七八年后，她还记得你吗？｜再回去一次 / Back There, Once More

A time we cannot return to.

We used to roam between neighbourhoods.

Our neighbourhood was about this big.

We went to the same primary school,

and we all lived nearby.

So we would roam quite far when we went out to play.

We would visit other neighbourhoods just to play in the lifts.

There was a well, too. A very deep well.

We dropped stones in and listened for the sound,

to work out how deep it was.

It felt as though something mysterious was down there.

Me too. Like a tunnel underground.

I went back recently and visited places from my childhood.

Let me show you.

This is the place in my earliest memory.

It used to be a square.

My grandad used to bring me here to buy things.

That is my earliest memory.

Your earliest memory.

This was a little shop.

I used to hang out there as a kid.

Nobody at home kept tabs on me.

The old lady who ran it was so kind to me.

I lived here in primary school. Seven or eight years later,

I used to skip classes in high school.

One day I skipped class and went back to see her.

I bought a few things.

I said, “Do you remember me?”

She thought about it, but could not place me.

Then suddenly: “You are Zhuangzhuang!”

Wow.

She recognised me. I was so moved.

She would not take my money, either.

I should have paid first.

What struck me was walking in: it was just as it had been.

Even she looked just the same as seven or eight years before.

It was almost too much for me.

After that, I was afraid to go and see her.

I thought she would give me things again, so I stayed away.

You could bring her something first.

That is true.

In high school, I would skip class and watch the sunset here.

Beautiful.

I watched the sunset here every day.

Beautiful.

But by making a film, you can go back once more.

You cannot live back then forever,

or keep looking back forever.

We have lovely friends here now, too. People to play with.