Chapter 37
Chapter 37
After saying that, Ye Chuyang felt a little embarrassed.
That's really shameful. One of his actor friends said it publicly. Just hearing those words makes you think this person has some serious illness.
He wasn't seriously ill; he just plagiarized.
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingyuan looked puzzled: He doesn't think I did it on purpose, does he?
Because he lowered his voice, it had a slightly husky quality. Shen Qingyuan remembered seeing a thin, pear-shaped cat by the roadside a few days ago.
It was kept in a cage, and that's how it cried—a husky voice, completely devoid of any nuances. Its expression also seemed rather impatient.
“I didn’t mean to,” Shen Qingyuan quickly added. “Besides, I’m not a young girl, I’m a woman. Haha.”
She muttered to herself, "Don't 900 million girls have anything else to do?"
The women comrades shifted their attention back to the movies, not wanting to waste the money they spent on movie tickets.
The husky-voiced kitten also turned its head to watch the movie, its eyes smiling.
I flirted, but I didn't really succeed. It seems I still need to work harder and persevere; even the hardest stone can be carved.
The first half of this animated film seems to be a coming-of-age story for a boy, but it turns into a fantasy world in the second half.
A bird-faced, human-bodied monster suddenly appeared, startling Shen Qingyuan.
Perhaps she missed many important scenes while dozing off, so Shen Qingyuan didn't quite grasp the story.
As for the theme, she had seen the promotional material; the story was based on the author's deep love and longing for his deceased mother.
It must take a deep-seated obsession to conjure up such a bizarre world about someone who is no longer alive. Most of the younger generation probably haven't had this kind of life experience yet.
There are too many symbols, and they are circuitous, making it feel a bit like a riddle, which dilutes the so-called tear-jerking moments.
However, the ability to express oneself freely without considering whether the audience can resonate with it is truly the ideal state for creators.
After the movie ended, Ye Chuyang put her mask back on. The two waited until all the other audience members had left before standing up and walking out.
Shen Qingyuan remembered that the last time she went to the movies was during the Spring Festival two years ago. She realized that she was really a person with very little cultural life.
I wasn't aware of it before because I was busy. But now that I've had some free time, I realize that besides work, I don't really have any hobbies to pass the time. This is quite unbelievable for modern people.
The two fell behind the crowd, and Ye Chuyang suddenly asked, "What kind of life do you want to live, Shen Qingyuan?"
The movie is called "How Do You Live?"
Shen Qingyuan stopped in her tracks, her eyes dimming slightly.
If you asked Shen Qingyuan this question in her teenage years, she would answer without hesitation: get into the best university, study medicine, and become a good doctor in the future.
It is well-organized and logical, with clear structure.
Take it one step at a time. As long as you work hard enough and have a clear goal, achieving your ideals will never be a problem.
Ten years later, during the darkest period of Shen Qingyuan's life, she no longer considered what kind of life she wanted to live. Instead, she resonated more with the part of the film where the other world collapsed, as if it subtly echoed some hidden dark fantasies.
"I don't want to think about this anymore." Shen Qingyuan turned her head, looked into Ye Chuyang's eyes, and smiled.
Her eyes were dark. She was facing away from the light, so her whole body was also dark.
-
Shen Qingyuan's bedroom in Chenyang faces west. At sunset, the setting sun shines through the window, casting a golden beam of light on the wall.
Waking from a long afternoon nap, she lay groggily in bed, staring at the fading light, thinking—
It wouldn't be so bad if the world were destroyed today!
-
Shen Qingyuan did not ask the other person what kind of life they wanted to live.
Someone who thrives in the real world probably wouldn't have this kind of confusion.
As long as he pays attention to his public image, abides by the law, and doesn't act recklessly, his life should continue to soar, with one success after another, firmly holding him atop the clouds of high society.
The fourth and fifth floors of the mall are the food courts. Ye Chuyang had eaten at one of the salad shops and thought the ingredients were pretty good. Before leaving, he specifically took Shen Qingyuan there to get a smoked salmon salad to go.
"Dr. Shen, what flavor do you like?"
I should think about what to eat tonight.
What kind of life do you want to live? What's the point of thinking about this question? Only a very small percentage of people can live the life they want.
Hope and dreams are torturous things.
Shen Qingyuan pointed to a lump of green, muddy substance, the most eye-catching one, and said, "This one will do. What flavor does Xiao Chao want?"
"Oh right, and him too." Ye Chuyang slapped the back of his head, how could he have forgotten about this guy? "Xiao Chao eats everything, he's not picky, he's more like a wild boar. Just pick one of these."
"..."
The shop assistant packed the items and handed them to the man.
Shen Qingyuan scanned the QR code to pay, and the three salads totaled over two hundred yuan. Looking at the price tag, she realized it was the price per 100 grams; the print was so small it was hard to read without paying attention.
Robbery has become so civilized these days!
"What's wrong?" Ye Chuyang asked.
"Oh, it's nothing."
Shen Qingyuan eagerly grabbed the packaging bag and carried it; she truly treated herself as a temporary assistant and was quite dedicated.
When the two arrived at the hotel, it was already four or five in the afternoon.
Shen Qingyuan went to see Xiao Chao.
Xiao Chao's fever subsided, and his appetite returned somewhat. He just looked listless. However, he was very interested in the movie Shen Qingyuan was watching and asked her several questions about it.
"Yang rarely goes to the movies, I didn't expect him to be so interested today. Hey, did you get any photos taken?"
"I don't think so. He was wearing a hat and mask, and he only went in after the lights were turned off."
Shen Qingyuan is a new face, so it's fine; she doesn't need to be too heavily disguised. However, most of Ye Chuyang's fans know Xiao Chao, and when they go out together, unless it's a public event, even he has to be fully covered up.
"Oh, thank you for your hard work, Sister Chen. This was originally my job."
"You're welcome, we're already so familiar with each other. You should rest for a few more days and come back to work when you're fully recovered."
...
Shen Qingyuan was a little tired. After chatting for a few minutes without much conversation, she left the salad with Xiao Chao and went back to her room.
It turns out that just accompanying people to eat, drink, and have fun can be quite tiring. No wonder there are professional tour guides.
Fortunately, Ye Chuyang doesn't need to have physical therapy tonight. He clearly stated that he had a pretty good massage in the movie theater, so we can skip it today.
—Who knows, one day Ye Chuyang might get a sudden urge and bring back a massage chair, then she can pack her bags and leave immediately.
Feeling inexplicably threatened, Shen Qingyuan immediately decided that she should correct her work attitude, work hard without complaint, endure hardship for a while, and save some money before making any decisions.
Shen Qingyuan lay on the bed like a limp shrimp, her limbs spread out in a "big" shape, her eyes staring at the ceiling.
It seems like it's not physical exhaustion, but mental exhaustion.
She was exhausted by that problem.
"What kind of life do you want to live, Shen Qingyuan?"
The words still ring in my ears.
It's strange, but back in elementary school, our dreams were very clear. More than half of my classmates chose to become scientists, astronauts, teachers, or doctors. All of these are respected professions that contribute significantly to the progress of human civilization.
The older I get, the less clear my dreams become. I just live my life step by step. It's best to have a stable job; too tiring or too idle doesn't seem ideal.
If you randomly grab someone on the street and ask them what their dream is, winning the lottery jackpot might be the most popular answer.
Ideally, one should be a genius, achieving fame at a young age. It would also be best if one were destined for wealth, receiving a windfall in middle age. If that doesn't work out, one can hope their children will be successful, which would make the father proud. If that still doesn't work, have another child. After all, there are endless descendants.
Just drift through life. Have some hope, but don't get your hopes up too high. As for dreams from elementary school, children say the darndest things; who remembers those anymore?
hey-hey.
-
After lying down for a while, Shen Qingyuan remembered that she hadn't eaten the ridiculously expensive salad yet, so she got up and took a cold shower first.
As she came out, her phone screen lit up briefly, and Shen Qingyuan picked it up.
He casually took a women's cigarette from the cigarette case on the bedside table and lit it.
She went out onto the balcony. It was a small balcony; if she closed the sliding windows, the smell of smoke wouldn't seep into the fabric.
Shen Qingyuan took a few slow puffs of her cigarette while looking out the window at the street scene before unlocking her phone with her fingerprint.
It's a new WeChat message. Ye Chuyang sent it.
Ye Chuyang: Taking a break?
Shen Qingyuan: Not yet, is something wrong?
Ye Chuyang: I'm thinking about what you said today.
Shen Qingyuan: What?
A minute later, Ye Chuyang sent a voice message: "Shen Qingyuan, you are the smartest person I know. It would be such a pity if someone as smart as you couldn't live the life you want as you wish."
Shen Qingyuan smiled wryly at the screen. There's a saying: "A child prodigy may not necessarily amount to an adult." It's most fitting in this context.
"Although I don't know what you've been through all these years, I think you must have worked incredibly hard for your dreams. The finish line isn't here yet, there's still time, don't give up too quickly, Shen Qingyuan!"
The audio ends here.
The wind blew through her hair. Shen Qingyuan exhaled a smoke ring and stubbed out the remaining half of her cigarette in the ashtray on the windowsill.
After a while, she tapped the audio again and listened to it once more.
Ye Chuyang's voice is actually very nice. The first time I heard him sing was at the school's Mid-Autumn Festival performance. He sang Huang Zheng's "Running", which made most of the boys and girls in the school scream wildly.
The impression was so profound that even someone as oblivious to the world around her, like Shen Qingyuan, remembered it, and years later, she could still retrieve it from the depths of her memory and savor it.
Looking back now, most people who become stars display their extraordinary charm early on. But Shen Qingyuan just didn't have that foresight back then.
She never expected that she would have a new encounter with Ye Chuyang, nor did she expect him to say such things to her.
Shen Qingyuan looked out the window at the distant night view, where artificial lights in red, yellow, blue, and green shimmered against a dark background. The neon lights of the shops on the ground floor were even denser, with different fonts, colors, and sizes mixed together in a chaotic mess.
The same unappealing night view. She didn't find it annoying; instead, she felt a strange sense of peace.
She replied to him, slowly typing in the chat box: Thank you, Ye Chuyang.
It seems that even in the most dilapidated temple, amidst the crude clay sculptures that disappoint everyone, there is still a small, devout worshipper kneeling in prayer.
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