Chapter 294: Suddenly Missing Him

When the entertainment industry’s dark force, Boss Lu, was quietly helping a certain novice tie up loose ends, this novice young lady was on her way to the University of Chicago to handle all the necessary paperwork.

On September 8, 2005, Liu Yifei would officially enroll as a Master of Business Administration student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Booth only recruits graduate students, offering international students a two-year Master of Business Administration program and five-year doctoral programs in business fields such as accounting, economics, and management.

Considering her life and work arrangements, Liu Yifei decided the two-year program was the optimal choice.

She would enroll in September, and by October, she would have to join the cast in Canada for the filming of *Alien Realm 2*.

Based on last year’s filming experience, it would take about two months, followed immediately by a period of balancing her studies with living alongside Zhang Chunru and preparing for the massacre film.

Temporarily detached from the domestic entertainment scene, Liu Yifei felt instantly and incredibly fulfilled, as if she could momentarily forget some heart-wrenching experiences.

However, her interactions on the blog network, the successive broadcasts of *The Return of the Condor Heroes* and *Zhu Xian 2*, and the advertisements Pepsi placed across various channels would continue to exert influence in the film and television circles, so she did not worry about disappearing from the public eye.

"Xixi, wake up, we're almost there!"

Liu Xiao shook her sleeping daughter awake.

She had been in the United States for a week, and her biological clock had yet to adjust; however, having suddenly ended three years of morning training, she had become increasingly prone to sleepiness.

It was as if she had returned to her childhood.

"We're here? I don't know why I've been so sleepy lately."

Liu Yifei smiled apologetically at Zhang Chunru, who was driving: "Sister Chunru, thank you for your hard work."

"Once I get my driver's license, I'll be your chauffeur."

Zhang Chunru was particularly fond of this clear-minded young lady and waved her hand with a smile: "I wouldn't dare ride in your car; I heard from your mother that you like racing."

"Haha, I just watch; I'm very timid, how could I dare."

Zhang Chunru recalled her chats with Liu Xiao over the past few days and the glorious stories she had heard about Liu Yifei’s birthday banquet, thinking to herself that she was far too modest.

If this was considered timid, there were very few bold people left.

However, this demeanor was quite like a child who grew up in the United States—brave in expressing herself and direct in speaking her mind.

The distance from Champaign, Illinois, to Chicago was about 200 kilometers; the three of them parked the car and walked toward the campus, the sky as blue as if washed, making one feel refreshed and relaxed.

Being newcomers with plenty of time, Liu Yifei and the others were in no rush to handle the paperwork and began to stroll around the campus first.

Zhang Chunru had studied here as an exchange student and had also come here to give a speech after *The Rape of Nanking* became a bestseller, so she naturally took on the role of a tour guide.

Not long after entering the campus, a Gothic-style building made of gray brick and stone came into view; the church had a unique style with spires reaching into the clouds, ancient and mysterious.

"This is Rockefeller Chapel, built in 1928 by the founder and oil tycoon Rockefeller."

"His philosophy was to gather people of different religious faiths in a traditional church, without saints, crosses, or other religious symbols, only one or two very miniature architectural details."

"That's great, Sister Chunru, is there any story behind that carillon?"

Liu Yifei pointed to a spot on the church's bell tower.

"Oh, that was a gift donated by Rockefeller in 1932 to commemorate his mother."

"At the beginning, it ran backward, representing Rockefeller's longing for his mother and his desire for time to reverse so he could return to her embrace."

Zhang Chunru tilted her head and smiled at Liu Yifei, just about to mention the same imagery in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, but thought better of it.

A thirty-seven-year-old big sister still preferred to look after the fragile heart of an eighteen-year-old little sister.

Along the way, Liu Yifei saw the main quadrangle of the core campus, the famous Harper Library, the Regenstein Library, the Robie House...

She carried a camera with her and took many photos, planning to select the best ones to post on her blog.

Although she wasn't exactly like "Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden," Liu Yifei had been filming and working for the past few years and indeed hadn't had much time to measure the world with her own feet.

Travel ten thousand miles, read ten thousand books.

Because of complex reasons, eighteen-year-old Liu Yifei had walked into a university at this age, just like her peers.

In this lifetime, her spiritual world had been continuously ripened by Lu Kuan over these four years.

Just like those brilliant children in the gifted classes of the University of Science and Technology of China, most of them eventually faded into the crowd.

Liu Yifei also needed to do the right thing at the right time; objectively, this played an important role in continuing to perfectly shape her worldview and mature personality.

"Iris!"

The three entered the admissions office at the Harper Center, and Ellie, a staff member who had been waiting for a long time, gave Zhang Chunru a warm hug.

Iris was Zhang Chunru's English name, meaning iris flower, symbolizing light and freedom.

"Wow, Iris, your mental state has improved; you're simply a different person from last year."

Zhang Chunru smiled: "Yes, I have a new goal now; I am very calm and am gradually adjusting myself."

"Let me introduce you. This is my compatriot, and also my little sister, Crystal. You should have seen her in movies?"

"And this is Crystal's mother, Lady Liu."

Ellie was a plump, tall white woman; her eyes lit up upon hearing this: "Lan Yue, hello."

"Please come to my house as a guest when you have time. After I watched your videos, I went to an Asian supermarket and bought a lot of tea, but I don't know how to brew it!"

Liu Yifei replied gracefully: "Certainly, it would be my honor."

Liu Xiao also hugged and exchanged pleasantries with Ellie, who then enthusiastically introduced the curriculum and academic system of the Booth School of Business.

"You introduced Crystal's situation to me, which is why I suggested she choose the two-year Master of Business Administration program."

"Our Booth School of Business only has one required course, called LEAD: Leadership Effectiveness and Development."

This is a signature course of the world's top-three Booth School of Business, mainly using lectures and group activities to allow students to influence each other, handle crises, communicate fully, and enhance self-awareness.

"Besides this, Crystal can choose other courses according to her own needs, roughly in seven major categories."

"Finance, marketing, operations, decision-making, interpersonal, strategy, business environment, etc."

Ellie pulled several forms and documents from the desk and handed them over: "You can take your time to choose."

"The business school uses a credit system, and there are many celebrities as well as Wall Street bankers who, like you, will take 1-2 months of leave; it doesn't matter."

Terms like "group discussion" vary too much in different scenarios and configurations.

For example, in a world-class institution like the Booth School of Business, who are the people organizing student discussions and interactions?

James McKinsey, founder of McKinsey & Company;

Eugene Fama, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics for the "Efficient Market Hypothesis";

Erik Hurst, Director of the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics;

Liu Yifei couldn't suppress her curiosity: "Ellie, who is my group discussion mentor?"

"One moment, let me check."

"Your mentor is Xi Kaiyuan, a scholar with outstanding achievements in fields such as behavioral decision-making."

Liu Yifei nodded blankly; she naturally didn't know the background of this Chinese-American scholar, but Zhang Chunru’s eyes revealed envy—this was a figure who had recently risen to fame in the American Chinese community.

Xi Kaiyuan was a tenured full professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business; although he hadn't won a Nobel Prize, there were nine Nobel laureates who were his fellow full professors.

Actually, what Liu Yifei didn't know yet was that Xi Kaiyuan's achievements in economics were slightly lower; his true specialty was psychology.

In 1993, he received his Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.

Among the branches of psychology worldwide, emotional intelligence was a field not easily ventured into.

But it was precisely in this field that his mentor wrote the world's first paper on emotional intelligence, and he wrote the second.

To use an inappropriate analogy, this scholar Xi Kaiyuan was a bit like Huang Laoxie; his research field was very peculiar and highly specialized, and general scholars were not interested.

"Psychology? Psychology is good, it's very interesting!"

On the way back, Zhang Chunru introduced Xi Kaiyuan's achievements to her, and Liu Yifei listened with a look of longing.

Although she didn't want to admit it, Lu Kuan's extremely strange behavior during his coma and on his birthday had become a mystery she couldn't stop thinking about.

Perhaps...

Could she find some clues from this world-class psychology master?

"My mental state wasn't very good in the first two years, and the psychological clinic I went to was opened by his student."

The three returned to Zhang Chunru's residence in Champaign; the house Liu Xiao found was in Hyde Park in downtown Chicago, so they were temporarily staying here upon returning to Champaign.

Liu Yifei nodded knowingly, understanding what she meant.

Previously, in Lu Kuan's office, she had already been warned to pay attention to her mental state and psychological health while preparing for this film.

Over the past week or so, watching Zhang Chunru still needing to take sedatives occasionally, she realized those words were not empty.

A great personality has powerful influence, just like the angel of justice, Ms. Zhang Chunru.

Through her words and actions, she set a clear and concrete example for others, interpreting noble moral standards and a positive life attitude with her own practical actions.

Although she came to the United States to live and study with Zhang Chunru with the purpose of observing the prototype for a biographical film.

Liu Yifei truly drew a lot of strength from this great personality and also relieved a lot of her depression.

After a simple Western-style dinner, Zhang Chunru played with the children for a while, and Liu Yifei returned to her room to have a work video call with Yang Siwei.

"How is it? Are you used to living over there?"

"Very good, everything tastes great!"

Liu Yifei looked at the female manager on the video: "Siwei, your face seems rounder again."

"Pah! Quickly retract that sentence; am I still going to eat lunch or not?" Yang Siwei sighed deeply: "It's really boring now that you're gone; I think the studio has too many people now."

Indeed, Liu Yifei would be in North America for at least one to two years.

The studio's operations, media, and public relations still had some work content, but the driver, photographer, and makeup artist would be completely unemployed.

Yang Siwei's main work now was to maintain and develop endorsements, operate the blog, and manage the fan website.

Although she wouldn't appear in person for a short time, it only affected domestic commercial activities; there was no shortage of works being released.

*Zhu Xian 2* had already started airing, *The Return of the Condor Heroes* would premiere at the end of the year, and *Alien Realm 2* would be in the summer season next year.

Added to that was the *Zhu Xian* online game operated by Shanda, which officially opened its servers in August and exploded on the internet as soon as it was released, with the number of concurrent users exceeding 500,000 one week after launch.

As the spokesperson, Liu Yifei thought: "Sister may not be in the pugilistic world, but the world is full of Sister's presence everywhere."

Of course, this data still cannot compare to *World of Warcraft*, which officially began operations in the mainland in June; the latter had already acquired 1.5 million top-tier player traffic in just two short months.

In view of this, even though *Zhu Xian* was more closely tied to their own interests, even BlogCN had to reach a strategic partnership with The9 to drive traffic to each other.

Actually, Liu Yifei had expectations for the current "predicament" of the studio, and it was for this reason that she signed Liu Shishi.

It’s just that...

At this moment, Xiao Liu and Yang Siwei thought of this point simultaneously; Yang Siwei hesitated and said, "There is a piece of news that I feel I still have to tell you."

"What is it?"

"The casting and makeup for *Chinese Paladin 3* have been finalized. Among the three main actresses, Xue Jian is Yang Mi from Huayi, Zi Xuan is Tang Yan from Emperor, and Long Kui is..."

"Tong Liya from Wanjie."

"Tong..." Liu Yifei was suddenly startled, remembering what Lu Kuan had said to her in the office that day.

See a good deed through to the end, be a villain to the absolute limit.

Dealing with Liu Shishi, this last hidden danger, was clearly his style of doing things.

*My Own Swordsman* began filming last winter at the Feilong Film and Television Base in Pinggu, Beijing, and wrapped up after 8 months, which is about the same as in later generations.

Being able to play Long Kui was, for Tong Liya, a seamless transition.

After hanging up the video call, Xiao Liu began to read Zhang Chunru’s diaries and notes from her middle school years.

That was the first time Zhang Chunru began to face and study this period of history after receiving patriotic education from her parents since childhood.

Zhang Chunru knocked on the door and entered, concerned: "Xixi, don't read for too long every day. If you feel uncomfortable, go out for a walk and look at the scenery."

"Mm, I know."

Outside the window, the neighbor, Auntie Jessica, knocked on the window frame and waved at Zhang Chunru and the other.

"Iris, Crystal, come out and see this little guy!"

Liu Yifei let out a "wow" and excitedly darted out of the room.

Zhang Chunru watched her back with a smile; this youthful vitality unique to an eighteen-year-old girl was also invisibly healing her.

"It's so cute! Jessica, is this your puppy?"

Xiao Liu was holding a little yellow dog of an unidentifiable breed, unable to put it down, and said to Liu Ayi, who had rushed out the door to see what was happening: "Mom, take a photo of me!"

Liu Ayi agreed with a smile, and seeing that her daughter really liked it, she said to Auntie Jessica with a smile: "If the dog has a litter, can you sell us one? Xixi loves small animals very much."

"This one is for you. We can't keep too many at home. Iris said Crystal likes small animals very much, and I know you will treat him well."

"Ah!!!"

Liu Yifei could no longer control her screaming; she took the puppy and started petting its fur.

Liu Ayi hugged Jessica gratefully, then turned back to take Zhang Chunru's hand: "Chunru, I really don't know how to thank you."

"Don't mention it, I like Xixi very much and hope she can be happy."

Xiao Liu rushed over and gave Zhang Chunru an American-style kiss on the cheek according to Western etiquette, making everyone burst into laughter.

"Do you want to give it a name first?"

Liu Yifei pursed her lips and thought for two seconds; she had an answer in her heart, but she was embarrassed to say it in front of everyone.

"Let me think about it."

Zhang Chunru smiled: "Xixi, do you want to go for a walk? You take it for a stroll and build up a bond first."

"Okay!"

The weather in Champaign in September was exceptionally pleasant; the summer heat gradually dissipated under the gentle caress of the breeze, and the air was filled with a faint fragrance of grass and trees, mixed with a hint of the coming autumn.

The sky looked like a carefully wiped canvas, deep blue and clear, with a few wisps of snow-white clouds floating leisurely, dyed a faint orange-red by the sunset, like a beautiful oil painting.

Xiao Liu felt an indescribable sense of comfort holding the dog leash; having changed to a place where no one knew her, it felt like walking into a new world.

Not far behind her, the burly female bodyguard, a veteran of the Navy SEALs, followed closely on guard.

Xiao Liu and Zhang Chunru sat down on the grass.

Liu Yifei had not forgotten the fundamental task of her trip and began to observe, imitate, and understand while spending time with her.

"Sister Chunru, how old were you when you came to live in Champaign? How did you start coming into contact with this history?"

Zhang Chunru helped her take a photo with her new friend and frowned, recalling the past: "In '80, I was 12, and I went to middle school in Illinois."

"By that time, I had already participated in the Illinois Central Regional Young Writers Conference and even went on stage to receive an award as a representative of the Urbana School District."

"It was probably around '83; because I was interested in literature, I relaunched a magazine called *The Maverick*, but when I entered university in '85, I studied mathematics and computer science."

She smiled at Liu Yifei: "It's about the same as you now, an actress coming to study business; your thinking is quite jumpy."

Xiao Liu pursed her lips and said nothing; she hadn't explained her purpose to Liu Ayi or anyone else.

"As for the interest in this history, it actually started when I was a child."

"My ancestral home is Huaiyin, Su Province (now Ha City), very close to Jinling. My grandparents told me about this history when I was young."

"It wasn't until December 1994 that I attended a conference sponsored by the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia, which commemorated the victims of the Jinling Massacre. I saw the most terrifying photos I had ever seen in my life."

Whether it was the rustling cold wind making her body cold, Zhang Chunru clearly entered a more somber mental state when talking about this.

The sensitive Liu Yifei sat a little closer, hooked her arm, and covered Zhang Chunru's hands with her own palms.

She wanted to pass some energy to her and share some of the nightmares.

"At that time, I suddenly realized that the childhood memories of the massacre were not just folk legends, but real oral history."

"But at that time, no one had written a non-fiction, narrative monograph on this subject in English. In order to bring the historical truth to light, I was indignant that some Japanese people were deliberately distorting historical facts, which is why I decided to take up the pen."

The short, indifferent words echoed and drifted under the quiet sunset of Champaign.

Not many people knew that this monumental historical work by Ms. Zhang Chunru started so suddenly from a kind impulse filled with national righteousness.

"Xixi, people actually die twice."

"Once is the death of the body, and once is when they disappear from the memories of others; that is the true death."

Zhang Chunru looked at the young girl beside her with a smile and held her delicate palms in return: "History is the same."

Liu Yifei looked at her weak yet strong profile and only felt a warm current pouring into her heart.

She thought of a sentence she saw in Zhang Chunru's diary last night:

[That year, the chaotic world was like hemp; I wish you a magnificent life in your next life. But what makes this stain particularly disgusting is that history did not write a proper ending for this story.]

Right after this diary entry written in 1994, this female warrior picked up her pen in anger!

If you won't write it, I will!

In a trance, Liu Yifei didn't even notice that her tears had already flowed down her cheeks.

On the land of a foreign country, in her observation and imitation filled with reverence and admiration, and in Zhang Chunru's memories while enduring psychological and mental discomfort.

Liu Yifei's spiritual world was hooked and echoed in that bloody and tragic sea of history.

In the dear and respectable sister beside her, she saw more of the truth, goodness, and beauty in human nature and absorbed more of the pure, strong, and healthy spiritual power of women.

What she didn't know was that in another time and space, such a work almost crushed Zhang Chunru, causing us to lose this kind and righteous angel early.

And in this life, for this massacre film that was to be released worldwide, the creator Lu Kuan would undoubtedly face the same obstruction, difficulties, pain, and self-doubt.

Liu Yifei couldn't help but recall the scene two years ago when the young director was alone in his Los Angeles office watching *Schindler's List*.

Those brows that seemed to be tied in a dead knot, the cigarette that never left his hand, the dull coughing and sighing.

At that time, he must have been under great pressure when he made the decision to film it, right?

As if playing a movie, his study in Gongjian Hutong, which was always filled with smoke, appeared in her mind again.

From the first meeting with Zhang Chunru in Berlin in 2002 until now, three years of countless days and nights of script revisions and refinements.

Racking his brains, deep in thought...

The evening breeze of Champaign brushed her face; the clock tower not far away shone with golden light in the afterglow of the sunset, and the hourly bell rang on time, deep and melodious.

At this moment, Xiao Liu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly missed him very much, quite uncharacteristically.

It's doubled, begging for votes!!!!

(End of chapter)