The light in the theater was dim. Qi Cong wasn’t sure how long it took him to finally move after being motionless for who knows how long.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the big screen in front of him.

In the center of the screen, the man dressed in black with a sword disappeared into the depths of the yellow sand as the music faded. Then the screen went completely dark, and the cast list began to scroll – the “Heaven Asked?” movie was over.

The 118 minutes were over.

After an abrupt end three years ago, the entanglement and promises three years later also came to an end.

Qi Cong’s eyelashes trembled and he raised his hand to cover his eyes to create a black environment. He opened his eyes and was lost in thought for a while. He only returned back to his senses after the “Heaven Asked?” ending music completely disappeared. Putting down his hand he looked toward the next seat that was empty.

An empty wine glass and a shallow dent left on the sofa were the last traces of Gu Xun left to him.

After a few seconds of involuntarily dark thoughts, Qi Cong regained his senses and took his backpack, stood up and walked out of the seat area.

No, Gu Xun also left something else for him.

After the movie ended, the big screen changed back to the original picture-a summer blue sky with white clouds.

The sky and bird nest cake appeared together. They seemed like a physical realization of Gu Xun’s new Weibo background image and avatar. Qi Cong stopped in front of the small table and stared at the cake for a while before picking up a piece of chocolate decoration from the edge and putting it into his mouth.

The sweet but not too greasy taste spread into his mouth. It was the taste of his favorite brand of chocolate.

Gu Xun had told him that when the chocolate was finished, he would get in touch with him.

His sour emotions resurfaced as Qi Cong’s Adam’s apple rolled and he swallowed back his emotions, wanting to taste the chocolate again. Then he squatted down and looked at the small but delicate bird’s nest cake from a level perspective.

It was specially prepared for him by Gu Xun.

“Thanks.” He said, and tried to smile. “I like it a lot.”

No one responded to his words.

It was as if he had never responded to Gu Xun’s waiting and feelings in all those years.

He didn’t even remember the several encounters he had with Gu Xun when he was young.

Qi Cong blinked hard, propped himself up on his knees and found the candles on the small table. Inserting them carefully into the cake, he lit them one by one.

There were three candles in total, forming together the number “200”.

Gu Xun had congratulated him on his Weibo followers rising to two million in yesterday’s phone call.

Two million, 200 … how could he be treated so kindly by Gu Xun?

The light from the candles shook gently, and as Qi Cong looked at them, his thoughts sank into his own memories. He tried to find the fragments of memories left of him going abroad to attend summer camps and exchange programs all these years ago. He was trying to find Gu Xun’s figure in them, but until the candles were about to burn out, he still didn’t have a clue.

“Sorry.” He bent down, blew out the candles that were almost naturally extinguished, and reached out to take them off gently. ”I am sorry, I will try to remember. I will also try to understand the real you, I am really sorry.”

After blowing out the candles, Qi Cong didn’t immediately eat the cake. He just looked up at the big screen that was fixed on the initial screen, turned around and walked to the door. Pulling the door open, he walked out.

In the monitoring room, Gu Xun saw this situation and called Kevin, who was waiting a short distance outside the seventh screening room, and asked, “What is he doing?”

‘I will ask.”

Two minutes later, Kevin returned his call, while Qi Cong’s figure reappeared in the surveillance monitor of the seventh screening room.

“Boss.” Kevin’s tone carried a bit of a sigh, as if he didn’t know what to say. “Mr. Qi found the cinema staff and asked if he could watch “Heaven Asked?” again. He also asked if the cinema had your other two movies, and if so, could they show them to him as well.”

On the monitoring screen, Qi Cong walked to the front after returning to the screening room. Carefully carrying the bird’s nest cake, he returned to the position where he and Gu Xun sat at the beginning, hugged the cake and sat down, carefully resting the cake on top of his lap.
Gu Xun jerked his eyes away as his throat rolled up and down.

“Boss, the cinema’s staff didn’t answer Mr. Qi immediately. The person in charge asked me if they could show these two old movies?”

“Show them. If the theater doesn’t have the films, we will provide them.” Gu Xun looked at the monitoring screen again. After sitting down, Qi Cong immediately looked up at the big screen, obediently waiting for the movie “Heaven Asked?” to rerun. Gu Xun said in a low and numb voice, “Whatever he wants, give.”

……

The initial picture on the big screen switched without any warning, directly going to the title “Heaven Asked?” and capturing Qi Cong’s attention.

Qi Cong was stunned for a moment, then he unconsciously sat down and leaned over. A second later he leaned back and looked down at the cake on his legs.

The cake remained intact on his leg, not disturbed by his sudden motion.

In the next second, the sound of a sharp blade broke through the bright music as the opening credits rang through the screening room. Qi Cong’s nerves tightened, intuitively looking toward the sound. Then he faced the pair of eyes at the center of the screen, illuminated by a cold sword, full of hatred and pain.

Qi Cong was stunned.

This was the outline of Gu Xun’s eyes.

The strong emotions displayed in these eyes were completely unfamiliar to him, as if these eyes were from another person he didn’t know.

Sword arrows and blood intertwined and splashed, then a drop of blood flew towards the picture.

Splat.

The blood splashed on the camera, but made a sound that only rain hitting an umbrella would make. Sounds become more and more dense, forming a dense sound of rain. Noisy voices cut in at the right time, and the blood splashed on the screen was washed away by the rain. In the rainy sky, a figure holding an umbrella turned against the crowd taking shelter from the rain, stopped at the door of a house with a broken seal, and raised his hand to knock on the door.

The door opened in response to the sound and an old wrinkled servant stood behind the door. He looked at the umbrella holder with his eyelids pulled, and asked in a shrill voice, “How can it rain in March?”

“Patrol the city.” The low and smiling male voice sounded from under the umbrella, and then the picture advanced as the umbrella flashed past the camera. In the splashing rain water, the handsome young man in black grinned at the servant and replied, “If you want to have rain, you can have it. But If you don’t want it, then desert fire will roam the city.”

The servant smiled at his words and then closed the door without mercy.

The smile on the face of the young man in black was frozen and foolish.

Watching the movie, Qi Cong saw the youthful and energetic young man on the screen felt a bit silly.

This was Gu Xun?

From voice to tone, from demeanor to temperament this person was completely different from the Gu Xun he knew.

Qi Cong suddenly remembered the evaluation of Gu Xun’s acting skills made by a film critic when he was searching for Gu Xun’s past film materials.

The other side wrote: Gu Xun isn’t playing a role but making a deal with the character. He takes on his character’s essence and turns himself into a perfect vessel that can carry the soul of the character, lending his body to the character for a short time.

Lending his body to the character for a short time.

Qi Cong looked at the screen that seemed without any shadow that belonged to Gu Xun himself, as if the man on the screen was just a young man in black who looked the same as Gu Xun. It was as if he was actually someone else, and Qi Cong slowly leaned back against his chair.

This was Gu Xun.

He looked at the screen carefully, taking note of every expression of the youth in black on the screen and observed his every breath as there was a strange heat surging in his heart.

This was Gu Xun. The one he never really knew, the excellent and dazzling, proud son of heaven, Gu Xun.

The youngest Double Movie King of China.

He has heard this countless times, but has never really realized the weight of these words that were a part of Gu Xun’s title. Then his remaining thoughts were swept away by the movie plot.

Although it was late… hello to the real Gu Xun.

……

 

Edited by: Antiope1

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