Chapter 106
The story told in this script is very simple. It tells the story of a child who has loved literature and art since childhood but has a serious and old-fashioned father who believes that art is just entertainment. The child's mother died early, and the father hopes that the child will follow in his footsteps and become a scientific researcher to contribute to the country, but the child only likes to paint, and even participates in art tutoring organized by the school without his father's knowledge, which leads to countless conflicts.
The child was gifted, all his teachers agreed. He had won numerous awards at a young age, but his father's recognition and praise were elusive. Finally, before the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination), the child's hard work convinced the owner of a studio, who valued talent, to accept the promising child for free training. The child packed his bags and ran away from home, while his father, in a fit of rage, ignored him. Eventually, the child, with excellent grades, was admitted to the art academy of his dreams and ultimately became a fashion designer.
Many years passed, and the father and the child had no contact. The child thought his father was always angry with him, so he did not dare to contact him. He vowed to make a name for himself and prove to his father that his choice was right.
What the child didn't know, however, was that his father had long since stopped being angry with him. When he ran away from home, his father had spent sleepless nights searching for him. He had also contacted the studio owner, offering to pay for his tuition, but when he was politely declined, he stubbornly kept the money. Since then, his father has made an effort to attend every show his child designed. For high-end shows he couldn't easily access, he would clumsily search the internet, searching for any trace of his child. Even though he couldn't afford to buy the clothes his child designed, he would stand in the store windows and gaze at them for a long time.
In fact, he had already changed his stubborn view a long time ago and was proud of his child from the bottom of his heart, but inertia prevented him from speaking, and he didn't know how to speak. He knew that the child was a good child, but he had a cold temper and couldn't speak. He was worried that he would mess everything up.
Finally, after paying off his student loan and saving enough for the year's tuition, including principal and interest, the child was ready to repay the studio owner. He then learned from the studio owner, who refused to accept the money, that his father had already paid the tuition years before, but had begged the owner not to tell the child. He believed that his harsh parenting could easily lead to low self-esteem in his child's sensitive heart, and that there was no way to improve his situation now. However, if a professional like the studio owner stepped in at that moment and told him that he was truly exceptional, so exceptional that he was willing to teach him for free, help him succeed, and couldn't bear to see such a talent die before his time, that would surely be a huge boost for the child. Now that the child had achieved success and was seeking repayment, he finally revealed the whole story.
His father's suspicions were correct. The approval of the studio owner, a man with a wealth of experience, truly gave the child a glimmer of hope. And because he believed he was being taught for free, he felt more uneasy than those paying to learn, and so he worked even harder, fearing that the results wouldn't be good enough and that the studio owner would regret his decision.
The child, realizing the deep love hidden beneath his father's awkwardness, reached out to him, and the two finally reconciled. He created a unique outfit tailored to his father's style and figure, drawing inspiration from this and incorporating seasonal trends to create a series of highly acclaimed clothing for the brand. He then invited his father to attend the show.
The script ends here, and the men's suit that runs throughout the film, in which the child initially draws on paper in comparison with his tall father, takes shape as the child grows up and is finally finalized after he sees his father again, is the promotional content of the advertisement.
This kind of semi-public welfare advertisement is more easily accepted by mainstream TV stations and will also cause a greater response on the Internet. The story and setting are both quite standard and there is nothing abrupt about it. However, Lu Zixi found something wrong in it.
Yan Yunzhen was sitting next to him, conscientiously weaving something with bamboo strips. This had been a key part of their previous filming, with an experienced bamboo craftsman teaching weaving techniques, and the guests learning and then handing in their finished products. A weaving process like this would definitely be sped up later, so even with the static camera positioned there, Lu Zixi didn't try to avoid it, simply nudging Yan Yunzhen with his shoulder: "Old Yan?"
"Hmm?" Yan Yunzhen turned to look at him and put down what he was holding. "What's wrong?"
"How do you get along with your father?" Lu Zixi closed the script in his hand and asked.
"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?" Yan Yunzhen thought for a moment. "He's devoted most of his energy to Yuanhong. The way he interacts with me isn't really like a father and child, but more like a chairman and his heir... I don't know if you can understand me putting it this way."
Lu Zixi nodded: "I understand. I was just thinking..."
His fingers unconsciously rubbed the footer of the script, and then spread out the curled footer.
Yan Yunzhen caught his anxious little movements, stood up on his own initiative, walked out of the shooting range, raised his chin, and motioned for him to come over.
The director on the set heard the noise and looked over. Yan Yunzhen raised his hand and stretched out five fingers, indicating that he would give them five minutes. The director nodded without asking any more questions.
Lu Zixi knew that time was tight between shoots, so he didn't keep the topic a secret. Instead, he got straight to the point and asked, "Can you contact the writer of this script?"
"Yes." Yan Yunzhen answered him without hesitation, then froze for a moment, "Is there something wrong with the script?"
"There's nothing wrong with the script's topic and plot, but I don't know how to describe the dialogue." Lu Zixi seemed a little anxious. Yan Yunzhen rarely saw this level of nervousness in him, and he couldn't help but tense his back. "I don't know if parents and children all over the world talk like this, but this script—you've seen it before, right? The rebellious process of the children here before choosing to take the art exam is very similar to mine. The conversations we had with our fathers were also very similar, so similar that it seems like a fragment pulled directly from my memory."
"And then the father's silent concern for the child, and the child's desire to prove himself in front of his father, are also similar to my previous experiences. I can't say that this is my story. After all, there are many completely different factors in it, but this inexplicable sense of déjà vu..." Lu Zixi took a deep breath. Yan Yunzhen reached out and squeezed his shoulders hard to make him relax. Lu Zixi, with the help of Yan Yunzhen, tried to stabilize his emotions before continuing, "From an outsider's perspective, this story won't seem particularly 'Lu Zixi', and won't be associated with the 'Lu Zixi' who has passed away before, but I know how similar this is to my experience. Can you understand that feeling? If it's not a coincidence, I think the person who wrote the script may know me, and most importantly, he may know my dad. Because when some conversations took place, there was no third person besides me and my dad."
"I'm worried this is a coincidence. Maybe this is how children and parents talk all over the world. I'm even more worried it's not a coincidence. If it's not a coincidence, then what is it?" Lu Zixi asked. "Who would adapt part of my past experience with my father into a script and have me act it out now? Why would they do that?"
"Speaking of this," Yan Yunzhen pondered for a moment, "some time ago, your brother, Lu Ziyi, was released from a drug rehabilitation center."
Hearing this familiar yet unfamiliar name, Lu Zixi took a while to react before realizing who Yan Yunzhen was talking about.
His biological brother in his previous life, Lu Ziyi.
He and Lu Ziyi had a mediocre relationship. After Lu Ziyi was arrested for drug use, it had a significant negative impact on him and his father in his previous life. However, up to that point, Lu Zixi still treated him as a family member, hoping that he would turn over a new leaf, but Lu Ziyi clearly didn't agree. After that, Lu Ziyi once tried to poison him at a banquet, but Yan Yunzhen "happened" to pass by and save his life. This incident, as it echoed the plot of the death of the young general in "Clinic No. 58", was particularly vivid in Lu Zixi's memory.
"I didn't want you to be troubled by his affairs, so I secretly hired someone to monitor his every move. He must have known that you were dead, but he didn't contact your father." Yan Yunzhen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Before Christmas last year, we were chatting on the plane, and you told me that you accompanied your father to notarize his will. Your father told you that one of his two sons had enough money, and the other couldn't, so he would donate all his inheritance to the country. But except for you and the people at the notary office, no one knew about this. In everyone's eyes, your father probably left his inheritance to you."
"That's true," Lu Zixi thought for a moment, "but didn't I die earlier than my father? If my father left his inheritance to me, this will would be invalid..."
Lu Zixi stopped talking halfway.
If the will is voided and his father doesn't know he has passed away, then if his father dies, the estate should naturally belong to his only biological brother -
Lu Ziyi.
Yan Yunzhen looked at Lu Zixi's expression and knew that he didn't need to say anything more.
"I realized from the beginning that your death would directly benefit him, but I was afraid you would worry too much, so I didn't tell you about it. Instead, I chose to investigate on your own." Yan Yunzhen said slowly, "So I have been monitoring Lu Ziyi's every move. This time when he was released from the drug rehabilitation center, I have been sending people to observe his next actions."
"What did he do?" Lu Zixi asked in a low voice.
"In fact, he didn't have time to do anything before he relapsed." Yan Yunzhen shrugged, "Then he went back to the drug rehabilitation center."
"Did your people arrange the report?" Lu Zixi asked.
"Yes." Yan Yunzhen admitted, "When he was buying drugs, my people tried to stop him, but failed. In the end, they had no choice but to call the police. Was that wrong?"
"That's right." Lu Zixi exhaled and nodded, seeming to become very tired in an instant. "That's right."
Yan Yunzhen looked at him quietly.
"You really did the right thing." Lu Zixi had to speak again, "If it were me, I would have no choice but to do the same. I just feel that..."
Lu Zixi was a little unable to continue. Yan Yunzhen understood what he meant and spoke for him, "It's a bit sad because he is your family after all. You don't know how he became like this, and you don't know what you should have done to prevent this from happening."
Lu Zixi buried his face deeply in his hands and responded.
"It's not your fault." Yan Yunzhen advised softly, "Time can't be turned back for anyone. Don't make it hard on yourself."
Lu Zixi didn't say anything for a long time, and after a while, he took his hand away.
"I've discovered that I'm very dependent on you spiritually," Lu Zixi said with a wry smile. "When you said that, I suddenly felt a little better. It's like a believer confessing before the Lord and hearing the priest tell him that the Lord will forgive him... The metaphor may not be appropriate, but you get the idea."
"Life is just like this, supporting each other." Yan Yunzhen patted his back and comforted him, "I'm very dependent on you, but you may not realize it. I used to be a worldly person, and it made no difference to me whether I stayed in a hotel or my own house. But now, when I go out, I miss you, the cats and dogs at home, and I want to go home quickly and see you as soon as I open the door... If you're not by my side or at home one day, I'll be very anxious. I don't want to affect you, so I usually don't say it."
"This atmosphere is perfect for a hug." Lu Zixi raised a finger to the urging director, indicating that he would be back in a minute. "Unfortunately, it's not feasible."
Yan Yunzhen smiled and gave him a brotherly hug generously.
Lu Zixi was held in his arms, and suddenly remembered how they had embraced in the beginning. As teenagers, they had been friends under the guise of buddies, wearing the same plain school uniforms while hiding their throbbing hearts. Their chests collided, their sweat blended, their skin rubbed against each other in an intimate and trembling manner.
He didn't know why, but he felt an urge to cry.
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