Chapter 0293 Notting Hill

There is always one withering in the four seasons, yet the result is countless witherings.

There is always one separation in love, yet the result is countless separations.

Cooking alone can sometimes be boring, but if two people cook together, it can sometimes be quite romantic. However, if one of them only causes trouble, then it's not so pleasant.

"Pass me the vinegar."

"That's soy sauce."

"Are the potatoes cut?"

"I asked you to slice the potatoes, not dice them."

"Come on, let me teach you how to make fruit salad instead."

More than an hour later, eating the fruit salad she had made herself, Fan Baobao said to Zhao Fusheng a little sheepishly, "Um, am I particularly stupid?"

Although Zhao Fusheng really wanted to nod, it was obvious that if he did, at least this winter break his life would be comparable to hell. So the clever Zhao Fusheng shook his head and said in a very calm tone, "It's not that you're stupid; all beginners are like this. I couldn't cook before either, you know that."

"But you learned later," Fan Baobao pouted.

Speaking of which, it was really a matter of talent. In high school, both of them started helping with household chores, but Zhao Fusheng quickly learned to cook, while Fan Baobao never quite got the hang of it.

In Li Yuan's words, she wished she had a son like Zhao Fusheng.

"Alright, don't think too much. Let's watch a movie," Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Fan Baobao.

Since it was winter break and neither of them were middle or high school students with lots of homework, most of the time they were just bored.

That's why many college students have time to work during holidays, while middle and high school students don't.

The former need to consider facing society, while the latter need to consider how to study better.

"I will keep working hard," Fan Baobao made a wish that made Zhao Fusheng's heart race with fear, and turned her gaze to the TV.

By then, CCTV already had a movie channel. The movie they were watching happened to be an old American film, "Notting Hill," telling a somewhat clichéd love story. William Thacker, gentle and kind-hearted, lived in Notting Hill, West London, and owned a struggling travel bookshop. Due to poor business, he shared a flat near the shop with Spike, a bizarre and unkempt man. Since his divorce, his love life had been blank. Anna Scott was an American film star whose photos appeared on magazine covers, and every move she made attracted worldwide attention.

One ordinary Wednesday, Anna walked into William's bookstore. Her elegant demeanor left a deep first impression on William, and he also realized that this elegant lady was none other than the famous Hollywood actress Anna. Shortly after Anna left the bookstore, William ran into her again while returning from buying drinks for a colleague. He accidentally spilled a drink on Anna. Feeling deeply guilty, William invited Anna to his place to clean her clothes, and thus began a fairy-tale romance between them.

It was a love story that no one thought would work.

It must be said that both Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant performed excellently. The witty dialogue and wonderful plot moved Fan Baobao to tears.

In contrast, Zhao Fusheng watched calmly. After all, with his mental age, such romantic love movies really couldn't resonate with him.

This was actually a common ailment among many middle-aged people. After experiencing too many hardships in life, they seem to lose their yearning for romantic things, and even emotions like being moved begin to fade.

What occasionally resonated with him were things akin to nostalgia.

"Wuwu, so touching..."

After a long while, Fan Baobao, deeply moved by the heartwarming happy ending, turned around and saw Zhao Fusheng sitting there with a tired expression. She immediately became agitated: "You cold-blooded animal, how can it be so touching?"

Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly: "Do you think I'm the kind of man who has nothing but a miserable life?"

"Besides, don't you think this movie completely follows the formula of 'Roman Holiday'?" Zhao Fusheng looked at Fan Baobao: "You are a spectator, yes, but you are also an actress. Watching a movie like this and being so overwhelmed with emotion, I really..."

Fan Baobao looked bewildered, clearly not understanding what Zhao Fusheng meant. Sighing, Zhao Fusheng said, "'Notting Hill' is just a remake of 'Roman Holiday.' Is there a difference between the combination of a sweet young girl and a handsome young man and the combination of a big-mouthed beauty and a handsome young man? Both are blessed matches. Also, although 'Roman Holiday' ends with a reluctant separation and 'Notting Hill' ends happily, overall, the core of the story is the same. It's just that the happy ending of 'Notting Hill' is more clumsy and less thought-provoking than that of 'Roman Holiday.'"

After all, age differences lead to different perspectives. Although he wasn't in the film industry, in Zhao Fusheng's view, there was no difference.

Fan Baobao was shocked: "You... you actually understand this!"

"It's not that I know a lot; it's that you know too little," Zhao Fusheng shook his head. Fan Baobao's reaction clearly showed she hadn't heard of the movie "Roman Holiday," which left him helpless.

Though reluctant to admit it, the quality of domestic entertainment stars, starting from the 1990s, was often embarrassingly low.

Perhaps because they were busy making money, or perhaps because art students gradually neglected their cultural courses, by the 2010s, many newcomers in this circle, or so-called stars, were as ignorant as idiots.

Someone was praised just for solving a linear equation in one variable—hell, that's something middle schoolers should know!

This kind of Mary Sue persona actually had fans who liked it. Zhao Fusheng could only sigh that the entertainment industry was indeed a place where any riffraff could fit in.

"What do you mean?" Fan Baobao frowned at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng sighed. He knew he couldn't explain this clearly to Fan Baobao.

In fact, many people don't understand why the country insists on popularizing college education, even though it's not easy for many to attend university.

In truth, college education is a process of popularizing knowledge and preventing specific classes from monopolizing it.

In other words, it's said that it's hard for humble families to produce elites, but if even the college entrance exam were abolished, ordinary people born into poor families without a silver spoon in their mouths might truly have no chance to change their fate.

If a person doesn't read, they won't have true wisdom. If it takes decades of life experience to accumulate wisdom, the cost is too great.

The significance of words and books lies in the fact that they encapsulate the experience accumulated by humanity over thousands of years.

Even though Zhao Fusheng was a reborn person, he agreed with this view.

An ordinary person, even if reborn a hundred times, if they don't learn more knowledge, will still be an ordinary person without broad vision or high intelligence. The reason is simple: they are standing still.

In other words, rebirth doesn't implant a system in your brain that allows you to easily retrieve a lot of useful things. Rebirth only gives you a chance to change your destiny.

That's why Zhao Fusheng was now learning voraciously, learning everything he could.

Because he knew clearly that these were the few days he could still freely arrange his time. Once he left school and entered society, he would often be unable to do as he pleased.

Fan Baobao clearly didn't understand this reasoning. She was even a little curious about what was wrong with Zhao Fusheng. Since she came back, she found that Zhao Fusheng seemed to be reading and studying all the time. When did this guy change his nature and become so fond of reading?

"What I mean is to tell you that learning more things won't do you any harm," Zhao Fusheng sighed and said to Fan Baobao. "Think about it, you know nothing about classic movies like this. If a reporter asks you, how would you answer?"

Fan Baobao was stunned, then blinked. She felt that what Zhao Fusheng said made a lot of sense.