Idol of Middle-Aged and Elderly Women

"I didn't have any experience being a mother myself, so I specifically asked my mom how she raised me back then..." On stage, Gong Xue was dressed in the outfit prepared the day before, wearing low-heeled calfskin shoes, with a light touch of lipstick, calmly and naturally sharing her journey. Jiaodaokou Cinema had 1,200 seats, and eighty to ninety percent were occupied. Over a thousand eyes were fixed on her, murmuring in admiration. Mainland actors were often seen as plain and rustic, but with Hong Kong and Taiwan pop culture covertly filtering in, more and more people were discovering Teresa Teng and Alan Tam, amplifying this perception. In terms of poise and style, Gong Xue was among the first to break through. The audience took one look: hey, she wasn't like a conventional actor; she carried the chic aura of a Hong Kong or Taiwan star. "The young actor's name is Fang Chao. He's at school, so he couldn't make it today. Before filming began, I stayed with him every day—feeding him, clipping his nails, coaxing him to sleep—treating him like my own child to nurture our bond. I think I did an alright job. What do you all think?" Gong Xue gave a shy smile and even turned the microphone around, pointing it toward the audience. The audience was momentarily stunned. What kind of move was this? When no one spoke up right away, she pursed her lips. "It seems everyone isn't satisfied. Well then, I'll keep working hard." "Hahaha!" Only then did the crowd catch on, erupting into a wave of good-natured laughter, which earned her even more bonus points in their hearts. Watching from the side, Chen Qi felt an immense fatherly pride—the older sister he had groomed had finally made it big; she even knew how to work the crowd now. "From the masses, to the masses—as a cultural worker, I have always held myself to this standard... In any case, I'm delighted to meet you all today and share a few thoughts in person. I will definitely bring you better works and live up to everyone's love." Gong Xue bowed, concluding her speech. Clap, clap, clap! Applause erupted once more, accompanied by shouts from a multitude of audience members: "Don't go! Stay and chat a bit longer!" "I still have questions!" "Comrade Gong Xue, you acted wonderfully! Can I shake your hand?" Uh-oh! Seeing things take a bad turn, Chen Qi hastily signaled to the cinema manager. But the guy was grinning like a fool, not paying attention at all. By then, people had already begun surging forward. "Let's go!" Grabbing Wang Haowei and Gong Xue, he turned on his heels and ran. But a swarm of overexcited spectators had already rushed up, instantly throwing the local area into chaos with shoving and jostling. Only then did the manager snap to his senses, hurriedly rallying staff to maintain order. "Don't push! Everyone, please don't push!" "Let the comrades from the cast leave first!" Pulled along by Chen Qi, Gong Xue felt the crowd swelling around them. Her footsteps faltered, she stumbled, and suddenly felt a chill on her right foot. "My shoe! My shoe!" she cried out. "Forget the shoe, get out first!" Running desperately toward the exit, they finally broke through. Chen Qi veered to the side, ducked straight into the manager's office, and slammed the door shut with a loud clatter, locking it. "Is everyone here?" "Yes, yes, we're here!" Wang Haowei had been frightened out of her wits too, panting heavily. Outside, shouts and commotion clamored, mingled with the manager's roaring. They didn't dare step out, so they had no choice but to hole up inside, like refugees huddled in a safe house amid a raging tempest. Gong Xue's delicate face was pale as a sheet, and with one bare foot, she was in quite a disheveled state. After who knew how long, the manager finally came in, his clothes rumpled and forehead dripping with sweat, looking as if he had just survived an ordeal under torture. "Holy shit! Excuse my language, but I almost died out there!" "I told you beforehand to stay alert. What were you doing? Watch my signals!" Chen Qi said. "My fault, my fault! Are you folks hurt?... That's a relief, otherwise the entire nation would curse my name! Oh, Comrade Gong Xue!" Seeing that she had lost a shoe, the manager was even more embarrassed. "Look at this, look at this... How about I buy you a pair?" "I'm fine. As long as the audience is safe, that's what matters." Gong Xue was somewhat speechless, yet on the surface, she had to maintain a gracious smile, inquiring after the public first. "Hey, don't move!" Chen Qi suddenly sprang into action. Pulling out his camera, he posed them just as they were: the manager looking apologetic, Gong Xue leaning against the desk with one foot adorably suspended in the air, and Wang Haowei wiping away sweat with a handkerchief... Snap, snap! He took several photos. What great promotional material! Send this to Yu Jiajia, get it printed in the newspapers, and the whole country would know that Gong Xue had lost her glass slipper at the Mama, Love Me Once More event... Since they couldn't leave right away, they simply rested there. Chen Qi dispatched someone to Lechunfang to fetch Ji Chunhua while heading to a nearby department store to buy a pair of shoes. Gong Xue happily slipped them on. The manager watched from the side, feeling an odd twinge of heartbreak, like seeing a goddess hop into a punk's car right before his eyes. Chen Qi couldn't care less about an extra's internal monologue and asked offhandedly, "What's with the crack on that wall?" "Shaken up by the Tangshan earthquake. It's been like that for years." "Why hasn't it been repaired?" "Nobody wants to fix it! Our cinema has two governing departments: the district Bureau of Culture and the municipal film company. The district doesn't want to pay, fearing the film company will reap the benefits. The film company is only in charge of operations, not facility management, so they won't fix it either. It's just been dragging on." "So the district holds ownership of the property, but the film company handles the business operations?" "Uh, yeah, something like that..." Feeling he had said too much, the manager promptly clamped his mouth shut. Chen Qi smiled and didn't press further. "Thanks for putting up with the trouble today. We should get going; we have another cinema this afternoon." Having arrived in the morning, they only wrapped up around noon. As the group emerged from Jiaodaokou Cinema, Chen Qi looked back over his shoulder. Two floors, 1,200 seats—this place wasn't bad. ... Meanwhile, ahead of them, the audience members who had exited earlier were on their way home. Zheng Shufang's family was riding their bicycles, talking as they pedaled. Her son's eyes were still red. "Mom, I'll never make you angry again. I promise to study hard and show you filial piety when I grow up!" "Good boy. Seeing you sensible like this is all the satisfaction Mom needs!" Zheng Shufang's voice was also thick with tears—another display of deep mother-son devotion. The father, having already pulled himself out of the mood, pedaled along and watched coldly from the sidelines. Hmph! Let's see how many days you two can keep this up! Still, he felt rather pleased with himself and chimed in deliberately, "It really was a good movie. I never expected Gong Xue could play a role like that." "Right?!" At the mention of this, Zheng Shufang perked up, just like modern wives whose husbands join them in binge-watching dramas. "Didn't you hear the whole theater crying together? My handkerchief was soaked through! It was so moving! Gong Xue acted so well—poor thing..." Her stance had shifted without a second thought; she too had become a fan. ............ "Qiuxia!" "Comrade Gong Xue! Comrade Gong Xue!" "Don't go!" In the afternoon, the scene repeated itself. At another cinema, after Mama, Love Me Once More finished screening, the group made a surprise appearance and chatted with the crowd for about twenty minutes. Just as they prepared to leave, the contagion spread again. The middle-aged and elderly female viewers were fanatically enthusiastic. They looked at Gong Xue as if she were their own daughter, the most pitiful person in the world, wanting nothing more than to shower her with love and sympathy. It was just like the time Aspirations swept the nation years later, capturing the public's sentiment toward Liu Huifang. Fortunately, Chen Qi was prepared this time and slipped away early. Ji Chunhua also played a massive role: standing out front like a pillar holding up the heavens or a beam anchoring the seas, his sheer presence was utterly intimidating. Roadshow culture emerged relatively late in the mainland. Beyond mindset, the most fundamental constraint was the inconvenience of travel. How could anyone fly around the country promoting a movie like in later eras? Leaving town was a major ordeal in those days; the nation's very first expressway wouldn't even begin construction until 1984. Yet within a specific locality, doing a circuit was entirely feasible. Doing two cinemas a day gave them a relatively relaxed schedule. Nowadays, cinemas were categorized by first-run status. The large venues with good facilities were first-run cinemas, ninety-five percent of which were clustered within the Second Ring Road. The remaining five percent were in suburban areas like Changping or Tongxian, where a county was lucky to have even a single one. Wrapping up work for the day, Chen Qi headed straight to Yu Jiajia's place and handed over a bundle of photos. Once the press picked up the story tomorrow, a whirlwind would surely sweep the city.