At this time, director Xiaoshuai swept away the decadence of the previous days and said with high spirits: "I have received an invitation from Berlin. In a few days, the shortlist for the main competition unit will be announced, and we will be among them!"
After "Seventeen-Year-Old Bicycle" was submitted for review, there has been no news. It stands to reason that this movie does not have any revealing scenes or obvious insinuations, and the previous procedures were in compliance with regulations. Not long ago, Wang Xiaoshuai specially asked someone to inquire
After a while, someone said: This movie shows the dilapidated buildings and messy and dirty alleys in the capital, which will give foreigners a bad impression of the capital and affect the Olympic bid.
Damn it, what a big hat this is! Wang Xiaoshuai was about to burst into tears and had no way of explaining it.
"Is everyone going?" He Xin asked.
He was really excited to go abroad! Something he had never done before in his life was to go to Berlin. His mood was just like when he entered the bridal chamber for the first time, full of anticipation and nervousness.
"There are a few people over there with Sister Jiao of Wanwan. Let's go here, you, Li Bing, me and Hua Tong." Wang Xiaoshuai said with a smile.
"What about Yuanyuan?"
"Uh...she may not be free there. Hey, there's less than a month left, you have to hurry up and get ready." Wang Xiaoshuai said.
His attitude was a bit reluctant, and he obviously had no intention of taking the other person to play.
"Okay!" He Xin said hurriedly, he could only silently mourn for Da Meiyuan in his heart.
It is very troublesome to go abroad these days. For a native like He Xin who has never been abroad, he first needs to apply for a passport in the place where his household registration is, and then he has to go to the embassy for a visa. Fortunately, Wang Xiaoshuai has an invitation letter from the film festival, and the visa is fine.
Not a problem.
Wang Xiaoshuai and Li Huatong have both been abroad, so they can go directly to get a visa. Li Bing is a local, so it is very convenient to apply for a passport, but He Xin can only go back to his hometown to apply for it.
A quick calculation showed that He Xin had not been back to his hometown for more than four or five years. Maybe it was the original owner's sad place and he didn't want to think about it. He didn't have many pictures of his hometown in his mind.
After a whole day and a night's train journey, when He Xin got off the train, he suddenly felt that he had made a mistake.
Although the winter in the capital is very cold, it is completely different compared to here. The temperature in winter is almost minus 30 degrees. He only had a sweater and a down sweater on his body, and he didn’t even have woolen pants on his lower body. It didn’t take long for him to get two
My legs were so cold that I almost lost all feeling.
Fortunately, the town is not big, and the factory area where his family is located is not far from the train station. He Xin walked along a small street. The buildings on the street were dilapidated, and the road was full of potholes made by large trucks.
There were not many people around, and it was deserted.
He Xin followed his memory and turned into a small road on the street. There were old public buildings on both sides. After walking for a while, an aunt came towards him.
"Xiaoxin?" The aunt suddenly stood still and called hesitantly.
He Xin also looked at her. She looked about forty or fifty years old, with a bloated figure and a few white hairs exposed from the tightly wrapped scarf. He immediately thought of a person in his mind and said, "Aunt Huang?"
He Xin's memory gradually became clearer. This Aunt Huang was the neighbor downstairs of the original owner's house. The two families had a good relationship. When the original owner's parents had an accident, Aunt Huang's family was still very enthusiastic to help.
"Yes, I'm back, Aunt Huang, are you okay?" He Xin said politely.
To be honest, he couldn't integrate it for a while.
"well."
Aunt Huang nodded repeatedly. Seeing that He Xin only carried a bag and no luggage, she said, "Are you coming back this time?"
"Yeah, let's take a look and do some errands."
"Let's go home first. We'll have dinner at your Aunt Huang's house tonight."
Aunt Huang enthusiastically took his arm and walked towards the unit building where the two families lived.
"Xiao Xin, you said that there has been no news about your child for so many years. Sometimes when I think about it, I really worry that you are having trouble outside." Aunt Huang actually wiped away her tears as she spoke.
He Xin was infected by her emotions, patted her back gently, and comforted: "Aunt Huang, don't you think I'm doing well!"
"Yes, yes, yes, look at my bad mouth, I can tell you have a future." Aunt Huang laughed through tears and asked again: "I heard that you have been to Shenghai these years? You have found your father's relatives.
?”
He Xin had no impression of the original owner's father's relatives in Shenghai.
"I have been in the capital and have not gone to Shenghai."
"Oh, Beijing, they are all big cities, very good!"
While talking, I came to the door of the unit building. Aunt Huang's family lived on the ground floor.
Aunt Huang insisted on pulling him into the room to sit, but He Xin declined and said, "I'll go home and take a look first."
Aunt Huang thought for a while and said: "Okay, I'll call your Uncle Huang back and cut some meat. Aunt Huang will prepare some hard vegetables for you two to have a good drink!"
Saying goodbye to Aunt Huang, he walked up to the second floor. There were four households in one corridor. He Xin's house was at the east end, just above Aunt Huang's house.
It was quiet in the corridor, probably no one was home. There were some debris piled up in front of his house. It was probably that no one had lived there for a long time, and the neighbors used it as a storage spot. The door and walls were covered with various small advertisements.
He Xin kicked some debris away with his feet, took out the keys, accurately found one of them, and inserted it into the keyhole. It felt a little tight, so he twisted it twice with a little force, and heard a "pop" sound, and the lock opened.
He hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and immediately smelled a musty smell.
Entering the door is the kitchen, with a small bathroom next to it. There is an aisle through the kitchen, and a door on the left side of the aisle is open. Inside the door is a small room of less than six square meters, which can only accommodate a single bed.
and a small desk.
This was his former room. There was only one transom window leading to the large room on the south side, and the lighting was very dark. He Xin touched the switch at the door and turned it on twice, but the light did not come on. He came out and turned on the switch in the corridor again, the same result.
no response.
He went out and went to the meter box in the stairwell to take a look. He found that all the white stuff under his meter was gone. No wonder there was no electricity.
When I returned home, I opened my parents' large room on the south side, opened the closed curtains, and the room finally became bright.
He Xin opened the window to ventilate the room to get rid of the musty smell.
When the original owner left a few years ago, the house was cleaned up. At this time, there was a thick layer of dust on the floor, table, and bed board. He Xin wanted to get water to clean it, but when he turned the faucet, he found that there was no water.
.He was too lazy to check the water meter. Moreover, the heating at home had long been stopped, and the cold became unbearable after the windows were opened for a while, so he stopped thinking about cleaning.
I just found a towel and wiped the portraits of my parents hanging on the wall. Although I had already had an impression in my mind, I still felt an uncontrollable sadness when I saw the photos in the frame.
There is nothing of value in the house. The only things that can be considered valuable are the TV set with a cloth cover on the chest of drawers and the single-door refrigerator placed against the wall.
He Xin searched around the room and found that the most valuable thing was probably a photo album, which contained photos of him from childhood to adulthood, as well as several photos with his parents.
He stuffed the photo album into his bag, thought for a while, and took down the portrait of his parents hanging on the wall. The frame was too big. He took out the photos inside, rolled them up carefully, and put them into his bag.
Maybe after leaving this time, he will never come back.
Not long after, Aunt Huang's voice came from downstairs calling him.
He Xin gathered his mood, picked up his backpack and went downstairs.
Uncle Huang came back on his tricycle. Compared with Aunt Huang, he was obviously older, but Uncle Huang still looked the same as he remembered.
After the factory went bankrupt, Uncle Huang set up a fruit stall on the street. It seemed that he would be able to make a living.
He Xin remembered that the old couple also had a son who was two years older than him, named Huang Damao. When he was a child, he often helped him bully other children, but now he has disappeared.
"Uncle Huang, where is Brother Damao?"
"Forget about that bastard." Uncle Huang slammed the wine glass on the table, and said with a lot of resentment: "The year before last, I said I was going to the provincial capital to work, but I never came back. If it hadn't been for your Aunt Huang occasionally being able to
After making so many phone calls, I thought I would have died outside!"
"Bah! You old man, you are the only one who could curse your own son like this!" Aunt Huang brought the food to the table, scolded the old man and said, "It's not easy for children to make a living outside. If you don't believe me, ask Xiaoxin?"
As he said that, he continued to add vegetables to He Xin's bowl, "Xiao Xin, come on, eat more. I haven't seen you for so many years. I almost don't dare to recognize this person. I will dream about your father again."
Mom and aunt don’t even know what to tell your parents..."
As she spoke, Aunt Huang began to wipe tears from her red eyes again.
He Xin's nose felt sour after what she said, and he forced a smile and said: "Aunt, don't be sad, everything is fine with me now."
Seeing this, the old man glared at his wife, picked up the wine glass and touched it with He Xin, deliberately changed the subject, and asked: "Xiao Xin, when you come back this time, do you want to wait until the New Year before leaving?"
"No, I'm coming back this time to apply for a passport, and I'll leave as soon as it's done." He Xin said.
"Apply for a passport? Xiaoxin, do you want to go abroad?"
"Uh, yes, I need to go abroad for work matters," He Xin said.
He didn't say that he was making a movie or participating in a film festival, so as not to have to spend a lot of time explaining it later.
Even so, it still caused the old couple to exclaim. In their eyes, being able to go abroad is a sign of success.