Huayu: Reborn in 97, transferring to the Central Academy of Drama's star-studded class

If Beijing in the 1990s gave people a feeling of grandeur and down-to-earth charm, then Shanghai gave people a feeling of sophistication.

It became a modern and international city long ago, full of prosperity and sophistication. What's that word again?

modern.

Jiang Lai didn't understand why these two words together represented fashion, but they just sounded trendy.

So how could such a refined place allow the dirty Suzhou Creek to exist? Thus, a decree was issued.

Rectification.

Under the tide of the times, the Suzhou Creek has completed its mission. Whether it is out of disdain or a desire to restore nature, the past of this river has reached the point of exiting the stage of history.

Jiang Lai strolled along the riverbank. The low houses and dilapidated factories had been marked with a large "demolish" sign at some point.

He also understood why Lou Ye was so eager to make the movie. Perhaps soon, the two banks of the river would be completely different and would no longer be the Suzhou River in Lou Ye's memory.

Jiang Lai exhaled a puff of smoke and stepped onto the riverbank. Perhaps because he had spent too much time with Lou Ye and the others, he inexplicably carried a touch of melancholy, like an artistic youth.

Looking at the gray sky and the dark green river, Jiang Lai was suddenly inspired to write poetry.

"Ah! Shanghai, your sky is not blue, your water is not clear, yet you are called the Bund."

At this moment, a short, cute girl next to her rolled her eyes and said, "What kind of utter nonsense are you reciting?"

What a disappointment!

Jiang Lai was feeling quite good about himself when someone criticized him, so he put his hands behind his back and sighed, "Nobody in this world understands me."

The short, cute girl practically rolled her eyes.

"Hey, why are you following me around every day?" Jiang Lai returned to normal and stopped playing the non-mainstream game.

Zhou Xun got angry at the mention of this and retorted bluntly, "If I really called you 'big brother,' I'd only have scenes with you left. If you're not afraid of me, what else can I do?"

Jiang Lai was a little embarrassed for a moment.

These past few days he's been searching for that so-called feeling, trying to figure out what Mada is trying to prove. The filming work has been basically completed long ago, and Lou Ye has been forced to start scouting locations. To put it nicely, it's to prepare materials for post-production editing; to put it bluntly, it's just to give the crew something to do when they have nothing else to do.

If Jiang Lai weren't an investor, Lou Ye would have wanted to beat him up.

Jiang Lai thought that this was the only way to proceed, but it was a pity that he hadn't fully grasped the character.

"You're no longer filming movies about peonies, so why are you still wearing two ponytails?"

"Mind your own business!"

The two people, one older and one younger, walked back, bickering as usual.

As Jiang Lai was about to walk back to the hotel, he saw a rather peculiar scene.

A narrow, old, and dilapidated dock, clearly built by the residents along the river, was being dismantled by many workers in vests. An old man calmly carried goods from a small boat.

After the workers finished dismantling the boat, the old man also finished moving the goods. He casually tied the boat rope to a wooden stake, but without a dock, he had to wade into the stinking water, one step at a time.

Jiang Lai, on a sudden impulse, walked over and asked, "Uncle, since we can't run boats on the river anymore, how will you live?"

The old man didn't speak, glanced at Jiang Lai, climbed over the riverbank, stomped on the mud on the ground, and slowly pulled a pipe from his waistband, his rough hands groping his body.

Jiang Lai quickly took out a lighter and stepped forward. The old man was taken aback, curiously looked at the young man, accepted the kindness, took out some tobacco leaves from his pipe and stuffed them into the mouth of the pipe, and turned his head to let Jiang Lai light it.

He took a deep sip, and the deep wrinkles on the old man's face seemed to smooth out.

"How else can we live? We'll just live like this."

"Have you always been sailing on this river?" Jiang Lai asked again.

The old man was perhaps not a talkative person; he simply nodded.

"So, do you think this place should be demolished?"

The old man took another puff of his cigarette, pursed his lips, and seemed to be seriously considering the question.

"It should be demolished."

Several laborers approached from a distance, presumably to pick up the goods. The old man got up to greet them, but after taking only two steps, he stopped, turned back, and added:

"This river wasn't dirty before."

The Suzhou Creek supports 100,000 people along its banks, but it has also brought them trouble.

They dumped garbage and excrement into the river. It was alright in winter, but in the height of summer, the stench and flies were unbearable.

Perhaps this river is teeming with life, but at the same time it bears a burden of filth that it should not have to bear.

It is precisely because of this filth that even though it sustains so many people, they will not thank the Suzhou River, just as humanity will not thank Luo Ji.

But this river wasn't dirty before.

Jiang Lai suddenly understood what Ma Da was trying to prove.

Mada wasn't a bad person before.

He was once a spirited young man who dreamed of making a name for himself on his beloved motorcycle.

The appearance of the peony awakened his youthful spirit.

His frantic search for peonies was an attempt to prove that he wasn't a bad person, not a worthless person abandoned like the Suzhou River.

"I understand!" Jiang Lai shouted excitedly.

"What do you understand?" Zhou Xun tilted her head in confusion.

"I get it! I get it! Hahaha!"

Jiang Lai gave that small, thin body a tight hug, then skipped and laughed as he ran towards the hotel.

Zhou Xun stood there, bewildered, yet a smile crept onto her lips.

"fool."

She skipped and hopped towards the hotel, her two ponytails swaying back and forth.

The movie "Suzhou River" tells two love stories: one is the love between Mada and Mudan, and the other is the love between Meimei and the narrator "I".

Lou Ye believed that Mada and Mudan's love story was a fairytale romance set against a sordid reality. He later commented on Mada as follows:

"Mada is the kind of person who transitioned from animal to human, and before he even had a chance to get dressed, he was thrown into the Suzhou River."

This can be understood as Mada being thrown into society before he was ready to become an adult.

The fact that Mada is desperately searching for Peony has a fairytale quality to it.

So when Meimei heard Mada recount this love story, she was dazed, because her love with "me" was the kind of love that exists in the adult world.

Meimei and "I" got along very well. They drank, they chatted, and they made love in the room, but they both understood that it was all temporary. Adult love doesn't last forever.

In the video, Zhou Xun, heavily made up and looking like a glamorous little enchantress, asked in a husky voice, "What does your peony look like?"

Jiang Lai adjusted his posture, his eyes filled with reminiscence.

"She had two small braids, wore a red and white checkered tracksuit, black sneakers and pants, and carried a black backpack."

"Anything else?"

"Also, she has a peony pattern on her left leg."

Zhou Xun smiled disdainfully with her cold and beautiful face, "Peony flowers like that are sold everywhere."

Jiang Lai stared directly at her. "Do you?"

"I didn't. I'm not your peony."

Zhou Xun lowered her head, a strange emotion flickering in her eyes, and suddenly asked, "What if I told you I have it too?"

I don't believe it.

"You don't believe me? Want to see for yourself?"

Zhou Xun grinned, her red lips radiating a predatory lust. She stood up, lifted her red dress, and revealed a vibrant peony on her thigh.

In the story, Meimei and Mada slept together.

In the scene, Jiang Lai is on top of Zhou Xun, who is stroking his back and murmuring dreamily, "Am I the peony you're looking for?"

Of course not. Peony is peony, and Meimei is just Meimei.

What Mei Mei fell in love with was just that fairytale-like love story, and the eternity she could never reach.

Just like when she asked that "me" at the end:

"If I leave one day, will you look for me like Mada did?"

Yes, I will.

"Will you keep searching?"

Yes, I will.

"Will they keep searching until they die?"

Yes, I will.

"You're lying. Things like that only happen in love stories."