The cinema was crowded, no, this description is not accurate enough, it should be said that there were not even ghosts. If the lights were not turned on inside and the signboard was still half alive, Li Xiao would have thought that this place had closed down.
Stepping through the door of the cinema, Li Xiao felt as if he had crossed over half a century and returned to more than ten years ago.
The lobby of the movie theater was not like today's movie theaters. There were no various automatic ticket machines, nor were there any claw machines with cute dolls to steal little girls' pocket money, and there were no trailers playing to attract the audience.
of television.
On the left wall, the entire wall is covered with covers of some previously played movies, while on the right is a wall of movie posters.
These movie covers and posters have also completely faded. However, compared to the movie advertisements at the door that have been exposed to the sun and rain, the indoor movie posters are relatively well-preserved. Although the color of the ink has changed due to the passage of time,
It's a bit weird, but I can barely see the specific content.
Li Xiao had heard of most of the names of the movie posters on these walls. They were all famous power supplies, some local and some foreign, but he had never seen them at all.
After all, he is not much of a movie buff. Even if there are newly released movies, he will only wait for free resources to appear on the Internet before watching them.
The number of times he goes to the cinema is really limited. Poverty is one aspect. Of course, another aspect is that he doesn't want to spend money to watch a large group of people making love to each other in front of him and stuffing himself with dog food.
After walking through the small front hall, a few people saw the ticket window.
The ticket windows of movie theaters in the past are completely different from the open ticket windows now. The ticket windows here are a bit like the payment office in a hospital.
There are frosted glass windows on the half-waist-high wall. There are stainless steel railings on the glass windows, and a small arc-shaped window is opened above.
The conductor and the guests conduct certain monetary transactions through this small window. Do you think this may not provide good service?
Of course, after all, it was not possible for anyone to open a movie theater like this in the past, and they didn’t even have to think about providing services.
At that time, if you wanted to watch some popular movies, you had to secretly give money to the ticket seller, otherwise the ticket seller would say that the movie tickets were sold out even if the movie was not full.
After all, there is no mobile phone booking software to determine whether there are seats or not. It depends entirely on the conductor's words.
When he reached the ticket office, Huang Yu stopped, turned around and said to the two people following him.
"Okay, you've already seen it. Don't waste your time here with the old lady. They are all movies from more than ten years ago. You don't like to watch them."
As he spoke, he waved his hands to drive the two of them out, but the monitor smiled, dodged his teacher's push, and ducked behind his teacher, pressing his shoulders while saying with a smile.
"No, no, no, no, I have never tried to watch a movie in such a retro cinema. Let's watch a movie with the teacher. It will definitely be very interesting."
While talking, he also winked at the teacher.
Li Xiao also quickly agreed
"That's right, that's right. I haven't watched a movie in a cinema for a long time."
Huang Yu still wanted to refuse, but the monitor had already looked into the window and asked
"Hello, may I ask, are there any other movies we can watch here today? There are three of us here."
However, after a long time, there was no response from inside.
The three of them looked at each other, wondering what was going on. The squad leader was about to stick his head inside to see if the people inside were asleep.
After all, in such a crowded situation, it is normal for the conductor to be lazy.
However, before she could put her head in, a middle-aged woman's voice came from the other side of the aisle, with doubts in her tone.
"Why did you come in? What are you doing?"
The middle-aged woman has very ordinary facial features, and her uniform has faded badly.
He must be the ticket seller here. After all, in Li Xiao's opinion, there shouldn't be any service staff in such an old cinema.
The squad leader said quickly
"It's like this. We want to watch a movie, but we don't know what other shows we can watch today."
"See a movie?"
The conductor looked at Li Xiao and the monitor up and down with strange eyes, and then a look of understanding appeared on her face.
Like a prophet who has seen through the trajectory of fate, and like a time traveler who has mastered the mystery of time, she raised her hand gently, as if she would point out the only possible path in the next moment.
Under the attention of the three people, she pointed her finger to the door and whispered to them.
"If you want to do something, go to the hotel opposite. Hourly room, 60 yuan."
???
Li Xiao
!!!
monitor
The monitor's face immediately turned red. Li Xiao quickly waved his hand and explained to the ticket sales girl.
"No, no, no, you misunderstood. We really came to watch a movie, not what you thought."
Although Li Xiao has never been exposed to these things, the Internet is so developed and he has experienced a big dyeing vat like a university dormitory. He understands everything he should know and shouldn't.
Naturally, I knew very well what the ticket sales lady meant.
The ticket sales lady slowly opened the stainless steel door of the ticket room and nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, I understand. You are here to watch a movie and do some other favorite things in the dark. Young people, I understand. Auntie, I have been working in this cinema for more than 20 years."
"What are young people like you thinking about? I know it very well and have seen it a lot. However, it's not that aunties are like half a dozen mandarin ducks. It's because we really can't do anything about it. You can go and open an hour over there.
As for the room, three hours is only 60 yuan, which is not much more expensive than buying two movie tickets. The room over there also has a TV, and three hours is completely enough, whether you are watching a movie or not."
This time, the aunt spoke more directly. The monitor's face, which was only slightly red, has now become as red as a ripe red apple, completely red.
At this time, Huang Yu, who had been hiding in the shadows, finally came out with a smile and said to the ticket sales aunt who was about to go in.
"Hello, we really want to watch a movie. Please show us what movies are available tonight."
The ticket sales aunt was startled by the sudden sound. She nervously took a look and found Huang Yu's figure.
Seeing that there was still a shadow under her body, the conductor was relieved. She frowned and looked at Huang Yu's appearance. A familiar feeling came to her heart. Although she didn't know who the other person was, she must have been here before.
guests here.
She put away the aunt's smile on her face, looked at the three of them again, and said with some embarrassment,
"Sorry, sorry, I thought it was a young man who wanted to go in and play. I'm so sorry."
Huang Yu waved his hand
"It's okay, it's just human nature. By the way, are there any movies we can watch today?"
The ticket sales lady had a troubled look on her face, and she said to Huang Yu
"I'm so sorry, sister. We really don't have any movies showing here. There are too few people coming here to watch movies."
"Originally, the big boss still thought that this was where he would make his fortune, and he was unwilling to close it, so he just kept it open day after day. After all, it was just a thought."
"But the big boss is getting older, and his son has taken over the cinema."
"Not long after I took over, I thought about tearing down the cinema and re-opening a shopping mall or something like an Internet cafe. After all, that kind of thing is what makes money."
"After all, let alone making money here, we also lose money on water and electricity bills every month. Sometimes the money I make from showing movies in a month is not worth my monthly salary."
"So, I'm really sorry, I don't have any movies to watch."
The three of them were stunned when they heard what the conductor said. No one expected that they would encounter such a thing.
Among them, Huang Yu had the biggest reaction. She was still immersed in the joy of the conductor's teasing of the two students.
However, she didn't expect the bad news to come so quickly, she murmured
"It's going to be demolished. No movies to watch?"
Although it is very plain, the loneliness in his eyes cannot be hidden.
The conductor also raised his head slightly and looked around the place where she spent all day and night.
She is extremely familiar with every poster and every corner here.
The backrest of the chair was dented, and she knew exactly when snowflakes would appear on the roll of tape.
From the age of twenty-three to the age of forty-six, a full 23 years, from a young girl in her prime to a middle-aged woman with gray hair who has seen through the world.
Watching boys and girls go from dating to breaking up, or from dating to getting married and having children.
From here people come and go, and guests come like clouds. When I come here, the doors are deserted and there are only a few people.
she said with emotion
"Yes, yes, it needs to be demolished. After all, it is an old thing and it is no longer useful."
As she spoke, helplessness appeared on her face
"It's not that I don't want to broadcast it to you, it's just that I really can't broadcast it. All the films in it have been sold by the small boss. Only some old equipment is left that no one wants."
"If there were still films in the warehouse, I wouldn't mind showing them to you for free, but it's a pity..."
Halfway through her words, the conductor suddenly stopped talking and frowned. She glanced at the aunt who seemed familiar to her and asked.
"Are you a regular customer of our cinema? Why do I always feel that you look familiar?"
Huang Yu showed a bitter smile and nodded,
"Yes, I am indeed a regular customer here."
"I started patronizing your place when it opened."
"The opening time of your movie theater happens to be the same as my birthday."
"I still remember that it was 25 years ago. My wife and I went out to celebrate our birthday, and your cinema just happened to open."
"Since then, every year after celebrating our birthday, we come here to watch a movie."
As she spoke, she showed a nostalgic smile and took out a small notebook from her handbag.
The three people present were a little confused and looked over. The leather notebook was opened. The notebook was not a normal piece of paper, but a page of plastic sheets. Inside was a pair of movie tickets, neatly printed.
put inside,
The handwriting on the original movie tickets was already very blurry, and the paper had already turned yellow, and there were even many creases on it. It seemed that these movie tickets were not stored in this book at the beginning.
Most movie tickets have a round hole mark on them, which is proof of ticket verification in the theater.
The names and numbers on many movie tickets are even handwritten, with "Shijing Road Cinema" written on them. Only a small number of movie tickets are printed.
The conductor looked at the old movie tickets that should only exist in her memory, her eyes were filled with memories, and the wrinkles on her face softened a lot.
She stretched out her hand to touch these old movie tickets that only existed in his memory, but she retracted her hand like lightning when she reached halfway.
She hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind, and spoke.
"You guys wait."
As she spoke, she turned around and got into a utility room next to her. After a while of tinkering, she took out a black box the size of a basin. She said to everyone
"All the movies have been sold, but I secretly left a circle. It's my favorite movie [Sweet Honey]. Do you want to watch it? If you want to watch it, I can play it for you."
Li Xiao originally thought that the teacher would be very happy when he heard the news, but when he turned his eyes to his teacher, he was surprised to find that the teacher was actually crying.
The teacher nodded while crying
"[Sweet Honey] Okay, let's watch [Sweet Honey]."
Li Xiao was a little confused, but when his eyes fell on the leather notebook held by the teacher, he finally understood.
The page that was opened was the first page of the notebook. On the wrinkled and yellowed handwritten movie ticket, "Sweet Honey" was vaguely written on it.
Seeing this situation, the monitor quickly hugged his teacher and comforted him softly.
"Okay, okay, why are you crying? Don't you have to be happy when watching a movie?"
Huang Yu wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, nodded and said
"Yes, you have to be happy."
"Then, I will broadcast it, but you can't tell the boss, otherwise I will be in trouble."
The monitor quickly promised
"Don't worry, it won't happen. You can rest assured."
The conductor walked into the nearest studio carrying the roll of black film, and the three of them followed suit.
Unlike today's movies, the previous movies were played not using digital keys, but using this black film.
The auditorium was very small. Li Xiao glanced at it and saw that there were only about fifty or sixty seats in total.
Most of the light bulbs in the theater were broken, and the remaining ones that could barely keep working could only produce half of their power, making the entire theater very dark.
Li Xiao and the squad leader took out their mobile phones at the same time to use them for lighting, so they could barely see the road under their feet.
The floor of the screening room here is not covered with plush carpets, but ordinary ceramic tiles. Many of the corners of the ceramic tiles have long been broken, but no one has replaced them. Instead, they have broken them on the spot with some cement.
The tiles are randomly sewn together.
The sofas in the screening room were originally supposed to be bright red. The reason why I use "should" here is because they are no longer bright red, but a strange dark red, and there are even weird black and cyan colors in some places.
dirt.
Li Xiao and the monitor looked at each other, and both of them could see a hint of fear in each other's eyes. If they had not come here to watch with their teacher, they would not have been able to enter this kind of cinema.
No, if someone really wants to beat them to death, they should still be willing to take the risk and watch such a thrilling movie.
Li Xiao and the monitor each held one of the teacher's arms and carefully walked through the gaps in the sofas.
The delay in choosing a seat was certainly not because they couldn't find a seat on the movie ticket, because there were no movie tickets at all.
It's not because the seats are full and they can't find their own seats, it's because they simply can't find three clean enough seats connected together.
There was a strange smell in the air, like the musty smell of clothes that were put into the closet before being dried and then taken out after a while.
In the end, they had no choice but to sit separately. Li Xiao was originally going to sit in the front, but he was too tall, and the location in the old-fashioned screening room was quite unreasonable. If he sat in the front, he would sit in the back.
The two people will be blocked.
Therefore, in the end, only teacher Huang Yu could sit in the front, while the monitor and Li Xiao sat in the back.
The conductor's voice came from behind,
"Sit down, I'm going to turn off the lights."
Regardless of whether the people were already seated, a "pop" sound was heard as the words fell.
All the dim light bulbs above everyone's heads were extinguished, and the auditorium was plunged into darkness. The auditoriums in the past did not have a few night lights like they do now, so once the lights are turned off, the auditorium will become stretched out.
No fingers visible.
Darkness and silence often complement each other.
Once in the dark and people's vision is limited, their hearing will be greatly improved. In the darkness, Li Xiao could even hear the thumping heartbeat coming from next to him, but the weird atmosphere did not last long.
There was the sound of the drum rotating behind him, and Li Xiao felt that his originally dark environment began to brighten up, and a red dragon slowly appeared on the screen in front of him.
Then the title of the movie [Sweet Honey] appeared.
A familiar song was played through an old speaker. The sound quality of the speaker was very poor, but I could barely hear it clearly.
【Sweet you smile sweetly】
【As if flowers are blooming in the spring breeze】
【Blooming in the spring breeze】
【Where have I seen you】
【Your smile is so familiar】
【I can't remember it at the moment】
【Ah~~in my dream】
.......
As the theme song of the movie begins, a love story about three people, about love and being loved, that happened decades ago, slowly unfolds on the screen.
【Then why do you want to marry me?】
【That is my ideal.】
...
[Maybe William no longer remembers me]
[But it doesn’t matter, I just remember it]
...
[Silly girl, listen to me...]
[Go home immediately and take a hot bath]
[When you wake up tomorrow morning, there will be men all over the street, and all of them are better than Brother Bao]
.....
In the movie, no one says love to anyone, but there is love everywhere.
In the interplay of light and shadow on the screen, the figure sitting in front of him sometimes changed into two, and sometimes changed back into one.
The person who had left seemed to have returned to the person he loved most and loved him most.
The squad leader watched the movie, and then secretly looked at Li Xiao, who was watching the movie intently.
We meet again after going round and round, but things have changed.
If, at the beginning, I was determined not to leave.
So today, in the live broadcast room, will that red name become me again?
The movie soon came to an end, and Li Xiaojun and Li Qiao met in front of the TV window in New York.
In the news, the news of Teresa Teng's death is being broadcast.
When the song "Sweet Honey" sounded, the two of them felt sad, but they turned around to meet each other.
With a smile, a life seems to have passed.
At the end of the play, everyone disperses. Maybe some things are missed if they are missed. It's not that the time is wrong, but the people are wrong.
