"Hurry up, the movie is about to start."
There was a long queue in front of the Dongsi Workers' Cultural Palace in the capital, packed with ordinary people who came to relax on their day off. Some young couples seemed to be avoiding each other and kept a distance of one meter between them, but their sticky eyes made it clear who they were.
Today's social atmosphere is more open than before, and free love has become popular. However, young people are still relatively thin-skinned and do not dare to be overly intimate in public.
This young and naive love affair, when you look back on it a few years later, can be considered an interesting thing.
"Comrade, are there any good movies today?" a handsome man in a white shirt asked at the ticket window.
Standing next to him was a pretty girl in a long-sleeved dress and pigtails. Their eyes met for a moment, then quickly separated.
"There's a new movie, The Bund, released today. Why don't you go watch it? It starts at nine o'clock, and there's exactly ten minutes left." The staff member through the iron fence glanced at the two shy young people, and thought that the new movie, The Bund, seemed to be a romance movie based on the cover poster, so he recommended it to them, hoping to take advantage of the situation and bring them closer.
After hearing what the other party said, Xue Qiang looked at the poster column next to him, and sure enough, there was a poster he had never seen before.
Nowadays, posters are all hand-drawn by the artists of the film companies themselves, so you can often see that different cinemas have different movie posters posted at the entrance of the theater.
The background of the poster Xue Qiang saw seemed to be Haicheng during the Republic of China period. In the center of the poster, there was a beautiful girl wearing a cheongsam, and on her left and right stood two handsome men.
The men are handsome and the women are pretty, and they are all fresh faces that I have never seen in movies before. Compared with those traditional anti-Japanese war movies and main theme movies, they seem to be more interesting. The man looked at the poster and immediately understood what the ticket seller meant. He blushed and spoke embarrassedly.
"Then that, I want two tickets." After saying that, he glanced at the girl behind him who was lowering her head. Seeing her equally shy look, he couldn't help but feel happy.
Today was the first day he asked Xiaofang out. He had long liked this girl from the same workshop, and she seemed to have some interest in him, but she had never made it clear. The relationship between the two was just a thin layer of window paper, and it was just waiting for someone to break it. The workers in the same workshop knew that he had asked Xiaofang out today, so they encouraged him to take the girl to see a movie, have a meal, and then go for a walk in the park. When the atmosphere was right, he would express his feelings to Xiaofang.
When he went out today, he specially chose his best clothes, mustered up his courage, and went to the cinema with his beloved girl.
"Would you like something to eat?" There was still some time before the movie started, so Xue Qiang walked up to the girl with the movie ticket and asked.
"No, don't waste your money." A movie ticket costs 80 cents, which is equivalent to a pound of pork. Two movie tickets cost 1.6 yuan, which is already a considerable amount of money. The girl felt sorry for the boy.
Xue Qiang chuckled and felt that he had good vision. Xiaofang would definitely make a good wife in the future. However, this was the day he wanted to confess his love to Xiaofang, so how could he be stingy? He had already asked his parents for money for today and brought enough money with him.
Nowadays, young people basically hand over all their wages to their parents before they get married, leaving them with only basic living expenses. If they have other expenses, they need to apply to their parents separately.
"It's okay. It would be boring to watch a movie without eating something. Wait, I'll buy you some snacks." Before Xiaofang could reply, Xue Qiang ran out of the cinema.
Now that private trade is allowed, there are often several small stalls in front of the cinema, selling melon seeds and peanuts, as well as drinks.
When Xue Qiang came back, he was holding two newspaper rolls in his hand, one containing melon seeds and the other containing crispy soybeans. In his other hand he was holding a glass of soda with the lid opened and a straw inserted inside.
"Why buy soda? It's so expensive." Xiaofang looked at the smirking man and felt a little sweet in her heart, but she still couldn't help feeling sorry for his wallet.
"It's okay. I think all the girls like it." Xue Qiang blushed as he handed the glass bottle to his beloved girl. The movie was about to start, and the two of them didn't have time to say much before walking into the theater.
The cinema is not big nowadays. When they went in and found their seats, it was basically full of people. Many young people like them seemed to have come in after seeing the poster.
They arrived at the right time; the movie started as soon as they sat down.
At the beginning of the movie, a handsome but slightly tired and embarrassed man got off the boat and was walking on the street. He happened to encounter a gang fight. The fierce gunfight and knife fight made everyone present feel worried. Everyone recognized that this handsome man was the man on the poster, and naturally felt worried for him.
It was in such a scene that the male protagonist Xu Wenqiang met Ding Li and stayed overnight at his home. The scene then turned to Xu Wenqiang's quest to find his old classmate, the socialite Fang Yanyun. When Fang Yanyun appeared, there was a small climax.
It was at the funeral hall of a wealthy businessman. There was a woman in a black dress, her hair was neatly combed, a white chrysanthemum was pinned to her ear, her eyebrows and eyes were delicate as a painting, her skin was whiter than snow, and the corners of her mouth, which was painted with bright red lipstick, curved up when she saw Xu Wenqiang. Her eyes flashed instantly, seductive and eye-catching.
"So beautiful--" Xiaofang couldn't help but exclaimed. Not only her, but many men and women present made such an exclamation.
"You are more beautiful." Xue Qiang said softly, looking at the girl's face in the dim light of the screen.
Xiaofang clutched the armrests of the chair, feeling nervous and shy.
In the following scenes, everyone present was immersed in the story full of family and country, love and hate, and they cried for the protagonist and laughed for the protagonist.
Especially the scene where the hero Xu Wenqiang watched Feng Chengcheng, who was waiting for him, leave Haicheng, many sentimental girls couldn't help but shed tears.
"Feng Chenchen is so good. Why doesn't Xu Wenqiang be with her? She is her and her father is her father. Why should Chenchen be implicated for the mistakes made by her father?" Seeing the lovely Feng Chenchen getting thinner and thinner, and enduring to be with someone she doesn't love, all the women blamed Xu Wenqiang, the "unfaithful man", and felt sorry for Feng Chenchen.
The men could understand Xu Wenqiang's approach. After all, the country comes before the family. If they were Xu Wenqiang, they would have made the same choice. However, they were not stupid enough to say this in front of their beloved girls. Instead, they took this opportunity to express their feelings.
At this time, the movie was showing Feng Jingyao sending people to kill A-Di and her grandchildren, and Xu Wenqiang was coming back to Haicheng for revenge. Just when everyone was worried about this and felt hopeless about his and Feng Chenchen's future, the screen turned black and a few words were printed on it: "Copy is being delivered, please wait."
Everyone booed in disappointment, but they could only wait patiently.
Nowadays, a normal movie is usually made into nine copies, each copy is more than ten minutes long. Usually, a complete copy of a movie will be rented by several film companies. Both parties stagger the playing time and send their used copies to another cinema while waiting for other cinemas to send the next copies. So usually, several cinemas will stagger the actual playing time by 20 minutes to allow the staff enough time to transport the copies.
However, if something happens to the delivery personnel, such as a broken bicycle or other factors, which delay the delivery of the copy, the above situation will occur. The film can only be screened after the other party brings the copy.
"What a pity! Is it true that Xu Wenqiang can't be with Feng Chenchen anymore? That Ding Li doesn't seem like a good person at all."
"That's right, but Fang Yanyun and Feng Chenchen's clothes are so beautiful. I also want to have beautiful dresses like them."
Before the copy arrived, there was a lot of discussion in the cinema, with everyone excitedly discussing the plot and the costumes of the male and female protagonists.
"If I were Xu Wenqiang, I would have taken Feng Chenchen with me when I left, and what happened later would not have happened." Xiaofang couldn't help but sigh as she looked at the couple who were destined to tragedy.
"If I were Xu Wenqiang, I wouldn't care about those things. All I care about is the girl I love."
In the dark theater, Xiaofang seemed to still be able to see the other person's burning eyes. She was too shy to know what to say. Her heart was beating faster and faster, as if it was about to jump out of her throat.
The two people's eyes intertwined in the darkness. Xue Qiang couldn't help but reached out and held the girl's hand, which was a little rough due to work. At the moment of holding it, the screen lit up and the film began to play normally, but the pair of hands clasped together never let go again.
Sitting behind them, a pretty girl bit her lower lip tightly, with a hint of envy between her eyebrows.
"Brother Xiaobao." She turned around and couldn't help but look at the man beside her who had been staring at the big screen with no other changes from beginning to end.
"Hmm?" Jiang Yilu turned sideways and looked at the little girl who seemed to be hesitant to speak to him, feeling indescribable in his heart.
That's right, the people sitting behind Xue Qiang and Xiao Fang were Jiang Yiliu and Ruan Ruan. They had made an appointment with Ruan Congzhao and Sini to watch a movie together today, but who knew that as soon as the movie started, the two disappeared without a trace, leaving only Jiang Yiliu and Ruan Ruan.
Jiang Yilu is a fool and he knows what is going on. But he can't understand why Ruan Congzhao is willing to create opportunities for his good Ruan Ruan, since Ruan Congzhao hates him the most.
"Nothing." Ruan Ruan looked at him and the courage she had finally mustered up was instantly gone. She lowered her head, feeling sour in her heart.
He must have understood it. After all, Brother Xiaobao is such a smart man. He is doing this now just because he doesn't like her.
Ruan Ruan couldn't help biting her fingers. This was an action she liked to do when she was bullied as a child. Since she went to Qingshan Village with her grandfather, she rarely had this habit.
What's wrong with her? Brother Xiaobao doesn't like her. The little girl was obsessed with it. She couldn't watch the movie even though it was so exciting. She stood up and left her seat. Before leaving, she glared at Jiang Yilu and said, "Brother Xiaobao is the worst." Then she left without looking back.
Jiang Yilu sat stiffly in the chair, controlling the urge to catch up, and hinted to himself that Ruan Ruan was not a child anymore and it was time for her to distinguish the difference between dependence and love.
That's right, in Jiang Yiliu's heart, Ruan Ruan's dependence on him was just a childhood one. He felt that Ruan Ruan was too young to distinguish his true feelings, so as an elder, he had to help her to recognize it so as to avoid regrets in the future.
Everyone thinks he is a good person, but he feels that he is not a good match for Ruan Ruan, and she deserves a man who truly loves her.
Jiang Yilu sat on a chair in the cinema, staring at the screen with empty eyes until the movie ended. The whole room was filled with sighs, sobs, and praise for the movie, but Jiang Yilu's heart was not moved at all. His mind was full of thoughts about Ruan Ruan who had just left impulsively, and whether his actions had gone too far.
"This movie is really good. I will come back another day."
"Yes, next time I come I will bring XX with me. He hasn't seen this movie yet."
When the cast of the movie started, the audience sitting on their chairs were still reluctant to leave and kept talking to each other. In an era when entertainment was scarce and even Tunnel Warfare could be re-screened thousands of times, it was very common to watch the movie twice or more.
"Hey, look." One of the girls pointed at the big screen, "It turns out that all the actors' clothes are sponsored by the Yazhi Garment Factory. It says on it that the Yazhi Garment Factory has stores in our capital, Haicheng and other big cities, and they also sell the costumes of the main characters in the movie at the same time."
There were several large words on the screen saying that the costumes in the film were sponsored, and the smaller words below said that the same costumes as in the film would be sold in stores at the same time.
"That's great. I really like Chenchen's moon-white dress. I wonder if it's still available." A girl in her early twenties was obviously impatient and hurried out of the theater. She wanted to buy the dress from the store mentioned in the film before everyone came to their senses, for fear that she would not be able to buy it if she was late.
Many girls couldn't help but be moved when they saw her like this, and they all walked out of the theater. Not only the pretty girls, but also many young men were fascinated by Xu Wenqiang's handsome and fashionable black windbreaker, as well as the white scarf and the black felt hat. They couldn't help imagining themselves wearing that outfit to charm their loved ones.
The film was a huge success and the clothing factory's advertising effect met expectations. Jiang Yilu should have been happy, but he felt depressed, as if a huge rock was pressing on him and he couldn't breathe.
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