I once heard rumors, but it wasn't until now that I thought of verifying them; despite the delay, I fully understand why this work has caused such a sensation.
I am the same way, unable to control myself while watching, and after finishing, I am overwhelmed. To calm the overflowing emotions in my heart, writing becomes necessary.
The reason why it is so difficult to let go is, I think, due to the way the story concludes. I have also pondered this repeatedly and have come to my own conclusions based on my own concerns.
I believe this is a multi-layered structure.
──Spoiler Alert──
The most apparent is "dreams."
In my view, Chen Xiaoqian and Han the Movie King entered a shared dream.
Chen Xiaoqian fell asleep and entered the dream, still carrying a hint of consciousness, to some extent lucid dreaming;
Han the Movie King had a car accident and perhaps fell into a coma, temporarily suspending surface consciousness, and in the dream, he became Han Shuo.
When they woke up, the dream was interrupted, and Chen Xiaoqian's consciousness absorbed the memories of the dream, somewhat hazy but still able to recognize and integrate them; if Han the Movie King recovered from the coma, cognitive reconstruction would inevitably be temporarily chaotic.
Dreams are an extremely unique and important symbol to me, a crucial part of my being. I have dreams almost every night and have recorded many of them. In dreams, sometimes I am like an actor, experiencing it from a first-person perspective, sometimes I am like a spectator, observing everything from a different angle, and sometimes I am both, both acting and watching; I have also been aware of myself dreaming and even controlling the direction of the dream. There have been moments when I couldn't distinguish which dimension I was in when I woke up from a dream within a dream, and I have also experienced the exhaustion of feeling like I haven't slept all night after waking up. Repeatedly entering the same dream goes without saying, and there have been dream episodes that resemble a TV series.
Apart from the shared dream aspect, based on my own dreaming experiences, the states of Chen Xiaoqian and Han the Movie King are states within and outside of the dream.
I have also had successful dream incubation experiences and often think about dreams during the day and dream about them at night.
Before Chen Xiaoqian fell asleep, she was fully focused on writing the script; before Han the Movie King had the car accident, he also discussed the script with Chen Xiaoqian. Both of them invested their hearts and minds into the script, and due to their differing perspectives and ongoing debates, they entered a dream based on the script and each other. It was natural for this to happen, resulting in a shared dream that can hardly be called entirely illusory.
Dreams can distort memories, like rearranging an old song into a new version, presenting in a similar appearance but with different forms, which fits the situations in the story where Han Shuo and Chen Xiaoqian are in a scenario that resembles the script but is not exactly the same. Dreams can also immediately incorporate physical sensations, appearing in a transformed form within the dream. For example, Han the Movie King, who had a lung injury from the car accident, became Han Shuo, who was stabbed in the lung with a sword.
The disappearance of the dream self in the dream wakes the physical body up. I have also experienced this, as if the latent spirit cannot bear it and needs to interrupt it, similar to how Han Shuo's impending death pushed Han the Movie King and Chen Xiaoqian out of that dimension.
It's like pressing the pause button; no matter what happens in the dream, unless I re-enter the same dream, my physical body has no way of knowing.
I think this is another level, related to the exploration of the "dimension" form. I have read stories that describe how the characters in the story depend on the story's existence and cease to exist when the story begins or ends. Before the start of the story and after its end, there is no story, and therefore no characters. According to this viewpoint, Han Shuo in the story always existed from the moment he entered the city as a son-in-law, and all his memories before that were "implanted settings." The story before he entered the city was not created, the dimension did not exist, and the character did not exist. There was no time and space for Han Shuo to be born and grow up, and there was no little Han Shuo. Similarly, once the story's time and space ended with Han Shuo falling on the steps, everything that followed no longer mattered. I find this concept interesting, but I "believe" in every dimension and believe that everything has a spirit. Every dream of mine is real and not illusory. I "believe" that it is my "real experience" in the dream, fragments of my "memory" in the dream. The dream self and the waking self are not in the same dimension. The dream self is me and yet not me. When I record my dreams, I don't refer to myself as "I," but with a name specific to the dream. When I have lucid dreams, I can also distinguish between the conscious self and the lucid self. I "know" that dreams are a function of the brain, and I "believe" in the reality of dreams. For me, these two coexist without conflict. I believe that "belief" is an extraordinary ability that humans possess.
Therefore, what happened to Han Shuo and Chen Qianqian in Huayuan City after Han Shuo fell on the steps? I cannot help but care. For me, every parallel dimension "exists."
I dream the same dream, dream continuations, and occasionally can control my dreams.
So I decided to "believe" that the revised reunion script by Chen Xiaoqian is like my dream record, a continuation of a temporarily interrupted dimension. Dreaming again, returning to Huayuan City, the dream is adjusted under the conscious mind, whether it is Chen Qianqian's prayer to the heavens or other factors, preventing Han Shuo's death, and the two of them living the sweet life recorded by Chen Xiaoqian. I decided to "believe" that the final embrace in the forest is a continuation of the story rather than a flashback. Even if Han Shuo does die by blocking the sword for Chen Qianqian, it can be seen as a cruel and absurd representation of life, and I have also created similar works. Even in my understanding of multiple universes, there will ultimately be a Han Shuo in one universe who ends his life in this way, just as there will ultimately be a Han Shuo in one dimension who dies because of Chen Chuchu. But I decided to "believe" that the dimension where Chen Xiaoqian and I exist is connected to the miraculous dimension of Huayuan and Xuanhu City.
Another important component is "creation."
Originally, Chen Xiaoqian created a universe but did not know how it actually operated. At first, she did not empathize with the characters, so she could be as indifferent as the heavens and earth. But as she delved deeper into the story and empathized with the joys and sorrows of the characters, she could no longer bear witness to the cruelty of life, and she could truly cherish each of her characters. I believe this is why "belief" is great. "Belief" is synonymous with "love." If people do not "believe" in the value of a person's life, they cannot "love" that person. This is how Huayuan and Xuanhu City treat men and women. If people "believe" that objects have souls, they will "love" those objects. Chen Xiaoqian's creation only came to life after she repeatedly pondered the characters' psychology. Only after understanding the characters' motivations could she grasp their behavior patterns, and the story's context became traceable, and the characters became three-dimensional and full. Han the Movie King, as an interpreter, has a different interpretation of the story than the creator. His comments reflect back on the creator and prompt reflection, which may lead to a more mature work.
At the same time, Han the Movie King, as an interpreter and co-creator, also participated in the construction of the story. The changing Chen Qianqian and Han Shuo are symbols of their identities. Chen Xiaoqian, as a screenwriter, is like a dream where she both acts and watches. She imitates the characters while trying to manipulate the story's development from an observer's perspective. Han the Movie King, as an actor, portrays the actions of the characters based on his understanding, and the characters are no longer just the appearance created by the screenwriter but a fusion of their forms. Chen Xiaoqian "discovered" that Han Shuo is not truly ruthless, which is because she did not fully understand the character she created, and because the actor joined, it was no longer just the Han Shuo she designed but Han Shuo with the addition of Han the Movie King's soul. Just as Chen Qianqian's image transformed through Chen Xiaoqian's interpretation, Han Shuo became a romantic figure who fell in love with Chen Qianqian, also because Han the Movie King entered the story.
So I think there can be another layer of metaphor, viewing this story of traversing dimensions as a magnificent packaging, implying that screenwriter Chen Xiaoqian and actor Han the Movie King constantly communicate deeply during the creative process. As the creation gradually takes shape, their relationship is gradually established and elevated, leading to the development of feelings and eventually formal recognition.
Therefore, no matter in which dimension, they meet, fall in love, and then rely on each other. Life is difficult, but I "believe" that happiness is self-made. Life is beautiful. Just as I feel like I have never had a nightmare, no matter what happens in my dreams, they are always interesting.