This man knows how to hype

Chapter 541: Coco

The original English name of "Coco" is "Coco".

Coco is actually the name of the great-grandmother of the protagonist Miguel in the play. Coco is also the daughter of another male protagonist Hector.

Therefore, although the Chinese name of this movie is "Coco", and the main plot does revolve around the "music dream", its real core content is "life and death" and "family".

When Xu Xiyu was making this movie, he thought about making a localized adaptation for the film, but after thinking about it for a long time, he finally gave up.

Because in most countries in the world, the expression of death is solemn. Few countries make festivals with this theme look like "celebrations" like the Mexican Day of the Dead.

The content of this movie is so deeply and completely tied to the Mexican Day of the Dead and even other Mexican cultures that if the background were to be changed, it would be like writing a new script.

Xu Xiyu doesn't think he can write anything better, and even if he does, it doesn't necessarily mean he can produce a film of the same quality as "Coco".

After all, there is indeed a gap between the script and the finished film, otherwise "Wangxian 2" would not have failed so completely.

As a movie that Xu Xiyu likes to revisit from time to time, "Coco" is naturally easier to replicate.

However, Xu Xiyu still changed one thing.

He changed Coco's name to Vivian, which is written as Weiwei'an in Chinese.

As for why the name was changed, there probably isn't much need for explanation.

At this time, in the binary virtual film reading room, only Xu Xiyu and Hu Ningwei were sitting side by side.

Looking at the debugging screen and smelling the faint fragrance of lily of the valley coming from Hu Ningwei, Xu Xiyu suddenly said with emotion: "You said that the years go by so fast. It always feels like a dream."

Hearing this, Hu Ningwei looked at Xu Xiyu with a little confusion, not quite understanding why he suddenly said this.

"Did you come to see the production of Coco?" Xu Xiyu said again.

"I used to come here often, but after discussing the separation of the family business with my brother last year, I haven't come here much since I was too busy." Hu Ningwei shook her head.

"I come here often, and I can say that this film was made under my watch."

"Isn't this what I should do? This is your work." Hu Ningwei laughed.

"To be precise, this is the work I give you." Xu Xiyu withdrew his gaze from the screen and turned to Hu Ningwei.

Hu Ningwei was already looking at him, so their eyes naturally met.

After staring at each other for a second, Hu Ningwei leaned over, wrapped her arms around his arms, and leaned her head on his shoulder. She asked with a tone of expectation and emotion, "Do you think there really is a world of the dead?"

"If you think there is, then there is." Xu Xiyu reached out and stroked her face.

After hearing this answer, Hu Ningwei stopped talking, but just leaned quietly on Xu Xiyu's shoulder and watched the movie on the screen begin to play.

She knew what story "Coco" told, so she had been looking forward to seeing the finished film.

Now, when Xu Xiyu really took her to see the finished film, she found herself inexplicably avoiding and panicking.

Very strange.

It's really strange.

Hu Ningwei really didn't know why she had this feeling, which made her a little uneasy. She could only hug Xu Xiyu's arms tighter to get some peace of mind.

Xu Xiyu could naturally sense that Hu Ningwei was not in good condition, but he did not say anything to comfort her. He just sat quietly with Hu Ningwei.

For a girl in her early 20s whose grandfather is old, whose parents have passed away and whose brother is in prison, the themes of family and life and death are really heavy.

In fact, it’s not just Hu Ningwei.

Isn't it the same for Xu Xiyu?

Hu Ningwei still has photos and video footage of her parents to look at, but Xu Xiyu can only look at the sketches he drew to recall his family, friends, and even all the old friends on Earth that he occasionally thought of.

For some people, I haven’t contacted them for many years, and I’m not even sure if I have any contact information.

But when Lan Xing occasionally remembered it, Xu Xiyu would always feel an immense longing for her. Perhaps only the time traveler could understand this feeling, and it was difficult to describe it to others.

Thinking of this, Xu Xiyu said again: "In another month, you will graduate, right?"

"Well, time flies. I was just a freshman when I met you." For a moment, Hu Ningwei suddenly understood what Xu Xiyu had just said, "Time flies."

So, she added with a complicated tone: "At that time, I never thought that you would become a father so soon."

This sentence made Xu Xiyu fall into a trance again.

Yes.

I'm almost a father.

Now that I think about it, the reason why I was so greedy and wanted to keep Lu, Ke, and Yang might be because I wanted to use them to fill the void in my own "family affection".

Especially Lu Qinyao, this is the first "relative" that he met on Blue Star. The parents on Blue Star are very good, but after all, there is a veil between them that can never be broken.

Thinking of this, Xu Xiyu suddenly lost all interest in talking.

Fortunately, the movie finally started playing at this time, so his silence did not seem abrupt.

Speaking of which, the first half of the movie "Coco" is still a bit "comedic" and "light-hearted".

It wasn't until that classic shot appeared that the tone of the whole movie began to become heartbreaking.

A dead soul, under the singing of Hector, the true ancestor of the little boy Miguel, turned into golden dust and disappeared from the world, because the last person in this world who remembered him was gone.

As time passed, classic lines and scenes began to appear before their eyes.

"If no one in the living world over there remembers you, you will disappear here."

"Listen to me, Miguel. The world of the dead relies on memory. If your relatives and friends still remember you and enshrine your photos, you can walk across the bridge to visit them on the Day of the Dead. But I can't. No one has ever enshrined my photo."

"Miguel, she's almost forgotten me."

"Who?"

"My daughter, my Vivi."

"Miguel, it's almost dawn. We don't have much time left. I just hope she knows that her dad loves her."

"Xi Yu~~ Let's not watch it anymore. Can we not watch it anymore?" A burst of pleading voices mixed with sobs began to be heard. Hu Ningwei's emotions had already burst out.

Especially Hector’s two lines: “She is almost forgetting me, my daughter, my Vivi” and “I just hope she knows that her father loves her.”

As I just said, she knows what story "Coco" is about.

But how can a boring script be as impactful as a movie accompanied by music, dialogues and pictures?

Hu Ningwei's tears never stopped from the second half of the movie.

The images of the movie gradually became blurred in her tears, but it was precisely this unclear feeling that made her, the "protagonist", feel a stronger sense of immersion.

Xu Xiyu was actually also very upset, but he did not shed tears, because he participated so much in the production of this movie that he had become numb.

So, he sighed, reached out and pulled out a few pieces of paper, and said while helping Hu Ningwei wipe her tears: "Don't be sad, you haven't forgotten them, right?"

Hearing this, Hu Ningwei did not respond and continued to sob.

Seeing that she really couldn't bear to watch it anymore, Xu Xiyu reached out and hugged her into his arms, saying softly: "Okay, okay, let's stop watching and go back."

Hearing this, Hu Ningwei shook her head again in Xu Xiyu's arms.

I said I wouldn't watch it just because it was too painful, not because I really didn't want to watch it.

Just like that, Hu Ningwei curled up in Xu Xiyu's arms, continuing to watch the movie with red eyes and nose. After crying for a while, her emotions eased a little.

It was not until Miguel sang the song "Remember Me" to his great-grandmother Vivian and Vivian sang along naturally that Hu Ningwei broke down in tears again.

Now that she is old, she remembers it.

She remembered her father and the song that her father Hector wrote for her. Miguel's childish voice and Vivian's old voice blended together. Hector, who had been forgotten and disappeared forever, finally regained his "new life" at the moment he was remembered.

Many people tend to belittle "happy endings", believing them to be forced family fun or forced "dumpling-making and smashing". There are even many people who believe that only a tragic ending can reflect the depth of a work.

But such a situation does not exist in "Coco".

God knows how hard Xu Xiyu cried when she saw Coco singing "Remember Me" with Miguel.

God knows how touched he was when he saw Coco, who couldn't remember anything, clearly recognize her family at the last moment and tell the story of her parents.

A good work can bring a huge emotional experience to the audience.

Just at this moment, Hu Ningwei broke down in tears again.

Cry, cry non-stop.

The film's main creative team, who were also crying and knew her, came to comfort her. Even until Xu Xiyu sent her home, her body was still twitching from time to time.

She didn't know whether she was sad or not.

She just wanted to cry.

All the grievances, worries, fears or other emotions in my heart seemed to be released at once.

Mr. Hu, who was at home, did not misunderstand anything when he saw his granddaughter crying like that, because he knew what the two of them had done today.

He even knew what story "Coco" was about, as it was told to him by Hu Ningwei.

"Can I go and take a look?" This was the first time the old man made such a request.

But before Xu Xiyu could reply, he shook his head and said, "Forget it. I'm old and can't stand this."

After saying this, he seemed to have thought of something and said to Xu Xiyu: "Can you give me a copy so I can show it to Ning Tian?"

Although Hu Ningtian is in there, it is not a big problem for the old man to send a movie in for Hu Ningtian to watch.

But Xu Xiyu shook his head and said, "Let's not do it. Don't let your emotions get too volatile in there."

"That's right." Mr. Hu nodded. "If Ning Tian starts crying, it will be harder to stop him than Ning Wei."

"Hahaha." Xu Xiyu laughed in agreement when he heard that. To be honest, he also wanted to cry. He heard that this could help relieve liver and depression, but he found that he couldn't cry at all.

So, he could only stay with Hu Ningwei for a while, and greeted the pregnant Qin Shangqi, and then said goodbye and left. He had never stayed overnight at the Hu family, not now, and probably not in the future.

On the way back, for some reason, Xu Xiyu always felt that the melody of "Remember Me" was echoing in his mind again and again, which made him gradually become dazed.

He arrived home in a daze, and after saying hello to his parents who were watching TV in the living room, he went straight upstairs to the study.

When he got to the study, he pulled out a sketchbook from his drawer.

There are more than a dozen drawings in the sketchbook, which are of his father, mother, and younger brother. Yes, he is an only child on Blue Star, but he has a younger brother on Earth.

Flipping through the paintings, Xu Xiyu inexplicably began to hum the song "Please Remember Me". As he hummed, he became dazed again.

I didn't know how long I stayed there, but there was a "click" sound and the study door was pushed open.

Xu Xiyu came back to her senses, closed the sketchbook in a panic, then turned to look at the person who came. It turned out to be Ke Xinying who was pregnant.

"What are you doing? Sitting here alone?" As Ke Xinying spoke, the person had already come closer.

"Nothing." Xu Xiyu shook his head.

"How is the finished film of Coco?" Ke Xinying also knew what Xu Xiyu was doing today.

"Very good, pretty much what I expected. There shouldn't be any problems. Using it to compete with 'The Amazing Family' is simply an insult to the film."

Ke Xinying nodded after hearing this, and after a moment's silence, she asked again, "How is Weiwei?"

"She kept crying. She was still crying when I sent her home."

"You didn't cry with me?"

"Why am I crying? I've watched this movie so many times that I'm numb. I can't cry even if I want to." Xu Xiyu chuckled and shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Ke Xinying didn't say much, but reached out and touched the sketchbook that Xu Xiyu had closed.

Seeing this, Xu Xiyu wanted to stop her, but felt that it was too weird, so he could only pretend that he didn't care and let Ke Xinying take the sketchbook away.

"Actually, I've always wanted to ask you, who is this painting of?" Ke Xinying asked as she flipped the pages gently.

"You said you always wanted to ask, have you seen these before?" Xu Xiyu was a little surprised.

"I saw it once before when you put it on the table."

"Oh, no one, it's just an exercise. As a student studying fine arts, I need to practice from time to time." Xu Xiyu still smiled naturally.

When Ke Xinying heard this, she nodded without comment.

At this time, Xu Xiyu came around to her side and helped her sit down. He stood behind her and gently massaged her shoulders: "Are you tired? You have two babies in your belly."

"If someone forced me to have children, I might feel tired, but these two babies are what I have been looking forward to. I only feel happy, not tired." Ke Xinying smiled.

"What this means..."

"Yang Xueqing also said this, right? She did suffer a lot, but I think she enjoyed it." Ke Xinying said first.

Then, without waiting for Xu Xiyu's reply, she continued, "Come to think of it, in the past few months, uncle and aunt have told me a lot about your past."

"My past?"

"Yes, you were naughty and sneaky. They said they never dreamed that you would be like this today. It's like you suddenly became a different person after graduation."

After saying this, Xu Xiyu paused while massaging, then continued massaging and said, "People have to grow up eventually."

"It's strange, I had a lot of free time during my pregnancy, and I became addicted to reading novels. Novels talk about time travel, rebirth, and so on. I read so many that one time I had a dream that you were from another world."

"I even dreamed that I was the Jade Emperor."

"Then am I not the Queen Mother?"

"Yes, my lady, do you think my massage strength is okay?"

"The technique is average."

"Then I will practice hard later."

"Hahahaha." Ke Xinying laughed and reached out to pull Xu Xiyu's hand down to her stomach.

So, the posture of the two of them became Xu Xiyu hugging her from behind, with his palms placed on her bulging belly.

"Touch it." Ke Xinying said again.

"Touch what?"

"Touch your baby and hug your wife."

"Haha..." Xu Xiyu was amused by these words. Just as he was laughing, his eyes suddenly caught sight of the open sketchbook next to him.

The father, mother and younger brother in the sketchbook seemed to be looking at him, Ke Xinying and their baby.

At this moment, a sour feeling rushed from the soles of Xu Xiyu's feet to his forehead, and he felt an emotional outburst that he had never experienced before.

Dad, Mom, and brother.

You...are you okay?

I'm fine.

I'm almost a father.

(End of this chapter)