In the year when Xie Wanxing turned twenty-seven, he won his first Best Actor award with an art film called “Tides.”
He shed his usual captivating demeanor and wore a plain white shirt washed pale, along with a simple pair of glasses, to play an ordinary and taciturn high school teacher. From twenty to thirty years old, he portrayed the character’s life until he ended it with a blade in the bathtub.
From birth to death, he was like a fish trapped in a narrow fish tank, longing for the sea.
Xie Wanxing’s win, while not exactly unexpected, surprised many people, especially considering his young age and striking appearance.
When he went on stage to accept the award, he wore a neatly cut black suit that accentuated his slender waist and long legs. His hair, which had already been cut short, had grown slightly longer, reaching his shoulders. His face was as delicate as white porcelain under the lights, but his lips were rose-colored. When he smiled, he looked like a fairy from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, vivid and enchanting.
It was hard to imagine that he could play the role of the male lead in “Tides,” a reserved and honest male teacher.
When he went on stage to accept the award, he had a fleeting thought of proposing to Fu Wenshan in front of everyone, just like they do on TV. It would be thrilling and romantic, announcing his unique and sincere love to the world.
But in the end, he abandoned the idea. Instead of in front of the public eye, he preferred a private moment with only him and Fu Wenshan.
He smiled at Fu Wenshan, who was looking at him from the audience, before giving his acceptance speech. “In my opinion, the greatest charm of movies for actors is experiencing many different lives. I am very grateful to the film ‘Tides,’ which allowed me to live the life of Fang Rouxi in the film and also gave me different scenery outside the film.”
Xie Wanxing kissed the golden trophy, and the whole audience erupted into applause and laughter to congratulate him. As he returned to his seat, under the gaze of numerous cameras, the first thing he did was to hand the trophy to Fu Wenshan sitting beside him. No one heard what they said, but they could see Fu Wenshan smiling and accepting the trophy, planting a gentle kiss on Xie Wanxing’s lips.
The applause and cheers at the scene grew even louder, mixed with kind laughter.
Since Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan came out as a couple, their relationship was well-known to everyone.
The photo of their kiss spread later, a high-definition image where both of them were standing together in black suits, tall, handsome, and eye-catching. Ignoring the background, it looked like a wedding photo.
But when reporters eagerly tried to catch Fu Wenshan and Xie Wanxing to ask about their marriage plans after being in love for so long, they found that the newly crowned Best Actor and his boyfriend, who just won this year’s top album sales, had disappeared from everyone’s sight.
They evaporated like drops of water.
Even their agents didn’t reveal where they went, only saying that the two were resting and had no upcoming work.
Even Lian Dan and Jiang Han, their agents, were proud. Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan were both doing well in their careers, and their relationship was strong, making them a well-known couple in the industry.
Although they were agents, they were like worried mothers. Yesterday, the two went to the awards ceremony together, holding hands on the red carpet. Among so many artists, they still managed to attract a lot of attention. Both of them had teary eyes, giving the feeling that their children had grown up.
The outside world speculated that Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan had gone abroad to avoid the hustle and bustle, but they were actually still in the country.
Now that Xie Wanxing’s career in the entertainment industry had reached a small peak and Fu Wenshan had just finished his concert tour, the two pushed aside their work and revisited their old memories.
They returned to the small town where sixteen-year-old Xie Wanxing and fourteen-year-old Fu Wenshan had met.
Just like back then, when they returned, it was also summer, with lush greenery and vibrant vegetation. The cicadas chirped noisily on the hot afternoons, and the fish in the pond sank to the bottom, with the occasional splash of water.
Xie Wanxing’s family had a house here, left by his great-grandparents. He used to come here to escape the summer heat, where he met Fu Wenshan.
Pointing to an alley, he said to Fu Wenshan, “It was here that you jumped down from the wall and landed in front of me.”
Now, roses were climbing the wall, with red flowers and green leaves adorning it, making the otherwise plain gray wall come to life.
Fu Wenshan racked his brains but couldn’t remember what happened back then. This was a helpful reminder for Xie Wanxing but just a passing moment for him. He felt a bit regretful, “Why did I run back then? If I had known that I was saving my future boyfriend, I would have gone home with you right away and picked you up every day from then on.” Instead, he left with an ambiguous name “Fu Shan” and left.
So, it turns out that doing good deeds without leaving a name is indeed wrong. Fu Wenshan’s heart was twisted at the moment. If he had openly revealed his identity back then, he might have had a naive campus romance with Xie Wanxing, and he wouldn’t have been single for so many years.
Xie Wanxing didn’t really care whether Fu Wenshan remembered or not. As long as he remembered, it was enough.
He raised his hand slightly and touched the flower branches on the wall. When he walked past here years ago, he couldn’t even reach the top of the wall with his hand. Now, he had become a tall adult, which showed how time flowed like water.
But fortunately, the one who walked with him through this alley was still the same person from the summer when he was sixteen years old.
This small town had few people, but the scenery was good, tranquil and remote, reminiscent of the leisurely countryside scenes in Japanese films.
On the tenth day of Xie Wanxing and Fu Wenshan’s visit to this place, they happened to arrive during the town’s gathering, which was a celebration of the Mountain God festival, so they decided to join in the fun.
In this small town with few foreign visitors, calling it a celebration of the Mountain God was just an excuse to liven things up.