Mud beads

Since winter began in Chang'an, a long queue requiring security guards to maintain order has formed for the first time at the entrance of the school's auditorium.

On the ninth day of the release of "Letters from the North," Liang Dong, who was originally at the bottom of the poster, became the most prominent person in the film. Two newly replaced standees stood in front of the promotional board, his name was still listed fourth, but there was one more solo photo than when the film was first released. In the photo, he was wearing blue overalls, with machine oil on his forehead, and his eyes looked beyond the lens, gazing into the distance.

In the movie, he played a young man working at a small-town auto repair shop, with less than twenty minutes of screen time. What truly made him famous was the farewell scene at the train station. The female lead boarded the bus, and he was still smiling through the window, waving to tell her to go on her way. Even after the bus had driven quite a distance, the smile on his face didn't immediately fade, but his eyes emptied. Only when the dust kicked up by the bus reached him did he lower his head and stuff the crumpled ticket back into his pocket.

That scene, less than a minute long, was cut down to just over twenty seconds and circulated millions of times across various platforms. Some praised the director for his skill in filming people, while others said the fourth male lead portrayed an ordinary farewell with the feel of a ten-year heartbreak. The film's official account released solo behind-the-scenes footage of him overnight, and his name, which was initially not prominently featured on the promotional tour list, became a regular fixture from the third stop onwards.

The wind outside the auditorium was so strong it hurt your ears. The two girls in front of Yu Zhu were holding up the same banner and talking about Liang Dong the whole way.

"I watched some clips of his old live streams yesterday, he seemed so aloof."

"Oh, he seems quite lively now?"

"He and Sheng Ning are more compatible than the male lead. I don't believe that the look in his eyes at the train station was all acting."

"I wonder if they can team up again."

After they finished speaking, they both laughed.

Yu Zhu tucked her chin into her scarf. She had just come from the teacher's office that afternoon, her canvas bag stuffed with a stack of photocopied local gazetteers, the fabric digging into her back. The ticket Liang Xia had given her was tucked into her notebook; it was in the fifth row, by the aisle. The seat wasn't perfect, but it was very close to the stage.

After entering, she took off her down jacket and draped it over her lap. The auditorium had been renovated; the chair backs had been replaced with dark blue, and the carpet still smelled of freshly laid rubber. The screen lit up, and the surroundings quickly darkened.

Yu Zhu had seen Liang Dong's short dramas on her phone before, and also some stills leaked from the set. But when he appeared on the big screen for the first time, she was still taken aback.

The camera first focuses on a hand smeared with black grease. A wrench is tossed into a metal tray, and Liang Dong slides out from under the car, his blue overalls zipped up, revealing a worn gray vest underneath. For the role, his skin has been darkened by the makeup artist, and a scar has been added beside his brow bone. His face is positioned several meters high, so much so that even the dust clinging to his eyelashes is visible.

His character's name in the movie is Chen Ye.

The taciturn fourth male lead, who secretly loves the female lead, works as a car mechanic, gets into fights, and takes the blame for others. Liang Dong usually speaks with a very soft tone at the end of his sentences, but his character in the film lacks the gentleness he displays in real life. Chen Ye's eyes always carry a hint of wariness when he looks at people, and he never manages a full smile; his lips barely move before his brows furrow again.

Yu Zhu looked at the screen and felt a sense of unfamiliarity several times.

She was more familiar with the way he cut beef while wearing an apron, with water still dripping from his forehead as he walked out of the bathroom after washing his hair, and with the hint of cunning hidden in his voice when he called her "sister." None of these things were visible on camera; all that remained was a cold, hard, and stubborn young man.

The applause lasted a long time when the end credits rolled.

The host emerged from the side stage, and the school lights gradually came on. A few minutes later, the main cast members took to the stage one by one. The director and the female lead walked in front, followed by three more senior male actors, with Liang Dong standing at the very edge.

His appearance sparked the biggest uproar of the night.

Someone in the auditorium called his name, and several rows of people in the back simultaneously raised their phones. Liang Dong stopped at the edge of the stage and bowed to the audience along with the other lead actors. He was wearing a black T-shirt with the movie's title printed on it, simple dark blue jeans, his hair naturally loose, and a bright smile on his face.

As the spotlight shone on him, the host handed him the microphone. He waited for the audience's voices to subside before smiling and saying, "Hello everyone, I'm Liang Dong, who plays Chen Ye. Thank you all for coming to see 'Letters from the North'."

The sound faded, followed by another scream.

Yu Zhu clapped along, her palms and eyes slightly warm from the clapping. She had never seen so many people like Liang Dong. The cheers surged toward the stage from all directions, so enthusiastic they were almost overbearing. For a fleeting moment, she felt a pang of sadness, but it was quickly overwhelmed by even greater joy.

The main creators talked for more than half an hour.

The director talked about casting, and the lead actress spoke about the hardships of filming. When it was Liang Dong's turn, he remained quiet, holding the microphone and listening attentively as others spoke. The host asked him if he was nervous about filming his first movie on the big screen. He said he was nervous, that they filmed the first scene eleven times, and that he didn't dare look at the director after wrapping up. The director added that Liang Dong was the actor who received the most criticism, but he never got angry.

The audience laughed.

Liang Dong also lowered his head and smiled, "Director Zhou, can you be nicer to me next time?"

Director Zhou pointed at him with the microphone and said, "Hitting is a sign of affection, scolding is a sign of love."

As the atmosphere heated up, the host invited the male actors to the front of the stage for a group photo, posing as shown on the movie poster. Sheng Ning stood in the middle, with the other four on either side. A photographer from below shouted for them to move closer, and Sheng Ning, lifting her long dress, moved towards Liang Dong, accidentally stepping on the hem of her dress. Liang Dong took a half-step back first, raising his hand to remind her, and only after she straightened her dress did he return to his original position.

"Xiao Dong is like that on set too," the female lead, Sheng Ning, laughed into the microphone. "He's very caring, but he's not very talkative, so we all love to tease him."

The host asked, "Is Ms. Sheng Ning speaking favorably of Chen Ye or Liang Dong?"

Immediately, some people in the audience started to make a fuss.

Liang Dong picked up the microphone and cooperatively added, "Today's main focus is on promoting the movie, so let me speak for Chen Ye first."

Sheng Ning smiled and reached out to touch his shoulder: "See, you can talk now."

The girl next to Yu Zhu covered her mouth and whispered, "There's definitely something going on between them."

Her companion nodded frantically.

Yu Zhu lowered her eyes, smiled, and pulled the down jacket draped over her knees further in.

On stage, Liang Dong still wore a perfectly timed smile. Sheng Ning had already withdrawn his hand, and he moved slightly outward to give the camera a better central position for the main actors.

When it was the audience's turn to ask questions, two more rows of ceiling lights in the auditorium came on.

A film school student asked Liang Dong what Chen Ye regretted most.

Liang Dong held the microphone and remained silent for a few seconds.

"He didn't finish his studies," he said. "He felt that going out to earn money early would make things easier for his family. Later, many things changed, and when he wanted to go back, he couldn't find his original place anymore."

The host asked, "What if you could choose again?"

"Let's go back to school first." Liang Dong smiled. "Education is a lifelong process, but school is a time of youth."

After he finished speaking, he shifted his gaze from the student who asked the question, past the lit-up phones in the first few rows, and landed on the fifth row.

Yu Zhu didn't have time to dodge.

The two men stared at each other across the stage, lighting rigs, and the throng of people, a few meters apart. Liang Dong's fingers twitched on the microphone, and the smile he had been putting on for the camera suddenly relaxed, his lips lifting slightly.

The large screen on the side of the stage was still showing the students asking questions, while two girls next to them were busy organizing the videos they had just filmed.

Yu Zhu saw it.

She smiled at him and nodded slightly.

When someone else asked a question, Liang Dong looked away. After that, he rarely interrupted, listening quietly as others answered, occasionally glancing towards the fifth row. Each question was very brief. Yu Zhu was still able to keep up with the hundreds of faces in the auditorium.

The creators left quickly after the roadshow ended.

They had to rush to another cinema that night and fly to Shanghai the next morning. The host had barely finished his closing remarks when staff members swarmed around from the side stage. Media personnel pressed for questions with microphones in hand, student volunteers set up barriers, and several actors signed two posters at the edge of the stage before being urged to head towards the back door.

Yu Zhu retreated with the audience.

The crowd blocked the exit, with everyone holding up their phones. Chen Ye and Liang Dong's names were called out one after another. He walked to the back door, turned around once, and raised his hand to signal everyone not to push. Soon, the black door closed behind him.

They didn't even exchange a single word.

As Yu Zhu stepped out of the auditorium, a cold wind immediately swept into her loosely pulled-up collar. She bent down to button up her down jacket, and her phone vibrated in her pocket.

Liang Xia: Don't go, I'll be right out.

Ten minutes later, Liang Xia ran out of the side door of the auditorium.

She was wearing a black down jacket that reached her knees, with a staff badge around her neck, and her hair was stuck to the side of her face by static electricity. She was also carrying two paper bags that she hadn't had time to throw away, one containing Liang Dong's worn-out sneakers, and the other stuffed with letters from fans.

"I'm freezing!" As soon as she saw Yu Zhu, she shoved a paper bag into her hand and freed her hand to zip it up. "Come on, let's take a walk around the school. It's a rare opportunity to be in a prestigious university again."

"Has he left?" Yu Zhu asked, taking the paper bag.

"Get in the car. The next show is so close, we still need to do some additional interviews on the way." Liang Xia glanced at her. "He wanted to get off and find you, his manager almost knelt down to him."

Yu Zhu smiled and said, "It's alright, work is more important."

"Is this the demeanor of an empress? So magnanimous." Liang Xia took her arm and pulled her into the campus.

It was already dark. The windows of the teaching building were lit up one by one, and students wrapped in scarves came out of the cafeteria, their breath steaming in the air. Someone had set up a stall by the roadside selling roasted sweet potatoes, the tin oven glowing a dark red, and the sweet aroma carried far by the cold wind.

Liang Xia kept talking the whole way.

She said that right after the movie was finished being edited, Liang Dong went to the platform to record an interview. He waited in the corridor for four hours, and in the end, the program ran overtime, so they only let him in to say a few words. Now, the same producer calls her every day, affectionately calling her "Teacher Liang," wanting to arrange a solo interview.

It's also said that last week the brand borrowed a spring outfit and had Liang Dong stand on a terrace for a photoshoot in sub-zero temperatures. He wanted to put heat packs inside the clothes, but the brand's staff stopped him, saying that the fabric would wrinkle due to thermal expansion. After the photoshoot went viral, the brand sent him a whole season's worth of new designs, asking him to be the first to wear them.

"They delivered four big boxes," Liang Xia said. "I opened them, took a quick look, and then let them take them away as they were. Who knows if they were a gift or a loan? They might make us pay for something if a button is missing."

Yu Zhu laughed upon hearing this: "You're an expert now."

"Absolutely, you learn that from experience." Liang Xia snorted. "People in this industry can change their tune so quickly. Before the movie was released, his face on the poster wasn't even as big as my thumb. Now they practically want to stick his head on top of the director's."

She spoke animatedly, while Yu Zhu listened quietly. Liang Xia hadn't changed much; her cursing still came in the same tone as before, and her emotions flared up quickly. She brought out, one by one, all the bullying hidden in the call sheets, brand contracts, and seating arrangements, exposing them clearly.

As they approached the East Gate, Liang Xia suddenly slowed down.

Through the school fence, you can see the row of shops that used to house Nong Ning Tea. The old signs have long been removed, and behind the glass is a row of cold white display cases. The newly opened eyewear store is doing its closing cleaning. The staff is using a squeegee to wipe the squeegee from top to bottom, and foam is piling up under the glass.

Liang Xia watched for a while.

"Sometimes I feel," she said, "that his happiest moments were when he was working making lemon tea."

Yu Zhu turned to look at her.

"Back then, we were poor, but we were carefree. Even though it was a service industry, you didn't have to worry about anyone's attitude if you wanted to. After work, you could sit by the door for a while and have a bubble tea." Liang Xia sniffed her nose, which was red from the wind. "He rarely smiles genuinely now. Not in front of the camera, that's work. Usually, when he finishes work and goes back to the hotel, he sits there for ages without saying a word. If his phone rings and he sees a message from you, he'll be happy for a moment."

As she said this, she reached out and hugged Yu Zhu.

The two down jackets were huddled together, the fabric rustling. Yu Zhu, who was still holding letters from Liang Dong's fans, was jolted by the hug.

"We all need to be okay." Liang Xia rested her chin on her shoulder, paused for a moment, and then resumed her usual tone, "That scumbag surnamed Yue hasn't been bothering you lately, has he? And your Dracula sister too."

"No." Yu Zhu was amused by her rhetoric and gently patted her back. "I'm fine, quite calm."

Liang Xia released her and stared at her: "Really? Or not?"

"Really." Yu Zhu laughed. "Our professor recently took on a project to compile local operas, and she's going to do fieldwork in the south before winter break. Four people from our class were chosen to assist her with the compilation, and I'm one of them."

"Do you pay me?" Liang Xia asked.

"There will be some subsidies."

"Not bad. Just don't let them do all the work for free again."

"The teacher said that if we do well, our names will be credited in the editorial staff when the book is published."

Liang Xia's eyes lit up immediately: "Could your name be on that book?"

"It's hard to say."

"Awesome." Liang Xia patted her arm. "Let me tell you, no matter what circle you're in, those in the cultural field are the most awesome in the end."

Yu Zhu laughed so hard her shoulders shook: "You're so vulgar."

The two parted ways at the East Gate. Liang Xia's car stopped by the roadside. She opened the car door and turned back to wave to Yu Zhu. The paper bag containing the letters and shoes was returned to her hand and closed with the car door.

Yu Zhu turned and walked towards the library.

The photocopies in her canvas bag still needed to be checked tonight. The teacher had given her six pages of county gazetteer materials, the print of which was blurry. She found a seat in the study room, took off her scarf, and spread out the materials.

The phone lit up briefly.

Spicy Rabbit Head: I almost shed pearls when I looked into your eyes today.

Yu Zhu held the pen and bowed her head to reply to him.

Yu Zhu: You cried with joy?

A while later, a new message popped up.

Spicy rabbit head: I don't know how to say it.

Yu Zhu stared at the line of text, her finger lingering on the screen for a moment.

Yu Zhu: I understand.

She placed her phone next to the documents and continued to check the increasingly blurry old text on that page.