The birth of an actor

Chapter 13 Reunion

June has quietly come to an end.

On July 2nd, a trailer truck from Jilin Province arrived at the highway toll gate of Yanjing Tongzhou Station.

The truck was carrying logs, one after another. To the untrained eye, it was hard to identify the species, but the eyes of everyone in the passing vehicles were always fixed on that large semi-trailer.

The reason is simple: that tree is just too damn thick.

The smallest diameter is around 1.2 meters.

The thickest ones even exceed 1.5 meters.

How many years will that take?

With this question in mind, they wanted to take a closer look, but were directed by traffic police stationed on the highway to quickly pass through the toll station.

Not even allowed to look at it.

At this moment, there was a row of black vehicles parked next to the large truck. Each vehicle had some "passes" placed on its center console glass. The models were mostly Audi 100s, with a few that looked very new Lexus.

These cars were also parked on the side of the road.

The people in the vehicle were now concentrated at the back of the large trailer.

Most of them are elderly.

They either sit in wheelchairs or hunch over, struggling to look up at the timber on the trailer, trying to decipher the strings of numbers on it.

130, 150, 160, 145...

The diameters of the timbers were written on them, and the elderly people were selecting them as if they were choosing merchandise.

An Xin was among them, but he stood a few meters away from the driver.

The car was lined with red pines. Red pines from Changbai Mountain. (Note 1)

Naturally insect-proof and rot-resistant, it is one of the best choices for making coffins.

It's definitely inferior to species like Phoebe zhennan, but it's about the same as other high-end tree species. It's still a top-tier type of timber.

This is the main business of the elder whom Anxin affectionately calls "Uncle Huai'an".

The age of these red pines is unknown, and logging is prohibited in Jilin province. This is because the pine cones of red pines have significant economic value. Moreover, such thick red pines would be enough to be bound with red ribbons back home, but here they lie on a trailer, becoming coffins.

From the moment it was felled, it arrived in Yanjing without any hindrance, armed with a special pass.

According to the driver, they didn't even need to get off the road.

The price is close to four thousand per cubic meter. After selecting it, paying the money, and then having it transported to a processing plant in Hebei Province, it will be transformed into a top-quality coffin in about two or three months and placed in a warehouse, waiting to be used.

But all of this has nothing to do with peace of mind.

Cats have their ways, and mice have theirs. Uncle Huai'an's business is something he can't do; it's too immoral.

If it weren't for the fact that he could easily take a bus from his hometown to here, he wouldn't have gotten involved in any of these things.

Now that they had arrived in Yanjing, the exchanges between the two sides came to an end.

He stayed far away, waiting for someone to come and pick him up.

The two sides keep to themselves, like water from a well and water from a river.

After waiting for about half an hour, I finally saw a black old Jetta.

After exiting the highway, the Jetta turned on its hazard lights, made a U-turn, and drove this way.

Just as I turned around, the traffic police walked over there.

Seeing this, Anxin quickly called out:
"Big brother, come pick me up. No need for you to bother, I'll be leaving right away."

Upon hearing this, the traffic police officer knew that the child had come with the truck, and, as a gesture of respect, nodded and said:
"Okay. Let's hurry up and not block the cars behind us."

Looking at the wide road in front of him with a clear understanding of his meaning, Anxin nodded with a smile:
"Hey, okay."

So, when the Jetta pulled up, An Xin was taken aback as she watched the middle-aged man get out of the car, while the woman who got out tentatively asked:

"Is it reassuring?"

"Yes, I am Anxin. And you are?"

"My name is Zhang Xiaowen, and I'm Mr. Li's secretary. Mr. Li was pulled away on a business trip by the Chamber of Commerce this morning and won't be back for another three or four days. He asked me to pick you up."

"Uh……"

An Xin paused for a moment, then quickly nodded:
"Hello, Sister Zhang. Could you please open the trunk so I can put my things in?"

"it is good."

Zhang Xiaowen responded and opened the trunk. She then began packing various sizes of woven bags inside.

After finishing loading, he politely nodded to the traffic policeman before getting into the car.

Zhang Xiaowen then drove back into Tongzhou Station, and asked with some curiosity:
"Were you dropped off at the highway exit by the bus?"

Upon hearing this, An Xin knew that she probably didn't understand the business of that trailer truck. So she said:
"I came in that big semi-trailer truck."

"what?"

Zhang Xiaowen was taken aback for a moment, then asked curiously:

"The wood on that cart looks so thick. What's it used for?"

"I'm not quite sure either. I guess it's for making furniture."

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaowen lost her curiosity and said directly:

"Mr. Li told me that he would arrange for you to be placed at Jishuitan Hospital. There are empty rooms there, and they've already been prepared. Plus, it's not far from Renmin University. Can you ride a scooter?"

"Yes. But I don't have a driver's license."

"That's alright... Can you drive?"

"Sure."

"Then I'll have someone get you a driver's license. The shop is about six or seven kilometers from Renmin University, and Mr. Li has arranged a scooter for you. Don't worry about the gas; there's a gas station next to Jishuitan Park, owned by a friend of Mr. Li's. You can just fill up there. The company will reimburse the expenses. Mr. Li said the dormitory conditions aren't good, so you can stay at the shop. Mr. Li has many friends around here..."

She began to talk at length about Uncle Anxin's good qualities.

As for Anxin, her father's childhood friend, Uncle Li Jun, he is indeed a very successful businessman.

He was among the first to venture into business, mainly selling Northeastern specialties. In Beijing, he had stores near almost every major hospital.

Their business ranges from ginseng and deer antlers to all sorts of strange and unusual shady stuff.

He can get them all.

The wild delicacies from Changbai Mountain are indeed excellent for nourishing the body and have a large customer base.

Before Anxin was reborn, Uncle Li had already started raising bird ginseng seeds, and the business had been doing very well.

They were driving a Mercedes-Benz back in the 1990s, so their financial situation must be quite good.

As they were talking, Zhang Xiaowen suddenly pointed to the glove compartment in the passenger seat:

"There's a gift that Mr. Li bought for you inside. Take a look."

"?"

Anxin was taken aback and subconsciously opened the storage compartment, where she saw a Motorola box.

The box also features a classic pager design.

"..."

Looking at the picture on the box, a hint of disbelief flashed in Anxin's eyes.

A pager.

It really is... I haven't used it for many years.

"This is a Chinese character display, do you know how to use it?"

"……meeting."

Anxin agreed and opened the box.

The working principle of this device is actually very simple. You just need to dial the number of the telecommunications company, and after the call is connected, tell the operator the pager number you called and the message.

For example, when he called Fan Bingbing, he would simply state her pager number and then say to the operator:
"Please ask her to call back 020-XXXX, Mr. An."

Then the other person's pager will receive a message like this. After seeing it, just find a public phone to reply to the message.

It's that simple.

Despite its simple function, a pager cost at least two thousand yuan in this era, and one with a Chinese character display was even more expensive. If he remembered correctly, Fan Bing's pager didn't seem to have a Chinese character display.

That would be a bit more complicated. After calling the other party, you would enter the return call number, and the other party would call back after seeing it.

In short, it's quite troublesome.

But in an era when mobile phones cost tens of thousands of yuan and still had no signal outside the city, pagers were the most convenient option.

"The internet connection is already set up, so you don't need to worry about the monthly fee. Just stick the number on the plastic film onto the machine, and that will be your pager number."

Seemingly afraid that An Xin might pretend to know what she was talking about, Zhang Xiaowen carefully explained it to her.

Anxin had already opened the box and taken out a pager, a charcoal pencil about the length of a finger, and a pocket-sized phone book.

"Thank you, Uncle Li. Thank you for your trouble, Sister Zhang."

"Well, it's okay."

Zhang Xiaowen smiled slightly.

Not bad, this kid is quite polite and good-looking.

It's something people really like.

……

For the rest of the journey, the two chatted idly, but An Xin wasn't really curious about this capital city from the 1990s. After all, she had spent four years of university here in her previous life.

The Jetta kept stopping and starting, and Zhang Xiaowen even took Anxin to Tianmen Square to tell him about the local history.

They walked all the way to Jishuitan Hospital, and with Zhang Xiaowen saying, "We're right next to Shichahai, the scenery is pretty good," the two of them went into a "Northeast Specialty Products" shop in a hutong.

Zhang Xiaowen introduced the shop assistant as Sui Xi, a girl with many freckles on her face.

After the two sides introduced themselves, Zhang Xiaowen led Anxin to the backyard.

Strictly speaking, this place could be considered a courtyard house, but it was actually built after the liberation. If Anxin remembers correctly, this place will be demolished in a few years. The advantage of single-story houses is that they are spacious enough. In his single room, besides the bed and table, there were some boxes for storing mountain produce, as well as two large freezers and pots and pans.

There was even a small television and a video recorder, which was a luxury for that era.

It can be said that it has everything you need.

After explaining the precautions, Zhang Xiaowen gave Anxin the key to the Haomai 125 scooter in the yard, left a business card, and then left.

Sui Xi even asked if she needed any help.

Anxin didn't need her help; instead, she told the woman to hurry up and watch the shop. Putting everything else aside, there were quite a few petty thieves in Yanjing at this time of day.

And it's also clear that she was just being polite.

He calmly put all the mountain produce his grandfather had prepared into the freezer, then tidied up his bedding, putting one set in the dormitory and the other here, and finally the cash at the bottom of his bag.

Not counting tuition fees, his grandfather gave him a total of two thousand yuan.

He pulled out five bills, put the rest back in his backpack, thought for a moment, then walked out of the room and said to Sui Xi:

"Sister Sui, may I use the phone?"

"Sure, use it as you like."

Sui Xi held a copy of "Dream of the Red Chamber" in her hands as she spoke.

Anxin walked to the telephone on the side of the counter and took out Fan Bingbing's business card from her pocket.

He Xiuqiong asked him for artistic photos, clearly wanting to "mentor" him.

He chose the right answer. However, the other party wasn't in Yanjing at the moment; after making the call and leaving her address, she went to Taiwan. An Xin felt it would be more direct to ask Fan Bing about this, so she directly called the other party's pager, gave the operator the landline number, and then said to Sui Xi:
"Sister Sui, I'm going back to continue tidying up. If you need to call me later, please let me know."

"it is good."

After waiting for a few minutes, the phone rang.

"Hey, Anxin?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I see the area code is Yanjing. You've arrived?"

"Ha, yes."

Anxin smiled and replied:
"I just arrived at my uncle's place and unpacked my luggage."

"Haha, that's great! But don't rush with the books, settle them in first..."

"Um... there's something I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"Go ahead and tell me, what's wrong?"

"Director He asked me to mail her some artistic photos, but I don't have any. I'm planning to get them done at a photo studio. What are the specific requirements? Does she need makeup? Where are some good places to take photos in Beijing?"

"Oh, Director He asked you for photos?"

The girl's voice was full of surprise, but the next second she said:
"How about you go to the photo studio that took my picture? I think they take pretty good pictures... By the way, are you staying at your uncle's house here? Where is it? Why don't you come find me, and I'll take you there?"

Anxin thought it sounded plausible and agreed.
"Sure, I'm near Jishuitan Hospital. Do you know where that is?"

"...Jishuitan?"

"Correct."

"Wow, it's so close! I'm near the Beijing Film Studio, not far from where you are!"

Anxin was taken aback:
"Are you at the Beijing Film Studio?"

"Yes. You know that?"

"I... I went there before when I came to Yanjing."

Anxin told a little white lie, but in reality, the Beijing Film Studio, the Beijing Film Academy, and Renmin University are all along the North Third Ring Road. When he was in school, his seniors often organized gatherings and social events, and he went there quite a few times, so he was extremely familiar with the area. But he certainly couldn't tell the truth at this moment. However, it was true that although the Beijing Film Studio wasn't particularly close to him, he remembered that a taxi ride from there would only cost around ten yuan.

About five or six kilometers.

What are you doing at the Beijing Film Studio?

"Looking for work... Do you know where this is?"

"I know, North Third Ring Road."

"Huh? You really know? I thought this was your first time here..."

"Haha. How about I come over to see you? I haven't thanked you yet for lending you the book last time... I'll bring you some gifts. Do you rent an apartment here?"

"No, I rented it with a classmate and an older sister."

Do you have a refrigerator?

There is a shared small refrigerator.

"Oh, okay... then you can wait for me at the entrance of the Beijing Film Studio?"

"Okay, but are you sure you know the way?"

"Ha, just wait, see you in a bit."

"Okay, if you can't find the way, just call me again."

"Ah."

After hanging up the phone, he said to Sui Xi:
"Sister Sui, I'm going out for a bit."

Okay. Here, take this.

Sui Xi handed over a key, pointed to the room, and said:
"The doors here are locked at night. If you come back late, I'll lock the front door after I get off work. You can just come in and out through the back door."

"it is good."

Anxin responded and took a few plastic bags from the counter before returning to the backyard.

He also took all the free-range chickens that Lao Xian sent this time, including the ginseng and deer antler slices.

Although it's a local specialty, this stuff is really good for making soup.

Although it doesn't look very appealing, it's the thought that counts.

We can't just show up to guests empty-handed, can we?
After dividing the food into portions using plastic bags, he wrapped them together with a cotton blanket covered in plastic and a mineral water bottle with half an ice cube remaining. That's how he brought them from his hometown.

After wrapping everything up and putting it into a large plastic bag, I carried it out the door.

A moment later, the sound of a motorcycle exhaust came from the backyard.

They sped off toward a brand new road.

(Note 1: Changbai Mountain is not the main production area of ​​Korean pine. In fact, the best Korean pine is in my hometown in the Lesser Khingan Mountains. This is a slight modification.)
(End of this chapter)