Recently, actor Zhang Yishan posted a photo of a Spring Festival dinner on social platforms. It was originally a warm gathering in a small room, but it made countless netizens blush.
In the photo, 34-year-old Fu Zien and 33-year-old Zhang Yishan are sitting side by side. They are obviously only one year apart.
But it seems like a generation has passed – Zhang Yishan has a little haircut and looks full of youth, while Fu Zien has white hair with clear roots, and the vicissitudes between his eyebrows and eyes are exactly the same as his father Fu Biao back then.
This photo instantly evoked people's memories of the parting 21 years ago, and also revealed Fu Zien's life story "behind the gray hair".
In 2005, actor Fu Biao died of liver cancer at the age of 42. At that time, Fu Zien was only 14 years old and a child who had just entered junior high school.
At the memorial service, he held his father's portrait in his hands, his eyes dull but unusually calm, and said to his mother Zhang Qiufang:
"Mom, I will be the backbone of the family from now on." This sentence became his declaration of growing up overnight.
What's even more cruel is that Fu Biao spent all his savings on medical treatment and left more than 2 million in debt. The days of orphans and widowers are endless.
Fortunately, Fu Biao's righteousness during his lifetime became a life-saving straw for the mother and son.
My close friend Ge You promised in public at the funeral: "Biaozi, your son is my son, and I will never let him suffer."
This promise is for 21 years.
Ge You paid for Fu Zien's tuition and living expenses, sent him to study in the UK, and took him to visit Fu Biao's grave every year on his death anniversary;
Feng Xiaogang gave 2 million to pay off the debt without hesitation; Zhang Guoli and his wife helped Zhang Qiufang start a business, allowing her to transform from an actress to a businessman.
The support of these elders gave Fu Zien a chance to breathe, but it failed to prevent the years of hard work from leaving traces on him.
Fu Zien’s gray hair started to appear since he was 16 years old.
When he was in high school, he worked on a film crew during the day and returned to the rental house at night to revise scripts, often staying up until three in the morning.
His mother, Zhang Qiufang, once recalled that one time when she was washing his hair, the silver threads fell all over the floor, but the child smiled and said, "Mom, this is 'Youth White', it looks mature."
But behind this "maturity" is the burden of family that has been shouldered since the age of 14, and the hard work in the directing industry as an adult.
When he was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy, he gave up his dream of being an actor and chose to study directing. Ge You and Feng Xiaogang once advised him: "You look so much like your dad. If you become an actor, you will live in the shadow."
He listened, and from then on he started working as a scene recorder and assistant director, one step at a time.
Today, Fu Zi'en is a cutting-edge director recognized by the industry.
In 2023, "Days of Our Lives" and "The Young Man" directed by him were successively hit on CCTV, with good word-of-mouth and ratings.
He mortgaged his house to make "Once Upon a Time" and cut the budget by one-third without compromising on quality;
The crew ordered lunch boxes for 40 yuan, but I drove a ten-year-old Tiguan and wore an old Uniqlo down jacket.
Zhang Yishan said that when we went to his house for a dinner, the chopsticks were delivered with milk bought from the supermarket, but the plates were Japanese handmade porcelain. "He always said that you should save what you can't see and pay attention to the things you use every day."
In that dinner party photo, there are salmon, Buddha jumping over the wall, and champagne on the table. It looks "luxury", but it hides the simplest friendship.
Fu Zien, Zhang Yishan and two other young people, this four-person group has been having the Spring Festival dinner together for 20 years, and the position of the group photo has not changed every year.
At the dinner table, Fu Zien didn't talk much. He always pursed his lips. He occasionally gave Zhang Yishan some lump crab paste and mentioned, "You secretly ate the sauced pork elbows in my dad's refrigerator."
Zhang Yishan responded with a smile: "Those elbows are so salty that I can recite the Three Character Classic!" Amidst the sound of firecrackers outside the window, Fu Zien lowered his head to pick up the shrimp thread, and his white hair was particularly conspicuous under the light.
Some people say that this white hair is a medal earned through life; others say that it is a heavy mark left by fate.
But for Fu Zien, this may be proof that he has reached reconciliation with his father and the past.
He never dyed his hair to hide it, nor did he show off his misery to gain sympathy. He just silently shouldered the responsibility and engraved his father's generosity into his bones.
Nowadays, he and his mother Zhang Qiufang must have a "family banquet" every week. The old lady serves the dishes while he washes the dishes. Anyone who is late is punished by drinking unsweetened soy milk.
This simple staying together is more precious than any "luxury".
The affection that Fu Biao earned through a lifetime of righteousness turned into driftwood to support his wife and children after he left.
Feng Xiaogang paid his debts and protected his brother's dignity after his death; Ge You raised his children and continued his brother's unfinished life.
And Fu Zien, a young man with gray hair at the age of 34, is continuing this friendship in his own way.
His white hair is not a symbol of old age, but a testimony of his growth – proving that in the 21 years since he lost his father's protection, he has
He did not fall into misery, he did not suffer misfortune, he gritted his teeth and pulled himself out of the quagmire, and lived the way his father wanted him to.
