The literary and artistic genes of family history
I often heard my father say that the famous actor Yan Shikui was born in a family where "the red flag does not fall". His father was a well-known literary writer in the old Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and his works were quite unique and popular with local readers.
And his grandfather is the head of an old troupe with a history of more than 30 years, and he has created and adapted a new version of the drama "The White-Haired Girl", which was a sensation.
Born in such a family, Yan Shikui was imbued with a strong theatrical and literary atmosphere when he was young. I remember when I was a child, my grandfather would hold him and tell him all kinds of interesting stories about his participation in drama creation; His father would take him to watch movies with him, which inspired him to examine the various aspects of life.
Gradually, the seeds of performing arts took deep root in the heart of this careful and intelligent teenager.
However, he is as talented as Yan Shikui, but his personality in his youth was a little uninhibited, and even some of his own way. In the year he graduated from high school, he secretly left home and joined the Provincial Song and Dance Troupe as a professional dancer without saying goodbye! The rigorous training and life quickly polished his willfulness, and also made him experience a life experience that was more bittersweet than acting.
However, it also sharpened his tenacity in the pursuit of art.
The worries and helplessness of married life
Yan Shikui starred in the children's drama "Children of Bashan" in the 80s of the 20th century, which allowed him to meet the other half of his life. At that time, he was already a well-known film actor, and the heroine Xu Zhiwei was still a newcomer.
The two young actors met on the set, and they quickly fell in love. Less than 3 months after the filming ended, they registered as husband and wife.
At the beginning, the sweet atmosphere of the newlywed made the two enjoy extremely happy and contented days. However, the newlyweds soon quarreled over whether to have children.
Yan Shikui has always regarded the heir as the hope of the family, and he can't wait to hug a "little Akui" quickly; As a new-school woman in the 90s, Xu Zhiwei felt that children would disrupt her development and the pace of life could not keep up.
The two had several heated arguments over this. Xu Zhiwei received an admission letter from a foreign film and television academy at that time. She finally made up her mind to fly to a foreign country, and at the same time chose to leave this marriage that was full of rifts due to different aspirations.
Yan Shikui tried to keep Xu Zhiwei, but in the end he had no choice but to let go. The video call spanned thousands of miles, and the two finally signed a divorce agreement at both ends of the network cable, which came to an end.
Today, 12 years later, the 67-year-old Yan Shikui has not renewed his strings. After he separated that year, it seemed that he could no longer Xi the days of being accompanied by women. His mother was anxious that he was living alone, and hoped that he would find another soulmate.
However, his relationships always ended in failure, and it was difficult to last.
My sister is unlucky, and her family is scattered to survive
In 2010, just as Yan Shikui's career was recovering, he received a call from his mother that his sister had suffered a serious traffic accident after work at a company in the provincial capital and fell unconscious on the spot.
Yan Shikui was shocked, and immediately asked for leave and rushed back to his hometown to take care of his sister.
My sister's brain was severely damaged and she had to rely on a ventilator to maintain basic signs of life, and the daily treatment cost was as high as tens of thousands of yuan. The century-old ancestral house collapsed, and the Yan family suddenly lost its economic pillar.
Yan Shikui urgently re-filmed a few dramas, not only to take care of his sister's daily life, but also to take care of work and make money. He was exhausted from hospital rooms and studios.
The mother waited in front of the hospital bed all day long, seeing her sick daughter's yellow muscles and thin face and dying of life, her heart was like a knife. He remembered how his mother wept in the dead of night.
My father ran away from home at this time.
The ups and downs of the career are vaguely fragrant
The misfortune of his sister caused Yan Shikui to suffer a heavy blow in his career. Those 10 years were the low point of his acting career, and most of his time and energy were spent taking care of his sister, and he had no intention of working at all.
And because of the exhaustion of running around, his body became weaker and weaker. Only when his sister is critically ill will he take on some dramas to tide over the difficulties.
After the death of his sister in 2019, he gradually felt low on energy and could no longer play the role of a big star. Although he was once famous, he now has to take on some supporting roles to make a living.
Fortunately, the small character roles he has created over the years have been well received and are often sought after by fans, which makes him feel a little comforted.
Every time he stepped onto the stage of the drama and saw the warm applause from the audience, he would recall his style on the screen in the past.
Cherish time and be grateful for life
The shadow of his sister's death still hangs over Yan Shikui, and it also makes him more aware of the preciousness of his family. Although he is still unmarried, he regularly videos with his mother and attends important family gatherings.
He didn't want his mother to be depressed because she was living alone.
At work, the 67-year-old no longer has ambitions. I hope to play a few roles that he likes in my lifetime, and a decent curtain call is enough. Although his income is meager, he learns to be frugal, buys books that interest him to entertain himself, and saves money to supplement his family.
Fortunately, his fans are enthusiastic and often send greeting letters and small gifts to make him feel the warmth of the world, which has also become the motivation for him to persevere.
The dead are gone, but the living are alive. Despite the ups and downs in this life, Yan Shikui is still grateful to the god of luck for his favor, which gave him a small status in the film and television industry; Let a few bosom friends lend a helping hand in his most difficult times; Let the mother live a long and healthy life...... He hopes to be comfortable for the rest of his life and be an ordinary old artist.