1RomanceEB Chapter 12: Leaving Home, An Unexpected Encounter with Liu Yifei
Chapter 12: Leaving Home, An Unexpected Encounter with Liu Yifei
On September 1, in the terminal of Wuhan Tianhe Airport, Zhou Huiwen held her son's hand tightly, her eyes reddening.
"Call home as soon as you get to Los Angeles to let them know you're safe," she repeatedly instructed. "Eat on time, don't stay up late, and take care of your health no matter how busy you are with work..."
"Mom, I know everything." Jiang Yu hugged his mother. "I'll try to come back during winter break."
The line at the security checkpoint was getting longer and longer. "Dad, Mom, I'm going in."
He waved to his parents, "Go back, don't stand here."
"We'll leave once you go inside," Zhou Huiwen insisted.
After passing through security, he looked back and saw his parents still standing there, waving at him.
The mother raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye, and the father put his arm around her shoulder.
Two hours later, the plane landed at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.
With a six-hour layover, Jiang Yu booked a room by the hour at the Jinjiang Inn near the airport.
The sky over Shanghai outside the window was overcast and looked like it was about to rain.
I woke up after sleeping for three hours at 3 pm.
Jiang Yu went downstairs and ate a bowl of pickled mustard greens and shredded pork noodles at a small restaurant next to the hotel. The taste was so-so, but it was piping hot.
He had some time after finishing his meal, so he strolled around the street.
In 2006, the skyline of Pudong in Shanghai was already taking shape, and the area still retained the charm of old Shanghai.
Old houses nestled among sycamore trees, newspaper stalls by the roadside, and the crisp sound of bicycle bells.
Passing by a music store, the window was covered with posters: Jay Chou's "Still Fantasy", Jolin Tsai's "Dancing Diva", and... Liu Yifei's self-titled album "Liu Yifei".
The girl on the poster is wearing a white dress and has a sweet smile. Next to her is the caption "First solo album, limited edition."
Jiang Yu stopped and looked at the poster, recalling a joke he had made with his mother a few days ago while watching TV at home.
The owner of the music store was a man in his forties, sitting at the door listening to the radio, which was playing "Night Shanghai".
"Boss, do you still have this album?" Jiang Yu pointed to the poster.
"Yes, yes, yes, just arrived." The shopkeeper stood up and took out a CD case from inside the house. "The young lady is pretty, and as for the songs... listen to them yourself. Twenty-five yuan."
Jiang Yu paid and took the CD.
The cover features Liu Yifei in profile, with sunlight shining from behind her, creating a halo around her.
The back is printed with the titles of ten songs: "Heartbeat," "Letting Beauty Take Flight," "A Carat of Tears," etc.
Back in the hotel room, there were still more than two hours before boarding.
Jiang Yu put the CD into the laptop's CD drive, and the CD drive hummed as it read the disc. He felt a strange sense of anticipation.
The intro to the first song, "Heartbeat," began, and then Liu Yifei's voice came through—
"Where does the wind stop? Where do the clouds stop...?"
Jiang Yu was stunned.
How can I describe this sound?
She was young and sweet, with a distinctly childlike voice. Her singing skills were only average, but she possessed an unpolished sincerity.
He couldn't help but laugh. The Liu Yifei he knew in his past life was a mature, composed actress who had weathered many storms.
In 2006, Liu Yifei was just an 18-year-old girl. Her album release was probably arranged by her company, and she sang love songs that she herself probably didn't quite understand.
The second song, "Letting Beauty Fly," has a brisk rhythm, but she struggled a bit with the chorus.
The third song, "A Carat of Tears," is a slow song, and her voice actually suits it well here. The faint sadness is interpreted by her "baby voice" with a unique kind of innocence.
Jiang Yu leaned against the headboard of the hotel bed, listening to the entire album with a smile on his face.
This was so different from the Liu Yifei he remembered; it was like seeing a younger version of someone.
After listening to the album, he glanced at the time and realized it was time to go to the airport. He put the CD back in its case and tucked it into a compartment in his backpack.
......
Los Angeles time, 7:9 AM, September 2, 2006.
After a twelve-hour flight, the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport.
When Jiang Yu was clearing customs, the customs officer asked him a few more questions.
F-1 visa, frequent entry and exit.
The official stared at him for a few seconds before finally stamping his passport: "Welcome back."
In the arrival hall, he spotted Zhou Mu at a glance.
This guy was actually holding up a handwritten sign that read in Chinese: "Welcome back to LA, Mr. Jiang," with "Luminous Digital CEO" written in small English below.
"You..." Jiang Yu walked over, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Pretty impressive, right?" Zhou Mu pushed up his glasses, smiling smugly. "Wu Na said you're a boss now, so picking you up at the airport should be a proper ceremony."
"Where is she? Still in Paris?"
"Yes, she video-chatted with me yesterday, and her dark circles were practically down to her chin."
The two walked towards the parking lot.
In September, the air in Los Angeles is fresh and the sun is shining brightly.
Zhou Mu reported the situation while driving.
How's the progress of "Taken"?
"It's progressing according to plan," Zhou Mu said. "Wu Na sends back footage every day, and we do the initial processing here in Santa Monica, then optimize it using our algorithm. Yesterday, she sent back some raw footage of a car chase scene, and we did a real-time preview using the V2.3 algorithm. The director saw it and said, 'This is the effect I wanted.'"
Jiang Yu nodded: "Has the stability test for V2.3 been completed?"
"It's passed." Zhou Mu took the laptop from the back seat. "Here's the test report. It ran a 72-hour stress test on three different hardware configurations without crashing, and the rendering quality was stable."
Jiang Yu quickly glanced at the report; the data looked impressive.
"Also," Zhou Mu glanced at the rearview mirror, "we've made contact with Wen Ziren. He'll be at the company at 3 PM tomorrow."
"What did he say?"
"He said he was very interested in the story we provided and wanted to discuss it with you in detail. I contacted him through a Chinese producer. He had just finished filming 'Saw 3' and was preparing for a new project. He was quite interested when he heard that we had a project and funding."
.......
The next morning at nine o'clock, in Santa Monica's office.
The company is much more bustling now than when Jiang Yu left.
The office area has expanded from twenty workstations to thirty, and a few new faces have joined.
"General Manager Jiang!" Several long-time employees greeted him upon seeing him.
"Good morning, everyone." Jiang Yu nodded in response. "Thank you all for your hard work while I was away."
He went straight to his office, where a pile of documents lay neatly arranged on his desk.
As soon as I sat down, Zhou Mu brought in two cups of coffee.
"Now, shall we report on our work?" Zhou Mu asked.
"Go ahead and say it," Jiang Yu said, opening his laptop.
Zhou Mu handed over a detailed report: "Filming for 'Taken' in Paris is currently 15% complete. The main problem Wu Na's team is encountering is the weather; September in Paris is rainy, and location shooting is frequently delayed. The good thing is that the actual street scene footage from rainy days is very helpful for our digital reconstruction."
How many special effects shots are completed?
"Of the first batch of thirty shots, twenty were completed, and the director approved eighteen."
Zhou Mu turned to the next page. "A 90% pass rate is quite high in Hollywood. Director Pierre especially praised our ability to make real-time changes. There was a car chase scene where he changed the route at the last minute, and we provided a new preview that same day."
Jiang Yu nodded in satisfaction. This was precisely their core technological advantage—not being the best at making changes, but being the fastest at modifying them. In filmmaking, on-the-spot changes by the director are commonplace; whoever can respond quickly wins trust.
"What about the cost?"
"It's all within budget," Zhou Mu said. "Because we use algorithms to save a lot of manual time. According to Wu Na's estimate, we can save 30% of the cost compared to traditional companies to complete the special effects for the entire film."
"Very good." Jiang Yu took a sip of coffee.
After Zhou Mu left, Jiang Yu sat alone in the office.
Outside the window was the familiar street scene of Santa Monica, the sun shining brightly and palm trees swaying in the breeze.
From Wuhan to Shanghai, and from Shanghai to Los Angeles, a 30-hour journey that crosses half the globe.
My phone vibrated; it was a text message from my mother: "Yu Yu, have you arrived in Los Angeles? Remember to eat on time."
Jiang Yu replied, "We've arrived. Everything's fine. Mom, you and Dad, take care of yourselves."
He put down his phone, opened his backpack, and took out the CD he had bought in Shanghai.
Liu Yifei's smile on the cover is pure and bright, just like in 2006.
He recalled his mother's words at the airport: "She's a big star, why would she be interested in you?"
Then I recalled my half-joking reply: "What if?"