Chapter 335: A Special Nineteenth Birthday

The next day, Nanjing Normal University rehearsal room.

Today, Jing Tian is more serious than at any time before.

She saw the shadow of Zhou Xun from *Tangshan* in Liu Yifei yesterday.

The key is... she is only nineteen! Only one year older than herself!

How exactly did she manage to do that?

The overwhelming praise and analysis on the internet, the fan count on the blog site hitting new highs, and of course, the recognition from the young director.

That is the honor Jing Tian desires most.

In the rehearsal room, Liu Yifei pressed her fingertips against her ribs: "Use and feel diaphragmatic breathing, not your throat—imagine a chain is constricting your lungs."

"Mm, very good."

In the hallway, Boss Lu, rubbing his sleepy eyes, paced over.

He was also squeezing in time, only able to communicate the plan with the Olympic team in the morning; today, he needed to finalize the list of lead dancers for the dance *Ink Wash*.

From far away, he could hear the female voice coming from the rehearsal room.

The young director stood quietly outside the door smoking, the morning light like a golden comb, finely combing the wooden floor of the Nanjing Normal University rehearsal room.

The light was blinding; when Liu Yifei stood on tiptoe to adjust the angle of the blinds, the hair tie on her wrist slid down to the crook of her elbow.

The nineteen-year-old skeleton had shed the roundness of a young girl, revealing a celadon-like glaze in the slanted light.

Lu Kuan just watched her quietly; the moment she turned around, the shadow of her at fourteen years old flashed across the mirror wall.

That pretty face, which still carried baby fat back then, was now slender and graceful, with eyes full of spirit.

Two figures suddenly superimposed in the young director's eyes:

The nineteen-year-old she was demonstrating Grotowski's "reverse wave," her waist arched like a crescent moon;

The fourteen-year-old she was sobbing while stuck in the same movement, the palm prints on the barre still stained with tear marks, looking at him with teary eyes, feeling aggrieved.

He exhaled a puff of smoke gently, remembering the heart-to-heart she had revealed to him in the car that day—

I know this is also your expectation for me, you won't deprive me of this right, right?

What can be done.

"Why are you here?" Liu Yifei and Jing Tian were walking out side by side when they suddenly discovered Boss Lu smoking at the corner.

"There's a discussion meeting in a while." The young director smiled with a calm expression: "Jing Tian has basically entered the door, keep persisting."

Da Tiantian wiped the fine sweat from her forehead: "Understood, Director Lu, I will work hard!"

The "Human Wealth Flower" looked at the expression on his face; he must have something to say to her "Little Teacher Liu": "Then I'll go first."

Liu Yifei smiled and waved at her: "Okay."

The young director and the actress he had cultivated himself stood by the window on the side of the hallway.

"What's wrong?"

Boss Lu looked at her collarbones, which were becoming more slender and prominent under her practice clothes, and the baby fat on her pretty face that had long since faded; she was almost becoming thinner than the requirements for the persona of Zhang Chunru in 1995.

"Your acting state is quite good, but your living state is poor; you need to learn to adjust."

"How do I adjust?"

Lu Kuan tilted his chin toward the rehearsal room: "Go do morning exercises with Jing Tian when you're free, sleep in on days when there's no filming, and go for a stroll in some of Nanjing's snack streets."

"Or call Sister Mei, Zhou Jielun, Zhou Xun, and them, and those little sisters of yours; aren't those all ways to adjust?"

"Yesterday's performance was already quite good; don't put so much pressure on yourself anymore."

Liu Yifei shook her head: "That's because I prepared for almost a whole year. Besides, the roles of biographical figures have traces to follow; it would be too pathetic to perform poorly when there's a reference."

The young girl's expression was gentle and calm, but her attitude carried a burning sensation like the scorching sun of a Nanjing summer: "I will take a vacation and rest after this movie is finished, but I don't want to stop now."

"It's you, actually!" Little Liu looked at the washing machine with sparkling eyes: "Why do I always feel like you're holding back?"

"Tom Hanks had over a dozen retakes at most, Moore was so worried she couldn't even sleep at night; what about the high standards for me?"

Boss Lu teased: "It's over, it's over, Little Liu, you're no longer pure. You seduced me in the video last time, and now you're showing masochistic tendencies..."

What interrupted him was a soft punch, though the force was enough to make him wince.

Not knowing if it was the sunlight or being teased until she was somewhat shy, Liu Yifei's pretty face flushed slightly: "I'm serious, don't..."

"Don't cherish this delicate flower of yours? Sister Pomegranate?"

The young director put away his teasing: "Rest assured, the quality of the movie is the foundation; no one, including me, can break this bottom line."

"It's just that we have to consider the scale of this movie and the length of the shooting cycle."

He counted on his fingers: "The scenes for the three of you leads and supporting actors in Nanjing will be filmed until next year, and there are several large-scale war scenes."

"Then after filming Tom Hanks's destitute return to Germany, it will be your scenes in the United States, and the final grand climax."

Boss Lu suddenly grabbed her fair wrist: "Don't lose any more weight; your wrists have become a circle thinner."

"You can't abuse yourself just because I always tease you about having thick legs."

Within his line of sight, Liu Yifei's black high-waisted practice pants tightened along the sharp upper edge of her hip bones, pulling into two arcs.

The tight clothing outlined her slender waist, her flat lower abdomen rose and fell slightly with her breathing, and her long, rounded legs were taut; no matter how one looked at it, it had nothing to do with being thick.

Now, the only thing on Little Liu's entire body that the washing machine can use for banter is her gums.

Well, perhaps there's also her small chest later on.

Times change, and now the little girl has also learned to take the initiative to tease this love-incapable washing machine: "What, do you feel sorry for me?"

Boss Lu smiled: "I feel sorry for my cash cow."

"Hmph." The girl gave him a charming roll of her eyes.

You washing machine, your mouth is the stiffest part of your whole body.

The young director then straightened his expression: "Sister Chunru and Liu Ayi have told me many times."

"They don't..." Liu Yifei raised her willow eyebrows, about to argue.

"I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious yet." Boss Lu interrupted her: "That's why I just told you that you need to learn self-adjustment."

"Top-tier actors enter a role quickly and exit quickly; you wouldn't want to be like Lin Daiyu burying flowers, dedicating your whole life to just that one role, would you?"

Boss Lu looked at her with an unquestionable tone: "I'll only mention one point: when I think you need to stop, you must stop."

"Clear?"

Little Liu smiled gently, two shallow dimples appearing and disappearing: "Got it."

A few footsteps approached from afar; Boss Lu turned his head; it was Ma Wen, Cai Guoqiang, and the others from the Olympic creative team who had arrived.

"Alright, hurry back to take a shower and rest; you don't have any scenes today anyway."

Boss Lu nodded and turned to leave; the several lead dancers waiting to be selected for *Ink Wash* walked toward the rehearsal room while looking over curiously.

Watching the man's back, Liu Yifei just wanted to call him to say something.

But seeing Shen Wei and the others approach with design drafts, she had to purse her lips and leave first.

The *Sky of History* crew was relatively large; for the convenience of crew management and also to prevent any potential right-wing elements from causing trouble, the crew booked an entire hotel at the Sheraton near the Shijiao base.

Liu Yifei walked back to the hotel from the studio, greeted Zhang Chunru and Liu Xiao, and returned to her room.

Liu Xiao saw that her expression was normal, smiled and asked a few concerned questions, then sat on a chair and began to sigh with Zhang Chunru.

"I don't know how she talked with Little Lu."

Zhang Chunru comforted her: "It's fine, Lu Kuan is a man of measure; he definitely won't let Xixi have any problems."

"Sigh, I know he is clear-eyed and bright-hearted, but..."

Liu Xiao hesitated: "He himself is extremely invested and focused on movies. I heard from Xixi that he often edits films until his eyes water without stopping; I'm just afraid they will be foolish together!"

"Young people want their careers and not their health; it's really terrible!"

Zhang Chunru sighed: "Lu Kuan is that kind of person; it seems I've rarely seen him rest."

"It's just that I didn't expect Xixi to be such a stubborn character too; these two children..."

In front of the girl's own mother, she found it inconvenient to speak too clearly.

But it was very obvious that there was a certain commonality in the character foundations of Lu Kuan and Liu Yifei; once they decided on something, they would do it very decisively, seemingly never leaving themselves a way out.

From a God's-eye view, the car accident Boss Lu directed and acted in at Shuimo Town, the subsequent *Tangshan* film project, and this *Sky of History*, which was far from mature in terms of shooting and release timing.

In these two or three years, with his ability to shoot other types of films, his status in the film industry and economic income would only be higher, not lower.

And Little Liu's Don Quixote-like charges didn't seem to be just once or twice—

The confession at the birthday banquet, the self-harm on the Fox live stream...

Zhang Chunru is a female writer who is well-versed in the world and has a clever mind; this pair of young children whose relationship is tangled and messy is actually no different from Li Ming and Lucy in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*.

One is overly mature, and the other is being ripened.

The chasm brought about by their differences in life experience and personality is currently melting away.

Two souls are walking toward each other, not knowing when they will meet.

In the room, Little Liu, who had been given a day off by the crew, finished her shower and was lying on the side on the high-end hotel sofa, bored.

Suddenly stopping, she couldn't think of anything she could do!

In North America, besides going to school, it was either looking at Zhang Chunru's materials, or life experiences from field visits, and some business coordination work that Boss Lu had entrusted to her.

Remembering the washing machine telling her to call friends to adjust herself, Liu Yifei took out her phone and first called Zhou Xun.

"Hello? Xixi?" Zhou Xun was currently on the roadshow for *The Banquet*; the movie was scheduled for a nationwide premiere on September 16th.

"Sister Xun, congratulations, I saw your *Tangshan* was nominated for the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards!" Little Liu flattered first: "With the Hong Kong Film Award in hand, I think the Golden Horse is about the same; you're going for a hat trick for Best Actress this year!"

"Haha, the little girl is beautiful and speaks so nicely!"

Zhou Xun changed the subject: "I watched yesterday's performance; it's no exaggeration to say, I studied it frame by frame!"

"Oh, stop it! Stop teasing me!"

"Really, especially when compared with Lu Kuan's explanation and analysis, this is material for an acting class!" Zhou Xun remembered the psychological relief task the young director had arranged for her and became even more professional.

"Did you not see the blog post on the official Beijing Film Academy website sharing the video? It’s a designated textbook clip for the 2007 undergraduate class. Look at it, how prestigious!"

"But!" Zhou Xun, whose mind was as clear as a sprite, changed the subject: "I see you’ve been looking a bit 'thinner and worn, yet I regret not' lately?"

"Has some scumbag been giving you a hard time again?"

Liu Yifei knew she was teasing and smiled back: "I am currently the Little Dragon Maiden practicing the *Jade Maiden Heart Sutra*, cutting off all emotions and desires; I only want to achieve great success in this role."

"If any 'washing machine' is blind enough to give me a hard time, I’ll take his dog head with a single strike of the *Pure Heart Sword Art*!"

Zhou Xun burst into laughter, thinking to herself that this Little Dragon Maiden of hers had likely already had her heart stolen by Zhen Zhiping, who had acted opposite her.

"After I finish running around Pengcheng, I’ll come to visit the set, okay? I’ll deliver your birthday gift in person!" Zhou Xun laughed: "You’re nineteen today, truly a flower-like age."

"Hehe, thanks! I’ll be waiting for you at the set."

Feng Xiaogang and the others called for Zhou Xun to get ready to go on stage. Before hanging up, she said from the bottom of her heart: "Xixi, whether it’s for a certain director or for the role, don’t let yourself get too worn out. You’re still so young, don’t put so much pressure on yourself."

"Mm, I know."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Yifei sighed. After a moment of thought, she dialed Mei Yanfang, whom she hadn't seen in a long time.

Originally, Lu Kuan had wanted to invite her to play the role of Cheng Ruifang, but Mei Yanfang was essentially in retirement. For the past year, she had been busy in Sichuan, contributing to the school buildings and earthquake escape public welfare projects donated by Wenjie.

She knew the importance of this film and worried that her current professional capacity couldn't meet Lu Kuan's high standards, so she switched to a cameo as a Chinese-American who cheers on Zhang Chunru at a book signing in North America.

"Happy birthday, Xixi. I was just about to call you at noon. Your performance yesterday was great!"

"Sister Mei, are you still in Rongcheng?"

Mei Yanfang signaled for her assistant to wait a few minutes: "Yes, it’s very fulfilling. I’m really quite happy that Little Lu gave me this work."

"Then you must take care of your health, Sister Mei."

"It’s fine. This year, our buildings have been springing up like bamboo shoots after a rain. It’s a joy just to look at them."

Mei Yanfang chatted with her for a few moments, then changed the subject: "I heard you’ve been under a lot of pressure lately? You really should balance work and rest."

"Did my mother tell you that?" Liu Yifei comforted her: "I’m fine, don’t worry, Sister Mei."

"I still remember the first time I saw you act, in your cameo as the female lawyer in *Whiplash*. That day, you were so tormented by illness that your back was soaked with sweat, yet you insisted on finishing until the end."

"Sister Mei, Lu Kuan always uses you to motivate me. You are my role model."

Mei Yanfang sighed slightly to herself. The young director had given her the task of counseling her, so how did it turn into reverse motivation...

In psychology, Leon Festinger proposed a theory called cognitive dissonance.

That is, when an individual's behavior conflicts with their previously held consistent cognition, they will tend to believe in and seek out various theories, information, or reasons to make their choices align with their existing cognition, so as to alleviate internal conflict and hesitation.

Clearly, the "washing machine" had asked Liu Yifei to call friends to adjust her mood, but she had instead begun to find practical support for her own all-or-nothing gamble.

Mei Yanfang waved her hand to signal her assistant to wait a moment, and shared her own mental journey with her.

"Xixi, let me tell you about my own personal experience."

"In 1987, I filmed *Rouge*. The character I played, Ruhu, was a tragic figure who died for love. While filming, I empathized too much with the character’s infatuation and despair, and only after filming finished did I realize how hard it was to detach myself."

The Xiangjiang big sister hesitated for two seconds, then said earnestly: "In fact, at that time, I had just broken up with a boyfriend I had been dating for several years."

"Ruhu’s obsession with love in the film resonated strongly with my own repeatedly frustrated romantic experiences in reality, which once made me very painful and caused me to suffer from insomnia for over half a year."

"This film won me the Golden Horse Award and the Hong Kong Film Award, but when Stanley Kwan asked me to film a second one, I refused. I knew that if I walked into the character again, breaking free would be another huge pain."

After a heart-to-heart conversation, Liu Yifei hung up the phone.

Who in this world is not suffering?

Even someone like Mei Yanfang, who spent her whole life seeking love in vain, and even chose to escape because of the strong resonance with her film characters.

The young girl knew she was well-intentioned in counseling her, and perhaps she had even been entrusted by her mother, Liu Xiaoli.

It was just that for this past month, she had been entering a state of flow. Because of the meticulous preparation beforehand, she was able to completely immerse herself in the character and deliver a performance far superior to any in the past.

Even Lu Kuan could now only help her adjust her emotions through gentle persuasion, pulling her back from the edge of the cliff at critical moments.

To ask the current Liu Yifei to truly and willingly break out of this obsessive state seemed impossible.

Her phone suddenly "ding-donged." Liu Yifei, who had moved her corpse-laying spot to the bed, picked it up to see it was a birthday text from Su Chang.

[Xixi, happy birthday! Our crew went to Haidilao yesterday and put it on your tab! Mwah!]

*Those Years*, directed by Xue Xiaolu, had officially started filming, and this was another case of "Put it on my sister's tab!"

She resentfully replied to her best friend, then got up to turn on her computer, interacting with fans on blog sites and other internet opinion hubs.

Yang Siwei called halfway through to talk to her about some small birthday interactions.

Such as recording videos to thank fans, or drawing lucky fans on the blog site for gifts, and other routine activities.

The studio had no other artists, so Yang Siwei's main task this year was to maintain fan groups across various channels and conduct high-end business and endorsement negotiations.

Clicking on the mention details in the backend, she saw that Yao Beina, Zhang Jingying, Su Chang, Tang Yan, and other best friends, as well as many artists she had worked with, had sent their blessings—the prestige was maxed out.

Little Liu patiently replied to them one by one; it was a way to adjust her mood and pass the time on her day off.

A message box popped up on the blog site interface—another post mentioning her. This was a new feature launched last year—

Only mutual followers could receive notifications.

Yang Mi: Happy birthday to my favorite best friend Xixi!

The attached image was a goofy photo of the two of them on the set of *The Return of the Condor Heroes*.

Back then, Da Mimi hadn't yet entered Little Liu's blacklist; the latter had even kindly taught her how to breathe and vocalize.

Only, in front of the computer, one wondered if another highly nearsighted "former favorite best friend" was watching with a heavy heart.

As for herself, due to a long-term contract with Tangren and the failure of the Long Kui role, she had almost faded into the crowd.

With nothing better to do, Liu Yifei looked through her reply thread with a playful expression.

Flipping back to older posts, the most recent one was a repost of her own acting clip.

Caption: Study hard!

Little Liu couldn't help but laugh; she thought to herself that this girl really knew how to let go and move on.

This was a case of a girl who reached her peak at her debut not understanding the hunger of those who hadn't.

If Da Mimi didn't tightly bind herself to her to hype up their "best friend" persona, how could she take her 5 million followers to the next level?

With an indifferent, teasing attitude, Liu Yifei "liked" the post by the young-form Nine-Tailed Fox of the forest, Yang Mi.

On the other side of the computer.

At the Wuxi Three Kingdoms and Water Margin Film City, Da Mimi, who was socializing with a crowd of superstars on the set of *Red Cliff*, suddenly received a call from her assistant.

"Mimi! Liu Yifei liked your post!"

Yang Mi smiled, greeted Takeshi Kaneshiro, and walked to the side: "Really? Did she reply? Is it the one about the birthday?"

"Yes, that’s right. As you instructed, I called you the moment I saw it."

"Okay, I’ll credit you for that. I’m hanging up now." Yang Mi was more anxious than if her house were on fire: "Hello? Xixi! Happy birthday!"

Little Liu replied expressionlessly: "Thanks, Mimi. I saw your blog post. That’s very thoughtful of you."

Yang Mi laughed: "Do best friends really need to say things like that?"

Da Mimi, who considered herself to have a heart of seven apertures, seized the opportunity: "Xixi, I’m in Wuxi, which is very close to you. Do you have any plans for the evening? How about I come over to celebrate your birthday?"

"I’ve prepared a gift for you, and I want to give it to you in person!"

"Uh..." Little Liu was caught off guard by her sudden enthusiasm.

This was an imbalance in perception caused by the information gap between the two.

On the eve of the 2004 Yinchuan Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards, the then-aggressive Little Liu had already sensed that something was wrong with Yang Mi.

This time, she had stirred up trouble on the set of *Curse of the Golden Flower* and had almost been caught red-handed by her.

Evidence?

Not needed. Refer to the groundless weapons of mass destruction in a certain Middle Eastern country.

Subjective judgment is enough.

"Xixi? Are you still listening?"

Da Mimi felt a little panicked. Wasn't this also a test?

But how could Liu Yifei let her see even a hint of it: "Sure, come over? Let’s have dinner together tonight?"

The drive from Wuxi to Jinling was less than 200 kilometers. Even without asking director John Woo for leave, a round trip wasn't too much trouble.

She had already planned it out: take a photo with her best friend Xixi at the birthday banquet tonight, and hopefully have her post it on her blog too. Her 5 million followers still had room to grow in the short term.

Just as Da Mimi had calculated before—

One must suck up to Boss Lu, and one must suck up to Liu Yifei.

If the former succeeded, she would rise to the top.

If the former failed, she could still maintain her status as a best friend through the latter.

Was this best friend status useful?

Just look at Su Chang, who had completely established herself in the "chick flick" and youth film market.

Wenjie’s cultivation was one aspect, but it was hard to say whether Liu Yifei had played a role in it.

The entertainment industry was also a circle, and more than anywhere else, it valued personal relationships and social connections. Clearly, she should seize this opportunity that sprouted from *The Return of the Condor Heroes*.

Little Liu hung up the phone and shook her head helplessly.

If Yang Mi hadn't mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten about the birthday banquet her mother had prepared for her. In fact, she had even thought about telling the "washing machine" about it this morning.

It was actually just using the Sheraton venue to hold a small dinner in the fully enclosed crew, just to invite some close friends.

But looking at his slightly dark circles and steel-needle-like stubble, and knowing he still had to discuss program ideas with the Olympic team until late every day after filming, he was actually very tired too.

Liu Yifei didn't know if she should disturb him, so she decided to wait until Tom Hanks' scenes were finished in the afternoon to tell him.

She also didn't know if a certain someone still remembered that today was her birthday...

After letting her mind wander for a while, the young girl continued to carry out his policy of emotional adjustment, spending some time on the phone with close friends like Tang Yan, Yao Beina, Zhang Jingying, and Tong Liya.

A rare day of leisurely and carefree life.

It’s a pity I didn’t manage to bring the cat from home; I’ve had someone looking after it in the villa courtyard all this time.

In the afternoon, Liu Yifei was woken from her nap by a series of urgent knocks at the door, but no matter what, she couldn't open her eyes.

The chaotic dreamscape dragged her to the climate-controlled basement of the Washington National Library one moment, and tossed her into 1 Xiaofenqiao in 1937 the next, her eyes filled with the performance details recorded in her notebook.

Like clouds and mist shrouding her head, paired with the increasingly noisy cicadas outside the window, it was so dense and stifling that it left her unable to breathe.

Outside the door, Jing Tian was knocking and calling, her delicate nose beaded with sweat from panic: "Sister Xixi! Sister Xixi!"

Liu Xiaoli, in the next room, heard the commotion and poked her head out: "Tian Tian? What happened?"

"Liu Ayi, I can't get the door open, please hurry and use the room card to swipe it!"

Liu Xiaoli didn't say a word, turned and entered the room, and with the same panic as Da Tian Tian, opened her daughter's door...

The two of them rushed to the bedside with agile movements.

Liu Yifei’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly beneath her eyelids, like butterfly wings caught in a spiderweb.

The air conditioning was set to a constant 26 degrees, yet cold sweat beaded on her temples, soaking a dark ring of water into the silk pillowcase.

Her right hand unconsciously gripped the corner of the quilt, her knuckles turning white from the force, while her left hand hung loosely in front of her chest, as if trying to grasp something in her dream.

The dreamscape rotated like a kaleidoscope; under the cold fluorescent lights of the National Library basement, her fingertips were tracing yellowed, aged manuscripts;

The next second, the smoke of war filled the city of Nanjing in 1937, and on the blue brick wall of 1 Xiaofenqiao, the performance notes she held to her chest were shaken loose by artillery fire.

The cicadas in her ears gradually distorted in the dream into the shrill wail of an air-raid siren; she wanted to scream, but found her throat felt as if it were stuffed with cotton.

Liu Yifei’s body, buried in the duck-down quilt, twitched slightly, her dark hair spread in disarray across the embroidered pillow.

Cold sweat slid down the back of her neck into her silk nightgown, pooling into icy puddles at her collarbone.

The fluorescent tubes in the Washington basement suddenly began to strobe; Liu Yifei saw her eighteen-year-old self curled up in the corner of a steel frame. The iron door creaked, and a man with a blurred yet familiar face was struggling to shake the mental iron cage that imprisoned her, making it creak in her ears.

For some reason, this harsh disturbance actually made her feel at ease.

"Little Liu!" In the dream, Lu Kuan’s voice sounded as if it were soaked in warm water; he rushed in, his fingertips brushing the blood-stained notebook in her arms before tossing it aside.

"Lu... Kuan..." Broken babbling spilled from her pale lips.

In the chaos, Liu Yifei suddenly felt a warm palm cover her sweat-drenched forehead; the sensation was so real it made her eyelashes tremble.

"Xixi!" Liu Xiaoli reached out to pat her daughter gently, finding her skin ice-cold to the touch.

Jing Tian stood to the side, wringing her skirt hem in helplessness: "Sister Xixi!"

"Lu Kuan!"

Liu Yifei jolted awake from the nightmare.

Her pupils dilated in terror, her gaze shifting between her mother and Jing Tian, as if she hadn't fully woken from the dream.

Her right hand still clutched the corner of the quilt tightly, her knuckles trembling slightly from the excessive force.

Before Liu Xiaoli and the others could ask, the young girl explained with a bleak smile: "It's nothing, just a nightmare."

With Jing Tian on the side, her mother couldn't say much more.

She had indeed heard enough of her daughter’s sleep-talking during this period.

Da Tian Tian was a sharp-eyed and bright-hearted person; she let the matter drop, turned, and pulled a gift from her bag: "Sister Xixi, happy birthday!"

Little Liu smiled sweetly: "Thank you, wait for me a moment, I’m going to wash my face."

Taking advantage of the brief moment her daughter was away, her mother couldn't help but let out a long sigh: "Tian Tian, you’re very thoughtful."

Jing Tian said in a low voice: "It’s okay, Sister Xixi is like this now... and since everyone can't persuade her, we can only help her shift her focus."

For the past month, she had witnessed firsthand how Liu Yifei had painstakingly immersed herself in this role.

Even though she was bullied by this "wicked woman" every day, Da Tian Tian really couldn't bring herself to dislike such a clear-hearted girl.

Of course, the "Human Wealthy Flower" still harbored dissatisfaction that she forced herself not to intimately call him Mr. Lu.

They were unrelated matters.

Yang Mi wanted to both suck up to Lu Kuan, preparing two paths, and suck up to Liu Yifei;

Da Tian Tian both liked and admired Lu Kuan, and couldn't help but want to get close to this Little Liu sister who was only one year older than her.

Liu Yifei walked out of the bathroom, having already recovered her charming smile.

The young girl’s state looked quite good, and she had indeed relaxed quite a bit in body and mind today.

It was just that thoughts during the day turned into dreams at night; how could she control the scenarios in her dreams? This was a mental crisis buried in her subconscious.

"Here!" Da Tian Tian took out the carefully prepared gift from a Tiffany blue box with a haughty look.

A Montblanc Patron of Art series fountain pen, the cap inlaid with tiny diamonds forming Liu Yifei’s initials, and her favorite midnight blue ink sloshing in the bottle.

Not during morning practice time, Jing Tian boldly teased her: "I know you aren't short on bags, and jewelry or necklaces are too tacky, so a fountain pen is fine, right? Literary girl?"

Liu Yifei cast a charming glance at her: "Very fine. As a thank you, I think you can add twenty more minutes of physical training every morning!"

"What?! No, no, I’m still growing! I need to guarantee my sleep time!"

Da Tian Tian waved her hands like a rattle-drum, making Liu Xiaoli and her daughter laugh.

Her mother suddenly remembered: "Xixi, did you tell Little Lu? Are you inviting him, Zhang Dao, and Designer Lin to come eat tonight?"

Zhang Yimou and Lu Kuan were very close, and both were chief directors of the Olympic Games; if she was going to invite one, she had to invite both.

Lin Ying had helped introduce the North American Chinese newspaper tycoon, the Zheng family, to her daughter at the beginning of the year; it was only right and proper to thank her.

Liu Yifei was also quite troubled: "He... is really too busy. I think I’ll just ask him an hour before dinner, if he really..."

The young girl naturally wanted him to accompany her for her birthday.

But having truly begun to immerse herself in the role and participate in some of his business affairs, Liu Yifei could empathize with his inability to control his own time.

With great power comes great responsibility; in the discussions of the Olympic creative team, some parts really did require him.

"Knock knock!"

"Please come in."

Yang Mi politely knocked on the ajar door; in fact, she had been there for a while and had heard the conversation of everyone in the room clearly.

Naturally, she heard it with great joy.

So these two hadn't made it yet!

Even when inviting him to dinner for her birthday, she was still hesitant; at the very least, their relationship hadn't broken through the final layer.

"Xixi, I’m here." Yang Mi smiled like a painting, stepped forward, and took Liu Xiaoli’s arm: "Ayi, you look younger again! What cosmetics do you use? I’ll buy some for my mom too!"

"This child, your mouth is so sweet." Her mother didn't know about the undercurrents between her daughter and her, only assuming she was a good friend who had come specifically to celebrate her birthday: "Mi Mi, sit down quickly, I’ll go wash some fruit for you all to eat."

"Mm, okay! Thank you, Ayi."

Liu Xiaoli left the room, and Little Liu’s expression was indifferent: "Mi Mi, this is Jing Tian."

"Tian Tian, this is Yang Mi; we worked together on *The Return of the Condor Heroes*."

The "Human Wealthy Flower" was close to Liu Yifei, but naturally still held the self-regard and pride brought by her family background toward those she wasn't familiar with: "Hello, Yang Mi, very happy to meet you."

Yang Mi habitually looked Jing Tian up and down, caught a glimpse of the gift box and fountain pen on the table, and couldn't help but sneer inwardly: "Hello, Jing Tian."

"Xixi, this is an Hermès Un Jardin sur le Nil fragrance gift set for you, happy birthday!"

She wasn't an entertainment reporter and didn't recognize that this was the "Human Wealthy Flower" who had once spent 15 million to buy a painting.

Seeing the "cheapness" of the gift, Yang Mi judged the person by the object, nodded to Jing Tian, and greeted her just to get it over with.

How could she recognize this limited-edition Montblanc Patron of Art Da Vinci series, plus the custom-made diamond signature? The price was likely ten or twenty times that of her few bottles of lousy perfume.

Liu Yifei naturally remained calm on the surface: "Thank you, Mi Mi, rest for a while, stay and eat here tonight."

"Okay, it’s not far anyway; I’ll just accompany you well today and then rush back overnight."

Yang Mi still knew how to talk; every word was aimed at "claiming credit"—the *Investiture of the Gods* should have hired you to write it.

If Liu Yifei hadn't already discovered some clues, this "good friend" who had taken leave from the set to come celebrate her birthday in person would really be rare.

At least in Yang Mi’s view, since Su Chang and Tang Yan weren't there, the only person present today was this unknown Jing Tian.

Only this could highlight her unique status.

Liu Xiaoli brought in two boxes of washed strawberries, and the three women chatted aimlessly.

Bags, figures, acting...

In Nanjing at the end of August, the sky began to darken around 6:30.

The small birthday banquet Liu Xiaoli had arranged at the Sheraton cold restaurant was about to begin; Yang Siwei led the guests and lucky fans into the venue, arranging all the big and small matters.

"Xixi, where is Director Lu?" Yang Siwei asked her artist cautiously.

She now had a shadow over Little Liu’s birthday.

The kind that lasts a lifetime.

Starting from this day last year, it was almost 72 hours of non-stop public relations!

It was only after great difficulty that the heat was suppressed, public opinion guided, and Little Liu safely landed after her trip to North America.

The slightly chubby manager’s little heart couldn't bear to have this happen again.

Liu Yifei checked her watch: "I just called A-Fei, he said he’s still discussing things with the Olympic team, let’s wait a little longer."

The scale of today’s event wasn't very large; after all, filming in a crew with this kind of subject matter, Liu Xiaoli still arranged for everything to be simple, just treating it as a mental adjustment for her daughter.

Even so, leaders like the China sales director and marketing general manager of Pepsi still came uninvited.

Hearing the company’s trend this year, it seemed they wanted to elevate her contract to the Greater China level.

Since they were just in Suzhou researching the market, coming to support their artist was a matter of course.

The guests took their seats, and the fans who had been selected via the official blog to attend the birthday party were also looking forward to the start; Liu Xiaoli walked to her daughter’s side with a depressed look: "Xixi, look at Little Lu..."

Jing Tian volunteered: "How about I go? It’s only a few minutes by car; I’ll go see if they’ve finished."

On the side, Yang Mi watched her nose and mouth, saying nothing as she looked at the subtle atmosphere, glancing at her "good friend’s" expression as if nothing were wrong.

She naturally wasn't stupid enough to add fuel to the fire or make any snide remarks; she just felt that this trip today was quite worth it, at least she had seen the true portrayal of the relationship between this rumored couple in the entertainment circle.

It seems...

It doesn't seem as deeply affectionate as the news portrays, does it? It looks like it’s still just a one-sided crush from her good friend.

Liu Yifei sat by the dining table and took out her phone, her hair ends slightly curled, draping over her shoulders.

Her cuffs were rolled up slightly, revealing slender wrists; her makeup was light, her lip color a natural pink, yet there was a faint, almost imperceptible furrow between her brows.

"Don't go to any trouble, I'll make a call. If he's really busy..."

"Miss Liu!"

Hu Zi stood at the entrance of the banquet hall and called out, then hurried over when he saw everyone looking: "The boss really can't get away, he..."

Liu Xiao felt deeply regretful, but she still forced a smile on her face: "It's fine."

"Hu Zi, take some cake over and share it with the artists on the Olympic team!"

Yang Mi could barely suppress the smirk at the corner of her mouth, so she simply stood up and walked to the cake cart: "Tian Tian, let's cut it together."

Hu Zi waved his hand to stop the thick-skinned actress: "Don't be busy yet, the boss told me to come and pick up Miss Liu to go to the studio, there's something..."

Everyone was stunned, but Liu Xiao was the first to react, pushing her daughter's shoulder: "Go, go quickly, we'll wait for you."

Jing Tian felt a bit bitter and jealous: "Can we go with Sister Xixi?"

"No, it involves Olympic confidentiality matters." Hu Zi shook his head firmly, though he didn't explain to everyone why Liu Yifei could go if it was confidential.

Yang Siwei walked onto the stage knowingly: "Dear guests and fan friends, today's event might be delayed for a while. How about I sing a few songs for everyone first?"

"Good! Give us one!"

The experienced agent controlling the scene, the long-suffering mother urging her to leave, the poor, pitiful-looking Jing Tian, and...

Yang Mi, who had a smile on her face, looking genuinely happy about the turn of events for her good friend.

"Alright, then you wait for me for a while."

The Bentley Arnage carried her to the studio, and the security, having been notified in advance, let her through.

Liu Yifei walked in curiously; it was her first time entering the inner circle of the Olympic creative team. Along the way, the various master artists all looked at her with smiles, their eyes carrying some inexplicable meaning.

Lin Ying turned her head: "Oh my, Xixi is here."

She hurriedly called out to Boss Lu, who was discussing technical parameters and public relations progress with Zhang Heping, Wang Tao, Li Ze, and others: "Lu Kuan, your leading lady is here! Stop acting so serious!"

Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

Zhang Jigang chimed in: "Designer Lin, don't make the young lady blush, be careful or the chief director will give you a hard time!"

"Exactly, Director Lu was preparing to make a graceful and dashing entrance, you're ruining the atmosphere!" Chen Weiya also seized the opportunity to tease.

Usually, everyone bowed to the "tyranny" of Boss Lu, and now that there was a legitimate reason to tease and joke, no one wanted to miss the opportunity.

Ma Wen was even worse, smiling as he stepped forward to take the young lady's hand: "Oh my, I was wondering who made our great Director Lu shamelessly say in front of all the American media that he was pursuing her."

"You really can't blame our Director Lu for being a lecher! This is truly a sight to behold!"

"Come, come Yifei, we only just found out it's your birthday, consider this a gift for you!"

Ma Wen had lived abroad for a long time and his etiquette was Westernized, so he immediately took off the rose brooch from his lapel, leaving Liu Yifei in a position where she could neither accept nor refuse.

The studio was filled with a cheerful atmosphere. Zhang Yimou saw Liu Yifei looking like a little deer that had wandered into human territory, feeling somewhat confused and shy, so he took the initiative to step forward and defuse the situation.

"Ma Wen, oh Ma Wen, you really don't understand how to do as the locals do."

"You're here buttering everyone up, giving gifts to the birthday girl right away, making us old comrades who came empty-handed look bad, don't you think?"

There was a chorus of agreement and teasing in the studio.

"Exactly! Ma Wen is thoughtless!"

"That's not right, his emotional intelligence is too low!"

Boss Lu then walked over with a smile: "Don't argue, let's just say this program is a token of our team's shared sentiment, how about that?"

Zhang Yimou clapped in agreement: "Fine, we'll mooch some birthday cake, that's never a loss."

Everyone burst into laughter again.

Liu Yifei had been teased by a group of art-world veterans since she walked in. The problem was she only recognized Lin Ying and Zhang Yimou, so she couldn't easily respond, and she shyly tugged at Boss Lu's sleeve.

"What are you up to?"

"Running an experiment, you'll see in a moment."

A staff member handed over a contract draft. Liu Yifei glanced at it; it read "Olympic Creative Team Technical Confidentiality Agreement."

Lu Kuan smiled: "Just a formality, just don't talk about whatever you see or hear later."

"Oh, okay." Liu Yifei was happy to comply, signing her name with a flourish without even looking.

The young director patted her arm: "Wait here for a moment, Director Zhang of the Olympic Organizing Committee needs to go through a formality and listen to a technical report."

Liu Yifei smiled at him serenely and stood prettily to the side, no longer speaking, her beautiful eyes lingering on him—like a rare flower just budding, like fine jade glowing, bright and peerless.

She had thought he was too busy to remember her birthday, but now it seemed there was a little surprise?

This was a unique kind of lost-and-found and unexpected encounter, leaving an even more lingering aftertaste.

Wang Tao received the instruction and began to report in a serious voice on the technical breakthroughs and phased results of the drone lighting ceremony.

"Director Zhang Heping, Director Lu, Director Zhang, and fellow artists, I will now present the technical work report."

"Since DJI Technology undertook the work related to the lighting performance in April 2005, we have formulated detailed technical breakthrough goals."

"At the end of 2005, with the strong support of the Olympic Organizing Committee, including Leader Liu, we jointly established a Cluster Intelligence Joint Laboratory with a classified research institute at Northwestern Polytechnical University."

"We also established a drone power system joint R&D center with Beihang University."

"As of that year, based on the company's existing first-generation autonomous hovering flight control system, we completed the upgrade of the visual-assisted positioning system, the project initiation and research of the distributed flight control system, and the technical intervention of the ultra-high-frequency anti-interference communication protocol."

"Over the past 17 months, the company has been inspired by the 2004 drone swarm experiment at MIT, using the Vicon motion capture system for positioning, and utilizing the open-source code project SwarmLab to improve drone obstacle avoidance..."

Boss Lu looked at the crowd, who were listening with blank expressions except for Lin Ying and a few others, and interrupted: "Wang Tao, the detailed technical parameters and phased results can be reflected in written documents."

"Tell us, what level can our drone performance currently achieve, and then let's do a demonstration."

Zhang Heping also smiled: "Director Lu is pragmatic. Little Wang, do as your Director Lu says."

"Alright, then I'll summarize."

"Tonight we are going to demonstrate a semi-indigenous, semi-foreign scheme, calling on just over a hundred drones." Wang Tao's expression was slightly awkward: "Our scheme is primarily based on mechanical encoding, supplemented by electronic control."

"To compensate for the weakness in signal, we use a ground base station-assisted positioning system. The nickel-metal hydride batteries can currently support a performance of up to 5 minutes, and the LED lighting system uses programmable color-changing modules..."

The tech geek was getting intoxicated as he spoke, but he corrected himself in time: "Um... shall I start?"

Zhang Heping nodded in agreement.

Even though it had been greatly simplified, if he kept going, the artists would really be getting dizzy.

Wang Tao picked up the walkie-talkie used by the film crew and confirmed the parameters with the technicians responsible for the signal calibration of several small ground mobile base stations.

"Signal strength is about 95%, ready for takeoff."

"Received."

Boss Lu smiled at Zhang Heping: "Director Zhang, shall we move outdoors?"

"Let's go."

The curiosity of the Olympic creative team was piqued.

They had long seen the stunning CG of the "Phoenix Returning to the Nest" lighting scheme, but it had always been a backup plan due to technical issues.

And the original bidding scheme of the Wenjie team had also lost points on this, which was why it was tied with the schemes of Zhang Yimou and Jack Morton.

It was already pitch black outside, and the artists and relevant staff stood with their arms crossed, watching the Wang Tao team making final preparations not far away.

"This is..." Liu Yifei looked at the dense swarm of drones on the open field and blurted out: "Lu Kuan, what kind of plane are you playing with?"

Boss Lu explained with a speechless expression: "These are drones for the Olympic performance. Each one is pre-installed with an LED color-changing module to increase color and expressiveness."

"Today, the Olympic Organizing Committee sent Director Zhang over to conduct a phased technical check to ensure the progress of the technical breakthroughs and to evaluate the final effect of the scheme."

Little Liu had no interest in technology, but now she was itching with curiosity: "Then you called me here..."

Before she could finish, the buzzing of propellers suddenly tore through the twilight, and a hundred silver lights soared into the sky, hovering and forming a formation at a height of twenty meters.

Liu Yifei watched in a daze as the drones suddenly began to flow. Under the presets of the ground technicians, the LED lights dragged glowing blue trails across the darkening sky, as if someone were using stars as a pen.

She looked up, mesmerized, and subconsciously took half a step back, her sandal heel clicking against the steps.

Boss Lu was quick-witted and grabbed the young lady, taking the opportunity to support her shoulders, his face full of pride: "Stunned, aren't you?"

In the night sky, the hundred drones performed a coordinated show without a hitch, barely managing to spell out the characters "8.25 Xi."

This was a bit of a shortcut.

Because both her name and the Chinese characters for "Happy Birthday" were somewhat complex.

With the "semi-indigenous, semi-foreign" drone coordination capability and obstacle avoidance technology that Wang Tao mentioned, it would still take time to perform more difficult shows.

When the last stroke of the character "Xi" lit up in the night sky, Liu Yifei heard gasps echoing all around her.

"My god, this is too magical, right? Is the glowing part what you just called LED?"

"Yes, the LED light group uses a 555 timer to achieve PWM dimming, and currently, the lighting mode can only be preset via DIP switches."

The young director looked at the countdown on his phone; the 5-minute performance was nearing its end: "It should light up in a moment."

Little Liu murmured and reached out, her long eyelashes casting butterfly-wing shadows under her eyes.

Before the words left her lips, the hundreds of drones suddenly lit up in unison, the cold LED light dyeing her snow-white dress moon-blue.

The moment those points of light intertwined in the sky to form "Xi," Liu Yifei clutched her heart, trying her best to suppress her excitement, as if countless leaping joys were about to overflow.

At the same time, in the cold restaurant on the fifth floor of the Sheraton Hotel, hundreds of meters away, Jing Tian, who was waiting for the birthday banquet, suddenly discovered something and exclaimed: "What is that!"

She couldn't help but run to the window. The height of the floor and the height of the drone performance were not too different, and this extremely straightforward high-tech way of celebrating a birthday entered her field of vision.

This is...?

Without a doubt, without a doubt.

Jing Tian was suddenly filled with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow.

She hoped to see Liu Yifei relieve her increasing mental pressure, but how could she not also crave for that young director to look at her in the same special way?

Ever since she met him at Harper's Bazaar, it seemed that everything she did was dispensable in his eyes.

Whether it was a delicate and charming appearance or a deeply rooted family background, when the final exchange of interests brought them before him, it was difficult to win much more attention...

Da Tiantian felt bitter inside.

Da Mimi felt even more bitter inside.

The Nine-Tailed Fox of the Jungle dug her nail-polished nails into her palms, watching the fleeting brilliance of the drones with a dark and inscrutable expression, followed by the lights going out and the landing; everything returned to calm.

Yet her heart could not be calm for a long time.

In such a scene, what woman would not be jealous to the point of madness?

Drone performances of later generations, even if they were only a castrated version at this time, had already left everyone, including the Olympic creative group and Zhang Heping, "speechless and choked with emotion."

There were some small hitches during the final curtain call; two drones drifted away from the lead aircraft and wobbled as they fell vertically onto the cushioning pads laid out on the ground, and staff members hurried forward to handle the aftermath.

Limited by current technical conditions, these 100 drones adopted a "master-slave" mode of 1 lead aircraft plus 32 follower aircraft; having one or two accidents was a common occurrence in experiments.

"Good! Fantastic! Comrades, you've worked hard!" Zhang Heping took the lead in applauding, his expression excited!

Watching the young director chatting and laughing with Liu Yifei not far away, he could not help but feel moved once again by Chairman Liu's keen eye for talent.

Without his trust and support, and the help of the classified defense research unit, a certain laboratory at Northwestern Polytechnical University, and the national-level laboratory at Beihang University, such a technological breakthrough exceeding later generations would not have been completed so quickly.

It was obvious that if the technical breakthroughs could proceed as scheduled in the remaining two years, this lighting ceremony named "Return of the Phoenix to the Nest" would surely be recorded in Olympic history.

The perfect fusion of technological means and traditional culture, the multi-layered performance of sound, light, and effects, shocked the senses of global audiences in a way they never expected.

Leaving other things aside for the moment, just in terms of drone technology, the visual impact this performance brought to global audiences was no different from Li Hongzhang seeing the 88-meter Park Building, elevators, and subways on Wall Street in 1896...

They were all things that had never been imagined.

In this regard, it might not be an exaggeration to say that it was the greatest lighting performance in the history of the Olympic Games.

The members of the Olympic group shook hands and applauded each other with excited expressions, encouraging one another and celebrating their noble cause reaching a new level.

But the nineteen-year-old girl, who only had small romantic feelings in her heart at this moment, had not yet come back to her senses.

Not far away, the man with whom she had been entangled throughout her entire youth was receiving praise and encouragement from all directions.

One year ago today, she had wept on the spot with a heart like dead ashes, thinking that moment would become a lifelong farewell.

One year later today, on her nineteenth birthday, an unexpected surprise came rushing toward her.

Liu Yifei stood in the twilight, looking up at the night sky that had returned to calm, the faint airflow stirred up by the drone landing still lingering on her forehead.

The overflowing joy made her heartbeat so fast it felt like it was about to burst out of her chest, her eardrums throbbing with the sound of rushing blood.

The moment those silver points of light traced a name in the air just now, she felt as if she had seen an entire galaxy pouring down.

It was like a dream.

Liu Yifei had a nightmare in the afternoon; those heart-wrenching horrors left her terrified, and when she shouted for Lu Kuan and was dragged out of that blood-colored sky...

She never expected that on the evening of her birthday, she would be dragged into another beautiful dream.

She truly hoped she would never wake up.

Under the grand curtain of the era, in the process of creating this film with a deeply memorable historical background.

Unknowingly, the two who served as anchors for each other in their spiritual worlds, like Li Ming and Lucy in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," had already drawn closer and closer.

(End of this chapter)