Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 431 Let's get married!
On a low slope southwest of Maoxian County, mountain winds swept dust and sand across the temporary helipad.

The soldiers deftly disassembled the drone signal repeater, the metal bracket making a crisp sound as it struck the rocks.

"All personnel, stand at attention!" Commander Gu's command pierced the wind. He stood on a bare rock, his camouflage epaulets gilded by the setting sun, his combat boots crushing the loose pebbles beneath his feet.

He suddenly stood at attention, the sound of his heels hitting the ground echoing softly among the pebbles, his right arm cutting through the mountain wind, his fingertips pressed against his temple.

"Salute to our volunteer comrades!"

The soldiers, carrying their equipment, turned around in unison, their combat boots scattering crushed stones. Their mud-covered knuckles pressed against their brow bones, the veins on the backs of their hands clearly visible in the sunset.

Lu Kuan, Liu Yifei, Gu Jun, and the others were somewhat at a loss for words and bowed in greeting.

"Gather equipment in three minutes and evacuate in stages!"

Watching the soldiers jog away with their equipment on their backs, Li Xiaomeng finally had a chance to squeeze onto the tarmac and hold the microphone up to the Olympic chief director who had "disappeared from the world" for two days.

"Director Lu, please chat with the audience."

The image shows Lu Kuan in such a desolate state for the first time. His eyes are bloodshot, and there are dark shadows under his eyes. The mountain wind lifts his sweaty hair, revealing a fresh scab on his brow bone.

The wind was strong on the low slope at an altitude of over 3000 meters, and the freshly blown gravel left this glorious scar.

"Cough..." His voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded, and he swallowed twice before continuing: "I came to Wolong with director Gu Yun, who is filming a documentary about the International Olympic Committee, and Yi Fei is here to film a public service advertisement."

"This morning, after the soldiers cleared a rescue path on foot, we followed the main force here to do some logistical work related to drone photography, which is within our capabilities."

Lu Kuan forced a smile, trying not to appear too dejected and disheartened on screen, and hoping to bring encouragement and hope to the audience:
"I have shot no less than 5000 minutes of film footage since I started working in this industry. There are romantic, shocking, beautiful, and suspenseful films with different colors, compositions, and themes."

"But the footage I've been filming for over 100 minutes since last night is the most nerve-wracking for me, because it concerns the lives of countless compatriots and brave soldiers who are waiting to be rescued."

"This is the most precious and important work of my life."

Viewers in front of their televisions watched as the usually eloquent young director nodded wearily, unwilling to say anything more, and their eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

Liu Yifei stood half a step to Lu Kuan's side, tilting her head slightly to look at him. Her gaze was like iron filings drawn to a magnet, clinging to his chapped lips.

Li Xiaomeng held a microphone and handed it to the actress: "Yi Fei, thank you for immediately throwing yourself into the public welfare rescue. Tell us how you feel right now and encourage our compatriots!"

"Yes." Xiao Liu took the microphone: "I have been in a state of shock since yesterday, and I have deeply felt the unity and solidarity that the Chinese nation has shown in times of crisis."

"Especially our most beloved people, fearless of life and death, regardless of east or west, remind me of a line of narration when I watched 'Tangshan,' which is also the inscription on the monument."

"More than 100,000 People's Liberation Army soldiers rushed to the city overnight, arriving first in the urban area. They risked their lives to eliminate dangers, rescue people, clear the ruins, and rebuild houses. Their achievements are unparalleled!"

The soldiers walking by inexplicably had tears in their eyes. For the soldiers, the affirmation from the people and their compatriots is their greatest medal of honor.

Liu Yifei stood in front of the camera, her eyes red-rimmed, her plain face slightly flushed from the high-altitude ultraviolet rays.

She took a deep breath to keep from shedding tears of excitement: "The Chinese people are invincible. I think that when the Olympic flame is lit in Beiping three months from now, the whole world will see us rise from the ruins, standing taller than ever before!"

Go China!

The girl's spirited and clear voice echoed through the canyon, but the television broadcast no longer gave those who missed them the chance to continue gazing.

Li Xiaomeng hugged the two goodbye, wishing each other well, and then rushed off with the photographer to the next interview location.

In this disaster, everyone has their own responsibility.

After tonight, it's clear that Lu Kuan and Liu Yifei will also be leaving this land that they are destined to never forget.

The soldiers left one after another, and Gu Jun sighed, "Director Lu, let's go too."

Looking at the beautiful sunset on the mountain, Boss Lu suddenly felt like an artist going out for inspiration and relaxation: "Afei, you take everyone down, we'll sit for a while and then leave."

"it is good."

The setting sun gilded the mountain ridge with a golden-red hue, and Lu Kuan and Liu Yifei sat side by side on the exposed rock face.

In the distance, the collapsed mountainside took on an unusual ochre color in the twilight, like an oil painting torn apart by a giant.

Liu Yifei took the initiative to hug him: "You haven't slept all night, lean on me and take a nap."

"Great, it's so comfortable to be with a rich woman."

The two gazed into the distance, looking at this "sky of history" in southwestern Sichuan at an altitude of over 3000 meters, and remained silent.

Suddenly, a gap appeared in the clouds, and sunlight poured down like molten gold.

"It's so beautiful." An artist with an aesthetic sense that surpasses that of ordinary people couldn't help but exclaim when looking at the beautiful scenery before him.

His pupils reflected the cracks in the distant mountain ridgeline; the earth's scars were now gilded by the sunlight, like a winding dragon vein reviving.

The mountain wind swept past their feet, carrying ash from the grass and trees, which turned into floating gold dust in the pillar of light, like sparks raised during an ancient ritual.

"Yes, it's so moving it makes you want to cry." Liu Yifei leaned her head against her boyfriend's: "You went through a life-or-death experience together, what are your thoughts, great artist?"

"Are you trying to hit on my artsy, intellectual self?"

Xiao Liu smiled and said, "Yes, you like dating, and I like dating artsy types. We satisfy each other."

"Hmm..." Lu Kuan stared at the ashes floating in the pillar of light, his fingertips unconsciously tracing lines on his knee, preparing to give his girlfriend a top-notch literary shock.

"This life-or-death struggle is like a Rembrandt etching, where unfinished brushstrokes are forever hidden at the boundary between light and shadow."

"We think we are mixing colors, but in reality, fate is washing the brush. Destiny is never outside the canvas; we ourselves are its wet paint."

Liu Xiaolv glared at him resentfully, feigning anger, and said, "Are you deliberately making things difficult for me? Taking advantage of my lack of education?"

"Can't you just be a normal artsy type and do something like Reader's Digest? I could probably appreciate it. Why do you have to go for such highbrow stuff?"

"Speak plainly, what does this mean?"

Lu Kuan laughed and said, "People often mistakenly believe that they can actively plan their own lives, but fate is constantly eroding our plans from a higher dimension."

"The so-called wet paint reveals Sartre's core idea that 'existence precedes essence.' People define themselves through choices, but what remains unchanged is the underlying character of each individual."

"Just like when you met me at fifteen, it was decided from that moment that you and I would go through this disaster together because of some kind of bond."

The great artist succinctly summarized: "In short, it was all predestined."

The artsy young woman, Liu Xiaolv, was overjoyed: "That's great! Dating a high-class pervert is just different. It feels like I'm having a high-class romance."

"However, all of this reflects the decadent style of Western capitalism. I believe we should be like revolutionary comrades, dedicating ourselves to our motherland and our people!"

Lu Kuan took a sip of mineral water to moisten his chapped lips, then looked at her with a playful smile and asked, "What do you mean?"

Liu Yifei's gaze was firm, as if she were about to join the Party: "I hope that the two of us will one day be like Liebknecht and Luxembourg, going to the guillotine together!"

Boss Lu spat out a mouthful of water, looking at her with a wry smile: "Donkey talk nonsense, donkey talk nonsense, God, just pretend you didn't hear it."

Liebknecht and Luxembourg were 19th-century communist fighters who died for their ideals and love. This is what Liebknecht wrote in a letter to his lover back then.

It expresses their loyalty to each other in love, and also their resolute commitment to the revolutionary cause, "to live and die together."

It was indeed heroic, but it's rather eerie to talk about in the current environment. It just goes to show that once a woman becomes sentimental, she's like white phosphorus, ready to spontaneously combust at any moment.

Amidst their laughter and conversation, both seemed to feel relieved, as if the isolated island more than ten kilometers away had been saved.

The mountain breeze suddenly shifted, bringing a refreshing scent of grass and trees. Liu Yifei's stray hair brushed against Lu Kuan's scabbed neck. The two of them took a deep breath at the same time. It was the scent of resin seeping from broken pine branches, mixed with the aroma of moss emerging from the cracks in the rocks.

In the distance, the babbling of a mountain stream finding its way out came, like the pulse of the earth regaining its beat.

Hearing the vibrant sounds, Liu Yifei suddenly said decisively, "I'm going to find Sister Mei or Han Hong and run around Sichuan Province with them."

“Fine, let Afei go with you.” Lu Kuan had no intention of persuading her; he knew it would be futile.

Xiao Liu joked, "I don't have your abilities; I can only run errands and do what I can."

"The organization has given you an even more important task. You must make the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games a success. We hope it will become our spiritual symbol."

Boss Lu replied solemnly, "Yes, sir!"

"But you're being a bit modest. In your words, we're revolutionary comrades. Revolutionary work has no hierarchy; it's just a matter of different roles."

As night falls and a mountain breeze begins to rise, the distant mountain ridgeline blurs into an undulating silhouette in the twilight.

As the last rays of sunlight were swallowed by the clouds, a cold wind, carrying moisture from the cracks in the rubble, rushed towards us.

"Let's go back. Don't get cold."

"Let's look a little longer, the stars are all out, and you can see them so clearly from high altitudes."

As night fell, the starry sky was exceptionally clear on the mountain at an altitude of over 3000 meters.

The sky seemed to have been washed clean, the stars were brighter than usual, the Milky Way stretched across the sky like a hazy ribbon, and countless tiny stars were spread out, twinkling quietly in the deep night sky.

Liu Yifei clung tightly to her boyfriend's arm, tilting her head slightly: "Young Taoist priest, you should be able to observe the stars at night, right? Is that the Big Dipper?"

In high-altitude areas where the air is thin, atmospheric transparency is high, and there is no light pollution from cities, Liu Yifei keenly captured the most obvious and well-known spoon-shaped galaxy.

“Yes.” Lu Kuan’s right hand, wrapped in bandages, gestured towards the sky: “The brightest one with the spoon-shaped opening facing west is Tian Shu.”

His voice mingled with the sound of flowing water from the distant landslide-dammed lake, and his index finger slowly moved along the silver nail-like trajectory of the Big Dipper: "Tianxuan is right next to your hairline. The dragon pearl corresponding to Shu in Zhang Heng's seismograph is held in its mouth."

Xiao Liu's beautiful eyes lingered on his profile as she asked in a soft, sweet voice, "So, what's the interpretation of tonight's celestial phenomena?"

Mr. Lu switched back to his main job and offered prayers for the victims of this disaster.
"The Yin Fu Jing says that when Heaven unleashes its killing intent, stars shift and constellations change; when Earth unleashes its killing intent, dragons and snakes rise from the land. This refers to this calamity."

"But in Taoist rituals for averting disasters, Tianxuan symbolizes the turning point of 'managing life and death.' You can see its light piercing through the night fog, forming a mirror image of heaven and earth with the bare rock fault, which corresponds to the auspicious sign of the dragon pearl bringing relief from calamity."

"Just as described in the Huainanzi, even if the pillar of heaven breaks and the earth's axis is severed, the celestial sphere will not lose its measure." Lu Kuan pinched Xiao Liu's pretty face, who looked completely bewildered. "In other words, for thousands of years, no matter how dynasties changed or how the landscape shifted, the celestial sphere has always hung in the northern sky, guarding the land of Shu."

"It is the constant mark of the Way of Heaven. The earth may tremble and buildings may collapse, but the trajectory of the stars and the will of people to do good will never change."

"Therefore, as long as our nation can unite and overcome this disaster together, everything will be alright, it definitely will be alright."

The girl in his arms remained silent for a long time. Boss Lu looked down curiously and saw that she was staring at him with bright eyes.

He suddenly felt a chill, as if he were being scrutinized and understood.

Liu Yifei's pupils contracted slightly in the twilight, sharp like a feline locking onto its prey. Her eyelashes still bore traces of wet tears, yet they could not conceal the turbulent undercurrent in her eyes.

The mountain breeze swept through her disheveled hair, a few stray strands clinging to her sweaty forehead, making her usually beautiful face appear even more solemn and almost obstinate.

I want to say a few words to you, but you don't have to answer me.

“From eight years ago until today, because of the various ties between us, I feel that I understand you far better than anyone else, yet I also see some things in a fog.”

"For example, your origins, the stories you told me about other people's past lives, and a name you once called out in your dream—Zeng Wenxiu."

Liu Yifei suddenly hugged him tightly, burying her face in the man's chest: "I won't judge the truth by your expression, nor will I try to find out your secrets. I just want to tell you what's on my mind, okay?"

After experiencing a heart-wrenching ordeal, she deeply felt the insignificance of humankind.

I'm afraid if I don't speak up now, I might never have the chance again.

Xiao Liu knew he was about to touch a very sensitive area, so he pretended to be relaxed and said, "There's a cliff just over ten meters away from us. If you're worried, you can push me off later and let me become a ghost and follow you."

Lu Kuan's palm slowly covered Liu Yifei's head. When his fingertips passed through her loose hair, they touched the undried tear stains. He then gently rubbed his knuckles against her taut neck, as if smoothing a roll of silk dampened by wind and rain.

As he lowered his head, his chin brushed against the crown of her head, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he crushed his sigh into the night wind.

Lu Kuan knew in his heart that Liu Yifei had finally lost her temper.

Her insight stemmed from her own indulgence, but also from the hidden allure of a tender heart, which made the paradox of this time traveler become clear in less than ten years.

So at this point in time when his spiritual world was greatly shaken, he chose to confide the biggest secret of his life to himself.

However, Lu Kuan was quite open-minded at this moment: "Turning into a female ghost and following me? Have you forgotten that I am a Taoist priest?"

Liu Yifei ignored his teasing and was determined to get to the bottom of things today, then swallow this vague secret and never mention it again.

She wrapped her arms tightly around her boyfriend's waist, as if afraid he would leave her, and began a long monologue.

“Lu Kuan, sometimes I really do doubt more than once whether you are really a person of this world? Or rather, do you really have the ability to divine and tell fortunes, just like when you were analyzing the stars?”

"I'm not sure, because you've been in mortal danger more than once, like the day Zhang Tianshuo's henchmen attacked you on the day 'Whiplash' wrapped up filming. If I hadn't gone out to find you by some twist of fate, your life might have really been in danger."

"It is said that one's handwriting reflects one's character. Film art is your life's work. No matter what secrets you have, they will inevitably be revealed in your works."

"Then the program for Sight & Sound mentioned your loneliness, which reminded me of another artist's story that you had told."

“I consulted top psychologists at Booth School of Business to create a detailed psychological profile of you.”

"I was thinking, if that poor child grows up, it will probably be you, right?"

Whether it was the howling night wind or the fear in Liu Yifei's heart, her voice trembled slightly.

"My mind is in even more turmoil. I don't know if you come from the past or the future, and I don't know how the world you see is different from ours."

"Until yesterday!"

Xiao Liu swallowed hard: "Until yesterday, when you pulled me away from the landslide, in that instant when the earth trembled, I understood everything!"

"Although I still can't see through the fog surrounding you, I'm certain of at least one thing! You seem to be able to foresee this calamity!"

"The car accident three years ago was entirely your own doing. Your donations of the building and money were all for this day!"

“I know you better than anyone else. You have always been cautious and prudent. The only thing that would make you risk exposing your secrets is this kind of national righteousness.”

The girl seemed to remember something, and her heart filled with sweetness: "Of course, there's also me..."

Her voice suddenly softened, like a feather falling on the man's heart.

A faint blush rose on her cheeks, her eyelashes drooped and trembled gently, casting a shy shadow under her eyes, hiding a secret that only the two of them knew.

Liu Xiaolv became arrogant again: "You were the one who arranged Dior's invitation, weren't you? Seeing that I was really heading towards destruction step by step, you couldn't bear to part with me, so you were willing to go through danger with me."

"You know some things can no longer be hidden from me, so take this opportunity to clear your name of any suspicions—"

She put herself in the washing machine's shoes and speculated, "After all, no one would put themselves in such a deadly situation when they know the sky is about to fall!"

As Liu Yifei spoke, she became more and more excited. Her cheeks flushed with emotion, and her eyes shone brightly, as if a secret that had been suppressed for many years had finally found an outlet.

Her speech became faster and faster, her voice trembled slightly, yet it carried a stubborn determination, as if she would lose her courage if she didn't finish speaking in one breath.

"But you're wrong!"

"You've put yourself in a deadly situation, which only confirms my belief that you're different from others. Everyone else thinks you're the most ruthless profit-driven person, but I know you're not!"

"You just lack someone who loves you like Zeng Wenxiu did!" (Chapter 361)
Liu Yifei suddenly broke her promise and looked up to meet his gaze.

On a low slope at an altitude of over 3000 meters, the night wind carried lingering dust and sand across the rock face. Liu Yifei's eyelashes trembled with sand, but her pupils shone with an astonishing brightness.

The moment she broke her promise and looked up, Lu Kuan saw the taut curve of the girl's jaw like a fully drawn bowstring, yet the light shimmering in her eyes was as soft as melting snow.

The girl cupped the man's face in her hands, as if she were holding the entire Milky Way in her eyes, and uttered the most touching words of love in her life.

"I often think back to the boy in your story."

"The baby, frozen blue-purple under the arch of the Yangtze River Bridge, looked like a tattered piece of film abandoned by the world."

"The orphan who secretly learned montage from the pile of discarded films in the film studio gripped Kurosawa's storyboards tightly with his fingers burned by the developing solution."

"That stubborn figure who didn't dare to make a sound even when blowing his nose at the hospital bedside, watching Zeng Wenxiu's deformed hand slip off the edge of the bed, from then on no one used faded paint to draw his birthday portrait again."

Liu Yifei's fingertips gently traced the contours of Lu Kuan's jaw, as if trying to etch every inch of his features into her memory.

"I have thought countless times about traveling through time to that story, about giving him a hug, and telling him that I will be waiting for him in the future."

"That night in Sicily, as I watched the moonlight bathe your drunken face, I recalled the dying words of the dear mother in the story—"

“Remember, press the pause button when you cry, adjust the focus when you are in pain, and when you love…”

"I want to say what she didn't finish saying."

Two lines of clear tears slid down the girl's pretty face: "Lu Kuan, when you love me, please hold me tight."

The mountain wind howled, carrying the scent of pine needles and moss from the rock crevices, sending her whispers into the night and into the heart of the lonely traveler.

"it is good."

The syllable, choked with sobs, rolled out of the man's throat, like the last line of dialogue peeled from an old film reel. Moonlight streamed over his taut jaw muscles, illuminating a tear stain that hadn't yet dried on his chin.

Those were ice crystals from under the Yangtze River Bridge in 1981, which were finally melted by Liu Yifei's temperature.

Lu Kuan's arms tightened suddenly, pulling the girl into his embrace as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones.

Through his down jacket, Liu Yifei seemed to hear a tremor like a glacier bursting from his chest—

That was Zeng Wenxiu's heartbeat, frozen for thirty years after her death.

And now, at this very moment, the lonely traveler can finally silently share this love and pain with another person.

In his true form, in his real identity.

Liu Yifei gently stroked his back and murmured, "All my curiosity vanished the moment the sky and earth collapsed."

"No matter where you come from, no matter how many secrets you have, I no longer want to know."

All I know is that you would risk your life for me.

"All I know is that I love you more than I love myself."

The couple embraced tightly, and the Milky Way above them was as gentle as scattered diamonds blown by the wind, densely adorning the deep blue sky.

The handle of the Big Dipper hangs askew overhead, and the light of the star Merak shines exceptionally brightly, like the eye of destiny, silently watching this confession that transcends time and space.

Finally, after knowing each other for eight years and falling in love for a year, a life-or-death question became the catalyst for breaking down their psychological defenses.

Xiao Liu had previously observed that dream talk, lonely imagery, and disaster predictions did not require seeking answers, but rather relied on absolute trust in the moment to redeem the loneliness inherent in the transmigrators.

All the mysterious speculations and doubts about him in the past can be swallowed and never mentioned again.

With the purest and most beautiful heart of a young girl, she fulfilled Zeng Wenxiu's unfinished "maternal dying wish".

Just as the star Tianxuan hangs high in the night sky, anchoring and guarding the land of Shu, Liu Yifei also became the temporal and spatial coordinate that anchored his wandering soul.

At this moment, love transcends time and space and secrets, becoming a powerful weapon against the "existential paradox" of time travelers.

People are more likely to see through each other and understand themselves when faced with life and death.

As the night breeze subsided, the mountain mist quietly rose, condensing into a hazy silver veil under the moonlight, gently covering the two figures embracing.

From the moment Liu Yifei began her emotional outpouring, Lu Kuan, who had only uttered one word throughout, slowly released his arms, ending the embrace.

He looked closely at the pretty girl with sparkling eyes before him, and suddenly said in a gentle voice:
"I want a home, let's get married."

(End of this chapter)