Chapter 90 Beginning and Ending In mid-January, Director Li Yang contacted Xu Kun and others who were filming on the crew, and asked if they wanted to go to the Berlin Film Festival with him after the Chinese New Year. This year's Berlin Film Festival started on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year and ended on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. Including the preparations before and after, it took almost half a month. Li Yixiang was the first one to refuse, as his performances were mostly scheduled after the New Year. Wang Baoqiang was the second one to refuse, because he heard that no one would reimburse the round-trip travel expenses, and Li Yang would have to pay for everyone's travel expenses out of his own pocket. He did not want to add burden to Li Yang, nor was he willing to pay for it himself. Xu Kun originally wanted to go, even if he didn't gain anything in the end, it would be good to gain some knowledge. But at this time, an accident happened to the crew. The Chinese New Year was approaching and everyone was getting ready for the holiday, but Director Liu suddenly disappeared for two days, and when he came back he stayed in the editing room and refused to go out. At first no one knew what had happened, and there were even rumors that there was a problem with the investors and that "The Young Emperor" could not continue filming. Later, seeing that people were in such a panic, Teacher Pan Hong quietly clarified privately that it was director Liu Heng's father who had suddenly passed away. This news must be more difficult for Director Liu Heng to accept than the investors withdrawing their capital, but the crew has finally stabilized a little - complete stability is impossible, although even if Director Liu is unable to recover, the investors will replace him to continue filming, but if there is a disconnect between the front and the back, the play will be ruined.
Fortunately, these worries are unnecessary. Three days later, Director Liu Heng came out of the editing room. He had lost a lot of weight, his eye sockets were sunken, and his face was full of beard, but his spirit was much better than everyone expected. Facing the concerns of the entire crew, he calmly stated that he had edited all the sad emotions into the finished film. This was the second shock the young actors received on the set of "The Young Emperor". How could Xu Kun feel comfortable asking for leave to go to Berlin now? So in the end, it was still only the cameraman who stayed with Li Yang. By the time of the Chinese New Year, the crew unanimously agreed to shorten the holiday from nine days to four days, taking a holiday on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month and resuming filming early in the morning on the third day of the New Year. The person most affected this time was Baoqiang. Since he moved to Beijing in 99, he has not returned to his hometown for three years. Having made some money this year and with his acting career having made significant progress, Baoqiang had originally planned to return home in glory, and had even planned in advance what to buy and bring back. As a result, I was only given four days of vacation, and it would be a bit too late to go back to my hometown. In fact, according to Xu Kun's idea, he could discuss with director Liu Heng and move Baoqiang's role back two days. After all, Baoqiang's situation was indeed special. But Baoqiang himself didn't dare to say it, and he even stopped Xu Kun from saying it, saying that the director's father's death didn't cause any delays, so how could he hold the crew back? "Besides, if I leave, who will spend the New Year with you?" Facing that little round face with a silly smile, what else could Xu Kun say? On the morning of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the two left the crew in the snow. When they returned to the rental house, they found that Boss Lin's restaurant was closed, with a sign saying that it would reopen after the sixth day of the New Year. At noon, the two of them walked a long way along the street before they found a small restaurant that was open to the public. Even so, Baoqiang lamented that the New Year atmosphere was becoming less and less festive, as no one would open their business at this time before. "You don't care if the New Year atmosphere is weak or not, as long as the wine is strong." Xu Kun has never liked the Chinese New Year. When he was a child, he was always the loneliest one during the Chinese New Year. The hustle and bustle around him only highlighted the coldness in his heart. When he grew up, he became one of the many lonely people.
Baoqiang is qualified as a brother, but he is totally unqualified as a drinking buddy. Before Xu Kun could even enjoy himself, he was already drunk. Xu Kun had no choice but to pack up a few dishes and two bottles of Old Village Chief, preparing to call Baoqiang to drink some resurrection wine in the evening. Of course, instant noodles are also indispensable on New Year’s Eve. This time when passing by Xueyuan Road, Baoqiang didn't avoid it, but walked sideways, shouting all the way that he would marry a girl from Peking University first, and then a girl from Tsinghua University, and that girls from Renmin University could only be considered backup options. Xu Kun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This kid usually looked listless, but he didn't expect that he also had a big dream of having a harem. In order to prevent Baoqiang from contributing urea to China Agricultural University, Xu Kun finally carried him all the way home. When he arrived at the gate, Xu Kun's hand that was touching the key suddenly froze, because there was a long-legged girl standing in front of the gate. "How did you find this place?" "I asked Deng Chao." Cui Bo tilted his head and asked calmly, "It's so cold, why don't you invite me in to sit for a while?" "Please, how could I not please!" While Xu Kun secretly cursed Deng Chao for being a traitor, he unlocked the door and let Cui Bo into the courtyard. Then he pointed to the room inside and said, "You go in and sit down first. I'll go over after I settle Bao Qiang down." As he said that, he handed the key along with the packed food and wine to Cui Bo. When Cui Bo took it, he felt his hand sinking. Then he looked at Bao Qiang on Xu Kun's shoulder and had a clear understanding of Xu Kun's physique again. Xu Kun opened Baoqiang's door on his own, laid him on his side on the bed, and secured him with a pillow and quilt. After putting everything in place, he suddenly felt that this scene was very familiar. It seemed that the civil engineer was in the same posture at the end of last year. With a sigh, Xu Kun checked the coal stove and added two pieces of honeycomb coal into it. Then he went back to his room. As soon as I entered the room, I saw Cui Bo had already placed the wine and food on the table, and had even washed two small wine glasses. Xu Kun first poked open his coal stove to make the room warmer, then raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why, do you want to drink with me?" "You didn't drink enough, did you?" Cui Bo poured two glasses, raised them up and said to Xu Kun: "Come on, let's drink this one first!" The aura and demeanor almost made Xu Kun think that he had met another female drunkard, but after just a few drinks, Cui Bo began to feel dizzy and stagger. Xu Kun was speechless and confiscated her wine glass. "You came to see me on such a snowy day, you didn't do it just to get yourself drunk, did you?" "Can't you?" Cui Bo first asked back, and then said somewhat dejectedly: "I have found a new play, and I will have to leave the crew before the filming of "Young Emperor" is finished." "Oh~" Xu Kun hesitated and said, "Do you want me to help you have a bright future, or..."
Cui Bo shook his head: "I just don't want to leave with regrets." As he spoke, he slowly turned around, facing away from Xu Kun, and said in a trembling voice, "Eunuch Wu, please help me!" Xu Kun: “…” This girl has a beginning and an end. Xu Kun has always been bad at rejecting women, especially since the atmosphere has already been set to this point. When he hugged her from behind, Cui Bo trembled even more than Tong Layue... (End of this chapter)