Our Shiny Days
Episode 15
A Kiss When the Chirping of Cicada Stops
If you don't come to the garden,
you would never know the spring is here already.
A riot of deep purple and bright red.
What pity on the ruins they overspread!
Why does Heaven give us brilliant day and dazzling sight?
Whose house could boast of a sweeter delight?
I want to fall in love.
I'm afraid
it's going to rain judged by the sky.
Someone is in a good mood today.
I am not.
Yeah right.
You've been humming
since makeup,
and you never stop.
You slept with half of a bun in your mouth last night?
So you can't stop your grin now?
Our location shooting is in a school today, right?
You know me,
I am happy when I smell the books.
I was born to swim in the ocean of knowledge.
Come on.
Who is writing the pinyin on the script to help pronounce?
Guys.
It's hard to tell the weather for the rest of today.
The director said that we need to hurry up.
We will start shooting
with the hardest scene.
The kiss scene happens when you are
back to your middle school
and encounter each other again
years after your graduation.
You can psych yourself up now.
Assistant Director,
could you
ask the director something for me?
Of course.
Can we cheat
in the kiss scene?
But
Mr. Feng,
surely you have read this script.
It's a very innocent
and beautiful kiss.
Just a peck on the lips. Nothing lewd.
We don't need to cheat.
Just ask the director for me, will you?
OK.
A cheated kiss?
Feng Anyu, what are you up to?
Nothing.
I just think
we will be embarrassed
in front of so many people.
You still have the ability to feel embarrassed?
By this stage of shooting,
we have been kissing each other
for more than a hundred times in so many ways.
Why are you embarrassed today?
Everyone in the TV show
knows you are wooing me.
Why would you need to cheat when kissing someone you like?
Fine.
Let's try to clear the scene in one take.
OK?
What do you mean?
If I were such a good actress,
you think I would meet you?
I would have been shooting movies now.
No hurry, everyone.
No hurry.
We're waiting for you two! But no hurry.
Anyu,
it's 2017 now.
You still need to cheat for a kiss scene?
Can you abide by the ground rules of an actor?
Forget what I said, OK?
These actresses
look so thin on TV.
But she's even thinner in person.
Does she eat any food?
Skinny like this,
how will she have a baby in the future?
That actor is called Feng Anyu, right?
He's a handsome chap.
When his parents saw him when he was born,
they must be very happy.
They are so close.
Going to kiss.
They kissed. They kissed!
Mr. Wang, take a look!
Actors are amazing.
For one minute they looked like total strangers,
but they can kiss the next minute.
Ms. Zhao.
Watch out for your blood pressure.
It's okay, Mr. Wang.
Miss Chen.
Are you going for lunch?
Let's go.
Let's go around them
and take the small path to the cafeteria.
Don't you want to say hi?
He is at work,
so am I.
-Anyu! -Feng Anyu, come on!
Anyu, you are the best!
How is your school cafeteria?
Take me there to taste the food.
Not so good.
Shen Jing.
I don't think I'm full.
It's understandable.
For you
seven bowls of soup with one portion of rice
can only be regarded as half full.
What happened?
Any place caught on fire?
Feng Anyu is coming to our school!
He's now filming in the garden.
My pal has arrived at my territory?
I have to say hello to him.
I don't think you have to.
Feng Anyu!
Anyu!
Come with me.
Miss Chen?
Shen Jing,
I don't think we can break in like this.
We'll be finished
if caught by the teachers.
It's all right.
If any teacher comes back,
I will say I am waiting to be scolded by the dean.
Anyway, he scolds me so much
he won't remember why.
Anyu!
Feng Anyu!
Bro!
Is that your classroom?
No, it's Hexu's office.
Is Hexu...
there?
No.
She's having lunch I guess.
Anyu, Anyu,
do you still need any extra?
I have class at 2 pm.
But there's still one hour open on my schedule.
Come and play with me.
I will send someone to pick you up.
Wen, go pick the two kids up.
Feng Anyu! Feng Anyu!
Feng Anyu, I love you!
Feng Anyu!
Why can you go inside?
Maybe they want to ask me to act in the show.
This crew knows a talent when they see one.
Let's go.
Feng Anyu!
Feng Anyu, I love you!
Good job!
Hexu.
She is studying here.
So I'm his sister.
Anyu,
what kind of TV play are you shooting?
Youth TV show.
What story?
Can you give any spoiler?
We
were classmates in middle school
who love each other
and consider each other the love of our life.
We started to go out in college.
One day she had a car accident
and I was in so much pain
that I got myself into a fight. I was arrested and we broke up.
But then we were back together.
And then she was seriously ill, and I was in so much pain
that I fought again, arrested again, and broke up again.
Finally she died.
But before she died, we went back to our middle school
and remembered how happy we were
in middle school.
The plot is just something like this.
Not bad, right?
It sounds that you guys had
nothing serious going on every day.
Well, youth.
We will sacrifice ourselves for love.
Right?
You should understand it.
Hexu said
you have fallen in love with someone recently.
Hexu told you that?
What's your relationship?
She was just saying.
I have someone I like.
But I also have something else I like.
We modern young people
have a full schedule every day.
Didn't you concentrate your energy
on that pianist?
Hexu even told you about the pianist?
There definitely is something going on between you two.
My affection for him
is my faith.
But I have a complicated life plan.
My trigger of excitement is switching at any time.
What's your recent excitement?
We formed a band.
A band?
Like a rock band?
Folk music band.
Folk music band?
Is there a space for this stuff in the market?
We play it wild
with an edgy
and very aggressive style.
We will definitely become an
unprecedented air freshener to the music circles.
Dreg, back me up!
Tell them how good our band is.
Just look at the leader, and you'll
know how good the band is.
Being young is so nice.
Isn't it? Brother Anyu?
We'll take a break on site
before the rain stops.
I told them we should drive the trailer today.
They had to say it's not convenient to park it at school.
Damn.
Feng Anyu, I'm going to hide in the car.
Are you going with me?
Can you have any place that
I can stay for a while?
You need to practice?
It's not common for you to come so early.
Auntie,
you look a little different today.
Move. You are blocking the window.
Auntie,
have you changed your haircut?
What haircut?
I'm so angry with you every day that I lose my hair.
I'm almost bald now.
It looks good to lose some hair.
You look more refreshing now.
Nonsense.
Goodbye. Auntie.
This is really not bad.
My humble single cell
becomes so bright with your presence today.
Does Hexu also play any musical instrument?
She did.
She had been learning piano for eight years.
She was this close to going to a conservatory
while she suddenly told her family that
she couldn't find peace in her heart when playing the piano.
She wanted to listen to the music from her head
rather than what came up in her hands.
So she quit.
My cousin is so weird.
She has been a view of our family since she was little.
You know, those silent plants
like Monstera.
She can live and thrive without care.
That's enough.
This is your musical instrument then?
Yangqin.
I haven't seen it much before.
How to play it?
That is the Pipa.
That's Guzheng.
How to play it?
Yangqin
was introduced into China from Persia during the Ming Dynasty.
It has 400 years of history in China.
Four hundred years?
So cool.
Anyu,
you can ask Hexu to help you with your homework.
You are going to release a record, right?
I love the idea.
Right, what is your band like?
How many members
and when will you debut?
There is no debut.
We don't even have a stage of performance.
We can only rehearse in the auditorium
every night
to accompany some old men's singing
with a few wild cats in the garden being our only audience.
What kind of stage do you want?
As long as it's big enough for us to stand
and there are living people listening to us.
I'm going to an event next week
where I am supposed to sing.
That event is quite big.
Maybe you can
come and accompany me.
There is a band at the scene,
but nowadays you can't lip sing
in this kind of events.
The song I am going to sing is Chinese traditional folk style.
So it should suit you.
Anyu, speak slowly.
I feel dizzy now.
I'm a little confused and
didn't hear clearly.
What if we mess up?
Will there be fans to assassinate us?
It's just an award-winning event inside the filmmaking circle.
All the others are movie actors and actresses.
So they expect nothing from me.
Do not worry.
Just treat it like something fun to do with me.
By the way,
I have to ask first.
Does Hexu support you being in a band?
She can't be more supportive.
My happiness is her happiness.
Ok, that's settled.
I will let my assistant contact you.
I have to go back to the shooting now.
It seems that you haven't eaten anything yet.
I don't eat during a shooting.
My face might be swelling.
Aren't you hungry then?
I have started to go to the gym recently.
So there are many things I cannot eat.
It's terrible.
Yes.
He peeled some wall off to eat in the morning.
When you grow up, you will know
there is something scarier than being hungry.
See you.
Chen Hexu.
I heard you finished your homework for summer vacation.
Come out and play!
I can only stay for a while.
Then just stay for a while.
Don't you need to shoot?
They're shooting close-ups of Huang Yina.
They don't need me now.
By the way,
I just went to your cousin's piano room
to stay for a while.
She and her classmate kindly invited me.
The piano room does not allow strangers to enter.
Am I a stranger?
Those without a piano room pass are strangers.
The embodiment of playing by the book.
I found a chance for your cousin's band
to perform on stage.
What band?
Chen Jing said you know about it.
Her own band
who really wants to be on stage or something.
She's getting cockier.
Forget your promise to her.
Forming a band is not allowed in school.
Miss Chen,
have you grown mushrooms before?
Fungus
is such an amazing thing.
For some fungus, it can only become beriberi.
But for some fungus
with the right soil and humidity you give it,
it can turn into a large land of mushroom.
Give the child a land.
Maybe it will turn into a mushroom.
But some mushrooms are poisonous
and cannot be eaten
while some can be sold for ten thousand yuan per 100g.
But even the ordinary mushrooms are useful.
You can put it in hotpot, stir-fry it with meat,
or just boil it and
make a salad with vinegar and sesame oil dressing....
I assume you're hungry?
For the whole day.
I drank a cup of black coffee in the morning,
because I was told it can help reduce swelling.
When I got a cold as a child,
I wouldn't drink the banlangen herbal tea even if my parents forced me.
Who could have thought when I grew up,
the first thing I do
every day when I wake up
is to take a cup of black coffee without sugar or milk just to make my face look thinner.
It's more natural than drinking water for me now.
You...
Do you like roasted sweet potatoes?
How can you hit a person when he is down?
This lip balm is roasted sweet potato flavor.
I never knew there is such a product.
I heard the students talk about it.
So I bought it online.
I thought you may...
May need it.
What's this smell?
Hurry, try it.
Good, cut!
That's a wrap for Yina.
Thank you. See you.
See you tomorrow director.
See you tomorrow.
Anyu, please get ready.
Director,
you have to remind the actors to pay attention to their figure.
Yina is a bit fat now.
And she is not going to act any part in a while.
Why is it so hot today?
Remember
don't listen to them
no matter what the crew says.
Wherever I go,
my trailer goes with me.
If the gate is too small to drive through,
carry it inside for me!
Stop!
Everyone in the car lower your head.
Don't look anywhere.
Ok, let's go.
Jiayi.
I want to eat Japanese food again.
I lost my appetite last time.
But this time I should have a good appetite.
Surprise!
How exhilarating
and exciting, right?
I became the leader of our band
for a reason.
See?
I've got the connections
and resources.
I can't accompany a male celebrity
with my Guzheng.
Besides, we don't like him.
But we're accompanying
Uncle Sun every day.
That's different.
What's different?
Anyway, we won't do it.
Don't even think about it.
For those pop musicians,
they add some erhu
or Pipa in their songs
to put on airs
and feel like they make something deep.
But we can do it totally differently!
Since there is such an awesome stage
waiting for us,
we should take the first step
to make the classical Chinese music be the star.
We have to stand up to the stage first for that to happen.
And that song is really nice.
If Uncle Sun knows the son,
he will sing it every day.
How about
we raise our hands to vote?
Who wants to go to this show?
I think Li You has a point.
We can play it differently.
Why not show them?
Now it's three against three.
What should we do?
Still no solution.
Artists.
Hexu.
Sorry but I work for my company.
That picture is indeed you.
I can't lie to them.
Hello, Mr. Chen.
I am Anyu's agent.
Just call me Jiayi.
Can I help you?
Of course you can.
The riot of colors of the painting in the night...
It's nice
with a
unique style.
So
even I don't belong to your band,
I vote for it.
I will support you under the stage.
That means
it's four against three.
We can go, right?
You can.
I quit.
Hey,
why are you so angry?
I thought it's obviously a happy thing.
Because I can't afford to be humiliated.
Does a pop star like Feng Anyu
receive any basic music training?
He just sings a few dance songs
and listens to some folk songs
and then has the nerves to call himself a musician.
He even sang Rhyme Songs.
Has he ever read
Che Wanyu's Rhyme Songs?
Have you?
There are 15 chapters each for both volumes
and two hundred and thirty characters per chapter.
Did he read these?
He just picked the simplest paragraphs
and spent some money to pay some songwriter to write some catchy tunes
with folk music accompaniment,
then he thought he can be a superstar throughout the universe.
In the end this song is played everywhere
and everyone says,
"Oh, Rhyme Songs?
I know.
Feng Anyu's song."
Mr. Che Wanyu who wrote such a lengthy work
during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty
will come out from his grave to haunt him,
but you won't care.
The 15 chapters of volume one are
Dong, Dong,
Jiang, Zhi,
Wei, Yu, Yu,
Qi, Jia,
Hui, Zhen, Wen,
Yuan, Han, and Shan.
The 15 chapters of volume two are
Xian, Xiao,
Yao, Hao,
Ge, Ma,
Yang, Geng,
Qing, Zheng,
You, Qin,
Qin, Yan, Xian.
I think
I am right.
Why would Che Wanyu write Rhyme Songs?
Because he wanted to help the kids at the time
to master the rules of rhythms of pinyin.
To put it plainly, it is a kind of nursery rhyme.
Chen Jing wants to accompany Feng Anyu on the stage,
because she believes that
this song will be remembered by others
with your help.
Yes,
among 10,000 people who will remember this song,
maybe 9,999 people
just remember it was sung by Feng Anyu.
But there must be fifty people who
will remember what we look like on stage.
There will be another fifty people
who will look for the full text of Rhyme Songs.
Isn't that a change?
But if we do nothing,
even if something in the future
will change the way you want,
it will have nothing to do with you.
Haze,
if the stage is big enough,
there must be many people who want to have a good laugh at us.
You will be laughed at
if you want to get something done.
Our self-esteem is not so important.
But when we stand on the stage,
it's us who are showered by the lights.
You are good classmates and good friends.
Don't be like this.
Don't fight.
Don't do this.
You make it sound so east
just because you don't care.
But these are things I like.
I would rather not have a stage,
than tarnish the instrument in my hands.
I don't want to be casually commented by others.
But in our age
what's the big deal of
being a participant who is commented and laughed at?
You have to keep it low-profile
and invisible in the crowd
if you don't want to get involved in things like that.
But you have plenty of opportunities to do that when you grow up, right?
There is a sentence in Rhyme Songs:
"Follow your consciousness and you will live without regret".
That exactly describes us.
I can't make sense with you two.
There is no right or wrong in this.
I am envious your mother raised you
to have such an open mind.
But what I insist on
will not be changed so easily.
I wasn't raised by my mom.
My mom
died of illness when I was three.
I keep such an open mind
because my dad often told me
they took me to this world
so that I can enjoy my life.
When I think of my mom,
I might feel sad, just a little.
I haven't seen her much after all.
And I will be little curious,
wondering what she would look like now
if she was still alive.
But do you know what I feel the most?
I feel sorry for my mom.
She died too early.
There are so many fun things in life
but she has no chance to experience them.
So I want to experience something with you guys.
These things may be a joke to others.
But let them be.
They are strangers to me anyway, like I am to them.
If my goal is the ocean,
who cares about the breeze and waves in the pond?
We are
far from our death.
What are you afraid of？
I gather Miss Chen likes reading.
I can't say I like reading.
Just pass the time.
Can I have a grand tour?
Feel free to do it.
There are many novels
in Miss Chen's collection,
most are Russian novels.
That shows really good taste.
My life is boring.
So I kill time by reading someone else 's story.
It's like reading someone else's gossip.
There's nothing good or bad about the taste.
Your life recently
shouldn't be boring.
Since you mentioned novels,
and you read so many books,
you should know
novels are written in different approaches
by writers of different capacity.
Sometimes
when the characters and stories are exciting enough,
the writers themselves are very passive.
Right?
It's like when we are signing a contract
with a very popular star.
Our control over him is
actually very limited.
But sometimes
when both the characters and stories are in their infancy,
the writer needs to explore and cultivate them,
to do a makeover for them
to change their future.
This time the writer certainly has a lot of control.
This is the mental set
when we are signing new actors.
We invest our time, money, manpower,
all kinds of resources to
build a future for him.
We are also gambling.
If we fortunately win,
We have no reason
not to share this success.
Miss Chen, don't you want to know
what kind of approach of story it is
between Mr. Feng Anyu and me?
Miss Chen.
Just look at page eight,
Article 17.3.
Anyu signed this contract with me at the age of nineteen.
A contract with a period of ten years.
I have been a broker for so many years.
Many people come and go in front of me,
most of which I don't remember now.
New actors would treat us as gods.
As if our fingers touched him,
his life would be changed.
But after he became popular,
we became thieves.
He is like a walking treasure.
We are trying to take advantage of him touching him.
But Anyu is different.
The first time I saw him, I knew
this kid would definitely be a super star.
Because his eyes were so clean.
And to this day,
they're still so clean.
Miss Chen,
I came to see you today to tell you,
if anything happens to Anyu,
I will feel sad.
Not because he has to pay me an astronomical figure of penalty,
but because I can't save him.
He is twenty-seven years old now.
If he falls,
no one has the patience to wait for him to stand up again.
I assume
you also like reading.
Do you like Russian novels?
It's embarrassing to admit that
I studied Chinese when I was in college.
I read a lot of books at that time.
But life is too busy now,
I only take out my glasses to read
when I need to review a contract.
There is a Russian writer I like very much.
Pukeev.
He has a novel "Bonsai in Salt" which
I read maybe dozens of times.
There is a sentence I like very much.
Can I
share with you?
Of course.
This sentence goes,
"After meeting him,
a light gave off like a firefly in my life.
This light was faint and yet precious.
I decided immediately
to dim my gray life
completely to dark
so to set off this light.
I closed the doors and windows
and closed my world.
Because I was afraid this light
might fly to the bright world outside.
I wanted to keep this one
secret that touched me."
Miss Chen
I just said,
you are smart.
Thank you.
As you said
every story is written differently.
And my story
doesn't need any reader.
OK, Miss Chen.
I should leave
before I overstay my welcome.
To be honest
I'm glad Anyu met you.
I often tell him
he really needs to read more books.
Anyu has an event next week where
he will perform on stage.
You should come and see him if you have time.
Since you want to be friends with him,
come and see what his work
is like exactly.
Call me when you arrive.
I will arrange you to sit with the audience.
No one will notice you.
Ok?
Chen Jing.
Cry if you want to.
I have paper towel here.
I don't want to cry.
You never said anything about
your mom before.
It is not my personal label.
Why would I have to tell everyone?
To make them feel sorry for you.
If we knew,
maybe Haze wouldn't have...
Yes indeed.
If everyone knows it,
they might go easy on me.
But I don't want them to go easy on me.
I want to hear the truth.
Sympathy is nothing
but an obstacle to success.
Don't comfort me either
Fine.
Let me restrain myself.
Dreg,
why do you think Haze hates me so much?
I...
I don't think she hates you.
Then your definition of hatred is very unusual.
There's something you should
know about Haze.
Haze
has her own box.
This box is her boundary.
And
your way of
getting along with Haze is like,
haze is a square
with edges
which she doesn't want others to touch.
And you're a shape of roundness who
is free rolling everywhere
without a fixed direction.
So you will definitely encounter the edges of Haze.
And after you do that,
she will be very angry,
and you don't know why.
Ouch!
And so
on one hand her rigor constrains you.
But your freedom
must have hurt her too.
I realized
since we were at the rehearsal hall
you have suddenly become so eloquent.
Extraordinary performance.
Supernormal performance.
If Haze is a square
and I am a ball,
what are you?
I...
I am a bumper.
My role is
keep you from being hurt
when you are rolling around freely.
Chen Jing, I have something to tell you.
Chen Jing, I...
I...
I want to play on stage.
I want to play on stage too.
I want to let Wang Wen know
what a Yangqin really is.
I...
Sorry.
Sorry, I'm sorry.
Umm,
Chen Jing,
the person who showed a lack of family education was me,
and so,
I am sorry.
See?
This is exactly what I was afraid of.
Why apologize,
not to mention you came to say you are sorry in together.
Am I dead because of anger?
Do you want to go around
and pay a homage to my body?
Why are you two apologizing?
You didn't say a word just now.
Ying,
you are so disappointing.
please don't do things out of character.
In a normal business negotiation,
it's normal to have an argument.
What does it have to do with family education?
Don't pity me.
Haze, look into my eyes.
You all look into my eyes.
Dreg, turn on your flashlight to
give my face some light.
Look me in the eyes.
Aren't they full of arrogance and wildness?
Am I worth your sympathy?
No.
Anyway,
we apologized to you.
Don't go.
We haven't talked about the real business yet.
If you really feel sorry for me,
show it with your action.
We'll go if Haze goes.
Didn't you have something to tell me?
Chen Jing,
if Haze finally agrees
and we can go on stage,
I want to talk to you something
on the day before the performance.