Chapter 7

On August 3rd, at 6 PM, Li Tingxiang had Zhang Enhe pick up Jin Zhongming early and take him to the Samsung VIP cinema at Guangximen. The soul of the film, the mute grandmother, was played by the elderly Kim Yifeng, who insisted on not leaving her small village. She claimed that after the film's release, she would have her son take her to the town's cinema to watch it once. Li Tingxiang also felt that it was best for the elderly woman to live quietly, so she nodded in agreement at the time.

The only remaining lead actor, Jin Zhongming, had to come to the cinema early to prepare for the press with Li Tingxiang. Fortunately, Guangximen was only 1,500 meters north of Jin Zhongming's grandfather's home in the eastern district, so even with heavy traffic, it only took 5 minutes to get there.

Although they arrived early, Jin Zhongming, along with Min Kyunghoon and Lim Eunkyung, could only sit backstage, waiting for all the guests to enter before they would join Li Tingxiang on the main stage to answer questions.

A red carpet was laid out in front of the cinema. Even though the film had no stars, Li Tingxiang had been in the industry for 10 years and had many star friends who came to support her.

In fact, most of the journalists waiting there were not there for the film. Apart from a few professional film magazine reporters, most were there to take pictures of the stars.

After all, although the film had been promoted for a month, a film without stars, relying on three inexperienced minors and an elderly woman who had never left her village, and being a heartwarming story, how could it possibly have good box office results?

The first to arrive were Lee Sung-jae and Shin Hye-sung. When this pair walked in, all the journalists on site became excited. Just for their red carpet photos, the trip was worth it.

Lee Sung-jae was the hottest male film star at the moment. He starred in "The Zoo by the Art Museum" (also known as "Love in Reverse") directed by Li Tingxiang last year, winning the Best New Actor Award at the 36th Korean Film Grand Bell Awards and the 35th Korean Baeksang Arts Awards. After gaining attention, he continued to star in "The Gas Station Incident" directed by Kim Hyang-cheon, which was set to be released in October. He could be said to have been nurtured by Li Tingxiang, so he had to come to support her.

Shin Hye-sung, who also starred in "The Zoo by the Art Museum," was a well-known actress. Although she was not fond of socializing and appearing in public, she had to come today because Li Tingxiang was her mentor in the film industry. However, few people around her knew that she was already tired of the entertainment industry and was considering marriage and having children.

Subsequently, big-name stars and directors such as Choi Min-sik, Lee Hye-young, Jung Ji-young, Park Joong-hoon, and Choi Jeong-rim came to support the film, either alone or in pairs.

Then, up-and-coming actors like So Ji-sub and several outstanding MCs with their own shows, such as Jung Jun-ho, Joo Seok-jin, and Lee Hwi-jae, arrived together, making the journalists marvel at Li Tingxiang's wide network of connections.

The journalists, who thought they had already made the trip worthwhile, were even more surprised when the final arrival was the casually dressed An Sung-ki, who came alone.

An Sung-ki and Li Tingxiang were old partners and had a great rapport. Many of the films Li Tingxiang had worked on as an assistant director were starred by An Sung-ki. When Li Tingxiang directed her first film, An Sung-ki even volunteered to play a supporting role for free. The film's success later became a famous story in the film industry.

An Sung-ki's arrival caused a stir among the journalists, almost leading to a loss of control. Fortunately, An Sung-ki, with his extensive experience, took the initiative to give a brief interview. During the interview, he skillfully shifted the focus to the film itself and subtly expressed his expectations and confidence in the film.

Li Tingxiang, watching from the side, felt deeply grateful. However, she was also confident in her film, having personally been involved in the editing.

With all the guests present, Li Tingxiang returned to the backstage and led the three young actors to the main stage from the side. At 11 years old and not yet fully grown, Jin Zhongming had to sit on a raised chair to be visible.

Before the questions began, some journalists had already started to change their attitudes, wasting film. Especially the three young actors, who were all very attractive, looked very different from the posters that had been released. Once the questions started, most were directed at Li Tingxiang, and the few questions asked to Jin Zhongming were all simple. Jin Zhongming was not at all nervous, answering the questions beautifully and even adding some humor, making the adults in the audience laugh.

Throughout the event, the few people who recognized Jin Zhongming, such as Jung Jun-ho and Joo Seok-jin, watched the boy with a sense of wonder.

The film began.

The logo of the distribution company faded, and the screen brightened. A mother and son were sitting on a train, with the young son whistling and playing with toys, causing his mother to become impatient.

The visuals were not particularly exquisite, but the young actors were passable. Many film critics evaluated the film in a professional manner.

The film continued, with the mother taking her son from the train to a car, and then walking, finally meeting the elderly grandmother. As soon as the grandmother appeared, the audience's hearts skipped a beat. With a face full of wrinkles, white hair, and a dirty, tattered outfit, the audience wondered if she lived alone, if she could take care of herself, and if she would have to take care of her grandson.

Inside the house, the 17-year-old mother, who had left her hometown to make a living in Seoul, reluctantly told her poor and mute mother about her difficult situation. To free up time to find a job, she had to ask her mother to take care of her son until school started in two months.

Outside, Jin Zhongming, playing the mischievous Xiangyu, was urinating on the grandmother's old shoes. Even sitting in the front row, Jin Zhongming could hear some angry voices from the audience.

Xiangyu, who had grown up in Seoul and had never been further than the town at the foot of the mountain, now lived with his mute grandmother. The conflicts in the story grew more intense. The mute grandmother was poor, optimistic, and patient, while the city boy needed TV, video games, hamburgers, and KFC chicken. In the poor village, he only had a broken TV, a mountain stream, and vegetable fields. Unfortunately, the batteries for his video games were also dead. Xiangyu even stole the grandmother's hairpin to exchange for batteries and got lost, leaving the grandmother to wait by the roadside.

Throughout this process, the mischievous Xiangyu cruelly trampled on the grandmother's love for him. The grandmother, however, never stopped caring for her grandson.

Jin Zhongming sat in the front row, feeling the combined impact of the scattered scenes. During filming, even with individual shots, he sometimes found them cruel and hard to accept, often leading to multiple retakes. In the cinema, facing such a large screen, he had no chance to retake, and he even began to hate himself.

Many in the audience began to sigh and murmur in unison. Even some journalists forgot their professional duties and joined in.

When the film reached its first climax, Xiangyu wanted fried chicken. The grandmother, not understanding his meaning, killed the family's important chicken and made stew. Xiangyu, however, pushed away the bowl of chicken, pushing away the grandmother's love. The entire cinema erupted in a chorus of "Ah," a sound similar to a curse.

The audience watched the story, while industry insiders analyzed the film. The film stars, directors, and critics in the front row had already realized that Li Tingxiang's film was undoubtedly a success. The film was genuine from start to finish. So far, the number of actors who had appeared, including those on the train, was less than 20. The young actors' performances were passable, but their grasp of the dialogue was outstanding. The grandmother, who had no lines, was already performing at a god-like level. All the critics were preparing to praise the director and the elderly actress, as such a film, if it performed well at the box office, would not allow the media to criticize it. They planned to praise the director and the actress now, and if the film was successful, they would lavish more praise. If it failed, they would discuss the film's structure and the young actors' performances.

However, just two minutes later, they were no longer planning to discuss the young actors. The three young actors, especially Jin Zhongming, delivered a collective breakthrough performance, making him a soul of the film alongside the grandmother.

In the film, Xiangyu pushed away the bowl of chicken, which made the grandmother sad and self-blaming. That night, the hungry Xiangyu secretly ate the chicken leg. From this moment on, Xiangyu began to change, and the film entered a series of climaxes.

The next morning, Xiangyu discovered that his grandmother was sick and could not get out of bed. Xiangyu began to try to take care of his grandmother. When he found that the grandmother had used a metal pin as a hairpin, Xiangyu returned the stolen hairpin to her. He tried to reheat the chicken, but it took him from morning until noon to manage it.

Later, Xiangyu went out to play and met the only two other children in the village, Ah-je and Hye-yeon. Ah-je was a hardworking and simple mountain child who often brought food to Xiangyu's grandmother and worked hard every day. Hye-yeon was a simple and cute mountain girl who liked Ah-je.

Ah-je was playing with a calf on the mountain, and Xiangyu was drawn to the scene, cheering with Hye-yeon for Ah-je's bravery. However, when Hye-yeon turned around, she noticed that Xiangyu had stepped on and broken the plastic bottles she had used to play house. Hye-yeon pointed to the broken bottles, and Xiangyu lowered his head, pulling back his foot, feeling helpless. Hye-yeon waited a moment and then accused Xiangyu, "Can't you apologize?" Xiangyu was embarrassed but only kicked the small stones back into place.

"Go away!" Hye-yeon squatted down to tidy up her plastic house.

"I can do it too," Xiangyu said hesitantly.

"I'm not playing house with you," Hye-yeon said, tidying up her plastic bottles and adding, "Someone like you will never get married. When we grow up, there will be more girls than boys, but you are really unlucky!"

At this moment, Xiangyu asked Hye-yeon a more ridiculous question, "Can you make KFC?"

"No, I can eat it," Hye-yeon replied without looking up.

"Is Ah-je your boyfriend?"

"So what?" Hye-yeon countered.

Xiangyu, stung by Hye-yeon's sharp words, was speechless.

However, from that day on, Xiangyu began to change again. He whistled and pushed his small cart to help his grandmother pick pumpkins. When he met a middle-aged man pushing a cart from the opposite direction, he hesitated but then moved aside to let him pass.

However, the key scenes continued. The grandmother picked the pumpkins, sold them at the market, and exchanged them for a small amount of cash. Xiangyu was deeply moved and refused to buy batteries, instead going directly to the car. The car driver told the grandmother, "The old lady across the street asked about you. She hurt her leg and can't come to see you. Do you want to go see her?"

The grandmother let Xiangyu get into the car and went to visit her old friend across the street. The two elderly women, one unable to speak and the other talking non-stop, communicated smoothly. One gave the other snacks for children, and the other gave her home-grown produce. It seemed like a barter, but it was actually a mutual gift. Before leaving, the old woman from the grocery store, with a trembling voice, told the grandmother, "Come again, see me before I die."

The grandmother returned to the car, but Xiangyu let her walk home alone, walking with Ah-je and Hye-yeon. The reason was that he saw a pretty little girl by the car and was afraid that the grandmother would come with him and make him look bad. He pushed away the heavy package the grandmother offered him several times and even stole a bag of snacks from it. The grandmother, unable to speak and not as strong as her tall grandson, had to hunch over, lean on her cane, and carry the heavy package alone.

Back home, Xiangyu became increasingly worried about his grandmother. He felt ashamed of his ridiculous behavior and was so restless that he even used a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide whether to go and meet his grandmother.

In the end, Xiangyu ran out of the village, took the grandmother's package, and returned the snacks to their original place. The two of them returned home together.

Afterward, Xiangyu seemed like a completely different person. He fixed the plate he had broken for Hye-yeon, apologized to Ah-je and played with him, and accepted the grandmother's haircut. He wore a headscarf to cover the haircut and played with his two friends, taught the grandmother to write letters, and drew pictures for her.

However, as these beautiful moments unfolded, the summer vacation came to an end.

Xiangyu's mother came from Seoul to take him back.

Everyone in the audience lowered their voices and watched the ending quietly.

The three of them stood at the bus stop. The mother, who seemed to have found a job, kept reminding the grandmother to wear more clothes and promised to visit her before the New Year.

The grandmother, however, kept trying to communicate with Xiangyu, but strangely, Xiangyu kept his head down and did not respond to her.

Xiangyu's mother had to awkwardly explain to the grandmother, "Mom, I think he's shy. Thank you for taking care of him."

The grandmother, unable to speak, could only nod.

The car arrived, and before getting in, Xiangyu gave the grandmother his most precious Transformers book and then got into the car. The grandmother walked forward, raising her hand high to touch Xiangyu's hand, but Xiangyu did not respond.

The car started, and the music played. Xiangyu suddenly stood up, ran to the back of the bus, and clung to the back seat, waving goodbye to the grandmother. The grandmother watched as the car carried her grandson away, out of the mountain valley, and out of sight. The music faded, leaving only the grandmother's rapid breathing.

The entire audience was silent, and the only sound in the cinema was the grandmother's breathing.

The screen darkened, and the music became cheerful. A new scene appeared, showing the grandmother, leaning on her cane, walking slowly on a mountain path. Several shots showed her on her way home.

Suddenly, the screen flashed, and a pair of old hands were seen holding the book Xiangyu had given her. When the book was flipped open, a letter Xiangyu had drawn for the grandmother was revealed. In the middle of the letter, a small figure was sleeping, and from the hairpin, it was clear that it was the grandmother. The pages of the book flipped, showing Xiangyu's hand-drawn images of the grandmother, slightly childish but heartfelt.

The scene cut back, and the grandmother, after climbing a steep hill, had safely returned home.

The film ended.

The credits rolled.

The credits ended.