When the light kiss cracks
She struggled to raise her hand, gritting her teeth. Every movement seemed to require all her strength. When she picked up the pen, fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
The veins on the back of her pale hand bulged as she struggled to put pen to paper.
His wrist trembled uncontrollably, and the pen tip barely touched the paper before it drew a crooked, uneven line of ink.
Each time he wrote a character, he had to hold his breath and move his arm slowly along the table, even writing simple horizontal strokes in a broken and intermittent manner.
As she wrote, fine beads of sweat began to trickle down her forehead. Qiao An stopped, looked down at the crooked handwriting on the paper, took a breath, bit her lip, and then aimed her trembling pen at the paper again.
......
The letter was carefully placed into the envelope by the youngest sister.
Qiao An pointed to the top drawer of the bedside table, and Yao Mei opened it with red eyes. Inside was an iron box.
The long cookie box had some dents on the surface, but it was spotless after being wiped clean.
Despite the pain coursing through her body, Qiao An pursed her purplish lips and nodded.
The younger sister approached, carrying the box, and opened it.
Inside is their past.
Lu Yu's handwritten sheet music, every note, every lyric, is filled with his longing for her.
The familiar words reappeared before her eyes, and Qiao An's vision blurred. Hot tears flowed uncontrollably, wetting the sheet music and leaving blotches of water on the elegant handwriting.
With trembling lips, she uttered the word "fire." The youngest sister paused slightly, but still went to fetch the brazier.
The tears in his eyes had long since dried up, leaving only his scarlet eyes reflecting a cluster of flames.
She clutched the stack of sheet music tightly and approached the brazier with trembling hands.
At first, smoke appeared, but gradually the flames grew larger and larger. Joan seemed oblivious to the heat of the fire, still clutching the half-burnt sheet music tightly.
Seeing that the fire was about to scorch her hands, the youngest sister reached out and took the sheet music without hesitation, throwing it into the fire.
As the flames blazed high in the sky, a stack of sheet music gradually curled up, its edges turning black.
The hand hadn't been pulled back yet; the fingertips were still clenched tightly, and even the breath trembled.
Until everything turned to ashes, black smoke mixed with paper ash drifted into my eyes, and tears streamed down my face again.
The embers in the brazier were slowly dying out, and at that moment, the light in Joan's eyes also went out.
She leaned back weakly, her lips twitching slightly. Weakness and exhaustion enveloped her like a large net, covering her entire body.
The younger sister helped her out of the room with difficulty and sat on a rattan chair in the courtyard.
Qiao An could vaguely feel a warm hand covering her cold hand, with a familiar temperature, but this warmth seemed to be fleeting, drifting away little by little along her fingertips.
The rise and fall of my chest became shallower and shallower, and each breath felt like it was being torn apart.
In a daze, I seemed to see a scene from the past, the two of us as teenagers, walking further and further apart outside the school gate, wanting to reach out, but having no strength at all.
I had no strength to hold on, and could only let my consciousness sink little by little...
......
Joan's death.
Qiao Yu's new life.
"Cut..." Director Yu called for a stop.
Amidst everyone's expectant gazes, Director Yu said, "Congratulations, Teacher Qiao, on wrapping up filming."
"Wow... filming's wrapped up! Filming's wrapped up!" A staff member presented Qiao Yu with a bouquet of flowers.
Qiao Yu smiled and thanked her.
Yu Kui stood up from behind the camera: "Teacher Qiao, are you going to stay here after filming wraps up?"
Everyone knew the truth about the two months of filming.
Qiao Yu: "Can I stay?"
Yu Kui pondered for a few seconds: "Okay, but you can only come out after he finishes filming."
"......"
The next day, Ling Chuan had just returned to the film crew when Director Yu called him to prepare.
Qiao Yu and her group were moved to a different hotel. Without Director Yu's permission, no one in the crew dared to tell her where Qiao Yu had gone, and even Qiao Yu herself could only stay silently in her room.
The crew has everything ready.
Ling Chuan was also pulled in front of the camera by Director Yu to watch the footage of Qiao Yu before she finished filming.
Yu Kui glanced at his tightly furrowed brows: "What's wrong, are you feeling sorry for him?"
Ling Chuan's lips twitched slightly: "No, she's an actress."
Have you thought about how you're going to act?
Ling Chuan paused for a second, then nodded.
Yu Kui turned off the machine and nodded to the assistant director.
Ling Chuan also started walking towards the filming location, but was stopped by the director. Yu Kui stepped forward and walked up to him.
"If you go abroad for five years and come back to find that scene, what will you do?"
After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and pointed behind Ling Chuan.
Ling Chuan frowned and turned around. Yao Mei turned around with both hands holding a photo frame, which contained a black and white photo of Qiao Yu.
His expression immediately changed, and he froze on the spot, his hands hanging at his sides trembling involuntarily.
“Ready to begin…” Yu Kui knew that he was in the zone.
As evening fell, the setting sun slanted across the sky.
Lu Yu went straight to the school after getting off the bus.
The school was quiet except for the whistling wind and the banging of the iron gate.
He turned and headed towards the Qiao family's house, but the gate was locked and no one answered.
He sat forlornly on the steps outside the door, his heart pounding.
As a figure approached, she tilted her head and asked, "Are you Lu Yu?"
He looked up and nodded, "Who are you?"
"I am An'an's friend."
"Where is she?" Lu Yu hurriedly stood up and asked her.
Despite the stinging in her nose, Yaomei rummaged through her bag and found the key to Qiao Yu's house, unlocking the wooden door.
With a creak, the youngest sister lowered her eyelashes and said, "She...is inside."
The early winter wind, carrying a chill, crept into Lu Yu's collar, making her feel cold all over and her legs tremble slightly as she followed her younger sister into the dimly lit room.
The younger sister led him to Qiao An's bedroom.
The dim light flickered and then shone again with a tearing motion.
On the desk, in a frame, is a black and white photograph of the most familiar face.
His breathing suddenly stopped.
His fingers suddenly loosened, and the bag fell to the ground with a "thud," splashing up the black ash from the fire pit.
She was still smiling in the photo, her eyes crinkling, but that familiar vibrancy was suppressed by the black and white, losing its life.
Lu Yu stared intently at that frozen smile, her throat feeling like it was blocked, and even breathing hurt.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out; his ears were ringing.
"An'an left ten days ago. She passed away peacefully. This is... what she left for you." Her voice was very soft, but it sounded like needles pricking Lu Yu's ears, making his scalp tingle.
Finally, a broken "Impossible" was squeezed out of his throat, his voice hoarse as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper.
The younger sister handed the tin box to Lu Yu. He wanted to take it, but his hands trembled violently.
"You stay with her for a while, I'll go out now..."
Lu Yu sat at his desk, his hands trembling as he opened the tin box, inside which was only a letter.
The letter was wrapped in crepe paper with a few crooked words written on it.
Lu Yuqi
The fingers gripping the envelope tightened suddenly, the soft edges of the paper digging painfully into the palm.
He slowly unfolded.
Her once delicate handwriting is now somewhat distorted, but you can see that she put all her strength into writing each stroke, and the characters are deeply imprinted.
"Lu Yu, I have no regrets about meeting you that summer. I'm sorry, I can't hold on any longer. Thank you, my light. I will become a shattered star in the sky and spend the rest of my life illuminating you."
The room was so quiet that even the faintest breathing sounds were barely audible.
He repeatedly stroked the cold photo frame with his fingertips, then pressed the photo against his chest, the lingering scent of her seeming to dissipate little by little.
The darkness swallowed the winter night in the countryside, the barking of dogs drifted into the distance, and the wind, carrying a chill, crept through the cracks in the door.
Under the cool moonlight, the rattan chair beside Lu Yu was empty.
A lonely figure sat on a wicker chair, slightly hunched over, his shoulders trembling with each sob, suppressed cries leaking from between his knees, mingling with the sound of the wind.
As my fingertip brushed against the frayed edge of the letter, a single tear fell, spreading out in patches of dampness...
......
Qiao Yu stood next to Director Yu and cried for three minutes while looking at Ling Chuan.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes...
Director Yu didn't call "cut" at all.
"Go, he needs you right now."
Qiao Yu, dressed in her own casual clothes, walked into the filming location.
A familiar figure stood before him. Ling Chuan, still choking back tears, slowly raised his eyes. A black and white photo flashed through his mind for a moment, then switched back to the image of her standing realistically in front of him.
With red eyes, he reached out and hugged her, burying his face in her chest.
Qiao Yu raised her hand and hugged Ling Chuanye's head, gently patting his back as if comforting a wronged child.
He held her waist tightly, buried his head in her arms, and the sobbing finally subsided.
She said, "I've come to pick you up..."
He said, "Fortunately, I managed to hold onto that summer."
"What Qiao An and Lu Yu missed, we'll make up for. We'll have countless summers to come..."
Ling Chuan's body stiffened, and he suddenly looked up. The last tear slid down from the corner of his eye, reflecting Qiao Yu's drooping, curved eyebrows.
"Qiaoqiao, you... can hear me."
The familiar voice seemed to flow into her ears like a warm current, and Qiao Yu nodded and smiled.
She lowered her eyes, her gaze reflecting Ling Chuanye's tear-streaked face. "Ling Chuanye, I can hear you again."
Ling Chuan's expression changed from shock to joy. He stood up abruptly and pulled the person into his arms again. The worry and fear that had been bottled up in his heart these past few days poured out again as tears.
Qiao Yu smiled, pursing her lips, and gently patted his back. "Ling Chuanye, thank you."
He was there for her during her most vulnerable moments, that summer, and this summer as well.
Qiao Yu is much luckier than Qiao An.
The person in front of her remained unmoved, holding her tightly. Qiao Yu chuckled, "Alright, Ling Chuan, stop crying. Everyone's watching."
The director still didn't call "cut," and everyone remained at their posts watching Ling Chuan cry scene after scene.
Some couldn't help but turn their faces away and laugh.
Director Yu raised his hand to half-cover his lips and smiled, his body trembling slightly.
"I wasn't crying, I was excited."
"Alright, alright, the actor's image is about to collapse, let's put it on hold."
"It would have collapsed long ago with you..."
Qiao Yu chuckled, and Ling Chuan then released her.
His reddened eyes were fixed on the person in front of him, ignoring everyone around him, and he said lazily, "Who cares about them?"
After saying that, he cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her with an irresistible force.
Qiao Yu was startled, her eyes widened, and she pushed Ling Chuan away.
"Hmm...Lingchuan also...has someone..."
Cheers erupted all around.
"oh......"
"Wow......"
The audience erupted in gasps of admiration.
The kiss was light and urgent, and after a long while, Ling Chuan finally released it, a slight smile playing on his lips. In front of everyone, he waved his hand, "Don't make a fuss, the director hasn't yelled 'cut' yet, let's continue..."
Everyone: "......"
Qiao Yu: "..."
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