I've Transmigrated Into This Movie Before Chapter 18-19

What is Love?

Filming a story from decades ago now would naturally need adjustments to be made according to the market; more delicate lines, better cast, more investments and along with the flow of time, a famous director with a status no one else could reach.

Yet another audition.

Sure enough two big names that would make you s.h.i.+ver once you hear them attended. Solo audition, solo interview. When it was Ning Ning’s turn, Chen Guan Chao sat behind an office desk with his arms crossed and asked, “Describe the phantom with two words.”

Ning Ning: “A monster.”

Chen Guan Chao: “Three words.”

Ning Ning: “An ugly monster.”

The character design for the role of the Phantom was that because she was born ugly, her parents sold her to the circus when she was young. After enduring a lot of hards.h.i.+ps in the circus she finally escaped, hiding herself in an abandoned old theater. Afterwards, the old theater was renovated, a new theatrical troupe moved in, she hid in the shadows, peeping at the male lead Chen Yun He who was as warm and bright as the sun.

Chen Guan Chao: “What kind of Phantom would you show the audience?”

Ning Ning looked down and thought about it for a moment, then looked up and laughed coldly, “I will dominate them with fear!”

Even if it was coated with romance, the movie at its core was a suspenseful thriller, The female lead was a serial killer, if she was not able to dominate them with fear, then…… it would not be a thriller! (Go out turn right and report to the Valentine’s day slot.)

This time it was Chen Guan Chao’s turn to look down and think for a moment, then he raised his head and looked at her. “Use a term to describe the phantom’s love for the male lead.”

Ning Ning answered without thinking, “Monopolisation!”

The Phantom was self-abased, it didn’t matter if she had an unmatchable and wonderful singing voice. No one had ever loved her, she had also never loved anyone, until the appearance of the male lead. For the sake of obtaining him, she was willing to do anything in her capabilities, including murders as well as imprisoning of the male lead at the end of the story.

“What do you think would be the ending for this love?” Chen Guan Chao stared at her as he leaned slightly forward.

Ning Ning stopped for a while, then resolutely answered, “Destruction!”

“You can go back first.” Chen Guan Chao looked a little disappointed, he leaned back on his chair. As Ning Ning was about to leave the room, he said from behind her, “Go and think about it again, give me an answer in three days time. Tell me then… what is love to the Phantom?”

What is love?

After she returned home, Ning Ning switched on her computer. Li Bo Yue had already sent her resources for the older version of >. Who could she ask? She didn’t know what love was, so she wanted to ask Chen Guan Chao himself, ask the Phantom from the original production…… what the h.e.l.l was this rubbish !!

The picture quality from those years naturally could not be compared to the present day’s quality. But what hurt the eyes more were the acting skills of the male and female leads. It was no wonder this film deserved to burn in the depths of h.e.l.l. And that it was still a black mark in Chen Guan Chao’s history till today, for which he was still attacked from time to time.

Ning Ning took out a pen from the drawer. She wrote down the lines as she watched the movie, then she brought the script in front of her wardrobe mirror. She adjusted her att.i.tude then affectionately said, “Yun He, I love you.”

The reflection in the mirror wasn’t her, it was Qu Ning’er who was wearing burnt Republican clothes along with hair draping over her face. She mouthed soundlessly to Ning Ning, ”You don’t believe you will fall in love with that good looking boy, and you don’t believe that he will love the ugly you.”

The phone rang. Ning Ning blinked. The Qu Ning’er in the mirror had vanished and she was left with herself.

“h.e.l.lo?” Ning Ning answered the phone.

“How is it?” Li Bo Yue’s voice rang out from the phone.

“I’m not sure yet, I couldn’t answer one of the questions.” Ning Ning asked him, “Li Bo Yue, what is love?”

“Hold on.” After some clicks and clacks of the keyboard, Li Bo Yue answered with the speech cadence of a politician, “Love! Is the most wonderful thing on earth. Love is you looking at the moon while I look at you! Love! Is the most humble thing on earth. Love is you being on top of the clouds while I am left in the dust! Love! Is……”

“Stop stop stop!!” Ning Ning could not take it anymore, “Where did you get that?”

“Google and IMDB of course.” Li Bo Yue returned to his normal way of speaking and a.n.a.lysed for her, “Director Chen’s heart is very artsy. If you want to move him you have to be as artsy as him or be even more artsy than him! What is love, right? Leave it to me, I will provide you with a standard answer tonight!”

Swift and decisive, the meticulous Li Bo Yue hung up right after he finished, probably to write about what love was.

“…… even if there is a standard answer, I will be exposed through acting!” Ning Ning held her phone, turned her head and looked at the mirror.

Her reflection smiled at her gloomily. It was the type of smile someone who had lived underground and had never seen the sky would flash, someone who wouldn’t be warm even if the sun shone on him.

“I know the pain of being called ugly, I know the anger of getting mocked, I hate this world! Since this world does not treat me kindly, why should I be kind to it!” Ning Ning suddenly punched the mirror, then screamed at her own reflection, “So you tell me, how do you love someone? How do I love someone?”

After a few minutes, she slowly walked back, turned around and headed out. Once she got downstairs, she hailed a cab. She said as she sat in the car, “35 Rouge Road”.

The car stopped at the entrance of Life Cinema.

Ning Ning opened the car door. She looked at the lantern in front of her. the big door, the doorman, the poster.

She had left not long ago, she came back, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

She walked closer and took a look, the poster on the door had changed.

t.i.tle: >

Starring: Tang Zhen, Cui Ping Ping

It was another movie she had not seen before, two more names she had not heard of. An old theater was on the poster. There was a couple on the stage. The man was dressed in a costume, just like a good actor. The woman on the other hand was wearing something fas.h.i.+onable, just like a businesswoman., She held the male actor in her arms, dagger in one hand, stabbing his chest as tears flowed down her cheek and dripped onto his face.

Ning Ning looked carefully at the poster, before she finally mumbled, “This is it.”

For the time being, regardless of the content, based on the backstory and character settings, this movie had many similarities with <>. It was also a thriller coated with romance.

She could find inspiration from this film. If she was lucky, maybe she could find the answer to Director Chen’s question. But this would mean she had to transform into another person again, to experience an unknown journey. She might experience the same pain as last time, but what did it matter?

“There is nothing to lose anyway.” Ning Ning laughed coldly to herself.

She walked forward but was blocked by a hand.

“Ticket.” The doorman turned around and looked at her with his snow white mask.

Ning Ning was stunned, “Didn’t I give you that last time?”

“One ticket per movie.” The doorman answered dully. “You don’t have a ticket, I cannot let you in.”

Ning Ning opened her mouth, but he was right, she could not retort. If a ticket allowed one to watch movies for an unlimited amount of times, the cinema would have closed down long ago.

“Where is the ticketing counter?” She looked at her surroundings, there was no ticketing counter in sight, so she changed her question, “How can I buy a ticket?”

The doorman quietly leaned on the door, unmoving, only shaking his head very slowly.

“Why do you still want to go in?” He suddenly asked, “Have you not had your fill of crying from last time?”

Ning Ning was stunned, then she remembered the awkward incident from last time. She ran past him crying, tears mixing with the rain ruining the makeup on her face, she bawled towards the sky, her face which was dubbed the prettiest vase of the new generation was smashed into pieces by her agony.

If someone had taken a photo of that, it would be a black mark in her history for the rest of her life.

Before she could say anything, the sky suddenly rumbled. She turned and looked at the sky then broke into laughter, “What a coincidence, it was raining last time, it’s going to rain this time too.”

“Go home.” The doorman suddenly said.

Ning Ning shook her head and smiled at him, “I’m not going, I will just wait here.”

“It’s useless.” The doorman said, ‘I don’t have any tickets to give you.”

“There has to be someone with tickets.” Ning Ning leaned on the wall beside the door and dully said, “I will just stand here, wait for the person with tickets to arrive, then think of a way to buy the tickets.”

But no one came, there was only the unending rain.

Ning Ning got bored so she started looking for information on auctions of old movie tickets online. She didn’t know anyone in this line of work, this kind of collection was not popular either. Sometimes she would find a seller but they didn’t have the ticket that she wanted.

It was not just the ticket, she couldn’t even find any information on “Life Cinema”.

She turned and eyed the front door……how about, sneaking in?

“Don’t think about sneaking in.” The doorman’s voice suddenly rang out. He wasn’t even looking towards Ning Ning’s direction, eyes gazing at the sky. “Never ever think about sneaking in.”

“Why?” Ning Ning asked.

“It’s getting really late, why are you still not leaving?” The doorman was getting angry for unknown reasons, “Aren’t you cold? Aren’t you hungry? Won’t your parents get worried?”

Ning Ning fell silent for a moment then said in a whisper: “… I have not father, my mother… My mother is not around anymore.”

The doorman was suddenly speechless.

“Moreover I am not cold and I am not hungry.” She lowered her head and looked at her hands, her eyes were lit with black flames, “I just want to… just want to use these hands to grab something, I just want to act!”

The rain was getting louder, it flowed down heavily along the roof. The door was like a dividing line. Ning Ning leaned on the wall to the left, the doorman leaned on the wall to the right. He stared at her with an indistinguishable expression under the snow white mask.

This persisted for a few minutes. Ning Ning tried to break the silence so she turned and smiled, “Oh by the way, what do you think love is?”

She regretted it as soon as she finished saying the words. She should not have asked a stranger a question like this. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be willing to answer the question. He looked towards a direction and said gloomily, “She’s here.”

Who was here? Ning Ning looked over in the same direction, she could only see a frail figure within the rain. The figure was trudging in the puddles of water with difficulty, hobbling and without complaints. The figure finally reached the entrance of the cinema. Within the tight grasp of their old and dried hand, was an old movie ticket.

Even-numbered Designated Tickets

The person was an old woman getting on her years, aged and dirty as if she had not showered in years. She had greasy hair, the clothes on her back was also torn.

“It’s not playing today either?” She looked at the poster by the door, muttered before turning around and walking away.

“Wait!” Ning Ning hurriedly chased after her. “Excuse me, how much would you sell the ticket you are holding for?”

The doorman by her side pulled her from the rain back under the roof.

“She won’t sell it.” He said indifferently as he looked at the back view slowly hobbling away, “She has already been waiting for one movie for fifteen years, she will wait as long as she still draws breath..”

Just as he finished talking, you could hear a loud screeching from the brake of a car.

Ning Ning turned over and looked. She saw a car leaving the scene in a panic, the old woman was laying on her side motionless, even at this state she clutched the movie ticket tightly to her chest.

An hour later at the hospital.

The doctor came out of the operation room, said a few words to Ning Ning then shook his head.

“She is running out of time.” He added, “If you have anything to say, say it now.”

Ning Ning opened the door, slowly walked towards the dying old woman.

“I cannot die, I cannot die……” her faint voice could only be heard after Ning Ning walked closer, she was encouraging herself , “I have not watched the film, I cannot die……”

What film was worth waiting fifteen years of a person’s life? What film filled a person’s thoughts as she was on the verge of death?

“Old lady,” Ning Ning asked her, “how can I contact your family?”

The old woman didn’t tell her any means to contact her family. She looked at Ning Ning absent-mindedly, finally she was able to focus and said weakly, “I know you. You are an actress. I saw your movie on another person’s phone when I was on a bus. I was chased off the bus before I could finish the movie, they said I stink…, cough cough. I, I like your film.”

Ning Ning was shocked, to think that she was her fan.

“I heard you calling out to me before.” The old woman raised her trembling hand, “You wanted this?”

A wrinkled old movie ticket layed on her palm. A ticket that she did not let go even when she was undergoing surgery.

It would be too hypocritical to say no now, so Ning Ning nodded calmly.

“I can give you the ticket. But, you, you have to help me.” The old woman suddenly reached out and grabbed Ning Ning’s wrist, she begged her pitifully, “Help me watch the movie, help me… help me save him.”

Ning Ning felt strange. “Save whom?”

“It’s, it’s in my pocket.” The old woman’s voice was getting weak.

Ning Ning took out a photo from the old woman’s pocket. The photo was a corner cut out of another photo. On it was a boy that was around the age of eight or nine. He looked a little shy, looking down to avoid the camera, similar to a gullible little deer.

“You, you have to watch the movie he is in.” The old woman looked at Ning Ning fervently, “You have to think of a way to save him…”

Ning Ning felt that it was absurd. The old woman used fifteen years of her time to wait for a movie, just so she could transmigrate into it and change the fate of a character in the movie? But after some consideration, she felt that this absurdity was excusable. Because if she had a similar chance, she was also willing to return to <>, to change Papa’s and everyone’s fates.

So everyone else could treat this old woman as a joke, but she alone could not.

“Go save him. Go save him. Save him at all costs, even if I have to sacrifice myself… you have to… you have to…” At the end of her frailty, she had a terrifying final spark The old woman suddenly sat up from the hospital bed, her dried up hands forcefully dragged Ning Ning to her front and shouted, “1988!! 1988!! 1988!!!”

After shouting 1988 thrice, it was like she had expended all of her energy. Her throat suddenly gurgled twice, then she fell over silently.

Beep—–

Ning Ning raised her head to take a look, a straight line was on the display of the ECG.

The matter of the funeral was easy to deal with. As Ning Ning left the room, representatives from two funeral parlours had approached her They almost came to blows in the midst of fighting over the right of the proceedings. Ning Ning chose one of the companies and paid for the old woman’s funeral fees and treated it as payment for the movie ticket. She also had them identify her in the meantime.

It was easy to handle things when you have money, the ident.i.ty of the old woman was revealed very quickly, her name was Wen Xiao Ning.

“You are such a good person.” The funeral parlour representative said as he was wiping his sweat, “We called her family and informed them of her death, they immediately hung up. The call had only connected after a dozen attempts, they scolded me a dozen times before telling me they don’t know this person.”

This should be the reason why the old woman did not tell her any person of contact. She was not married. No husband, no children, no friends, no family. The only person that was contactable was a brother, whom upon hearing about her death, had refused to come over to have one last look at her and was unwilling to fork out a single cent for her funeral.

A lonely old woman that was seemingly abandoned by the world.

Her only inheritance was this old movie ticket.

Besides this, she had nothing else.

After solving this messy affair, another day pa.s.sed by. At night, Ning Ning held the movie ticket en route to Life Cinema and thought to herself, ‘I never promised you anything. You waited fifteen years for the film, there is no way I…’

Her footsteps stopped in front of the cinema.

“Ah,” Ning Ning mumbled, “you should have waited for one more day.”

In front of her, the poster at the entrance of the cinema had changed again.

> that was originally there was gone, another poster had taken its place.

On the poster was a pitch black swamp. The little boy from the old woman’s photo was standing in the middle of the swamp. There were a lot of people in the vicinity of the swamp, but they all watched as he sank. He also did not seem to be asking for help, silently allowing himself to sink.

t.i.tle:

Starring: Wen Yu

Ning Ning stood in front of the poster for quite a while, before she turned and asked the doorman, “Where is the movie from yesterday?”

“The screening ended.” The doorman leaned on the wall, as concise as ever.

“When will it be screened again?” Ning Ning asked.

“Who knows.” The doorman answered replied casually.

Ning Ning turned her attention back to the poster in front of her. It was fated, she had no other choice. The day after tomorrow would be the time to get back to Director Chen with an answer, but she still had not found one.

There were two choices in front of her right now. One, to continue waiting and see if the film for tomorrow night will be similar to <>. But the chances of that were small, the odds of that happening were almost the same as her trying to guess the answer of Director Chen’s question by luck. Two, to transmigrate into the film in front of her, make use of the time difference and carefully think of how to answer the question, how to act as the phantom, how to go about things.

Ning Ning chose what she felt was the most dependable method.

She handed the ticket over to the doorman and said, “I want to go in.”

The doorman’s gaze moved from her face to the ticket in her hand. He didn’t immediately take it this time, but asked in a deep voice, “Have you decided?”

Ning Ning felt that he was a bit strange, he was not so talkative previously.

She answered, “Yes.”

The doorman stared at her for some time, as if he didn’t want to say it but had to, he asked, “What is the time you want to designate?”

Ning Ning was puzzled. “What time?”

“You are holding an even-numbered designated ticket.” The doorman added, “Even-numbered designated tickets allow you to designate the time you enter the movie.”

Upon hearing this, Ning Ning hastily looked down at the ticket in her hand.

At first she didn’t see any difference, but with his reminder she realised the ticket in her hand was different from the one she had received from her mother. Although it was the same yellow paper with Life Cinema written on it, but this was a ticket for a seat in the front. It was located four rows in front of her previous ticket, fourth row from the front number twelve.

Not only did the word Admission appear on the round stamp on the left , there was a small red word – Designated.

Just as the doorman said, this was a designated ticket.

An even-numbered designated ticket which allowed a designation of time of entrance.

“The life of the lead character Wen Yu spans over 1980 to 1988. You can designate and enter any one of the years within this range.” The doorman asked, “Which date do you want to designate?”

Ning Ning thought of the old woman shouting 1988 three times on the hospital bed.

So that was what this number meant.

1988 – The old woman had hoped to transmigrate to the year the lead character Wen Yu died, then helped him change his fate of death.

But specifically which day in 1988? Also, how did the old woman know that the lead character would die? Was it possible that she had already watched this movie in the past and could not accept the ending, so she had waited for the film to screen again? Unfortunately she died, too many questions would forever stay as questions and will never be answered.

“Can you tell me specifically how and when the lead character dies?” Ning Ning attempted to get an answer out of the doorman.

But the doorman shook his head and said, “I cannot leak the plot.”

Ning Ning had no other choice and said, “The year of 1987.”

To prevent any uncertainties, she had decided to enter a year earlier. This way, she would have ample time to make preparations. Along with helping Wen Yu, she would still have some time to take care of her personal problems…

The doorman took the ticket and tore it. He gave way. “One person per ticket, invalid upon admission.”

Ning Ning looked at the wooden door behind him for a few seconds, before starting to walk towards it.

“Wait.” The doorman sounded out from behind her as she walked past him.

Ning Ning paused her footsteps and looked back.

The doorman stood outside the door, he was also looking back at her. The sky was getting darker, the lanterns were already lit, he stood at the boundary of dark and light, the snow white mask on his face was shone by the lights.

“……Try your best to stay away from the lead character.” The snow white mask faced Ning Ning, his gaze penetrating her from behind the mask.

What did he mean by that? Ning Ning looked at him, but he didn’t seem to want to explain further, turning back and continuing his duty as the doorman.

Ning Ning could only enter the cinema with a heart full of doubt. Maybe it was because the ticket in her hand was different, the staff was much more pa.s.sionate this time around. A lady with an ancient female official mask led her to her seat, she even brought her a drink. Ning Ning took two sips before the lights dimmed and the screen came on, the movie had started.

The first thing to appear on the screen was one sentence.

“This film has been adapted from a true story.”

Next was a voice of a little boy, singing with a pure and juvenile voice, “The world kisses me with pain, but I repay it with a song, until my voice gets taken away from me, I will never be able to sing again.”

Ning Ning put the drink by her side and thought, ‘It’s here.’

Just like last time, she was frozen in her chair, unable to speak, unable to move. Men, women, old and young, voices of strangers closing in on her, they rang out beside her ears as they get more realistic.

Finally, a name slowly appeared out of nothing on the poster on the front door.

t.i.tle:

Starring: Wen Yu, Ning Ning

Small Theater

Author: “Do you have any last words madam?”

The old woman looked at the doorman, “You..are..such..a..jinx..”