Chapter 117: Where Did All the Time Go? (Please bookmark and vote for recommendations!)

Amidst the palpable anxiety of Sun Guowei and Zhang Yaozhong, the father-in-law and son-in-law, the curtains slowly parted.

Accompanied by sound effects of a raging storm and the clamor of students leaving school, Li Shixi and An Xiaoxiao took the stage.

Having witnessed the premiere, Sun Guowei noticed immediately that, just as his father-in-law had predicted, the posture of the father character was off. During the premiere, this sixty-five-year-old actor had deceived even himself with a stride and body language entirely inconsistent with the character's age, making him appear like a middle-aged man. But now, the father’s gait as he trudged through the "flood" betrayed a staggering frailty that could not be concealed.

As the curtains fully opened, the daughter began her lines. The moment she spoke, Sun Guowei and Zhang Yaozhong were taken aback—the lines were different from the premiere!

"Dad, put me down! Your back injury hasn't healed yet, and the doctor told you to rest properly. Besides, I’m a grown woman now; if my classmates see you carrying me home from school, they’ll laugh at me!"

Compared to the premiere, where the daughter’s fear was purely about being teased, the new dialogue carried a profound undercurrent of concern for her father’s health.

The father, with his trouser legs rolled high, trudging arduously through the "water," looked back at his daughter. He paused slightly, his voice firm and authoritative: "Don't fidget. Your situation is special these few days; catching a chill is bad for your health."

"Dad... how did you know..."

The daughter on his back, hearing this, buried her face in his shoulder, feeling both embarrassed and shy.

Damn!

Seeing this change at the start of the scene, Sun Guowei and Zhang Yaozhong exchanged a glance. In each other's eyes, they saw the same astonishment!

The premiere’s scene—a middle-aged father carrying his daughter home through the rain—had transformed into a story of a father with a back injury, gritting his teeth to push through the freezing rain, all to prevent his daughter from catching a cold during her period. The father’s feigned sternness to mask the awkwardness of mentioning her cycle, the daughter’s subsequent shyness—it elegantly bypassed the natural barrier created by their gender, using a single entrance and two lines of dialogue to manifest the depth of paternal love.

With the change in dialogue, paired with the actor’s new, aged stride, the emotional impact of the first act—already tender—was elevated to a new level.

Brilliant! This detail was absolutely brilliant!

Seeing this first act alone, half of Sun Yaozhong’s worries dissipated—Teacher Li had the skills; he truly had the foundation! Watching the cultural bureau leaders in the front row nodding in appreciation, Sun Yaozhong straightened his previously hunched back. He was filled with anticipation for what changes would come next and what further surprises Li Shixi would bring.

On stage, the performance continued.

Because the daughter’s condition had been brought to light, an awkwardness lingered between them. The figure trudging through the rain with his daughter on his back continued to move forward, stumbling yet stubborn. Finally, a sudden crack of thunder broke the tension. The shy daughter flinched at the sound.

Feeling her tremor, the father comforted her gently, "Don't be afraid, Xiao Xiao, Dad is here."

"Dad... promise you'll come pick me up every time it rains or thunders from now on. Our house is too far, and there are no classmates walking my way. I... I'm scared."

"Alright, Dad will remember."

"You can't forget! No matter how busy you are at work, you have to come whenever it rains or thunders!"

"Don't worry, Dad won't forget."

"Words are cheap; you promised to take me to the zoo last time and you broke your word."

"Then what do you propose?"

"Let's pinky swear!"

As the awkwardness faded, the cold autumn wind and rain could no longer hide the warmth radiating from their simple dialogue.

The scene of the walk home on his back soon ended. In the front row, the cultural bureau leaders, deeply moved, gave Sun Yaozhong a thumbs-up. "As expected of a veteran leader, you have a keen eye for talent! I've seen plenty of plays these past two years, but this one is truly exceptional!"

"Indeed, for Elder Sun to unearth this play shows his judgment is as sharp as ever!"

Listening to the surrounding flattery, Sun Yaozhong’s spine subconsciously straightened even further. Suppressing his pride, he gave a faint smile: "Keep watching, we’ve barely scratched the surface."

After a short three-minute intermission, the second act, "He Will Spend the Rest of His Life With You, I Will Spend the Rest of Mine Loving You," began.

"Congratulations, Old Li. They say a son-in-law is half a son. From now on, you're a man with a son too!"

"Ha, I wish. I’d rather Xiao Xiao never get married and stay by my side forever."

"That’s a bastard's thought! No daughter stays unmarried forever. Old Li, you’ve spent twenty years raising this 'cabbage,' and now that you're giving it away, you’re feeling bitter, aren't you?"

"Get lost! Go take your seat, wait until I settle the score with you at the table later!"

...

"Listen, kid, today, in front of all these guests, I have something to say to you."

"Xiao Xiao was born prematurely. When she was first born, she was only as big as a kitten. I watched her grow from that size, bit by bit... up to this size, and this size..."

"Her mother passed away early. I was afraid that if I brought another woman into the house, my daughter would be uncomfortable or suffer under a stepmother, so I never even considered remarrying."

"I was also afraid that without a mother, she would be looked down upon by other children. So I played both father and mother, holding her in my palms for fear she would drop, keeping her in my mouth for fear she would melt."

"Finally, she has grown up. A beautiful, graceful young woman."

"For these twenty-four years, I don't believe I’ve let her suffer the slightest grievance! Now, I hand her over to you."

"Listen well, kid. If my daughter suffers even a little bit of grievance with you, as long as I can still move, I will never forgive you!"

"And you, my daughter. Remember, from now on, he is your husband, and he will spend the rest of his life with you. But don't forget that your father is still here! I will spend the rest of my life continuing to love you."

"Remember... after you get married... come back and visit often."

In the first half of the second act, the father, now visibly aged, offered a complex smile while facing the guests' jokes, followed by a long, heartfelt speech to his son-in-law and his daughter in her wedding dress—it was mundane yet profoundly moving. The audience was swept up in the emotions of a father parting with his daughter and passing the mantle of responsibility to another man. As the plot moved forward, the massive theater was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, save for the sound of people wiping away tears.

"We will remember, Dad!"

Following the couple's response, the lighting shifted, just as in the premiere. On one side of the stage, the lights brightened, showing the couple saying goodbye before work, the daughter adjusting her husband's tie, depicting the happiness of their married life. On the other side, the lights dimmed. The father sat alone in a chair; it seemed his time... had frozen.

This scene was the same as the premiere. The montage technique of movement versus stillness, brightness versus shadow, created a striking contrast between the lives of the daughter and the father. Even those who had seen it once, including the fan club members and the father-in-law and son-in-law, felt their noses sting. Watching the lonely, desolate figure of the father in the dark, they shed tears.

But then, something different from the premiere occurred.

In the tear-filled gaze of the audience, the father, bathed in a dim, hazy light, picked up a photo album. Slowly, as if handling a treasure, he opened it. Looking at the photos inside, tears welled up in his eyes.

"The old tree in front of the door sprouts new buds, the withered wood in the yard blooms again."

"I’ve kept so many words in my heart for half a lifetime, hidden away in my graying hair."

A capella singing, slow and heavy, flowed from his lips. It was like his life, which had become thick and sluggish with time. Looking at what were likely photos of his daughter as a child, his lonely face softened with a glow of doting affection.

"The little feet in my memory, the chubby little mouth."

"I gave my whole life to her, just for the sound of her calling me Dad."

On the other side of the stage, the newlywed daughter seemed to have forgotten her father’s existence. Holding a doll, she looked at her husband with eyes full of love.

On one side, doubled happiness.

On the other, doubled loneliness.

At this moment, the father seemed like a rocket booster. Having fulfilled the mission of launching his daughter into the sky, he was stripped away, turning into scattered debris.

Silently withering, rapidly falling.

As the first part of the song ended, the father’s hand holding the album began to tremble. It was as if nothing had changed, yet time had accelerated, flowing past him. His body hunched over, bit by bit. The entire audience watched, helpless, as a man in his forties turned into an old man in his sixties within seconds!

The album reached the last page. As he closed it, the father stood up shakily. Seeing the surrounding gloom, he seemed unable to detach himself from the memories, his face filled with confusion. He looked at his own aged arms and legs, and with a sigh, he sang the questions that haunted him:

"Where has the time gone?"

"I hadn't yet felt what it was like to be young, and then I was old."

"I spent a lifetime raising children, my mind filled with their cries and their laughter."

"Where has the time gone?"

"I hadn't yet looked at you enough, and my eyes grew dim."

"I spent half a lifetime on the mundane, and in the blink of an eye, I’m left with nothing but a face full of... wrinkles."

At this moment, in front of the stage on the father’s side, a staff member hunched in the shadows held up a massive mirror frame. Within the frame, the now-aged father faced the audience directly. It was as if he were looking into a mirror, or perhaps... he was a frozen photograph.

The song, sung entirely without accompaniment, was like a tree stripped of all its branches, or a hand appearing from nowhere, pulling the audience into the father's desolation and loneliness. The song, as lonely as the man himself, and the image of the old man in the frame, shattered the composure of everyone present.

Suppressed sobbing erupted throughout the venue.

It was then that the stage lights dimmed completely. The daughter and son-in-law exited, leaving only a spotlight focused on the father.

Amidst the weeping, the father’s aged face in the mirror frame changed from melancholy to confusion, then from confusion to terror, and finally, from terror to rage!

"Who are you!? How are you in the mirror! Where am I? This isn't me, this isn't me!"

*Crash!*

Hysterically, he knocked over the frame, grabbed his own hair, and collapsed helplessly to the floor. He slammed his forehead against the floor, again and again, each time producing a dull thud. Watching the father, curled on the ground in pain and helplessness, every audience member’s heart throbbed with those dull sounds.

Every strike hurt.

A heart-wrenching pain!

At this moment, all the lights in the theater went out. Everyone was plunged into endless darkness.

Just like the darkness the father, who had lost all his memories to the disease, was trapped in.

"His Alzheimer's has reached the middle stage... memory loss and behavioral abnormalities like today's will become increasingly severe. You relatives... what? You’re not his relatives? You’re neighbors? Oh, call his family and have them come over. In his condition, he can no longer live alone."

The doctor’s voice-over echoed.

There was no closing curtain.

The changing of backdrops and the removal of props were all handled silently in the dark by the Big Guy and the rest of the Li troupe. The transition from the second act, "He Will Spend the Rest of His Life With You, I Will Spend the Rest of Mine Loving You," to the third act, "I No Longer Recognize Myself in the Mirror," was completed in a way entirely different from the premiere.

Compared to the premiere, it was more coherent.

And far more... soul-shaking!