After the VCR finished playing, the movie had not yet started, and Li Ling stood up from her seat. Because her seat was in the middle, she had to apologize profusely as she squeezed through the narrow aisle and past many people's knees. She whispered many "excuse me"s and, as she reached the aisle, the screen went dark again. Moments later, it lit up once more. Li Ling looked up and finally saw herself from ten years ago. She and that young girl, separated by the enormous screen and a long decade, gazed at each other from afar. The girl turned on the light, and the faint glow from the screen fell on her face. The story began and ended at that moment. Li Ling never looked back and walked out of the theater. A slight smile of relief hung on her face. Rather than reminiscing, she wanted to seize the present. There was someone she needed to see. Standing at the entrance of the cinema, Li Ling took out her phone, intending to call Jin Jingyao and ask where he was. She happened to see someone stepping out of a very expensive-looking black car not far away. He was tall, dressed in a dark gray suit, his eyes downcast, looking at no one. His demeanor was as cold as a snow-capped mountain, exuding a noble air that kept people at a distance. People around were curiously watching him, and some seasoned movie fans excitedly recognized him as the famous Director Jin. But with bodyguards by his side, no one dared to approach him for an autograph. Li Ling suddenly didn't dare to go over either. The person from the VCR had come into reality, but he seemed even more illusory and unreachable. Having spent so much time with Jin Jingyao, he had always dressed like a sloppy college student. She had seen many sides of him, but never this one. Li Ling felt her heart skip a beat, but what followed was a strange sense of unfamiliarity and self-consciousness. If she rushed over now, she might be grabbed by his bodyguards and thrown into a trash can. Li Ling stealthily hid in a corner and followed him back into the cinema. The bodyguards didn't follow, and Jin Jingyao walked alone through the empty corridor. Li Ling approached him and, lowering her voice, asked, "Hello, Director Jin, would you like to participate in a kissing challenge?" To celebrate He Wei's movie release, Li Ling wore her favorite black T-shirt that said "Directors are all idiots." Afraid of being too conspicuous and recognized, she also wore a mask and a baseball cap. Jin Jingyao indeed did not recognize her. Without even looking at her, he coldly and politely said, "No, thank you," and walked away quickly. Li Ling widened her eyes, staring in shock at his retreating figure, feeling as if she had been treated like some kind of virus, cursing him countless times in her heart. She lowered her head, took out her phone, and her fingers flew over the screen so fast they left afterimages. Moments later, out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw a pair of very expensive-looking handmade leather shoes. "What challenge did you mention just now?" Jin Jingyao had returned and asked politely. Li Ling replied irritably, "The idiot challenge." Jin Jingyao was not angry; instead, he complimented her, "Your shirt is very cute." His gaze was very low, not looking at her face, but more like admiring the large words on her chest, "Directors are all idiots." Li Ling: "..." Alright, this was the first time someone was so eager to be insulted. She decided to give him another chance and said, "The kissing challenge, to help a 29-year-old impoverished actress pursue her dream in the entertainment industry. Do you want to participate?" Jin Jingyao was stunned, staring at her intently, as if lost in thought. It was unclear whether he understood Li Ling's made-up challenge or if he simply didn't want to help her pursue her dream in the entertainment industry. Li Ling waited for a while, lost her patience, and said disappointedly, "Forget it, you don't seem like a very compassionate person." She turned to leave, but Jin Jingyao grabbed her wrist and pushed her into the emergency exit. He lowered his head and earnestly declared that he was indeed a very compassionate person, then kissed her through his mask. Li Ling was stunned for a moment, her eyes widened, and her heartbeat suddenly quickened. She thought she might have a terminal illness; otherwise, why would such an elementary school-level act, without even a real touch of the lips, make her heart race so fast? Jin Jingyao looked at her seriously and said, "Is it not enough?" with a look of genuine concern for her career. Then, without asking, he took off her mask and leaned down again. In a place where no one knew, they shared a serious three-second kiss. Because it was just to help others, the kiss was very pure. Like a small snowflake, it landed on their lips and slowly melted. But his breath enveloped her face, very innocent, very clean, so clean it was heart-stirring. After it ended, their breathing still became erratic. There were no lights in the hallway, only a faint glow from the corner of the wall. Li Ling heard footsteps behind her, and the bodyguard said curiously, "Where's the director?" "Wasn't he just here?" "Where did he go?" If they opened the door, they would immediately see them. She held her breath, not daring to make a sound, leaning against the door, her face lifted by Jin Jingyao's fingers. He also took off her hat and looked at her carefully in the dim light. His gaze was like a green, eerie swamp, a humid and hot mist, making it hard for her to breathe. "Director, someone is looking for you outside." She avoided his gaze unnaturally. Jin Jingyao said, "Don't mind them." Then softly, "Can we try again?" Li Ling turned her face away, said no, and told him to leave quickly. He pressed her against the door, turned her face back with his hand, and kissed her again. This time, it wasn't so pure. He gently licked her lips, as if tasting a very sweet candy. Then, the kiss deepened. The candy melted between their passionate lips and tongues. The kiss was a kind of pheromone. At this moment, all she could taste was a sweetness that made her limbs weak, comparable to marijuana. The tip of his tongue meticulously licked the inside of her tongue, swept over her gums and palate. A dangerous spark of light shone into the cave. Every inch of darkness was illuminated, explored, and trembled with the shimmering light and shadow of the water. Oxygen was completely consumed, causing a faint dizziness. Li Ling could hardly stand, only relying on his pressing arm to prevent herself from sliding down like jelly. Maybe she really did turn into jelly, as he seemed to want to swallow her whole, making her a part of him. She dizzily realized that this kiss was different from any kiss on set. In filming, you could call cut, but now he was unrestrained and unreserved. He wasn't Zhou Jing; he was kissing her in Jin Jingyao's way. He wore a suit, looking so dignified and unapproachable, yet behind the crowd, he secretly shared such a crazy, suffocating kiss with her. She didn't know when he had changed from that innocent boy who couldn't even touch her, to this greedy, insatiable bad boy who was so keen on kissing and physical contact. A kind of near-hypoxic excitement and mutual possessive frenzy invaded her brain. She liked his kiss. She had turned him into this. She had corrupted him. - When the kiss finally ended, both were left breathless. Jin Jingyao seemed to fear that the kissing challenge would be too short, insufficient to help a 29-year-old impoverished actress reach the pinnacle of her life. No wonder he was her career fan. But he didn't need to be so intense, even wanting to break a Guinness record. Young people indeed have good stamina, but she couldn't keep up. She worried that her entrepreneurial journey might end halfway, dying from excessive kissing. Li Ling calmed her breathing for a moment and awkwardly changed the subject, asking him why he came here today and if there was something important. Jin Jingyao stared at her swollen lips and absentmindedly said, "I forgot." She chuckled softly and told him to be serious. He thought her smile was adorable and lowered his head to touch the corner of her lips, rubbing against them while mumbling, "It's not important, right?" Perhaps the only important thing was kissing her. Dressing so formally, in a suit and tie, was just to kiss her. Li Ling said he was talking nonsense and gently pushed him. Although he was reluctant, he obediently lifted his head, putting a little distance between them. She reached out to touch his face, looking into his eyes, and said, "I just watched the VCR and the short film you edited." Jin Jingyao lowered his eyes slightly. "Is that why you came to find me?" He paused, his tone a bit cold. "I didn't do this to make you..." Li Ling stood on tiptoe and touched the corner of his lips. He immediately stopped talking. After a moment, Jin Jingyao pretended to look calmly at his watch. "Then why didn't you watch the movie?" Li Ling said, "Because I wanted to see you." He looked stunned, his Adam's apple moving slightly. "If I watched the movie, wouldn't I have missed seeing you?" she continued. "I'm glad I didn't watch it." He responded with a reserved "hmm," raising his hand to stroke her cheek with his thumb, slowly moving to the corner of her mouth. He wanted to kiss her again. Once he started, his desire for her became a flood. They kissed intermittently, their lips glued together. The hallway was airtight, and their large shadows rose and fell on the walls, the steps turning into a bottomless spiral. Li Ling gazed into his amber eyes, dark and oppressive, with lingering passion. She gently stroked the back of his neck. They were both sweating, breathing lightly. There were still many things to say, but suddenly she couldn't speak. She could only rest her forehead on his shoulder, slowly calming her breath. "Why are you so good to me?" she asked softly. Jin Jingyao paused and asked her back, "Am I good?" "Not good enough," he concluded in a flat tone after a pause. Li Ling smiled and said, "How much better do you want to be?" He remained silent, his hands slowly tightening around her back. He wasn't really good. He was bad, wanting to hold her tightly, fervently, irrationally, pressing her into his body. But he couldn't hurt her, so he had to be careful. "I miss you," he confessed softly, "Every day while editing, I wanted to see you." Reflecting on the past two months, Li Ling missed him too, but she was too shy to say it directly. She hinted, "Then why didn't you call me?" Jin Jingyao frowned slightly, unhappily saying, "You didn't call me either." Li Ling found him amusing, lifted her head to laugh at him, and asked why Director Jin was so petty. He became embarrassed and angry, leaning in to kiss her again. Li Ling deliberately covered her lips with her hand. He ended up kissing her palm. His lips were hot, and his breath was hot too. It was clearly an offensive gesture, yet his expression was pure. His eyelashes fluttered slightly like a butterfly, as if the little prince were kissing his fairy tale book. Li Ling widened her eyes, feeling as if she had turned into a page in a fairy tale. Jin Jingyao took her hand down, turning it over and over in his palm, as if he were handling a beloved toy he couldn't bear to part with for even a moment. They stood face to face, very close. He looked down at their clasped hands, and after a moment of silence, began to accuse her of ignoring him and not coming to see him. Li Ling coaxed him for a while, saying she missed him too, thought about him every day, and that she had been so distracted on set that she kept messing up her scenes. "And besides, no other director is as good as you. The scripts are terrible, and they're just shooting nonsense," she said, while inwardly apologizing to Liang Jingqi. Until today, she had been certain that going to shoot "Atheism" was the right decision. She needed some time to clear her thoughts and reorganize her relationship with Jin Jingyao. This was the rational, responsible, adult thing to do. But at this moment, she suddenly felt a bit regretful. Time is precious, life is short, and they had wasted more than two months. She should have come to see him sooner. Although Jin Jingyao showed little expression, he seemed somewhat satisfied. He confessed rather reservedly that he had edited that short film because he missed her so much. "Is that so," Li Ling said. "What else did you do when you missed me?" Jin Jingyao pressed his lips together. "Nothing much." Li Ling blinked and said, as if coaxing a child, "Did the little genius artist draw something for me?" He remained expressionless, but his grip on her hand tightened slightly. "Show me," she demanded. Jin Jingyao lifted his eyes and stared at her deeply and complexly for a while before reluctantly saying, "You'll see it when you go out." Although she didn't quite understand what he meant, Li Ling immediately wanted to push the door open and leave. She was stopped again, and the person opposite her looked at her almost angrily. Her hair was messy, and her lips were a bit swollen. She had no idea how enticing she looked. He spent at least ten minutes helping her tidy up, putting on her mask and hat, before reluctantly letting her go. He himself had to stay in the hallway to finish taking the producer Mai Hongcheng's incessant calls. Jin Jingyao had other important work today. Under the repeated orders of the other party, he reluctantly put on a suit. He was just passing by the cinema when, on a whim, he asked the driver to stop, wanting to sneak in and watch for five minutes. He was very glad he made that decision. It gave him an extremely, extremely happy day. Then he thought, perhaps nothing was accidental, but rather destined. In the unseen forces of fate, something had decided that he would stop at that intersection, that he would walk into the cinema, and that he would kiss the person he loved in a hidden, secluded corner. - As she walked out of the cinema, Li Ling saw the mysterious silhouette on the advertisement screen replaced by a huge hand-drawn poster. On this hand-drawn poster, the female protagonist's face was split in two. On the left, her hair was short, her face youthful, and her eyes sharper, like a small tree in the morning mist. On the right, she was more mature, with a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, like a blooming crabapple tree. The two faces were pieced together in a strange yet harmonious way. The sun of yesterday and today shone on her together. The strands of light, like the long river of time, illuminated her sculpted contours with a holy glow, shining into her eyes. Li Ling looked up and gazed at it for a long time.The tears that hadn't fallen in the cinema finally burst forth at this moment. After finishing his phone call, Jin Jingyao came out and couldn't understand why Li Ling was crying while looking at his painting. He was a bit at a loss, coaxing and persuading her to get into the car with him. The bodyguard asked if they were heading directly to the company, but he casually decided to take Li Ling home first. The two sat in the car, a great distance apart, as if separated by an entire city. He wanted to lend her his shoulder, but seeing her red eyes, he feared she wouldn't like it, so he handed her a pack of tissues instead. "Why are you crying?" he asked her. "Is the painting not good?" "If you don't like it, I can change it," he continued. Although he had spent more than a month on this painting, if the leading lady didn't like it, it was just a piece of waste paper. Li Ling leaned over gently, sniffing, "No, I really like it." Jin Jingyao's body stiffened a bit, unsure if it was because she was leaning on his shoulder or because she said she liked it. Even though she said she liked his painting, rounding up, it might mean she liked him too. Thinking this, he took the liberty of holding her hand again. Li Ling acquiesced to this behavior, and after a moment, she softly asked him why he thought of creating such a poster for "Yesterday's Sun." Jin Jingyao's shoulder felt numb and a bit wet. He touched her face, finding his mind suddenly not working well, and could only vaguely say, "Because I like it." "Alright," Li Ling said with a heavy nasal tone. The car suddenly braked sharply, causing her to lurch forward unsteadily. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her waist, letting her lean completely on him. The bodyguard in the front nervously apologized, but Jin Jingyao ignored him. This was truly the worst driver he had ever seen, and he decided to give him a raise. They leaned quietly against each other. The road home was very long, and the street scenes along the way turned into clusters of flowers and fireworks. Li Ling closed her eyes in the embrace of the young genius painter, with no more regrets. Knowing that "Yesterday's Sun" was about to be re-released, she was certainly happy, but also scared. She felt ashamed and a bit terrified, not knowing how to face the self from ten years ago. Deep down, she always felt that her self from ten years ago was better than her current self. At nineteen, Li Ling was so high-spirited, thinking her life was about to embark on a broad path, never imagining that the next ten years would be a downhill journey. Sometimes, tossing and turning late at night, Li Ling would sadly wonder if she had disappointed another version of herself. If life had a hundred possibilities, surely ninety-nine of them, in ninety-nine parallel universes, would be better than her current self. The current Li Ling was the worst version. But Jin Jingyao had included this worst version of Li Ling in the poster from ten years ago. Perhaps this was also a confession from 9787532754335 to her. It was as if he was declaring to her in this way that the Li Ling of ten years later also deserved to stand proudly alongside her ten-year-old self. They were both the most magnificent and glorious parts of her life. The past was unfinished, and the present was still ongoing. Time hadn't taken everything from her; time had also shaped her. He liked her as she was now.