Chapter 817: Dad

Many audience members felt an incomparable sense of distress in their hearts after finishing *Farewell My Concubine* in the cinema.

This distress was hard to describe.

They did not know why people could become like that.

Was it because human nature is just like that?

Or was it because of that particular era?

For the audience, every major character in this film was complex and real.

The impression many characters gave was even somewhat contradictory.

Like the young Duan Xiaolou, who was loved by many in the audience.

But when he reached middle age, why did he become that way?

And then there was Xiao Si'er, the abandoned baby that Cheng Dieyi picked up.

Clearly obsessed with the opera in his youth, yet later he wore that kind of face, like a white-eyed wolf that could never be tamed.

As for Juxian, played by Xu Chujing, she made many in the audience feel displeased at first.

Her level was truly too high, and her aura was too strong.

Many felt that, let alone Cheng Dieyi, even if they themselves—modern people used to seeing all kinds of "tea art" performances on the internet—traveled into the film, they would not be able to defeat her.

Yet in reality, toward the end, she was so heartbroken for Cheng Dieyi.

Perhaps Juxian had been right all along.

If Duan Xiaolou and Cheng Dieyi had not stayed together, perhaps their fates really would have been different?

Of course, there was an even larger group of audience members who were puzzled as to how this film passed censorship.

Although many parts were expressed quite implicitly, as long as one understood a little history, one could still understand the specific content.

Batch after batch of audience members had different impressions after watching the film.

But very few were willing to take this film out and watch it again in a short period of time.

It truly needs to be savored carefully.

But it really is impossible to watch it several times in one go!

Luo Mo's *I Am Not a Medicine God* was also very painful, but at least there were many comedic interludes and many funny moments in the beginning.

*Farewell My Concubine* is different; it is depressing from beginning to end.

It uses the lives of two Peking opera practitioners to reflect that era and that history.

"No wonder it could win the Palme d'Or!"

"It's filmed truly like an Ox, completely different from mainstream films!"

"I feel really conflicted after watching it."

"I actually quite disliked Master Guan at first; he was too strict, but when he died at the end, I cried my eyes out."

"Sigh, it reminds me of the time on *Creating Idols* when Old Master Tong made Luo Mo recite the *Ancient Teachings of Learning the Arts*."

Only after watching this film did many people truly understand why there are fewer and fewer people learning opera, and even fewer who can learn its essence.

It is too grueling! The process is truly too arduous!

How much suffering must Luo Mo have endured since childhood to have his current achievements?

As for the industry insiders in the film business, they were very clear on one point: "Next year's major awards, *Farewell My Concubine* is Afraid it will sweep them all again!"

"The next Fan Hua Award is Afraid it will be mocked again."

"It's truly like an Ox. As long as Luo Mo's films aren't entered into competitions, the gold content of any award will drop! This is the first time I've seen someone able to ruin a film festival by their own strength!"

Judging from the current box office trend, the box office for *Farewell My Concubine* is estimated to only reach around 3 billion.

This will be the lowest-grossing film Luo Mo has shot in recent years.

However, its ratings across the entire internet are ridiculously high, and it has super high ratings on every platform!

The commercial appeal of this film might not be high; if it weren't for Luo Mo directing and starring in it, the box office definitely wouldn't have reached this level.

But its artistry is right there, destined to be recorded in the history of Chinese cinema!

………

………

With the hit screening of *Farewell My Concubine*, Luo Mo also began his short vacation.

Whenever he was free, he would go to the Siheyuan to keep his master company.

His master had been in high spirits recently and would often pull Liu Shixiong and Luo Mo to sing opera together.

The old man even said that, actually, like Master Guan in the film, demonstrating how to sing opera in front of a group of disciples and then passing away while singing could also be considered a decent ending.

He had actually long since felt a sense of relief and indifference toward the matter of life and death.

For him, there were not many regrets left in life.

Yet in reality, humans are a very magical species.

As his master's mindset became better and better, his physical health and vitality actually improved as well.

In the past few months, every time he went to the hospital for a check-up, the doctor said the old man's body was much better than last year.

This made Luo Mo and Liu Gongming heave a sigh of relief.

Before returning to his and Xu Chujing's new home, he snuck to the vegetable market to buy some groceries, and he wasn't recognized the entire time.

Not to mention, after becoming a big Idol, he really enjoyed this feeling of "sneaking around."

He quite liked secretly going to places with the hustle and bustle of life.

He felt both comfortable and nervous and excited—conflicted yet happy.

"What are we eating today?" Xu Chujing, wearing a nightgown, walked to Luo Mo's side and asked.

"I bought saury, and then I'll make some scrambled eggs with tomatoes," Luo Mo said, adding, "I also bought roast duck!"

"Alright, after you finish eating, I'll play a game with you," Xu Chujing said to him.

"What game?" Luo Mo was slightly stunned, feeling that Xu Chujing seemed to be in high spirits today.

"We'll talk after dinner!" She kept it a mystery.

This made Luo Mo a bit absent-minded while eating, thinking there might be some romantic Surprise in store.

Who would have thought, after the meal, Xu Chujing took out a pair of large headphones and asked Luo Mo to put them on.

"In a moment, I will turn the volume to the maximum, and then, you guess what I just said based on my lip movements," Xu Chujing said. "You should have seen this game on variety shows, right?"

Luo Mo: "???"

"Ah? This kind of game?" Luo Mo said speechlessly. "Then do I get a reward if I guess correctly?"

"Depends on my mood!" Xu Chujing urged Luo Mo to put on the headphones.

After putting the headphones on him, Xu Chujing even specifically played a very dynamic DJ dance track.

Luo Mo felt it was noisy and chaotic; his ears felt like they were going to explode.

"Can you hear me?" The two sat cross-legged on the sofa, and Xu Chujing said to him with a smile.

"What? Say it again, I didn't see your lip movements clearly," Luo Mo said loudly.

Xu Chujing nodded with satisfaction; it seemed he really couldn't hear.

"Are you full?" Xu Chujing said.

"Chi bao... Are you full?" Luo Mo guessed.

After Xu Chujing nodded, he replied with a smile: "Of course I'm full!"

"You have a baby," Xu Chujing said.

With the volume in the headphones super loud, Luo Mo couldn't hear what she was saying at all, and he didn't catch her lip movements either, so he asked: "I'm full-full?"

"Why are you only thinking about eating!" Xu Chujing said with some annoyance.

"It's so loud and you're still talking about eating?" Luo Mo: "What on earth are you saying!"

"I said!!!" Xu Chujing said loudly.

"I said?" Luo Mo recognized the lip movements this time.

"You have a baby!" Xu Chujing said again.

"You want a bag?" Luo Mo even stretched out a hand quite dashingly and said: "Sure, swipe my card!"

Xu Chujing was so angry she stopped sitting cross-legged and kicked him instead.

Luo Mo, feeling the pain, was speechless; isn't it fine to just buy a bag?

Xu Chujing took a deep breath, blaming herself for playing such a lousy game.

She calmed her mood and, word by word, said at an extremely slow pace: "I am pregnant."

"I?" Luo Mo first carefully distinguished the first character.

After Xu Chujing nodded, he said: "I suspect you?"

"What are you suspecting me of? I go to Master's place every day when I go out, I haven't done anything bad!" Luo Mo felt he was being wronged.

"No!" Xu Chujing said loudly: "I am pregnant!"

"I am bad?" Luo Mo probed.

"I am pregnant!"

"I am pregnant?"

Xu Chujing nodded forcefully.

"I am preg... no, I am pregnant?" Luo Mo asked.

"Yes!" Xu Chujing nodded forcefully.

Luo Mo let out a long sigh and said: "Haha, finally guessed it right, finally guessed it right, this game is damn hard to play, I... eh! What did you just say?"

He pulled off the headphones in one motion, grabbed Xu Chujing's hands, and said with a look of surprise: "You just said you are pregnant?"

Xu Chujing, sitting cross-legged, leaned forward slightly, hugged him gently, and then said with a smile in his ear: "Yes, I am pregnant, Luo Mo, you are going to be a father."

(End of this chapter)