Chapter 128 – Flea Market and Movie Night
One day, Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan went out shopping and arrived at a strange place.
Many people were setting up stalls in this small square, selling various things at low prices.
Lu Tinghan said, “This is a flea market, specializing in selling second-hand items.”
Shi Yuan asked, “Why is it called a flea market?”
“Second-hand items often have fleas and lice on them, so it got its name,” Lu Tinghan explained.
Shi Yuan said, “It sounds like a small animal. Can I keep them as pets?”
Lu Tinghan replied, “No, you can’t.”
“But I want to keep them,” Shi Yuan insisted.
“Shi Yuan, we can only have either fleas at home or me,” Lu Tinghan said.
Shi Yuan felt regretful and said, “Okay.”
The square was bustling with noise, and Shi Yuan pulled Lu Tinghan inside to take a look.
There were all kinds of things at the stalls, from clothes and furniture to vases, artworks, and jewelry, creating a dazzling display.
As Shi Yuan walked along, he was drawn to various items.
He picked up an old vase, admiring its unique hexagonal shape and the stubborn yellow water stain at the bottom. Then, he was quickly attracted to several old hats, but he was afraid his devil horns might pierce them, so he didn’t dare to put them on. Next, he saw inexpensive jewelry necklaces, tea sets, worn-out books, and old drink cans from a bygone era.
There was a boldly colored oil painting in a wooden frame, depicting a woman in a blue silk dress embracing a sunflower and smiling. There was also a faded toy robot that emitted a red light when a switch was pressed.
Shi Yuan picked up a glass marble and held it up to the light. The streets, tall buildings, and blue sky all warped and merged within it, almost melting together, allowing him to see the entire world.
Walking around and stopping from time to time, Shi Yuan hadn’t finished exploring half of the square when he had already bought a bunch of things.
As the fiery clouds spread across the sky, people started packing up their stalls, and Shi Yuan had no choice but to leave with regret.
After returning home, he and Lu Tinghan spread out all these little trinkets on the table.
The old dog slept in the corner of the wall, and the little cat got tired after playing with the glass marbles for a while, snuggling up next to it for a nap. Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan chatted while they cleaned each item and arranged them neatly in the house.
Finally, only a deck of playing cards remained on the table.
Shi Yuan hadn’t seen a deck in a long time, but he still remembered how he had lost miserably each time. Fortunately, a new robot had arrived at home, so he spread the cards on the table, preparing for a decisive battle with Lu Tinghan and the robot.
And then, he lost the entire evening.
Late at night, Shi Yuan lay in bed, still unwilling to accept his defeat.
He said, “Lu Tinghan.”
Lu Tinghan was almost asleep but responded, “Hmm?”
“How do you memorize the cards so well?” Shi Yuan asked.
Lu Tinghan replied, “It just comes naturally.”
Shi Yuan curled up his tail, feeling puzzled and unable to understand this “natural” ability.
He played cards for a few more days and came to the conclusion that he couldn’t win. The deck of playing cards ended up gathering dust in the cabinet.
As for what happened afterwards, how the little cat chewed it to pieces, that’s another story.
In an effort to encourage him, Lu Tinghan offered, “Would you like to learn something else, like Go, chess, or gomoku?”
“No,” Shi Yuan rejected his suggestion.
He had come to realize, once again, that the Lu family’s spirit of never admitting defeat was broken by him.
The second time, on his way back from the theater, Shi Yuan passed by the flea market and bought an aquarium.
The aquarium was much larger than the one at home. He found a robot for transportation and put in some effort to bring it back. After changing the water and rearranging the artificial rocks and grass, the unsightly fish had more space to blow bubbles.
Shi Yuan told Lu Tinghan that they seemed happier now.
Lu Tinghan looked at the dead-eyed fish, each one more lifeless than the other, and once again fell into contemplation. If someone were to tell him that these were dead fish, he would probably believe it.
Afterward, Shi Yuan became obsessed with this kind of treasure hunting feeling.
He brought back an old vase, which broke on its own within a few days. He also bought several wooden models, but they were already damp and hollow inside, and quickly fell apart. He bought a model of a planet and placed it in the living room, but the little cat knocked it over and shattered it into pieces…
Seven or eight out of ten times, the things he bought were completely useless.
Then one day, Shi Yuan saw some movie discs.
He squatted in front of the stall, trying to identify the names of the movies one by one.
The stall owner was an old lady with silver hair. Her hands were particularly thin, and you could see the deep blue veins. She pushed her reading glasses up and asked, “Would you like to watch some movies? These are all old movies, and I’m the only one who has them.”
Shi Yuan asked, “I like movies, but why are you selling them?”
The old lady smiled and said, “I don’t have much time left… and I don’t have any grandchildren. There’s no use keeping these things at home.” She encouraged Shi Yuan, saying, “Take a look, maybe you’ll find something interesting.”
There were only six or seven old discs in total, with outdated cover art. In the end, Shi Yuan bought them all. The old lady put them in a bag for him and waved goodbye.
When Shi Yuan got home, he showed the discs to Lu Tinghan.
They were all very old movies, and on top of that, they were on discs, which made them even more rare. Lu Tinghan spent some time searching, but couldn’t find an old-fashioned projector, so they had to read the discs one by one into the terminal and play them on a screen.
The first one they watched was a horror film.
It was pure blood and gore, with sensory stimulation as the main focus, and a very weak storyline that couldn’t withstand scrutiny.
For Lu Tinghan, it was torture. He was the kind of person who valued logic in everything, even in entertainment. He couldn’t tolerate weak logical connections. Moreover, as he put it, “everything the characters did seemed completely random, like any idea that popped into their heads, they would immediately act on it.”
After that, Lu Tinghan watched a group of friends who came to swim in a lake with a sign that said “No Swimming,” picking firewood on a mountain full of animal traps, and always suspecting every suspicious figure was just their imagination. They insisted on staying in an abandoned house: a brainless buff guy paired with a weak nerd, plus a delicate girl paired with a guy with “school violence” written all over his face. No matter what, the young couples had to express their love in deserted places, never to return from their self-destructive path.
Halfway through, Lu Tinghan couldn’t take it anymore and asked Shi Yuan, “Do you really think this is good?”
Shi Yuan said, “…”
Lu Tinghan turned his head and found Shi Yuan sleeping soundly, the projector’s light shining on his peaceful sleeping face.
…This movie was too boring, even Shi Yuan wasn’t scared by it. Instead, it became his lullaby.
Lu Tinghan regretted not realizing it earlier and enduring several hours of torment. He quietly turned off the movie and neatly tucked Shi Yuan in bed.
He turned off the lights and went to sleep.
In the darkness, he gave Shi Yuan a goodnight kiss.
Shi Yuan slept soundly that night and woke up refreshed the next day to go act.
Only Lu Tinghan was harmed in the end.
The other movies were mediocre, neither good nor bad, enough to pass the time.
When they reached the last movie, Shi Yuan suddenly said, “By the way, Lu Tinghan, do you know what a ‘movie night’ is?”
Lu Tinghan replied, “I’ve heard of it.”
“I heard from the theater troupe that sometimes families would watch movies together and prepare snacks and pillows,” Shi Yuan said. “We’ve had quite a few movie nights, but it doesn’t feel formal enough.”
Lu Tinghan asked, “How do you want to make it more formal?”
Shi Yuan thought for a moment and said, “First, we need to get some snacks.”
There were many snack stalls on the street next to the flea market.
When they were walking their dog, they specifically headed in that direction and bought potato chips, green peas, cookies, peppermint candies, and dried fruits. They carried everything back home.
Cheng Yi also generously sponsored a few packets of pork jerky, and Shi Yuan piled them together, forming a small mountain of snacks on the coffee table.
The little cat sniffed curiously but quickly lost interest and went back to playing with a glass marble. The old dog, as usual, slept in the corner, not bothering to open its eyes.
Shi Yuan counted the snacks and couldn’t help but feel hungry.
He thought, ‘I’ll just eat a little bit, just a little bit. After all, tomorrow is movie night, so it’s okay to eat in advance. Lu Tinghan won’t notice.’
He opened the packet of potato chips.
He unwrapped the peppermint candy.
He tore open the packaging of the dried fruits.
That evening, when Lu Tinghan came home, he noticed that a significant corner of the fully-stocked snack mountain was missing. Shi Yuan happily slept with his head on the table, and there were a few crumbs of cookies by his side.
Lu Tinghan smiled and walked slowly to Shi Yuan’s side, sitting down.
He nudged Shi Yuan gently and said, “Don’t sleep here, you’ll catch a cold.”
Shi Yuan mumbled incoherently in response.
Lu Tinghan continued, “Shi Yuan, look at what I brought for you.”
This time, Shi Yuan woke up, rubbing his eyes and looking over.
—Lu Tinghan had brought back a brand-new projector and an oversized screen.
Shi Yuan was thrilled and twirled around the projector, saying, “It’s so beautiful!”
Lu Tinghan smiled and kissed him, saying, “Now it feels more formal.”
The next evening, they set up the projector, and they had the snacks and pillows ready.
As the lights dimmed, the room turned dark, with only faint lights from distant neighbors seeping through the curtains.
Then, suddenly, the light from the projector illuminated the room.
This newly replaced projector was different. The old movies played with such clarity, vivid colors, and beauty. Coupled with the oversized screen, the two of them nestled on the sofa, feeling isolated from the world.
“Dang dang dang—” The movie’s opening music started playing.
Shi Yuan nestled in Lu Tinghan’s arms and said, “I hope this is a good movie.”
He ate a piece of honey-flavored potato chip and found it delicious, so he fed two pieces to Lu Tinghan.
Whether it was due to the sense of formality or the atmosphere, this movie was indeed very good.
It told the story of a boy from a slum who became a thief.
In his childhood, he lived in a house full of holes, with drafts coming from all sides. It was cold in winter and hot in summer, and there was always a strange smell in the blankets and pillows. Underneath the wooden boards of his bed were various stolen goods, ranging from bread to jewelry, anything he could find.
“It’s a bit like a flea market,” Shi Yuan said.
Lu Tinghan nodded.
He opened a package of cookies and began feeding Shi Yuan.
Winter came, and the boy shivered in the dilapidated house.
There was no hot water in the house, and he felt like he was freezing to death as he tightly wrapped himself in a blanket.
A gust of cold wind blew, and he sneezed, “Ah-choo!” Then he sniffled and got out of bed, taking out the last piece of bread to eat.
He opened his eyes.
Through the hole in the roof, he saw the vast expanse of stars.
Radiant light shimmered and fell into his eyes, creating an unparalleled beauty.
The boy, trembling from the cold, with a dirty face and ashes on the soles of his feet, looked up at the stars in the dusty sky.
It was with this exquisite beauty, this tiny glimmer of hope in the ashes, that he endured that night.
Later, war came to the boy’s country. By a twist of fate, he qualified for enlistment and had a strong desire to become a pilot. That way, he could be closer to the blue sky and the stars.
He fulfilled his dream and became a fighter pilot.
Ascending into the sky time after time, as the world spun, he fought bravely, defending his homeland.
He was severely injured and captured. Whenever he felt like he was about to die, he would coincidentally see a sky full of stars.
Brilliance shone, just like it did years ago.
Finally, the war ended, and he returned to his hometown with glory, spending a lot of money to help the people in the slums.
The hometown developed, but he never accepted the people’s applause. On a night filled with stars, he walked along a small path, gazing at the newly constructed buildings, and left this place, disappearing into the distant mountains.
The movie ended.
As the ending song finished playing, the room fell into darkness. Shi Yuan was mesmerized and forgot to eat his snacks. Finally, he softly said in Lu Tinghan’s arms, “It was really good.”
“Yeah,” Lu Tinghan rubbed his head. “It was a great movie.”
The movie night came to a satisfying conclusion.
Coincidentally, the night after watching the movie was clear.
Shi Yuan had just finished reading the script and happened to glance out the window, calling out, “Lu Tinghan, come and see!”
Lu Tinghan walked to the window.
The sky was filled with sparkling stars.
Elton’s dome projected the real sky, relieving the oppression and confinement of the underground city. The boy looked up at the stars from the ashes, while they witnessed the stars from underground.
Shi Yuan remembered Lu Tinghan once saying that he had wanted to go to space when he was a child.
Lu Tinghan probably had a fascination with space, an enduring longing for the unknown that never vanished from the human blood.
Suddenly, Shi Yuan said, “When will we be able to rebuild the space center?”
Lu Tinghan was somewhat surprised and replied, “The Alliance has that plan, but it will take a very long time.”
“Oh,” Shi Yuan said.
He placed his hand on the window, as if trying to grasp the stars. Lu Tinghan also reached out and gently covered Shi Yuan’s hand with his own, their hands intertwined.
Shi Yuan said, “It’s okay, the space center will definitely be rebuilt, and then you’ll be able to go to space!”
It was late, but there were still people walking the streets. The ever-changing city filled people’s hearts with hope.
“Yeah,” Lu Tinghan said, “That day will come.” He kissed Shi Yuan’s black hair. “Perhaps one day, I’ll also be able to visit your hometown.”
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