"Is there someone setting off fireworks where you are?" Zhou Yun asked curiously.
"Yeah." Song Chi said, "There are."
"Happy New Year." After saying that, Song Chi suddenly laughed.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I haven’t wished someone a Happy New Year so solemnly at midnight in a long time."
"Then what have you been doing at this time in the past few years?"
"Sleeping. Usually, after having the New Year’s Eve dinner, I’d watch the Spring Festival Gala with my parents, and then go to sleep." Song Chi said, "I haven’t stayed up to see the New Year in for a long time."
"You really are... well, okay."
Zhou Yun realized that perhaps staying up on New Year’s Eve had only been her own obsession every year.
"Brother Chi, the dumplings just got ready, come have some!" Someone called out to Song Chi on his end of the phone.
Zhou Yun said, "Then you should go eat dumplings. I’ll hang up."
"What did you have for dinner tonight?" Song Chi suddenly asked.
"Me?" Zhou Yun said, "I had hotpot."
Zhou Yun was an orphan. Song Chi knew this, but he never mentioned it to Zhou Yun. Zhou Yun never brought up her family, and Song Chi never asked. Raised by her grandmother, when her grandmother passed away, Zhou Yun truly became alone.
Actually, there were several moments when Song Chi wanted to ask Zhou Yun, do you want me to spend the New Year with you?
But such words couldn’t be spoken. He couldn’t possibly really find the time to spend the New Year with Zhou Yun, nor could he actually do it.
Even now, despite repeated clarifications that they weren’t dating and aren’t a couple, Zhou Yun still faced daily resistance and insults from Song Chi’s vast fanbase.
"After the Scandal," the program accumulated a lot of ’CP fans’ for both of them, and also stirred up a lot of Song Chi’s fans, who more aggressively opposed the two of them being together.
Of course, Song Chi could disregard their attitudes and insist on being with Zhou Yun.
But what kind of situation would they face then? No one could predict.
Not only would his career be affected, but Zhou Yun would be affected even more.
What Song Chi cared about wasn’t the temporary fluctuations in his career but the fact that too many lessons have taught him that no one can stay indifferent to external factors, and remain together against everyone’s opposition. But what happens after they get together? How long can they hold on? Unless they give up everything and leave show business.
Some say that true love means being together even if it’s like a moth to a flame.
But you see, even the ones who say that know the end of being together is like a moth to a flame.
"Being this rational isn’t necessarily a good thing." One time, in a private conversation, Kang Xin had said this to him, "If you don’t take the opportunity to truly fall in love now, when you say the timing is right, when you and her can hold hands openly and without any restrictions, are you sure you’ll still want to hold hands? The places you wanted to visit when young won’t feel the same when you go after retirement."
Song Chi knew Kang Xin was right.
But some things shouldn’t be rushed; they cannot be rushed.
"Director Kang, too many artists have seen their loves die under public exposure." Song Chi said, "I know you’d say, even if it ends in a breakup, that’s still a great experience, but I naturally lack romantic elements; I don’t want just an experience, I want to hold hands and never let go."
If now is not the right time, then stop, slow down, wait, wait for the wind to change. No moment is eternal, Song Chi is moving forward, Zhou Yun is also moving forward. If their paths cannot intersect now, there will eventually come a day when they do meet.
He will take her hand.
Kang Xin truly admired Song Chi.
A director’s admiration for an actor is generally because the actor performs well, with strong professional capabilities.
Kang Xin’s admiration for Song Chi lay in the fact that, even with his status and fame today, Song Chi still had demands for himself, restrictions for himself.
He knew how many young people lost their way due to fame and fortune in this industry, due to overnight success, due to being pampered, protected, and spoiled by those around them, they lose sight of what’s real, stepping on cotton thinking their other foot is on the clouds, entering modern society in a dreamlike stupor of success.
If Song Chi wished, he could live a more relaxed and carefree life.
Why talk of love? He could completely wait until he’s retired from this glamorous world before seeking something real.
But Song Chi was not just rational. He knew what reality was.
Only when a person knows what reality is can they have their own principles, and only when a person has their own principles can they have the discretion to know when to advance or retreat.
While eating dumplings, everyone still working on set sang "Unforgettable Tonight" together.
Song Chi sat among them and sang along.
After finishing the dumplings and the song, with a brief clean-up, the crew resumed filming.
Kang Xin sat behind the monitor, surprised to find that Song Chi didn’t show a trace of fatigue. His eyes were like two little lanterns, burning spiritedly. As if he knew that at this moment Kang Xin was watching him from behind the camera, Song Chi suddenly smiled at the camera, gave a thumbs-up, and said: "Director Kang, I’m ready, waiting for your instruction."
At the start of the New Year, in the late night, this young man under the bright moon had a dazzling smile.
Kang Xin picked up the walkie-talkie and said: "All departments, prepare for the actual shoot."
In the deep night, as the wind rose, the young man sat boldly beneath the porch, his back to the camera.
Suddenly, he turned around fiercely, giving the camera a look of hidden ferocity.
He could act. He was a born actor. Kang Xin’s heart was very satisfied.