Chapter 65: Overcooked Burgers. (Sun Ziyi's ending)
1
After 2022, the entertainment industry began to recover, and Sun Ziyi also felt that things seemed to be going smoothly for him suddenly after a certain point.
The project they'd discussed last time wasn't a complete waste; it finally landed. Because they'd been working on it for so long, she had a strong idea of the story in her mind, and she finished writing over a dozen episodes in less than six months. The market was also recovering, and everyone was vying to capitalize on the entertainment industry's reopening. The investors didn't delay, and filming began quickly. It was early winter when Sun Ziyi left the production. The crew was near Beijing, and the three of them had arranged to visit Zhangjiakou after she left.
When she came out of the crew hotel, carrying her luggage like a migrant worker, Shen Qingqing's car was already parked at the door. She had just divorced Wang Shu and looked much prettier, with a bun on her head, looking especially like a college girl. Sasa hadn't worked for a long time and was doing Pilates, looking very tall. Sun Ziyi sat in the passenger seat of Shen Qingqing's car, looking at the flesh on her chin in the mirror above her head.
"I was so anxious after joining the crew. It was the first time an actor knocked on my door and asked me, 'Teacher, can you add some lines for me?'"
"Has it been added?" Shen Qingqing asked.
"Of course not. I don't write water scenes and water lyrics, so how could I delete or modify them at will? He should actually go knock on the director's door." Sun Ziyi opened a bottle of Watsons soda water, took a big gulp and said.
"When are you and Xu Zecheng getting married? I'm going to Hangzhou. Can I attend the wedding before I leave? Will the wedding be held in Beijing or Tianjin?"
After saying this, Sasa almost choked Sun Ziyi.
"Speaking of this, I think I think love is too simple."
The car just drove to the toll station. Shen Qingqing's ETC card was broken, so she had to drive to the manual window to get the card manually. After she took it, she put it on the center console. Sun Ziyi was really excited this time. He picked up the card, pinched it between two fingers, and waved it around to start his speech.
"I only now understand that love, like a small highway, still requires diligent study to obtain a ticket. For an idiot like me, meeting Xu Zecheng was like a heaven-sent ticket, so I took the ETC. But in reality, ETC also requires a fee, it's just a matter of time. I didn't understand what everyone was talking about as a relationship routine before, because I thought that when people date, as long as they like each other, isn't that enough?"
"What kind of trouble did you encounter? I didn't hear you say it." Shen Qingqing said.
"I was busy writing the script recently, and now I have to discuss it with you guys," said Sun Ziyi.
After Sun Ziyi received her initial deposit, she bought Xu Zecheng a small cufflink. She'd hidden it, wanting to surprise him, and clipped it to his suit in his closet. That day, Xu Zecheng was about to meet someone, so he took out his suit, glanced at it, and then set it aside. He had so many clothes, he hadn't realized it was a new, gleaming cufflink without a scratch. Sun Ziyi hadn't expected it to be this way. She picked it up from the table, stared at it, and asked, "This cufflink..."
Xu Zecheng threw clothes onto the bed one by one, muttering to himself, "Maybe it was given in the SKP year-end gift box? I didn't notice it."
Sun Ziyi was a little stiff and said, "Actually, this is what I bought for you."
This time, Xu Zecheng didn't turn over the clothes. He turned his head, his eyes lit up, and said thank you, baby, while pressing the cufflinks onto his cuffs. After he put them on, he asked Sun Ziyi in a very mischievous way, "How is it? Does it look good?"
Sun Ziyi forced a smile and said it looked good.
This was just a small bomb in Sun Ziyi's mind. She didn't think it was a big deal. It was just a small smokescreen. The first time they had a fight was two months later. Xu's mother was coming to dinner. It happened to be Sun's mother's birthday. When Tianjin was having dinner, Sun Ziyi called home at the right time.
"Happy birthday, Mom! I missed you so much! I bought you a lot of hot pot base and sent it to your house!"
Xu Zecheng was cutting vegetables on the side and kept laughing as he listened to her talk. They were short of seasonings, so he opened the cupboard, which was full of various base ingredients bought by Sun Ziyi, for making soup and seasonings. She didn't like buying clothes, but she loved buying things for the house, filling up everything that could be stored. He reached into the cupboard to get the seasonings deeper inside, and while rummaging around, a bag of Spicy Prince fell on his head. He groaned, because he had always forbade Sun Ziyi to eat junk food.
In the living room, they were still chatting. "Thanks, honey. Dad went to the express delivery station at the market this morning to pick it up. Dad said that Lao Zhang from the stall next door was picking up a package from SF Express. Lao Zhang was picking up the crabs his son had shipped from Nanjing, and Dad was picking up the hot pot base you bought. The people at the express delivery station said they were so lucky," said Sun's mother on the other end of the phone.
"I am where I am today because my parents are kind to me and support me. Don't worry, I just made a little money this time. When I become rich in the future, I will use the spicy base from Qiaotou and Haorenjia to build a building for you, and we can sleep in it every day." After Sun Ziyi said this, the two people opposite him laughed.
Xu Zecheng listened to the laughter outside and went to the living room with the bag of Spicy Prince. He waved it in front of her, threatening her to report him to the parents. The words "You wash the dishes today" were typed on the phone screen.
Sun Ziyi stood up and turned the camera to Xu Zecheng. He shouted, "Mom, look at Xu Zecheng eating spicy noodles. Auntie will come to our house for dinner later. You guys testify for me that Xu Zecheng eats junk food. I will let Auntie scold him later."
Xu Zecheng quickly took the phone with the subtitles floating on it, took Sun Ziyi's phone, and said hello to the other party, "Auntie, she framed me. She bought all this. I don't eat spicy food."
The doorbell suddenly rang. Xu Zecheng smiled and went to open the door with his phone. As he walked to the door, he said, "It must be the seasoning I bought. My mother likes to eat fish."
Sun Ziyi sat on the sofa, opened the bag of Spicy Prince and started eating.
When Xu Zecheng opened the door, he found his own mother outside, holding the seasonings he had ordered. His smile froze, and he felt as embarrassed as if he had been discovered by his homeroom teacher. "Mom, why are you here so early?"
"I was afraid of traffic jams, so I asked the driver to leave early." Xu Ma said while taking off her shoes.
Sun Ziyi didn't know if she saw it wrongly. She seemed to see Xu Zecheng suddenly look at her nervously. She didn't understand what he meant. She just stretched out her hand and greeted Xu Ma. The hand she greeted was holding a spicy strip. "Auntie, I missed you so much."
Xu Ma glanced at the spicy noodles in Sun Ziyi's hand and said, "Those things are unhygienic. Yibao, eat less."
Sun Ziyi ate the whole thing and said, "It's not clean, but you won't get sick if you eat it. People can only become stronger when they fight against bacteria." This made Xu Ma laugh.
On Xu Zecheng's phone, Sun's mother yelled, "Let me see who's visiting my daughter's house."
When Xu Ma heard Sun Ma's voice, she laughed and snatched the phone from Xu Zecheng's hand. "You video chatted with your aunt without even telling me."
Finally, Xu Ma took the phone and several people moved to the dining room. The elders on both sides were still on the phone. Xu Zecheng served rice to everyone one by one, sprinkled the final seasoning, and then steamed the fish.
Xu Ma pinched a piece of edamame and chatted with the other end, "The economy has been bad in the past two years, and many of our dealers have quit."
"The best business in the market in the past two years is mobile phone repair. In the past, children would rush to buy mobile phones with their New Year's money, but now they just replace batteries and broken screens," said Sun's mother.
"Just hold on a little longer, everything will be fine. Speaking of which, I really like our Yiyi. She's cultured and talented, and it sounds great when people tell her about it. A few days ago, someone told me their daughter-in-law works at the Writers Association, and I thought, what's the big deal? My daughter-in-law writes movies and TV series!"
"I'm also writing novels!" Sun Ziyi quickly added.
Xu Zecheng brought a dish of braised pork with kelp, and Xu Ma moved it in front of Sun Ziyi.
"Don't you like this dish?"
"I don't eat kelp anymore," said Xu Ma.
Xu Zecheng said "oh" and said nothing, but took a few bowls to add more rice.
Xu Ma glanced at her phone and said, "Alright, enough talking. Let's have dinner. When are you guys going to come to Beijing to play? Tell me and I'll buy the tickets."
After hanging up the phone, she reached out with her chopsticks and scraped the oil from the bottom of the fish dish. "I'm old now, I can't eat anything too oily."
Xu Zecheng handed her his bowl of rice and said, "Use this bowl of rice to absorb the oil."
"When I saw it, I felt like there was a bowl of oil in my heart. It was uncomfortable to look at and I couldn't absorb it away," said Xu Ma.
Xu Zecheng's expression suddenly turned ugly. Sun Ziyi picked up half of the fish and put it in the bowl, saying, "I like this."
Halfway through their meal, Xu Ma suddenly pulled up a post on Xiaohongshu and showed them. "I've booked you with the best wedding emcee in Beijing, the one who used to host YS. You can get married next month. You can choose any hotel in Beijing. Your uncle wants to buy some trending topics to boost the family's profile. Isn't that all about livestreaming these days?"
Xu Zecheng was obviously dissatisfied. He opened his mouth but said nothing.
Sun Ziyi spoke first and said, "No, Auntie, I have to join the filming crew next month. This opportunity is very important to me."
Xu Ma frowned and said, "But it's hard to book an emcee. Marriage is a lifelong event."
Sun Ziyi put down his chopsticks, reached out his hand, shook Xu Ma's hand across from him, and said very seriously, "Auntie, I definitely can't be without a project. As for whether there is a MC for the wedding, I don't care.
3
Shen Qingqing was driving at full speed while listening to the story, otherwise she would definitely reach out and applaud Sun Ziyi. "If I had your ruthlessness, I wouldn't have to get a divorce. I would definitely make my mother-in-law obey me completely."
Sasa, who was browsing on her phone at the back table, was shocked. "Sun Ziyi, you're amazing! I didn't realize you were so amazing. You're penniless yet you're brave enough to say no to the tycoons. You're a modern-day Cinderella, Snow White, and an adventurous little person—Arrietty!"
"So what? I just want to live for myself. I just can't live without projects. Actually, I don't care whether I get married or not."
"Then what do you mean by that?" Sasa asked.
"Writing, being a screenwriter, being an author, I just need to keep running towards this path. Even if one day I can't do it anymore, I can wash dishes during the day and write novels at night, and I will be very happy."
Sasa said yes, you are awesome, everyone with a dream is great.
Back to the point of the meal, after finishing her meal, Xu Ma called the driver to pick her up and left not very happily. Sun Ziyi pretended not to understand that she was unhappy, and said with a smile that if she had nothing to do, she could come and eat again. She asked Xu Zecheng to learn a few more dishes.
After everyone left, Xu Zecheng lay on the bed playing with his mobile phone. Sun Ziyi came over, hugged him from behind, put her legs around his waist, and asked him if he was unhappy.
Xu Zecheng still pretended to be calm and said no.
"Really? Then why don't you play games when it's time to play games?"
"I don't want to play today." Then he continued to brush.
During those two days, she felt that Xu Zecheng was acting strangely. Sometimes, when she walked from the study to the living room with her cell phone to drink water, she would go back to the bedroom on purpose if Xu Zecheng was there. The two of them rarely communicated. She was busy revising the manuscript and always thought that she would ask him what was going on after she finished this time.
Almost two weeks later, she finally finished the final draft of the project. Yawning with greasy hair, she shouted, "I've finally finished it." Xu Zecheng knocked on the door and asked Sun Ziyi if she wanted to go for a stroll in Chaoyang Park. She took a shower, put on a white dress and sneakers, and prepared to go to Chaoyang Park. They lived in Lido, which was a bit far from Chaoyang Park. She thought Xu Zecheng would drive, but he didn't know where he took out a Phoenix bicycle with a large basket, which was very suitable for shopping. He said to Sun Ziyi, "I'll take you there." Sun Ziyi was actually very tired. She had just finished revising the manuscript and should have had a big meal and a good sleep. It was just because Xu Zecheng had been unhappy recently that she decided to accompany him to the park. Thinking of the wind and sun all the way, and still having to walk, Sun Ziyi wilted and said, "Let's drive." Xu Zecheng suddenly asked Sun Ziyi, "Do you drive well? I don't think I've ever sat in your passenger seat." Sun Ziyi said, actually it’s not good, but I’m thick-skinned and dare to drive. Whenever I find a place where I can’t park, I can immediately call a passerby to help me direct.
Xu Zecheng nodded, pushed his bicycle into the elevator, and said, "You can practice well, just drive carefully."
Sun Ziyi felt something was wrong. She felt Xu Zecheng was being very awkward today. For the past two years of their relationship, Xu Zecheng had always been an excellent "bottom-up" worker. When Sun Ziyi was exhausted from mental work, Xu Zecheng would always feed her and put her in bed. But today, it felt like they were going their separate ways. He was like a parent teaching their child to hunt before leaving...
She had no experience in visiting parks, so the two of them went hand in hand. As a result, Sun Ziyi's legs were covered with bites. She was too embarrassed to say she didn't want to go, so she shouted, "Xu Zecheng, what's wrong with you! Stop being so awkward."
Xu Zecheng came back to his senses and said, "Yiyi, do you understand my mother?"
"A strong woman, a strong, strong woman."
"Maybe even stronger than you think. In fact, you know, I dream of living in Tianjin, working a nine-to-five job, traveling around the country on weekends, playing Texas Hold'em, getting married and having a child. But my mother disagrees. She won't accept having a loser son."
"Isn't this a normal life? Why are you a wimp?"
"She is very ambitious and has her own rules. No matter how we want to change, she can always find the best solution. This is actually very helpless for us, because we find that no matter how we change, we have not escaped her control. In fact, one of the reasons why my father came to Beijing at that time was that he could not continue to do the same business with my mother, so he went out to do business alone. My mother immediately changed the rules and looked for the best solution when he came to Beijing, which was to send me to work in a state-owned enterprise and let me get a household registration. I worked in a state-owned enterprise for several years and earned 3,000 yuan a month. She felt that since this was the case, starting from my generation, our family should take root in Beijing and all future generations will be Beijingers. If we get married, she will buy a school district house in Haidian to provide our children with an excellent environment. Maybe she will send them to sports such as skiing or gymnastics, or change their status abroad and come back to take the entrance exams for Peking University or Tsinghua University."
"...Auntie, have you ever considered this far?"
"Your dream of becoming a famous screenwriter is just a dream at best. My mother's career plan can be summed up in one word: ambition."
Sun Ziyi felt an itch in his legs, so he bent down and patted his calf, killing a mosquito.
"I was so happy when I met you that day because it was the first day I resigned from the state-owned enterprise. Although I lost a lot of money to get a Beijing hukou, my father gave me a new car. Everything started anew. Later, I fell in love with you. I have been really happy these past two years."
"I didn't know you worked in a state-owned enterprise."
"The memories of my time at the state-owned enterprise are too heavy for me. We had no money, and I really wanted to break free from my mom's control and not ask her for money. My dad didn't dare give me much money either, so I lived a miserable life every month. Every time I bought a piece of clothing, I had to give it to my mom, and then she approved the money for me to buy it. So, Yiyi, actually, most of the clothes in our closet are fake. I used super-A-grade clothes and had them washed by my mom. Do you understand? I don't want you to see this dark side of me."
Sun Ziyi suddenly stopped and turned to look at Xu Zecheng. Xu Zecheng also turned around, and they looked at each other face to face. She reached out and patted Xu Zecheng's shoulder. "I thought your life was smooth sailing, but I didn't expect you to have experienced this..."
Xu Zecheng suddenly pulled out some Fengyoujing (a kind of medicinal oil) from his pocket, squatted down, and massaged Sun Ziyi's calves and ankles. He suddenly asked, "Can you accept my mother's strong desire for control? She said she's getting married next month. Can we really change this?"
Sun Ziyi could only see the top of his head and didn't know what to say in response.
Then he stood up, took out his phone, and showed Sun Ziyi his chat history. On it was a message her mother had sent three days ago, which read, "The emcee has been booked, persuade her to get married, and the crew has asked for leave."
"Why did your mother choose a daughter-in-law like me?"
"She's not picky about your conditions because she's not satisfied with me, and she doesn't think any second-generation rich man is reliable. You know her background well, and if you marry into her family, you can help her raise her grandchildren. The most important thing is that she really likes you because she thinks you're like her when you move forward. This means that if you marry into her family, her expectations of you might be the same as hers..."
Sun Ziyi suddenly didn't know what to say. Her calves felt cold like wind oil, so cold that she didn't know what to say.
Sasa was so absorbed in listening that she didn't lie down in the back seat this time. Instead, she leaned over to Sun Ziyi and asked, "And then..."
Sun Ziyi said, "Then he disappeared for three months."
Shen Qingqing quickly asked, "Three months? You two haven't said a word in three months?"
"He disappeared from my side. We replied to each other on WeChat every day, but we saw each other less often. He no longer lived at home, but he paid the quarterly rent at the beginning of last month."
Sasa said it was strange...
Chen Qingqing was very calm. "Actually, there's nothing strange about it. Xiao Cheng just hasn't made up his mind yet because he hasn't found his own axis. He's afraid that it will be difficult to leave home and that he won't be able to give you a good life. But if he doesn't leave and you two get married, their family will become two from one caged bird. And Sun Ziyi, you have to play the role of the perfect daughter-in-law and serve as a valuable facade."
"Mamma mia, I really don't want to play the perfect daughter-in-law."
"It depends on how you two make choices. You, him, and his mother, one of you has to make some choices."
Sasa asked again, "You haven't taken the initiative to look for Xu Zecheng in these three months?"
Sun Ziyi said, "I have always been in the group..."
Shen Qingqing exclaimed, "I know why Xu Zecheng likes you."
"Why?"
"Because your focus is so stable... No one can give way to your career, and you're so confident that you don't believe Xu Zecheng will really leave you. Doesn't this keep the fragile, sensitive, and self-deprecating Xiaocheng in check? You have everything he doesn't have."
"I feel that Sun Ziyi has become more optimistic after falling in love with Xu Zecheng. She always believes that there will always be a way out..."
The three of them entered Qinhuangdao. When Chen Qingqing returned the card, Sun Ziyi said, "I'll pay for this bill. I've made money."
Shen Qingqing said ok.
After returning the card, Sasa asked again, "Then the first thing you should do when you leave the group is to find Xu Zecheng."
"He's in Qinhuangdao. His Douyin account was located in Qinhuangdao last week, and today his IP address is still in Hebei."
“How did you find it? Qinhuangdao is so big…” Shen Qingqing asked.
"Xu Zecheng never stays in B&Bs, he only stays in star-rated hotels. I'll just look for them one by one, give him his ID number and pretend to ask for a replacement room card, and see which one I can get."
"This, will this work? We have to find him tomorrow. Anyway, you have his WeChat, why don't you go and ask him directly..." Sasa also thought her method was clumsy.
"Not really. You guys go to Aranya and wait for me first. I'll go over there after I finish looking for the city. I have to do something for our love and give him a surprise. I want Xiaocheng to feel safe with me."
Finally, Sun Ziyi drove the two of them to Aranya, and he drove Chen Qingqing's car to start looking for the answer from store to store in the city...
She searched until dark, checked many hotels, and still couldn't find Xu Zecheng. She had memorized his ID number. Worried that she would return empty-handed, she sent him a message, saying, "What are you doing? I'll order takeout for you. Want to eat?"
Xu Zecheng hadn't returned for a long time. The street lights were on, and small moons seemed to rise on the blurry road. She drove back to Anaya alone, as if she was going through those particularly helpless days in the past. At this moment, Sun Ziyi had a very strange thought. In the past, she would think of herself in such a scene, but now her mind was full of Xu Zecheng when he was working in a state-owned enterprise. He had no money and could only be controlled by his family. Was his path so dark at that time?
The Lonely Lover is playing in the car, and Karen Mok is singing. Are you satisfied with your love? What new discoveries have you made?
After the car drove into Anaya, Xu Zecheng still didn't go back. She parked the car at the entrance and walked towards Anlan. On the blackboard of the roadside hamburger shop, there was a buy one get one free written in red, green and yellow chalk. Xu Zecheng loved hamburgers, but she had a Chinese food stomach. The two of them couldn't eat together most of the time, but she couldn't help but stand outside and look at the hamburger buns in the window, because Xu Zecheng said that the color of the hamburger buns can tell how long the hamburger has been in the oven. He likes hamburgers that are baked for a longer time, which are more bitter, and the beef is not so greasy. The clerk saw her hesitating at the door and said that the previous customer had run away with the order, so buy one get one free for the newly baked hamburgers, and also get two cups of Coke. Sun Ziyi said, "Then can you put this bread back in the oven and bake it for me for a few more minutes?"
When she took the shuttle bus to Anlan with two meals, she was tired and sleepy. When she was reciting the ID number at the front desk, she mistakenly recited Xu Zecheng's. When she was about to change her words, the front desk clerk handed her a room card and said, "Okay, 1308, Mr. Xu."
Sun Ziyi couldn't help it, but he didn't want to be discovered that he was here to replace the room card, so he raised his eyebrows.
4
When Sun Ziyi entered Room 1308, he realized Xu Zecheng had lived here for a very long time. This room wasn't like a room, more like... a secluded house. Many of the shelves in the closet were supermarket-bought items, filling the small closet to the brim. On the table were Xu Zecheng figurines and his desktop computer, the gleaming case, and all sorts of other things, all indicating that Xu Zecheng had lived here for a long time.
There was a sound of splashing water in the bathroom. Sun Ziyi sat on the bed, her hands between her legs, waiting for Xu Zecheng to come out. She looked like a fallen girl who was going to check into a hotel with her underage lover. Xu Zecheng was very slow in taking a shower. After sitting for a while, she collected the clothes on the bed, the pants on the floor, and the ashes in the ashtray. When she was emptying the ashes, she lost her grip and the ashtray fell heavily into the bathroom with a muffled sound. At the same time, the sound of the water in the bathroom turned off, and then Xu Zecheng came out wrapped in a bath towel. When he saw her, he was very puzzled and said, "Why are you here?"
Without even looking up, Sun Ziyi pulled out a piece of tissue paper and scraped the ashes from the bottom of the ashtray. "I missed you."
Xu Zecheng didn't ask her how she knew she was there. He thought it was a tacit understanding between the two of them and there was nothing to ask. He certainly didn't expect that Sun Ziyi would look for him in every hotel and finally find him in the hotel where he was sleeping.
Sun Ziyi wanted to pretend that nothing had happened between the two of them in the past three months. She turned her head, looked directly into Xu Zecheng's eyes, and asked him, "Do you miss me?"
Xu Zecheng said, have you eaten?
Sun Ziyi pointed to the table and said, I bought a hamburger, and yours was specially re-grilled.
The two of them sat at the table and started eating hamburgers. She began to pay attention to the emotions between them. In the past, it was always her who talked and Xu Zecheng who listened. He accepted too many of her emotions. This time, she wanted to hear Xu Zecheng talk. "How long have you lived here?"
"Three months."
"So every time you come to see me, you always go back to Beijing from Qinhuangdao?"
"About the same. Sometimes I go back from Tianjin."
"Why is it like this all of a sudden? What happened?"
"I just want to find a quiet place. How about you? Are you done with the crew?"
Sun Ziyi nodded and said yes, then took out her cell phone and showed Xu Zecheng the final photos she had taken a few days ago.
"The crew is still very interesting, especially seeing my own work being filmed, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. There were a few days when I..." She suddenly stopped talking. She still wanted Xu Zecheng to talk about what he had done recently.
"What about you? What have you been doing lately?"
Xu Zecheng said, "I saved up a few game-winning moments."
Sun Ziyi asked, what?
"It's the ultimate killer moment in the game. Come, I'll show you."
After saying that, he opened CSGO on the computer and showed Sun Ziyi the replays of those decisive kills. Sun Ziyi didn't understand, but still cooperated and said, "Wow, that's amazing, that's amazing."
The two of them watched for about half an hour. Xu Zecheng played it silently, and Sun Ziyi praised it like a dog. When it was over, Xu Zecheng turned around and said, "What time do you want to leave?"
Sun Ziyi said, "Can I not leave?"
Xu Zecheng glanced at her and found that her face looked very gloomy, so he reached out and took out a few pills of Pian Zai Huang from the cabinet and said, "Go home and soak them in water to drink, it's good for your health."
Sun Ziyi said I don’t want it.
Xu Zecheng opened the small refrigerator again, took out a pile of fish maw, and said, "Go back and nourish your body. I'll buy you some more when you get home."
Sun Ziyi said, won’t you come home with me?
Xu Zecheng said I should stay for a few more days.
Although Sun Ziyi was a fool at love, she knew she couldn't wait for him these few days. She couldn't tell what Xu Zecheng was thinking right now, or perhaps she was afraid that Xu Zecheng hadn't figured out what he wanted. She calmly analyzed her relationship with Xu Zecheng, realizing that she was the only "rebel" in Xu Zecheng's life who knew him well. She worked as a screenwriter, was displaced, and earned very little money, but she was still full of energy. Xu Zecheng, on the other hand, received a lot of pocket money and drove a million-dollar luxury car, but he was empty inside, and his only talent was his killer moments.
She could no longer think about it. Sun Ziyi suddenly burst into tears in front of Xu Zecheng. She was so heartbroken. She understood this feeling too well.
"Xu Zecheng, let me ask you, did your mother scold you if I didn't marry you?"
"My mom said I was useless and inflexible. Why am I so stubborn?"
"Then why don't you come and ask me? Who are you to make decisions for me? I don't know anything about these things. Are you going to fight it yourself?"
"I showed you the chat history, but you still joined the group. Isn't that your answer?"
"That's because you ran away. You said you wanted to be quiet, and I thought you didn't want to get married." Sun Ziyi shouted.
"You're becoming more and more like my mother. My mother insisted on getting married to save face, and you refused to comply because of your job. No one has ever asked me if I'm okay with it. What role am I playing between you two?"
In the end, Sun Ziyi returned to their room crying. Sasa and Shen Qingqing were applying facial masks. Seeing Sun Ziyi crying like this, they didn't know how to persuade her, so they ordered a bottle of sweet white wine for Sun Ziyi to drink.
Sasa said, "Actually, I understand Xu Zecheng very well. He found a sense of existence when he was in love with you, and you needed him. At first, you asked him to accompany you in love and support you in writing the script. Later, you fell in love with him and needed him to take care of you, which made him feel very present. But then you suddenly got better, and then you encountered the second hurdle - Xu Zecheng's mother. When you confronted her, Xu Zecheng felt scared because his parents also confronted her in the same way. The result of the confrontation was that they were separated in Tianjin and Beijing. You aroused his childhood fear, and he subconsciously wanted to escape. It's normal."
Sun Ziyi hugged his wine glass and cried, "He should have told me, but he didn't say anything and just played tricks on himself."
"Relationships are like driving an automatic car. You think you're going straight, but you still have to adjust the steering wheel frequently, because no road can be straight to the end. I saw something a few days ago that was very true: if you always feel relaxed in a relationship, it must be because someone else is helping you carry the burden..." Chen Qingqing said, "Of course, our family is different. The person who carries the burden in our family is my father..."
Sun Ziyi continued to cry and said, what should I do?
"Making choices. In fact, Xu Zecheng has already started to make choices. He is being pulled. He didn't go back to Tianjin, nor did he stay in Beijing. This means that he still wants to be with you. Now you need to make sacrifices." Shen Qingqing said.
"I've searched every hotel, sister."
Shen Qingqing said, it’s not enough.
Sasa didn't understand either, so she asked Chen Qingqing, "Can you explain it more clearly? I really don't understand..."
"Sun Ziyi, your core is writing. Can you give up part of your core for Xu Zecheng? Let's turn that part of your core into his. For example, you can go back to Tianjin together and live the kind of life he wants. Play Texas Hold'em on weekends and work from nine to five during the week. You can write novels in Tianjin and give up some of your screenwriting work."
Sun Ziyi cried and said, "This...this...I need to think about it.
"Xu Zecheng is also considering this right now. If his results and your answers match, we can continue."
Sun Ziyi angrily drank another sip of wine, and then fell into a deep sleep.
Sasa said, I now feel that their relationship is normal.
Chen Qingqing smiled and said, "Before, everything went smoothly, like a child playing house, an unrealistic pure love novel, but after stumbling and getting along with each other, that's a real love story..."
Sasa nodded and said, "Yes, sooner or later, everyone will have to go through this hurdle."
Chen Qingqing looked at the moon outside the window. Some people could step over it, but some could not.
Sasa reached out and took off the facial masks on herself and Shen Qingqing's faces.
5
After sobering up, the first thing Sun Ziyi did was to send a message to Xu Zecheng, saying, I want to have dinner with you.
She looked at Xu Zecheng who was typing back and forth several times, and finally said, "I just finished eating."
Sun Ziyi said, "We had Jianbing Guozi in Tianjin. Let's drive back now and have another meal." She immediately used the app to buy two high-speed rail tickets. Just as she was about to send them to him, she hesitated and typed two more words to Xu Zecheng: "Is that okay?"
After a while, Xu Zecheng replied with an OK.
It was already late when they arrived in Tianjin. Xu Zecheng found a restaurant to eat local food. They didn't talk much while eating, and no one showed any intention of leaving after the meal. When the waiter came to urge them to close the restaurant, Sun Ziyi said, "Let's go back to my house. My mother told me a few days ago that she missed me very much."
Sun Ziyi's parents were still awake. Knowing Xu Zecheng was coming, they kept waiting. After he entered the door, they gave Xu Zecheng a big red envelope with the title "Future son-in-law entering the door for the first time." He glanced at Sun Ziyi, but Sun Ziyi didn't look into his eyes. She wanted to tell him that she had made her decision, but in the end, Xu Zecheng accepted it himself.
A few people were chatting on the sofa, talking about their childhood school days. Sun's father said that Sun Ziyi was too wild and they knew from a young age that they couldn't win Sun Ziyi's heart back, but Xiaocheng was very good. Xiaocheng had always liked playing cards and eating candied haws at the intersection. Sun Ziyi sat on the futon on the ground, hugging his legs, and said, "Dad, people change. I think Tianjin is great now."
She saw Xu Zecheng glance at her out of the corner of her eye. There were only two bedrooms in their house. In the end, Xu Zecheng slept with Sun's father, and Sun Ziyi slept with her mother.
Sun Ziyi didn't know that that night, her father talked a lot with Xu Zecheng, and the most common thing he said was thank you Xu Zecheng for being in love with Sun Ziyi. He knew that Sun Ziyi was too stubborn and never acted like a spoiled child. When she was a child, she would always stick her neck out and not say a word when she wanted something. But after being with Xu Zecheng, she changed and was not as stubborn as before. He said he wanted to thank Xu Zecheng for changing Sun Ziyi.
Sun's mother also told Sun Ziyi another story. At that time, Xu's mother told Sun's mother the date of the wedding and asked Xu Zecheng to persuade Sun Ziyi. Xu Zecheng was unwilling and had a big quarrel with his mother. Xu's mother said that she could give more betrothal gifts and let Sun's mother persuade her, but Sun's mother was unwilling. So in fact, Sun Ziyi was able to work hard because her parents and Xu Zecheng were helping her to move forward. Now that she has left the group, they can tell her all this.
The next morning, Sun Ziyi happily went to buy pancakes and returned. On the way, she ran into some junior high school classmates. They stood on the street corner and chatted for a while. One of the classmates said, "When I was little, I thought Xu Zecheng was very good to you. I didn't expect you two were really in love." Sun Ziyi said, "Yes, he really treats me very well."
Back home, the four of them sat at the table for breakfast. Sun Ziyi sent a message to Xu Zecheng face to face: "Do you think Tianjin is great? If you stay in Tianjin, you can go to work and I'll stay home to write novels. On weekends, we can go sightseeing and play Texas Hold'em with good friends in the evening."
"Don't you want to be a famous screenwriter in Beijing?"
"Tianjin and Beijing are very close. I can call or buy a train ticket to attend. Besides, chasing fame and fortune is really tiring. I used to need this because I needed a goal, but now I think having dinner with someone every day is also a very good goal. I don't want to be like my teacher, who makes so much money but has to have an assistant to cook it for me when I want to eat Shanghai greens."
Then Sun Ziyi sent Xu Zecheng a screenshot of her balance, which showed several hundred thousand yuan, representing all her royalties from the project. "This money will be enough for me to live on for a few years. During this time, I'll write some new things. You work hard to make money, and we can buy a small house in Tianjin. It's time for me to stop. In Beijing, I've only been chasing fame and fortune, and I can't find any new inspiration."
Xu Zecheng locked the screen, put down his phone, and glanced at Sun Ziyi.
Then he gently, gently, under the table, kicked Sun Ziyi's foot and mouthed the word "OK."
6
After the Spring Festival of 23 years, Sun Ziyi turned 30 in 24 years. She had originally planned to become a great screenwriter at the age of 30. Of course, she did not achieve worldly success, but she became a moderately famous writer with pocket money. But most importantly, someone had dinner with her every day. Her only worry was that sometimes her cervical spine was not good and she could not lower her head. Xu Zecheng installed a projector at home so that she could type with her head up. On a weekend when she was not working, Xu Zecheng accompanied her to clean up his old documents. There was a document called "Don't read". She asked Xu Zecheng to open it and found that it contained a confession of Sun Ziyi.
"I hate her so much. She tricked me into coming to Changping to write a script, didn't pay me, and still has the right to dictate my life. It's disgusting."
Xu Zecheng turned his head and asked Sun Ziyi, who is it?
Sun Ziyi thought for a long time and said, I forgot...
Sun Ziyi knocked his head and said, "How could I be so forgetful? I used to have a Death Note with me every night before going to bed."
"death Note?"
"It's like having a kill list and reciting it silently every night before going to bed."
"If you're so worried, you'll often have trouble sleeping."
"Yes, but it seemed like one day, everything suddenly got better."
"Which day?"
"In Shunyi, I got drunk at a bar. The day you carried me home, I drank a lot and seemed to have forgotten a lot of things. And then I forgot more and more... Every time we were happy, my mind would be filled with some bad things in my life."
"I've given you my salary, old husband and wife, what's your intention in saying these sweet words now?"
"Oh no."
Xu Ma has not yet fully accepted the fact that her son and daughter-in-law have returned to Tianjin to live a working-class life... Now she has no contact with them at all, but she still believes that one day the two of them will figure it out.
Xu Zecheng has started working steadily at the Tianjin branch of a large company. His workplace and home are just across the street. Sometimes he goes to braise pig's trotters before work. Sun Ziyi likes to gnaw on pig's trotters, believing that it is good for the body. After all, she types every day. She waits for Xu Zecheng to come home at a fixed time every day, cuts all the vegetables, and starts stir-frying the wok when he comes home. The large company does not work overtime, so basically, Xu Zecheng's arrival time at home is no more than five minutes apart every day.
One day, while leaving work, he saw a McLaren on the side of the road. The boy, who looked about eighteen or nineteen, was driving. Tianjin's roads were so narrow that the boy couldn't turn around, leaving a crowd of people stuck. Someone at the intersection tried to help, but was stopped by someone else who asked, "Who would dare to help him with such an expensive car?" Xu Zecheng, being kind-hearted, knocked on the window and passed by.
The error on this day exceeded five minutes, so Sun Ziyi went downstairs to find him. Seeing him getting out of the car with a rose in his hand, the little boy stuck his head out and said, "Thank you, brother. You know this car so well."
Sun Ziyi said with a smile, your brother is a designated driver, he is more than just familiar with McLaren.
Xu Zecheng waved his hand and said, "Okay, next time you need a designated driver, come to this intersection to find Brother Cheng!"
The young man honked the horn, stepped on the accelerator, and rumbled away, as if he was driving away the time when they were eighteen or nineteen years old. The road behind them, which was originally congested, gradually became flowing.
They walked home along the zebra crossing. Xu Zecheng was carrying pig's trotters and roses. Sun Ziyi said, "I saw a car recently and I really like it. I can use it to buy groceries. Please try to buy it for me."
What car is Xu Zecheng talking about?
She said, little ants, they look like toy cars.
Xu Zecheng said okay, I’ll buy it for you with my year-end bonus.
Sun Ziyi exclaimed, what a huge year-end bonus!
Xu Zecheng said that he would use his 5,000 yuan year-end bonus to sell two more guns in the game.
The date is written on the clock tower in the distance: 2024, February 14th, Valentine's Day.
Xu Zecheng turned around and said, "Do I have to accompany you to Beijing for a screenwriter's meeting next week?"
Sun Ziyi nodded and said, yes, all the high-speed rail tickets have been bought.
The setting sun fell between the two buildings, a bit like the over-grilled hamburgers that Xu Zecheng loved to eat, hanging from the ceiling, creating a warm atmosphere just out of the oven. They turned into the community, and a boy and a girl in blue school uniforms walked towards them from a distance. She walked forward, and he chased her on his bicycle, occasionally touching the ground with his feet to adjust the speed.
"I will never be with you in this life." The girl walked forward.
"You dare to mention a lifetime now? You don't like me, do you?" The boy laughed even more happily.
"My love for you is just that of a friend."
"Anyway, I heard it and I like it." The boy rang the bell, and the crowd made way for him. He rode farther, then came back and stopped in front of her.
"There's a traffic jam, bus 72 isn't moving. See you at the next intersection. I'll take you home. After all, I'm your favorite—good friend!"
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