Tan Yi and Chi Ying were classmates at the Film Academy. Tan Yi was in the Acting Department, while Chi Ying studied directing. Both of them, however, were well known on campus.
Chi Ying had earned her reputation through sheer talent. Throughout her years at school, she consistently ranked first in her class in the Directing Department. She had also participated in several well-known photography and short film competitions across mainland China, winning a number of respectable awards. She already had a modest reputation within the industry.
Tan Yi, on the other hand, became famous because he had ranked first in both the professional entrance examination and the academic examination for the Acting Department when he was admitted to the academy.
That was how he first made a name for himself. Later, though, he became “famous” for an entirely different reason. Throughout all four years of college, he stubbornly refused to take acting jobs outside school, insisting on staying on campus to study diligently. Many students mocked him behind his back, and even quite a few acting professors felt his approach was outdated. They hinted and advised him time and again, both openly and subtly. In that sense, he became “well known” once again.
After graduation in her previous life, Chi Ying lost all contact with Tan Yi. Nearly ten years passed before he suddenly burst onto the scene by winning the Best Actor award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
From then on, his career skyrocketed. One acclaimed box office success followed another, and in no time he had become the leading figure among China’s new generation of male actors.
By then, however, Chi Ying was no longer part of the film industry. The gap between their circumstances could only be described as worlds apart.
She still remembered working as a program producer at the municipal television station. A young woman sitting nearby in the office was absolutely obsessed with Tan Yi. She constantly referred to him as “my husband” and eagerly reported every bit of news about Best Actor Tan to everyone in the office.
One day, after being driven to the end of her patience, Chi Ying casually remarked, “Back in school, he was actually pretty stubborn…”
The younger women around her immediately showered her with eye rolls. They had practically been ready to gang up on her, which only showed how immensely popular Tan Yi had become.
All she could do was smile bitterly, knowing they looked down on her. Using a phrase that would later become popular, she was simply “clout chasing.”
She quietly swallowed the explanation that she and Tan Yi had been classmates and had gotten along quite well.
After all, he was now a world-renowned Best Actor, while she had become an insignificant producer at a small municipal television station, the kind whose program proposals were constantly rejected and who had to run all over the city begging for advertising sponsors just to launch a new show.
So when she received a page from Tan Yi this time, besides feeling deeply emotional, she was also genuinely flattered.
She had just finished lunch and was about to return to her new office to unpack.
There weren’t many people in the Planning Center. An entire floor of offices felt almost deserted. The planning department didn’t require employees to be in the office every day, so the male colleagues had long since grown tired of sitting around. They were already out all over the city “looking for inspiration” and gathering material.
The older women in the office had managed to clear out a small private office just for her, so she wouldn’t have to squeeze into a shared room with all the men. It was a small gesture of consideration among women.
She quickly called the number back on the office phone, and Tan Yi answered.
“Chi Ying, Professor Liu said you’ve already reported to your new workplace. She asked me to see if you needed any help, moving things or anything like that. You’ve pretty much finished all the paperwork over there, right?”
Chi Ying guessed Professor Liu must have told him something about her situation. Otherwise, Tan Yi wouldn’t have asked such detailed questions.
The Planning Center was actually quite close to the academy, only about four bus stops away.
Besides, they had studied in the area for four years and knew the neighborhood well. According to Tan Yi, if they took the shortcuts, it was even closer than riding the bus.
When he heard she’d been assigned a dormitory, he immediately congratulated her. He even planned to borrow a tricycle from the Student Affairs Office and bring a few male classmates along to help her move.
Since she had free labor available, Chi Ying thought it sounded great.
Still, deep down, she felt rather embarrassed about asking someone who would one day become one of the country’s greatest actors to help move her belongings.
Professor Liu had clearly thought things through.
She hadn’t asked any of the male students from the Directing Department.
First, she was afraid news would leak out. Previously, Chi Ying had publicly planned to follow her boyfriend back to the provincial television station. If word spread that she’d changed her plans, some students in the department would undoubtedly start getting ideas, since staying in Beijing after graduation was an incredibly rare opportunity.
Second, the Directing Department was full of artsy young men. Most of them weren’t exactly physically strong. Looking around, half of them wore glasses, and some were so skinny they looked like little chicks. They definitely couldn’t compare to the Acting Department students, who were much stronger and far more useful when it came to physical work.
Tan Yi himself was very tall. Even by the standards of that era, he stood over 1.8 meters. That was practically the ideal upper limit for a film actor. Any taller, and he’d start looking awkward on camera, especially when paired with actresses.
More importantly, Professor Liu had used Tan Yi as a way to check whether everything had truly been settled on Chi Ying’s end. The elderly professor still couldn’t quite put her mind at ease.
Feeling both grateful and touched, Chi Ying immediately called Professor Liu at home.
Fortunately, Professor Liu answered herself.
Chi Ying told her that everything had been settled. Her household registration had been transferred to the Planning Center’s collective registration. She had received the key to her dormitory, eaten lunch in the staff cafeteria, and even cleaned up her office.
Professor Liu was overjoyed. Everything seemed to have gone smoothly, and the heavy weight on her heart was finally lifted.
Chi Ying truly felt that Professor Liu had been her benefactor.
Thinking back on her previous life, she remembered how, during the final period before graduation, Professor Liu had constantly tried to persuade her.
At the time, she had been completely blinded by love. She thought the professor was annoying and meddling too much, so she had deliberately avoided her.
Afterward, she followed her boyfriend to the provincial satellite television station, only to end up in a bitter fallout with the cheating scumbag and his mistress. Eventually, she transferred to a municipal television station, and from there her career went steadily downhill.
During the first few years, she and Professor Liu still kept in touch sporadically. Later, she was doing so poorly that she felt too ashamed to face her former teacher. She deliberately cut off all contact.
Looking back on it now, she was filled with regret.
That afternoon, when Chi Ying returned to her dormitory at the academy, Tan Yi had indeed borrowed a cargo tricycle to help her move. He had also brought along several male classmates from the Acting Department whom he was close with.
She had already packed most of her belongings beforehand.
Originally, she had planned to return to her hometown, so many of her possessions had seemed like unnecessary burdens. She had thrown some away and given others to friends, leaving very little behind.
Now that she’d changed her mind and was only moving to a dormitory nearby, it felt like such a waste. Those things had been filled with memories of her college years. In the end, she’d have to buy everything all over again.
The dormitory assigned by the Planning Center also belonged to the Film Bureau. The old residential building housed employees from throughout the bureau’s system.
At that time, Beijing hadn’t yet entered its era of rapid urban expansion. Many work-unit dormitories were still the old corridor-style apartment buildings.
Rooms lined both sides of a long hallway, with coal stoves, chopping boards, and various household items piled along the corridor. Everyone on each floor shared the same restroom.
The room Chi Ying received was actually quite good.
It faced south, so it would get sunlight during the winter.
The previous occupant had already moved out. Aside from the wooden desk and iron-framed single bed provided by the work unit, everything else had been taken away. There weren’t even any curtains left.
Chi Ying seriously suspected that if the red Film Bureau inventory numbers hadn’t been stamped onto the side of the desk and the legs of the bed, the previous resident would probably have taken those too.
There was no helping it.
Film workers in those days were generally quite poor. Unless they had gone into business, everyone lived off their meager fixed salaries.
Tan Yi also took a look around the neighborhood and felt it was fairly safe. Since everyone living there belonged to the same system, they all saw each other regularly.
Even so, just to be safe, he ran down to the neighborhood convenience store and bought two sliding door bolts. He installed one beneath the door lock and another on the small transom window above the door.
According to him, that would make things much safer. After all, she was a young woman living alone.
To be extra cautious, he even found a locksmith to replace the lock cylinder.
The other young men helped clear away miscellaneous clutter inside and outside the room and even mopped the floor.
Although it was only a single room, it was fairly spacious, measuring over a dozen square meters.
At last, Chi Ying had a place to call home in Beijing.
They worked until nearly evening.
Afterward, Chi Ying returned to the academy with everyone else. Although she had only just started her new job and hadn’t received her first paycheck yet, making her finances rather tight, the boys had spent so much time helping her and were drenched in sweat. It was only right that she treated them to a meal.
They chose a small restaurant near the academy.
The place was packed with graduating students gathering for farewell dinners.
Beijing had already entered the sweltering days of midsummer. The restaurant had no air conditioning. Only a few ancient oscillating fans, their blades coated with years of greasy cigarette residue, whirred noisily on the walls, blowing nothing but hot air.
The conditions were so poor that Chi Ying felt rather embarrassed. She was about to suggest finding another restaurant with a private room and air conditioning when Tan Yi stopped her.
“There’s really no need. Everyone knows each other. Besides, it’s dinner time. Anywhere better is probably already full.”
The other male classmates also claimed they already had other dinner gatherings to attend and couldn’t stay. One by one, they made excuses and left.
Chi Ying tried repeatedly to persuade them to stay, but none of them would.
As they were leaving, one of the boys deliberately patted Tan Yi on the shoulder, only to receive a playful slap in return.
“Chi Ying, we’re all staying in Beijing anyway. We’ll have plenty of chances in the future,” Tan Yi said somewhat awkwardly, offering an explanation for his friends.
Only then did Chi Ying give up.
Sitting on a plastic stool, she carefully sterilized both her own chopsticks and Tan Yi’s with boiling water from the teapot while listening to him order their meal.
Tan Yi ordered three dishes and a soup before stopping.
When Chi Ying heard the order, she frowned.
A plate of shredded potatoes, minced pork with eggplant, smashed cucumber salad, and a bowl of seaweed egg drop soup. That was it.
She immediately called the owner back.
“How are we supposed to eat just this? Boss, cancel the potatoes and eggplant. Keep the cucumber salad. Then bring us a large yellow croaker, a plate of braised pork ribs, shredded pork in Beijing sauce, and stir-fried pork kidneys. We’ll decide on the soup later. And bring us two bottles of cold beer first.”
“Coming right up!” the greasy-faced owner replied cheerfully. “Now that’s a sincere host! That’s how you treat someone to dinner!”
Before Tan Yi could stop him, the owner had already hurried into the kitchen.
“There are only two of us. How are we going to finish all that?” he asked helplessly.
Chi Ying was in an exceptionally good mood.
“It’s fine. Whatever we can’t finish, we’ll pack up and you can take it back as a late-night snack for you guys. I know you’ve all been going to second and third rounds of drinking every night lately.”
Tan Yi carefully studied the cheerful smile on her face and more or less figured things out.
Tentatively, he asked, “So everything’s settled on your end… What about Zhang Yang?”
Zhang Yang was the name of her scumbag boyfriend.
“The bastard can stay as far away from me as possible,” Chi Ying replied with a cold laugh.
…
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