1979 Golden Age

Longtang can be understood as a small alley.

There is usually a big iron gate at the entrance of the alley, and inside is a narrow alley with Shikumen houses on both sides.

A Shikumen house has seven or eight rooms, including bedrooms, wing rooms, pavilions, kitchens, etc. Just like the courtyard houses in Beijing, Shikumen houses have become a place where multiple households live together, men, women, old and young, and noisy.

Chongqing North Road, Shanghai.

Early in the morning, a certain alley was noisy, and neighbors leaned out of the small windows and greeted the people below.

"The whole family went out early in the morning... Oh, your Xiaoxue is back. I haven't seen her for a year. She is getting more and more beautiful."

"Yes, I just brought her back... Xiaoxue, this is your Aunt Wang!"

"Aunt Wang!"

"Okay, come to my house to cook some other day."

Under the cover of a staring gaze and dense clothes drying poles, the dusty Gong Xue was led into a Shikumen house by her family.

Although the shantytowns in Beijing are also shared by multiple households, the houses are independent, while Shikumen is an integrated building. There are three families living here, each with two rooms, a shared kitchen, and no toilet.

They are all colleagues of Gong Xue's father, and they get along well. As soon as she entered, she was warmly greeted by the other two neighbors, and after some tugging, she returned to her room.

The small house suddenly became crowded.

Gong's father is over fifty years old, with a gaunt face and bright eyes.

Her mother's surname is Zhuang, with delicate eyebrows and eyes, and she is quite similar to Gong Xue. She used to be a cadre in the government. After retirement, she did some assisting work at the Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House.

Gong Xue's grandfather is Zhuang Xianshi, a native of Changzhou, a small official in the late Qing Dynasty. He went to Japan to study at the same time as Lu Xun, and came back to set up a women's normal school. He is one of the pioneers of Changzhou's new-style education.

Later, he worked in the Ministry of Education of the National Government. During the Japanese invasion of China, Zhuang Xianshi refused the invitation of the Nanjing Puppet Government and became a teacher. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as a librarian of the Shanghai Museum of Literature and History, and was quite good friends with Lü Simian, Ba Jin and others.

Zhuang Xianshi died in 1965. He was not a famous scholar, but he was also a local sage, and historical materials can be found. But it was also because of this that Gong Xue's home was raided, and many of the old man's collections of calligraphy and paintings were confiscated.

Gong Xue has an older brother and an older sister. The older brother works as an artist in a publishing house, and the older sister works in a factory.

There is also a younger sister, named Gong Ying, who later became an actor and filmed "Bao's Father and Son" and "Ji Gong"...

This is her family situation.

When Gong Xue came back, the family had a lot of thoughts to tell. They cried while talking, and laughed while crying. After a long time, Zhuang's mother got up to cook. Today, his family welcomed his daughter, and the other two families would not be blind and took the initiative to give up the kitchen.

The elder brothers and sisters have all started families and have established their own households. They left after dinner.

Gong Ying was still young and lived with her parents. When Gong Xue came back, she shared a bed with her.

…

It was night in the blink of an eye.

Gong Xue had been on the train for two days. The physical and mental fatigue was completely washed away by the joy of returning home. She was not tired at all. She leaned on the bed and looked through the manuscripts that Chen Qi gave her in the dim light.

This thing is very strange. In addition to the weird jar man, there are "water murals that can hear the sound of water and flow into the forehead", "candles in the painting that can be lit at a touch", "roasted chicken that can fly", "chicken soup noodles that can be eaten immediately with hands as knives and paintings as noodles".

It's too feudal and superstitious!

In the mainland, she would be shot in five minutes, but Gong Xue knew that Chen Qi would not do anything presumptuous, and there must be other uses.

"Sister!"

Gong Ying came in after washing up and threw herself on the bed. Gong Xue lifted the quilt and hugged her in. The two looked 70% alike, a pair of beautiful sisters.

"What are you looking at? What is this jar man? It looks weird?"

"I don't understand either. A friend asked me to draw it for him."

"Just draw it when I ask you to. Aren't you afraid of being caught? That would be a disaster for you!"

"I hid it in the army and drew it when I got home."

Gong Xue put down the manuscript paper, hugged her little sister and smiled: "When I was filming "Lush Mountain Love", this friend helped me a lot. Now he asks me for a small favor. How can I not repay him? I'm just afraid that I can't draw well and delay his work. I'll ask my parents for help tomorrow. "

"Hmm..."

Gong Ying looked at her with a funny look on her face and shook her head: "Different, different."

"What's different?"

"You are different from last year. There is an indescribable feeling."

"What do you know, little girl? You are just talking nonsense."

"Oh, you are like a flower. Why haven't I seen you pay so much attention to anyone before? Ask your parents, who are you going to bloom for?"

"If you say that again, I will beat you!"

Gong Xue suddenly became angry and the two sisters started to fight and rolled into a ball with laughter. Maybe the voice was too loud, and the father's voice came from the next room: "Xiaoxue, are you still awake?"

"Yeah, I'm not sleepy yet."

"Your mother is also asleep, come over and chat?"

"..."

Gong Xue glared at her sister, put on her clothes and walked to another room. Dad had already gotten up and sat on a chair. Mother Zhuang stretched out her hand and smiled, "Come on, don't get cold!"

"Hee!"

She showed more and more of the little girl's attitude in front of her parents, slid in and said, "Dad, what do you want to say?"

"Your mother and I discussed the letter you wrote to us for a long time. The reason why I didn't reply to you was that I wanted to wait for you to come back and have a good chat. After all, it is related to the important things you choose in your life."

Dad Gong spoke elegantly and continued, "Although our family knows some people from Shanghai Film Studio, and your aunt Zhang Ruifang has also intervened, there are many people in Shanghai Film Studio, and it is not easy for one person to have the final say. Your transfer is still not easy."

Zhang Ruifang is an actor from Shanghai Film Studio, with representative works such as "Southern Expedition and Northern War" and "Li Shuangshuang", and is also one of the 22 major movie stars in New China.

"The main reason is that you have not filmed works of Shanghai Film Studio. Their leaders don't know you well and will not transfer people in for no reason. Didn't you say that "Lush Mountain Love" is very good? Will it be released this year?"

Mother Zhuang asked.

"If everything goes well, it will be released in the summer."

"That's it. After "Lush Mountain Love" is released, we will ask someone to see if we can transfer you in. If you can't be transferred in, we suggest you choose Beijing Film Studio. Don't they think highly of you?"

"But I want to be with you!"

Gong Xue pursed her lips.

"Silly child, your first goal is to be a full-time actor. You have to get into a film studio first. It doesn't matter where you go. When you get into the Beijing Film Studio, your time will be much more flexible. You can shoot when there are movies, and come back to see us when there are no movies. It's the same."

I have to say that mom and dad are still very insightful. Only by getting into the studio can you enter the film industry, and only by having a step can you move up.

Gong Xue was stubborn before and wanted to come back. Now she thinks it makes sense, so she said: "Well, I will listen to you two. I will go to whichever one I can. I will go back during the Spring Festival and can dub "Lush Mountain Love". "

"Okay, please tell us when it is released!"

Mother Zhuang rubbed her head and talked for a while, and Gong Xue returned to her room.

Gong Ying had fallen asleep. She got on the bed quietly, her mind was confused, and finally simplified into one idea: let's finish the painting first.