thousand cups

It is said that going downhill is easier, but Jiang Mo doesn't think so.His downhill road was not only downhill, but also had many obstacles, some of which could be avoided, while others could not be avoided even if one wanted to.

When Jiang Qidong fell ill, it was a critical period for Jiang Mo's first book to be conceived.At that time, Tang Li had actually already negotiated with an investor. After meeting with Jiang Mo and discussing it, Tang Li turned around and went to Mr. Luo to finalize the follow-up, and it was done.As a result, it was only when I talked to Jiang Mo the next day that he found out that his director Jiang couldn't make this movie, and his father was sick, so he had to watch over him no matter what.

Jiang Mo didn't want that book to run aground. After all, he had made some efforts in the early stage, and he couldn't disappoint those who had already found him. He insisted on letting Tang Li push it forward, even if he sold the script.The book was sold, but it was in someone else's hands and it didn't see the light of day, so it turned yellow like that.

A not-so-good beginning seems to be doomed to the ups and downs afterwards.

After his own affairs were sorted out, Jiang Mo found out that the market had deteriorated when he got his mood together and went out to regain his dreams.

The general environment can affect livelihoods. If the market is not good, there will be fewer cakes to share, which directly determines that new directors like Jiang Mo will have fewer opportunities.When the overall market is not good, the new director's projects are ten or ten.

Most of the time I hit a wall, and I have encountered any unlucky things.In the middle of shooting a feature film, the investor went bankrupt and ran away, cool.Pick a genre film, meet with the producer, dissatisfied with this one and that dissatisfied with the other, after chatting, it turned out to be dirty, and finally decided on someone else.The book I like is even worse, being questioned and questioned by others, it is not grounded, it is too obscure, and the market will not like it.

The cruel market rules conflict with Jiang Mo's artistic standards.If you don't compromise, you just won't make a film.Compromise is still enough.I also wanted to go and beg someone, but after thinking about it, I didn't lose my face, he was not that kind of character.

When people are denied too many times, they will fall into self-doubt.

Heartbroken countless times, but Jiang Mo never thought of giving up.

Fortunately, he knows a little bit about everything and can do some part-time jobs, so he is not too stagnant.When there is no film to shoot, he writes the script, occasionally works part-time for other projects, does post-production, makes a scene record, and takes photography. He does it anyway.As long as it's a studio or a movie job, he will go. After all, today is different, and people can't be idle.

Staying in that circle all the time is at least not out of touch.Some people joked that he would forget about changing careers, and he did well in other things, so Jiang Mo could only smile and didn't explain anything.

Life can't always be smooth sailing, and Jiang Mo knows very well that his trough is coming.Ambition, arrogance, have been worn down a bit, there are still some, but most of the time he doesn't want to tell others.

One week before Chinese Valentine's Day that year.

Tang Li came here with a notebook.It was a project they talked about before, and they tried it in venture capital, but there was no response.Jiang Mo quite likes the script, called "Olive", a very simple story line, a calm and desperate story, about broken hopes, life comes to an end, about the hero reconciling with his fate with an olive.Jiang Mo is actually very confident in this book, which is what he is good at.

Tang Li said that the investment has been found.He's almost done talking, so there's probably something going on.Jiang Mo asked who voted for it, Tang Li said a name, but Jiang Mo didn't know him, so he said "Oh, let's continue talking."

He didn't have much hope at first, after all, too many projects have been dropped in the past few years.It turned out that Tang Li was doing well, and said that there should be something to do. The boss read your profile and was very interested.

That day, Jiang Mo was in the computer room helping someone with a late stage.Tang Li called him when it was almost nine o'clock and asked him to go to a certain KTV to meet the God of Wealth and said that the matter was about to be completed.Jiang Mo said "oh" after he finished speaking, and said that after I finished the work, I hung up the phone and worked profusely for more than 20 minutes before grabbing the phone and going out.I was quite relieved on the way there. Generally, at this stage, the conversation should have been almost inseparable.

In recent years, all kinds of gods have been seen, and there are many people who cast movies. These people often have different styles, some are foreign and some are rustic. People like to talk in sensual places, and Jiang Mo is no stranger to it, so just go.

Find the luxury private room and push the door in, there are quite a lot of people.Tang Li pulled him to introduce his servants, and handed him a cup.Jiang Mo glanced at the pile of beer and foreign wine on the table, and unceremoniously defined the two bosses in his heart. They are stupid and rich.

Jiang Mo is actually very annoying to chat with the management, because those who are a little bit more knowledgeable will examine you. What they care about is whether you can make something that the market likes, not the director's personal expression. A lot of requests, talking a lot of things that thoughtful directors don't like to hear.The kind of person who doesn't know how to do it, you can only talk nonsense with him, chatting nonsense, and comparing your ability to behave in the world.

I don't like this kind of occasion, but I have to come. This is the helplessness of reality.

One boss is surnamed Liu and the other is surnamed Sun.Jiang Mo listened to Tang Li chatting with them for a while, and a cup was handed over to him. The boss Sun, whom he had never met, said, "Director Jiang, I've seen you for a long time, let's have a drink."

Jiang Mo spoke politely to him and drank the wine.

As soon as he came, this Boss Sun didn't know what was wrong, he stopped singing and smoking, as if he was staring at him, he kept pouring wine for him, one sip, one drink, one drink, if not The boss ordered a princess to hug her, and Jiang Mo almost thought that the boss had taken a fancy to him.

Jiang Mo really likes to drink, but he is most annoyed by the purposeful drinking bureau, and hates others to persuade him to drink. This boss's behavior annoys him a bit.

Being willing to drink and being persuaded to drink by others are two different things.There is an essential difference between drinking for your own pleasure and drinking for the sake of accomplishing something.

It's not impossible to accompany them to make false promises, and Jiang Mo doesn't know how to do it, but he doesn't want to become like that.He has a bad temper that is not smooth in his bones, and he hates this kind of thing.

When the bottle of foreign wine was half finished, Tang Li saw that his face was faintly impatient, so he quickly sat down to take over.

Mr. Sun played Tai Chi with Tang Li for a while, pointed at Jiang Mo again, and said, "Why don't you talk, let's have a drink, Director Jiang."

Jiang Mo said no more.

Mr. Sun laughed, "I heard that Director Jiang loves to drink very much. A thousand cups of wine will not get you drunk. It's a huge amount. Why can't you drink just a little wine?"

Where did he hear about it?Jiang Mo was a little strange, he had obviously never met these two bosses.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Tang Li smiled and grabbed the glass and said that Jiang Mo was not feeling well today, so he replaced this glass of wine.

Mr. Sun said that I just want to drink with Jiang Dao, and I hit it off with Jiang Dao.

Jiang Mo looked at him, but still said that he would not drink anymore, that he was not feeling well today.

The atmosphere is a little stiff.

Tang Li smiled and smoothed things over, saying I respect you, Mr. Sun.

Jiang Mo sighed inwardly.

He wanted to leave a little bit, he didn't want to see Tang Li like this.

After a while, Mr. Sun said again: "Well, Director Jiang has a drink, and we will sign the contract tomorrow."

There was silence for two seconds.

Jiang Mo didn't respond.

At that moment he just felt sick.

Tang Li picked up the glass of wine with a smile: "He's really not feeling well, I'll help him drink."

Mr. Sun said: "Are you drinking? If you drink..." He pointed to all the wine on the table, as if joking if he drank too much, "Drink it all."

Jiang Mo took a deep breath, and when he was about to speak, Tang Li interrupted loudly: "You are joking, if I drank all of it, I would have to go to the hospital, let's have a drink to enjoy ourselves, to enjoy ourselves."

Jiang Mo just sat on the sidelines and watched Tang Li as his grandson, and wanted to say for countless times that we should stop being cheap and find someone else to invest in the bank.But he couldn't open his mouth. He knew that it was not easy for Tang Li to find money for his favorite book, so he couldn't help it.

Jiang Mo chose to shut up and just sat there to let himself go.

After a while, Mr. Sun suddenly took the microphone and said: "Turn off the music."

Jiang Mo and Tang Li looked at each other without knowing why.

The princess they called turned the music off.Mr. Sun picked up the microphone, stood up, and said to another Mr. Liu, "Old Liu, do you recognize this Director Jiang?"

President Liu shook his head.

"You have poor eyesight." Mr. Sun said, "This is the son of the former secretary. Forgot? Old Liu, Secretary Jiang Qidong. He didn't approve the land before us!"

The echo of the microphone buzzed in Jiang Mo's ears several times, circled around and scattered.

Oh, it's coming at me, he thought.No wonder.

The private room was quiet for a few seconds.

This time even Tang Li was dumbfounded.

Mr. Sun sat down, with a strange excitement on his face, and said with a smile: "Secretary Jiang left last year, right? It's a pity, good official, good official."

The accent speaks volumes.

Jiang Mo stood up and walked out the door.

The man hadn't finished speaking.With a face full of alcohol, he said drunkenly: "It's human nature to favor one's own family, but Secretary Jiang, it is indeed too biased. Lao Liu, have you heard of the Mei family? The one that does textiles, yes, the Mei family you know .”

Jiang Mo paused.

"In fact, everyone knows in their hearts that the Mei family has gone smoothly in the past few years, and who borrowed it. It is said that the parents are the parents, and I think it is bullshit! People are doing it, and the sky is watching. Has the Mei family suffered retribution? ? So I say..."

Before he finished speaking, a wine bottle bloomed on his head.

After smashing one, Jiang Mo went to the table to get the second one.Just as he was about to continue to greet him, Tang Li rushed forward in panic and pulled him away, cursing his mother in his heart.

After the accident, Tang Li tried to call Shen Chaowen several times but was stopped by Jiang Mo.Tang Li didn't think so, he had to inform Shen Chaowen about this situation, and just as the call was dialed, Jiang Mo snatched his phone: "You don't think it's messy enough, do you?"

Tang Li sighed: "What are you twisting? Your brother is a lawyer. It's good to ask him to come over. Do you feel ashamed to tell him?"

"I'm not afraid of losing face, I don't want him to mess with me."

Jiang Mo's idea is very simple, since the accident at home, Shen Chaowen's life has also been messed up, and he has recently changed to a new job and is still adjusting, why bother to let him worry and worry about his own affairs again.

Jiang Mo said again: "Give me a cigarette."

Tang Li gave him one and ordered it for him.Jiang Mo didn't know how to smoke all the time, so he tentatively took a big puff and choked up tears, feeling dizzy.Jiang Mo said to Tang Li in the smoky atmosphere: "I'm afraid that Xiao Chaowen will do more radical things if he finds out. He's too defensive. He doesn't want me to be wronged. Maybe he will tear people up when he goes up, and something big will happen. .”

Tang Li didn't believe it, and said that he was so impulsive when he said that he was oriented towards literature and law, so don't lose face.Jiang Mo said, it’s really not to save face, saying that he once talked about this kind of thing with Shen Chaowen, jokingly asked Shen Chaowen if he would kill Shen Chaowen by himself, would he hand him the knife, Shen Chaowen said no, but he should help him kill, no Let him touch the knife.Shen Chaowen always walks the talk, he will do what he says.He did study law, but thinking about it from another angle, it seemed even more terrifying. He knew the law and could say something like he was willing to kill someone for himself.

When Tang Li heard it, he thought it made sense, so he really didn't dare to inform his family.There are two lunatics in the family, one is obviously crazy, the other is not obvious, and it is not easy to mess with, it is terrible.

After finishing speaking, Jiang Mo emphasized again, talking about Tang Li, no kidding, if you dare to tell Shen Chaowen, then don't be friends for many years.Tang Li nodded and said he got it, and he would never say a word to Shen Chaowen, but you have to promise me that no matter what happens in the future, don't do anything, it's not worthwhile to win or lose in the hospital.

Jiang Mo put out the cigarette and said yes.

When he arrived at the police station, Jiang Mo cooperated with the police comrades very much and told everything about the situation.At first, the people over there were a bit reluctant. Tang Li took out the video that he secretly shot and said that if he wanted to pursue it, then the matter of the two Miss Dots tonight... well, they said they would not pursue it.In the end, the reconciliation was made, the two parties were educated, and they fought unilaterally after drinking, and their heads were slashed. Jiang Mo still had to accept a little punishment and go to the detention center to receive ten days of education.

Before going in, he had to collect his mobile phone, wallet and personal belongings. Jiang Mo hurriedly called Shen Chaowen and lied in a very normal tone: "I'm going to take a few days of location shooting. Maybe the signal in the mountains is not good, so I can't get in touch."

This situation is also common.Shen Chaowen was silent for a while, and said, "Okay, pay attention to safety, and call when you can."

The phone hangs up.

After entering, Jiang Mo completely emptied himself and thought about many things.He didn't reflect on his fighting behavior at all, he just felt that the person asked for it.If Jiang Qidong was greedy for a penny and helped Mei Qing's family even once, Jiang Mo would stand there and scold him like a grandson, but what did Jiang Qidong do?He has always been very frugal in life, and Mei Qing would tell him that he bought expensive clothes for him. The watches he wore until his death were all bought when he and Mei Qing were married.Mei Qing has been spending money lavishly since she was a child. He has been instilling thrift in his family all these years, and he has successfully turned Mei Qing into a rich lady who doesn't like to buy bags... Outsiders always think that there may be many families like him. Qian Quan was involved, and the higher-ups also checked Jiang Qidong back and forth, did they find out anything, there was nothing fart, and they still couldn't stop their mouths.Is Jiang Qidong wrong?Well, it was a mistake. The mistake was that he married a rich wife. Because of this, his father has been talked about all his life, and he will not be at peace even after he dies.

Jiang Mo thought back on his past years.

Life was so smooth before, when I was a teenager, the flowers were like a brocade, and the snow was as white as a dove.By the time they reach thirty, there will be only the corpses of flowers all over the place, devastated everywhere.

The predicament of life now almost makes him a little numb, the absurd life seems to have given him a kind of insensitivity, and he is more and more accepting of setbacks.

But some things still hurt a bit.

After losing freedom, the perception of time has also become much numb, as if I have died once, and I live in a daze, in a trance, mechanically, and I always feel that my brain is not normal.

On the seventh day, he lay on the bed and recited Zhang Dai's self-made epitaph over and over again. After working hard for half his life, everything became a dream... Looking back on 20 years ago, it was really like a lifetime ago.The elder brother who came in next to the prostitute listened for a while and asked, what are you reciting.Jiang Mo glanced at him and said, recite an idiot's life.Another big brother who drove in without a license said hey, and said, brother, you teach?Jiang Mo said no, I am the director.Everyone in the room burst into laughter, director!Come and see, this brother is the director!artist.Everyone is laughing.Jiang Mo felt that he was quite funny at that moment, and laughed along with them for a while, saying, yes, the director, it is quite funny.As a director, you haven't directed your own life well, let alone directing other people's lives.

On the day Tang Li came to pick him up, Jiang Mo waved him back and said he didn't need to accompany him. He bought a few bottles of wine and went to the cemetery to visit his father.He kowtowed and murmured that he let you down, and he won't do this again in the future, I'm your son after all, I'm sorry.

Jiang Mo drank a few bottles of spirits that day, got very drunk, and sat in front of Jiang Qidong's tomb all afternoon, trying to clean up his fragmented mood.

It was already night when I got home.When Jiang Mo opened the door, he rubbed his face and made a smile, thinking to put those bad things behind and go home with a smile, so that Shen Chaowen couldn't see it.

I thought Shen Chaowen was at home, so I searched around, but found no one, and the house was empty.

The phone died while in the cemetery.Jiang Mo charged the phone, turned it on, and read the unread messages.Shen Chaowen didn't send him a bunch of messages, which was a bit abnormal.

When locking the screen, Jiang Mo suddenly saw a number.

8/12.

Today is October 8th.

His heart went cold in an instant, and most of him woke up from the alcohol, so he checked his phone to check what day it is today.

One day has passed since Shen Chaowen's birthday.

He spent those ten days in a daze, not knowing what day and night, let alone what year, month and day, those few days in the darkest days were so uncomfortable that he almost forgot his last name... His memory was poor, thinking about it It's just a matter of time, and you always need reminders to do things. In the detention center, no one came to remind him that it was Shen Chaowen's birthday.

But no matter what the reason is, forgetting is forgetting, and there is no way to make excuses.

He seems to have screwed up everything.

When he made the phone call to Shen Chaowen, Jiang Mo's mind was almost blank.

Shen Chaowen picked it up after a while and said, "Hello?"

Nothing out of the ordinary, very smooth sound.

Jiang Mo: "Chaowen, yesterday I..."

Shen Chaowen interrupted him: "Well, I know you're very busy and don't have time to contact me... Are you home now?"

He didn't mention yesterday, as if he wanted to skip it lightly, pretending it never happened.

Jiang Mo said back.

Shen Chaowen: "Yeah. I have to work overtime today, I'll be back later, don't wait for me, remember to feed the kitty."

The phone hangs up.

After that, Shen Chaowen didn't take the initiative to mention this matter in front of him once.Every time Jiang Mo tried to bring it up, Shen Chaowen would always express calmly that he didn't want to talk about it, forget it, he doesn't care, don't mention it.

Shen Chaowen is not a character who would avoid problems, but he chose to avoid this matter.He would rather make the whole family uneasy because of other women kissing him, but he avoided talking about his birthday and pretended to be deaf and dumb.

Obviously, they have experienced many things together, quarreled many times, done many times, and are very familiar with each other from spirit to body, but sometimes, they still can't fully reach each other.

Perhaps people can never fully reach each other.

Just like I don't want Shen Chaowen to know what happened that day, and Shen Chaowen doesn't want to mention the birthday, they all have their own weaknesses, their own anxiety, and some things they don't want each other to know.

The days are so noisy and noisy.Arguing for a few days, reconciling, quarreling for a few more days, reconciling again, I haven't hurt my bones, I just like to quarrel, not big things, but small things, it seems that this is a way to maintain the relationship.Others are you and me to stabilize the relationship. They are quarreling, sometimes they are really anxious and angry when they are arguing, and sometimes they are laughing after arguing and arguing, which is quite different.

He loves to argue with himself, so Jiang Mo just let him go and quarreled with him seriously every time. The quarrels were very entertaining and professional, and he worked hard to make life lively and lively with him.

Jiang Mo looked at Shen Chaowen's sleeping face in front of him, and the events that happened in the past years flowed through his mind one by one.He saw Shen Chaowen walking into the store with his schoolbag on his back, saying that I was looking for Jiang Mo.He saw 21-year-old Shen Chaowen wearing a suit and asked him to teach him how to tie a tie.There is also the 22-year-old Shen Chaowen, the 23-year-old him, the 24-year-old him...they overlapped in time and space, turned into a tired shadow, and landed on the bed in front of them.

The sleeping position of this person was exactly the same as before, with his hands folded on his chest.

Jiang Mo stretched out his hand and gently touched his face.

Shen Chaowen didn't sleep deeply, his face was itchy, he woke up almost immediately, grabbed his wrist, looked at him sleepily, and kissed Jiang Mo's fingertips lightly.The mist in those eyes seems to have passed through many years, gathering everything in the past into the void and disappearing.