In front of an old apartment in Kowloon, a bus stopped at the roadside.**
Lu Xinsheng squeezed out of the car with difficulty, his tie already tilted to one side. Dressed in a suit and leather shoes, he didn't bother to tidy up his appearance anymore. Like a tired dog, he silently walked back to the apartment building with his briefcase in hand.
Lu Xinsheng is 26 years old this year. He is handsome and handsome. His height of 1.75 meters is considered a high-altitude person in Hong Kong at this time. If you want to use any simple words to describe him, it would be: tall and handsome.
It's a pity that the word "rich" is missing, so Lu Xinsheng doesn't even have a girlfriend now.
Lu Xinsheng was born in the New Territories. His parents were mainlanders who fled Hong Kong. He grew up in squatters in the New Territories. With hard work and talent, Lu Xinsheng's academic performance was among the best from childhood to adulthood, but he still failed in the university entrance examination.
Because his outstanding academic performance is just a general among the dwarves. The further north you go in the New Territories, the poorer the quality of teaching, and it is far worse than students in Hong Kong and Kowloon.
After failing the exam for three consecutive years, Lu Xinsheng finally accepted his fate. At the age of 19, he came to Kowloon from the New Territories to work with 500 Hong Kong dollars given by his parents.
Porter, cleaner, salesperson, security guard... Lu Xinsheng has worked in all kinds of jobs, and even went to Tseung Kwan O Film and Television City to work as a supporting actor for a few months.
After working in Kowloon for seven years, Lu Xinsheng has become the sales manager of a communications company. He also manages a sales team and earns at least HK$8,000 per month plus commission, and sometimes it can exceed HK$10,000 if he is lucky.
At this time, the income of ordinary white-collar workers in Hong Kong was only about 6,000 a month. Lu Xinsheng was considered a high-income group, but his life was even more tiring than when he first came to Kowloon.
I get up at dawn in the morning and take the bus. Sometimes I don't even bother to eat lunch after a busy day. Then I drag my exhausted body back home from work, eat and sleep to wait for the next day.
"Ah Sheng, you just came back." As soon as he entered the rental apartment, someone greeted him.
Lu Xinsheng nodded and responded: "There was something wrong with the order. I went to deal with it. I came back a little late."
As soon as he stepped into the door, a strange smell mixed with the smell of sweat, foot odor, and mold entered his nostrils. Lu Xinsheng didn't even frown. He had long been accustomed to this, so he carefully took off his suit, hung it up, and changed it.
Put on a shabby coat.
This rental house is very small. It is only about ten square meters at most, but it is densely packed with 9 tenants. Each bunk has three levels, and each bunk is only slightly wider than a person. They are all covered with barbed wire. They are like each other.
A cage for dogs. People live in cages.
This kind of apartment rental is vividly called "cage house", and the people living in it are "cage residents".
There is no way, the land in Hong Kong is limited, and the rent of houses is too expensive. In comparison, the cramped low-rent houses provided by the Tseung Kwan O Film and Television City for contracted actors are simply like a paradise.
Lu Xinsheng worked overtime today and came back from dinner. He chatted with the cagemates for a few words and then took out an English version of a marketing book to read.
Under the dim light, several other cagemates in the same room were either playing cards and gambling together, or watching martial arts in the cage, while Lu Xinsheng was seriously taking notes in a book.
At the beginning, other cagemates would laugh at him, but over time, everyone got used to it.
In this apartment, no one knows how much money Lu Xinsheng earns in a month. They only know that this handsome boy is very frugal. In addition to spending money on books, he has to mend a pair of socks many times before throwing them away.
Unknowingly, it was past 11 o'clock, and most of the cagemates in the room were asleep. Only then did Lu Xinsheng rub his sore glasses, close the book, and lock himself in the iron cage to go to sleep.
In the darkness, Lu Xinsheng thought in his mind: 80,000 yuan has been deposited in his bank account, and the year-end bonus will be paid out in a month. By then, he should have almost 100,000 yuan in savings. If he can get a loan to buy a nice house in Kowloon, it is
It’s time to bring my parents to Kowloon to enjoy their happiness.
When the alarm clock rang, it was already the next morning.
Lu Xinsheng got up like a robot, washed and dressed, locked his iron cage, and rushed out of the apartment door with his briefcase.
The whole morning was spent in meetings and on the phone. In the middle of the morning, Lu Xinsheng was called by his supervisor and scolded. Then he went back and scolded the team member who made the mistake.
We had lunch at a food stall on the back street. Lu Xinsheng had just taken two bites of rice when he saw a beautiful woman coming over and asked, "Is there anyone sitting here?"
"There's no one around, sit down wherever you want." Lu Xinsheng didn't dare to look up when he spoke. He knew the beautiful woman in front of him. She was an employee of the company downstairs. I heard she was a top student who came back from the UK. There were even rumors that she was the boss of the company downstairs.
's daughter.
The reason why Lu Xinsheng knew so clearly was because he was fascinated by this woman the first time he saw her. He quietly inquired about her for a long time before asking her about her situation, and then he made no next move.
Lu Xinsheng had low self-esteem. The other person's appearance and knowledge were both first-class. How could he, a grassroots living in a cage house, be worthy of him? Every time they met by chance, Lu Xinsheng only dared to pay silent attention to him, and did not even have the courage to talk to him.
The beautiful woman sat down opposite Lu Xinsheng, eating a very ordinary egg fried rice, but Lu Xinsheng felt that her eating posture was very elegant, and her movements had a ladylike temperament.
When Lu Xinsheng was working in sales, he had already developed a face thicker than a city wall, but now he was having dinner at the same table with his crush, and his heartbeat was racing like an innocent boy's.
Being able to insist on reading industry monographs every day in the cage proves that Lu Xinsheng is a person who is unwilling to be mediocre. At this time, the impulse in his heart became stronger and stronger, and he finally couldn't help but strike up a conversation.
But before he could speak, a beeping sound suddenly sounded from the other party's bag. The beauty took out a mobile phone from the bag and said while eating: "Hey, dad, I'm eating... Oops, don't worry about me.
Where to eat? Anyway, I’ll be back to the company soon. Well, that’s it, hung up.”
The words that had reached his lips were swallowed back by Lu Xinsheng. The appearance of the mobile phone reminded him again of the distance between the two.
Lu Xinsheng is the sales manager of a telecommunications company and knows that mobile phone very well. The purchase price alone is equivalent to a quarter of his savings.
The beauty seemed to feel that eating was boring. She dialed a phone and said: "Hey, Annie. Are you free on Friday? I got two tickets for the screening of "The Truman Show"... What, no time? You want it?
Accompanying my boyfriend...Okay, I'll find someone else, bye."
The beauty continued to dial the phone: "Brother, come with me to see a movie on Friday. Don't say no... What, you asked Michael to accompany me? I'm annoying him to death. Hang up!"
"Alas!" The beauty sighed softly, put the phone back in her bag and continued eating.
Seeing the lonely expression on his sweetheart's face, Lu Xinsheng said like a man possessed: "Miss Chen, I'm free on Friday."
"What?" The beauty looked at Lu Xinsheng in surprise.
Lu Xinsheng swallowed and said, "I am a fan of director Kang Jianfei, but I have never been able to get a screening ticket for The Truman Show. If Ms. Chen doesn't mind, we can watch it together."
The beauty asked suspiciously: "How do you know my surname is Chen?"
Lu Xinsheng explained: "I work in the company above yours and I often bump into you in the elevator. One time I heard someone call you Miss Chen."
"Oh. No wonder you look familiar." The beauty believed his words, took out two movie tickets and said, "Since you like it, I'll give you the movie tickets."
The beauty was obviously very well-educated, and she ate every last ounce of the egg-fried rice before leaving. However, Lu Xinsheng looked at the two movie tickets in his hand and couldn't laugh or cry. His purpose was to pursue his sweetheart, but now the other party gave him all the movie tickets, what the hell
Use it!
Friday came in a blink of an eye. Lu Xinsheng finished his work early, got off work and rushed to the Yau Ma Tei Cinema after dinner.
Today is the premiere day of "The Truman Show". The premiere was held at the Taiping Theater on Hong Kong Island, and the Yau Ma Tei Cinema is one of the screening venues.
This is the first time Lu Xinsheng has entered a movie theater since he came to Kowloon. He was reluctant to spend money before.
The screening hall was full, but the seat next to Lu Xinsheng remained empty. If he sold the remaining movie tickets, he could at least sell them for hundreds of dollars each, but for some reason, the always frugal
Lu Xinsheng finally acted willfully and would rather waste the movie ticket.
The movie started to show, and Lu Xinsheng looked at the empty seat next to him. There seemed to be a stunning beauty sitting there, who was his imaginary girlfriend.
The film begins with the male protagonist Truman making various exaggerated expressions in front of the mirror. Then he goes out to work and encounters all kinds of funny things along the way.
Liang Jiahui's performance was free and easy, and he went crazy when it was time to go crazy. bursts of laughter erupted from time to time in the screening room.
However, Lu Xinsheng felt something was wrong. Less than 10 minutes into the film, there were several TV screen-like frames, and then the sudden depressing atmosphere and music seemed to be the director hinting at something.
As the plot progresses, the truth is finally revealed.
It turns out that the male protagonist is a slave, and then he marries a wife and has children. Every moment is recorded by the camera and broadcasted 24 hours a day. The director will only arrange the time for the male protagonist to have sex, take a bath, go to the toilet, etc.
Play ads.
The male protagonist's life has been arranged. As soon as he showed his yearning for the outside world in his childhood, the director arranged for his father to die in the sea. He watched his father being washed away by the shipwreck with his own eyes. From then on, he was afraid of water whenever he saw it.
My legs are trembling when I come to the beach.
When he was in college, he fell in love with a girl. But the director believed that love is always unsatisfactory, so he deliberately separated them for the sake of the show's effect, and then arranged for the heroine to be his wife.
Everything is going according to the script, and the male protagonist Truman has no right to choose. His family, his neighbors, his colleagues, his close friends... everyone around him is all actors, all
Everyone is lying to him, so he can only live step by step.
Unconsciously, Lu Xinsheng focused all his attention on the big screen, praying that the male protagonist could break through the siege and gain a new life of freedom. He felt that it was another self, going to work and getting off work over and over again, living in the same place every day.
In a huge invisible cage, he lives in a state that he hates very much but has to obey.
When he saw the male protagonist fighting unyieldingly in the storm, Lu Xinsheng, who had never cried while picking up food from the trash can, suddenly shed tears. His hands were tightly pulled into fists, and he couldn't stop thinking for the male protagonist.
The ground cheered and shouted: rush out, rush out!
Not only Lu Xinsheng, but also other viewers in the screening room were also emotionally aroused by the final atmosphere, looking forward to the hero's final victory.
The storm on the screen suddenly passed, and the sun rose again in the blue sky. The actor emerged from the capsized boat and smiled brightly at the camera.
"Oooh!"
The entire audience cheered, followed by chaotic and loud applause, as everyone celebrated the hero's victory.
Suddenly, all the sounds stopped, and the male protagonist stopped the boat on the sea level. He stood up and touched the blue sky - it was a wall.
Lu Xinsheng stared at the big screen dumbfounded. The change in the plot was so unexpected. The meaning behind the wall made Lu Xinsheng's heart block up, and he felt a deep helplessness.
The final ending of the movie is satisfactory, which more or less relieves the depression of the movie's theme and allows the audience to see good hope.
Lu Xinsheng walked out of the cinema in silence, thinking about his current living situation and his unpredictable future. He decided that he must pursue the girl in the company downstairs, no matter if she was a returnee from overseas studies or the boss's daughter. Even if she was from overseas.
There is a wall next to it, and he has to try to break out.
Some things may not succeed if you work hard, but if you don't dare to try, you will never succeed.
Lu Xinsheng knew Kang Jianfei's name very well, but he had never seen any of his movies. He only regarded his legendary experience as an inspiration, and even more envied him for being surrounded by beautiful women and having many good fortunes.
As for watching movies, Lu Xinsheng thought it was a waste of money and time, but after watching "The Truman Show", he had another gain, as if someone in the dark pointed the way for him.
Kang Jianfei would never have imagined that this was actually an inspirational film.
But no matter what, he has one more die-hard fan. (To be continued...)
ps: Don’t complain about this chapter. I deleted the previous one. I wanted to try it from another angle, but ended up writing it in the middle of the night.u