Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

The next day, in the morning, Li Yunshan took Lin Xiulan and Dou Dou to the county cinema to watch a movie.

The movie is called "Romance on Lushan Mountain," and it's a new film that was released last year.

The film tells the story of two young people who have an infinite love for their motherland, fall in love at first sight, and eventually become deeply in love.

Strictly speaking, this is a romance film, and it also marked the first kiss on the big screen in Chinese film history, opening the door to love for young people in China. It also achieved the Guinness World Record for "the longest continuous run of a film in the same theater in the world," which shows how popular the film was in China at the time.

According to the ticket seller at the county cinema, the film was only imported from the provincial capital a month ago. As soon as it was shown at the county cinema, it was almost always sold out, and tickets were hard to come by.

However, Li Yunshan and his group arrived early, for the earliest screening. So after buying their tickets and entering the screening hall, they found that although the occupancy rate was not as exaggerated as the ticket seller had said, reaching the point where every screening was sold out, it was still at least 70% full.

The lights in the screening room went out, the movie began, and accompanied by melodious songs, the camera slowly revealed the magnificent scenery of Mount Lu: the cloud-shrouded peaks, the waterfalls cascading down, and the golden-red sunlight in the morning light. Every frame was like a splashed-ink landscape painting.

Li Yunshan held Dou Dou in his arms, while Lin Xiulan sat in a chair, watching the scene on the screen with her eyes glued to it.

Although Lin Xiulan had seen movies before, they were seen in the village, which was a very different experience from watching movies in a movie theater.

In those days, there were very few entertainment options, whether in rural areas or county towns.

The county town is better; at least there's a movie theater. But in the countryside, there's nothing. Besides being busy with farm work, the only form of entertainment for everyone is listening to others chat and gossip in the village.

However, there are still opportunities to watch movies in rural areas, just fewer opportunities, because the county's film projection team will come to the village once a year to show movies for the villagers, bringing them a rare form of entertainment.

Whenever a movie was shown, it was the liveliest time in the entire village, and even in the surrounding area.

Not only did people from the entire village scramble to find the best seats to watch the movie, but villagers from many nearby villages would also come in the dark with flashlights or torches.

Last year, when the county's film projection team came to Guapigou Village to show a movie, they packed the village's threshing ground to capacity. The next day, when the county's film projection team came to show a movie in the neighboring village, the villagers of Guapigou Village also flocked there.

Although it was the same movie, everyone still enjoyed watching it even after watching it a second time.

There's no other way; there are so few entertainment options these days. Watching movies is one of the few pastimes and forms of enjoyment available to the villagers.

However, when the county's film projection team showed movies in the villages, it was noisy and chaotic all around, and people were packed together, unlike in a movie theater where everyone sat quietly in their seats and watched the movie attentively.

As the scene unfolds, shots of Mount Lu are revealed to the audience along with the appearance of the female protagonist, Zhou Yun.

The film tells the story of Zhou Yun, an overseas Chinese girl, who returns to her motherland and the familiar Lushan Mountain after five years. Her thoughts inevitably turn to the story of the young man Geng Hua she met in Lushan Mountain when she returned to China five years ago.

As the plot unfolds, the female protagonist Zhou Yun and the male protagonist Geng Hua go from being strangers to becoming acquainted, and then to being attracted to each other.

All of this seems wonderful, but life is like ocean waves, and you will always encounter turbulence.

One day, the female protagonist, Zhou Yun, went to the male protagonist, Geng Hua's, house to find him, only to be met by Geng Hua's mother, who told her that Geng Hua had been taken away to write a confession.

In that particular era, even normal interactions between young people were over-interpreted. Zhou Yun felt guilty, believing that she had implicated Geng Hua, so she decided to leave without saying goodbye.

Time flies, and five years have passed in the blink of an eye. During these five years, Zhou Yun returned to the United States, and Geng Hua was admitted to Tsinghua University. They each endured the pain of missing each other, but neither of them contacted the other.

Until 1979, when the spring breeze of reform and opening up swept across the motherland, Zhou Yun came to Lushan again, and Geng Hua also came here to participate in academic activities.

Returning to familiar places, everything has changed. When the two meet again in a familiar spot, they discover that they have never forgotten each other.

Amidst the picturesque landscape of Lushan, Zhou Yun shyly kissed Geng Hua's cheek.

Although the scene of Zhou Yun kissing Geng Hua on the cheek lasted only three seconds, it was like a thunderclap, shocking the audience in the entire screening room.

When the scene on the movie screen reached this point, the young men and women in the theater were momentarily stunned, then erupted in thunderous applause that lasted for nearly a minute before gradually dissipating.

Lin Xiulan blushed shyly, resting her head on Li Yunshan's shoulder, but couldn't help but steal a glance.

Unfortunately, when she looked at the movie screen again, the movie had already switched to other scenes.

"How could she kiss a man on the cheek in a movie?"

Lin Xiulan asked shyly in Li Yunshan's ear.

In Lin Xiulan's memory, there had never been a scene in the movies she had shown at the film projection team where an actress took the initiative to kiss a male actor.

"This is love. Love is love itself. Love doesn't need to be hidden; it should be expressed bravely and passionately. It doesn't need to be disguised with lofty names; it's simply the mutual affection between a man and a woman from the bottom of their hearts," Li Yunshan explained.

"oh!"

Lin Xiulan listened, seemingly understanding but not quite.

However, she remembered one thing she said.

In the latter half of the film, Zhou Yun and Geng Hua, who have reunited, decide to get married. They each send a telegram to their parents, hoping to receive their blessings.

What Zhou Yun and Geng Hua didn't know was that their fathers were actually old acquaintances. Back in the Whampoa Military Academy, Zhou Yun and her father were classmates and friends with Geng Hua's father. Later, because they chose different paths, they became adversaries on the battlefield.

Zhou Yun was worried: would Geng Hua's father still agree to her being with Geng Hua if he knew whose daughter she was?

Geng Hua thought to himself, "No matter what my background is, I only know that I love Zhou Yun."

When the parents of both families learned the truth, Geng Hua's father wavered for a time, but in the end he still chose to give the young couple their blessing.

Geng Hua's father said, "Children, you are free. The grudges of the previous generation should not affect the next generation."

He chose tolerance and looked forward.

At the end of the film, Zhou Yun's family and Geng Hua's family reunite in Lushan and take a group photo.

Former comrades-in-arms, later became adversaries on the battlefield, and finally became in-laws. This is not just a reconciliation between two people, but a reconciliation between two worlds.

"Yunshan, so... do you genuinely like me?"

As Lin Xiulan walked out of the movie theater, she looked at Li Yunshan with a shy expression but a firm and unwavering gaze.

"Of course, I genuinely like you."

Li Yunshan said it with almost no hesitation.

This reminded Li Yunshan of his past life, when he met Lin Xiulan.

At that time, Lin Xiulan was thin and disheveled because she had been fleeing famine and sometimes went hungry.

He found Lin Xiulan, who had fainted from hunger, gave her a full meal, and kindly took her home.

His eyes lit up after she washed the dirt off her face.

If, in his past life, his first sight of Lin Xiulan was driven by lust...

After the two parted ways, when he fell seriously ill and was nearing the end of his life, Lin Xiulan, who had previously had almost no contact with him, took the initiative to take care of him, which made Li Yunshan realize that Lin Xiulan had always had him in her heart.

However, he made a foolish mistake and lost Lin Xiulan.

When he was critically ill and on his deathbed, he suddenly remembered how wrong he had been in his previous life.

Now that he has been reborn, how could he not genuinely like a woman as gentle, virtuous, and thrifty as Lin Xiulan?

Although this was a belated affection, he would never lose her again.

This was true not only for Lin Xiulan, but also for Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua.

However, Su Lihua would probably be returning to the city soon, so he would have to keep this affection hidden in his heart from now on.

Upon hearing Li Yunshan's affirmative answer, Lin Xiulan's shy face beamed with a genuine smile of joy.

Over the next few days, Li Yunshan took Lin Xiulan and Dou Dou to see almost everything that was fun in the county town.

Go shopping at the department store, go to the cinema to watch a movie.

The department store was filled with a dazzling array of goods. Li Yunshan bought food, clothes and other necessities not only for himself, Lin Xiulan and Dou Dou, but also for his elder brother and sister-in-law, his elder brother's two nephews, his mother and his second sister.

I bought four thick cotton-padded coats for each of my elder brother and sister-in-law's family of four. I also bought my elder brother a pair of leather gloves and a leather hat.

My older brother works at the Hongxing Forestry Farm. The weather in the mountains is colder than in the village, so he must be feeling warm wearing these clothes.

I also bought two boxes of face cream for my sister-in-law. She has been taking care of the housework and serving my mother for many years. Although she is a bit greedy for small gains, she is a pretty good person overall.

In this freezing weather, doing housework like washing vegetables and dishes can easily cause your hands to crack from the cold. Applying some cold cream can help prevent your hands from cracking.

Then, I bought clothes, hats, and cotton shoes for my eldest brother's two children, and malted milk powder, honey, and cotton clothes and shoes for my mother as well.

After buying clothes for his elder brother's family, Li Yunshan also bought clothes for his own family of three, and also bought a new outfit for Gao Hongmei and Su Lihua.

When they had finished playing in the county town and were ready to go home, they packed up all the things they had bought, filling three large bags.

With all the food, drinks, clothes, and other necessities we have, we could open a small shop in Guapigou Village when we get back.

Are you tired?

On the way to the bus station, Lin Xiulan, holding Dou Dou's hand, saw Li Yunshan ahead, his hands busy, and asked with concern.

"Not tired at all, not tired at all."

Li Yunshan chuckled and said that he was someone who could carry two deer, weighing a total of about 400 jin (200 catties), for seven or eight li (3.5-4 km) of mountain road without stopping. Carrying these four bags full of things was a piece of cake for him.