Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 37 The Dumb House

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Nuo and his family came to pay New Year's greetings, carrying large and small bags of Xichuan local specialties.

First, they went to the courtyard of Zhang Yiyi's family. Although Zhang Yiyi was not there, Chen Bicheng said that Zhang Yiyi was the first noble person Chen Nuo had met, and he must be the first to visit him to wish him a happy new year. Zhang Yiyi's parents were pleasantly surprised to receive Chen Nuo and his family of three.

The two families greeted each other and had lunch. Chen Bicheng and his family didn't plan to stay for lunch, but they couldn't resist the enthusiasm of Zhang Yiyi's parents, so they made dumplings together.

When Pan Chengrong left, he said that this meal of dumplings was the most comfortable meal he had ever had since he came to Beijing.

In the afternoon, the family of three arrived at Li Er's house. The things they took were almost the same as those they took to Zhang Yi's house, except that one of the massagers was replaced with the skin care products selected by Pan Chengrong.

Li Er's home is not in the Film Academy, but in the family compound of Renmin University, because her husband is a professor at Renmin University. This makes Chen Nuo and Chen Bicheng almost in awe. The house here is quite old, and the walls are covered with green ivy, which makes people feel as if they can feel the cultural heritage of the long years.

However, Li Er's room was decorated in a very modern, pure Mediterranean style. When the family arrived, Qi Yuntian opened the door and smiled when he saw Chen Nuo: "The young master is here."

The sound of Li Er scolding Qi Yuntian could probably be heard upstairs and downstairs.

Li Er's husband is Qi Yifei, who teaches economics at Renmin University. He seems to be older than Li Er, with gray hair, glasses, and a gentle and elegant appearance. He looks like a completely different person from Chen Bicheng, a country coal boss with a big body.

But when everyone sat together and chatted, he and Chen Bicheng actually got along quite well. When Chen Bicheng talked about his experience as a coal boss, he shook his head again and again: "Wild growth is not a long-term solution. We need to re-plan the industry, standardize it, integrate it, and use regular troops instead of guerrillas. Otherwise, something will go wrong sooner or later."

Li Er rolled his eyes at him and said, "Okay, stop talking about your ambitions. Chen Nuo, some time ago, before Zhang Yiyi went abroad, he came to me and brought me a videotape, saying it was a rough cut of the movie you shot. He asked me to watch it with you when you finish filming and return to Beijing. Do you want to show it now? Your parents are here too, so let them see your achievements."

Pan Chengrong was quite excited: "Okay, okay, Mr. Li, please help me. To be honest, we really don't know what kind of movie he made. When we asked him a few questions, he said we didn't understand. We don't understand, but we are indeed a little curious."

Chen Bicheng also said: "It's actually useless for us to watch, we just want to have fun. The main thing is to ask Teacher Li for your comments and guidance, point out Chen Nuo's problems and faults, so that he can learn and improve. Chen Nuo, did you hear me?"

"heard it."

Afterwards, Li Er drew the curtains, which had a good light-blocking effect, and the room was pitch black. Except for the slightly inferior screen and speakers, the atmosphere was almost the same as that of a movie theater.

The first thing that appeared on the TV screen was Chen Nuo's face.

There was no prelude.

His eyes, nose, mouth and ears suddenly occupied the 42-inch screen.

His face was dirty, covered with black dust and yellow mud. His facial features, like those carved by a knife, were very handsome, as if they had been honed by the wind and sand of the north for thousands of years, full of a sense of time and graininess, with a masculine beauty.

Only his eyes...

What a cowardly and pitiful pair of eyes they were.

Timid, frightened, and cowering, these eyes are like a rabbit that has been caught. It is finished, unable to escape, waiting to be skinned. It is desperate, so its eyes are so frightened.

And the mouth, the mouth on the screen was twisting and twitching.

Again and again.

This person wanted to smile in a flattering way, to show it to the person outside the picture. But he didn't even have the courage to smile completely. Every time he gathered up his courage, it would dissipate in the next second, thus forming a nervous tremor.

His expression formed a strange contrast with his appearance, making people feel physically uncomfortable and uneasy.

Suddenly, a slap came in from outside the screen and slapped the face hard.

"Clap" sound.

The screen went black.

Five pale white words "The Dumb's House" appeared on the screen.

Chen Nuo heard Pan Chengrong breathing heavily.

The screen brightened again. A skinny old man jumped up and down, swearing and slapping the mute on the head, body and legs, causing him to run around the yard.

"If you dare to mess with Xiao Zhu again, I will beat you to death!"

The mute bent over, lowered his head, and smiled flatteringly. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The old man chased him away in a hurry, and his back looked like a dog.

Chen Nuo noticed from the corner of his eye that Pan Chengrong was wiping her tears, and also heard Chen Bicheng cough lightly.

The plot slowly unfolds.

Xiao Zhu brought him some porridge. They were childhood sweethearts.

But there is more of the ridicule from neighbors and bullying from peers. The pair of legs crossing over the head is even just a microcosm. There are countless details that depict the mute who is collectively bullied in the alley.

The late-night breakup, the stumbling figures in the dark alley, and the silent crying constitute the final impression of this alley - it is a black prison of humanity.

Chen Nuo seemed to be watching this movie with two pairs of eyes. One pair of eyes saw the mute, and the other pair of eyes saw himself.

Zhang Yiyi once told him that every creation of a work is a process of childbirth and nurturing. It is not just about giving birth to a character, but also about letting him grow, letting him use your body, mind and soul as nourishment, and eventually growing up and leaving you.

Chen Nuo wanted to tell Zhang Yiyi that at this moment he finally understood.

He personally condensed the mute's flesh and blood bit by bit from his own body, and weaved the mute's soul bit by bit from his emotions. He personally created the character of the mute out of nothingness. However, his ultimate goal was not to make the mute inseparable from him, but to let the mute have an independent life that has nothing to do with him.

He is dumb, but he is not dumb.

Chen Nuo was full of thoughts, but the plot of the movie continued.

After breaking up with Xiaozhu, the mute decided to build his own house.

He walked out of the city barefoot, went to the mountain, and began to dig a house in the ground.

He started by digging with his hands, then he picked up garbage to get a hoe and a dustpan. But just when he made a little progress, a heavy rain ruined everything, and he had to start all over again.

Just like this, one blow after another, one reconstruction after another.

The dumb man's house became more and more efficient as he dug it, and it became more and more solid. He learned how to reinforce the earth walls, level the ground, and make the dug room look more like a room. He also learned how to build the direction of the cave entrance to resist the erosion of rain, and learned how to catch mice from the ground to eat.

There is nothing in the mountains, but everything in the city. However, the mountains gave the dumb everything, while the city deprived him of everything.

Finally, when the mute roared to the sky in despair and anger, Chen Nuo found himself unknowingly welling up in tears.

The mountains and wilds returned the things that the city had taken away from the mute, but the mute wanted to go back to the city. So in the end, the city girl in the building took away his faith and hope.

This heavy blow completely crushed the mute.

He returned to the mountains, crawled into the house he had dug from the cave, and lay down in the bedroom surrounded by mud. The camera slowly pulled up, and he seemed to have merged into the earth in his grayish-yellow color.

The camera moves higher and higher across the ground, and then the audience sees the mute's house from the air for the first time.

It was a high mound of earth.

The dumb man's house is not really a house.

It's a tomb.

It was his final destination that had been destined for him.

(End of this chapter)