji Qing was just good-tempered, but he was not without self-respect. He couldn't remember the look in Ji Ruan's eyes at that time. The only thing he was sure of was that he wanted to forget it the moment he saw it.
Compared to the wealthy and powerful Ji family, he, a mere elementary school teacher, was indeed incompetent. All he knew was teaching, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would continue teaching for the rest of his life.
So later, Ji Qing suspected that Ji Yan might have suffered some grievances at the Ji family, which was why he took his anger out on him and complained that he was incompetent. Ji Qing knew very well that Ji Yan's true nature was not like that. After all, he was the younger brother he had raised since childhood. But because of this incident, Ji Qing thought about it seriously and finally decided to reduce his contact with Ji Yan.
He even deliberately didn't reply to the messages Ji Yan sent him.
Ji Qing only knew that Ji Yan had become a celebrity and he would watch shows featuring Ji Yan. However, he was busy with classes, serving as a homeroom teacher and a key teaching staff member, and his child was still young at home, so he didn't pay much attention to those things online. It was only after being reminded by a young colleague in the office that he found out.
He never imagined that the Ji family would treat Ji Yan like that.
Even someone as good-tempered as Ji Qing got angry when he saw what was posted online.
These are the ones that were posted online. What about the ones that weren't posted?
Ji Qing couldn't understand why the Ji family would insist on taking the child back if they didn't like him and couldn't treat him well.
He hesitated for several days before finally calling Ji Yan. It wasn't because of anything else that he hesitated; he was afraid of hearing Ji Yan say that he was incompetent again.
But on the phone, Ji Yan only said one sentence: "Brother, I'm spending the New Year here alone."
“Let’s go home.” Ji Qing didn’t hesitate at all. “Tickets are probably sold out now. I’ll drive here and bring your sister-in-law and your nephew.”
I'll drive back myself.
"With your driving skills, I don't trust you to drive alone. Send me an address, and I can get there tonight."
Ji Yan hung up the phone, but his nose couldn't help feeling a little sore. He didn't care what Ji Yushi and Ji Xuekong said, but when he heard Ji Qing's voice, he really wanted to cry.
He almost blurted out, "They all bully me," because in his memory, he used to tell Ji Qing all the time when he was a child that no matter what happened, it was always someone else who bullied him.
Ji Qing's name contains the character for "moon" and Ji Yan's name contains the character for "sun," so Ji Qing's personality is much more stable and gentle, while Ji Yan is carefree and has nothing to do with the word "gentle."
...
Ji Qing arrived much faster than Ji Yan had expected. After the doorbell rang in the evening, Ji Qing and her family of three appeared at the door of Ji Yan's apartment.
“There were few people on the road on New Year’s Eve. People were going home to A City for the New Year, but I was driving from my home to A City, and there was no traffic at all.” Ji Qing pointed to the chubby little boy standing curiously, “Your nephew, he just learned to talk and called me uncle.”
After waiting for a long time, the uncle didn't call out, so the chubby boy grinned and called out "Mom" to Ji Yan.
“He calls everyone ‘Mom.’ Even your sister-in-law’s phone case has a pig on it, and he calls her ‘Mom’ too.”
Ji Yan's sister-in-law has a similar personality to Ji Qing; she speaks gently and softly. Ji Qing had obviously rushed over at the last minute, but she didn't say a harsh word. She only reminded Ji Yan to pack his things quickly and leave now.
“You should have called us sooner. Your brother is stubborn. You could have just called me.”
Ji Yan didn't have anything to pack. He figured he'd get home quite late that night: "Did you miss the New Year's Eve dinner because of me?"
"Don't worry, Dun Dun's maternal grandparents are here. There will be food for him when he gets back."
The journey wasn't short, but fortunately, the traffic wasn't heavy, and there was almost no congestion on the highway. Ji Qing gripped the steering wheel, occasionally exchanging a few words with Ji Yan. The sky grew darker and darker, and the scenery along the way became less and less bustling, but Ji Yan felt a sense of peace.
He didn't mention much about how he was doing at the Ji family's house, and Ji Qing didn't ask any questions either. He just told him about what happened at home, which family's elders had passed away, and which of his classmates had saved someone while fishing. The chubby boy in the back seat stared at Ji Yan with curiosity the whole time, very curious about this strange uncle who had suddenly appeared.
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