Huayu: I rely on hit-movie tactics to interweave...

Chapter 66 Waiting Alone

September 15th, Beijing.

Liu Yu stood in front of the mirror in his apartment and looked at his face closely.

He sighed, turned around, grabbed his keys and phone, and went out.

The restaurant I arranged to meet Yan Danchen was on the street opposite the west gate of Beijing Film Academy. It was a small Hunan restaurant that had been open for almost ten years.

The storefront is inconspicuous, sandwiched between a barbershop and a small supermarket.

Liu Yu first came here when he was a freshman. He was brought by a senior from Hunan. After taking a bite of the chopped chili fish head, he knew he would have to come often.

He pushed open the door and went in. The proprietress was doing accounts behind the counter. She looked up, saw Liu Yu, paused for a moment, and then smiled.

"Oh, Director Liu, it's been so long! What would you like to eat today?"

Her Changsha accent was even stronger than Liu Yu's, with a rising intonation at the end of each syllable, which sounded very friendly.

"Waiting for someone, let's have a pot of tea first."

The proprietress quickly brewed a pot of Tieguanyin tea, brought it over on a tray, and also took an extra dish of peanuts.

"It's a gift, please enjoy."

He chose a window seat, from which he could see pedestrians coming and going on the street, as well as the gate of the Beijing Film Academy across the street.

He lit a cigarette, took two puffs, and then put it out.

It wasn't that he didn't want to smoke, but he wanted to get rid of the smell of cigarette smoke before she arrived. She didn't like the smell of cigarette smoke, and before, every time they met, the first thing she would say was, "You're smoking again," and then she would come over and sniff his collar, like a kitten checking its territory.

Thinking of these things, a slight smile appeared on his lips, but he quickly suppressed it.

When Yan Danchen arrived, the tea had already gone cold.

She pushed the door open quietly, but Liu Yu still saw her at first glance.

She was wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, and flat shoes.

She doesn't look like a female celebrity; she looks like an ordinary BJ girl who goes out for a meal, goes shopping, and watches a movie on the weekend, living a day without having to explain herself to anyone.

She saw Liu Yu sitting by the window, walked over and sat down, put her bag on the chair next to her, picked up the teapot on the table, poured herself a cup, and gulped down a big mouthful.

"Have you ordered?" She put down her cup, looked at Liu Yu, and her lips glistened with a little tea stain.

"No, I'm waiting for you."

"Then let's order. I've been starving all day." She picked up the menu, flipped through it, then put it down again. "You order, you know what I like to eat."

Liu Yu took the menu, glanced at it, and didn't open it.

"Boss lady, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, fish head with chopped chili peppers, water spinach with garlic, and a bowl of pork rib and lotus root soup." He paused, then added, "The fish head has to be from a bighead carp, don't try to fool me with grass carp."

The proprietress peeked out from behind the counter. "I know, I know. Bighead carp, fresh, just delivered this morning. Director Liu, you can rest assured."

The two people sat facing each other, separated by a square table covered with a blue and white checkered tablecloth.

Liu Yu noticed that Yan Danchen wasn't wearing the necklace she usually wore when they were together today; her neck was bare.

"You've lost weight," Yan Danchen said first, looking at his face, her gaze moving from his eyes to his chin and back again.

"Really? I've probably been busy lately." Liu Yu subconsciously touched his face. "There's a ton of stuff going on at the company. Filming for 'The Witch' is about to start, and Lionsgate is pushing for progress every day."

"You still need to eat even when you're busy. Do you think you're made of iron?" Her tone was the same as before, tinged with reproach.

"And you? Are you tired from filming lately?"

"It's alright. Filming's almost wrapped up, just over a month left. I've been crying every day, my eyes are almost blind from crying." She pointed to her lower eyelid with her finger. "Look, my dark circles, even foundation can't cover them."

Liu Yu leaned closer for a look. "Hmm, it looks a lot like a panda."

"You're the one who looks like a panda." She glared at him, but the corners of her mouth were turned up.

The dishes are here.

Yan Danchen picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of fish head meat, chewed it twice, and squinted her eyes.

"Mmm, it tastes just like before. This shop has been open for so many years, and the taste has never changed." Her tone was tinged with emotion, as if she were savoring a long-lost hometown dish, or as if she were tasting a time that could never be returned to.

"People have changed," Liu Yu blurted out.

He was stunned for a moment after saying that.

Yan Danchen paused for a moment, her hand holding the chopsticks still. She didn't reply, but lowered her head to drink the soup, the bowl obscuring half her face.

Liu Yu couldn't see her expression clearly, but he noticed that she drank the soup very slowly, sipping it one spoonful at a time.

Halfway through the meal, it started to drizzle outside.

The rain was fine and dense, hitting the windowpane and forming tiny streams that wobbled and trickled down the glass.

Pedestrians on the street quickened their pace; some carried their bags on their heads as they ran, while others took shelter under the awnings in front of shops, waiting for the rain to stop.

Looking out the window, Liu Yu suddenly remembered the first time he ate at this restaurant with Yan Danchen. The weather was just like this, and the rain was just like this, neither too heavy nor too light.

"What are you thinking about?" Yan Danchen's voice pulled him back to reality.

"It's nothing. Just thinking about the past."

"What happened before?"

"I remember the first time you ate fish head at this restaurant, it was so spicy that tears came to your eyes."

Yan Danchen paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Do you remember? That time, because I didn't get selected as Wang Yuyan, I was upset but too embarrassed to cry, so I ate a lot of spicy food and pretended to cry from the spiciness."

"I know," Liu Yu said, looking into her eyes. "I know everything."

Her smile faded slightly, and she lowered her head, using her chopsticks to stir the rice in her bowl, counting each grain as if she were doing so.

After dinner, the rain lessened a bit.

The two walked along the road towards the movie theater under umbrellas; Yan Danchen's umbrella was light purple, and Liu Yu's umbrella was pure black.

She didn't offer to share an umbrella with him, and neither did he. They each held their own umbrella, with a half-step distance between them.

Yan Danchen stopped as she passed a milk tea shop.

"I want to drink milk tea."

"Didn't you just finish eating?"

"Dessert after a meal, you know?" She rolled her eyes at Liu Yu, walked to the counter, and said, "A red bean milk tea, no ice, 30% sugar."

She turned to look at Liu Yu. "What do you want?"

"Original flavor, regular ice, extra sugar."

"Aren't you afraid of gaining weight from drinking such sweet drinks?"

"I run five kilometers every day and I don't gain weight."

The shop assistant handed over two cups of milk tea, and Yan Danchen handed the original flavor cup to Liu Yu.

He knew she liked red beans; he knew it from the very first time they met.

She has a habit when drinking milk tea: she likes to stir the beans at the bottom of the cup with a straw, stirring them back and forth without drinking, as if she's waiting for something.

The two bought tickets, and when they entered, the lights were already off, and the screen was showing GG.

Liu Yu found a seat and sat down. Yan Danchen sat next to him, with an armrest between them.

She placed the milk tea in the cup holder on the armrest, and Liu Yu noticed her fingers moving around.

The movie begins.

In "Waiting Alone," Xia Yu plays Chen Wen, an antique shop assistant who dreams of becoming a writer.

He fell in love with Liu Rong, played by Li Bingbing, an actress who was beautiful, independent, and unpredictable.

Chen Wen followed his "secret manual for pursuing women" step by step, confessing his feelings, being rejected, confessing again, and being rejected again.

He thought love was a game, and that as long as you followed the rules, you could win.

He later discovered that there are no rules in love; sometimes you do everything right, but it still ends up being wrong.

Sometimes you think you're together, but you're just a passerby in her life.

At the end of the movie, Chen Wen stands alone in the antique shop, looking at Liu Rong's photo, and says in a monologue, "Either live well, or hurry up and die."

The screen went dark, and the lights came on.

The audience stood up and walked out; some stretched, and some discussed the plot.

Liu Yu didn't move, and neither did Yan Danchen. The two of them sat there, staring at the blank screen.

"I'm leaving." Yan Danchen stood up first and took the empty milk tea cup.

After leaving the movie theater, the two strolled around the mall.

Yan Danchen tried on a red dress in a clothing store, twirled in front of the mirror, and asked, "Does it look good?"

"nice."

"Really?"

She smiled, a hint of hesitation in her smile, and then took the dress off and hung it back up.

"Why aren't you buying?" Liu Yu leaned against the door frame.

"There's no suitable occasion to wear it." She paused, her eyes fixed on the dress. "Even if I bought it, it would just hang in the closet collecting dust. I could wear it when I went out to eat with you before, but now you're eating with those Hollywood people every day, and if I wear a red dress, they'll think I'm a waitress."

Liu Yu was stunned for a moment. "Waitress? You've ever seen such a beautiful waitress?"

"Don't even try that." She hung the skirt back on the hanger, turned around, and left.

She took a couple of steps, then turned back. "You just said I was pretty?"

"I said 'so beautiful,' not just 'beautiful.' 'So beautiful' is a much deeper term than 'beautiful.'"

"You're just good with words." She turned her head and continued walking, but Liu Yu noticed that the tips of her ears were red.

The two of them visited a few more stores.

Yan Danchen bought a book, Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood," saying she would read it when she was bored on set.

Liu Yu bought a CD, Pu Shu's "Life is Like Summer Flowers", an album from 2003, which he only bought now.

"Didn't you hear about it before? Why are you only buying it now?" Yan Danchen picked up the CD case and flipped through it.

"I've heard of it, but I haven't bought it. I always felt like I'd owe them money if I bought it." Liu Yu stuffed the CD into his bag. "I'll make up for it now."

""

The car was parked on the side of the road. Liu Yu opened the car door, Yan Danchen got in, he walked around to the other side and got into the driver's seat, and started the car.

The radio turned on automatically and played an old song. Liu Yu listened for a few lines before recognizing it as Eason Chan's "Ten Years".

Songs from 2003 are now playing everywhere.

He reached out to turn it off, but then felt it would be even more awkward, so he just left it there.

As the car entered the main road, the wipers occasionally brushed against the windshield, leaving fine streaks of rain.

Yan Danchen leaned back in her chair, clutching the plastic bag containing the book in her hand.

Liu Yu gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Her home is in a quiet neighborhood near the North Third Ring Road. It's not new.

Liu Yu turned off the engine, the vibration disappeared, and the car suddenly became quiet, so quiet that you could hear the two of them breathing.

The two sat in the car, neither of them speaking.

"Liu Yu," Yan Danchen said. Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of waking something.

"Hmm." He didn't turn to look at her, his eyes fixed on the windshield.

Let's break up.

1

The air seemed frozen.

Liu Yu's fingers remained motionless on the steering wheel.

The light from the streetlights shone through the windshield, casting a half-light, half-shadow on his face.

His expression didn't change much, but his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

There was no sound; it felt like something was stuck in his throat, a dry, astringent feeling.

After several seconds, he turned to look at her.

Her profile looked soft in the streetlight, with a high nose, long eyelashes, and slightly pursed lips.

She didn't look at him, but stared ahead, her gaze fixed on a thin line of water on the windshield, as if she were looking at something very, very far away.

"What's wrong?" His voice was very calm, so calm that even he was surprised.

Something is sinking in my heart, not a stone, but sand, slowly leaking, slowly leaking, until it reaches the bottom, and it's still leaking.

He tried to reach out and hold her hand, but his fingers twitched and didn't lift.

Yan Danchen did not answer immediately.

She placed the copy of "Norwegian Wood" on her lap, her fingers tracing the cover.

"Liu Yu, I'm tired." She finally turned to look at him, a slight smile on her lips. There was no sadness or resentment in that smile, just a calm one.

"It's not being with you that's tiring. It's this kind of life that's tiring." Her voice was flat, as if she were talking about something unrelated to herself. "Every day when I open my eyes, it's all about announcements, scripts, press conferences, and scandals. Today you're photographed having dinner with this person, tomorrow you're rumored to be auditioning with that person. I don't want to be scrolling through the news on my phone every day, seeing if you're in the headlines with someone again. Liu Yifei's matter isn't over yet, and now Fan Binbin is here too."

Liu Yu opened his mouth, as if to explain something.

He realized he had nothing to explain. He had attended Liu Yifei's birthday party and Fan Bingbing's dinner party. The photos were real, and although the news was exaggerated, he had indeed met the people in those photos.

He had nothing with Liu Yifei, and nothing with Fan Bingbing either.

"I've thought a lot about this lately," Yan Danchen said, her voice lowering. "From your return from America last month, to Liu Yifei's birthday party, to Fan Binbin's dinner party, I've seen it all. I didn't say anything, not a word. Not because I'm magnanimous, but because I didn't know what to say. If I said anything, I'd seem petty, suspicious all the time. If I didn't say anything, I'd feel uneasy."

She took a deep breath, her chest heaving.

Liu Yu noticed that her eyes were red, but no tears fell.

"Later I figured it out." She looked into Liu Yu's eyes, her gaze calm. "The problem isn't who you eat with, it's that I don't even know who you eat with. Your world is too big, too big for me to squeeze into."

Liu Yu leaned back in his seat, looking at the car logo on the steering wheel.

"I misunderstood." His voice was a little hoarse. "I always thought that as long as I was good to you, nothing else mattered. Now I realize that what matters isn't whether I'm good to you or not, it's—"

He paused, unsure how to continue.

"Is it that you can be by my side?" Yan Danchen finished speaking for him.

The car fell silent for a moment.

"I can't do it."

"You're not wrong. Neither am I." Yan Danchen's voice lowered. "It's just that we're on different paths now."

In the beginning, you were filming "A Moment to Remember," and I was filming "A Moment to Remember." We were in the same production team and saw each other every day.

You were behind the monitor, I was in front of the camera. After work, we ate boxed lunches together. You ate stir-fried green peppers with pork, I ate scrambled eggs with tomatoes. I gave you your green peppers, and you gave me my tomatoes. Do you remember?

"I remember." Liu Yu's voice was much calmer than he had expected.

"And now? You're in Los Angeles, and I'm in Hengdian. You're in Beijing, and I'm in Shanghai. We can't even see each other for half a month. Sometimes when we call, you say you're in a meeting, and I say I'm filming. We hang up after a few words. After hanging up, I think, what did I just say? It seems like I didn't say anything at all."

"Do you remember when we last had dinner together?" she asked.

Liu Yu thought for a moment, then realized he couldn't remember. "—June?"

"Yeah. I came back from filming, and you rushed over from the company. We ate hot pot at the one in Mudan Garden. You ordered tripe, and I ordered duck intestines. You said tripe tastes best when cooked for fifteen seconds, and I said duck intestines should be cooked for ten seconds."

Her voice was calm, as if she were reciting a date, "I remember it very clearly because that day was the happiest day of my life during this period."

Liu Yu fell silent.

"Liu Yu, you can't give me what I want." Her eyes finally reddened, tears welling up. "It's not that you're unwilling, it's that you can't do it. Your business is too big—the company, the projects, the team—so many people depend on you for their livelihood. You can't stop, and I don't want you to stop."

She paused, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

"The life I want is simple. After filming, I come home to find someone waiting for me. We cook together, watch TV together, and take walks together. On weekends, we go grocery shopping and stroll in the park. It doesn't have to be dramatic, just simple and peaceful. But you're not someone who can live a simple life. You're ambitious, you have aspirations, you want to make blockbusters, you want to win awards, you want to go to Hollywood. There's nothing wrong with that, it's even what attracts me most about you. But—"

Before she finished speaking, Liu Yu understood.

"Are you really sure?"

Yan Danchen nodded, her movements gentle but firm.

She nodded slightly, as if answering a question she had been asked many times before, one that she no longer needed to think about.

Liu Yu paused for a moment, then smiled.

There was no bitterness in that smile; it was one of relief.

He had been married and divorced three times in his past life. Every time a relationship ended, he would be devastated, feeling like the sky had fallen and his life was over.

Later he discovered that the sky hadn't fallen, and his life wasn't over yet.

Eat when you're supposed to eat, make money when you're supposed to make money, and live when you're supposed to live.

When it comes to feelings, you can't stop them when they come, and you can't keep them when they leave.

Being able to accompany someone for a while is already a matter of fate.

He reached out and took Yan Danchen's hand. Her hand was cold, and her fingertips trembled slightly.

Okay. I respect your decision.

Yan Danchen's tears finally fell.

It wasn't a torrent of tears, but two drops that slowly seeped from her eyes, slid down her cheeks, paused at her chin, and then dripped onto the cover of "Norwegian Wood" on her lap.

"Can we still be friends?" she asked, her voice trembling with tears, though a smile played on her lips.

Liu Yu looked at her and knew that she wasn't just being polite; she genuinely wanted to ask.

When we're together, we're lovers; when we break up, we don't want to become strangers. In this circle, couples who can part amicably are few and far between.

Most people never speak to each other again after breaking up. If they happen to bump into each other at an event, they don't even greet each other, acting like two complete strangers.

"Yes. Of course." Liu Yu released her hand, pulled a tissue from the storage compartment and handed it to her. "If you ever get bullied in the future, tell me. I'll stand up for you."

Yan Danchen took the tissue and wiped her tears, then laughed at those words.

"Who can you back you up? You're not a gangster."

"I'm a director. If any actor dares to bully you, I'll never use them in my films again."

"Your method of revenge is too childish."

"As long as it works."

They both laughed, but as they laughed, Yan Danchen's tears fell again.

This time she couldn't hold back and wiped it with the back of her hand, covering her face with it.

She blew her nose, took two deep breaths, and looked up at Liu Yu.

Her eyes and nose were red, but her expression had calmed down.

"I'm going up. Drive carefully on your way back, don't go too fast."

She pushed open the car door, her movements slower than usual, as if she was hesitating about something.

She took one leg out, then paused, and glanced back at him.

"Um."

"Let me know when you arrive."

"good.