18 Years and 18 D ays

By Yi Jiangning

18 Years and 18 D ays

By Yi Jiangning

Sun Lijun,Vice President of Beijing Film A-cademy,feltthathe had fallen short of what a father should do since he had not left much time for his kid.In the blink of an eye,Sun Jia,his daughter,arrived at the age of 18.Sun Lijun regretted to realize that he had never participatedinher daughter'sparents' meeting.

Before graduating from high school, Sun Jia's school would hold a coming-of-age ceremony,which required every pair of parents to send their child a gift.What kinds of gifts will work?After contemplating for more than a month,on the day of the ceremony, Sun Lijun took out a proposal of a few pages named“18 Years,18 Days”.Sun Lijun commented:“A day means a year,and 18 days represent my daughter's 18 years in this world.We candoameaningful thing together.I believe this is more touching than material gifts.”

Sun Lijun's plan was to ride together with his daughter,with the route from Beijing,TianJin,Tai'an,Qufu, Jinan,Nanjing,finallyarrivingin Shanghai.The total mileage was 1668 kilometers and would take 18 days.He wanted to share the bittersweet riding experience with his daughter and alsoraise funds for Animated Cartoon Notes,the new book of Pu JiaXiang,a senior cartoon maker from Shanghai Animation Film Studio.The destination of his riding plan was right the Studio.

Long-distance cycling was by no means an easy thing.Sun Lijun had planned exercise before departure.His daughter,however,refused any training.She had a negative feeling to wards cycling,and M r.Sun had to let her just be herself.

In the end,M r Sun's plan turned out to be his w ife driving a car,his daughter doing the shooting job and himself riding alone.As the riding plan went live on Weibo,China's version of Facebook,M r Sun's students took the initiative to join the shooting team, w ith the plan to make the journey into a documentary.

On July 20,2014,Sun Lijun took her daughter to watch the flag-raising ceremony on Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and started the journey afterwards.M r. Sun rode his mountain bike for the journey,w ith heavy luggage that weighed about 30 kg tied on it.The things included a projector,a screen and some small speakers.

At departure,Sun Jia didn't ride w ith his father,but got into an accompanying car with a video camera recorder.She sat in the car,watching his father on the bicycle.There was always a distance between the father and the daughter,sometimes they could not see each other at all.

In the first few days,Sun Lijun had a very tight schedule.One day,he rode for 170 km from 5 a.m.to 7 p.m.,and woke up to find himself unable to lift his legs the second day.On the third day of riding,Sun Lijun already felt exhausted.The riding seemed like a journey of him alone.Summer heat, physical pain and loneliness were his partners.

Follow ing him shooting,Sun Jia felt closer to her Dad.The hunchbacked figure in the camera's view finder became increasingly clear.In the very early morning,she watched him start his one-day journey after packing his bags,w ith the rays of morning sunshine draping over his body,which endowed him w ith a different kind of beauty.

At nights in remote villages,Dad would project cartoons for left-behind children(rural labor's children who stay in the countryside).He said:“I grew up watching outdoor movies and thus brewed the dream of becom ing ahero.Now we give these children such a chance.Even if we pass on confidence to only one child,it's worth it.”Almost the children of the whole vil lage came,groping for and sitting on the plastic chairs in the dark in front of the curtain,eyes gazing at the screen.The attentiveness in their eyes would touch the hardest hearts in the world.

On the 11th and 12th days,Lijun's whole body became swollen,making his cycling extremely difficult.But he remarked:“Even if I had to climb to the finish line,I would do that.I will definitely keep my promise.”

On the 15th day,the morning before they arrived in Nanjing,the group was ready to set out.Sun Jia,sitting in the car all the way,suddenly said:“Daddy,I will ride with you.”Hearing this, Sun Lijun was in a daze for a while before fond happiness struck his heart:“My daughter is no longer like the little princess in the castle.”The father and the daughter merrily rode over the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.

In the last four days,Sun Jia rode for 200 kilometers.Along the way, there were sweats,painstaking efforts, the restlessness of going on wrong ways,and the helplessness of having broken tires.The care and love between the father and the daughter, however,had made the documentary impressive and memorable.

Sun Lijun and his daughter finally arrived at the gate of Shanghai Art Film Studio,though weary and fatigued. Sun Jia watched his father riding the full-of-mud bicycle and slowly getting close to the mottled walls and overgrown yard,she suddenly sighed:“It is really not easy for Daddy to hold fast to his dream in so many years.”

After the ride,the editing of the documentary“18 Years and 18 Days”was completed and won two awards at the first Canada Film Show.

Someone asked the daughter,“Do you understand the present your father gave to you in the 18 days?”

Sun Jia felt that she only got to understand his father's heart on the 18th day.The biggest regret was that she had not ridden for the whole 18 days with him.She would invite his father to have a riding together again when he retired at the age of 60.With these 18 days of mutual understanding in the memory,all the beauties and glories will be extended.

(FromShenzhen Youth,Vol.4,2015. Translation:Liu Yulan)