Year 1983: I was a carpenter in Northeast China

Xu Bei hadn't gone far.

I bought a bag of melon seeds and peanuts for five cents and two strings of candied hawthorns from a small stall near the movie theater entrance.

Then, they quickly returned.

Actually, considering that eating these things would make him thirsty, he did want to buy some soda.

However, in this cold season, the movie theater probably wouldn't be very warm, and most girls don't like cold drinks, so I didn't go to the South Building to buy any.

When Song Guomei saw that Xu Bei had even bought candied hawthorns, she felt a little embarrassed and had other thoughts in her mind. She deliberately said in a coquettish tone, "Brother Xiao Bei, I called you but you didn't stop. Why did you buy so many?"

"Watching a movie without eating something is no fun. Here, take this."

Xu Bei wasn't being overly attentive to Song Guomei because Song was a repeat student; rather, he felt it was simply a gentlemanly gesture.

Especially since he wasn't actually twenty years old, he treated these two girls like children.

He felt it was inconvenient to carry it now, but he would definitely buy a few more skewers to bring to his sister and mother later.

"Brother Xiao Bei... thank you, you've gone to so much trouble." Song Guomei said as she accepted the candied hawthorn.

Xu Bei laughed heartily, "This is hardly a waste of money. With my relationship with your brother, it's no big deal."

Song Guomei quickly handed one of the strings to Zhou Qingwan beside her.

Zhou Qingwan and Xu Bei were not familiar with each other since it was their first meeting, but she didn't want to offend him.

Feeling a little embarrassed, I said thank you before taking it.

Xu Bei waved his hand and smiled, "No need to be polite."

Just then, the staff inside finished cleaning, the projectionist changed the film, and they started checking tickets.

Two staff members were standing at the ticket gate.

A woman wearing arm sleeves and with a serious expression held a pair of iron pliers in her hand.

When someone hands her a ticket, she bites a notch in the stub.

Another person had to use their body and arms to block those who didn't have tickets but wanted to squeeze in with the crowd.

"Hey! You in the dog-skin hat! Where's your ticket?"

"Children need tickets! Half price!"

"Stop pushing! Don't push!"

"..."

Xu Bei hadn't experienced such a scene for many years, and as he walked in with the crowd, he still felt a bit of novelty.

However, he didn't forget to protect the people and prevent others from crowding them.

Both Song Guomei and Zhou Qingwan felt the thoughtful care from Xu Bei, and each had their own thoughts.

After passing through the crowded ticket gates, people enter a relatively spacious lobby.

Then, walking further in and entering the screening room, you'll find yourself on a slightly sloping cement floor with rows of dark-colored wooden benches fixed to it.

These chairs are arranged in a row, and some of the paint is quite mottled, revealing the original wood grain.

There is a narrow aisle in front of each row of seats, and the floor is slippery from the countless feet that have walked on it.

At the very front of the screening room was a huge white screen.

Long red velvet curtains hung on both sides.

Xu Bei followed behind the two girls, and instead of taking their assigned seats, he found a spot near the back, and the three of them sat together.

Song Guomei naturally sat in the middle, separating Xu Bei and Zhou Qingwan.

Xu Bei felt that there was a very unique atmosphere in this movie theater.

It has the stale smell of old wood, the smoky aroma of roasted melon seeds, and a mixture of various smells emanating from people.

The wooden planks of this chair were cold and hard to sit on, and it took a while before it started to feel warm.

The entire screening room was filled with the buzzing of conversations, the crunching of sunflower seeds, the excited play of children, and the sounds of chairs flipping over.

Xu Bei carefully experienced the atmosphere of a movie theater from the 80s, and silently compared it with that of decades later.

Song Guomei glanced at Xu Bei, who had been looking around since entering, and made small talk, "Brother Bei, how many times have you seen this movie?"

"Several times, I guess. I've forgotten too. What about you guys?" Xu Bei didn't mean to ignore anyone. He looked past Song Guomei and at Zhou Qingwan, asking, "How many times have you all watched it?"

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Song Guomei adjusted her posture, conveniently blocking his view, before answering, "We've watched it five or six times already. I feel this movie is better than Shaolin Temple."

Zhou Qingwan could roughly tell what her classmate was thinking, so she remained silent after entering, trying to minimize her presence. Seeing this, she leaned back in her chair and looked away.

Upon hearing Song Guomei mention Shaolin Temple, Xu Bei also noticed that there were still posters of Shaolin Temple outside, indicating that it was a rather phenomenal film of this era.

Since its release, it has achieved high box office success, and has been repeatedly shown in various places. In some places, the ticket price has been inflated to 50 cents or even more.

"These two movies are different genres. I guess you girls don't really like fighting and killing."

When the lights suddenly went out, all the noise in the screening room seemed to be paused.

However, people living in this era generally know that there is a promotional video before the main feature, so various voices quickly started buzzing again.

It wasn't until a certain film studio appeared that many people sat up straight, ready to watch the film seriously.

Xu Bei also turned his gaze straight ahead, intending to rewatch the movie "The Herdsman" starring Zhu Shimao and Cong Shan.

Unfortunately, he has far more memories of Zhu Shimao and Chen Peisi's skit performances on the Spring Festival Gala stage than others.

Therefore, seeing him, with his thick eyebrows, big eyes, and handsome appearance, playing Xu Lingjun always felt out of place, and I couldn't help but want to laugh.

When he uttered that classic line, "Old Xu, don't let your wife appear," Song Guomei, who was standing next to him, also looked at him with a mysterious smile on her face.

Xu Bei was already immune to these things, and simply responded with a slight smile.

As time went by, he estimated when his sister would get off the bus. Not wanting to disturb other viewers, he said goodbye to Song Guomei and the others before leaving.

What Xu Bei didn't know was that with his departure, some people had completely lost interest in watching the movie.

Stepping out of the movie theater and breathing in the crisp, fresh air, Xu Bei immediately felt much better; to be honest, the smell inside wasn't very pleasant.

After unlocking the bicycle parked to the side, he didn't ride away immediately. Instead, he went to the candied hawthorn vendor and bought a few to take with him.

By the time Xu Bei picked up his sister at the station, it was completely dark outside, and much colder than when the sun was out.

Xu Juan held a candied hawthorn in her hand, but she had no intention of eating it right away. Instead, she was looking around at the newly bought second-hand car.

"Brother, the bicycle you bought is really nice."

Xu Bei patted the car seat. "That's right, look how good your brother is at buying things. Get in, he's our family's college prospect. Mom even made some fried dough sticks for you."